County Council - Regular Meeting

Why, Todd, Cockrell rounds up Ms. Wessinger. Welcome to June 10th's county council meeting. Before we get the meeting started, I'd like to inform everybody we are being broadcast live on Lexington County Spectrum Channel 1302 and Lexington County website. The county meeting will be available for viewing anytime on demand on our county website. I would ask all of our council members to speak clearly and directly into the microphone. With that said, our invocation and pledge today will be presented by Mr. Conferwood.

Tonight's invocation is going to be led by Kelly Oppenheimer. Kelly Oppenheimer is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to South Carolina in 2009 to attend the University of South Carolina. While at USC, Kelly was a Capstone Scholar, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. After four years, she earned her degree with the Darla Moore School of Business and International Business and Finance with minor in Spanish. Following graduation, Kelly worked as a legal assistant for South Carolina Attorney General's Office. She then attended University of South Carolina School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief in the Journal of International Law and Business. She also clerked at the Attorney General's Office, and the United States Attorney's Office while attending the school. Upon graduating law school in 2017, Kelly began working with Post-Conviction Relief Division of South Carolina Attorney General's Office. Kelly's primary handled cases in Lexington County, but also in Anderson, Charleston, Greenville, and Richland Counties. In 2019, Kelly began working as Assistant Solicitor at the 11th Circuit Solicitor's Office, where she was assigned domestic violence cases. She's quickly moved on to become the office lead drug team prosecutor and director of Drug Court Program. Currently, Kelly prosecutes violent crimes such as armed robberies, aggravated assaults, and murders. She also manages the office budget. Kelly lives in Leesville with her husband, Patrick. They're two German families. Wire-haired pointers, Roscoe and Cletus. Welcome.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you today with grateful hearts, mindful of the blessings and responsibilities entrusted to us as members of this community. We ask for your guidance over this council and all who serve the public. Grant them wisdom to make sound decisions, integrity to uphold the public trust, and the courage to do what is right, even when it is difficult. Help them to lead with fairness and compassion, listen with open minds, speak with respect, and work together for the good of all citizens. We pray for those who dedicate their lives to serving and protecting others. Watch over them as they carry out their duties and give them strength, protection, and encouragement in their service. We also pray for the citizens of this county. Bless our families, our schools, our businesses, and our neighborhoods. Help us to treat one another with respect, extend grace where it is needed, and work together to build a community that is safe, prosperous, and united. We ask these things in your holy name. Amen.

Thank you, Kelly. Tonight's pledge will be led by Samuel E. Owens. Samuel E. Owens, aka Tank, served honorably in the United States Army. He retired from the Army in 1994 after 20 years of service. During his service, he achieved numerous awards and decorations to include the Meritorious Service Medal, an Army Accommodation Medal, Third Oak Leaf Cluster, the Army Achievement Medal, Second Oak Leaf Cluster, the Good Conduct Medal, Sixth Award, the Korean Defense Service Medal, the Expert Infantry Badge, five-year driver's award, 20 years of service award, meritorious conduct award, community service award, special achievement award, and aircraft crewman badge. Tank lives in Lexington and was employed by the Lexington County Sheriff's Department for 21 years until he retired. He also provides security for his church. Tank is married to Sandra for over 36 years and has three children and two grandchildren. Welcome, Tank.

Thank you. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Once again, thank you. Council report, anything you'd like to report? No reports. With that said, Mr. Sturkey, administrator report.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If I could have the solid waste management employees come forward and stand up along the front down here, please.

Mm-hmm.

Next week is National Waste and Recycling Workers Week, which is June 15th through June 21st, 2026. I'd like to recognize our solid waste management team for their vital role in protecting public health and our local environment. We extend our sincere appreciation to the entire staff, the landfill personnel and convenience center attendants, recycling operators and enforcement officers, and administrative support staff. These dedicated professionals perform demanding, essential work behind the scenes. They keep services running smoothly through emergencies, holidays, severe weather, and obviously on a daily basis. Their daily efforts conserve natural resources, reduces landfill waste, and maintain a cleaner and safer community. So with next week being the National Waste and Recycler Workers Week, I want to take the opportunity to say thank you. Thank you for everything you do every day. for the citizens of Lakeland County. We're certainly very appreciative of it. And I know if it wasn't for you, all the phone calls we would be getting. So thank you very much. Director McIntyre, if you could just say a few words, please.

Mr. Sturkey, Mr. Chairman, members of council, I just want to take a minute to thank everyone for taking a moment to recognize our staff. This is just a small number of our employees that have joined us today. We still have others out in the field working. But from the scale operators who diligently screen 500 vehicles per day, our collection center attendants who greet over 2 million vehicles per year, and our landfill staff that efficiently manages over 330,000 tons of waste per year, We appreciate this recognition and continued support of council and administration. And we also thank all of our staff members at Solid Waste. It wouldn't be possible without every one of you. Can we give them a round of applause, please?

Thank you, Camita. You can be seated. Also, to follow up with that. Thank you, guys.

To follow up with that, Solid Waste Management will host an electronic recycling event for Lakeston County residents this Friday, June 12th, and Saturday, June 13th from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Chapin Recycling Center located on 103 Distant Lane, Chapin, South Carolina. There is a flyer that's out. We'll have it on our website. I just want to make sure that the citizens are aware of that.

Yeah, I'd like to say thank you, Lee McIntyre, for making that happen. We've been asking for that for a long time.

Also, just a couple more items. You heard about our transportation or the Lexington County Transportation Improvement Plan. We had our first round of public meetings, and the vendors going off and – done some evaluations and so forth. And as we promised, we're going to have our second round of public meetings. I'd like to give you these times and dates for our upcoming Layston County Transportation Improvement Plan. Again, the open house. They will be from 5 to 7 p.m. The first one will be Monday, June 29th, 2026 at Swansea High School. The next one will be Tuesday, June 30th at Chapin High School. Next will be Wednesday, July 1st at Irmo Elementary School. Thursday, July 2nd at Lexington County Auxiliary Building. That's in rooms 112 and 113. Monday, July 6th at Batesburg-Gleesville High School, and Tuesday, July 7th at Brooklyn-Casey High School. Again, we're going back out, reporting on the information that we received. All these times and dates will be on our website that you can get it, but I wanted to go ahead and start advertising that to let people know that, as promised, we're doing our second round for the Layston County Transportation Improvement Plan that will be coming back up.

Administrator, can you send that out to the email?

Yes, ma'am. We'll send this out as well. And then next, our next county council meeting will be scheduled for right now, Tuesday, June 23rd. All right? That's it, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, sir. We have any appointments for boards and commissions?

Chairman, we have one that's... I believe that would be a reappointment and is eligible for reappointment. That would be the Midlands Authority for Conventions of Sports and Tourism. Citizen appointees, Mr. Sammy Hendricks. I would move that we reappoint Mr. Hendricks to the Midlands Authority for Conventions of Sports and Tourism Board.

Thank you, Mr. Cullum. We have a motion by Chairperson Cullum to reappoint Sammy Hendricks. Second. Second. Mr. Bishop, any questions? All in favor? I need to have a call for the vote. Yeah. Call for the vote. I'm still in the committee room.

Councilman Cullum?

Yes.

Councilman Conwell?

Yes.

Councilwoman Kerrig? Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger? Yes. Councilman Fisher?

Yes.

Councilman Brigham?

Yes.

Councilman Bishop? Yes. Vice Chair Cockrell?

Yes.

Chairman Hudson?

Yes. We ought to consider just doing our hands. Anyway, any others?

The cog recommendations here with the staff, the technical committee.

Well, I was going to recommend them both, but if you would do that, that would be great.

I would like to go ahead and make a motion for the planning and GIS for Director Robbie Derrick to be appointed for the Central Midlands Council of Governments Technical Committee. Would you do both or just one at a time?

I would do that one and do the one afterwards. So first one, I'll second that. Call for the vote.

Councilman Cullum.

Yes.

Councilman Conwell.

Yes.

Councilwoman Kerrig. Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger.

Yes.

Councilman Brigham.

Yes.

Councilman Bishop.

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell.

Yes.

Chairman Hudson.

Yes.

And secondly, I'd like to go ahead and make a motion for Tim Shepard, Director of Public Works, to be on the Central Midlands Council of Government Technical Committee.

Second. Second.

A motion by Ms. Wessinger and a second by Mr. Cockrell. Any questions? Madam Clerk, call for the vote.

Councilman Cullum?

Yes.

Councilman Conwell? Yes. Councilwoman Kerrig? Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger? Yes. Councilman Fisher?

Yes.

Councilman Brigham?

Yes.

Councilman Bishop?

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell? Yes. Chairman Hudson?

Yes. Approval of minutes. I will make a motion to approve the minutes of May 26, 2026. Second. We have a second by Mr. Bishop. Any questions? Madam Clerk, call for the vote.

Councilman Cullum? Yes. Councilman Conwell?

Yes.

Councilwoman Kehrig? Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger? Yes. Councilman Fisher?

Yes.

Councilman Brigham?

Yes.

Councilman Bishop?

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell? Yes. Chairman Hudson?

Yes. We'll move on to the ordinances. First, we have the approval of Ordinance 26-01, Zoning Map Amendment Application M26-01, zoning classification change from current C1, Naywood Commercial, to C2, General Commercial, for property located at 449 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, 29210, identified as tax map number ZERO ZERO TWO EIGHT NINE NINE DASH O THREE DASH O TWO ONE DASH NO OTHER DASH AND THIS IS IN COUNCIL DISTRICT SEVEN HAS BEEN WE'VE ALREADY GONE THROUGH FIRST READING AND SECOND READING AND THIS IS THIRD READING I HAVE A MOTION BY MS. CARRIG SECOND BY MS. WESSINGER ANY OTHER QUESTIONS THAT WE HAVE NOT DEBATED OUT With that said, Madam Clerk, call for the vote.

Councilman Cullum? Yes. Councilman Conwell? Yes. Councilwoman Kerrig? Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger? Yes. Councilman Fisher?

Yes.

Councilman Brigham?

Yes.

Councilman Bishop?

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell?

Yes.

Chairman Hudson?

Yes. Second, we have the approval of Ordinance 2603, an ordinance amending the Lexington County Zoning Ordinance Article 1, Chapter 1, Section 11. EXCLUSIONS IN ARTICLE 2, CHAPTER 2, SECTION 22.14, PARKING LOT CONNECTIVITY. THIS IS SECOND READING, BUT THERE HAVE BEEN SOME CHANGES, AND LET ME READ THOSE CHANGES FOR YOU. UNDER EXCLUSIONS, COMMUNITY EDUCATION GROUP ASSEMBLY INTERMEDIATE AND GROUP ASSEMBLY EXTENSIVE land use activities that identify limitations regarding emergency access for large events. Athletic events, concerts, et cetera, may request a single restricted driveway for emergency access only. A specific document of need or necessity must be submitted to the zoning administrator for review and approval. The emergency driveway may access the street classification that would typically disallow access for the land use. However, the driveway must be restricted access point only used for emergency situations and not the public access. The restricted driveway shall be gated on a private property using an approved emergency system, crash gate, Knox box siren strobe sensor by the local fire service agency. Obtain proper encroachment permits from the road and maintenance entity and receive approval via an independent review by the zoning administrator prior to the implementation. The zoning administration shall take into consideration unique circumstances of the situation along with the professional correspondence from local public safety and transportation officials. All applicable design standards and regulations must comply with and with all required requirements shall be secured from the appropriate agencies and or relevant department priors to commitment of work. and then under interconnectivity there are a couple changes in the subdivision ordinance and that would be all new non-residential developments shall provide a continuation of existing road patterns whenever conditions will allow the arrangements of road pattern roads of non-residential developments they They shall be required to provide for alignment and continuation and or protection of existing proposed roads into adjoining properties developments. This is to promote interconnectivity which may be required where feasible. THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS OR HIS OR HER DESIGNEE SHALL ASSIST THE ZONING ADMINISTRATOR WITH DETERMINING THE FEASIBILITY OF THE ROAD INTERNET CONNECTIVITY. ADDITIONAL ACCESS MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES MAY ALSO APPLY AS IDENTIFIED WITHIN THE COUNTY OR PERTINENT MUNICIPAL TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN STUDY. I THINK THAT'S IT. IS THE YELLOW STRIKE OUT? I do. That last part. Okay, thank you. When a determination is made that interconnectivity is not feasible or practical, the zoning administrator and director of public works or their designee shall identify mitigation measures including within the appropriate transportation improvement plan to offset the benefit of interconnectivity. If a determination is made that is not practical or feasible to provide interconnectivity, the county administrator or deputy county administrator in his or her absence shall act as the final arbitrator to include review of all provided informed information with staff and potential transportation improvement mitigation measures to offset the lack of interconnectivity. So I think I've covered it, Robbie. Very good. With that said, I'm looking for a motion for 2603.

Move to approve, Mr. Chairman.

Second. We have a motion by Mr. Cullum, a second by Mr. Bishop. Yes, ma'am. It has to be this motion? Yes, sir. Okay, I got it. Mr. Cullum, can I ask you to read this exactly? Let me do it. Save you a trip.

I was just trying to save a trip. Trying to help you out, man. That's all right. Move your back, sir. Here's your notice. Second.

Chairman, I move that County Council approve Ordinance 26-03 as has been revised since first reading with such revisions shown in red in the proposed ordinance. That is my motion.

Second. We have a motion by Mr. Cullum. Motion second by Mr. Bishop. Madam Clerk, call for the vote.

Councilman Cullum. Yes. Councilman Conwell. Yes. Councilwoman Kehrig. Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger. Yes. Councilman Fisher.

Yes.

Councilman Brigham.

Yes.

Councilman Bishop. Yes. Vice Chair Cockrell.

Yes.

Chairman Hudson.

Yes. Approval of Ordinance 2606, Ordinance to Amend Section 2-10. 292 and 2-295 of the Lexington County Museum Board to allow any residents of Lexington County to be appointed to the museum. I think we have debated this out. Third and final reading.

Move to approve ordinance 2606.

We have a motion by Mr. Bishop. Second. Second by Mr. Cockrell. Any other discussion? Madam Clerk, call for the vote.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Approval of Ordinance 2607, an ordinance approving the contract for swap of property at or near the Lexington County Edmund Landfill with Lucas Estates LLC and the granting of easement related thereto. I think we have debated this out also. Are there any questions on this at all?

None. Chairman, I would move that we approve first reading by title only, Ordinance 2607.

We have a motion by Mr. Collin. Second. Second by Mr. Cockrell. Any questions? With no questions, Madam Clerk, call for the vote.

Councilman Cullum?

Yes.

Councilman Conwell?

Yes.

Councilwoman Kerrig? Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger? Yes. Councilman Fisher?

Yes.

Councilman Brigham?

Yes.

Councilman Bishop?

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell?

Yes.

Chairman Hudson?

Yes. Number five, approval of ordinance 2605, an ordinance adopting the annual budget for financial year 26 through 2027, and I've got that right here. Move the council approve the budget ordinance 26-05 as was amended by the committee of a whole with such amendments being summarized prior to the public hearing by the county administrator. And with that, I'll make that a motion.

Second.

I should ask many questions before we go forward.

I WOULD HAVE JUST ONE, MR. CHAIRMAN.

YES, SIR.

WE'VE GOT OUR ACCOMMODATIONS TAX BOARD FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS HERE.

YES.

IT SEEMS THERE'S TWO COPIES. ARE THERE ANY REASONS WHY WE HAVE THAT HERE?

I DON'T HAVE A COPY, SO I CAN'T.

MR. STERKEY THOUGHT SOMEBODY HAD A QUESTION ABOUT THIS.

IT'S LIKE THE FUNDING RECOMMENDATIONS WERE AMENDED.

Yes, we, Councilman Cullen, we covered that at our last meeting. We read them out in detail. The Accommodations Board, they made a recommendation. Council had discussions on it, and changes were presented and approved as we summarized at our last meeting.

Changes must have been made prior to the last meeting, right?

They were made prior to the last meeting. We summarized the last meeting, yes. They were actually made during, I think it was the May 5th budget work session. I wasn't there. Yeah, it was done during a budget work session.

But we just had these documents. If they're open for discussion or there need to be, no?

I don't think, I think we have discussed it.

We've already approved.

Do you have a motion or not?

I'll make a motion to approve.

We have a motion by Ms. Wessinger. Second. I have a second by Mr. Bishop. Any other questions?

What are we voting on?

Budget.

Total budget?

This is the second reading.

That was your motion, Mr. Chairman. Your motion to vote on your budget.

This is a motion to vote on my budget, yes.

Wouldn't Ms. Wessinger make a motion on it?

I made a motion to vote on the budget or second to whatever Darrell did for the budget.

I think it got confused that you're talking about the...

The accommodation taxes.

The accommodation taxes. You've made a motion to... Who seconded the budget?

I will second the budget if you made a motion.

That's all I need to know. We have a motion by me and a second by Ms. Wessinger. That'll work. Madam Clerk, call for a vote.

Councilman Cullum.

Yes.

Councilman Conwell.

Yes.

Councilwoman Kerrig. Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger. Yes. Councilman Fisher.

Yes.

Councilman Brigham.

Yes.

Councilman Bishop.

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell.

Yes.

Chairman Hudson.

Yes. All right. Reports, economic development, Ms. Kerrig.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Economic Development Committee convened earlier today to hear a request for the approval of the February 23, 2010 Fee and Low of Tax agreement with RNDC to be assigned by RNDC to Lone Oak, West Columbia LLC and Henry J. Lee Distributors LLC, RNDC South Carolina LLC and RNDC South Carolina regarding holdings, LLC have entered into a transaction for the sale of certain real estate and operational assets associated with the RNDC facility in Lexington County to Lone Oak, West Columbia, LLC and Henry J. Lee Distributors, LLC. As part of the transaction, the parties have submitted an assignment, an assumption, a fee agreement requesting Lexington County's consent to assign the existing FLO agreement originally executed between Lexington County and RNDC. Under the proposed agreement, RNDC would assign all rights, interests, obligations, and responsibilities associated with the existing FLO agreement to the assignee effective upon closing of the transaction with the assignee assuming all obligations arising under the FLO agreement from and after the closing. This does not create a new FLO agreement or modify the material terms of the existing incentive structure previously approved by County Council. The request is administrative in nature and intended to provide continuity of the existing FLO agreement following the transfer of ownership associated with the facility and related assets. The facility is expected to remain in operation consistent with the industrial and distribution uses under the original field. Pending final legal review and receipt of executive closing documents, staff recommends approval of the county's consent. to the agreement an assumption of the existing 2010 FLO agreement. After a brief discussion, the committee moved to recommend to full council approval of the February 23rd, 2010, February 23rd, 2010 fee-in-lieu of tax agreement with RNDC to be assigned by RNDC to Lone Oak West Columbia LLC and Henry J. Lee Distributors LLC. I make a motion we approve that.

SECOND. MOTION BY MS. KERRIG AND A SECOND BY WHO WAS THAT? MR. CULLUM. QUESTIONS? IF NOT, MADAM CLERK, CALL FOR THE VOTE.

COUNCILMAN CULLUM? YES. COUNCILMAN CONWELL?

YES.

COUNCILWOMAN KERRIG? YES. COUNCILWOMAN WESSINGER? YES. COUNCILMAN FISHER?

YES.

COUNCILMAN BRIGHAM?

YES.

COUNCILMAN BISHOP?

YES.

VICE CHAIR COCKRELL?

YES.

CHAIRMAN HUDSON?

YES. Committee of the Whole, and that is me, a possible vote on Committee of the Whole agenda, and we made an agreement, talked about it, discussed it, so we will go forward with this motion. I move the County Council proceed forward with what authorizing the County Attorney to do whatever is legally necessary to enforce the obligation of the Town of Chapin to provide sewer treatment at the County Park PROPERTY NEAR CHAPIN, AND THAT IS MY MOTION.

SECOND.

AND A SECOND BY MS. KERRIG. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? MADAM CLERK, CALL FOR THE VOTE.

COUNCILMAN CULLUM?

YES.

COUNCILMAN CONWELL?

YES.

COUNCILWOMAN KERRIG? YES. COUNCILWOMAN WESSINGER? NO. COUNCILMAN FISHER?

YES.

COUNCILMAN BRICKHAM?

YES.

COUNCILMAN BISHOP? YES.

Yes.

Vice Chair Cockrell?

Yes.

Chairman Hudson?

Yes. All right, budget amendment resolutions. There are none tonight, Mr. Chairman. I have none. Someone would look over the approval of the contract extensions. We have two extensions we have and one award. I would seek a motion.

Chairman, may I make a motion that we approve... contract extension for the physicals for emergency services, a contract extension for janitorial supplies, approval to award Class A uniforms for emergency services.

Thank you, Mr. Cullen. We have a motion by Mr. Cullen for items L, M, N, physical emergency Emergency services janitor supplies and uniforms for emergency services. Do we have a second? Second. Have a second by Mr. Capro. Any questions? No questions. With that said, Madam Clerk.

Councilman Cullum? Yes. Councilman Conwell?

Yes.

Councilwoman Kelly? Yes. Councilwoman Wessinger? Yes. Councilman Fisher?

Yes.

Councilman Brigham?

Yes.

Councilman Bishop?

Yes.

Councilman Cockrell? Yes. Chairman Hudson?

Yes. That concludes our business for the County Council meeting. We will recess until 5.30 for the public hearing. Thank you.

Yeah, but y'all can donate. No, I don't.

Go ahead and have a seat. We're reconvening in the county council meeting. Thank y'all for showing up and we are now opening the public hearing. And before we get going, let me read the little ground rules for you. I didn't write them. I'm just going to read them to you. The purpose of the public hearing is to obtain comments from proponents and opponents regarding a specific subject matter. All citizens who wish to be on record as attending must sign in. The floor will be opened by me, who will recall the names of those who have checked the box, yes, you would like to speak. They will be asked to come to the podium, provide their name, mailing address, including street, city, state, zip code. Each speaker is limited to three minutes, unless additional time is granted by me. A timer is set to give a two-minute warning, or two minutes, so you have a minute left. Those in attendance are asked to refrain from disrupting the meeting by making noise of any kind, such as clapping. Anyone who disrupts the proceeding will be asked to leave. There should be no standing head counts of any kind on any particular matter or subject. Everyone is asked to abide by those guidelines so the public hearing process can proceed smoothly, and all who wish to speak have the opportunity to do so. We have Officer Correll, Deputy Correll over here. He will be handling the timer. And as it makes a beep, you'll know you'll have a minute left to speak. With that said, we are here for Ordinance 604, an ordinance approving the conveyance of real estate from the County of Lexington to Brighton Capital Partners, LLC. We've had electronic responses, as you're aware. We've had 49 in favor, 359 in opposition. And I'd like to submit that for the record, ma'am. There you go. Yes. I'd prefer you not make a comment, but you can. Yes.

I would like to thank everybody for coming, and I'd like to reiterate, please, to be nice and to be respectful of your council members up here. These are my peers. I work with them every single day for the benefit of the entire county. Thank you.

That was well said. Thank you. With that said, we're going to go right into it. And we're going to go into, in favor, in the beginning, we have, I think, two people who wanted to speak. Excuse me. We've got an overview. I forgot the presentation.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We're going to do, we've got three people that's going to give some information as it relates to, again, ordinance 26.04, an ordinance approving the conveyance of real estate from the County of Lexington to Brighton Capital Partners, LLC. Mr. Garrett Dragano, if you'd come to the podium, please. Mr. Dragano is the Director of Economic Development for Lexington County. He is going to give an overview of the property and the ordinance. Thank you, Mr. Dragano.

Good evening Mr. Chairman and members of council. The item for council tonight is ordinance 26-04. The purpose of this public hearing is to receive comments from the public regarding the proposed conveyance of approximately 203 acres of county owned property known as the Chapin Business and Technology Park. The Chapin Business and Technology Park is located near Exit 91 on Interstate 26 in the Chapin area of Lexington County. Lexington County began acquiring the property in 2011 and 2012. At that time, the stated vision for the property was to establish a business and technology park that would support employment opportunities in the Chapin area through office technology, research, and light manufacturing uses while also supporting a live, work, and play community. Following acquisition of the property, Lexington County invested in planning, engineering, infrastructure improvements, site preparation, construction, and ongoing maintenance until the business park officially opened in 2018. Since that time, the property has been marketed by Lexington County through a variety of channels, including the county's economic development website, the South Carolina Department of Commerce LocateSC database, regional and state economic development partners, commercial real estate listings, and industry publications and digital marketing efforts, and responses to economic development project inquiries. The project has been submitted for consideration on numerous economic development projects since its opening. However, despite these marketing efforts, the park has remained undeveloped. To date, Lexington County has invested approximately $17.1 million in land acquisition, engineering, infrastructure, construction, and maintenance associated with the property. The ordinance before council would authorize the conveyance of approximately 203 acres comprising of the Chapin Business and Technology Park to Brighton Capital Partners for a purchase price of $20,400,000, total purchase price. No action will be taken as a part of this public hearing. The purpose of tonight's public hearing is to provide an opportunity for the members of the public to offer comments, concerns, or input on Ordinance 2604 for Council's consideration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Garrett.

Thank you, Mr. Grano. Next is Mr. Britt Poole. He is the Executive Director of the Central Midlands Council of Government.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman, members of the Council, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you tonight. As you know, I serve as the Executive Director of Central Midlands Council of Governments. I was asked to share key facts about the Chapin Wastewater Treatment Facility this evening. First, let me briefly explain our role under Section 208 of the Federal Clean Water Act. CMCOG is the designated regional planning agency for water quality management across Lexington, Richland, Fairfield, and Newberry counties, so for the region. Our responsibility is to review wastewater facilities, collection systems, related infrastructure, to ensure that they are consistent with the Regional Water Quality Management Plan. We work closely with South Carolina Department of Environmental Services, formerly known as DHEC, to help protect our rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Before I get into my statement, I do want to make a point that CMCOG does not take an issue on the position before you. I do not, the COG does not, that is not our role. We are here to provide factual information at your request. The data and recommendations that I will share were also presented to the executive leadership of Lexington County, the Town of Chapin, and SCDES during a May 21st meeting this year. Here are the main facts. The Chapin Wastewater Treatment Facility is permitted to treat 2.4 million gallons a day, according to the state's official checkbook. So this is what's used to track the number of taps that have been sold out of, which is connections that have been sold out of a wastewater treatment facility. The flow inventory is nearly at capacity at about 97%. It's already been allocated on paper. This leaves about 57,000 gallons a day remaining of permitted capacity. However, the actual flows through the plant tell a different story. Over the past two-plus years, the average daily flow has been approximately 1 million gallons a day. That represents about 42 to 43 percent of the permitted capacity. Monthly flows have remained remarkably stable over that same period of time. While the paper capacity, so that's the checkbook, is nearly used up, the plant itself is not under stress from current use. The large gap between allocated taps and actual flows is unusual and it warrants closer examination. First, at the May 21st meeting, the following steps were discussed and recommended. First, conduct a full audit of both the local and state checkbook. This isn't a financial audit, but an audit of the sale of and condition of all the current taps. The director of DES was present at this meeting, and she offered and instructed her employees to assist in that audit. I would also like to suggest that Lexington County Community Development Department participate in that audit, and the reason for that is that the majority of Chapin's sewer service area, it lies outside of their town limit, so the development that's being discussed, or a lot of the development that's being discussed, is actually located in the county and not within the town. Let's see. This is a low-cost effort, and it uses existing staff time, so it's not an expensive effort to go to. Second, I would suggest an immediate evaluation of Chapin's residential equivalent unit. So this is the REU. I'm trying not to be too technical here. But essentially, an REU is the value that a tap is assigned. And so currently, it's assigned 300 gallons a day. Given Chapin's low I&I, which is infiltration of water into the system, things that come into the sewer system that shouldn't be there because it's a newer system with newer homes on it compared to others regionally, because of that a value as low as 250 rather than 300 might be appropriate. This could free up roughly up to 1,600 CCFs or TAPs. I'm sorry, getting technical. This could free up 1,600 TAPs if that were approved by DES. The director of DES also indicated her willingness to look at this and go through the process. Third, the recommendation was to finalize the preliminary engineering report for plan expansion. I believe the city of Chapin bid this out in 2005. It's within months of being completed. Once that's complete, Chapin should work with the COG and with DES to create clear benchmarks for when construction of the new facility is actually warranted. Based on the current trends, that may not be for five to ten years from now. So because there's so much additional capacity in the actual flow, it may take quite some time to catch up to that point. So that should be a very positive thing because it's an expense that doesn't have to happen until it's warranted. Following these standard practices would allow the town to continue collecting impact fees when they sell taps and also significantly reduce the debt required for the future expansion because those tap fees are for capital projects, so they could be used towards the plant. In summary, this is not an emergency. The facility is operating well within its actual limits. Flows are very stable, and the system has shown very good resiliency in current and during rain events. To reiterate, the COG takes no position on the sale of this property. We're not here for that. Just here with... provide facts and technical assistance as requested. I appreciate the opportunity to share this information and I'm happy to answer questions if council or staff has any.

Mr. Poole, I do have two questions for you actually. So there is the capacity there that is available?

Through the process as described it could be made available.

And then is there anything with us purchasing the taps, anything illegal that you are aware of with us trying to get the taps to capacity right now?

Not that I'm aware of. Again, following the process as described. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Poole.

I'm just clarifying. Yes, ma'am. I believe the plant was designed for or 2025.

Oh, I'm sorry. Yes, it was 2025. If I said 2005, that was an error on my part.

Thank you, Mr. Poole.

Thank you very much.

Little housekeeping that I want to cover real quick. First of all, we're going to start the speaking part. If one of your cohorts say something you agree with and you don't feel like speaking, you can say, I concur when I call your name. Wouldn't be helpful. We'll be here as long as you want to be, but I'm just telling you that would be nice. Number two, I think Ms. Kerrig has an appointment she has to go to sometime when she gets that text. So she wants to let you know she is very aware of the situation and has read most of your emails, like most of us have. So if she has to sneak out, she's not showing any disrespect.

Oh, I'm sorry.

On the list first to speak.

Okay. Are you aware of that? And I was not.

Yes. First one to speak is Andy White.

Okay.

Mr. White.

Mr. Chairman, members of council, my name is Andy White. I'm the guy who apparently has caused this stir. I live in Lexington at 631 Brandon Court and been there 30 years or so. I saw an opportunity back in February of 2025. I was actually looking for a place around exit 91. When exit 91 became open in its new form and the highway was expanded, it occurred to me that that would be an excellent place to replicate a neighborhood similar to the one that we've done at Saluda River Club in Lexington. And I was actually looking on the other side of the interstate when the impulse was, I said to my wife, I've never been to Brighton, let's go see what it looks like. So we drove in there and thought, I don't know why it doesn't sell as an industrial park. There must be some issue with that. And then I thought, now this would be a great place to do a master plan community. That's how it happened. So I started poking around, did some investigation, determined that the infrastructure was adequate, that the lift station was in, the water services were there. It made sense to pursue it. Because all that infrastructure was already in, the roads were already in, it allowed me to offer a higher price per acre for the land than I would ordinarily do, which was very clearly something the county was going to need to recover their costs. So I made an offer to buy the property sometime around August, I think is when it started. And we're now eight or nine months into the process. that we've negotiated the terms of a contract that would limit us to no more than 600 homes. It's not a minimum of 600 homes. It's a maximum of 600 homes. For Dragano, who spoke earlier, knows more about these things than I do, at least he did at the time, and he suggested that one of the ways that we could maintain the spirit of the original intent of this community would be to incorporate a technology incubator, which led me to an investigation of what exactly is a technology incubator. And we made some assumptions about how much we could put there, and we decided to make the technology incubator the central piece of the neighborhood and use that to drive the additional job creating use of the land. The contract that I have with the county now requires that we dedicate 25% of the usable acreage on the site, which would equate to about 40 acres, will be dedicated to supporting the technology incubator and integrate it into the community. Last week, you might have seen the release of some public relations stuff that we put out. Members of council asked me to explain what we were doing and why. I assure you that I was not trying to sell any of you a house at the community. I was trying to explain in detail the decision steps that we made to come to the conclusion that this was a good place to do a master plan community. And So we put the information out there. There's like a 45-minute clip of me droning on in a podcast format by a paid speaker there to do that. I paid handsomely for that, Mr. Mayor. So rather than spending a whole lot of time talking about it tonight, I would invite you, if you have not done so, to take the 45 minutes and watch that. It explains in detail a lot of the whys and the whats. One thing that as a local builder, small volume builder, I cannot do is compete against the big builders, national builders. They have scale and purchasing of power that nobody can match. You know, there are guys out there who build 82,000, 83,000 houses a year. And we've had to move away from selling anything remotely affordable. I don't even think you can consider what we do as first time move up. We sell luxury houses and we sell houses to retirees. We sell houses to young affluent families. And I believe that the opportunity exists for us to do the same at the Brighton Park. If you have not been through Saluda River Club, I think that it offers a good glimpse of what I envision going there. The only difference is that no one has done a large-scale active adult age-restricted community in the Columbia market yet. So we're going to set aside 50% of all the homes that get built there specifically for 55 and up households. I have a lot of experience in that in my early years, both in South Florida and in Arizona. have a significant percentage of the people who buy homes at Saluda River Club fit into that same category. So I think that the combination of the job creation component, the technology component, which we intend to build first, some speculation about I'm just saying I'm going to do that. Most of you all have been around me long enough to know if I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it. We're going to build that technology incubator first and make sure that it is properly integrated architecturally into the rest of the neighborhood so as to not devalue the homes that go in there. Again, there's a whole lot more explanation of what we're doing. I'm here tonight to stand in front of you and tell you that I intend to go through with this with the plans that we've laid forth. After this, at some point, there will be a second reading of this ordinance and then a third reading of the ordinance before the county can ratify the contract that exists between us. I'm the only one who signed it now. So after, assuming we get to that point, after that's where the meat of the business gets done, the state statute allows an exception to changing the zoning, to varying the zoning versus surrounding property, and it's called a PUD or planned unit development. That statute calls it PUDs, but today in planning terminology, it's referred to as a planned development district. That plan development district requires another process, first reading, public hearing, the additional step of going to the planning commission for its review and recommendation, followed by second reading and third reading. So once we get through this, there'll be another opportunity for everybody to gather up. And I would suggest that when we get to that one, Councilman Wessinger, maybe we could arrange a place up in Chapin to do that one. You can get your fellow members to go up there. I think that would be an easier way to get everybody there. The few of us drive instead of everybody having to fight the traffic. So that's what's going on. There's a lot more planning to do. There's a lot more work to do with the planning committee, which Councilman Wessinger chairs, followed by a written agreement called the Development Agreement between the county and Brighton Capital Partners. So any questions from ladies and gentlemen up here? Mr. Chairman, thank you for allowing me the time to speak. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, as far as the speakers, if you could proceed into the in favor.

Good to go. In favor, we have several, but I think only a couple. By the way, as we go through this, if I mispronounce your name, I apologize. I really can't read some of these. Help me out when I get to that point. This is Joe Doyle.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I didn't know I was going to be the only one speaking up here. I texted Andy. I said, I'm the only one here. So I moved to Lexington in 1984. And I moved into a subdivision called Ashley Oaks. Probably a lot of you know it. And I was the first house there. And that was a really great neighborhood. Then moved over to Secret Cove, and we moved in a couple different properties on the lake. And so all my kids were raised here in Lexington. Went to school at USC. We'd been part of Lexington for a long time. And I've seen the growth that has happened in Lexington. I recently moved to Timberlake, and so my wife and I moved over there, and we love Chapin, and Chapin reminds me a lot like Lexington was in 1984. So I didn't know anything about this project, and I just heard about it. I think, Charlene, I saw some of your text. So I drove through the place yesterday, and I said, wow, why has this not... done anything. I said, this doesn't make sense. So I started researching that, and I found out Andy was involved in it. I've known Andy for close to 40 years. And our kids grew up together. And I tried to contact Andy, and he was kind of slow to respond. He didn't ask me to come here. I said, I want to come. And so I guess what I've seen in Chapin is... That park's been there for eight or 10 years and nothing's happened. $60 million has been sitting there. And that just doesn't make sense to me. And then, you know, I've looked in what's happened in business in the last five to six years between COVID, you had COVID hit. So corporations had people working remote. So in my block alone, the people live next to me, they, All work. But they moved to Timberlake from all over the world. I'll be honest with you. I was just amazed. I played golf with a guy from Australia, a guy from England, and just all over the place. And most of them work from home. There are some retired, but they all work from home. And they moved to Timberlake because they want to be here in Chapin. And I said, that's pretty cool. And we want to maintain that environment. And, you know, when I look at Brighton and I hear what Andy wants to do with Saluda River Club, I said, man, that's a perfect fit. I'll be honest. You know, because it's going to be real hard to get industry to come in and set up an office facility. Look what happened to GIS. You know, they had, what, 500 employees there? The building's empty.

Yeah.

Thank you. Okay, very good. I'm all supportive of it. Mr. Doyle, for the record, could you give your address, please? Yeah, 316 Elwood Lane, Chapin.

Thank you. Okay. Okay, anybody else in favor that wants to speak that didn't sign up? Once, twice, three times, you're gone. In favor portion is over. We're now in the opposition portion. The first person to sign up is the mayor, Bill Mitter.

Good afternoon, council, guests here. I appreciate you being here and all those watching at large. Chairman Hudson, Mr. White, Tewitmungo's not here. I need to say up front, I think highly of you men, your families, what you've meant to our state and our local communities, our counties, you're good people. I assume that's true with the rest of the council. However, we're a little bit at odds right now. So let's get to the point. You ended up with 203 acres 12 years ago, entered into the real estate business. 12 years later, you got $17.1 million invested in it and no return. You're not very good at real estate. I'd get out of it too if I were you. And if you got a buyer standing here that wants to take it, I see why you're interested in selling the land. However, and I would not be opposed to that, But it's creating a little bit of a problem for Chapin. So let me address that. On my second day of office, I issued a directive, not a moratorium. I'm the mayor of Chapin. It's a mayor council form of government. By law, my job description is chief administrative officer of the town, and I'm your problem. After seven months of thoroughly investigating the details, much more than the Executive Director of COG just tried to explain, and I'll cover that in just a minute, I've discovered that from an engineering point of view, who we are and who we want to be. We're on track and we're in great shape. From a financial point of view, and all three of these have to work in order for that plant to survive, and 7,700 people who currently use it having that utility. Could you imagine if we broke that plant? What a problem that would be. Not going to happen. We've got financial plans in mind. We'll see if they work out. I also have to look at legal responsibilities of the town of Chapin as I act on their behalf as so elected. I think we've got solid legal ground not to issue these taps to you, the county, to Stuart Mungo, and the 500 people who are currently behind them, totaling 1,500 people who want TAPs right now. Not to mention, as soon as I start issuing those, the line will grow. We are regulated under the umbrella of EPA. That's a federal agency, Environmental Protection Agency, that hands it off to the state of South Carolina. That would be South Carolina DES. And DES says two things to Chapin. You got a plant that's at 2.4 percent capacity. Don't go over that. And don't spill a drop of it on the ground. The county currently thinks they're going to hold us hostage with a contract that requires me, the stipulations of it require me to break the law. Now, I noticed you gave Mr. White extra time, Mr. Hudson. I've got a very important role here. I wonder if I could ask permission to go beyond three minutes.

Well, first of all, y'all don't make that decision. Okay? Second of all, I've been in two meetings with you, and I don't think you can say hello in 45 minutes. With all due respect, I like you a lot. It is rude, but it's true. I'll give you three more minutes. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Thank you. That's not being rude.

Here's the deal, people and county. I don't believe there's a judge in South Carolina under any conditions after any amount of presentations. would say to me as the mayor, give them those 677 taps, give Stewart 390, give the other people 500. If you overload that plant and break it, it's not my problem. A judge is not going to do that. You want to roll the dice and go to court and see what happens, I'm ready to play. Better hang on to your dress, because if you lose the case, you're going to reimburse us for legal fees. And for the record, I'm not budging. We are not going to break that plant under any conditions. In five or six or ten years, when we get a plant up running with 4.8 million gallons per day capacity, we can have a conversation that will also include annexing that property back into Chapin so Chapin can get business license fees from those industries that go in there that you're robbing us of on this current bad deal that somebody made before we got here, Mr. Hudson. We just showed up today. I respect that. But here we are. That's the situation. You don't have a legal leg to stand on. You cannot write terms in a contract that would require me to break South Carolina law. You have to have clean hands with a contract. So if you want to challenge that in court, you've already decided you do. I'm ready. End of discussion.

Thank you, Bill. This is my first public hearing that I've chaired. I've sat in this chair for 10 years. This is just like going across the street at the divorce court. You know, we got to act like we're in that courtroom. I think Jake Moore would agree with that. He said, no, we're in the front row. So with that said, next is Jeff Grover. State your address, please, sir, and your full name.

My name is Jeff Grover. I reside at 406 Dutchman Shore Circle in Chapin, South Carolina. I'm not opposed to all development. I am opposed to irresponsible development that needlessly burdens an already stressed infrastructure. And I'm not just talking about the sewer system. The roads, even with the expansion of Columbia Avenue right now, we are way behind on road development. We're behind on receiving adequate emergency services. We are behind building enough schools for the current influx of people. Adding someplace in the neighborhood of 600 more homes is just going to be a further burden And I believe infrastructure should precede development. I also believe that the promise that Lexington County Council had made when establishing the technology park for jobs was a good one. And it became even more needed with the exit of Ellett Brothers and General Information Services, the two largest employers in the Chapin area. There's more than ample small lot housing in the Chapin area. Between Boykin Hills, Fairbridge, West Park, and the apparent imminent development of something on the order of 250 additional homes in Brighton, we don't really need more homes. And I've been led to believe that Lexington County Ordinance had a three mile location standard, I believe within Ordinance 23-9. This tract and the aforementioned neighborhoods are all within a three-mile radius. So I do not believe that we need additional houses. We do need industry and commercial entities that pay mortgage-paying jobs to the employees of our area. What we need is responsible development. We need publicly accessible amenities, not private neighborhood only amenities. We need the commercial tax base to support the public safety services, I hope, that can be expanded to our side of the lake. What we don't need is increased traffic. It's gotten terrible here. You folks over on the other side of the lake, you ought to come over and try it out every once in a while. It's getting worse on a daily basis. We need to increase county services, and I just don't see residential taxes being sufficient to fund those. Commercial has a chance, and I would rather see that property be used for things that are generating commercial taxes. Got my three minutes, or do I have one more?

Thank you, Mr. Grover. Appreciate it. If you stand over there so they can hear the beeper, because I don't think they can hear the beeper. Do you feel comfortable doing that?

Yeah.

Thank you. It does it, too. It beeps. It beeps, Charlie. You just can't hear it. Because I don't want to be rude to anybody, as somebody accused me a minute ago, but anyway. Number three is, and I think it's Michelle, it might be Michael. Is it Michael?

Mike Whitehurst. Whitehurst, would you state your... You're welcome. And now you can start the buzzer. My name is Mike Whitehurst, and my family lives at 801 Silverpoint Road, Chapin, South Carolina. Mr. Chairman and council members, I appreciate your service to our county and the opportunity to speak tonight. My primary concern is that this project does not align with the concurrency and zoning standards that we, with your assistance, put in place to manage growth in the Chapin area. While the development is being presented as a mixed-use project and includes around 600 homes, when combined with the proposed Mungo development, nearly 1,000 new homes could be concentrated at the entrance of our community. When viewed alongside other planned growth in this area, this level of development will place additional pressure on our infrastructure. Roads and traffic capacity are already concerns for many residents. Public safety and emergency services will face increased demand, and our schools will be expected to accommodate additional growth. Those investments come with important financial considerations. The Town of Chaffin already faces revenue constraints, and Town and County residents deserve to understand how the costs and other necessary improvements will be funded before approvals move forward. Based on what we know today, existing sewer capacity is unclear to support a project of this magnitude without substantial infrastructure potential investments. For these reasons, I oppose this proposal and the proposed sale of the property. Our community deserves all the stakeholders, people in this room, council, state, whatever, to come together to produce an economic development plan that reflects the original vision for this property and benefits not just this residence, but also all Chapin residents. Let's work together to achieve that end. A couple other observations. Regardless of this sewer infrastructure upgrade in this capacity dispute, until this is resolved, there's no way we should be moving forward with large tap allocations. Traffic right now on Columbia Avenue at peak times already backs up from the interstate to the railroad tracks. I know we're going to widen that road, but you're going to put 2,000-plus cars on Columbia Avenue. The other thing I want to talk about is we just heard tonight about the tech incubator. I think that's used as a loss leader, quite frankly, for the residential component. I think it's ambitious, and I have to ask the question as somebody who's been in the technology world for a lot of years. Why is it you're going to sell that, but we haven't been able to sell this general commercial development for 12 plus years? I mean, I have to ask those questions because there's no reason we shouldn't have been able to do that. From a school's perspective, the percentage should be about 0.5 students per household. I know .23, I think, is thrown out there nationally, but quite frankly, in our area with good schools, it should be that. So thanks for allowing me to give you those observations, and thank you for the time. Appreciate it. Thank you, Michael.

Michael, I'm sorry calling you Michelle.

It's okay.

The next one is Vicki Sheely.

Mayor and members of County Council. I'm Vicki Shealy. I live at 402 Lexington Avenue. I have been in Chapin for at least 47 years, but I spent my summers and weekends at the lake. I also am Chapin Town Councilwoman. I am here representing my town, which I love dearly. I respectfully urge you to vote NO, that's capital N-O, NO, but for this town, for the Brighton Industrial Park to a residential developer. You promised us a technical industry park, and we, the taxpayers, invested in this. Now... Now y'all are on another large resident subdivision, which is ridiculous. What makes the decision particularly troubling is the council had alternative bids for this property, whether you've known so or not. And the structural users submitted a proposal as did life plan communities. Yet the proposal that council wants our Chapin citizens to swallow is one that would add more than 600 homes to the burden of our schools, our roads, and our public service. Surely you cannot believe that our taxpayers would support such. I'm not finished, but I'm offering each and every one of you to come to Chapin, if you know where it's at, at 7 o'clock on a Monday through Friday morning and sit in that traffic and see what these people go through every morning to get to town. I'll continue with the rest of this. Let me be very clear. Our community needs and wants quality mortgage-paying jobs, not rooftops. We've got enough of them, plenty. This proposed 600 homes will be across from Chapin High School, an area always plagued by traffic congestions. Your job as council members is to manage growth responsibly. You have duty to our citizens to do exactly that. What you propose is not responsible growth. It's shaping a sacrificial land for some of the other projects that you have and haven't told us about yet. Once this land is converted to residential use, the opportunity brings industry and jobs to the site is gone forever. So the question before you is simple. Are you going to vote to use the property for the purpose that you told the taxpayers you were purchasing it for, or... or go against the taxpayers that voted you in. And that's what you're doing. Last but not least, I would like to thank Council Members Charlie Wessinger, Larry Brigham, and Mike Bishop for their efforts to protect the interests of Chapin community. I respectfully request that all Council Members honor the original purpose of the Brighton Industrial Park, prioritize economic development, and reject the proposed sale. Chapin needs jobs, responsible planning, and a leadership focus on our long-term future. We are asking you to step up to the plate and on your duty to us. Thank you for your time and consideration, and I would love to welcome you each to Chapin at 7 o'clock in the morning, and I will do that.

Thank you, Ms. Shealy. I cannot read this person's name. She lives in Chapin. And the last four digits of him or her phone number, I believe, is 6593. All right. All right.

Thank you. Muriel Ruiz.

If you state your name and your address, we need to get down here.

Muriel Ruiz. I live in South Carolina. I've been here for almost eight years. I HAVE SEEN AN ASTROCITY OF GROWTH IN OUR TOWN. I HAVE BEEN ON COLUMBIA AVENUE, I WENT TO THE LIBRARY, A TRAIN WENT BY, AND ALL TRAFFIC CAME TO A HALL. IF WE ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, IT'LL BE A NIGHTMARE. THERE HAD TO BE, I WOULD GUESS TO ME, OVER A THOUSAND CARS If we allow 2,000, 3,000 more cars. And this was at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. I know what it's like in the morning. I know what it's like at night. We have to say no to this. I thank you, council. And thank you, Mr. Mayor.

CHARLIE, WHAT WAS THE LAST NAME?

M-A-R-I-E-L. R-O-U-R-U. THERE YOU GO.

ALL RIGHTY, THANK YOU. ANDREA CHRISTOSEN,

Hello, my name is Andrea Christensen, and I live at 633 Webster Point Drive in Timberlake, Chapin. Thank you for your time and willingness to serve on Lexington County Council. As I'm sure you can tell, the people of Chapin are very concerned over this recent contract Lexington County is considering for Brighton Park. I totally understand the county wanting to sell this piece of property. However, you need to take into consideration how this is going to impact our town and community in a way that can never be undone. Many of you were instrumental in getting the Lake Murray overlay implemented a few short years ago to help preserve Lexington County and encourage smarter, more thoughtful development. Most of us in this room supported you on this front and came to hearings in the same room to support that change. Quite frankly, this current contract presented by Mr. Andy White and his investors goes against the logic of the Lake Murray overlay many of you fought hard for. Why has this changed? The hypocrisy is baffling. Eight of the nine council members live on this side of the lake where this decision will not impact your daily lives. However, here we stand asking you to support us the same way we supported you with the Lake Murray overlay. In recent days, Mr. White suddenly released curated presentations to the media of his vision for this community. To hear the homes were going to range from $600,000 to $1 million was surprising. While this all sounds good, it's just hard to believe people would pay that kind of money for a neighborhood located behind 350 Mungo Homes under major power transformers and next to I-26. The parcel of land at Brighton Park is not on a scenic road like Corley Mill, not like Daniel Island or part of a Lake Murray access area that would garner those prices. What will Chapin be left with should this project fall flat? But the bigger picture in our town simply is that our town cannot accommodate this. We are trying to catch up with the massive growth we have already experienced. We are in the process of adding an Amix Ferry bypass, widening Columbia Avenue, and looking at doubling our sewer capacity in the coming years. This is simply to accommodate what we already have. We will never catch up if we keep adding to the problem, not to mention the impact on our good schools that are literally full already. All of these things I just mentioned create a negative impact on the quality of life in Chapin. Why not explore bids that will stay business and industrial As originally intended, we need development that is going to offer mortgage-paying jobs for the Chapin area. Why vote for a fast $20 million residential sale when the county and the town both benefit in the long run from 6% business taxes? Residential communities at 4% drain the county budget and strain county services and infrastructure. Speaking of the money, what are the plans for that $20 million and what part of Lexington County will benefit from it? Thank you for your time, and we ask that you please do what's best in the long term for both the town of Chapin and the county of Lexington. Thank you.

Thank you. Officer Corral, make sure you start the three minutes after they introduce themselves instead of when they introduce themselves. Give them that extra time. Janet Howell? And your name and address, please.

I'm Janet Howell, and I live at 503 Timberlake Drive in Chapin, South Carolina, 29036. I'm going to get right to the point. As we've already said, Brighton Park was developed as a corporate park to provide jobs for the people in Chapin and the surrounding area to bring in tax revenue from the industries. Industries provide money for the county budget. Homes consume money from the county budget. Brighton Park was never intended to be used for residential development. Please leave it as it was intended, for corporate development only. I don't know if you're aware of this. I was just made aware of this this week. Chapin and the area residents are under a current water restriction at this time despite our recent heavy rains. We are not allowed to water or we're only allowed to water yards from 3.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. Those of us who purchase water from Columbia use the water for drinking, cooking, and watering our lawns. With more homes potentially being built, this could drop the water level to low enough to institute a boil water advisory. That's really scary. I'm a nurse, and considering a boil water advisory with schools in the area having to do this, that would just be a devastation to our area. There's only one pipeline that carries water down Amix Ferry Road, and this pipeline can only handle so much pressure at one time. And as you know, we have a Piney Woods Elementary School located along this route, not to mention hundreds of homes. Our schools are almost at full capacity. We've already discussed the sewer system at near full capacity. Our emergency medical services, including the fire and sheriff's departments, are short-staffed and unable to provide adequate services now. And if we just added more people, it would be even more delayed response times. I personally have had patients who have had to wait months to a year to have surgery because the orthopedic surgeons are over... POPULATED WITH PATIENTS, ALSO FINDING PERSONAL CARE PHYSICIANS WHEN PEOPLE MOVE TO THE AREA HAS BEEN DIFFICULT FOR MEETING MY FRIENDS. SO PLEASE, LET'S PUT A HALT ON THIS RESIDENTIAL GROWTH SO THE COUNTY CAN CATCH UP. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

THANK YOU, MA'AM. TRISHA KING. STATE YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS, PLEASE, MA'AM.

My address is 303 Osprey Lake Drive in Chapin, South Carolina. Good evening, and thank you, council members, for the opportunity to speak tonight. I would like to respectfully direct my comments toward Councilwoman Kerrig, who left, but I'm hoping this is being recorded, and I'm certain that all of you can get behind the points that I will bring up. Councilwoman Kerrig, I'm here tonight respectfully asking her and the rest of you to uphold the commitments that were central to her platform as shared with voters on Facebook. They were protecting Lexington County, fighting over development, and putting people over population. Those promises resonated with many residents because they reflected a desire to preserve the character, quality of life, and future of communities like Chapin. Tonight, I ask that those principles guide your decision regarding the proposed Brighton residential development. I also encourage the other members of council to join in supporting these priorities and to stand with the citizens they were elected to represent. I stand in opposition of Brighton for residential purposes. Additionally, high-density residential growth, as you've all heard, will place further strain on roads, schools, infrastructure, and public services while altering the small town character that residents value and worked hard to preserve. I respectfully ask you to vote against Brighton for residential development and instead support the efforts to identify more amenable solutions that strengthen Chapin financially while serving the needs of the current residents and protecting the community we love. This is an opportunity to demonstrate leadership and values that formed the foundation of this campaign, again, that I think all of you can get behind. Please stand with the citizens of Chapin, honor commitments you made to the voters, and vote against Brighton for residential development. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. I think it's David Dorette. David Darrett. David Darrell. Anybody with a DD?

All right.

We're going to go to the next one. We're going to take one more, and then we're going to take a 10-minute break. We have a bunch of people up here over 60. You got me. The next one is Alicia Huffstetter.

Hello, council. Alicia Huffstetter, 861 Emmons Ferry Road, Chapin, South Carolina. These are my comments, and we're going to have fun. Okay. So all towns and counties want money. I get it. I get it. But money comes from businesses and industry. It comes from businesses and industry. It does not come from housetops at 4% taxes. It comes from businesses and industry. All right. So we got that. The 600 house development is going to really drain the county. Because it's not 600 homes. It's 400 with mungo. So it's 1,000 homes. And it's going to drain the county. 4% doesn't pay the bills. EMS, fire, police, it's a drain. This is not a plus. This is a negative balance in the budget. Chapin cannot handle... Plus Mongo, plus this development, that would be 3,400 cars. And yes, I do invite you to go to Chapin at 6.30, 7 in the morning, and then just imagine 3,400 more cars. And these cars, per the video I saw, are not going to just travel two roads. They're going to go to the middle school, to the high school, to the elementary school. Oh yeah, down 76, down 176. And the middle of Chapin. They might circle around and go to, I don't know, Sonic. It is going to be a traffic absolute nightmare with 3,400 cars. Let's talk about students. 0.5 times 1,000 homes with this development is potentially 500 students. We do not have the school capacity for that. Y'all fought hard, those of you, fought hard for concurrency. We don't have... We don't have the capacity. Piney Woods Elementary is 600 students. This is a whole other school. We don't have it. Our infrastructure will not handle it. What we need in Chapin is business and industry. I have a son who's an engineer. I'd love for him to work somewhere in Chapin and drive 10 minutes. Is that 30 seconds or... I got a minute. Awesome. So, hey, but we need, we don't need traffic. We don't need more houses. There's a 400 housing development behind my house. Destroyed the land, by the way. Stripped it to red mud. And they're not built yet. And so that's, there's more traffic and there's more students, okay? So we really cannot handle this. What we need is, and industry. Because you guys are going to lose with the houses. You're going to win with industry. And that is my under three minute comment.

Thank you, Lisa. We're going to dismiss for 10 minutes and we'll be back. All right, we're going to open back up the public hearing. And I want to remind you, not because we are, don't want to hear what you say. But if you have somebody who's already said what you think. Your point should be, it would be great if you said, I concur. If not, we'll be here at 12 o'clock. And that's up to y'all. It's up to you. Number two, if I stand up, and I probably will stand up, I am recovering from back surgery, full reconstructive back surgery. and it hurts to sit down, and I've been sitting for half the day. So I don't want you to feel sorry for me. I raise my hand, and I will serve to the best of my ability. And for the person who said I was rude when I said what I said about Bill, I would say that to Bill personally, and he knows that, so I wasn't being rude. So am I right, Bill? There you go. With that said, I'm going to start calling two at a time. That way they're lined right up. And they can go. All right. Y'all figure out a better way to do it. Let me know. Pope Clark and Jason Talinsky.

There you go.

Name and address, please.

Pope Clark, 309 Hillhaven, Chapin. Been on the lake for 30-plus years. Chapin has long waited for county council to put this property back into its original plan use of providing jobs. You had someone interested, but you didn't about-face and chose someone building residential. Even went with a PUD, which exempts it from concurrency constraints Lexington County people wanted. Chapin has been long awaiting the jobs and income from Brighton. Jenkinsville went belly up. Brighton died. But now we have Jenkinsville coming back. And I heard you had someone interested in its original industrial use to provide jobs. Yet you're seriously entertaining residential. Nothing about this is good for Chapin. We cannot handle the traffic. We cannot handle the sewer. We cannot handle the schools. We need the jobs after losing other businesses in town. The 4% tax rate that residential properties pay will fall horribly short of the services needed to accommodate not only the new people, but those of us already there. You did not consult Chapin. our own council person tells you why this doesn't work. Additionally, this isn't even the best deal for Lexington County. The county's only benefit is the initial sale. The residual tax benefit is substantially lower than if developed for commercial use as originally intended. So why do it? We can only think the county is playing politics and serving special interests because that's all we know. This falls horribly short of tending to the residents. There were other bids, there can still be other bids. Just don't choose the absolute worst case scenario and turn a blind eye to the residents. Our community will be left with so many problems and so much chaos. Andy White's ads give the impression it's a done deal. Based on his ads, he feels he owns this or he wouldn't be so bold. You'd have egg on your face to say he's wrong or turn it down, but you should. Back to the sewer. You don't see the overflows from too many BIA developers maxing out this utility. Thank goodness our mayor is digging in to protect us. But then you make noise about suing the town of Chapin for those taps. You are willing to aid and abet a developer by suing a town you are responsible for? Shame on you. Use your job for the right reason. Stop this Paladin development. Give it to someone offering jobs. Raise up Chapin. This is Community Development 101. Paladin will bring Chapin down. To those who lost their reelection, you have time to be altruistic and do the right thing. Those remaining, you have time to save face with the Chapin people. My husband and I stand in opposition of this project. Thank you.

Jason Dolinsky, 21 Revelstone Way, Chapin. Good evening. My name is Jason Dolinsky, and I'm a resident of the town of Chapin. Chapin is my home, and I want what most of the people to the left of me want. We want this to stop. What is alarming to me right now, though, is that Andy White is no longer here to listen to our speeches. Now back to what has been revealed. This grandiose 600 to 1,000 home development, when you add on the Mungo, potentially reside at the entrance to our town. And our concerns will remain the same. Is this the only proposal currently being considered for this property? Previous discussions indicated another business proposal which may have been under consideration. Where are they? Why is there no transparency? Why does the regional doctrine demand that no trees should be left standing and another box must take up and accommodate that naked landscape? This region has long entered the realm of gross negligence without adding excessive chaos to the infrastructure in every possible facet. What are the projected impacts and costs to schools, both water, sewer, infrastructure, traffic, public safety, and other essential public services? We've already encountered the necessity for additional resources at the water treatment facility, as per last month's update by our mayor. And that process will take years to complete. How does this impact Chapin schools and school ratings? New schools will have to be constructed to handle the influx of not only current students at the sacrifice of their ratings, which in turn means that property value is going to go down. And residents, sadly, will eventually leave. But this short-sighted planning process seems to run ever so rampant. Why is that? This needs to be solved going forward and sooner rather than later. Does it strengthen our community or detract from it? The county and the town should be working together on decisions of this importance. When they're not aligned, the community ultimately bears the consequences of neglect and incompetence. This is unacceptable on all fronts. Even the very members of me in front of the council differ. Does this bait and switch from a commercial to a mixed-use... Residential malfeasance plan really in the town's best interest? We need to try and end this never-ending quest to raise Chapin. You were elected to advocate for the residents not to be self-serving, but the scope is larger than Chapin. Mr. White said it will not affect traffic because we are near a highway. Unless there is a helipad or a runway somewhere in the development, how will these households get their groceries, take their kids to school, etc., etc.? Because it will most definitely affect traffic. Enough is enough. Many thanks to our Mayor Bill Mitchell, Charlie, and Chapin's elected advocates who oppose this nonsense. Thank you.

Debbie Taylor and Miriam Matrangola. Y'all concur? Okay. One second. I'm sorry, I slaughtered your name. Kim Murphy. Kim Murphy, and behind Kim Murphy would be Sandra Manns. Okay. State your name and address, please.

Thank you. Kim Murphy, 154 Old Laurel Lane, Chapin. The contract on page six says no less than 600 units. It won't be less than six. It'll be no less than 600. Plus, according to the comprehensive plan, there may be also another 48 acres that can be added to the development. And the contract says that more land can be tied to the PDD. Excuse me. I'm not only a resident concerned with development, well, overdevelopment and protecting the character of our communities in the rural areas of Lexington County to the east of Lake Murray, but also on the Richland County side. essentially the 29036 area, Chapin, Ballantyne, Dutch Fork, Irmo, all comprised of our school district boundaries. When rezonings come up in Richland County for higher density developments or requests for zoning change to a greater impact, the rest of the council members yield to the recommendation of the council member whose district contains the development proposal. That's because the council member has a much better understanding of the impact to the area that the development would bring, and also an understanding of the desires of the constituents. When the proposal for Brighton Technology Park came about, county council member Johnny Jeffcoat, along with later Councilman Bergersen, Chapin's representatives, gave careful, thoughtful consideration to the impact of the town. The development was essentially and now is contiguous to its boundaries, not somewhere miles from it where the impact wouldn't be minimal. There were multiple conversations and the outcome was a development that would have some impact to the town, but also would be a great asset to it and the county. We appreciate that spirit of working together. Now you all have an opportunity to do that. First, I hope council members will yield to the local council members' recommendations, like the plan for the park. Second, the ordinance offer from the developer should contain a specific design plan so that you know what they intend to develop and so that you can weigh the impact to the town and the county before you approve it. The offer states that a conceptual plan, which is not a commitment, will come after the contract is signed. The ordinance as it is written to sell 200 plus acres spells out nothing except a minimum of 600 residents will be constructed on very little land because of wetlands, which could be apartments, and a percentage for commercial. It will allow for a completely new use that will have significantly more impact than the current zoning. The picture that the developer paints is a very pretty picture, but as it is written, the 600-plus homes, there's nothing in the ordinance to limit it. This also impacts Richland County downstream. I can't imagine that council would approve something so nonspecific, especially being contiguous to a small town within the county's boundaries. So now that so many know about the issues with this, that you were unsuccessful in selling the lots at the park, I bet you have a lot of people now who would be willing to help so you can continue to do that. So I ask that you defer it.

Thank you very much. Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, council members, thank you for this opportunity. My name is Sandra Mann. I live at 553 Dutchman Shore Circle in Chapin. I'm a lifelong Lexington County resident and a proud Chapin citizen. I'm also a steward of a family homestead, which will be greatly impacted if this development goes through. I'm here tonight to strongly urge you to vote no on Ordinance 2604. This vote, honestly, is far more than one piece of property or just one more development. It is about whether this council is finally willing to acknowledge the consequences of years of uncontrolled growth, not only in Chapin, but throughout Lexington County, and whether you're willing to stop repeating these same mistakes. Chapin has reached its breaking point. Our roads are overcrowded, our schools are strained, our sewer systems, emergency services, and infrastructure are struggling to keep up with the pace of development. Residents are living with the consequences of these decisions every single day. And yet, despite these very real and obvious problems, this council is considering approval of yet another large-scale development filled with high-density residential units and maybe, maybe, a few beneficial businesses and venues, all the while seemingly ignoring the voices of your constituents and worsening existing issues our community is trying so hard to overcome. That is not responsible growth. Quite frankly, it's reckless. The people who live in Chapin are not asking to stop all growth. We are asking for responsible, well-planned growth that actually benefits our town and its surrounding areas. We're asking you to protect the people who already live here instead of continuing to prioritize unchecked expansion. Many of you don't live in Chapin. You don't feel the frustration residents feel watching our community rapidly lose the small-town charm that families have spent generations building and protecting. But the people who do live in Chapin, they're speaking loudly and very clearly. We're telling you we cannot continue down this path. Approving Ordinance 2604 would do even more irreversible damage to a community that is already overwhelmed. For years, residents in Chapin and across Lexington County have watched our small communities lose the character and quality of life that once made them special places to live. And there's a large reason why people want to live there. You were elected by the citizens of Lexington County, people who trusted your judgment. We believe that you would make decisions that would improve our quality of life, not make it more difficult. Tonight, I'm asking you to truly listen to us, listen to the people in Chapin who will be forced to live with the long-term consequences of your decision long after tonight's meeting ends. I thank you for voting no.

We have Kim Dempsey. Kim Dempsey. Heather Burkhart. On deck, Sandy Wade. Name and address, please.

Heather Burkhart, 146 Lake Vista Drive, Chapin. Thank you for having us. We appreciate you listening. Some of you may recognize the little group of us of Ambulance Response Solutions for Lexington County. And I come to this table regarding emergency services. I'm a registered nurse and public health certified, and we moved here. Oh, there's a fire department five minutes from our house. There's no paramedic and no EMT there. There are two firemen. That's not adequate to provide fire service to our community nor the whole of Chapin. Homes that catch on fire are pretty much a loss because there's only two, maybe three, and then two firemen, maybe six firemen on duty at a time. Not enough. Regarding the medical services, and it's unfortunate that Mr. White's not here because it seems like he doesn't want to listen to the community he would be building in. And he probably doesn't know this, but it takes... Sometimes 45 minutes to get an ambulance to a home. Normally it's 10 minutes for a life-threatening situation. And then you've got a 40-minute drive to an overcrowded emergency room. You're waiting there. It can be two hours before you see a doctor. This is inadequate emergency services in Lexington County. One of the issues I have is Mr. White referred to a certain percentage of 55 and over. And a lot of Chapin is over 55. People who move to Chapin are probably not researching how long does it take to get to a hospital. Where's the nearest paramedic? Where's the nearest EMT? I personally think there should be a real estate disclosure because this is a public health hazard, not having enough EMTs, paramedics, ambulances, fire in a community where there are the majority of senior citizens. Our children are impacted by this as well. Our Piney Woods Elementary School had an emergency, life-threatening emergency, and the principal almost had to drive that child to the hospital because it took so long for an ambulance to get there. Unacceptable. Adding all of these homes, all of these new residents will not... only inhibit our fire and emergency medical services. But the traffic, every time I see an ambulance with their lights and sirens going down one of our little roads, I think what kind of bottleneck are they going to get stuck behind on our roads and then the 26th? I pray for the person inside that ambulance and for the crew because they're doing life-saving work measures in a rolling ICU unit. Is that my three? Police also. Our sheriffs are relying on Chapin Police Department to cover them when they're doing busy work and taking care of the safety of other communities. So we need more sheriffs around too. Thank you.

Thank you. Warren Burrett. Warren Burrett, if you're going to speak, you're abiding sanity.

Members of Council, I'm Sandy Wade, 436 Lake Estate Drive in Chapin. Thank you for all that you do on the Council. I know that it is a thankless job, and it requires a tremendous amount of time. It disturbs me that I have seen... in the media that there has been no interest in Brighton Park as a business park. I happen to know that that's not true. There is a Chapin native who had a contract to sell his adjacent land to a commercial bidder for Brighton, and that contract was canceled because council accepted the contract with Brighton Business Partners instead of the business. He had not signed an NDA, and he spoke out about this. I'm also aware that there was a bid made for part of Brighton for a life plan community. I know this because the bid was made through a friend of mine. I am very concerned that she did not even receive the courtesy of a response from county regarding that bid. Over the last several years, I've spoken with many members of the Chapin community about the concept of a life plan community, which is what she wanted to build. We definitely have a need for additional senior housing, but not just for over 55. We need assisted living, and we also need memory care, quality assisted living and memory care, and that does not exist currently in Chapin. We are losing our seniors and their buying power to other areas because there aren't adequate options to downsize. These seniors spend money to shop, and they eat out at times when younger people are working. This also would have provided businesses associated with senior living and care. And it also would have been a great transition to a new library and an option for 40 acres requested for a couple of years now by the VA for a new Columbia area assisted living and memory care facility. Chapin is a very veteran-friendly community. It's also concerning to me that someone has been leaking to local media that there will be a library, an amphitheater, and other amenities, none of which are included in the contract, and therefore not a guarantee. The amphitheater is made to sound like it's an amenity for the citizens of Chapin, but in fact, it's an amenity for the development. This is deceptive marketing to gain support of the people of Chapin. I understand that you're trying to get the most money out of Brighton for the good of the people of Lexington County, but you seem to forget that the people of Chapin are also the people of Lexington County, and that you have a duty to do right by us, just as you do to citizens in other parts of the county. I suspect that you would not consider putting 1,000 homes, and we have to consider the adjacent Mungo development of nearly 400 homes that has been approved by the Chapin Planning Commission. You would not consider putting 1,000 homes within a half a mile of the interstate along any exit along I-20 because your constituents would be furious. If it's not good for the Lexington side of the lake, it's not good for the Chapin side either. Thank you.

Is that Warren? Yes. Up next is Ms. Bost. Bost. Bost. And behind Ms. Bost is Ms. Duckworth. So behind that would be, I don't have a clue. LISA C. SOMEBODY. WELL, IF YOU CALL THIS COMELANDER, THAT'S WHAT IT IS.

I THINK LISA COMELANDER HAD A LITTLE BIT.

SO BEHIND THAT IS TERI ROWELL. I CONCUR. YOU CONCUR? ALL RIGHT. AND BEHIND THAT IS MS. APPLEBY. OKAY. Sounds like an integrity here, and then behind that is Mr. Como? Mr. Como? All right. All right. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. Go ahead.

Name and address, please. Okay. Good evening. My name is Warren Byrd, and I reside at 121 Curtis Court. And I proudly serve on the Chapin Town Council, representing the residents of Chapin and the surrounding area. Before I start, I just want to say thank you to Charlene Westinger for being an advocate for Chapin. You're doing a great job. Thank you. I'm here tonight because my residents are asking the same question. How did we get here? Brighton Park was established as an industrial and business park. Residents were promised jobs, economic development, and a stronger commercial tax base. Instead, they are being asked to accept more traffic, more strain on the schools, and more pressure on the infrastructure. Now that vision has been replaced with a proposal for nearly 600 homes. Before approving 600 homes, we must ask whether our roads, schools, utilities, and public safety services are prepared to absorb that growth. Many residents believe the answer is no. Just as important, changing the purpose of this property after years of public expectations is a decision which damages the trust in government planning. Once 600 homes are built, that decision is permanent. The opportunity to preserve this land for economic development and future jobs are gone. Lexington County already has residential developments. What we have far less of is strategically located land designated for business and industrial growth. Growth strengthens the tax base without placing the same burden on schools and infrastructure. When I ran for Chapin Town Council, I promised the people who elected me that I would listen to them, represent their interests, and be their voice when important decisions are being made. The residents of Chapin and the surrounding communities have spoken clearly on this issue. Public officials are elected to serve the people. Not developers, not special interests, and not outside agendas. We are elected to listen to our residents and represent their interests. I want to repeat that. Public officials are elected to serve the people. We are elected to listen to the residents and represent their interests. Let that sink in. I respectfully ask you to reject this proposal and keep Brighton Park aligned with the purpose which it was created. If this property is sold for housing, Lexington County would have failed the vision it presented to the public, failed the community that trusted that vision, and lastly, failed Chapin. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

State your name and address, please.

Ainsley Bost. I live at 114 Glenwood Road, Chapin. I'm a lifelong resident of Chapin, and I currently serve on Chapin Town Council. Like everybody has said here tonight, I'm just repeating what everybody else said. We don't want another 600-plus housing development at the entrance to our town. I drive 80-plus miles a day to work. If we had this park, For industry, I might not have to drive 80 plus miles a day to work. It would mean a lot for Chapin. As other people have said, you know, we lost GIS, VC Summer, Ellip Brothers. So there's not a lot in Chapin that could pay a mortgage. It's very important to us. I think the residents have spoken out through email, portal, Attendance tonight and we're here to represent that we we do not want this. I thank Charlie for all of her hard work she works tirelessly and I appreciate the people who are in opposition of this proposal You're letting jobs slip right through your fingers You're you're not honoring your contract with Chapin You're breaking our town I'm not going to reiterate what every single person said. I just, I would appreciate if you would really think about what we've all said tonight and take into consideration what we go through and how it affects our community. Because y'all are elected, just like me. And my residents asked me to come up here and speak, and here I am. And they know I don't like to do it. So... You know, we just really, really want you all to think about how this would negatively impact our community and honor the contract. Bring us some jobs so we don't have to drive 80-plus miles a day. Thank you for your time, and thank you for your service.

We all survived, didn't we? I want to first of all ask anybody, is there anything else they want to see, anybody who wants to speak that haven't spoke? With that said, we are glad you came. We have one person. Yes, sir. Speak your name and your address, please.

My name is Houston Fitzpatrick. I live at 1105 Indian Summer Point in Chapin. I've lived in Lexington County 56 and a half years. We've been in Chapin for almost 18. What I wanted to ask, I've heard people, I'm a product and my little sisters and little brother, we're products of Irmo High School. And we love the BC boys and tolerated the airport boys. We lived on Beach Leaf Court and the good dailies can say something positive about my wife and my two children. I look at, my children got world-class educations at Chapin High School. My wife is Clemson University 3.96 computer science. When Bill Banning and Johnny Jeffcoat, my heroes, when they went to bring Nefron to bring business to Lexington County, When they developed Brighton Park, the idea was to have a technology center. We wanted to bring in high paying jobs. We wanted software people. We wanted to retain Clemson Engineering, Clemson Computer Science. We wanted to retain Clemson University of South Carolina Engineering, University of South Carolina Computer Science. We didn't want them to have to leave us. $17.5 million, $20 million sale. I'm in commercial real estate. I've had my own company since last century. $2.5 million doesn't seem like a whole lot to move on. But last, I love Irmo. I love Chapin. I want to keep our schools up. I'm supposed to be a number man. If you put 400 homes in there, I don't know the answer to how many school teachers it pays for. I'm in business. I really like our mayor. But I don't want us hiring an attorney and having to beat Mr. Anderson. He's a darn good attorney. I don't think it wins when government's spending money on lawyers to fight each other. I'm hoping that Kevin and Lisa can say something positive about the Fitzpatrick family. They may not be able to say it about me, but my wife and my son and my daughter, I think they can. We are the number one destination for people moving to our state. I think we're at the point where we can pick who we want. You have all these people coming It may be time for impact fees. And I don't know how well that go over. But when you want good roads, when you want good education, when you want the fire and medic at your location, somebody's got to pay for it. I'm 67 years old. This is the first time my ox is being gored. So I came to talk at Lexington, first time in front of Lexington County Council. I'd hope you'd honor what Bill Banning and Johnny Jeffcoat wanted to do out there. It helps our community. I appreciate y'all willing to spend your evenings listening to a bunch of citizens. Thank y'all. Thank you.

Hi, my name's Kathy Erickson, 1109 Canterfield Road in Chapin, and I would like to say good evening, council members, concerned residents. Twelve years ago, we, the local taxpayers, funded the Brighton Technology Park under a clear promise to bring high-paying jobs, economic stability to Chapin. by selling off the Brighton property for a massive 600 homes plus subdivision is a total betrayal of that promise. But a developer, Andy White, where he is, I don't know, wants to change the initial intended use for this property. And it is trying to sweeten the deal by promising luxury homes reaching up to a million dollars in this subdivision. And 600 homes proposal, I guess. But let's look at the actual land. This property is landlocked. Gully. off of a busy road and that is shared by a large high school only a few hundred feet off the road. It has no lake access and no scenic value. Nobody is wanting to pay a million dollars to live in a gully. This price point is a classic real estate bait and switch. The moment you sign over that deed, the developer will claim market conditions changed, slash the prices, increase the density, and clog our roads. Columbia Avenue is already completely gridlocked every morning during school drop-offs, as Vicky says. Furthermore, the town of Chapin has a strict freeze on new sewer taps because of our mayor. And the water waste system is overflowing. Do not ruin our quality of life for a real estate illusion. Timing is everything in life, and now is not the time. The reality is that we already own the land and have time to develop a plan that makes sense for the community, not the developers. Please listen to the taxpayers. This will be your legacy. Vote no. Thank you.

All right, guys, we are going to close the public hearing. We thank you for coming. Appreciate you all coming sincerely. I need a motion to adjourn the county council meeting.

I'll make a motion to adjourn.

A motion by Ms. Wessinger. Second. Who was that? Todd. Mr. Cullum. Cullum. All in favor, raise your hand. Thank you for coming.