County Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome, everybody. I'd like to call this Greenville County Council regular meeting to order, and we will get started with the invocation. I'll call on Councilor Seaman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let us pray. Gracious and Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for this day. We give you thanks for the opportunity to meet and to serve our Our community, we are thankful for the people that are here today and especially this evening. Lord, I wish to hold up my nonprofit friends, the volunteers, the leaders, those who are servers in our community. Please watch over them as they continue to do their work. Be with us tonight as we deliberate the items on our agenda. And as always, we ask these things in your son's name. Amen.

Amen. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

May he be visible with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated.

Next on the agenda is the approval of minutes.

Move approval of the minutes from our July 21st meeting.

Thank you. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Ayes have it. Next is proclamations and recognitions. Today we have National Nonprofit Day. I'll call on Councilor Seaman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This evening, I'd like to take a moment to recognize some very special guests who are joining us. Yesterday marked National Nonprofit Day, and we are honored to have many of our local nonprofit leaders, staff, and dedicated volunteers in the audience. On behalf of all my colleagues on county council, I want to extend our gratitude to each one of you. Your tireless work, passion, and daily sacrifices are vital to our community's well-being. Thank you for everything that you do to make Greenville County such a wonderful place to live, work, and thrive. And at this time, would all of my nonprofit friends please stand to be recognized.

Excellent. Thank you very much. Next on the agenda is Appearances, Current Agenda Items. Ms. Stone.

Mr. Chairman, our first speaker is David LaVier, and his topic is 8E Law Enforcement Appreciation Day Community Project. All right.

Welcome, sir.

My name is David Levier, and I'm speaking about item 8E on your consent agenda regarding giving more money to the Greenville Sheriff's Office. I would like to encourage the council not to provide any more funding to the Sheriff's Office until Sheriff Lewis changes his behavior. Currently, as you know, Sheriff Lewis is refusing to respond to FOIA requests that have been filed lawfully. That is illegal. and he is obstructing people from speaking freely at certain meetings held in this room. As you know, for many months, Sheriff Lewis and the Greenville County Legislative Delegation have worked together to put requirements on my family that they do not put on anyone else in this county. Not on the judicial candidates, not on any other speaker, only on us. On May 21st, my family sent the Sheriff's Office a FOIA request. The sheriff's coordinator confirmed she had it that same morning. The next day, she told us to file it again through their online portal. The law does not require us to do so. Email FOIA requests are perfectly legal. State law gave the sheriff's office until June 5th to answer our FOIA. The sheriff's office never did. Under state law, all exempt records included in our FOIA request are now deemed approved in full. It is now August 18th. and yet they have not produced one single page? The solution is simple. The County Council must freeze all funding to the Sheriff's Office until Sheriff Lewis complies with the law. Furthermore, the Greenville County Legislative Delegation meets again on October 26th in this room. I have already sent them my request to speak. As usual, I have met all four requirements to speak. My request has been forwarded to Sheriff Lewis as well. I am going to stand up and speak the same way I have done in the past. However, this time I will not sit down until I have had three full minutes of uninterrupted speaking time. If deputies of the Greenville County Sheriff's Office interfere with me or arrest me for doing so, then I am telling you now, months in advance, on the record, You must cut off every dollar to the sheriff's office and keep it cut off until Sheriff Lewis is replaced, imprisoned, or resigns. Do not allow this county to be recklessly exposed to liability for any unconstitutional orders which Sheriff Lewis may issue to the deputies who will be in this room on October 26th. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, our next speaker is Angie Fisher, and her topic is 11F, the wireless ordinance.

Welcome.

Thank you all very much for allowing me the privilege to speak. Good evening. My name is Angie Fisher. I am here on behalf of myself and the Greenville County Freedom Coalition. I'm here tonight to ask you to support reasonable protection surrounding the placement of cell towers in Greenville County. I'm not a scientist, and I'm not going to stand here and pretend that I am. But I am a citizen who believes that when questions are being raised about something that could affect the health of our families, particularly our children, we should pay attention. Children are not simply smaller adults. Their brains, nervous systems, and bodies are still developing. Organizations such as Environmental Health Trust have compiled research raising concerns about children's exposure to radio frequency radiation and have urged greater precautions around schools and other places where children spend significant amounts of time. That alone should speak enough for us to ask questions. And what is really being requested here? We're not talking about banning technology or preventing Greenville County from moving forward. We're talking about banning, I mean, we're talking about Reasonable safeguards. We're talking about appropriate distances from homes and schools. We're talking about notifications so residents are learning about a tower only after a decision has essentially been made. We're talking about transparency in the permitting process and giving local government an opportunity to exercise reasonable oversight. Those are not extreme measures. When something is going to become a permanent part of a neighborhood, the people who live there should know about it. And when that infrastructure could be placed near a school filled with developing children, I believe we should err on the side of protecting them. Technology will continue to change. What we approve today could remain in our communities for decades. We don't have to know every answer today to recognize the value of reasonable precautions. If future research ultimately tells us there was nothing to worry about, what have we lost by simply protecting people in those places? But if some of the concerns being raised proved justified, we'll be very thankful that Greenville County chose to act responsibly before, not after, the fact. The ordinance is a modest step. It provides transparency, oversight, and protections for the people who live here. I respectfully ask you to support Councilwoman Kelly Long's ordinance and put these reasonable safeguards in place, especially for the children who depend on the adults in this room to make decisions with their future in mind. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

May I give the floor?

Absolutely.

Mr. Chairman, our next speaker is Marissa Plowman, and her topic is 11F, the wireless ordinance. Welcome.

Hi. I'm going to be a really, really fast talker, so forgive me. Start. So at BlackRock, we are forcing behaviors. These are the words of Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, who is the largest institutional stakeholder, I'm sorry, shareholder of the mega corporations Microsoft, Meta, and Pfizer. So it's easy to dismiss this statement as hyperbole. I get it. But in April 2025, my husband and I got to experience firsthand what this means. Two weeks before we planned to put our house on Saddle Creek Court on the market, we learned that the small parcel behind our property was sold, and we had construction of a 5G tower 50 feet behind our back porch. Okay? We invested roughly $150,000 into our home, including a peaceful outdoor space that was destroyed pretty much immediately. No warning, no opportunity to object. Rather, we were forced into the behavior of just dealing with it. Before the tower, three homes in our neighborhood had sold, all under contract within nine days of being listed, all sold within 3.5% of their asking price. Our house took 126 days to sell, AND IT WAS STILL A HOT MARKET THEN, AND WE HAD TO REDUCE OUR PRICE THREE TIMES AND ULTIMATELY SOLD 15% BELOW OUR ASKING PRICE. MEANWHILE, THE TOWER'S LAND OWNER, I'M SURE HE'S MADE ALL THAT MONEY IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, AND HE WILL DEFINITELY WITHIN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS, 24 MONTHS. SO FOR US, THE IMPACT WAS NOT THEORETICAL. IT WAS A $100,000 LOSS IN PROPERTY VALUE AND A PERMANENT CHANGE TO OUR HOME AND NEIGHBORHOOD. So why do I bring up Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, when it comes to the context of 5G? Well, because across South Carolina, all of you should be listening, we have these same major institutional investors among all the largest shareholders of companies involved of all 5G infrastructure. That includes tower ownership, construction, wireless carriers, and even utilities. BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street repeatedly appear at the top of these ownership structures. Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile are no different. Just look at their boards. When the same financial institutions have significant stakes across so many layers of infrastructure, it raises legitimate questions about the concentration of influence, accountability, and whose interests are being prioritized. Obviously, ours were not. I'm not even touching on the data centers, but it's the same pattern. So while the financial impact for us has been primarily our concern, we cannot ignore the legitimate concerns to our health as well. We know that there are issues. We're told they're safe, but by the same people. So cool. That's great. So our request of the Greenville County Council is simple. Put people before profits. This is not a political issue. It is common sense. It affects every single one of us. So we urge you to vote in favor of an ordinance establishing reasonable setbacks with 5G towers, our schools, and our neighborhoods, protecting our children, our communities, and our property. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, our next speaker is Amanda Brett, and her topic is 11F, the wireless ordinance. Welcome. Welcome.

Hey, all. Thank you for having me up here today. I want to talk briefly about something that is becoming increasingly common in our communities, and that is cell towers and all of the wireless infrastructure that we're seeing being built. This isn't an argument against technology, but the question is whether we are being thoughtful enough about where we are putting this infrastructure, especially when it is near homes, children, and schools. There are legitimate questions about the long-term exposure to radio frequency radiation, notably as wireless infrastructure becomes more dense and increasingly they are moving into neighborhoods. When there are unanswered questions about something that could affect the health of the families, the children, and everyone in Greenville County, I believe that it's the responsible approach. is caution, transparency, and good planning. And there's another very practical issue here and that is property value. Research has found that proximity to visible cell towers can negatively affect residential property values. One peer review study found that an average decline of about 2.5% for properties within roughly 3 quarters of a mile of a tower and nearly 10% for homes where towers are visible. The evidence shows that tower location, visibility, and proximity can matter to the housing market. And that's important because homeowners and the taxpayers are the ones who are bearing the burden of this potential cost. Communities around the world have recognized this, and we've got people like the folks in Towns County, Georgia, who require telecommunication towers to be at least a thousand feet from schools, daycares, playgrounds, parks, and residential buildings. Some communities in Massachusetts, New York, and California, they've all adopted setbacks of a thousand, fifteen hundred, and even three thousand feet. The question is, why shouldn't the people who live here have a meaningful voice in where these structures are going? If we're asking taxpayers to accept the visual impact, the potential property value impact, and the health concerns that come with these structures, then the taxpayers deserve notice, transparency, and an opportunity to be heard with action. Let's require reasonable setbacks. Let's protect the schools and the potential neighborhoods that are being built around. Let's require meaningful public notice, independent verification of emissions, and consideration of alternative locations. When we're making decisions that affect our homes, it affects our neighborhoods, it affects our health, and it affects our children, I believe that we should choose transparency, caution, and common sense. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, our next speaker is Brenda Vucic, and her topic is 11B, Mountain Creek.

Welcome.

Glad when September 1st comes. On a previous occasion, I mentioned to you that it's really all about the water, and I just wanted to offer you some conversations that I've had with some homeowners, only seven out of the thousands, but they have all done curtain drains, remediation, different steps to protect their property because the water is encroaching. In fact, the totals of what they had spent, just these seven people, was $140,000. In addition, the county now owns a property in Pebble Creek that was purchased last September because the property continually flooded, and now there is no house there.

It was removed.

So I'm just asking, please help us, and please pass the ordinance. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Irene Heiliger, and her topic is 11F, Wireless Ordnance.

Welcome.

Thank you for letting me talk. My name is Irene Heiliger. I'm here in support of the cell tower ordinance from Councilwoman Kelly Long. Unfortunately, I left my speech at home, so I'm going to be very short. I support everything that's in it. We need transparency. We need to have cell towers and data centers as far away from schools and as far away from our homes and our communities. We don't need them. They are harmful to us and I hope that everyone here takes the THE FEELINGS OF THEIR CONSTITUENCY INTO THEIR HEARTS. ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AND YOU DIDN'T NEED ANY NOTES, BY THE WAY. YOU DID FINE.

OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS FRANK TAMBORELLO AND HIS TOPIC IS 11F, WIRELESS ORDINANCE.

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBERS. MY NAME IS FRANK TAMBORELLO. YOU'VE SEEN ME A FEW TIMES BEFORE ALREADY. So I've covered all the pertinent points, and tonight I want to make it short and get to the point. I don't believe there is any one of you that would look forward to a 200-foot cell tower in your backyard. You can be absolutely sure that none of us do either. So if you really represent your constituents and not some special interests, we would appreciate your support for the cell tower regulation and add some guidelines that we need. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir.

Our next speaker is Susana Saravia, and her topic is 11F, Wireless Ordinance.

Welcome.

Hello, everyone. Last time I read to you what the cell towers do to us. This time I'm bringing a testimony from a man that sent me a message. He's from my prayer group. and he says, Susana, I live in River Shoal off George Road in Simpsonville at 18 Sandusky Lane. I lived there from 2021 to 2023. I sold the house because I lived 150 yards away from the cell tower. I was getting short-term memory loss. It was affecting my health and my joints ache. I was very weak from living there. My neighbor next to me had cancer and he moved out when we discussed the tower and his wife also, who was dying of cancer. I also had somebody come in with a radiation check, and in my house, in the living room, I was getting ten times the acceptable dosage of radiation from the tower. Greenville is a smart city. There's no consideration on the health issues or problems that come from cell towers, which are many. Please don't place cell towers next to homes or schools. And I have an advice from the word of God. If you ever get the wrong... the wrong advice, here's what God says. My son, if sinners entice you, don't be persuaded. If they say, come with us, let us set an ambush and kill someone. Let us attack some innocent person just for fun. Let's swallow them alive like the sheol, whole, like those who go down in the pit. Well, find all kinds of valuables, valuable property and fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us and we'll share the loot. My son, don't travel that road with them or set foot on their path. Because their feet run toward evil and they hurry to shed blood. It is useless to spread a net where any bird can see it. But they set an ambush to kill themselves. They attack their own lives. Such are the paths of all who make profit dishonestly. It takes the lives of those who receive it. Proverbs 1, 10 to 19. God bless you all. Take God's advice. I love you.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Chairman, our last speaker is Ken Matasevich, and his topics are 11B, Mountain Creek, 11C, home occupation, and 11D, open space residential development.

Sir? Thank you, counsel. As a resident of District 20 and as a member of the Greenville County Planning Commission myself, I'm going to encourage you to vote in favor of all three of those text amendments that she listed this evening. Two of them have come through the Planning Commission, and we have recommended them to you unanimously, and we're very proud of that. The first in the Mountain Creek Community District, I happen to reside within those boundaries. And I believe that the text amendment is well intended and well written. I think it will be advantageous to that area, both from an environmental standpoint, as Mrs. Buczyk mentioned, but I think it will also be helpful from a developmental standpoint as growth continues to happen in our area. The open space residential development is the other one that Planning Commission has spent time on. We believe it represents a significant improvement over the language that we had previously. For that, it's not perfect. Various stakeholders have spoken into it. We got a lot of input. There was compromise. Probably not going to be too many individuals who are completely satisfied with it, but let me emphasize that it does represent, I think, a better path forward for development in Greenville County. I also want to finally give a word about the Home Occupation Text Amendment. Now, some of you know I served on the Board of Zoning Appeals some years ago, and having read that text amendment, I really wish we had had it when I was on the Board of Zoning Appeals. I think that would have been something that we would have been able to take advantage of and would have helped the community. I think there's probably some arguments that it's not perfect and we could perhaps add additional home occupations to the list. I think that's something that should be considered in the future. But I want to say on behalf of those on the Board of Zoning Appeals that I think what they have done is also well-written and worth passing and making the rule here in Greenville County. I also want to thank all of you on the Council for your cooperation, your encouragement with the Planning Commission. We appreciate the working relationship that we have, and we look forward to continuing it in the years ahead. Thank you.

Thank you very much, sir. Next on the agenda, we're at public hearings. We'll start with A, South Greenville Area Fire District Millage Request. Councillor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. South Greenville Area Fire District Millage Request. Mr. Chairman, this public hearing is being held for the purpose of receiving comments from the public regarding a resolution to provide for an increase of the current ad valorem property tax to be levied by the South Greenville Area Fire District.

Madam Chairman, Mr. Collins, we have one speaker in favor, Mike Stadler.

Welcome, sir.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak. My name is Mike Stadler. I'm a retired firefighter of 51 years, 41 in Greenville County, 36 at Donaldson Center. I've dealt with a couple of you in the past. I'm here on behalf of South Greenville. They are making a request for a millage increase. Having been in the fire service as long as I have, having dealt with finances of fire service, I know what it takes to run a fire service. It's not cheap. When I moved down here in 79, a fire truck cost you, a pumper cost you $50,000 to $80,000. Now a pumper costs you $500 and up. And that doesn't include ladder trucks, aircraft crash trucks, things like that. All the equipment in the world is nothing but a pile of junk unless you pay good firefighters good pay. So we have the equipment to cost, we have the personnel to cost, and having followed South Greenville's commission since I retired for the last five years, I can tell you there have been very judicious use of taxpayer funds. I have not seen any waste. I've lived in that district for 45 years. So I have a stake in it, and I want the best fire protection that I can get. And I support South Greenville Miller's request, and I ask you to support it as well. Thank you much.

Thank you, sir. Next is B, South Greenville Area Fire District General Obligation Bond. Counselor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. South Greenville Area Fire District General Obligation Bond. Mr. Chairman, this public hearing is being held for the purpose of receiving comments from the public regarding... an ordinance finding that the South Greenville Area Fire District, South Carolina, may issue not to exceed $1 million of general obligation bond in one or more series. To authorize the Board of Fire Control of South Greenville Area Fire District, South Carolina, is to issue the bonds and to provide for the publication and notice of the said findings and authorization. Madam Clerk, are there any speakers?

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Collins, we have no speakers for this public hearing.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I declare this meeting closed.

Thank you. We'll move to C, which is Anderson-Greenville County Multi-County Industrial Business Park Agreement Amendment Signature Foods, formerly Project Bento. Counselor Collins.

Mr. Chair. Anderson-Greenville County Multi-County Industrial Business Park Agreement Amendment Project Signature Foods, formerly Project Bento. Mr. Chairman, this public hearing is being held for the purpose of receiving comments from the public regarding an ordinance to amend an agreement for the development of a joint county industrial and business park, 2010 Park, of Anderson and Greenville Counties, so as to enlarge the park. Madam Clerk, are there any speakers?

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Collins, we have no speakers for this public hearing.

then I do declare this public hearing closed.

Thank you. We'll move to D, Land Development Regulations Amendment, Open Space Residential Development. Councilor Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This public hearing is being held for the purpose of receiving comments from the public regarding an ordinance to amend Article 11 of the Greenville County Land Development Regulations relating to design and construction of open space residential development. Are there any speakers, Madam Chairman, Madam Clerk?

Mr. Chairman, Mr. Bradley, we have no speakers for this public hearing.

There being no further speakers, I declare this public hearing closed.

Thank you. We'll move right along to E, which is Greenville County Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment, Open Space Residential Development. Council Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This public hearing is being held for the purpose of receiving comments from the public regarding the ordinance to Amendment Article 6, Section 6.2, 10, Dwelling Single Family Tax and Dwelling Two Family Duplex. Article 7, Table 7.1, Minimum Lot Acre Permitted Density for Single Family Residents. Article 7, Section 7.2, Open Space Residential Development. Section 7.25, Open Space Residential Development. Option 2 and Article 7, Table 7.2, Open Space Residential Development Options of the Rainbow County Zoning Ordinance. Are there any speakers? Madam Clerk.

Mr. Bradley, we have no speakers for this public hearing.

Therefore, being no speaker, I declare this public hearing closed. Thank you.

Next is the Consent Agenda.

I move approval of the Consent Agenda.

Thank you. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Next on the agenda is resolutions. We have 1A, South Greenville Area Fire District Millage Request. Councilor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The South Greenville Area Fire District Millage Request. Mr. Chair, in the motion, I move for adoption of resolution to provide for the increase of the current ad valorem property tax to be levied by the South Greenville Area Fire District.

Any discussion?

Mr. Chairman, yeah.

Councilor Long.

I just wanted to mention a few things. I mentioned this in the Finance Committee when it was brought, and basically tonight I just wanted to look at a few financial things. The millage increase we're asking for is five mills, and in South Greenville that would be $220,000 per mill, which is over a million dollars. I looked through the application on Finance Committee and everything, and Last year, they got $9.1 million in taxes, $812,000 in VLOs, and $838,000 in grants, interest income, and miscellaneous income. There's also a 0.35 debt service millage increase. Also, I looked at the salaries they were paying, and it looks like they were doing great paying salaries on the increase of 19% that has occurred over the past four years. And two trucks have been replaced. My concern here is that when I look through their audit, their increase for the past 10 years, it gave a 10-year comparison, went up from a million to 12 million, and that's what's in their general fund. And also, too, over 7 million of that is unrestricted. They can spend it on anything. I talked with a lot of people in the district. This is not my district, but I have talked with quite a few people in this district And they ask me a lot of questions. And I don't think that this increase, in my opinion, based on what I see, that it's necessary at this time. Now, would it help? Yes. Would the obligation bond allow them to do more things? Yes. But as a fiscal conservative, I believe in doing tax increases only when they're needed. In combination with the 1% sales tax that we're looking at, the penny tax, and then another 1% possible in this area. That would be a million based on this, and then another 2%. I'm just mentioning this, and I'm just going to have to tell you I cannot vote for this tonight in good conscience to put that on the people with all the taxes rolling around right now. I think this is not a need at this time. It's a want. They have $7.9 million to do what they need to do this year that's unrestricted. They're getting... taxes every month and I just think sometimes we have to say let's look at this and does this make sense when other taxes are coming into play this year so I have nothing against this fire department I read everything they've done everything right but I just don't think it's time for a millage increase that's all thank you counselor any other discussion

Well, just hearing Councillor Long's comments, I'll go ahead and request a roll call since that would trigger a roll call. Sure.

Mr. Chairman, you have nine in favor, two in opposition, one absent.

Thank you very much. The motion passes. We'll now move to ordinances at third reading. We'll start with A, Simpsonville Fire Service Area Millage Request. Councillor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Simpsonville Fire Service Area Millage Request. Mr. Chairman, the motion I move for adoption at the third reading in ordinance to provide for an increase to the operating millage rate levied by the Simpsonville Fire Service Area.

Thank you. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. And I move to B, Simpsonville Fire Service Area General Obligation Bond Issuance. Counselor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Simpsonville Fire Service Area General Obligation Bond Issuance. Mr. Chairman, the motion that I move for an adoption at the third reading and ordinance to provide for the issuance and sale of not exceeding $1.2 million Greenville County, South Carolina General Obligation Bond, Simpsonville Fire Service Area Project, and one more series to prescribe the purposes for which the proceeds shall be expended to provide for the payment thereof and other matters relating thereto.

Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Move to ordinances at second reading. Start with CZ 2026-024. Councilor Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Property located at 3316 and 3314 Wadehampton Boulevard requesting rezoning from C2 to S1. The Planning Commission recommended annul and the committee recommended approval. On behalf of the committee, I move approval of this ordinance at second reading.

Thank you. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. CZ2026-032, Council Bradley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Properly located at 15 Winfrey Avenue, requesting rezoning from C1 to I1, the Planning Commission and the committee recommended approval. On behalf of the committee, I move approval of the ordinance at second reading.

Thank you.

All in favor, please say aye.

Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. CZ2026-033, Council Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Property located at 907 Highway 14 requesting rezoning from R15 to C1. The Planning Commission and the committee recommends a no. On behalf of the committee, I move to deny this ordinance at second reading.

Thank you.

All in favor, please say aye. Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Next is CZ2026-036. Council Bradley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Property located on Grove Reserve Parkway and Interstate 185 requesting rezoning from C3 to I1. The Planning Commission and the committee recommended approval. On behalf of the committee, I move approval of this ordinance at second reading.

All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. CZ 2026-037, Council Bradley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The property located at Grove Reserve Parkway in Interstate 185 requests rezoning from I-1 to C-2. The Planning Commission and the committee recommended approval. On behalf of the committee, I move for approval of this ordinance at second reading. Thank you.

All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Then we have CZ2026-038, Council Bradley. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Property located on Grove Reserve Parkway and Interstate 185, requesting rezoning from C3 to C2. The Planning Commission and the committee recommended approval. On behalf of the committee, I move approval of this ordinance at second reading. Thank you.

All in favor of the motion, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. Move to B, Greenville County Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment, Mountain Creek Community District. Councilor Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of the committee, I move for approval at second reading an ordinance to amend Article 8, Special Purpose and Review District Regulations of the Greenville County Zoning Ordinance to add Section 8.13 MCC, Mountain Creek Community District. The Planning Commission and the committee recommend approval with this condition. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment for this. Statue of amendment. I move to amend this ordinance to reflect the condition outlined in the red line version provided in council's packet. Does everybody understand the motion for the amendment?

All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? That was opposition, sir?

Yes, sir.

Roll call.

Yeah.

Mr. Chairman, you have ten in favor, one opposed, and one absent.

Thank you. So the amendment passes.

Mr. Chairman, just quickly on the one. I know we have this one and another one that have some similar but potentially conflicting language. Would it be possible for us to reconsider this 11B so that we could have amendments at third in case there's some cleanup we have to do between this and the open space amendment?

Any discussion? The motion is to reconsider. Yes, sir. All right. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.

like to make a motion that we allow for amendments at third reading.

Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it.

One more. I guess we need to... I'm moved to approve the ordinance as amended.

All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.

Chairman, the reconsideration was on the amendment, not the item as amended.

It wasn't final approved, so your reconsideration was... We reconsidered, and then I made a motion to have amendments at third, and we voted on both of those, and then he just made a motion to approve the item as amended. Do we need one more?

Ma'am, but when you made your motion to reconsider, the motion that had just been voted on was the amendment, not the item as amended. So his amendments are no longer on the floor, or no longer a part of that ordinance.

But we voted on the item as amended.

They didn't add an amendment to make it amendable at third reading. That's the motion as amended.

The motion to reconsider undid the motion to amend.

So Madam Clerk, basically the Vice Chairman needs to restate the amendment now that it's

YES. YOU'VE ALREADY DONE A MOTION AS AMENDED. YOU'VE DONE THREE MOTIONS ACTUALLY. YOU HAD A MOTION TO AMEND, THEN YOU HAD A MOTION TO RECONSIDER.

WE APPROVED THE AMENDED VERSION THOUGH.

NOT A FINAL, NO.

happy to disagree on that one. I think we did, but we can back it all the way up.

Correct me if I'm wrong, what you're saying is that when we reconsidered it, it erased the amendment so the amendment had not been restated after we allowed for amendments at third?

Yes, sir.

Okay. So, Councillor Bradley, would you like to restate the amendment motion?

I move to amend the ordinance to reflect the changes to section 7.2.4.4a as outlined in the red line version provided in the council packet.

Thank you. And this is the one that Councillor Collins had been objected to, so we'll go ahead and call for roll call on it.

Mr. Chairman, can you clarify that motion real quick?

It was the motion on the amendment, the very first part, and I think that's the one that you were in opposition to originally, which is why we're doing the roll call for it. Got you. Yes, sir.

Thank you.

But we still have our third reading amendments.

We still have to vote on the motion as amended. I just want to keep it straight. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Mr. Chairman, you have 11 in favor, none opposed, one absent.

All right.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I move approval of the ordinance as amended.

All right. Just one second, Mr. Chairman. Can we confer with the attorney really quick?

We need to go now ahead and add a motion to amend to make it amendable at third reading. That has to be the last motion.

because it has to incorporate everything we've done.

We have to have a motion to pass as amended. That's what we haven't done yet. Right. So what are we missing, Mr. Attorney?

I believe what you're missing is we have an amendment. We can do a motion to amend that amendment at this point to add The third reading amendment, then the whole thing gets voted on in one motion to amend as amended.

So now we need the pro tems amendment.

Restate my motion to amend at third reading.

All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed?

And then I'll make a motion to amend the ordinance as amended again.

Everybody understand the motion? We're approving everything we just talked about together. All right. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. The ayes have it. All right. Move to Greenville County Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment Home Occupation, CZ 2026-039. Council Bradley. Thanks. 11C.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of the committee, I move for approval of the second reading of the ordinance to amend Article 6, Section 6.2.13, Home Occupant of the Greenville County Zone Ordinance. The Planning Commission and the committee recommend approval.

Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye.

Roll call, please.

Roll call has been requested.

Mr. Chairman, you have nine in favor, two in opposition, one absent. All right.

Thank you. The motion passes. Next, we are to D, Greenville County Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment, Open Space Residential Development. Councilor Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. On behalf of the committee, I move for approval at second reading the ordinance to amend Article 6, Section 6.210, Dwelling Single-Family Attached and Dwellings. Two-Family Duplexes, Article 7, Table 7.1, Minimum Lot Acre Permitted Density for Single-Family Residential. Article 7, Section 7.2, Open Space Residential Development, Section 7.25, Open Space residential development auction number two and article seven table 7.2 open space residential development options of the Greenville zoning ordinance the Planning Commission and the committee recommended the movable Mr. Chairman I have a minute stage amendment I moved to amend his ordinance to reflect the changes to section 7.2 for poor as outlined in the red line version provided to the county's packet any discussion

All in favor, please say aye.

Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Mr. Chairman, I now move for approval of the ordinance as amended. Thank you. All in favor?

Quick question. Is this one that we would also potentially need amendments at third, or is it the next one?

To be safe, I would do both only because, and this is for just an edification of everybody on here, you have two ordinances that are missing in the LDR, the one we just did. and the zoning ordinance, the overlay in this, and the overlay refers to sections in this open space ordinance that are in flux because you haven't voted on them. So we're trying to get it to where you don't have to come back and redo entire swaths of an ordinance because you've got two kind of in flight being built at the same time. So, yes, that's a recommendation I would make.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Antley, Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion that we have amendments at third.

All right. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.

Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion that we approve the amendment as amended, or the ordinance as amended. My apologies.

Thank you. All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it. We'll move to E, Land Development Regulations Amendment, Open Space Residential Development. Council Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I move for approval at second reading the ordinance to amend Article 11 of the Greenville County Land Development Regulations relating to design and construction open space residential developments. I have an amendment, Mr. Chairman. I move to amend this ordinance to reflect the changed outline in the red line version provided in the county's package, council's package.

Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion to allow for amendments at third reading.

Thank you. All in favor, please say aye. Aye.

Opposed?

The ayes have it.

I'd like to make a motion that we approve the ordinance as amended.

Thank you. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. We'll move to F, which is Wireless Communication Facilities Ordinance. Councilor McGehee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Item 11F, Wireless Communication Facilities Ordinance. I move for approval of second reading and ordinance to provide regulations of wireless communication facilities, including cell towers, in the unincorporated areas of Greenville County.

All right. Thank you. Any discussion? Yes, I have. Councilor Long.

Sorry. I have... I have a couple of amendments here. I want to, I move to amend this item to add the cover ordinance that was provided in the council packet that is listed under here as a hyperlink. So I move to amend that.

All right. Thank you. Any discussion on this? All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

The ayes have it.

I have another amendment. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make an amendment to the Wireless Communications Facility Ordinance to correct two typographical errors in Article 4, General Requirements, Items H and I. Item H needs to be corrected to read all new facilities shall be at least a distance of 1,500 feet from a residential structure. Item I needs to be corrected to read all new facilities shall be a distance of 3,000 feet from the property line of any school. These were recommended by Environmental Health Trust and other agencies that that be the minimum, and that is actually how it was originally brought. But we've adjusted things here, and it kind of got mixed up. So I just want to correct that.

Okay. Thank you. Any discussion? All in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The ayes have it.

And one more thing. Mr. Chairman, I would like to make a motion that we be allowed to make amendments to third readings.

Thank you. And I will speak to this for any other discussion, too. I've been working with Councilor Long and looking over it, and I did have some amendment suggestions, but they were a little more broad and robust than I thought they would be when we started. So we're just going to give it a little bit of time so we can look at that before we bring it back at that third reading. Any discussion?

Each of them has amended, or have we done that yet? I was just letting all the amendments go first. Yeah.

Yeah, this will be the last one before as amended. Go right ahead. All right. All right. So all in favor of the motion to allow for amendments at third, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it.

Do we need to make one more?

Aye, sir. If it's the motion to motion is approved, I got some discussion because I'm going to be like Liz Seaman did me last week. I'm going to be a no. So I need to get my two cents in.

This would be the time for that then. This is the last motion. Okay.

All right. I hear y'all and I've heard about the theories and health. And I believe that in leadership you should lead, and I just cannot believe that we should go down these rabbit holes of conspiracy theories. And I don't, let me just, I asked, I'm going to tell you what I did, so I just don't say that I just woke up with this. I asked Gemini, I asked ChatGPT, I asked Perplexity, and I asked Claude to cross-reference what does the cell towers cause health problems. The answer is no. Based on the best available human evidence, there is no proven casual link showing that typical exposure from cell phone towers causes cancer or other illnesses. Cell towers emit non-ionizing radio frequency energy, not the DNA damaging ionizing radiation associated with x-rays or radioactive materials. And exposure accessible to the public is generally low. The World Health Organization says the accumulated evidence has not shown short or long-term health effects from base station signals, including an increased cancer risk. Question, are you interested in what the research says? Yes, please share what the research says. Major public health reviews have not found a reliable, consistent increase in brain cancer, childhood cancer, or other cancers in public in people living near cellular-based stations. A recent WHO review covering roughly 60 studies likewise found no link between RF exposure from phones or towers and brain or childhood cancer. I'm a no.

Mr. Chairman, may I make a remark?

Our last meeting in July, we had a

highly qualified doctor come and give testimony that refuted everything Mr. Fant just said. So while you can definitely vote no, I will say as long as that applies to you, that's fine. But when it applies to everybody in this audience...

Sorry. This is a hill, Ms. Long. This is not a hill. I'm prepared to down. Some of them I'm are. This is not. But this is, I don't like leadership that peddle conspiracy theories. That's me now. I believe it's a conspiracy theory that I will not participate in, and I'm going to be a no. But it's not a hill I'm going to down.

Mr. Chairman. Mr. Phan, I may ask you a question, sir, and this is in all honesty and this is not being funny. You deal in real estate, correct? I do. Okay, so if I had a house on site A with no cell tower worth $500,000 and I had a house on site B 10 miles away with a cell tower in the backyard for $500,000, which one would sell first and how much would each of them sell for?

Mr. McGahee, I didn't bring up one point about towers adjacent. I'm just talking about the health risk. Okay.

counterpoint to yours to say, okay, forget about the health risk.

Let's bring this back to order. Can I finish my comments, please?

Dan is not here and I'm not participating with you. Vote yes. I'm a no.

Let me bring it back to order and unfortunately use the rule I never had to use, but you're supposed to address the chair, which makes it easier not to go back and forth. So I'll start with Counselor McGinney and I'll go to Dr. Fant.

I apologize. Mr. Chairman, my point is outside of the health risk, our job as county TRUSTED PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY TO DO THESE THINGS IS ALSO TO TAKE CARE OF THE RESIDENTS. AND WHEN WE HAVE RESIDENTS IN OUR COUNTY WHO HAVE A CELL TOWER POP UP IN THEIR BACKYARD, THAT WOULD SEND ME OVER THE EDGE. I MEAN, I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE. SO THAT'S MY POINT IS THAT, YOU KNOW, OUTSIDE OF THE HEALTH RISK, WHO CARES, OKAY? I MEAN, I BELIEVE IN THE HEALTH RISKS. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, ON SHIPS YOU CAN'T GO ABOVE A CERTAIN LEVEL WHEN THE RADARS ARE ON. THAT'S NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT DANGEROUS. I ask my colleagues to consider that. If you have cell towers put up in your backyard tomorrow, how would you feel? And you need to consider that. It's our job to protect our citizens. This is how we do it.

Thank you. Dr. Phan, anything?

I said my piece. I'm done.

This is not a hill I'm going down. I'm just a no. Let's make sure she is making a motion.

Council Long, I think it's back to you to make your motion, if you'd like. Yes. I did have one. Councilor Schell. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm voting just on quality of life, aesthetics. Just regarding any of the other arguments, we have every right to put reasonable restrictions on things that people find offensive. And really, the cell tower industry has not been regulated at all in this county. They just put them wherever they want. They look whatever they want. And so that's why I'm voting yes. Thank you.

I would say this, and Mr. Gagey brought up a point. I agree about no, I wouldn't want one in my backyard. If that's the argument and you want to base it on I don't want to lose $50,000 value on my house because it's too close to me, I can live with that. What I can't live with is the theory that these things will give you cancer and kill you. That's the part I don't like.

Okay, fine.

All right, Councilor Long.

Yes, I would like to make a motion to approve the wireless communications facility ordinance. As amended. As amended. Thank you.

Roll call. I'm going to go ahead and request a roll call.

Thank you.

Chairman, you have nine in favor, two in opposition, one absent.

All right. Thank you. The motion passes. Now move to item G, which is South Greenville Area Fire District General Obligation Bond. Councilor Collins.

Chairman.

South Greenville Area Fire District General Obligation Bond. Mr. Chairman, the motion I move for approval at the second reading, an ordinance finding that South Greenville Area Fire District, South Carolina, may issue not exceeding $1 million of general obligation bonds in one or more series to authorize the Board of Fire Control of South Greenville Area Fire District, South Carolina, to issue such bonds and to provide for the publication of notice of the said finding and authorization.

Thank you. Any discussion?

Mr. Chairman, I just want to mention here, this is the same South Greenville Area Fire District general obligation bond. I'm not going to go back through the information, but for the same reason I voted no on the original millage increase, I'm also going to be against this. Another million dollars in debt plus the millage increase based on the previous things I stated.

Okay. Thank you. I'll go ahead and request a roll call for this one.

Mr. Chairman, you have none in favor, two in opposition, one absent.

Thank you. The motion passes. And then H, Anderson-Greenville County Multi-County Industrial Business Park Agreement Amendment Signature Foods, formerly Project Bento. Councilor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Anderson-Greenville County Multi-County Industrial Business Park Agreement Amendment Project Signature Foods. Mr. Chairman, the motion I move for approval at second reading in ordinance to amend an agreement for the development of a joint county industrial business park, 2010 park, of Anderson and Greenville counties so as to enlarge the park. This property is located in Anderson County.

All right.

Thank you. Any discussion on the motion? All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. And I'll move to ordinances at first reading. Councilor Bradley.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I present for first reading zoning docket CZ2026-041 through CZ2026-048.

Thank you. We'll refer that to the Planning and Development Committee. Next is B, clear spring fire and rescue millage request. Councilor Collins. Thank you, Mr.

Chair. Clear Springs Fire and Rescue Millage Request. I present for the first reading an ordinance to provide for an increase to the millage rate levied by the Clear Springs Fire and Rescue District.

Thank you. That will stay on the council floor. And I move to C, Special Lighting Tax District's Fee and Millage Adjustment. Councillor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Special Lighting Tax District Millage Adjustment. I present for the first reading an ordinance to provide for the millage or fee to be levied by certain special tax districts established for street lighting purposes and to adjust the fee or millage rate in 13 such districts.

Thank you. That will also stay on the council floor.

Mr. Chairman, do we need to get a little description of that? Are we good?

Yeah, we could.

Yeah, if you don't mind, just real quick. The special lighting tax districts are those areas in certain areas like, say, Dunnian and areas like that that do not have an HOA. But they do have, they petitioned the county to pay their light bills, and they paid a percentage of their millage for that light service. So what it done, the power rates went up, so we don't want the county to carry it. to accrue a negative balance, so that millage had to be increased. And those citizens are aware of that, and they did approve. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Absolutely. Any other discussion? All in favor, please say. Oh, sorry. It stays on the council floor. It's right in front of me. D, amendment to ordinance 5577 to remove the sunset provision and repeal county ordinance 5734. Councilor Bradley.

For notice provided in the council's agenda package, I present for the first reading an ordinance to amend Greenville County Ordinance Number 5577, which updated the land development regulations for septic development design standards to remove the sunset provision and to repeal Ordinance Number 5734, which extends the sunset provision additional two years. I request this item be referred to the Planning and Development Committee.

Thank you. We'll refer that to Planning and Development Committee. Then E. Non-consent towing ordinance amendment. Dr. Fant.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Per notice provided, Council Agenda Packet, I present for first reading an ordinance to amend the non-consent towing ordinance, ordinance number 4278, as amended by ordinance number 4692, in order to adjust the maximum towing rates.

All right. I'll refer that to the Finance Committee. We are now up to committee reports. We'll start with the Committee of the Whole. Councilor Bradley. Nothing to report. Chairman. We had most of what I would discuss from the Committee on Finance already during the consent agenda, just a lot of discretionary funding for various districts for projects. So we will move to Committee on Communications and Government Affairs. Councilor Farmer.

Nothing to report. The video is out now on YouTube.

Thank you very much. Committee on Planning and Development. Councilor Bradley.

I just want the other committee members to thank you for their hard work on this committee.

Thank you very much. Roads Infrastructure and Public Works Committee, Councilor McGahee.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just like to let everybody know, tonight at the Roads Infrastructure and Public Works Committee meeting, we approved the list for the 2027 paving. It was given to all the councilors. You can see the roads in numbers. It's about 36 miles, which doesn't seem a lot, but remember, there's a lot of cul-de-sacs, little lane roads that go down in neighborhoods and stuff, so As you can probably notice in the county, there's a lot of paving going on, both by the state, we've kind of got the area, and also what's going on here. So by no means are we anywhere near where we need to be, and I admit that, that we can do better. And I'll pay a selfless plea for the penny tax here, because without that, this is about what you're going to see every year, because we've about maxed out the money we can allocate for the roads every year. So that's my report. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Councilor. Next is Committee on Public Safety and Human Services. Councilor Collins.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This past week we've had a public safety meeting, and we had the sheriff come in and gave a presentation, informative only, on the acquisition, use, and operation of flock cameras within the county sheriff's department. And it was very informative. Like I said, it was information only. There was no action required. And just to update, the CAD system was... was had a little tuning up the other day and it's back up and it's great and I'll tell you it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Thank you very much. Oversight Ad Hoc Committee, Councilor Long.

Yes, I would like to report that our Audit Committee, PFM, is who we have hired out of North Carolina. They have had Zoom meetings this month with both EMS departments and also The Sheriff's Department doing interviews and starting to collect information from both of those departments. They will be on site in September doing an audit. So I just want to let you know that. And I will be meeting with them, getting updates regularly. So as I get those, I'll bring them here.

Thank you very much. And then the Short-Term Rentals Ad Hoc Committee, Councillor Siemens.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We met yesterday, and we continue to do good work. I'm grateful for the committee members. As we've been doing this process, we have uncovered a couple of issues with some related ordinances, so we'll still keep plugging along and hope to get something to the full body here soon. Thank you. Thank you very much.

We will now move on to public comments. We'll turn it over to Ms. Stone for our first.

Mr. Chairman, we have four speakers. The first is David LaVey, and his topic is county issues.

Welcome back, sir.

As a Greenville County taxpayer, I am here to demand that the County Council stop funding public employees who refuse to do their jobs. For nearly a year, my family has asked the legislative delegation to let us speak. They have illegally denied all of us every time. Rachel Bennett's job is to communicate with us. Instead, she ignored us for 52 days straight. You were all notified of her refusal to respond to us when multiple members of our family stood at this podium and told you about it on June 16th. Nothing happened. Rachel Bennett is paid with our tax dollars, works in an office we paid for with our tax dollars, and uses county tools and resources which are paid for with our tax dollars. It's time for the county to stop providing her with an office, paying her wages, and letting the delegation use county resources, including the county council chambers, until she does her job and the legislative delegation obeys the Constitution. You may not have the power to fire her, but you do have the power to quit funding her and the entire delegation. Nothing in state law requires this county to bankroll public employees who refuse to follow the law. You fund the legislative delegation on the presumption that it obeys the law, but the delegation does not obey the law. So either cut off their funding or sue the state of South Carolina for refusing to perform the duties which the taxpayers of Greenville County are paying for. Additionally, on June 10th, this county told us it has no records. We requested more than 30 kinds of records in seven categories, including the reservation records for this chamber. Then in July, Kurt McGehee telephoned me and told me our family cannot have the footage we requested because it would compromise your security. That was an acknowledgement that these records which we requested do in fact exist. When I tried to explain to Councilman McGehee what the law actually requires, he spoke over me and hung up like a petulant child. If you cannot stand hearing from the public, Councilman McGehee, you do not want this job, and you should resign immediately. Will you do so? Last but not least, for years, these so-called news outlets, right over there, have refused to cover the wrongful death of FBI Special Agent Paul Levier, our 27-year fight with the FBI, or the illegal and retaliatory arrests of my brother and I. Why don't you write to your owners at the CIA and FBI and ask them, pretty pleased with blackmail on top, if they'll let you cover this story? Thank you.

Mr. Chairman, if I may have a moment of privilege since my name was invoked. If I may have a privilege, I'd like to just set the record straight on that phone call, which kind of went something like this. I got a phone call. I answered it knowing who it was. I explained to them the policy, and that is state law. And I was presumed to get yelled at for the next two or three minutes, at which point I said, please don't yell at me. I'll have a conversation with my daughter if we can talk. And they started yelling at me again, so I hung up. The phone rang again with the same person. The gentleman just spoke. I said, if you want to talk, we'll talk. And he started yelling at me, so I hung up again. And that's how that conversation went. I was not a petulant child. I spoke to him respectfully, and I will not be yelled at in any circumstance by anyone.

Thank you, Counselor. Ms. Stone?

Mr. Chairman, our next speaker is Jeff Lawson, and his topic is the penny sales tax support.

Thank you very much, Mr. Lawson. I almost said Councilor Lawson right there. Ms. Stone.

The next speaker is Emerson Harper. Topic is contactee counsel.

Welcome.

Today I'd like to talk about the inadequacies of our county council. I live in District 25, and I wanted to contact my council member to discuss Hobart Lewis's 287G agreement. Unfortunately, NSFAN's office must have missed the email and the fax that I sent. They also must have missed the calls that I made and simply forgot to set up their voicemail. I think there are many here in the audience that can agree on one simple point, that the council should be ready and willing to listen to its constituents. This is not the first time that a council member has neglected their duties, and it won't be the last. Still, I think it's appalling that this is happening in our local offices. Because of my inability to speak directly with Ennis Fant, I had no way of agendizing a discussion about 287 or even knowing what he thinks about it. Unfortunately, I think the council doesn't even want to address the sheriff's policies. And why is that? Because they can't regulate the sheriff's office? They still receive our tax dollars. And I, for one, would like to know exactly how much the 287 program is costing us. Section 4E of the MOA signed by Hobart Lewis directly states that some expenses associated with the program are to be paid by the sheriff's office. If the county council can't even receive a list of line items paid for with county funds, I fear that points towards a more fundamental issue. I simply can't support this council in good faith. If I wanted to ask Ennis Fant his position on affordable housing, I suspect I'd be met with a lot less pushback. His office might even be bothered to respond to my email, if they ever read it. So I implore the Greenville County Council to make contacting their council members more accessible and far more expedient, because frankly, I am not impressed. This whole process has done nothing but show me exactly how dysfunctional Greenville County's government is. Chairman, if you truly care about this county, please put your own house in order. The less time you spend drafting dramatic newsletter responses to concern citizens, the better.

Thank you very much. Ms. Stone?

Mr. Chairman, our last speaker is Douglas Schultz, and his topic is the credibility of ICE.

Welcome.

Thank you.

I'd like to present arguments to you today concerning the credibility of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency under the current federal administration. This directly relates to the current county policy of cooperating with ICE under the 287 agreement. Though members of the county council have aptly pointed out that this policy is determined by the democratically elected sheriff, I am convinced that the council can affect the policy if they so desire, since they control the funding of said sheriff's office, and there is no state law requiring the sheriff's office to cooperate with ICE under the 287 agreement. So what factual reasons do I have to doubt the credibility of ICE with respect to its activities being consistent with its legal mandate to serve the public interest? My first concern is the pattern of violent acts ICE is routinely involved in. Though the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretty in January of this year most prominently stirred nationwide outrage, News organizations report violent incidents and allegations of misconduct by ICE agents on a near daily basis, including as recently as July 13th, when Johann Sebastian Duran Guerrero was shot and killed during a traffic stop by ICE agents in Columbia, Maine. There have been 12 people fatally shot during the second Trump administration by federal immigration officials in the U.S. If these killings were not concerning enough, there are hundreds of other incidents, including beatings, the firing of rubber bullets at protesters, automobile crashes during enforcement actions, and tasings. Allegations of abuse and mortality in immigration detention are shocking. According to a Human Rights Watch report, 52 people died in ICE custody in the first 500 days of the second Trump administration. According to the report, the mortality rate of deaths in ICE custody is at its highest level in over a decade and has more than doubled since Trump's second term began. The rate is nearly four times that of the Biden administration and more than two and a half times as high as that of the first Trump administration. This huge rise suggests that detainees in ICE custody are treated so poorly and negligently that constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment are being ignored. According to a recently released American Civil Liberties Union report entitled Agents of Chaos and Cruelty, there were, quote, widespread civil rights violations carried out by immigration agents during the first year of President Trump's second term, end quote. An investigation of 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents across eight states showed that over 400 involved misconduct by immigration agents. That would be a third of the examined incidents. This report shows that the killings described previously are, quote, part of a pattern of civil rights violations of excessive force, racial profiling, intimidation, and abuse by both federal officials and state and local law enforcement. I'm seriously concerned about that happening in Greenville as well. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Next on the agenda, we have the administrator's report.

Mr. Chairman, members of council, I do have something I'd like to share with you. I'm pleased to share that our Public Works Department has earned full accreditation from the American Public Works Association. We have even had four of the practices recognized as model practices, which means those standards will be based as an example for others. This accreditation has been years in the making and represents a high level of excellence in the operations and management of the department, its programs, and its employees. Our team completed their accreditation visit in record time due to their outstanding preparation, and the accreditation team was impressed with how well the Public Works team works together with other county departments to serve our citizens. This milestone shows their commitment to serving our community as well deserve recognition of their expertise, dedication, and passion for serving others. Greenville County joins only 234 other accredited public works agencies in North America and is one of only 10 in our state. We would like to share this brief video that talks more about this great achievement.

So we're one of only 10 now communities in the state of South Carolina and one of only 234 in North America that are accredited agencies. Verify the Greenville County Public Works is an elite organization.

They did excellent. They ended up having 100% full compliance with all applicable practices, and they had four practices recognized as model practices, which means These are practices that the evaluators thought the documentation not only met the standards, but could be used for models for other agencies seeking accreditation.

that's a big deal because that means that Greenville County truly is at your service and we truly are the best of the best.

It gave us an opportunity to integrate processes, integrate training and truly get different perspectives from each division and bring that into really efficient policies, procedures, practices and training.

Across the board through all of our evaluation process we noted that Greenville County keeps constituent dollars top of mind. So working within the budgeted amounts that they are given and making sure that they're doing things to the best capability and not going beyond those fiscal limitations, I think that's great. That's something that agencies can struggle with, but Greenville County certainly is using tax dollars efficiently. Excellent.

I think it's more than proper to give them a round of applause. Anything else, Mr. Administrator? All right. Thank you very much. We will now move to requests and motions by council members. Anybody have anything tonight?

Just a very fast one. Oh, sorry. I'll come right to you. I wanted to congratulate Jessica and Clerk Regina for catching that on the fly, that little glitch in the procedure. That was pretty good work.

Councilor Mitchell.

Mr. Chairman, when I became a county councilman in 2023, one of the first announcements I had was the Gordon Street affordable housing project. That project opened last year. And I just wanted you to know that this year, the adjacent property project for Safe Harbor will be having their ribbon cutting ceremony this coming Friday, August 21st at 9 a.m. And invite all of you and the public, of course, to come to this. You'll be able to see the affordable housing project that is completed and occupied right next door. It's a beautiful project. Safe Harbor is going to be an excellent, beautiful project also. And please join us for the ribbon cutting and be proud of what we're doing in Greenville County. Thank you. Thank you very much, Chancellor Mitchell.

And if there's nothing else, I did have one more thing. We have been blessed to have somebody with us for longer than most of us have been here. But our administrative assistant clerk, the council, Miss Jessica Stone, who's right here. is not completely leaving us, but this will be the last time that she's in this chair and helping me not butcher people's names all meeting long. So I just wanted to personally thank her for her service to the county and to council and to the clerk, and she's been a blessing, and I've enjoyed it every second, and I'm glad that she's not completely gone. So thank you very much, Ms. Stone.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

If there's nothing else, I'll entertain one final motion.

Motion will adjourn.