City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey, good afternoon and welcome to our last meeting of June. Invocation tonight will be given by Councilman Marshall Pickens in respects of lab led by Mayor Pro Tem Jeff Roberts. Please rise.

Holy One, we come to you today asking for your guidance, wisdom, and support as we begin this meeting. Help us to engage in meaningful discussion. Allow us to grow closer as a group and nurture the bonds of community. We pray for wisdom, for strength, for courage, to do what is right and good for all citizens. May we put the interests of others above our own. May we act with love for the common good, and may we be good neighbors, recognizing your image in every person here. We also thank you for the blessing of Dr. B. Thompson and her 50 years of service and leadership to the city of Anderson. We ask that everyone can have a servant leader's heart as big as Dr. Thompson's and will heed the call when needed as she has done. Amen.

Well, tonight we are having a special presentation, and I imagine that a few in the crowd are here just because of that, and I thank you for coming. Tonight we welcome you to our council chambers and to say goodbye to this lovely young lady, Dr. B. Thompson, who has... been noted, she's served our city for 50 years in a great way. And to think about the number of things that she's touched, and she's made an invaluable mark on our city. And also not within the city of Anderson, but also through so many connections and mentoring that she's done over the years. have some mixed emotions about letting her go. But she told me she was going. And I couldn't talk her out of it. So it will be our last meeting. What I'd like to do is just to maybe open it up to council first, if you have some remarks. And then we have some presentations that we'd like to give Dr. Thompson. And then we'll let Dr. Thompson close it out with remarks from her seat. How does that sound?

Well, Dr. Thompson, I'm honored. Paint the world on you. You know that. She's a lovely lady. She's a lovely person. And she's one that will not be duplicated. And... When I first was running for council, I'll keep this very brief, but she called me and I called her and she said, why don't I know you? She knew me that next day, I promise. We formed a bond that day and it's one that I, from the bottom of my heart, I cherish. And I love you, Dr. Thompson. And I love what you've done for our community and every person that you've touched. Thank you so much. We love you.

Dr. Thompson, some of my fondest childhood memories involve you, your late husband, Mr. Harry, and the Westside Community Center. I remember going to lunch with my dad and Mr. Harry and learning about the history of Anderson from him. And I remember going to every year the Westside Community Center Gala with my family and what a gift the Westside Community Center has been to our community. It has been my honor and privilege to now grow up and sit next to you for the last two years. I hate that it has not been longer, but I am so grateful for your legacy. I'm so grateful for that legacy that's stretched from my entire life at this point and much longer than my entire life. And I know that legacy will continue to live on in our city and our community, so thank you.

B, it's unfortunate that we're gonna lose you, and it's also unfortunate that we don't realize and recognize greatness when it's amongst us. And sometimes it takes another generation looking back to see that greatness, but I see it right now. I consider you a friend and a mentor, and my dad loved you dearly. So I hope some of that rubs off and I can carry forward. You're a fierce advocate for your constituents. I see that. You have a quiet demeanor. You have a fierce advocacy. And I thank you.

Dr. Thompson, I have not been on council with you for very long, but I've known you for a very long time. And the way you pull people together is amazing. And I've always enjoyed the way you will pull people together, your dream team. The things that you care about, you will champion to the nth degree. I just am privileged to, like Mr. Steele said, be on the same council as you for the end of this legacy and just can't wait for tomorrow to see the first of July when you're actually out of city council and doing your own thing. So we thank you for your service.

I feel very fortunate to have that opportunity to serve with you. It's kind of funny because people ask. My son, who's 10 now, because I remember when I was sworn in 10 years ago, he had just been born. And then as he got older, he was asking about people on city council because he knows some of the people. And then he was asking how long everybody had been on. And so I was explaining to him that really it's a great time to now celebrate 250 years because you actually took office before the bicentennial. And so that's how I explained it. So July 1 of 76 is when you were sworn in. And I was like, that is very fitting. And so I was kind of explaining to him. And he still didn't get it, but that's all right. But I want you to know, I knew you a little before council, but the main memory I have of you is when I was first on council. And that's when we would still meet over there sometimes for executive session. And so I went in there, the first executive session. And kind of sitting there. We're a very great group, always have been, kind of laid back. But every now and then conversation gets riled up a little bit and stuff. And I just remember you stopping everybody, like, boys, boys, settle down now. Settle down. And it was that calm presence of trying to rope everybody back in. And that's really what I will always remember most and value most, is just your ability to come into any room, kind of not necessarily take charge, but just get the pulse of the room, bring everybody together, and refocus everyone. I'm like, look, what's the goal here? We're all in it for the same reason. And we don't always agree, but you would always remind everybody, as long as you're doing what you think is best for the community that we serve, then you're doing the right thing. And so I just feel an honor to have been able to serve with you for the last 10 years, and I wish you the best in this next goal, next stage. Thank you.

So we have a couple of gifts here. And this one, I'll read, is presented to Dr. Beatrice R. Thompson in appreciation for 50 years of loyal and dedicated service to the city of Anderson. Anderson City Council, June 22nd of 2026. So hopefully you can find another place with me. I'll hold it up. It's actually a collage that I put together last night. Thank you, boys. I put a brandy next to the other, and you hadn't seen it, but it's something. So you get to take that home. It's some of the old councils and new councils, and everybody just sort of built this council. Yeah, this is a portrait of Tom. My friend Diane Sims did this for you. And so I think she did a great job.

The Honorable Mayor Harris, my fellow council members, my wonderful administrative staff, all of my wonderful community members in the audience, It is a great honor to stand here, not to make a speech or to read from a script, just to say a few things in my heart. Is that OK? OK. First of all, June 26, maybe, 1976, my late husband my wonderful late husband Harry Thompson and I walked down from the courthouse down Main Street to City Hall. And as we climbed up those steps, the firemen climbed up into the tower and they rang the bell. They kept ringing the bell. And it was amazing. I said, you know, they're ringing the bell indicating the service that I will be hopefully giving to this community. And ladies and gentlemen, I'll try to keep ringing that bell over these 50 years. In all kinds of ways, ringing the bell of service to a wonderful place that we all love home, and that place is what? Anderson, that we all love and admire. So over these years, as the mayor pointed out, I served with a myriad of people, so many. Beginning in the early years, I served with Mayor Darwin Wright, remember him? And secondly, Mayor Richard Shirley, remember him? And of course, I have a wonderful mayor now, Mayor Terrence Roberts. And so many, so many council members. I can't even count them. I know he has some pictures there. But each one has been a joy. And as Kyle pointed out, we didn't always agree, but we always found a way to be agreeable. And that's kind of the way I live my life and conduct my way in life, is that the only way we accomplish anything is by working together making the difference. And that's what I've tried to practice during my years of service. When I came on council, there were so many things to be done, so much work to be done. So the wonderful words you said, Kyle, All you guys here, you know I love you. And I always said, thank you, John. You and I hit it off right away, didn't we? We did. We did. And of course, David, Andrew, we hit it off pretty good, didn't we? Once in a while, I said, hey, guys, I got to do something I need to say to you. Let's go into office. And we had a nice little talk, didn't we? Yes, ma'am. Always. Yeah, always. But we may have gone in wondering, But, you know, we always came out how? Smiling. And that's kind of the way I live my life, even though with my family, with my time on working in my district office with the counselors, with the children. I'd have a parent come into my office sometime and just mad as they could be. And like one of the ladies who worked in the public works, she would say, hey, you're mad as hell now, aren't you? Yes, I am. When they left, they said, thank you. Thank you. So I have not been, you have not been as mad as hell with me. You have been my supporters. You have been working with me. Because remember this, no man is a what? An owl in time itself. It takes a whole village to raise a child. And I thank you for being my village. When I came on council, there were so many things I saw that had been done in this city, but still needed to be done. in the neighborhoods, downtown. So many things we need to do to keep this city moving in the right direction. So think of the things that we've done, Mayor, council members, over the years. Now we can look downtown, and we're not a Greenville. We are not a Spartanburg. We are not a Charlotte, Atlanta. We are what? Anderson. And we are working hard to make this place the best that it can be. Downtown, David, we've got to have nice hotels. We've got to have a Rand Park. We've got to have a Lindy Park. I have a Cato's Lake. I have a B. Thompson Park. So many things downtown that help us to move forward. But all the time, And talking is when someone pointed out, Cal, I believe, come on guys, I've heard all you had to say now. Let's get it going. Let's do it. Let's do it. Let's come together. And even though you may have something that you like, you may think one way and I may think another. And neither one of us may not be right. But sometimes, as you mentioned, our dream team brought together to say, hey, let's get together and talk about what you believe, what I believe, but together what we believe and how we can make a difference in this community. So we've done a lot of things here. And I hope that, and I know, I have the confidence that whoever takes this seat here will keep on working toward making this city be the best that it can be for all the people. I think about the little things. I think about Church Street and the entrepreneurs, black entrepreneurs who worked hard over the many years to do so many things downtown. And now we have the little park over there, the park celebrating the great entrepreneurial black people who worked hard with their businesses in the beginning of this century. You look around and you see how to recognize people. At one time we had a street called the Mall Road. I said, we need to recognize somebody. So what's it called now? The MLK Junior Boulevard, recognizing people who really make a difference in our lives. We look around at the West Side Community Center, and we say, that school is just going to the bed. Oh, no. I'm calling together the people. We're going to make this a place where we can have so many things. So what is it now? It's a great place for the community. So many different things. Old Westview community falling apart. But that's not a good place. Let's upgrade that cemetery. So now you go over there and you're proud. see that cemetery, what we have done together as a city to make it a place where black folk can be proud to be buried there. Just so many different things. Look at Lindy Park, that street there. John Moore worked really hard to start that street. Let's do something about that. So come on along, and Rick Lockridge came out and said, well, we're going to do something else. When Greg came along, look what Lindy Park. Have you been there? See what a beautiful place it is? All these things upgrade our community. All the things that we talked about, David said, you know, we need a nice hotel downtown. And so do we have one now? Yes, we do. We got top of the roof, help me. Yeah, that's top notch, you see. And just so many different things. But as I said, I thank the community. I thank my fellow council members. Now listen, I may be retiring from this seat, but I'm not retiring from this community, okay? And I'll be out there working, so when you see me sitting on the front porch, stop by and say, hello, Dr. B. I got something I want you to do. And I'll say, when do I start? When do I start? So I thank you. I appreciate you. I thank you for all you've done. I see so many friends in the audience that I thought didn't remember me. But you do. Thank you for being here. Thank you all for being here. And I'd like to say I thank so much and so wonderfully proud of my family. My late husband and my late son. son Patrick, who is so sad that he could not be here tonight because he has a personal illness, but his heart is here. And my one top man standing back at the camera, Daryl. This family has been the wing beneath my wings. They've stood by, sacrificed, endured, and held my hand along the way. I couldn't have done it without you. Please give them a big hand. Thank all of you for coming. May God bless this council, this city, and most of all, may God bless the United States of America. Thank you. And I'm so glad I closed that bell, but I've been ringing it for a long time.

Thank you. So our minutes of our June 1st meeting, our June 8th meeting have been distributed. Are there any corrections or additions to those minutes?

Make a motion we approve the minutes, Mayor.

Well, first by Mr. Steele. Second. Second by Marshall Pickens. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The minutes of June 8th pass unanimously. We have two items of old business, and the first item is to request a second reading of Ordinance 2611 to rezone 504 South Fenton Street from LO Limited Office to NC Neighborhood Commercial. Ms. McEwen.

Mr. Mayor and Council, we did speak on this on first reading. This is your second reading. The Planning Commission also considered this request and recommended approval. In your packet, you'll see a map that shows the two parcels that it consists of. I'll ask Maurice McKenzie, our Planning and Development Director, to come up here to go over the details of the request on second reading.

Thank you. Again, the applicant's requesting to rezone two properties from limited office to neighborhood commercial to operate a bakery at the site. One of the properties has a vacant commercial style building on it. The other site of the property is currently vacant, but they are adjacent to each other. But the current LO zoning does not allow retail restaurants, so that's the reason for the request. The NC neighborhood commercial zoning that they're requesting does allow that. So that will allow them the opportunity to operate a bakery at the site. St. John's Church currently owns the property, but the intent is for the applicant to purchase those lots once it is rezoned. And when looking at rezonings, we always turn to the city's future land use map and the comprehensive plan. And that future land use map shows this area trends towards commercial for the site. So as you know, we're also undergoing zoning update our unified development ordinance and although it's still in draft form it also points to this property being neighborhood commercial the applicant was aware of that knowing that it was forthcoming but they wanted to go ahead and get the property rezoned so they can move forward with purchasing the property getting their plans ready and moving forward with their project And once this is rezoned, it does go through the process of a site plan, building plan review. It has to meet building codes, site requirements like our landscaping and parking. So that will go through the process once it's rezoned. Also, it's in the of anderson historic district so any exterior alteration to the site will go before the board of architects will review and as mr mckeon mentioned this does come before you tonight on the second reading so we do that with an approval of the rezoning request thank you sir we did have a good discussion a few questions on the first reading are there any additional questions or comments

No pro tem.

I agree it trends to the direction we're wanting to see this area to redevelop. It's a reasonable request, and it falls right in line with our vision. So I move that we make this LO to neighborhood commercial.

First by Mr. Roberts. Second. Second by Mr. Newt. Any further discussion, comments? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. That passes unanimously. Our last item of new business is request second reading of Ordinance 2612 for a Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan for the Rocky River and Generosity Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvement Project. Ms. McEwen.

At our March 9th City Council meeting, we approved the submission of an application to the SC Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund for potential low-interest financing for two projects at Rocky River. One is a replacement of the floating anaerobic digester lid, and the second is upgrades to the Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition System, also known as SCADA, and that would be at both plants. The South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority offers us low-interest financing for the municipal water and wastewater infrastructure projects through the Clean Water Revolving Fund. The current interest rate is 2.6%. It is a subsidized rate with money from the state and federal government. And as of today, I did check, Mr. Harbin would check me on this if he was here, but the 10-year is at 4.5%, so you can see just how below we are from the market of just the benchmark 10-year. As part of the loan process approval, an ordinance approving the loan is required. That's what's before you here. It was approved on first reading of the June 8th meeting. The estimated annual debt service is $215,000 for a 20-year term. And with that, Mr. Mayor, we recommend approval and second reading. And we do have a quick closing on this, but we're closing tomorrow on this. If approved to actually lock in this interest rate, so FITS rate, the rates do increase in July.

Good. Thank you. Questions, comments?

I think it's a great read. Good opportunity for the city. I'll make the motion to approve Ordinance 2612.

First by Mr. Newton. Second. Second by Dr. Thompson.

Further discussion?

All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? That passes unanimously on the second and final reading. Three items of new business, and the first item is request consideration of payment resolution to the Anderson County Transportation Committee and the South Carolina Department of Transportation. Mr. McCool.

Our Transportation and Planning Division is under our Planning Department. I'll ask Mr. McKenzie to come back up and go over this request.

Thank you. Most every year you adopt repaving priority resolutions to both the Anderson County Transportation Committee, the ACPC, and also the SCDOT, the Department of Transportation. And we always anticipate that these resolutions will provide them guidance in terms of them developing their plans and paving priority lists. and actually in fact the anderson county transportation committee they do require updated paving resolutions to them when applying for paving funding so it is something they do require but we have an extensive list of streets that are in need of paving in our community, but when we rank the streets, several factors are taken into consideration using a tiered priority system, but the evaluations that we use are based on the SEDOT's weighted ranking system. It takes into consideration pavement condition, average daily traffic count, the economic and community impact the street may have in the area and also the population that may be affected by a particular street also we have something called a cohesion bonus which makes sure that subdivisions stay together so you don't have one subdivision street get paved and the others not getting paved so we take that in consideration as well when we create these priority lists And you see in your packet there's the resolutions and the local and state paving list in a tiered order of need. We do, again, maintain extensive databases of streets and we look at those annually. But when submitting these paving resolutions to the ACTC and also to the DOT, we only send the top ranked streets for the funding consideration on an annual basis. And when you look at these lists, they may look generally familiar to you because over the years things don't change too much when streets are paved they come off of these lists obviously and then we do evaluate these annually but you know they're tweaked a little bit here and there but generally speaking these lists probably look pretty familiar to you but this is coming to you tonight for approval of paving resolutions to the county transportation committee and to the scdot and if you approve it we will forward those resolutions along to those two agencies

And Mr. Mayor, I'll just add that while this is the local roads that the city is involved in and actually owns and maintains, which is very little in the city, and then the state list is state secondary and third tier roads that... typically your neighborhood roads, you'll see that the large pavement projects, Clemson Boulevard currently taking place, Greenville Street's taking place, where all the way through Lindley Park looks great. They did Bellevue. And so DOT is following a, and they're really catching up on it, a master plan of They're resurfacing, and you've seen that speed up over the years because there's more funding available to them now in federal matches. So since most of the streets and major roads in the city are the state, they're able to fund that, and we're seeing good results from that as well.

Everything looks good. Any questions, comments?

i know that i'm probably a broken record because i bring it up every time we discuss roads i know malden would be one of those you know major state roads that wouldn't go on a list like this but do we have any indication or guidance from dot on where that fits into their master plan because i know that's one that i've gotten repeated calls about and it's in very bad shape particularly after the lonely park renovation and all the traffic was kind of directed up and around the construction and it really caused wear and tear.

Yeah, I'll say that the district office is very aware of Melton Street. We've had a lot of conversation about it, particularly with the flow of Lindley Park and pedestrian side of that too. And so I know their eye on that and it is on their radar. And another thing I should add too is the bridges. And so there are several bridges that they're catching up on they have a bridge separate bridge replacement program and you see those all through the upstate being replaced and we have several in the city that need to be replaced as well that are state owned and so um those are also on their radar the ones that that are in the city we brought that to their attention okay thank you any other questions comments mr pickens so i understand this is kind of a wish list and this is my first time dealing with something like this so

What is the next step once the ACTC gets it in the SEDOT? It's basically we're waiting for Christmas?

Again, yeah, the ACTC, they do require these paving priority lists, so they do take these into consideration. To the SEDOT, it is a paving wish list of sorts. We want to make sure they understand kind of what our priorities are, and hopefully they will align with what theirs are too.

I will say, Mr. Pickens, that we've had a lot of luck. There is a match they added about four years ago for the CTC funding, and they're appointed by the delegation, and so they made their own decisions. Sometimes we refer to them as the Anderson County Transportation Committee, but they're appointed by the delegation. And they've taken all the considerations across the county. And really, a lot of the big requests are us and Anderson County. Most of you take the other municipalities. Pretty much everything's state-owned. I mean, there'll be a few things, a few subdivisions here and there. So the state is taking care of those. But they kind of rotate between us and Anderson County on those. And they've done really well funding us through the years. We have one out of bid now. I think it's about seven roads. And so... But we'll see going forward. I know there's some people on the board, and that's changed over. So we'll keep a good relationship with them to make sure that our interests are put out in front of them.

Dr. Thompson.

I know that there are a lot of requests, but West Franklin Street has so much traffic, bus routes, churches, Westside Community Center. It really... should be placed high on the power after this to get paid.

Yeah, we have a lot of needs. I think there are 46 transportation committees across the state. Very few of them have municipality representation. The committee has been over the years very good to the municipalities in our county, and we just have to keep making them aware of our priorities. Any other questions, comments? I'd entertain a motion.

I make the motion to approve the paving list. Second.

I have the first by Mr. Newton, second by Mr. John Roberts. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? past this, you know. The other thing I was going to say on that, too, I mean, speaking of Malden Street, I think... as our community grows and this council's ability to pay for things grow. I think we've talked about sidewalk priorities, too. And those are, and I would imagine that we are mapping some of those sidewalk priorities, too. Our second item is request consideration of purchase of bus for the transit department. Mr. Hume.

Yes, this is one bus in front of you. We do have the city transit system, Electricity Transit operates six routes and connection locations throughout Anderson County with connection to the Clemson's CAT bus as well. at the technical college, and it meets up with the cab bus, so you can transfer to Clemson on that. Keith Moody, our transit manager, is gonna go over this. I will say this is another bus that's time for service to be replaced by federal standards, and that's mostly federally funded here with a local match. We do have three other buses on order that will look like trolleys, but modern day buses, and those are due very soon here in the fall. If I'm not mistaken, or maybe sooner. And so with that, our transit manager, Keith Moody, will go over this request and the procurement of this.

Thank you, Mr. McEwen, Mayor, City Council. Congratulations, Dr. Thomas. Like Mr. McEwen said, we have another bus that's come due. It's met its useful life. According to the Federal Transit Administration, It's an El Dorado. It's got over 250,000 miles. And we went to the Georgia Department of Administrative Services contract that the feds recognized. And the hometown trolley streetcar that we have on order three buses has also won the bid again. So it would be a clean burning diesel that we would be bringing in. And they have said that they would slide us ahead of some others on the schedule to get us in quicker.

Good.

That's good news. So our total fleet would stay at nine with the trolleys, and so we'd stay at nine.

We'd stay at the nine.

Good. Any other questions, comments? Mayor Pro Tem?

Make sure I understand. This will be a trolley-style bus matching the other three that are on the order? Yes, sir. Is that our trend to maybe make all nine trolley-style eventually?

If the city would like and may win the bids, that would be ideal.

Okay. And also, who's responsible for the grant writing to obtain the $447,000?

I want to give Keith and also Elizabeth Willits in the audience. Elizabeth, you can raise your hand. She works very closely. Keith and Elizabeth both spend a lot of time, but Elizabeth on the finance side. Working directly with FTA, we're assigned FTA personnel out of Atlanta. I think they call it Region 4, too, like FEMA does. And she works very closely with them and with that relationship, and they get to know our system very well. And it's helped out so much, and us moving things forward and procuring new buses and so forth.

Well, nice job, both of you. Thank you. And with that, I'm moving forward with the purchase of this trial.

Second. Mayor Pro Tem, second. Mr. Steele, any other questions, comments? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Good job. Our last item of new business is request consideration of an ordinance authorizing the execution of an easement to Duke Energy's Carolina LLC for the installation and maintenance of electrical and communication facilities. Mr. McEwen?

Mr. Strickland, we'll go over this item for you, and there's a map in your packet that we'll help out as well.

Thank you, Mr. McEwen. Mayor, Council, what you have before you is an easement request from Duke Energy that would be needed to provide power for the new Big Johns building renovations going on. Recently, you approved the... the easement for the State Historic Preservation Office required for the building between our park and the new renovated buildings, or soon to be renovated buildings. This is another easement in that general area. If you refer to that map, the red line shows the direction of the easement. It's essentially over a short section of sidewalk between the underground transformer They'll come on the backside of those buildings from Main Street to the back corner of his building. Again, it wouldn't, just like the other easement, it wouldn't interfere with our ability to do what we're currently doing at the park or anything in the future. This is just something that Duke needs in order to extend that infrastructure out to the corner of that building.

Good.

I've been answering questions.

Thank you. Standard things. Infrastructure.

Motion to approve.

First by Mr. Roberts, John Roberts. Second. Second by Mr. Pickens. Any further discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. We're at the end. And again, thank you for those that came off to see Dr. Thompson off. As she said, she's leaving this council, but she'll be within eerie of anybody wondering why we did something at some point in time. But we thank you for what you've done, and we thank you for your presence here. I'd entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved. So moved.

Second.

Second by Mr. Steele. Let the record show. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? We stand adjourned.