County Council - Regular Meeting

All right, it's six o'clock. If everybody's ready, we'll call this Edgefield County Council meeting to order on April the 14th, 2026. Appreciate everybody being here tonight. We'll begin with the invocation led by Reverend Will Riddle, Stevens Creek Church in Augusta, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. If everyone will please stand.

Would you pray with me? Heavenly Father, we come before you this evening with gratitude for this moment and for the opportunity that we have to gather in service of this community. Father, we thank you for Edgefield County. We thank you for its people, its history. Father, we thank you for its future. We recognize that leadership is both a privilege and a responsibility, and we pause to acknowledge our need for wisdom that goes beyond ourselves. Father, your word reminds us that if any lacks wisdom, he should ask. God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly. And it will be given to him. So Lord, today we ask for that wisdom. And your word also says to seek the welfare of the city where I've been, where I've sent you. For when it thrives, you will thrive. So, Lord, we lift up this county to you with that heart. Father, we ask that you guide every leader, every county resident in this room. Would you grant them clarity where decisions are complicated and complex? Father, we pray for unity where differences may exist. And we pray for humility to lead in every conversation. Father, we ask that you would help them to lead not for personal gain, but for the good of those that they've been called to serve. We ask that you give them vision to see beyond what's immediate. We ask that you give them courage to do what's right and the discernment to steward the trust that's been placed in their hands. Father, we pray for Edgefield County. May it be a place that's marked by peace, a place that's marked by growth and a shared commitment to the well-being of every citizen. We ask that you strengthen families. Support those who are in need and let this community continue to flourish. And Lord, we ask that what is done here tonight would reflect integrity, wisdom, and a desire to serve something greater than ourselves. We submit this time, these decisions, and these leaders to your purpose and to your plan. We pray all of these things in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.

Please join us for the pledge. I pledge allegiance.

Please be seated.

All right, council, this is the approval of the agenda. I don't have any recommendations. Does anybody else have any recommendations on any changes? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented? So moved. Mr. Moody makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. And Dr. Kenyon seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next on the agenda, you see we've got a special recognition tonight, so I'm going to turn it over to the administrator to sort of kick that off for us.

So, Council, we're privileged to be able to recognize two exceptional employees tonight who have won the local and state-level American Legion First Responder Awards. That is EMS Supervisor Carl Culpepper and Sheriff's Office Investigator Zach Strom. I'm going to first ask EMS Director Garrett Lynn to get up and speak about his employee, and then Sheriff Rowland will speak about his. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you all.

So when they were asking me to nominate somebody, when I thought about all of our employees, Carl's name just stood out to me, and he's been recognized for other achievements he's done in the past. And he, in the last year, has really just been a real integral part of growing our service. Through our training, we've completely revamped it. He has been the head behind that, and helping with new employees, our treatment protocols. He has just really kind of been my right-hand man with a lot of the improvements we've had. But his duty doesn't stop here. When he leaves here of Edgefield, he is a volunteer fireman with New Ellington Fire Department. So he serves on and off the clock for the CSRA. I was happy to see that he received that nomination, not only from the local American Legion, but for the state as well. So he's a well-deserved employee to receive it.

Good evening. Good evening. Thank you for having us. And thanks to David for taking a few minutes to let us brag on these guys a little bit. Zach Shrum, as you know him. He's been with us over 20 years. His entire 20-year career has been exemplary of hard work, supervision. He gets promoted into CID. And he's just exceptional service. Then bleeds into leadership, and it flourishes throughout the agency with him. 25. We had a tough 25. We had attempted murders and a murder and the old-fashioned whodunit and Zach and the investigative team, Zach leading the way, was able to not just develop the case, not just take take it from a thought process to develop it, to interview it, and to make the arrest. But we're successful in court because of Zach. We're successful in the street because of Zach. And I couldn't be happier, prouder, that he's coming from us to be our next probate judge. We couldn't have searched the county for a better candidate. He will serve us all very well. I know we're not here to talk about the probate judge, but in addition, his demeanor, his persistence, his analytical skill strengthen all of us at the agency. We are very proud of him. Beyond his professional accomplishments, Zach is widely admired for his approachable personality. genuine connection to not just us, but to the public and the crime victims. Everyone will back me on that. Zach's a devoted husband and a father of three. He's been able to balance the demanding law enforcement career and the demanding fatherhood and family at the same time, does it very well. We are extremely proud of him. He is dedicated to protecting the citizens and enforcing the laws of fairness and resolve in advancing public safety for all of us. He is richly deserving of the American Legion Award here locally and at the state level. We are very proud of him. Thank you for having us.

Well, if we could, too, I just first, I would say, let's all give a round of applause to Carl and Zach. So thank you all. And because we like to have our picture made with people who win things, would y'all join us up here for a picture, please, for the county council?

Oh, yeah, that'd be great.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Come on, Winston.

I didn't see him at the convention. He's undercover. We good?

All right, council, let's move on to the next item on the agenda, which is the approval of the minutes. I'll take them one at a time. First is the January 6, 2026 regular meeting minutes. Anybody have any changes or comments on those? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the January 6th minutes? So moved, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Talbot makes the motion. Is there a second?

Second.

Ms. Ireland seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next is the March 3rd regular meeting minutes. Any changes or comments on those minutes? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve those minutes? So moved. Mr. Moody makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. Ms. Ireland seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. And finally, the March 10th budget workshop meeting minutes. Any questions or comments, changes on those minutes? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve March 10th budget workshop minutes? So moved. Second. Dr. Kenyon makes the motion, and Mr. Moody seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. So this ends the minutes. We'll move on to public comments. I'll ask the clerk that anyone, or maybe since you're passing by there, Mr. Hart, is there anybody who's signed up? Okay, nobody signed up for the first public comment period. So I'll close that council and move to reports. Any questions or comments on reports? Okay, hearing none. Next is our public hearing. This is the public hearing on Ordinance 25-26-007, an ordinance to provide standards for preservation of trees as part of the land development and building construction process. You didn't have to sign up to be a part of the public hearing, so is anyone here to speak in the public hearing on that ordinance? Okay. Hearing no one counsel, I'll close the public hearing and move to old business. Under old business, it's the same ordinance that I just read, so I'm not going to reread it. I'll ask the administrator if there's anything new or different we need to consider for third reading.

There is not.

Thank you.

Council, any questions or comments from anybody on this ordinance? Hearing none, is there a motion to give third reading to ordinance 2526007? So moved, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Talbert makes a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

And Ms. Ireland seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Under new business, there's a reappointment. Should have been in the last months, but we couldn't quite hook up with Cassie, but she said she did want to be reappointed, so that's why it's on the agenda tonight. So any questions or comments on that reappointment? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve that reappointment? So moved. Mr. Moody makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Talbert seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next is consideration of approval of first reading of Ordinance 2526008, an ordinance providing for the FY2627 general operating budget and establishing ancillary budgets for E911, administration, economic development, solid waste disposal, victims' bill of rights, emergency medical service, road maintenance, tri-county solicitor, assistant solicitor, school resource officers one through nine, event security, sheriff discretionary funds, clerk of court discretionary funds, pretrial intervention, and criminal domestic violence. We, on March the 10th, had a budget workshop where the council went through this budget, both in terms of hearing Administrator go through a budget memo. We then went page by page in the budget, and then we asked any department heads or elected officials to speak to us if there was something we were missing. So we did all that on March the 10th, and it's recorded. If you may want to go back and watch it on YouTube. And at this point, I'll ask the administrator if he will go through the budget memo again, because most people weren't here and didn't hear it. And we want everybody to hear what's in this budget. So I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you. Everybody get comfortable. This is six pages of a lot of details, but this is a fairly expansive budget. So I'll get started. Over the past several years, the county has experienced strong residential growth. While this has resulted in additional revenues for the county, growth brings increased need for services. With this budget, the county will meet the ongoing needs of the citizens while ensuring fiscal stability. The Edgefield County employees are our most important asset. Last year, we gave them a 3.5% raise. The annual consumer price index, which is a mark of inflation through January 2026, in the southern region was 1.9%. I'm sure everyone's heard it's jumped to 3% in March, primarily due to oil prices. If you listen to the radio, typically you'll hear something like 3.3. That's a national number.

It's 3% for the southern region.

A little over three years ago, we set a goal to increase employee cost of living wages at a rate a bit higher than CPI to consistently close the wage gap with surrounding counties. We've been able to largely do that. The implementation of the STEP program in merit increases beyond the cost of living adjustment would ensure that more experienced and higher performing employees receive additional compensation. We have included a minimum 2.5% cost of living increase in this year's budget, an average 0.5% merit increase at a range of 0 to 1% for eligible employees based on an employee evaluation, and a 2.5% step increase for employees under the midpoint of their pay grade. We propose to continue the 401 match with the proposed match of up to $1,200 per participating employee. Competition remains high for qualified employees. We are having a tighter budget year this year due to inflation, but we are proposing to fund one additional employee in human resources. I think all departments can agree we need additional help in human resources. As we are just coming down from elevated inflation, you will see those effects across all departments as costs for most goods and services are up substantially. Decisions by state government can also adversely affect our revenue. A primary example is the reduction by 42% of property taxes on boats with no provision from the state to replace that revenue, which reduces county operation revenue. by $65,000 for the upcoming year. Included with this budget is a capital project improvement plan. I handed out a copy of that to each of you just before the meeting. The development and approval of this plan is required prior to implementing impact fees, which is an item that council has talked about over the past year in our higher growth areas. We plan to introduce an impact fee ordinance in the Meriwether and County Line areas in the coming months to primarily fund an EMS substation and recurring ambulance replacement in that area. There may be a small portion allocated to recreation. If approved, we will ask that the City of North Augusta collect these fees on our behalf on new Edgefield County construction within the North Augusta City limits. We have had those discussions preliminarily, and they are amenable to that. The purpose of impact fees is to reduce the burden on the county for capital needs caused by growth. Based on the audited reserves as of June 30, 2025, The general fund has a fund balance of $7,377,489 in unrestricted reserves. In fiscal year 2026-2027, the council will designate $844,092 from the fund balance. Our general fund operating budget for this year is $18,549,177. After using the $844,092 from our reserves, the county will have $6,533,397, which is 4.3 months of unrestricted reserves available. That is a good cushion for the county. Major highlights in this year's budget, again, the 2.5% cost of living increase. The proposed cost of living increase will be applied to individual salaries and salary bands. A half percent merit pay increase based on employee evaluations at a range of zero to one percent. Continuation of a 2.5 percent eight-year step program. The difference between the minimum of a salary band of a grade and a midpoint is 20 percent. By giving a 2.5% increase calculated on the minimum point of the salary band each year over eight years, an employee hired at the minimum would reach the midpoint in eight years. This is separate from cost of living increases, which move the salary bands themselves. Step increases would cease once the employee reaches midpoint. Merit increases continue. Continuation of an employer match on 401 at 50% of each dollar contributed by the employee. The employee match this fiscal year may not exceed $1,200. The match amount is revisited each budget cycle. We have budgeted $20,000 for wellness programs. The wellness programs cover our flu shots, pneumonia shots, our blood work events, other wellness events. And this will also cover employee attendance at county-sponsored exercise classes and supplement gym memberships with an agreement with the training compound in Edgefield pending council's approval. The purpose is to encourage employee health and reduce absenteeism, and to help keep our premiums and our modifiers down. Continued coverage of the individual health insurance premiums for employees This year, insurance is proposed to increase 5%, but final numbers will not be available until August 2026. I did just hear that the Senate has proposed a 0% increase, and if that's the case, that will help our budget a lot, but we have a couple months to go there. The creation of one full-time position in the general fund. Travel and training budget reimbursements will continue to follow the IRS mileage reimbursement and the General Services Administration per diem rate, which is reset, I believe, in January of each year. An increase in the solid waste fee to $140 from $100 to account for inflation, higher worker compensation rates, and pay increase equal to the county employee increase for convenience center employees. Those employees are employed by the senior center, and we essentially pay for their services. Increased commercial and demolition disposal fees, and the big item is a new landfill cell construction project at Three Rivers Landfill, which will increase tonnage fees that are charged by Three Rivers through Tri-County to us, by $10.30 per ton. That is by far the biggest driver of the increase. There is no millage increase proposed. The local option sales tax continues to increase. 71% of this tax goes toward property tax relief. A year ago, we applied $2 million. for property tax relief credits. This year, $2.5 million, and for the 26-27 fiscal year, we are initially budgeting $2.6 million, but that may increase with more data before September when the Auditor Bill Gilchrist comes and presents that. That money allows a credit on your tax bills, so we have been heartened to see that that fund has increased over the years to provide those credits. As I go department to department, if you hear me say no significant changes requested, that does not mean their budget did not increase. It means there were no special requests outside of pay and inflationary increases. For county council, there were no significant changes. For administration, we recommend adding a human resources employee to assist the personnel director. For building and planning, there were no significant changes. The clerk of court requested $15,000 for modification of the family court for safety. A request was also made for an increase of $2,000 in the printing budget. We recommend approval. We are currently, at this time, getting quotes for a new flat roof, which may have to be covered this fiscal year, as I'm not sure it can wait. The coroner's office requested an increase of $5,000 in professional services, and $1,200 in special contracts. We agree with this. The Veterans Office, there were no significant changes. Information technology, an increase of $5,000 was requested in computer hardware and IT services funding for the LEC as the LEC was moved over to the IT department. We had already advanced some funds at the latter part of last year for that. The magistrate's office saw a reduction in salaries with the retirement of part-time magistrate Judge Mosley. Some of that projected into this year, and that's why if you look at the historical budget, you'll see it's lower than two years ago. In probate, there were no significant changes. In voter registration, there were no significant changes. In GIS, an increase in service contracts was requested for software licensing. The assessor did not request significant changes. In fact, their most costly year was this year as we were implementing reassessment. The treasurer requested an increase in part-time employee hours. We agree. The auditor did not request significant changes. In our countywide budget, we are assuming that group insurance may increase by 5% for employer premiums. Again, we'll be pleasantly surprised if they don't. We propose to continue $20,000 for internships for several county offices, five in the fall, five in the spring. And just as an aside, these internships have been incredibly successful, I think especially in EMS, animal control, and the treasurer's office. We do have some bright high schoolers out there, which is good news. In emergency management, funding for firefighter training continues at $10,000. Funding for tower leases for the radio system of $35,000 has been added. Request for an additional employee not recommended. The sheriff's office is requesting a desk officer for the new law enforcement center and four deputies. We proposed revisit this request in the fall. The sheriff is also requesting an additional HR person, which we agree with. There were substantial increases for water and electricity for the new law enforcement center. In the detention center, there are substantial increases for boarding inmates. Obviously, we have a higher inmate count, so we have greater costs. That's to be expected. Federal reimbursement, I'm happy to report, and this is a little different from two months ago or so, but it will cover the eight new detention officers that we hired. by the next payment in May. So that's good news. It was sort of a lead lag. We had to hire the employees, train the employees, and it took a long time for the money to start coming in, but happy to say it is, and it's exactly what we expected. The sheriff requested four new detention officers. We proposed revisit this request again in the fall, and we really believe that getting this federal reimbursement money is going to make that possible, at least somewhat. So the reason we may be able to reconsider some Sheriff's Office personnel requests is that there's a lot going on that may affect our financial position. It's not just the federal reimbursement, but it's also our property reassessment program, new houses, houses added to the tax rolls, tax policies moving through the statehouse, and the growth, again, as I mentioned earlier, of our local option sales tax. I mentioned earlier that 71% of that goes to a credit, while the other 29% goes directly into the general fund for operations. So that is very helpful as that fund grows. Right now, we are in a lean time. I promised the sheriff we will have a couple re-evaluation meetings, summer through fall, and it's looking increasingly positive there. In animal control, the sheriff did not request significant changes. County maintenance. No requests. Parks, recreation, and tourism. The genealogical library falls under parks, recreation, and tourism, specifically the tourism part. Interestingly, we added tourism this year to encompass them. The salary for the librarian has been included in this budget. We had it in the administration budget when council approved it earlier this year because we didn't have a proper fit at that time. They have requested an increase in funding for summer camps, which were incredibly popular last summer. That funding has been included, but we have also increased revenue lines because we've received so many donations for the summer camps. So even though you'll see an increase in expenses for summer camps, the donations leading up to summer camps have been pouring in. So that is actually covered. The wellness program funding is also covered under recreation. Road fees, roads and bridges. Funding for a $334,000 motor grader is included. This will be partially funded with $162,000 reimbursement from FEMA and the sale of a used motor grader. I need to stop here for a second because you will see In new business, we are asking for council to approve the purchase of a motor grader. That is so that we can buy a 2025 model. That will keep us from paying $20,000 more. We are able to pay four payments with no interest and then pay it off in the new budget year with the approval of this budget. So I don't want to add any confusion. We're not trying to purchase two motor graders here. In economic development, we're continuing our payment to the Economic Development Partnership, $80,000 this year. The Industrial Park Special Revenue Fund had a balance of $661,000 at the end of January, and the 1% monies are coming in, so that should be just over $700,000 now. In emergency medical services, last year we increased millage by 12.5 mils for operations to the EMS Special Revenue Fund and 3.75 mils to the debt service for construction of a third station. We're actively seeking alternative funding for the third station through grants and state assistance. If that comes through, we'll be able to back off of that millage a little bit and provide additional tax relief. We have added a 12-hour fourth ambulance, which will transition to 24 hours once a new station is built. Staffing of that ambulance has been a bit of a challenge, but we have started an EMS school in-house. We have seven students right now. They should graduate in May, I believe. And I think we're going to keep that model going, because that's going to solve a lot of our staffing problems. And solid waste. There's a 6% increase in payments to the Tri-County Solid Waste Authority to $1,006,229, primarily due to tipping floor repair cost and the increase in tonnage fees from Three Rivers. All of our waste gets dumped on a large concrete floor, and the operation of the loader buckets just scour that floor out over time, and it's very costly to re-pour that concrete. And it's time to do it now. The budget includes a 2.5% increase in pay for convenience center employees. They match our COLA increases. The solid waste fund is beginning to trend negative. Three rivers landfills increasing tonnage fees by $10.30 over five years. The commercial and demolition tonnage fee, construction and demolition tonnage fee is also increasing. For these reasons, we recommend increasing the solid waste fee from $100 to $140. This is a significant increase, but $140 to dispose of all of your waste for an entire year is still an incredible deal that most other counties in the state don't get to experience. It's usually a lot higher, especially in the low country in the upstate. The Victim's Bill of Rights Fund provides for Sheriff's Office assistance to those who are victims and their families. A portion of the fines and forfeitures are returned to the county to fund this budget. However, in recent years, the funding has not adequately supported this position. We will need to transfer $62,342 from the general fund to the Victim's Bill of Rights Fund. This year we recommend holding our payment to $90,000 for Piedmont Technical College. The Aiken Bamberg Barnwell Edgefield Library System requested an additional $10,500 for professional services. We agree but will reduce building repairs by $2,000 as the building was just renovated. Now, as you know, we received a request to consider taking the Edgefield and Johnston Library employees under the wing of the county to allow them to be county employees. If council approves, this would reduce our contribution by the value of salaries and fringe. County salaries are higher, and I informed ABB of this, that we have to match our pay bands if we do this. if Council approves this. They understood that, and they would waive that additional amount from our allotment. So I just want to be clear about this. In our budget, we have a line for ABBE, and that line is $238,480. That's what we pay ABBE. That money pays... employee salaries. It also pays for some of the management staff that covers the four counties. And then they receive $150,000 in monies for Edgefield County, which takes care of ordering books, audiovisuals, programming, things of that nature. So if we take the employees, if council elects to do this, If we take them, we would retain all of the $238,480, except for $17,300 to go towards ABBE administration. The state will likely raise Edgefield County's allotment from $150,000 to $200,000. That would allow ABBE to take that loss of revenue first. from us and covered employee increases. As you can imagine, their management structure, they have several employees, and $17,300 doesn't go a long ways toward paying for them, but the additional state funding would help with that. So most county library staff are on county payrolls in the state, Saluda, McCormick, Aiken, Abbeville, My daughter works for the Charleston Library System. Most of them are like that. And I think that's what ABB is trying to get to. So that's something for council to discuss. And maybe we'll put it on an agenda, a coming agenda. Miscellaneous. We recommend continuing to fund the following at the following levels. Beckman Center, $2,000. Senior Center, $3,000. Clemson Extension, $900. and then $1,400 for 4-H. In particular, that funding for 4-H actually helps us because they run two very large, very well-attended outdoor camps in conjunction with our recreation department, probably outside of soccer, two of our most popular camps, and Upper Savannah Council of Governments at $20,619. The Tri-County Public Defender has not requested a change. The solicitor's office requested a 32.5% increase, totaling $110,000. We met, discussed this, and recommended a 5% increase. The delegation requested a $2,000 increase toward their administrative employee. That has been placed in the budget. The opioid grant, we have established a standalone budget for the opioid settlement, much like an SRO budget. To accept grant revenue and spend it on an approved program, we are using $173,760 this year from our guaranteed funds. As we go further in new business, you will see a vote on another opioid settlement, I believe the last one. those funds would go into the same state pot of money that gets distributed to the counties. So some counties don't participate in this. We do, and we think it's a worthwhile program. A special thank you to the Finance Committee, the Chair, Albert Talbert, Dean Campbell, Finance Director, Bruce Cooley, and to our Office Manager, Taz Potts, for organizing the budget, making the many edits, making your budget books there. And thank you to council for your questions and input. Thank you to all the elected officials and department heads for your input and your willingness to compromise. And a special thank you to our assistant administrator, Clark, for his assistance figuring out everything that I can. That's all.

Thank you for going through that. Appreciate everybody's patience with that. Want to make sure the public hears all of the changes in summary. Without counsel, are there any questions from counsel for the administrator?

I think you explained it pretty good at our workshops. I feel like we pretty much got our questions out of the way then. Thank you.

So I'll just throw one question out to council. You heard the administrator talk about the employees for ABBE and the potential of putting them as county employees instead of ABBE employees like other counties do. In a minute, I'll see what you think, but if we want to do it, it would have to be on the agenda as a separate item. We wouldn't vote on it tonight, but it would be probably on the May agenda, and we'd vote then. So I just wanted to get a sense of counsel. What are your feelings on that? Well, I'll be happy to start if you want me to. I think that it's always a challenge when we talk about adding people to the payroll. But this is a little bit different to me. A library is a governmental entity, and they exist in the county. And the library system, I just think it's important to all of us. I know it is. And it's important to citizens to have libraries. And they still have a place in our electronic world today. And what I would tell you is the way I looked at it, if you want to look at it from a dollars and cents point of view, you heard the explanation from the administrator on that. My only thing on that would be you're paying for it anyway. You're either paying their salaries through ABBE or they'll be our employees. Either way, you're paying the salaries. So it's just a matter of where we want to put them. I would at least tell you there's an advantage for the library system that if the employees are under the county purview, then the salaries would be a little bit better, the benefits would be a little bit better, and it would help them in recruiting and retaining employees. that kind of job it's not the highest paying job in the world so it's it's always harder to get people to come and get people to stay so there's an advantage to help the library system you know stabilize potentially stabilize any employment issues and it also gives us control in the sense that we wanted to not have somebody that was employed, and we didn't want, you know, we could more easily change that if we needed to for the two libraries in Edgefield County. So that's just my two cents. Are you happy to hear anybody else's? Go ahead. No, you go.

No, go ahead. I would like to say that David and I had a long conversation on this several times over and over, and that Jeanine has stated that I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH IT. I THINK WE HAVE BETTER CONTROL WITH THE EMPLOYEES, AND IT'S JUST GOING TO BENEFIT US AS A WHOLE. AND I CAN GO EITHER WAY, BUT I PREFER THAT WE TAKE IT UNDER CONSIDERATION, AND PERHAPS IF WE WOULD LIKE TO, PUT IT ON THE AGENDA IN MAY. THAT WOULD BE MY OPTION.

I kind of echo the chairman's comments, and I think Edgefield County has a place for a library. I know it's probably old school when it comes to high tech, but I think it holds a place for reading programs or other things they do up there for the kids and for the adults. And so I think we need to move forward and fund it and have them under our control.

I'm not saying I'm against it, so let me preface it with that. I'm still mulling it over. The only thing that... Y'all know I love the library, because I'm homeschooling mama, so we take great advantage. We have, through the years, taken great advantage of the library. The only thing is when we bring them under, like you said, they will make a little bit more salary. They will be, I don't want to say a burden, that's not the right word, but it will burden our insurance a little bit more because those things will be a little bit more costly to us. And that will be continuing from here on, that addition. Okay. Was there a specific reason they ask now why now they want to do this since it's been running this way for so long?

It's hard to know, you know, everything someone's thinking. I think from one standpoint, the employees would like it because they would probably make a little more money. Well, they would.

Right.

Probably an average of 10%, 12% or so just on average. Of ABBE, Aiken County employs their library employees. The other three counties don't. In the state, most counties do. And I think that's just, you know, it's more common for the county to employ the actual library employees, and then they may have a larger management system beyond that. I will tell you that the full cost of everything, Social Security, retirement, insurance, all employer costs are in my calculations there. Because we were having to pass that money on to ABBE to do the same thing. I also added a margin of safety. There's an employee that doesn't elect insurance, and I programmed it. as if that employee might, because I told ABB we couldn't take a chance. They're eligible for it. So I tried to cover any disadvantage we might have financially, something we didn't expect. For example, I have a little money in there in case they participate in our 401 match or our wellness programs. I think we're protected in the budget is more of a philosophical argument, I would say. Again, that's why we don't have to vote on it in the budget, because that number is going to be the same, and it's going to be under ABBE. So the cost is the same, and the money pays for the same things. It's just... Does our HR process it, or do we send the money to ABBE's HR and let them process the funds?

I'm just curious, because you said that Aiken already does this, but the others don't. Are they asking the other counties to do this as well, or did they just come to us?

I would venture to guess of the other three counties, we are probably in better financial Condition. That's just a guess. I haven't studied their budgets. And we have a very good relationship with them, with their management team. And I don't know that dynamic in other counties. So I'm not sure. But I can ask.

And if we took them under our umbrella, it would change the reporting structure a little bit, correct? Because would you be their supervisor? Or how would the, as Chairman alluded to, we could, if there was someone that we felt was not up to par, we could let them go? I mean, how would that be? Would they report to you or how?

So ABBE, they would still have a manager under ABBE. But they would post jobs through our HR. Our HR would run background checks. We would have first right of refusal on an employee, essentially. We would be able to have a say. If there was an issue going on with one of our libraries from an employment standpoint, we would have a lot more control that we haven't had before. But I would say day-to-day supervision would be handled by ABBE. At the same time, because ABBE is funded by us, I walk in the library probably twice a month and check on things and check on the employees because I know they're based in Aiken. I probably visit the library more than their management team does because it's our building. And those are faces to the public in our building, our county library. So from a management structure, I would say just in terms of managing the operation, it would be ABB, hiring, firing, employment, benefits, it would be the county. And that would fall under administration for the most part.

But if you walked in there and saw a problem, are the lines going to be blurred or are they going to have enough? You know, if you were to walk in there, because like you said, they're not there all the time. I'm not saying there's any problems at the library. I'm just saying, you know, devil's advocate, if you will. If you were to walk in there one day and see that there's a problem you think it needs addressing that they're not aware of and maybe they don't agree, is there going to be some issue of, well, who gets to pull the trigger on this or whatever? Sure.

No, no, no. I never see a problem I don't address right then. So we would address it.

And that ABBE would not have a problem. That's basically what I'm saying. They wouldn't be like, no, you can't do that.

The employee would be an employee of the county. Certainly they would have input. They would have say. We would value their opinion because they're also managing the operation. I don't think it would be an issue. Most things that are that serious are things that should be obvious to both parties that they're that serious, I would think.

If I can just, for clarity, one thing. How many employees are we talking about?

It is three full-time employees and two part-time employees. There is another employee, and they're categorized as something else. I forget the term, a page or something that works directly for ABB that they can put in whatever system, but they stay under their payroll with the state money. So if you see additional employees, they actually have some that are funded in a different manner. They wouldn't fall under the county.

And how we cannot reduce our payment to the library's Is the state beholden the same way, or can they reduce their payments?

The state? Their payments have remained stable for a long time, especially Pageville County at $150,000. They have just now are proposing to increase it to $200,000. We have to stay the same or go up. Okay. But I looked at the last eight years of budgets, and we've gone up basically an inflationary rate every year.

But they could go up but then change their mind and go back down, correct?

The state, I'm not sure. Okay. I'm just kind of curious on that.

Because I know we can't, once we go to that, we can't go backwards. Right. We can only go forwards or maintain. So I'm just kind of curious if they start pulling the funding.

Yeah. Yeah, well, at least it's a positive sign that they finally increased the funding.

Right. I'll go borrow in trouble, but just kind of wondering. Thank you.

Anything? Tiffany asked a question, so I had to roll down. Yeah, I'm fine.

All right, then. So let me ask the question. Would there be any objection to us putting this on the May agenda? I have no problem with that.

All right.

Then we'll discuss it one more time in May then. So if the administrator will add that on. Then different topic, council, as we talked about at the budget workshop, that we would only take up anything in the budget that any of the five of us or the administrator wants to take up. So I don't have anything. Does anybody else have anything we need to discuss on the budget?

Okay.

If not, you don't have anything else, Mr. Administrator?

I do not.

Thank you. All right. So then it sounds like we're ready to give, I assume, we're ready to give first reading to Ordinance Number 2526008. Do I have a motion for that? So moved, Mr. Chairman. And Mr. Talbot makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. And Mr. Moody seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next, under new business, it's number three, consider Resolution 25260011, a resolution that accepting the national settlements of opioid litigation and a proposed South Carolina allocation agreement. Again, I'll ask the administrator to give us some details on this, please.

Thank you. Again, this is the same type of resolution. We've addressed several times before to approve a national settlement of opioid litigation. The funds go into a state-administered program. There are set amounts that are designated to each county, and then there's a larger pool for special projects that you can apply for. We are actively applying and conducting activities funded by this program. We have a current grant now. We have no reason to think we won't renew that grant in the future. So this is an excellent program, and this is what funds it. So we recommend approval. And I believe this is the last.

Yes, this is probably the last group on the opioid settlements that are referred to as remnant defendants, which means most of them are very small pharmacies, quite frankly. I think our share is probably about 6,000, 7,000, I think. That's right. It's very small, very small. Okay.

Thank you.

Questions or comments from counsel?

Okay.

Hearing none, is there a motion to give approval to Resolution 2526-0011? Let's see. Ms. Ireland makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Talbert seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next is number four under new business. Consideration of approval to purchase a 2025 CAT 120 motor grader for the roads and bridges department at a cost of $334,300. This unit will be purchased under state contract. Again, I'll ask the administrator if he'll walk us through this one, please.

So it is time to replace one of our motor graders. We have selected a CAT 120 at the small price of $334,300 from state contract. So it is no bid. The state bids the contract. As it is essentially the same unit as our most reliable grader. Right now we had three graders, two of them are cats, one of them a John Deere. We've just sold the older Caterpillar. So we received $162,500 from FEMA for work that was done by roads and bridges in response to a lien. We intend to apply that amount of money to the purchase We have sold an older motor grader that was past its life cycle for the county for $57,000. A couple of old trucks and a John Deere tractor, it all totals to about $75,000. So the cost to the roads and bridges budget will actually be just under $100,000. And we think that's a good deal. Again, this is in the budget for the 2026-2027 budget, but if we wait until approval of the full budget, we're going to pay for a newer model machine. It's substantially more money. So they are willing to sell us a 2025 right now, allow us to make a couple payments, no interest, and then pay it off in the new budget year. So we certainly recommend approval. Our county dirt road program probably takes up 50% or better of our roads and bridges time. It's just something we have to do. Thank you.

Thank you. Council, any questions or comments for the administrator?

Well, we know we're not paving any more roads, so we've got to do it. We've got to take care of the dirt roads. Right.

So is there a motion to give approval to purchase the motor grader as described? So moved. I'm going to say Dr. Kenyon made the motion, and so I got Mr. Moody's seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? The motion passes unanimously. Next is the last item of new business, discussion of proposed data center ordinance. We put this on the agenda because I wanted to give us an opportunity to discuss it for a few minutes at least before We'll see it on the agenda in May to vote. And of course, it'll be an ordinance. It'll be three votes. But it would start in May. And the state still is considering a statewide data center bill that may or may not impact what we do. And it may or may not pass and all those kind of things. With that, I'm going to ask the administrator to maybe give us the status first of what's going on with that, and then I don't think we necessarily need to go through all the changes that staff's going to recommend, but maybe because we recommended.

Sure, sure. So there are two bills in the Statehouse right now. We don't know if they're going to make it through this year or not, One of them substantially takes local control away from the siting and the requirements for data centers. That would render our ordinance moot, essentially. I have no idea if that will go through. I think by next month we'll know pretty much what's going to happen. And that's why we have this for discussion and not for vote today. But as the Planning Commission, and I'll let Doc jump in in just a second, But as they were discussing the need for a data center ordinance, and they added crypto mining to it, because it's a high energy use activity, the primary focus was location. We need to make sure that these things are put in the right place. And the consensus of that is that not just a little commercial zone, but an actual industrial zone. Noise was a large aspect of that. You don't want it close to housing. You want to require that they provide studies and essentially assurances through studies that they won't create a noise ordinance issue for us, that it won't be obnoxious to residents. Again, that's why you want them in an industrial area. We want to ensure that they don't have pass-through water systems, but they have recirculating systems. So they utilize water conservation, but even if they utilize water conservation, that has to be signed off by our water authority to ensure it won't create a burden, again, on the residents of the county. The same with the power. We don't want infrastructure to have to be constructed that will be put on the backs of the rate payers. So the Planning Commission did a good job of putting those things in. And one other important thing, a decommissioning plan that some type of bond will have to be put up for. Who knows? Things change so much. In 20 years, these things may be a much smaller operation, a much different operation. We don't want to be left with the residual of what was here before. So that was the focus. Staff believed that in a few instances where we put these data centers and the ordinance in an industrial area, then some things were added that treated them very differently from the other industries. For example, extensive landscaping requirements or solar panel requirements or things that were really more poison pill type things. There are things that if it's in the right place, then it's in the right place. It's not next to a residential neighborhood or something. So we wanted to ensure that there were some fairness to the actual industry but really being protective of the public. And I'll let Doc speak to anything he wants to say about it.

Well, just like you mentioned, the state is considering a bill that would take it out of our hands altogether. The good news is that the proposed bill that they have is actually more restrictive than what we proposed. So if that bill does pass, then this will be an issue you can dismiss, and we don't have to address it anymore because we won't be able to regulate it. If the bill does not pass, then putting this in place basically ensures that it'll be an industrial area and it won't be an issue for the county. Currently, the county has no protections at all from data centers. So if the state bill does not pass, then we need to put something in place because we don't have anything at all right now. We're basically just in a waiting period for the state bill, and that's all I have to say.

Okay.

So waiting for now, but we'll, council, we will go ahead and work on the ordinance and pass it in three readings, and then if the state comes back and says, sorry, you can't do that, then we'll just, we have to. Have no other choice. Yeah, have no choice there. So that'll be what it'll be. But we'll make an assumption they won't do that. move forward because it is what it is. So I think it's good news that we're looking at this. I know there's been a lot of discussion on data centers, and I read something just this week that said across the country there are between 3,000 and 4,000 of these, something like 30 in South Carolina or some number like that. So they're everywhere, and they're both big and small. They're both. They're not all gigantic. Some are small. So, they use less electricity, less water, and all those things, too. So, you know, so that said, I just wanted to open up to council and say, do we have any just general comments we want to talk about relative to data centers?

I'd like to begin and thank David. for starting that ball rolling when I asked and started to get to where we are that we do have an ordinance put together that we can look at. I'd like to also share that Representative Hickson told me today that he does not think that this date will pass. He would not bet on it. So at this time, you know, of course, next session, maybe, it got a lot of, it was rolling along really well and had a lot of traction, and now it's not. So he told me today he would not bet on it passing this session. So I think we are wise to just go ahead and put something in place. I appreciate you all having that for us to do that, to begin that process next month. So thank you. We'll continue to watch it. You know, I didn't like the part about it taking it out of our hands so much, but apparently that may be some of the issue on the state level, so I'm not sure. I haven't spoken in depth.

It might be some of that, and it also probably pushed back from lobbyists. They are being lobbied hard. The state's bill is very restrictive once you get to a Class III or a big data center. Their smaller ones are less regulated in the bill, and it's not so restrictive, but they have about 20 pages of restrictions just for Tier III data centers. It's a pretty restrictive bill, and I imagine it's received a lot of pushback.

I'll be interested to see what the final, and if they pick it up again. I would think they would probably pick it up again next session, but we'll wait and see. But that was the last I heard today. That's what he told me. Okay. So I just thought I would share that with you all. So appreciate it again. It's ready, and we can put it on the agenda next month. Thank you. And thank PC for all their hard work.

You're reading through it. It's pretty. You know, it's got everything covered. I appreciate you all doing that.

The last thing I'll mention is for people who were not here at the March meeting, Will Williams came and talked to us about e-data centers. And in the minutes we just approved or his comments in there, but also if anybody wants to go back and watch the March meeting, I think you can learn something from this. But I just want to give you just a couple of data points that he gave us, if you didn't see it. He said that we actually have manufacturers in this region that use more electricity and water than data centers do. And so the data centers in and of themselves aren't bad. And for people to say that, they're just taking a broad brush to that. Also, he mentioned that, you know, Meta has a big one, and it's going to use 30,000 gallons of water a day, which is, again, regionally in some of these bigger industries, they didn't use more than that a day. Also, he mentioned that one data center is being constructed on Bettis Academy Road. It's not operational under construction. And he said it uses about 300 gallons per day. That's about what you use in your house, most people. So there are, they are not what some people paint them out to be. Some are very big and use a lot of water and a lot of electricity, but some aren't. And he also pointed out, interesting stat, that From March to October of every year, the citizens in our county use a million gallons of water a day watering the grass. A million gallons of water a day watering grass. And the industrial park is a good location for this because you don't have to worry about aesthetics, I'll call it, and trying to make sure that they're hidden away because you don't want to see them because they're near a subdivision or houses or neighborhoods. So having it at the industrial park only is a good location for it. So with that, I'll just ask, any other comments from council on that? Anybody to hear that? All right. Then we will close the new business part and move to the second public comment period. So I'll ask our clerk if anyone signed up for the second public comment period.

No, sir.

All right. Council, since nobody signed up, I will close the public comment period and move to reports from county council members. Anybody have a report tonight?

Yes, sir. This is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. That's short for Dispatchers Week. And I would just like to thank the ones we have, and please pass that along, Sheriff. And one more thing is Edgefield County actually has made the map of South Carolina under the fire safe status. We were the last county in the state, fire department-wise, to have a fire department reach this status, and it was the Merriweather Fire Department a couple weeks ago And FireSafe is a program associated with the Fire Chiefs Association and the South Carolina Firefighters Association with education, prevention, and everything else. So Meriwether has put edge fill on the map. So I appreciate that.

Anybody else? Yes. I'd like to say that I held a community awareness event on March the 21st at Cary Hill Resource Center, 1591 Edgefield Road, North Augusta, from 11 to 12 noon. We had excellent turnout and very informative speakers. Thank you to Garrett Lane. Really appreciate that. Hart Dogg. Thank you, Clark. William B. Clyburn and David Cadea, our county administration, who filled in for Tim Mackham, who's supposed to have spoke about the Bears Academy Fire Department and our County Line Fire Department. Thank you, David, for being my right hand. I appreciate everyone who attended and supported the event. Also, this coming Saturday, our annual march for PARC is this Saturday, April the 18th at Bears Academy from 10 to 4. The parade starts at 11. If you don't have anything else to do, come out and enjoy. Thank you.

I would just like to say that I had a meeting on March 7th, town hall meeting up in the off-site, and it turned out to be real well. We had the chair of the road and our county administrator and planning commission, Val Burke, and We had a nice turnout. I think we've had probably a number of about 25. And we'd like to thank Chad Brody. He really gave us some very highlights, also along with our county administrator. If you want to know something, you need to participate and come and listen sometime, and you can learn more. And we just thank each and every one. We'd also like to thank the road department for Northside Department. park up there. They've done a beautiful job up there. I'm very impressed with you. If you all get a chance, maybe you all can come up and check it out. And David is probably going to give us some highlights in his report on tonight. Thank you once again.

Thank you. Then with that, we'll go to the administrator's report.

Thank you. So Northside Park, the playground, the perimeter bumpers, and the mulch have all been installed. The fence, I believe they put the poles in today. The fabric and the sod will be put in tomorrow, and the sign is on the way. This park was largely funded by a PARD grant. The cost to county funds was very small. It essentially came down to mulch and sod. And the reason why we saved so much is the roads and bridges department and the recreation department did the installation of the bumpers, the mulch, the playground equipment, all of that. So they were able to do it in-house. They had some doubts, but after looking at the plans, they found out it wasn't nearly as hard as they thought it was, and they knocked it out. The trail from Penn to Jeter Streets that council approved as part of our public parking project across from the recreation department has been mostly graded, and it will have rock put down on it next week. People are already cutting through walking on that. Reassessment, we're on schedule with our tax real estate reassessment. Collected data is being input now, and it will be sent for state review in May. We'll have a lot to talk about with that. That will affect a lot to do with our budget as we get ready for Bill Gilchrist to come in and talk about millages and so forth. But again, it's so early, we just don't have the data now. The county line boundary survey, each of you have a handout on that. It's about a 30-page handout. So the state, in state law, there's a description of the boundaries of every county in the state. Those descriptions may be very vague in some ways. It may be from the center point of this bridge. Well, guess what? That was an old wooden bridge in 1700s. Now there's a concrete bridge 200 feet away. So the state has implemented a program to go in and re-survey county boundaries. Last year, they took on the Slough to Edgefield boundary. And there was a little bit of agricultural land that was changing hands. Well, the McCormick County Edgefield County line and the Greenwood Edgefield County line, there are a few more ramifications. I went to a meeting last week where the state implied that we knew about 10 homes that were being transferred in Edgefield County, and they had met with our emergency managers, the sheriff, EMS director, and I pointed out that that was not true. This survey will be in effect in July, and at that time, we will have eight homes where the residents who thought they were in McCormick County but were not will now be in Edgefield County, and then two in Greenwood County who thought they were in Greenwood County will be in Edgefield County. So they have an appeal period until July, and those appeals never work out unless you have some large old plat that the state didn't know about. So we believe that this is going to happen, and we will send each of these residents a letter, and we will let them know that our mapping system's been updated, that if they call for help, EMS is coming or the Sheriff's Office is coming. Of course, we'll also need to let them know where our Voters Registration Office is so they can make any changes they need to make. But if you hear anything from any of these residents asking questions, I know Mr. Albert's very close to Ken to some of them.

But I always did have wondered about that line in there anyway for years. So the time has

And it was very much off by 200 or 300 feet over a long distance, most of it's rural land. But just be assured that we will let those residents know everything's going to be okay. We'll let them know what services are. And more importantly, when they call 911, you know, they're going to be okay. We just know they will. need to do our part that the state did not do. And that's all I have.

Thank you. Council, any other questions for the administrator? OK. Hearing none, we'll move to the chairman's comments. I appreciate the work we did tonight on several key projects that needed to be addressed, but particularly giving first reading to the budget, which to me is the most important ordinance we have. I want to remind everyone that this meeting was a week later to get us past spring break. So the May meeting will be here shortly, since it's on the usual monthly schedule next month. So, counsel, we have an executive session we need to go into so we can receive a legal briefing on a pending matter. So I'll ask for a motion to go into executive session for that reason. So moved. Mr. Talbot makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Moody seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? This motion passes unanimously. Aretha, are we up? Okay. It looks like everybody's returned to their seats. Council, do I have a motion to return to open session? So moved. Mr. Tyburn makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. And Ms. Allen seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. So we're back in open session. No action was taken in executive session. There is nothing else on the agenda tonight, so I would entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Mr. Moody makes the motion. Dr. Kenyon seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you all for coming.