City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Council met in executive session, no action was taken. It's our tradition at the city, prior to gaveling and meeting in, to have a short prayer. You're welcome to join us if you'd like. Tonight, Council Member Sarah Vining's gonna lead us.

Let's bow our heads and pray. Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity to serve the people of Rock Hill. We ask for wisdom, humility, and unity as we make decisions for our community tonight. Help us lead with integrity, compassion, and a heart for service. Guide our conversations and our actions so that they reflect what is best for this city and for the people who call it home. Amen.

We call this meeting of Tuesday, May 26, 2026 to order. Please join us in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Okay, welcome. We're going to start at item three. It's a public hearing, Mr. Veehan. We're going to hold a public hearing on the municipal budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year and related items as pursuant to SC Code of Law Section 6-1-80. David Veehan.

Good. Thank you, Mayor, members of council. We're here tonight to wrap up what's been going on since January in preparation of the budget. We've already had several meetings with city council. As you mentioned, this public hearing is required under state law. As I mentioned, the process actually starts in early January with our staff, where our departments then work together on preparing their budgets, and then we bring recommendations to city council. We had two workshops, one on April 9th. And then a second workshop that was held on May 11th. City Council offered input inside into those meetings. We made whatever changes Council was recommending at the time. Tonight we have public hearing and the first reading of the ordinance. And then on June 22nd we will have second reading and then adoption, which we're required to adopt a balanced budget, which you'll see we do have by the end of this year. Just an overview of really the bottom line for our customers in our community. No electric rate increase is proposed this year. I don't think we've had an electric rate increase since 2016. So our rates you'll see are among the lowest in the region. No water rate increase is also proposed. Because of the ongoing work at the wastewater plant, we do propose an 8% rate increase. You'll see that proposed again for the next year. That will add to our customer's bill about $3.70. No stormwater rate increase. And then we had not planned to do a sanitation rate increase, but we found out just several weeks ago that the county will be doing a 6% rate increase for tipping at the landfill. And so we have added that into the budget. There is no property tax millage rate increase proposed in this budget. For the average residential customer, you can see the bills will increase about $5 a month. That's less than a 2% increase, which doesn't even keep up with the consumer price index. So a very modest increase for our customers in what we do. Uh, you can just see this just gives an outline of where our rates are our electric rates for a typical residential customer in. Uh, in our, uh, among the, uh, the 28 other cities that we benchmark ourselves against in the state and region. Uh, you can see rockets rates are among some of the lowest that you will find out there. Our water rates also are extremely competitive. Uh, our rates are. about the 23rd on the list and that's unchanged from last year. I should also note that these charts do not include the anticipated rate increase from the other 28 cities on this list. So we, but we have included our rate increase on these. So the chances are that we will even slip down the chart a little bit on this one. And certainly I think we'll slip down the chart a little bit on this one as well. You can see our wastewater rates are a little bit sort of in the high-mid range, but again extremely competitive when you compare ourselves against the other communities. You can see our tax rate here again are in the sort of the low-mid range. We've slipped a little bit from last year because reassessment last year, so we were 17th last year. Our tax rate is actually at 19th lowest this year. And then when you take the electric water, wastewater and taxes and you put them all together for the typical monthly customer, or typical customer, their monthly bill is about $260 a month. You can see that that ranks us 19 out of the 29 or 28 other cities that we benchmark against ourselves. The other thing I would note to you on that list is you'll notice that six of those cities that are lower than us, all are communities that have a local option sales tax, which their property taxes are already reduced on these charts by the amount that's used from the penny that's collected in those communities. So if we had a local option sales tax here in our county, I can assure you that our rates, that this chart, we would probably drop to 27th or 28th on the list. Several things going on in terms of fee adjustments this year. We are recommended that we go back to a standardized fee per team for our adult teams. We recall with the changes that were made with the county and how they fund programming with non-residents in the city. We think that this is probably returning to this adult team registration fee is a better way to handle it. even under that proposed way, or that way that the county converted to, which actually is not a very good financial decision for the city. We also are recommending that we move to a non-city fee schedule for pickleball folks. This would allow, up until this time, we've only allowed people who live inside the city to use our facility for pickleball, but this would allow all residents to pay a fee higher than city residents. And then we would also propose that there be a priority given to city residents who schedule time at the Field House. Nevertheless, we would allow non-city residents to participate. Two other changes for utility deposits, we're recommending that we adjust our utility deposits for our commercial accounts and for customers who have filed for bankruptcy on both residential and commercial that would be equal to two months of an average bill. And then finally, on the airport fees, These are just some changes with regard to the cost of fuel and then also with regard to aircraft storage and access agreements at the county or at the airport. And that would, those fees you can see we've reviewed with you during the workshop what those are. There are only three new positions in the budget this year. Those are mainly to help with, two of those are to help on the technical side with our IT folks. You can see our part-time numbers don't change, so only three new positions are funded in this year's budget. And again, just a summary of where we are for FY27, and then we do a two-year budget actually, so we look ahead for two years. We think this really helps us prepare for future issues on both the revenue and expense side. You can see it's about a $5 per month increase for our customers in each of the next two years. And so these are the various funds. There are multiple funds that we operate under here in our organization. But you can see when all is said and done, all those go to each of our funds balance and our entire budget balances, which is required, again, under state law. That's all we have as far as the public hearing goes. Mayor, I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Any questions for council?

So this is a public hearing, which means if you're here in the public and you wish to say, either speak against or for the budget, now's the time for you to speak. We'll go through several items that were in the presentation and vote on them as a group up here as we get through the agenda tonight. But as it is a public hearing, I'll invite if there's anybody here tonight who wishes to get up and speak against the budget, now would be the time to do so. I saw that guy act like he was going to stand up. There's always one, right? The track guy at that.

I was about to say, you know, look, I was so excited to see all these people from the community here talk on the budget.

All right. If there's anybody here, it looks like there's no one here willing to stand up and speak against the budget. Is there anybody here to speak for the budget?

We got one guy.

Oh, I'm sorry. Please come on up.

Yeah, can we just ask a question?

Yeah, right here. If you'll give us your name and address. We gotta get you into public record, that's why we asked you to come up.

Sure, please. Yeah, Willie Jones, 489 Shelby and Lane. I had a question about the slides that were shown. They showed various things, but was stormwater part of the equation as well?

It wasn't, there's no increase in stormwater.

Okay, but stormwater compared to the other municipalities?

We do have that slide, but it's a pretty muddy slide. We typically don't present that one.

Is that available for a publisher?

Oh, sure, absolutely.

Okay, that was my question. If you just give Steven your name and address or email address, he'll get it to you by the end of the meeting. Okay, sure thing. Anyone else to speak either for or against the budget? Okay we'll close the public hearing. We'll close the public hearing without objection and move on to item 4. Item 4A and 4B are both proclamations which the council will vote on and what we'll do is present both and then take pictures. We'll stagger that as we go rather than do one than the other. So you have before you item 4A recognize Aiden Graham as the South Carolina 5A state champion in shot put and discus.

So move for approval. Second.

We have a motion and a second to approve the proclamation as included. Any discussion, questions, hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. And then we'll skip down to 4B and recognize South Point High School Stallions boys track and field team as the state 4A track and field champions. So move for approval. Second. We have a motion and a second to approve the proclamation as presented. Any discussion, questions, hearing, and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. All right, Aiden, if you'll come up, meet me at the front. If here.

Mayor. It's not in, so be careful. Don't let it slide out.

I'm going to read this so everybody knows just how proud the City of Rock Hill is for you. Whereas Aiden Graham is a senior student athlete at Rock Hill High School. Whereas Aiden has been a member of the Bearcat Boys track and field team for four years, placed first in the 12-pound shot put unified and 1.6 kilogram discus events throughout his high school career. He's been instrumental in the overall success of the Bearcat track and field team, and he is the 2026 South Carolina High School League state champion in shot put and discus. Now, therefore, I, John Geddes, and your city council, we hereby take this opportunity to congratulate Aiden Graham for your outstanding athletic accomplishments.

Congratulations.

Thank you very much. This has been years of constant work and great coaching. And I just want to say believe in the you that believes in you. All right.

Any comments on the budget?

Okay. This is approved as what coach? Where's coach? Calvin? Come on up. We'll call everybody up. Nate, don't leave. We're going to take pictures before you leave. I'll let you call everybody up after we present this. That's all right.

How you doing? Good to see you.

Yes. All right. Whereas the South Point High School Stallions boys track and field team continues to enjoy success under the leadership of head coach Calvin McCullough, assistant head coaches Lawrence Lawson and Patricia Sacco, assistant coaches Bennett King, Mackenzie Hughes, Patrick Johnson, Chris Sacco, Shemeika Weathers, and Sydney Jenkins and team manager Courtney Stewart. Whereas the Stallions were declared the South Carolina High School League 4A track and field champions by defeating May River High School on May 14, 2026. Whereas the Stallions secured first place finishes by Keller Brown and Deontay Watson and the 4x800 relay team of Jaden Finney, Felix Cassidy, Grace Shelton and Jett Shelton. And whereas student athletes Reese Adams, Keller Brown, Rayson Brown, Felix Cassidy, Kane Kuzar, Copeland Crawford, Jaylen Davis, Jayden Finney, Noah Frazier, Riley Hemphill, Ethan Howes, Devin Isley, Gray Shelton, Jett Shelton, Luke Strelow, Jaquay Truesdale, Deonta Watson, and Jayden White have all contributed to the success of the South Point Stallions boys track and field team. Now, therefore, I, John Geddes, Mayor of the City of Rock Hill, along with your City Council, do ever I take this opportunity to congratulate South Point High School Stallions Boys Track and Field Team Head Coach Calvin McCullough, Assistant Head Coaches Lawrence Lawson and Patricia Sacco, Assistant Coaches Bennett King, Mackenzie Hughes, Patrick Johnson, Chris Sacco, Shemeika Weathers, and Sydney Jenkins, and Team Manager Courtney Stewart for your outstanding athletic accomplishments again.

Mayor, City Management, and Council, on behalf of the South Pointe Track Team, we want to say thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Judge. Coach, bring your team up. We'll do pictures. Yep. If you'll bring your team and coaches and then Aiden, when we're clear, you'll come up, okay? Convenient. If you'll come, coach, if you'll get everybody like this and make for good pictures.

You should make him say something since he was going to get up. Yeah.

All right, congratulations

Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. Good job. So we do discus, we do shop foot, we do track, and then we do accountants. We're going to recognize the finance department for receiving the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the current fiscal year from the Government Finance Officers Association, Abby Chapman.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Good evening. So the city has received the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for our fiscal year 2026 budget book from the Government Finance Officers Association. This award is the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting, and we're thankful for your support and guidance as we put this document together each year. Thank you so much.

And Abby, how many years in a row does this make?

34.

34. There's a lot of proud people in this room for that. Congratulations. Thank you. All right. We'll move on. It's not a motion, just a recognition, right? Okay. We'll move on to consider approving the Consent Agenda Item 5A, Minutes of Work Session of May 11, 2026. 5B, Minutes of Regular Session of May 11, 2026. 5C, Ordinance to Amend Chapter 7, Annexations of the Code of the City of Rock Hill, so as to provide for the annexation zoning award designation of Celanese Riverview Road, Area 2, lying adjacent to the city limits of the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina. 5D, ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Rock Hill code for making certain changes in the official zoning map affecting approximately 0.86 acres located on Selney's Road and Riverview Road from Urban Development UD and General Commercial GC to Community Commercial CC. 5E, second reading, an adoption of an ordinance for abandonment of stormwater and drainage rights of way and easements on property located on Plath Top Road in the City of Rock Hill. 5F, second reading, an adoption of an ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Rock Hill Code by making certain changes in the official zoning map affecting approximately 1.9 acres located on Crawford Road from neighborhood commercial NC and single family residential 4SF4 to office and institutional OI. 5G, second reading and adoption of an ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Rock Hill Code Chapter 4, land use, primary uses concerning flex space uses. And 5H, second reading and adoption of an ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Rock Hill Code Chapter 4, land use, primary uses concerning THC product sales.

So moved to approve the consent agenda. Second.

We have a motion to second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 6A. Consider for first reading the City of Rock Hill South Carolina fifth supplemental ordinance approving the financing of the improvement extension and enlargement of the combined utility system of the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina through the borrowing by the City of not exceeding $5,567,402 plus capitalized interest, if any, from the Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund by agreement with the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority pursuant to Title 48, Chapter 5, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, as amended, providing for acceptance of a loan from and the execution and delivery of a loan agreement with the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority, the execution and delivery of a promissory note from the City to the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority and other matters relating thereto. Madison Wilkerson.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Items 6A and 6B are actually related. They are related to the water and sewer line work along Charlotte Avenue. City Council previously approved a resolution to apply for the funding from the State Revolving Fund Program for this project. These applications were approved and the loans are being brought forth for first reading tonight. Item 6A is related to the sewer line rehabilitation work along Charlotte Ave that will replace and consolidate two aging 6-inch sewer lines with a new 8-inch line to improve flow capacity and system reliability. This project was competitively bid in May and conditionally awarded for roughly $5.5 million. SRF has approved the loan request for $5.5 plus any capitalized interest at a 2.6% interest rate for 20 years. Staff recommend approval.

Any questions? Thank you. Any questions for Madison? Madison, just to reiterate, the payments of this, the borrowing of this is in the budget that we'll take up. This is not additional money that'll be coming out, correct?

That is correct. Yes, sir.

Okay. And expand on that. This is... We have a long-term plan on this capital thing, so it's already built into the structure of the budget and the rating of how we're going to pay it back. Also, just note that this long-term capital improvement plan, we're trying to go back and replace a lot of the aging infrastructure. We're doing little bits every year. We're doing projects every single year. You hear other municipalities around the state that have sinkholes in the summer or something happens and you know we we this long-term plan i think staff's done a great job and i appreciate that of of scheduling keeping up with our infrastructure and that's extremely important um and not letting that deteriorate so thank you guys for working through that plan and bringing that to us well said what's the wish of council so move for first read the motion second any other discussion

Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to 6B, City of Rock Hill 6 Supplemental Ordinance approving the financing of the improvement extension enlargement of the combined utility system of the City of Rock Hill, South Conner through the borrowing by the City of an amount not exceeding $5,734,493 plus capitalized interest, if any, from the drinking water revolving loan fund by agreement with the South Conner Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority pursuant to Title 48, Chapter 5, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976 as amended. Providing for acceptance of a loan from, execution of the delivery of a loan agreement with the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Loan Fund Authority, the execution delivery of a promissory note from the City to the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority, and other matters relating thereto.

Thank you, Mayor. As mentioned previously, this is also related to item 6A. This is for the water work along Charlotte Avenue, and this is to replace three outdated water lines with a single 12-inch water line. Similar to item 6A, this was competitively bid in May and conditionally awarded for roughly 5.7 million. SRF has approved the loan plus any capitalized insurance at 2.6% for 20 years. We recommend approval.

Any questions for Madison? First reading. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. All right, we'll move on to Planning Commission recommendations. Item 7A. Consider Planning Commission recommendation on petition M-2026-03 by CH Acquisitions LLC to annex and rezone approximately 31.5 acres at an unaddressed parcel located at the southeast corner of Law Creek Drive and twin lakes road from residential mixed use 20 rmx 20 in york county to master plan residential npr tax parcel number 635-07-01-069 shauna all right good evening council

So again, this property is zoned RMX 20. It's currently located in York County. There are other county zoned properties in the area that are also residential zoning to the south and west. To the north is a planned unit development that's actually Augusta Place at Laurel Creek. And then to the east are additional properties within Laurel Creek that are zoned SF 3, SF 2, and MF 15. The property is currently undeveloped and wooded. It is located at the southeastern corner of Laurel Creek Drive and Twin Lakes Road. It's bordered to the north by, again, by Augusta Place at Laurel Creek, to the east by additional single-family homes in Laurel Creek, to the south by the Devonshire single-family neighborhood in the county, and to the west by additional county residences. So just to give you all a little bit of background. So back in 2021, the applicant made a similar request, except for that request was for all alley-loaded age-restricted lots. There were proposed to be 64 lots during the Planning Commission meeting. A gentleman that lives at 621 Belanova Court, which is highlighted by the star, attended a planning commission meeting and was opposition, stating that if the lots were developed adjacent to his home instead of vegetation, he would have the view of garages, car lights, and the like. So following that time, and since that time, the applicant has worked with Mr. Barnes to come up with this revised site plan. One of the important things to note is that with this plan, lots 10 through 16 would be front-loaded instead of alley-loaded. So unlike the previous development, all lots wouldn't be alley-loaded. There would be the seven that would be front-loaded. In addition, The applicant has agreed with Mr. Barnes that lots 10 through 12, the ones circled in red, those would not be developed until such time that Mr. Barnes no longer resides at his home at 621 Belanova Court. Other than that, the development is pretty similar to the previous development. The rest of the lots would be alley-loaded, would have an amenity area. The alley-loaded lots will be 50-foot wide and the seven lots that are front-loaded will be 65-foot wide. In addition, I'll just note that the sole access into development would be across from Renfrew Mill in Augusta Place. This is just pictures of the front load product design. So one of the sides of the house will have what the developer calls a quiet wall, and then the opposite side of the house will have a courtyard side. Those are just the fronts and the rears. The houses would be one-story ranches. They would be predominantly brick and optional second level bonus rooms. This is just the alley load product. This is just a conceptual amenity rendering. In addition to having amenities within the community, each house would have a courtyard area, side courtyard area on their own property and on their neighbor's property that they can improve. We'll talk about that a little bit later on. Also, if the development is improved, the applicant would petition to have this development included within the larger Laurel Creek HOA so that I have access to all of the Laurel Creek amenities such as the water slide, the magnolia rooms and things like that. So this is a master plan. It's a master plan because they are requesting some deviations from our zoning ordinance. They're also going above and beyond our zoning ordinance in some areas. So we'll start off with the first deviation, which is parking. So the zoning ordinance requires single family detached developments to have a minimum 18 by 35 foot driveway, which will accommodate at least four vehicles without overhanging a sidewalk. So I've circled the driveways for both the alley loaded and the front load product. So you can see those are not at least 18 by 35. However, staff is fine with the smaller driveways because each house will have an attached two-car garage and the development will have on-street parking in excess of 80 spaces. Also, because this is deed restricted to seniors, it's not like a non-restricted development where you may have, you know, a mom and a dad and two teenagers, you know, all with cars in the driveway. The next deviation is to the buffers. So I'll first note that during the previous request the buffer was proposed to be 25 feet and there wasn't a required buffer at all. Since then we've amended the zoning ordinance to require larger buffers and the way that we calculate those is simply If the development that you're going up against has houses that are similar sizes to what you are proposing or smaller, the buffer is just a flat 25 feet. If the development that you're going up against has homes that are on average 20% larger, then the buffer increases to 50 feet. So on this right side and on the north and west and south, I kind of noted what the buffers are proposed to be and what they are required to be. I put a check plus by the ones where the developer is going above and beyond. So, for instance, along the Belanova Court side, those homes are significantly larger than the proposed homes. The proposed homes are slated to be around 2,000 to 2,500 square feet. Some of the homes along Belanova Court are 5,000 square feet. So there's a 50 foot buffer required in that area and 50 foot being provided. And then in other areas, I've just noted where the buffer can be reduced because there's a road between the two developments. And I've also noted where the buffer is, It's proposed to change if the developer needs to grade in areas. For example, those lots that are adjacent to Devonshire, there will be an alley behind those lots. So in order to grade in the alley, you may have to grade into that buffer a little bit. So you may not be able to leave a 50-foot buffer intact. So that's why it's proposed if the developer needs to cut into that buffer some. So the next deviation is accessory structure. So the zoning ordinance allows for residential homes to have an accessory structure, but it stipulates that it has to be on your property and it has to be at least five feet away from the side property line and also five feet away from your home. So, The developer plans to put in place this sort of benefited and burdened lot structure, whereas on the benefited lot, which is your lot, you may make permanent improvements so long as they meet zoning requirements and so long as they meet building code requirements. Everything has to absolutely meet building code requirements. And then on the burdened lot, which is your neighbor's home, there'll be an area of five feet where you can also make improvements. However, they may not be permanent improvements. And I've got some slides that kind of show you some pictures of that. In addition to that, the last foot of that five foot easement is strictly for or only for landscaping and maintenance. So if you want to plant some flowers within that one foot or the the homeowner of the burden lot needs to go over there and fix something on the side of the house, they'll be able to do that. And these are just some photos. These are examples of things that you can do on your own lot and not have to meet a five foot setback from the property line in between you and the house next door or from your house like the zoning code says. So obviously these are things that are permanently affixed to the ground. The last one is just an example of something you absolutely cannot do whether it's on your lot, the neighbor's lot or what have you because that doesn't meet the building code. These are just photos of things that you can do on the burden lot, so things that you can do on the neighbor's lot. You'll notice that all these things are temporary in nature. They can be easily moved. As far as fences, fences will be allowed between the homes. In most cases, the developer intends to install the fences. If for some reason someone wants to come in afterwards and install the fence, they'll just have to get a fence permit from the city. So we'll go over some more deviations. So the fourth one is the building design. So side facades, the zoning ordinance requires increased architecture such as windows, a wraparound porch on the side facade when it's visible from a road, a common space or amenity area. So an example would be like a corner lot. Obviously a corner lot, the side of the house is gonna be visible from a road. And then the next one, is the rear design. So the zoning ordinance requires rear facades to continue the architectural detailing of the front and sides through the provision of a covered patio includes sunroom, screen porch or deck that is at least 100 square feet. So the idea from that is just to get away from this, you know, four by four that you see spec builders just four by four patio that a deck spec builder may just put in the backyard. So this is an example where the top one is a side that would be visible. If this were on a corner, they would be required to kind of dress up that side some more, but instead they're doing it on the opposite side, which is the interior. These are also examples. The top one is an example of a front-loaded home. So normally the rear of that house would have to have some sort of deck or patio or something like that. That's at least 100 square feet. And then also the alley-loaded lots, very difficult to do when you have a garage and driveway in the backyard to go in and install a patio or deck or something like that. As far as public feedback, so we did, because this is a master plan, they did have to do a neighborhood meeting. The neighborhood meeting was held on April 16th. That was held in the Magnolia Room at Laurel Creek. There were approximately 30 folks in attendance. Main topics of discussion included the folks that live in the Augusta Place neighborhood of Laurel Creek wanted to see the temporary construction access come off of Twin Lakes, and then the Twin Lakes folks wanted to see the temporary construction access come off of Laurel Creek Drive. Twin Lakes Road is a SEDOT maintained road and it's very unlikely that they will allow for the temporary construction access to come off of Twin Lakes Road and it'll likely have to come off of Laurel Creek where the intended sole site access is intended to be. Other topics of discussion included the buffers and the sizes of the homes. Fast forward to the Planning Commission meeting. There were two folks along Quimby Way that called right before the Planning Commission meeting, just wanted more information about the request. And then during the Planning Commission meeting, Mr. Scott Buckles, who lives at 628, excuse me, 678 Twin Lakes Road, which is the far southern star in Devonshire, called with information about the request. Mr. Buckles was also in attendance at the Planning Commission meeting and stated that instead of it, you know, being an age-restricted development, that he would like for it to be for, you know, nature or a park or something of that sort. As far as the Planning Commission discussion, there was discussion surrounding the number of trips per day. The development isn't going to require TIA just because of the smaller number of homes and it's proposed to be age-restricted by deed, so it's not going to add the same A.M. peak hour traffic as a non-restricted development. So the Planning Commission had discussion about that and just general discussion about wanting to set their correct expectations about deviations for master plans and wanted to make sure that everything is justified. So again, although the applicant is asking for deviations in some areas, they are going above and beyond, such as the buffers. They're also requiring more open space than what is required and things of that nature. And with that, the staff and Planning Commission recommend approval of the NPR zoning district for the following reasons. And I'll just let you all read those and I can answer any questions.

Any questions for Shawna?

One question and one comment. Question on the amenity. I know it was their desire to join, and I don't think Laurel Creek has a problem to join the greater HOA, correct? What about their amenity area? What happens if they join the HOA and then they have an amenity area? So their amenity area would be taken care of by their own little HOA and not allowed by any other people in Laurel Creek? Or how would that work? Has that been thought out yet?

I believe that their amenity would just be used by their folks. I'd have to verify that piece of information with the applicant and get back with you on second reading. But I believe it would just be used by their folks. For instance, Augusta Place at Laurel Creek has a very similar amenity to this one where they have like courts outside and community gardens. And it's usually just used by the folks that are in Augusta Place. Yeah, their own little HOA.

They would have that HOA be a part of the larger HOA. Right. So, okay. Comment, I just want to make sure we bring up that was in here. I just want to make sure it's really important because this was a disaster at Augusta Place, is the whole idea and the premise of this burden and benefit lot. It's a great concept, it really works, but there was confusion before about what people could do and it wasn't really stated very well. In here it does say that it will be agreed to and acknowledged at time of closing. It will. What I want to make sure is that there's a process that When you sell those lot, that makes sense, right? Right. But what we found in the past is third owner, fourth owner, fifth owner down the line is that message gets lost. And so I want to make sure that however they do that, that it is continually a requirement that that is disclosed at closing as part of the closing procedure. So we don't replicate and we learn from and not replicate what happened across the state.

Right, I certainly remember that Laurel Creek when I was a part of that. And the difference with that one is that we went in and tried to fix that on the back end where here we're trying to get in front of it. At the time of each real estate closing, each buyer will be... required to sign essentially a sheet of paper that kind of goes over all of this and acknowledge that I'm aware of what I can do on my lot and I'm aware of what I can do on my neighbor's lot. So that'll be required at each real estate closing so that everyone is fully aware.

So it's going to be first come, first serve? Or it's the benefit or the burden lot? No, no. Depending on the size of the house.

Yeah, so the side of the house, so for instance, on this one, on the yellow one, if you live at the benefit lot, you can make those permanent improvements on your property within the yellow area. But then on the neighbor's property, you just get that five feet to make additional improvements. They just can't be permanent.

So the burden house would have nothing, no door, no access. It'd be that long wall that had the windows at the top. Yeah, the quiet one. And then the burden lot on their other side, they'd get the benefit of the courtyard using the other house. So between the houses, one would be basically a blank wall with windows. The other one would be the door and the patio. So each person gets that little private courtyard patio. On either side. One of their sides.

It's very unique. So... The previous proposal, the developer was proposing to have a zero foot lot line on one side and have 10 feet on the other side. However, that's very expensive to do because you have to go in and fire rate each of those walls because they're less than five feet away from a property line. Instead of doing that, they came up with this concept that allows them to have this five foot separation between the property line and the wall of the home. That way they don't have to go in and fire rate each side of the home or the one side of the home. Is there a timeline for completion if this moves forward? I believe that the developer at the neighborhood meeting stated that he wanted to get started first quarter of 2027. Now, if this gets approved, annex and rezone, they would have to go back through the preliminary process through the Planning Commission. That's not a public hearing. It's just one meeting at the Planning Commission and that's just for anything where you're proposing to create more than four lots. There'll also be a public street or two public streets and the Planning Commission by law has to approve the road names for those. So they'll go to the Planning Commission for the preliminary plat and the approval of the road names. The Planning Commission will also be tasked at looking at their amenity, judging its quality and scale.

Shauna, could you go back to the partials 10 through 12? Sure. The agreement that's in place, if Good Lord calls Mr. Barnes home or he decides to sell the house and move, that agreement sunsets and the developer can go ahead and build those?

That's correct.

Build there? It won't be passed down to family members or...

I don't believe that it's proposed that way. I think it just says there's actually an addendum that the applicant and Mr. Barnes executed and recorded. It's mentioned in the terms and conditions. I don't believe that there is any language of that nature. It's just that when he doesn't reside there anymore, that those lots are free to be developed.

That's my understanding too. That could get missed if it's not spelled out.

Of course.

What's the wish of council? Motion to approve plan of commission recommendation. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? I do want to discuss just a second not this project but where this is going. Historically over the last decade or so we've taken the position as a city we didn't want to see much growth over north of Solanese and personally I don't have that opinion anymore. I think we do need to see good growth north of Solanese because I think that we're going to see traffic come down Solanese Road thanks to a lot of construction we see in the City of York and Lake Wylie and so that our efforts on trying to alleviate traffic concerns on Solanese are just basically spitting in the wind as a result. So I do want to see good quality development on the Sunday's quarter. I commend the applicants on this for working together to make this happen. I hope to see more and it does help that this is age restricted so that it would not be as much traffic as we'd see in other developments were it not this project. I say all that to me because I think as a community we need to start recognizing that housing does play a role in economic development. When we're out trying to get these higher paying jobs come to our community to pay higher wages for our people, the management in those companies get paid higher wages as well. And if we don't have housing stock for them to be here, we'll continue to see a lot of the bleeding out of our community we've seen over the last 15 or 20 years to more valuable neighborhoods a little bit north of us. So kudos Planning Office for seeing that and planning on that regard. And I just wanted to say that because I didn't want people to think that

we had all changed our mind i've changed my mind in that regard and just wanted to share for future conversation any other discussion and part of that is that when laurel creek was designed that part was a parcel that was always part of that long-term goal that that would be would be developed so that's been in the works for 20, 15 years. The only difference was is it was originally thought it would be like the houses at Belanovo Court. Right. Is what the hang-up was the last couple years on this development. We just kind of worked through the issues and got to where we are. But, you know, I guess I say that is that there are properties regardless of what side of the fence you fall on, there's properties out there that have been somewhat approved or either known that this was going to happen years ago and it's just now taking effect. So sometimes that is a

Fair enough. Any other discussion, questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 7B, consider... Excuse me. I'm sorry?

I had a question.

Oh, please come forward.

Just your name and address, please. Scott Buckles, 678 Twin Lakes Road. I'm the star. We just moved there in December. Of course, we had no clue that this was going on. And I'd just like to know, is the property going to be clear-cut when they...

When the community is built? Well, I'm sure you can talk to the applicants about that after the meeting if you'd like. Okay, so we don't know. I mean, those trees are just... We protect trees. You want to explain?

So there's a tree retention requirement for a certain percentage. So no, the property would not be completely clear-cut. They would leave some buffers in place, too, that I kind of discussed between the developments to the north, east, or south. So it wouldn't be... clear-cut, meaning that all the trees would be gone.

We like trees. Those trees are, I don't think it's ever been forested because they're huge. Is there only 10 feet between the homes, is that correct?

Correct.

And how is the burdened lot and the unburdened lot determined? Is that when they purchase the...

So it's the side, I'll go back to it for us. I'll go back to it for you.

Each home cannot be a burden lot, right? One has to be a...

It depends on what side the house is on.

Yeah, it depends on what side the house is on. So, for instance, if the benefited lot is on a corner, they'll have five feet on the corner that is essentially untouched, but on the other side, they'll have that area that they can also improve with permanent stuff, and in the neighbor's lot, they'll be five feet that they can improve.

You have to get your neighbor's permission to do that? No, part of the development.

It'll be through the developer, so everyone will be aware during the real estate closing that they have that easement on the neighbor's property. So the neighbor of the Bergen lot, it won't be a surprise, you know, if one day they go out and there's, you know, lawn chairs and things like that, they'll be made aware of that during the real estate closing.

But that's the side where there's no windows or anything. That's correct.

There'll be windows and stuff, but there won't be doors or access. The windows at the top. I'd encourage you to ride. Have you ridden through Augusta Place? Beg your pardon? Have you ridden through Augusta Place right around the corner from you?

No, I've just ridden through the Laurel Creek.

Yeah, well, turn in to go to Augusta Place, and it's a very similar, and that was done a little differently, but it's a very similar setup. You've got nice, like, individual detached homes that are almost like... almost like patio homes. So, you know, by design, one side of the house is kind of that, you know, the wall that is non-accessible, but the neighbor has it. So it's just right through there. It's very, this will be similar. I'm not going to say it's exactly the way it's done. It's set up a little bit differently, a little cleaner, I think, but it's very similar to what that would look like. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right.

I believe we had a vote. Yep, we did. Approved. We'll move on to item 7B. Consider a petition for annexation to the City of Rock Hill of Laurel Creek, Twin Lakes Road, Area 3, lying adjacent to the city limits of the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina, shown on the map dated May 6, 2026.

So we petition for annexation.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. 7C, Ordinance to Amend Chapter 7, Annexations of the Code of the City of Rock Hill, so as to provide for the annexation, zoning, and ward designation of Law Creek, Twin Lakes Road, excuse me, Twin Lakes Area 3, lying adjacent to the city limits of the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina.

So moved for approval. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved in 7D, ordinance to amend the zoning ordinance of the City of Rock Hill code by making certain changes in the official zoning map affecting approximately 31.4 acres located on Law Creek Drive and Twin Lakes Road from residential mix 20 or MX 20 to master planned residential MPR.

So moved and approved the zoning ordinance. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 70, a different matter. Consider Planning Commission Recommendation on Petition M-2026-05 by Foresight Group to rezone approximately 24.17 acres at 5105 Old York Road from Limited Commercial LC to Single Family Residential SF5. single-family residential 5 SF 5 tax parcel 542-07-01 and a portion of 016.

So this property was annexed into the city back in 2011 and remains predominantly undeveloped and wooded, aside from a former home site that is on the property. The front portion of the site along Old York Road, which is not a part of the rezoning request, contains a driveway and stormwater pond that serves the adjacent Impact Church. Other surrounding uses include a mulch yard, a vacant industrial building along Old York Road, single family detached homes in the Valley Mirror neighborhood, and the Adena Hills mobile home park. Both of those are located in York County. Additionally, the site abuts the Harder Pond Master Plan development, which is currently under construction and will include commercial lots along Old York Road, townhomes and single-family detached homes. So the property is currently zoned LC, whereas the request is only to rezone the rear portion of the property, which is approximately 24 acres, and that's proposed to be rezoned to SF5, single family five. Surrounding zoning includes industry business, industry general, master plan commercial, which is Hardy Pond, and RSF 30, which is in York County. So the request is to, again, to rezone the rear portion of the property, and the request is being made in order to develop a 58-lot single-family detached subdivision. The intent is for the subdivision to be a continuation of the Hardy Pond neighborhood and would be named Hardy Pond 2. The development would be under the same HOA and potentially have the same home builder, which is David Wickley Homes, which is the home builder currently in Hardy Pond. The proposed lots will be slightly larger than that of Hardy Pond, Although it will be proposed to be SF-5, the lots in Hardy Pond are 7,000 square feet, excuse me, 7,500 square feet and they're 60 foot wide. The current requirements for SF-5 are 7,800 square feet and 60 foot wide. A traffic impact analysis would not be required due to the small number of lots. However, the SCDOT would likely require a queuing analysis for the right-bound turn lane onto Old York Road from the proposed roundabout. So that's up here. This is that proposed roundabout. This is where SCDOT would like for them to study that queuing analysis as you make a right onto Old York Road. Okay. as well as they will be required to install an eastbound right turn lane into the development. So into this new public street beside Impact Church, there will be a new right turn lane. Although the single-family homes would add commuter traffic along the Selenese Road corridor, the proposed development would have less of a traffic impact on the immediate area than the larger commercial uses that could develop under the LC zoning district. So an example of that would be like Lowe's or Home Depot, much larger uses. Again, this is due to residential homes having a less trip generation during the a.m. and p.m. peak hour commuting traffic, commuting hours, as well as an overall reduction in expected traffic on weekdays and weekends in comparison to what could be developed under the LC district currently. The plan shows the extension of a collector street through the subject property, which is consistent with the RFS street collector plan. The collector street would include a new roundabout that would connect to the proposed residential subdivision and the existing church drive, which is proposed to be upgraded to a public street. The collector street is expected to span from Bates Street near Walmart development to Adena Church Road, and that would create a road network parallel to Old York Road that would help alleviate traffic congestion along the Old York Road-Selenese corridor. The proposed number of blocks would require future preliminary plot review by the Planning Commission, as well as things like the approval of road names. This slide shows this overall area and the connections that we currently have and the connections that we lead. These yellow dash lines, these are the connections that we currently have and these are the ones that need to be established to create this east-west road, collector road that parallels Old York Road, Salonese Road to get some of the congestion off of Old York Road and Salonese. Here's our subject property. Here's Hardy Pond where Perkwood Street currently ends. As these properties to the west of the subject property continue to develop. This road has just continued to punch through. One thing to note is that York County recently approved a planned development rezoning for the west corner of Adena Church Road for a mixed-use development called Newport Commons. That development includes a Target retail store as the anchor and commercial out parcels and residential uses. As a part of that development, the developer is going to be required to install a dual right turn lane onto Hands Mill Highway on Old York Road. Expansion of the collector street would again allow folks to use this collector street as opposed to using Old York Road. For example, if I live in, you know, Summerwood or Miller Pond and I want to go over to the Target development, as this road continues to punch through, I can do so without ever getting on Old York Road and vice versa. Folks in this development if it's approved, they can go over to Walmart without, you know, ever having to get on to Old York Road. So having that east to west parallel road to Old York Road and Salon East Road corridor is very beneficial. And then as far as the public feedback, so prior to the Planning Commission meeting, staff was contacted by four members of the public, three of which are nearby property owners and residents. So the first one was Mr. Jim Harden. He is represented by that star, the star to the north on the other side of Old York Road. Mr. Harden owns that property. It's currently developed with a mulch yard. Mr. Harden expressed that he had hoped that the City would extend sewer to his property as it is not currently developed. Mr. Harden was also in attendance at the Planning Commission meeting and stated that he's actually in favor of the development as it would help get sewer to his property. There's currently a manhole at the end of Perthwood Street that could be continued along with this continuation and will serve that property that Mr. Harden owns. Also, Ms. Brittany Smith, who actually lives within the Adena Hill Mobile Home Park, she contacted staff about just the nature of the request. And then also the owner of the mobile home park, Mr. Mark Brnovich, called and asked about the availability of water and sewer. So there is no water and sewer along Winterberry. Also the city does not serve mobile home parts with water and sewer nor annex them. So unfortunately would not be able to provide it with water and sewer. And then also someone from the Hardy Pond development just called with more with just wanting more questions about development. The young lady that called actually works at the model home and just saw the signs going up. As far as other members that spoke at the Planning Commission meeting, Ms. Ursula Patterson asked about the buffer adjacent to Edna Hills and then also Mr. Garrett Blackwell. Mr. Garrett Blackwell lives along Valleymere Road. Mr. Blackwell had questions about peak hour traffic at the Planning Commission meeting. He later called, I actually spoke with him last week. He has some concerns about, well not necessarily concerns, just had questions about the buffer adjacent to his neighborhood. So again, when the lots or the homes are proposed to be of the same size to the houses that they're next to, the buffer is just 25 feet. Based on the sizes of the homes on Valley Mare Road, the buffer would just be required to be 25 feet, and he would like for that buffer to be larger. I explained to Mr. Blackwell that that would be up to the developer if they wanted to just do that in kind, but they're meeting the 25-foot requirement for the buffer. And then as far as the Planning Commission discussion, there was discussion about whether there were any plans to improve Old York Road, the number of daily trips estimated to be generated by the development, and whether the target that is being developed in New York County would contribute to those numbers. Also in attendance was the developer of Hardy Pond and the target development, also this development, Mr. Greg Wilson, who spoke regarding to the traffic improvements that will be required to be made with this development and also with the target development. And with that, Staff and Planning Commission recommend approval of the SF-5 zoning.

Okay, any questions for Shawna?

Yeah.

I'm just going to say... Going to church out that way has gotten horrible now. My church is in Newport and we have to pass the Walmart and with impact, every Sunday they have a police officer directing traffic from their location just because all of this traffic on Old York Road, their parishioners are not able to come out because nobody will stop and let them come out. So I just say, When I saw this, I just thought about more traffic coming down Old York Road, and then with the proposed target coming, just more traffic.

Yeah, so the plan, city's comprehensive land use plan or whatever. Do you know what it basically shows in that area? I think the strip along Old York Road is community commercial, and then it dips down to neighborhood, a little yellowish, and then it kind of takes up to edge management right there at Edna Church Road.

Yes. Yes, it's the community commercial character area.

Yeah. And so there's SF2 Miller Pond right near you. There's SF4. And I know Hardy Pond is more dense, the way it developed with the townhomes and all that. My only thing, as we get closer to the edge management line, I used to get a lot of feedback from county people about why the city kept developing on cell knees, and then they turned around and approved the big development, their cells, that's the target and everything. So that's a different conversation. But my fear is is that Wouldn't we want to be stepping down density as we get closer to edge management? So we got SF2, SF4, and then we got Hardy Pond. So my only hesitation is, you know, we're right back at SF5, right up, button up to the edge management, I guess, line. You know, as we move to that, I don't know what the goal for edge management is, SF2? What would be the goal for that staff would be okay with, like in the edge management perimeter of?

So I don't have the edge management delineated on here, but generally the edge management area, the comprehensive plan generally should be SF2. However, we do have language that, you know, basically it says that, you know, the that you're going up against, you know, if you're in an area of SF5 or area of SF4, that you should try to match that. One of the things about this development is that, you know, there's obviously traffic congestion along Selenese Road. You mentioned the impact church situation. Some of this development will help alleviate that by creating this kind of road. Collector Road, the right turn lane from Old York Road into, you know, what would be this new public street beside Impact Church. And there are also, you know, improvements along the Selenese Road corridor in a whole that are intended to just in a whole help improve Selenese Road. So you talk about, you know, Selanese Road at India Hook, the proposed redesign of the interchange. There have been improvements at Riverview Road in that area. So there have been little projects along Selanese Road that are intended to help. I know that's on the other side, and we're on the opposite end, but this development would help establish that collector road which is very valuable and would help to you know alleviate some of that traffic on the old york so that folks aren't having to always get on old york road there's another option um to use instead of that yeah i i and i agree the only reason why hardy pond is being built today is because you know the summerwood and miller pond and all the people around there um

we're more okay with that going in, knowing that that connection road might be there, because right now, Miller Pond Road is a disaster at certain times of the day. And it's not gonna get any better anytime soon. But the thought of that connector road is very important, and I think it was important for the majority of those existing residents. But temporarily, you'll have a lot of people at Impact Church that can't get out of that to take a left onto old york road out of there they'll be going back through the road back to miller pond and i want to do everything i can you know construction wise i don't want construction interest to be coming down i don't know where it's going to go but i don't want them to be using miller pond road um so i got some i got some concerns about minimizing the traffic until that road does get punched through because we don't know who or any plans of development of the next piece, right? I mean, not that I've heard. So it could be a number of years before that gets punched through. So I have some concerns about this project and at the density. You just mentioned in a case that I'm trying to make, you made it for me, was that as we get closer to edge management, there's cases where you want to partner up with an adjacent project similar zoning. But if we keep pushing SF-5 to the end, well then everybody will be able to do SF-5. So my point is is we're a little bit denser and as we get a little bit west of 160 and going up toward the county, wouldn't it make sense to step down to SF4? That way, the next development, if it's in the edge or at the edge, that we could at least have a conversation and say, okay, you can't do SF5 because one, you're in the edge, but number two, we're stepping down the density. So I have some questions about the density of the SF5 when we're trying to get closer to the edge management. So I think that's something I think we need to consider. I guess SF5 is 65 foot lots.

65 foot lots, 7,800 square foot feet. SF4 is 80 foot lots. 80 foot lots, 9,600 square feet.

Any idea what change that would be to their site plan and the number of homes?

We looked at it. They would lose around 12 to 15 lots. So they're currently 58 being proposed. So they would possibly lose around 12 to 15 lots if they went to the SF4.

So the numbers would work with SF4? Not for that road. Yeah. Can we just move edge management?

Well, I mean, step in for a second. Edge management, to me at least, you know, in this instance, it's not as, to me, it's not as important a deal because we're at the edge already. I mean, it's, we're not bumping up to rural, which is what edge is meant to be, is to handle the transition from a city development into what into the county is not as as dense as a city uh traditionally is and here our sewer territory is right ends right there at the edge of that picture so we're at the end of the edge there is really no edge transition because on the other side as councilmember black points out is the county and they are not rural in that area so I absolutely agree to the edge argument. I just don't think it applies in this specific instance because there's really not much more developable property to the west of this site. And I don't think, I mean, and Shauna said, you know, These sites are much less traffic than if it were a Lowe's, and we've got a traffic supply block down the road. We've got a target a block west from there. This is less traffic, and it pays for a pretty big element of that access road that we need to add in Church Road and provides an opportunity for Impact Church to get to a light, which they don't have now. One question I do have is how much acreage is still left that's not part of this portion that's up on this, up on 161. About the LC that? Yeah. So it's about eight acres, six to eight acres I'm guessing.

Probably the rear portion I believe is just 24 and the whole thing is around 31.

Yes about seven acres give or take. You got to cut a road. There's no telling. I just, I think we're going to continue to see if you look at the map and you see the out parcels up on the road are going to probably be more commercial. So to get the residential back and save all of that from becoming commercial does help with traffic, I would argue. It helps pay for the road and the numbers that it is there. It is bigger than the existing Hardy Pond dimensions lot size, gets us closer to Adena Church. which is the end of the city's sewer territory or sewer availability and allows us to start closing out those little bit of donut holes out there. I mean, it's not an ideal development. Nothing's ideal development. I do think that it is in keeping with what we've recently passed in that area. And the infrastructure going in there gets to the big game, which is getting you to add a church in off 161.

Do we have an idea where they would... make the construction entrance?

I'm not aware of where the construction entrance would be. I could find that out by the time of the second reading.

There's a developer here. Yeah. Come up, Greg. Yeah. Oh, there he is.

Just your name and address, please. Yeah, Greg Wilson, 1200 East Moorehead, Charlotte, North Carolina. Honestly, we haven't gotten to that level of detail, but we can certainly work with planning staff and figure out the best way, DOT, everybody, when we start construction on a construction entrance. But I haven't gotten to that level of detail.

Yeah. Well, I can tell you, I'd want to know that before second reading if I can, or at least some kind of idea, because I don't want it coming down Miller Pond and going all the way through Hardy Pond. Okay.

Okay. I'm assuming there's a curb cut on that property you're not rezoning. At Elevation Church, which is already a public street. This side of Elevation, yeah.

It's already a public street, technically. They just use it as their driveway, but it's technically a public street. Yep. So that's a big deal for me. Do you have any elevations? Is it going to be just like Hardy Pond, or are you going to have a little bit different products?

We can't. you know commit for sure it's gonna be the same home builder but that's the idea and it's the similar quality yeah here's you know these are the quality of the homes that are at arty pond so that's the idea yeah so they would be very well these these homes meet our current requirements um so the first one is actually the model home

And then the one on the corner is just an example of that side facade requirement that we were kind of talking about with the age restricted where you have to carry that architectural along the side. So they'll be required to meet this or even look better.

Yeah, we're not asking for any deviations. And what are those selling for? $600 ballpark in that range. Yeah.

Every builder comes with the same general plan. They all look the same. I mean, we're gonna look back in 20 years and go, oh, those houses were developed in the 2020s. Everything looks the same to me. I just would love to see, some deviation from the norm. And you walk around, anything being built in the last two or three years, it all looks the same.

Yeah, I mean, these were designed specifically with the Rock Hill requirements in mind. So these were all, I think, six or seven different plans. They were all brand new.

We just require that every fourth house be different so that it avoids that repetition or cookie-cutter look. So you at least have four different elevations that look completely different within any new development.

And we have to design within the price range that we think we'll sell for as well.

Yeah, I understand that. But I would encourage you to do more than just... four variations, I mean you ride through neighborhoods now and every fourth house is the same thing over and over again. I'm not gonna hold it up, I'm not real excited about it, and if it wasn't for the road that's giving those people a connection that we promised when we negotiated Hardy Pond, I didn't know you were involved in this project, I would definitely be not supportive of it. I'm not gonna hold it up, but I do have some questions, so my vote on second reading may be different, it could be different, but I'm not gonna hold it up, but I do have some concerns about it.

I'll make a motion to approve Planning Commissioner's recommendation.

Second.

We have a motion, a second. Any further discussion? Good discussion. Any further discussion?

Yes. I have one question for Chris. Would this be enough to have SCDOT revisit the traffic patterns off of Miller Pond Road?

It's gonna be enough to revisit that portion. What I think it does is get that alternate route off of 161. I mean, we've looked at this area pretty intently for the thoroughfare plan that's currently underway. Old York Road currently carries about 41,000 trips per day. With all the growth to the west and north here that you referenced earlier, Mayor, from what I'm seeing, I wouldn't be shocked if that grows about 7,000 within the next 10 years. You're talking about any improvements to the Solanese Road corridor to try to mitigate that, tens and tens of millions of dollars. So really, in the short run here in the next 10 years, think about some of the only options that we have are smaller improvements, intersections, signalization, and then getting these alternate routes to just try to draw that traffic off. For the Miller Pond folks, to your point, Mr. Black, as soon as we get this road over to Winterberry and Adenau Church, that finally gives some relief to them to get out to a signalized location. But without this first piece, we can't even get to Winterberry and Adenau to begin with. So I think just forcing the road further to the west is going to be the biggest improvement to Miller Pond, in my opinion.

Thank you, Chris. A little off topic, Chris, right here. I know at one point there was discussion about trying to connect behind Walmart back up to that other connection that goes to the light.

Yeah, come around.

Yeah.

That's another potential connection we've identified for the RFAT's update to their collector street plan as well as the thoroughfare plan. So it's on the radar. Yeah, it's definitely on our radar. You'd have to go through the church property and then the portion just behind Walmart is a private property as well. And there's some geography there that would cost some money. But it definitely is on our radar to try to get this connection further established, especially for the Miller Pond folks. Good discussion. In terms of traffic, I think Sean has identified everything pretty straight up for you. From the difference in land use of what they could do today, you're looking at an 85% reduction from that big box kind of superstore they could build in straight zoning today compared to what you could see with the single-family homes.

Thank you for that. All right. Thank y'all. We've had a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 7F. Ordinance to amend the zoning orders to the City of Rock Hill code by making certain changes in the official zoning map affecting approximately 24.17 acres located on Old York Road from Limited Commercial LC to Single Family Residential SF5.

Motion to approve. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. Okay. Thank y'all. That's it for planning commission items. Now we get to the fun at hand, the budget-related items. We'll move on to item 8A, consider adoption of a personnel resolution. Sonia Everhart is going to join us. Congratulations. Sonia just got promoted to the position and got thrown to the wolves. Thank you. We're glad to have you and congratulations.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you, Council. Each year staff recommends modifications to the Personnel Resolution to clarify or update certain policies and benefits. Recommended changes were discussed during the budget workshop session and a red line version of those sections is attached. Staff recommends approval and I'll be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Sonya. As stated, we've gotten these requests for edits six weeks ago or so. Any questions for Sonya or discussion? Yes, Sonya.

Could you read through the edits and changes, if you don't mind? Just messing with you.

Can't let you come in for the first time. That's right. A little hazing. Is there a motion?

Motion to approve. Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. Item 8B, consider first reading of an ordinance to amend Appendix A, fee schedule of the code of the City of Rock Hill concerning airport fees. Jeremy Winkler.

Good evening, Mayor, members of Council. I'm here tonight on behalf of Steve Gould, who I let go on vacation and won't happen again. You've already seen this briefly tonight during the budget public presentation. You also saw these fee changes and additions during the workshop. The proposed fee schedule updates fuel fees to match some contractual lease agreements that we have out of the airfield, incorporates a new category for aircraft storage units, updates the access agreement structure and modifies our service and concession fees for rental car providers that are on the airfield. Staff does recommend approval and I will certainly try to answer any questions you might have. Any questions for Jeremy?

What's the wish for council? Motion to approve first reading. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. Item 8C. Thank you, Jeremy. Consider first reading with an ordinance to amend Appendix A, fee schedule of the Code of the City of Rock Hill concerning solid waste fees. Mr. Bagley, you get a cough drop.

I might.

I've got a mint here for you.

Rough night. So what you have before you is something the city manager already explained earlier regarding the solid waste fee increase and it really is directly related to the tipping fee the county has gone up. We just received notice a couple weeks ago on that. So staff would recommend to try not to lose grounds on that to match that with a 60%, which is $1.30 for the average residential customer. Any questions for Jimmy?

Motion to approve first reading.

Second. We have a motion, a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. I'm sorry. Approved. Item 8D, consider first reading of an ordinance to amend Appendix A fee schedule in Chapter 29, Utilities of the Code of the City of Rock Hill concerning sewer rates. Mr. Bagley.

Yes, sir. And Mayor, similarly, this one is an increase of around $3.69 for the average sewer customer. And this is really to cover the increase of the wastewater treatment plan and to meet the new standards we've been talking about for the last 10 years. So this is something that we talked about a number of years ago. Just to continue with that schedule to make progress at the plant, this increase will be necessary to keep that moving. Any questions for Jimmy?

So Jimmy, sometimes council has to, I think staff has done a very good job, just like we were talking about earlier, with the replacement of capital projects with water line and sewer lines. I think this staff does a great job of planning in the future. So sometimes we make decisions that might have an impact 20, 30, 40, 50 years from now. And so I appreciate the fact that for many years, I think almost every, just about my whole time on council, we've been building the rate structure so there's no sticker shock, so we could actually make a decision, make a hard decision that knowing that we need to expand the sewer plant to prepare so we don't leave people five, 10, 15 years in a hole. And so I appreciate the thoughtfulness and the planning of this. And so part of this rate fee is something that is very methodically chosen to do to build up to make sure we are preparing for the future of Rock Hill.

Yes, sir. It's for that. And, you know, as you've noticed, we've also made a lot of improvements to some of the sewer lines that are 30, 40, 50, 60 years old now. Yeah, that's right. Our average age is less than 35 years. So we want to maintain that.

Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I'm going to say I totally understand all of that. I totally get, you know, why we need to have a rate increase. But with the rise in cost of everything that's happening, you know, that's affecting people. And everybody is pretty much a paycheck away from having a crisis in their home. And so for me, for the area and the people that I serve, I just know a $3 increase could mean getting medicine or not getting medicine. $3 increase could mean having to provide for utilities to keep the lights on. $3, or however much it is, could be the difference between repairing our homes when we need these repairs done and they can. So it's not that I'm in objection of the increase because we totally need it for keeping our water lines, sewer lines and stuff safe for the citizens of Rock Hill as a whole. But I do know that some people, a $3 increase could be detrimental to them. So I'm not going against it just to be going against the recommendation, but I'm going against the increase based on the people that I know will be, that will have a hardship moving forward with the price of gas being over $4 an hour. I mean, $4 a gallon. I was listening to the news this morning. Beef prices have risen. And so, you know, the simple things that we could afford—some people are going to have a difficult time having SNAP benefits cut, having other programs that could help provide food to people during crisis. Those funds have been cut as well. So, for me, that's my no vote.

Okay, any other discussion? We don't have a motion. What's the wish of council?

Somebody has a hand up.

I don't have anything on the floor yet, but I will call on you, I promise. What's the wish of council? Motion to approve, first reading.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? I'm going to support this because I've been around and seen governments that didn't stay on top of things, and the cost it was to the people was far worse than that, but that's my opinion on that.

Any other discussion, if not questions? I was going to ask, Jimmy, if you could give us a quick synopsis of how much improvements have been out there. Was it $300 million?

So far we've spent about $300 million. We probably have another $300 million left to go over the next four years. So it's still in progress. The money that we've already collected, again, goes towards the future bond payments that we're doing. In the meantime, some of the projects like upgrading the wall cap pump station, some of the other things that we've talked about, Dave Law Boulevard, if you've noticed, We're replacing some of the sewer lines that have been there for 50 years, literally when the lagoons were taken out of service. So just making sure that we are maintaining the system as where that money's going until we have the time to, until the time of paying the bond itself. So yes, sir, we... It's a lot of money spent already.

What's the capacity that this increases? I'm sorry? What's the amount of capacity that this increases?

When the plant's completed, it'll be another 10 MGD, 10 million gallons a day. So currently it's a 20 million gallon a day plant. It's expanded to 30. But it also has about $80 million worth of upgrades that had to be done. One, because of aging infrastructure. And two, just to meet the new standards that DHEC is working on in terms of the amount of phosphorus, nitrogen, those sort of things, making sure that we can meet those standards when they first come out with that. They've been working on it for 10 years. They claim they're coming out with it soon.

So you're saying with the amount of significant growth that we're having, we can't kick the can down the road, but so far. No, sir. Not having a moratorium and stopping all growth. And we've got to settle in and address it at some point.

Yes, sir.

And we couldn't have foreseen what Washington or the current administration would have done when it came to what they're doing now. So this was planned before the current administration took over. Yes, sir. Just to give some history of where we were. We have been working on this for a while. Good context. Yeah, sure. Thank you.

And I will say, I forgot to talk about my seniors, my seniors who are, you know, not able to make ends meet sometimes. So they're not getting—receiving an increase in the monies that they get on a monthly basis from Social Security or retirement. So I did leave that group of people out. I have a lot of seniors that's over in my area. I went and met with the ladies over in Country Club Estates, you know, and just having conversations with them. Over on the south side of Rock Hill, the capital improvement that just started to take place over on the Ridge Street area, there have not been any improvements over on that side of town for about 60 years. To say that, I totally, I do agree with the rate increase, but we also need, we're talking about the growth that's coming in here. We need to take care of the people that we currently have. What have we done to improve those areas?

You mean the Flint State extension that we just did for flooding?

I'm not referring to that, but I'm saying what...

But that is one public improvement, right?

And that's just taking place now, correct?

We've been working on it for about five or six years. Okay. Yeah. All right, Annie, yes, ma'am. Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. I'm sorry, go ahead.

What I am going to say is that, you know, for the South Side, with all of the improvements that have been taken on, a lot of people do complain about, you know, stormwaters. We haven't seen anything done. So, yeah, it's happening now. But again, for those people that currently are living over there, just to see a simple increase could be detrimental to them, or to us, because that's the area I represent.

Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry, come forward, please. Just your name and address, please.

I'm Erica H. Odom, 1055 Albert, ALBRT Street, Rock Hill, South Carolina, 29730. That is the south side. One of the concerns I have is my house is 57 years old. Okay? Those people over there, an increase would sorely just deplete them. They're not getting enough funds. I've been in that neighborhood now six years. What I was able to do at my residence, those neighbors cannot do. They cannot afford it, they cannot perceive it, and they cannot put it into a budget. I understand with all the growth that we have in our area that we do have to expand our sewer and water. I do understand that. And I'm not in disagreement with that, because we do need it. Because we do need great drinking water for all the residents of Rock Hill, not just a certain area. However, our older residents who have given so much to this city and built this city on their backs, are not receiving the same considerations. I have been there. I've rode through every neighborhood in Rock Hill before me and my deceased husband decided on that. And I have seen some differences. I've been a resident of Rock Hill over 22 years. I have seen some differences and I've seen some miscues at best. However, we must make a concerted effort to get out and get with these residents who do most of them own, most of their homes still own them. May not pay insurance for them because two years ago when we had that storm, this time two years ago, I had to go off about people coming and poaching those same neighbors, trying to buy their house for pennies on the dollar, and everybody in Rock Hill knew that if those residents had sold their houses, they would not have anywhere to go because they cannot afford this $600,000 and $700,000 home. not with the Social Security and retirement that they're getting. And half of the people that get up, and nothing against nobody because I do make a good salary, some of them don't even know what the cost is for a gallon of milk because they don't have to be bothered with that. But those people do. That's why I moved into a neighborhood that I know I could serve in and help. And it's just embarrassing to me to be in one of the cities that they deem football city There ain't no room for racism. And we sitting here got these people with still got power lines on their house that they can't get off of there because they don't have the money to get a contractor or pay the city $800 to do that. So yeah, I do see a grant sign in front of my home on the side in the Marshall lot. However, I've already paid that at dawn.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Thank you. All right. We've had motion, second, discussion, questions. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? No. Approved. We'll move on to item 8D, consider changing parks, recreation, and tourism fees. Mr. Sexton.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of council, I want... rehash what Mr. Veehan has already stated earlier in his budget remarks. But I will just add the Fleet Tree Fieldhouse and staff do have the capacity to take on additional when you consider pickleball non-city fees. The current city fees as y'all know are already approved. We would like to transition back to a team fee when it comes to adult sports. A couple of things just to mention operationally. We do plan from a revenue side to add a few programs to wrestling, some additional summer camps that will bring in some increase, some senior trips, then move as a transition to the velodrome as a rental use only or beyond our actual programs. I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Any questions for Mark?

Motion to approve.

Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. Item 8F, consider first review of an ordinance amending Chapter 29, Utilities and Appendix A fee schedule of the Code of the City of Rock Hill concerning consolidating commercial utility deposits and residential utility deposits. Madison Wilkerson.

Good evening. So item 8F is related to commercial utility deposits that we discussed at workshop one in April. So the current schedule shows a table actually for deposit amounts for commercial customers and it corresponds to the type of business that those customers actually operate. It's a better practice to require a two-month average consumption amount versus a fixed schedule. Additionally, this ordinance does add some language regarding any customers that would file for bankruptcy and if there's a potential that we would require an additional deposit.

Staff recommend approval.

Any questions for Madison?

I have a question. As a commercial renter, let's say I'm going to establish a new business.

what does that look like that's two months of a approximated yes it would be approximated for whatever that building was used for previously so okay you know an existing building we would look at the prior consumption um if it's you know brand new or something like that we would have to look at light like businesses to see what the consumption would be so it is an approximation as an estimate i'm just thinking as a business owner there's a lot of upfront costs when you're starting a business so um

Is there a way, if a business owner or commercial renter needed to, could we work to prorate that throughout the course of, let's say, three months, a year?

I would have to take a look at our practice, but I don't think we normally do prorate that. That's something that's just an upfront cost of setting up a new service. But there is a little bit of discretion, of course, with the supervisor as well.

Okay. Like for me, it would be like $2,000 just based on my building size. And you're saying that y'all have done research and this is kind of standard practice for other municipalities?

It is. And it's also our standard practice for just a residential customer. So residential customer is just an average two months. And it's kind of the standard practice for commercial utilities as well. So previously, if you looked at kind of our chart, I mean, it kind of varied. It would show like maybe a laundry might be $200. Right. A grocery store might be $500. You know, it just wasn't really reflective of what... the consumption is. And so what we're finding when, if they ever do get behind, we actually don't have enough in that deposit account to collect on it. And so then we're in arrears.

Understood. And this seems like a streamlined, more streamlined process. It is. It's just easier to justify.

Got it. Thank you. Another thing I noted, and I agree with you, sometimes upfront costs is pretty tough, and I agree. The other thing I noted, add in the language about the bankruptcy, which is that's another risk that's different than a normal person that, you know, somebody has bankruptcy on their record, then obviously their ability to pay, maybe it was hard times for whatever reason, but that's obviously a risk the city has to take when you put that in there. So that would be...

Included in that and that was not included before that was not included before and again it it's subject We would of course work with our our city attorney on that because there are of course guidelines with bankruptcy law And so it's not giving us a blanket. Hey, if you fought for bankruptcy, you have to make another deposit We would look at each case case by case with our city attorney to see is this something where we would require an additional deposit? Or is this something that no, it's an active bankruptcy and we just can we kind of you know tack on the additional or the existing deposit. So that's a little bit of a case-by-case but it just this does at least give us a language to explore that option if that's something we wanted to do.

Understood. Yeah I know when I was reading this or looking through this I was looking at it from the residential because if it's we're asking for a new deposit that could be two months If they just came out of a bankruptcy or just went into a bankruptcy, you know, would they be able to produce that two-month deposit down? I guess, to me, it was like kicking a dead horse while it was already down.

is there some will you look at these but case by case as well yes bankruptcy will always be case by case because again the bankruptcy law is is very complicated we would always rely on our city attorney so those would always be on a case-by-case basis that we would contact our city attorney to see is this an area where, one, we wouldn't require it, and two, are we even allowed by law? So it just kind of gives you that extra, because what we're also seeing from a bankruptcy side is that, yes, they're already in bankruptcy, they're already in arrears on payment, we apply their existing deposit, but then they're still in arrears. It doesn't cover how much they are in arrears for. But nothing's really changing on the residential side as far as... No, no, I mean, from the bankruptcy scene, if they're, you know, potentially there could be an additional deposit, but again, that's all just case by case. Yes, sir.

Do, is there a scenario where if either the resident or the business have a outstanding track record that they get this two months deposit back at some point or just,

Yes, so definitely from a residential side, you don't even have to make a deposit if you have a certain credit. So from a residential side, we look at your credit report or your credit score and then decide, make the decision from that standpoint. From a commercial standpoint, yes. If at the end of your time with us, you're always paid on time, you would receive that deposit back.

After how long?

I'd have to double check. I'm not sure on the timing.

Maybe after you stop.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's usually after the service is ended, then you would receive that deposit back. But I can double check if it's ever given back early. Okay.

Any further questions?

Motion to approve first reading.

Second. We have a motion to second. Any discussion? Second. Oh, was there a second? Yeah, it was.

Yeah. We're an hour and a half in, so you're off the hook.

All right. Any further discussion, questions, hearing, and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. 8G, consider first reading of an ordinance authorizing the City of Rock Hill South County to execute and deliver an equipment lease purchase agreement. in the amount of not exceeding $8,300,000 between the City and the lessor thereof to defray the cost of acquiring certain equipment and other matters relating thereto. Madison.

Thank you, Mayor. So this item is related to our annual equipment lease purchase agreement. This year's purchase authorization request is up to $8.3 million for equipment. Details of the equipment, it's 7-year and 10-year equipment, can be found on A1 of the attachment. Mostly equipment related to vehicles, but there is also an additional amount for Public Works radios, and that's to get them on the same system as the police and fire. um as well so again mostly vehicles some you know commercial type equipment and then the radios but happy to take any questions any questions from madison

Just one. In honor of our councilman who's not here at the moment, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask this question. Patrol cars, what kind of cars are they?

They are not Tahoe's. They are not Tahoe's. What are they now? What are they called?

Interceptors. Interceptors, that's the word, yes.

But essentially it looks like a Ford Explorer. Thank you. Over my head.

Yeah, yeah, that's history.

Any other discussion? So moved for first meeting. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion, questions, hearing, and signal? And all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. Item 8H, Mark Sexton. Consider standardizing parkour operating hours.

Thanks, Mr. Mayor, members of council. The Public Parks and Recreation Commission along with staff are recommending a reduction in some park hours. It really only affects four facilities. All of our parks operate on dawn to dusk unless otherwise posted within the facility. It's basically in a chance to streamline some operations, dropping some hours back to 9 o'clock, which really affects Cherry Park, Manchester, and the Tennis Center, and then drawing Fuel Park Tennis Facility in line with the Rock Hill Tennis Center. Again, Public Parks and Recreation Commission along with staff recommend approval.

Any questions for Mark?

Motion to approve.

Second. We have a motion to second. Any further discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 8I, consider accommodations tax funding. Brian Jones, welcome.

Good evening, Mayor and members of Council, and thank you for the opportunity to present the FY27 state accommodations tax recommendations on behalf of the Rock Hill Tourism Commission. I'd like to start by thanking the Tourism Commission. They approached this responsibility with diligence and care, engaging in a year-round process to remain informed on tourism initiatives across the city. They have thoroughly reviewed the proposed projects and developed a thoughtful recommendations for your consideration. State accommodations tax law defines the process for the distribution of a tax funds and the expenditures that qualify. As you know, these funds are generated by the 2% tax state tax on lodging collected here in the City of Rock Hill. During the calendar year of 2025, these funds will be distributed in the fiscal year 27 per your direction. This year's collection was $1,041,073. State law says that the first 25% and 5% or $50,804 go to the general fund for the City of Rock Hill. The next 30% or $304,822 go to the marketing promotions fund that PRT utilizes as the City's destination marketing organization. These funds will go to help support major events and the promotion of new events coming later this year. And the final $660,447 or 65% is what the Tourism Commission recommends the City grants to nonprofits and government agencies to enhance tourism in the City. They had 18 applications totaling over $1 million in request. The following is what the Tourism Commission is recommending to you for funding. And sorry, I'm gonna read you these numbers to you. The Arts Council of York County, the recommendation is 38,864. Big Shots Basketball, the recommendation is 53,547. Camp Canaan, 12,856. Carolina's Football Club, 11,640. Christmasville, 33,087. Come See Me, 26,620. Cultural and Heritage Museum, 2,586. Historic Rock Hill, 17,835. Juneteenth, 3,915. Nations Ford Land Trust, $503. National Collegiate Rugby, 6,840. Old Town Association, 31,716. Rock Hill PRT, 93,415. Rock Hill Sports Commission, 93,995. Rock Hill Theater, 798. USA Cornhole, 83,813. USA Volleyball, 16,013. And visit York County, 132,404. I'd be happy to try to answer any questions that you may have on behalf of the Commission.

Thank you, Brian. Any questions for Brian? So the accommodations tax basically gave something to every applicant. Is that basically how it shook out if there were 18 applications? Yes, sir. Okay. All right.

Yeah, Brian, and I appreciate, obviously, what the ATax Commission does. They take a lot of—of course, it's by law, but also it takes a lot of burden off our plate. But there are certain things that I think council has— greater fondness to time-tested programs and events that have been going on and and and I appreciate them trying to throw a bone of everybody but there's some of these that we typically like to see some history before we start building a lot of money so these some of these first-year applicants that I'd encourage them to keep reapplying that as they have a history then maybe that will come to us so I would make some adjustments and I'll read through those real quick and then I would make that in a form of a motion. So, I would say, you know, Christmasville was a change. In keeping with what we did last year, 48,300. Come See Me, 31,957, same as last time. USA Cornhole, 80,000, same as last time. Palmetto Volleyball, USA Volleyball, 14,297. Big Shots is an important event, but I think there's other things that we're working through, so would go down to $30,000 with them. you know, for the Cultural Heritage Museums, Nation's Foreign Land Trust, and the National Collegiate Rugby, nothing at this point, but maybe in the future. And then Parkinson Recreation, 104,274, and Visit York County, 140,025 cents. And I'll make that the formal motion.

Second.

So we have a motion and a second, but the way I understand the motion is the recommendations as presented plus the additions or subtractions that you cited out to get to the total $660,447. Right.

I only brought up the ones that are changing. So the ones that I did mention are obviously staying as recommended. Okay. Thank you.

Yeah, yeah. No worries. No worries at all. All right. Any further discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item, thank you Brian, item 8J. Consider adoption of a safety resolution, Madison Wilkerson. Getting your steps in tonight.

I am. So safety is a core value at the City of Rock Hill. This resolution just reinforces that value and it's recommended to be adopted annually by City Council and I'm happy to take any questions.

Any questions for Madison? Motion to approve the safety resolution.

Second.

We have a motion, a second. Any discussion, questions, hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 8K. Consider extension of the local preference provision. Abby Chapman. Welcome back, Abby. Thank you.

Good evening. So starting in 2010 City Council endorsed a modification to the city's purchasing policy that provided a limited advantage to local contractors allowing contractors to meet or an opportunity to meet the low bid in certain situations. Contractors within the city limits would be considered for a 5% adjustment factor and contractors within the county limits but not within Rock Hill City limits would be considered for a 3% adjustment factor with the maximum amount of this adjustment being $25,000. This provision expires on June 30th, 2026, and staff recommend extending the purchasing policy local preference provision until June 30th, 2027. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for Abby? This doesn't really happen all that often that it kicks in, but I'll make a motion to approve the extension of the local preference provision.

Second. A motion, a second. Any discussion?

I just have a question and this is for bidding purposes. So where can people find out what that bidding process is like and how can they embark on putting their name in the hat for some of these?

For the local preference? I'm not sure of the exact project.

So anytime we are posting solicitation, it's gonna be on our website. So actually, if you go to our website, it's in the top corner and it says bids and RFPs, I think is what it's labeled as. But anybody can go there, they can see what's already out there posted. Most of our projects, unless they're federally funded or there's other stipulations, would be eligible for this provision. This is just a provision within our procurement policy. They're welcome to, of course, apply for anything that we have out there that they would be eligible for.

Okay. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

We have a motion. Need a motion. Need a motion.

I made a motion.

You did. We have a motion to second any further discussion. Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to 8L, consider extension of utility upsizing reimbursement policy.

Starting in 2011, City Council authorized a change in city's policy to allow the city to reimburse developers for their cost of upsizing city water and sewer lines. Since the policy was put into place, four projects have taken advantage of this policy and been reimbursed for a total of $166,815. Staff recommend extending this policy until June 30th of 2027 and I'm happy to answer any questions. Any questions for Abby?

Motion to approve the extension of utility.

Second. Upsizing reimbursement policy. We have a motion, a second. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. And we'll move on to item 8M. Consider first reading of an ordinance providing for an increase in the annual salary for the mayor and members of city council. Brent Tompkins.

Stephen, you want that slide? That's baseball. Here we go. Look out. All right. Good evening. Every two years Council considers a wage adjustment. The current City Council considers this item in even years to be effective for the next term of Council. So that would be January of 2028. The calculation is based on the previous two years CPI or the budgeted wage increases for City employees for the past two years. Whichever is lower. For this year, the CPI sum for the previous two years is lower at 5.6%. Therefore, per the ordinance, the amount to be considered effective January of 2028 is 5.6%.

Any questions for Brent?

Not a question. Statement. Council Member Jackson, this is where I agree with you with cost of everything rising and it's hard on people making ends meet. This is where we shouldn't give ourselves a raise. We have some budget items, I have some things that are going up. The county dumped additional $1.30 fees on us, what we had to pass on the cost, as well as the storm water is going up, the average of $5 total this fiscal year, and another $5 the next fiscal year. So I don't think it would be good to tack that addition onto the customers here and the people here in the city of Rockeo, then turn around and give ourselves a raise. So no, I'll be voting no for this.

And I will say I will agree with you, Derrick. Giving ourselves a pay increase when everything else is going up. Yes, this is a thankless job, but apparently all of us put our name in the hat because this is what we wanted to do. We wanted to serve the people and we wanted to do our best at serving the people. And sometimes that comes with a cost, our time, not giving ourselves an increase in pay. So I will agree not to give ourselves a pay increase.

Yeah, I was going to say, I'm not supported either, but when was the last one? 2020. 2020, yeah. So I know years ago, we had gotten so far behind, and so we had put this... to force it to come up, right? We vote for it, vote against it, whatever. But we did put a process in place which there wasn't a process in place. So I'll say two things. One is that we made this process so it at least would come up. So there wouldn't be any excuse that, oh, you know, we woke up 20 years later and it's not in line. Second thing is I think there was another municipality or another entity that There was confusion about they voted and then all sudden it took effect and like immediately just just if this would ever happen It would take effect the next council election right so two years. Yeah, that's right. So it's It was designed for us to vote for future councils. Now, you may be on that council, but it was designed for future councils. I just make those two points. But, yeah, I'm not going to support it either. But just wanted to get that reminder to the public of why and what goes on with that. And why it comes up.

That's right.

So we'll just let it die for lack of a motion? Unless somebody makes a motion, it dies. Let it die. Seeing and hearing none, we'll move on to item 8N. Consider a first reading of an ordinance to raise revenue, adopt a budget, and work program for the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2027, and to authorize the issuance of a tax anticipation notice from time to time during fiscal year 2026-2027. Mr. Behon.

The only thing further to say about the budget, Mayor and Council, is I'd just like to acknowledge the work of Abby Chapman and Madison Wilkerson and all of our staff. We really did a great job in pulling this together this year with a really limited number of increases across the board. Thank you. Well said. Good budget.

What's the wish of council? So moved. First reading.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Questions? Hearing and seeing none, all in favor please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Approved. We'll move on to item 9, announce our Smart Switch and Customer Connect winners. Congratulations to Chan Kuhn and Julia Marshall. Chan, you won the Smart Switch winner. Our Customer Connect winner is Julia. Each of you will receive a $50 credit on the next utility bill. Is there any City Council Committee reports? Any miscellaneous business?

I just want to take the time and moment to recognize May as Mental Health Awareness Month and Affordable Housing Month, and also that they were agreeing to acknowledge both of those. And also want to send condolences out to the McDuffie family in the passing of Ms. Daisy McDuffie, one of our oldest member in the city of Rock Hill, one of our oldest residents. When she passed away a couple of weeks ago, she was 104 years old. So our condolences goes out to the McDuffie family.

Any other miscellaneous? Yeah, we lost another good one in the restaurant industry. I think a lot of people know Mr. Lloyd Audrey owns Ebony's Grill. So obviously put out the same condolences to his family as a longtime staple. And anyway, so prayers to that family as well.

Yeah, we'll see it. Any other miscellaneous business? I just want to end on a better note or a happier note hopefully and congratulate Steven Gibson, our deputy city manager and his son who's just lighting the world up in college baseball. We're very proud of our hometown guy and let him bring the Bulldogs a couple wins in the NCAA regionals. Take it from there. We have already met in executive session. There was no other business in executive session. So without objection, we'll stand adjourned.

stephen so is that where you were on the highway when all the time