Town Council - Regular Meeting

I would like to welcome everyone to the Town of Lexington council meeting. This council meeting is being held at Town Hall on Monday evening, August 3rd, 2026, and is being broadcast live on the town's YouTube channel. I'm Hazel Livingston, the mayor of the Town of Lexington. I would like to introduce my fellow council members. Councilmember Williams is out. He had some major dental work done today, and he was still there as of 5.30 or 6 o'clock, so he is not with us tonight. Next to me is Councilmember Todd Lyle. To his left is Councilmember Michaels. Good evening. To my right is Mayor Pro Tem Todd Carnes.

To his right is Councilmember Gavin Smith. Good evening. And to his right is Councilmember Will Allen.

Before I ask Councilmember Allen to have an invocation, I'm going to ask our major to come up and say something and then have a pause. Thank you. Council Member Allen, would you now have our invocation?

Yes, ma'am. Let's pray, y'all. Oh, Heavenly Father, thank you so much for today. Thank you for this summer. Thank you for all the things you've done for our town and continue to do for us, Lord. We're so appreciative. We do ask you, Lord, to please give a special blessing of comfort and peace to the family of Officer Olson and her friends with this tragedy that happened to our community. I ask you, Lord, to please give us Holy Spirit discernment as we up here on the dais discern the things that we need to do for this town. Show us with Holy Spirit wisdom how we can love our neighbors as oursel

Next up, I would like to invite U.S. Army Sergeant, retired U.S. Army Sergeant and Purple Heart recipient Scott Craig to come up and give us, or join us in leading the pledge. And thank you so much for coming out and joining us. I will now call the council meeting to order. Are there any deletions from tonight's agenda? Hearing none, we'll move on. Council met in executive session prior to this meeting. Matters discussed in executive session as permitted by South Carolina Code 30-4-7A. Personnel matters, discussion regarding pending litigation and discussion of potential property acquisition.

Councilman Michaels makes the motion. Do I hear a second? Councilman Smith second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, raise your right hand.

Including in your meeting packet for approval are the minutes from council meetings held on April the 20th, June the 15th, and July the 6th for approval. Do I hear a motion to approve the minutes?

Mayor Pro Tem makes the motion. Do I hear a second? Second. Councilman Michael seconds it. Is there any discussion, corrections, anything on the minutes? Hearing none, all those in favor, raise your right hand. And it is unanimous. Tonight we have a proclamation recognizing Jerry Height for outstanding community service and holiday tradition. And Council Member Lyle is going to read this. He had brought this to us to recognize.

Thank you, Mr. Height. Appreciate you. If you want to stand up and step forward, we're going to read this proclamation. Whereas Jerry Height, with the support of his wife Marcy, began the Height's light display in 2010 with approximately 5,800 lights, growing it into a display of more than 135,000 lights. I think our staff's done some good pictures up here. through countless hours of design, programming, and months of preparation each year, creating a beloved tradition for families in Lexington and beyond. And whereas through the Heights light display, tens of thousands of dollars have been ra

You go ahead, you go ahead, you go ahead, you're good. You go ahead. We're going to have to have you say something.

At the mic. Got to get you the mic. Come up here.

She told me not to be, if I had to say something, don't be.

Next, I'll provide our vision plan update. The town is gearing up to host its next vision plan public input session. It will be Tuesday, August the 25th from 5.30 to 6.30 here at Town Hall and the Conference Center. The purpose is to gather feedback from residents, community, stakeholders, partner organizations, and staff regarding the community's long-term vision, priorities, opportunities, and challenges. The new vision plan will set long-term goals for the town on what it will look like in the future. If you can't make it to the in-person meeting, you can still weigh in by completing the vi

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Construction continues on the realignment of Martell Drive at West Main Street. The new traffic signal is planned to be activated in the coming weeks, so be aware of these upcoming changes. Area schools will begin this week and increased traffic flow is expected. Please use caution and patience in and around school zones. Plan accordingly to allow adequate time to reach your destinations. The next traffic committee is scheduled for Wednesday, August 12th at 8 a.m. at Town Hall in the third floor conference room. And please exercise caution when traveling in construction

I'm sorry, Randy. Can you pull that mic down a little bit to get a little more? There we go. Perfect.

I used to live down Park Road for 17 years so it is certainly counterintuitive. When you think about two lanes going left and reducing down to one and there was a lot of chatter, I knew there would be some data back it up. But in layman's terms, I think what I heard you say was we did have two lanes turning left but the inside lane was significantly underutilized. Everybody went to the outside left turn lane. So we weren't getting use of that lane and our signal configuration was such that we have more green light time for those left-hand turn lanes now than we did. Plus, we also picked up add

Can I just add something in there? So when that was launched last week, I think many of us read the Facebook comments and that led to this discussion. And I wanted to just take a moment to thank you and your department for the work that you guys do. I know it's easy to criticize the work. And it's often asked, what is the town of Lexington doing on traffic? So I just wanted to list. I was thinking over the last year, what... all have you all done and this is probably not a comprehensive list but from what I can recall you've done the mineral spring signal or the mineral springs intersection yo

And you forgot Gavin. He also had to meet on the dirt roads to try to finally get all roads paved within the town. So he's been working hard on that too and we're close to having that finalized. Yes. Thank you Randy and thank you for all y'all do. We will now open the public hearing part. We welcome your comments and ask that each speaker limit their remarks to three minutes and a timer will be set. Please note that this is not a question and answer session and we ask that comments remain specific to the item under consideration. Please address the council as a whole rather than directing comm

Thank you, Madam Mayor. The agreement and ordinance with Windstream Kinetic were presented to town council at the previous meeting. The agreement will replace the town's existing limited franchise agreement with Windstream and establish consistent franchise terms for telecommunications services throughout the town consistent with the agreements previously approved for Ripple Fiber and Lumos Fiber. A copy of both items are in the meeting packet, and I make a request for final reading approval of the agreement and the ordinance.

Mayor Pro Tem makes a motion. Do I hear a second?

Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, raise your right hand. And it is unanimous. Next up, we're moving to new business resolution authorizing execution of the South Carolina Rural Water Association official voting delegate form. Council Member Michaels.

Thank you, Mayor. The attached resolution authorizes execution of the South Carolina Rural Water Association official voting delegate form designating the town's voting delegate an alternate delegate. Approval ensures the town's participation in official voting matters of the South Carolina Rural Water Association. A copy of this is attached in our meeting packet. I make a motion for approval of this resolution.

Councilman Michaels makes the motion. Do I hear a second? Councilman Lyle seconds the motion. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, raise your right hand. And it is unanimous. Our next item is a resolution authorizing submission of a community development block grant application and approval of an intergovernment agreement with Lexington County Councilmember Lyle.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. The attached resolution authorizes the submission of a community development block grant application and approves the accompanying intergovernmental cooperative agreement with Lexington County. Approval will continue. the town's participation in these programs as well as the emergency solutions grant programs so madam mayor i would make a motion to approve the attached resolution and the intergovernmental cooperative agreement with lexington county council member lyle makes the motion do i hear a second second councilman michael seconds do i hear having are there any qu

Hearing none, all those in favor, raise your right hand. And it is unanimous. Item number three, approval authorizing staff to enter into the Alcohol Enforcement Team Agreement, Councilmember Smith.

Thank you madam mayor, the alcohol enforcement team agreement provides for the town's participation in the alcohol enforcement team program for fiscal year 2026 2027. The program supports the enforcement of underage drinking laws and provides reimbursement for eligible activities. A copy of the agreement was provided in our meeting packet, which can be found online on the town's website and was included in obviously our backup materials. So with all that said, Madam Mayor, I move for approval for the staff to enter into said agreement.

Councilman Smith makes the motion. Do I hear a second? Mayor Pro Tem seconds it. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, raise your right hand. And it is unanimous. That was pretty quick.

Are there any questions from the public regarding a specific item listed on the agenda tonight? The news media. Is there any questions or comments from the staff? Council, is there any questions or comments from y'all? I would like to wish all of our students, teachers, administrators, and the parents a great day for school staff, a wonderful first day back to school tomorrow. We hope everyone has a safe and successful school year. Also, tomorrow evening, August the 4th, the Lexington Police Department will host National Night Out at Virginia Hilton Park starting at 530. join us for an evening

As always, please follow the town's social media page and visit our website for the latest news, upcoming events, and other important updates.

That concludes our business for the evening. Thank you for watching. We are adjourned.