Remarks by Todd Carnes
32 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 1 of 2
- Play at 8:25
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. Road work is about to begin on Cedar Crest Drive for lane widening and Augusta Road for median installation at the new Parker's Kitchen. Expect intermittent nighttime lane closures over the coming weeks. SCDOT has begun daytime paving operations on Roberts Street from Gibson Road to South Lake Drive. DOT has started nighttime asphalt patchwork along West Main Street from Gibson Road to Columbia Avenue in preparation of a full resurfacing. Please exercise caution when traveling in construction areas, and we encourage you to follow the Town of Lexington Police Department…”
Town Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 16:52
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. The North Church Street parking lot project includes installation of new LED lighting similar to street lights in the downtown area. Staff is requesting authorization to enter into a lighting agreement with Dominion Energy for the installation and service of 12 LED octagonal 14-foot MH Charleston fixtures with aluminum poles. The proposed agreement will have an initial term of 10 years, followed by year-to-year renewals thereafter. The current monthly rate for the lighting service is $790.10 plus applicable sales tax. At the current rate, the annual cost will be…”
Town Council · Oct 5, 2026
- Play at 7:36
“Well, it's just it's just so broad like we're referencing what 9 or 10 manuals in here. It's probably more of a question for Brent. I'm just curious about two things. One, they always bump across. The other one is just are there any significant substantive changes? Like when you give me these nine different building codes that we're going to reference in our ordinances now, it's hard for me to get through that. So are we making any substantive changes?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 8:56
“But I'm not going to start getting calls from people going, hey, I can't believe you guys upped the code requirements on this.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 9:39
“Okay. And can I ask Brent, this is just a very specific one, but this is the one I always get hit with is, and you're an electrician, so you can help me understand this, but the arc fault grounds that are in our that are in our panel boxes. What is that? What's that called? What's the exact terminology? The arc fault circuit interrupter. Thank you. So it's the case that we have the arc fault circuit interrupters required in our panel boxes in the town. Is it still the case that that's not required in the county? Do you know?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 10:49
“But that's the one I always get the most blowback on. I don't know if you get the blowback on that because it's not really required in the county and it is in the town and people get confused on that.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 12:13
“And is that new code, is that state-specific or is it a national code?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 16:08
“Yeah, I'm just looking at this on GIS, Randy. It looks like, as you go back, there's water lines on both sides of East Main, and it crosses about halfway there if GIS is accurate. So are these water lines being replaced due to age? What's driving the replacement?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 17:04
“Yeah, but the service line, the service lines were due for this change out. Was that due to upsizing them or due to them being old and needing replacement deterioration?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 17:23
“Yeah, tell us what kind of pipe is actually in the ground and what was driving.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 17:50
“Yeah, it's past its useful life. So something of this size, do you go back with ductile iron pipe or do you go with PVC?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 18:43
“best we can. So who's who's doing the engineering design for us on this for this project for the water, not for the roadway, but for the water.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:14:47
“Yeah, I would just say I'm not really interested in trying to adjudicate small loopholes and the tiny minutia of this light or that light, try to find some political solution that doesn't rub anybody the wrong way. We need to stand up and be leaders and find a fair and equitable solution for all the people of the town of Lexington, not carve off these people and make these people do this. It seems pretty simple to me either all the people are going to get all the people of Lexington are going to get streetlights paid for and it's going to cost us about $700,000 a year at this point and it's…”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:16:25
“Right, but even that's not fair and equitable. We can't pull a subdivision in and have 500 citizens who don't get a benefit that the other 24,500 get. Let's just make a big boy decision and be fair and equitable. And it could go either way. Give everybody lights, we give nobody lights. Madam Mayor, I'm sorry.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:24:23
“I think it would be premature because I think they probably need to know are we going to require one per four or one per six and how much are we going to reimburse? Are we going to reimburse the base rate? So if they go to this next one, it's going to be this much. So I appreciate the urgency, but I think it would be premature because I don't know that we have clear direction to give them because if they come out and go, well, let's go one per four lots and then we go, well, we're only going to reimburse on the very base level one per six. I mean, there needs to be some synergy between…”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:25:20
“I'm just saying, now we've got three options out there. One per four, one per six, distance. I would just hate to waste their time until there was a little more clarity. We've been in this mess over a decade. Let's just take our time and try to get it right. I'm just one.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:27:11
“Madam Mayor, just counterpoint, I'd never ever make any decision in my life divorced from the financial liabilities they're in. So I don't think that's fair to say, let's just go figure out what we're gonna do and we'll figure out how much it costs later. I think the cost is always a part of the equation, especially when you're talking about costs like this that go into perpetuity, either on the backs of the taxpayer, actually on the backs of the taxpayer either way, either via their HOA or via the town of Lexington. So that's why I do think it is a factor. I don't think we can just tell some…”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:28:17
“Yeah, but even issues of public safety are tied to finances. Much as Chief would like an unlimited budget, the budget has to have a ceiling on it. So let's not talk about things that don't have a ceiling on the budget. Let's talk about the budget.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:28:37
“You said just go figure it out and then don't divorce the finance from it, and we'll figure that out later. That's exactly what you said. I think we need to know what it costs.”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:29:00
“I think that's pretty optimistic. Madam Mayor?”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:34:02
“It's just that the minute the minion got a 7.6% residential increase this year they asked for 12.5. They got 7.6 at 7.6 a year for paid 750,000 for this this year that will double in 10 years. The 1.5 million and that's if they get half of what they asked for. So Everybody needs to understand that if we take this three-quarter of a million dollar deal and they're increasing at those rates, that this is going to double every 10 years and somebody's going to have to pay that money and it's going to have to be levied on our taxpayers. There's no way for us to go find that money. Just FYI, no…”
Town Council · Sep 21, 2026
- Play at 1:05
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. Let's pray. Father, we pause a moment here before you, before we try to handle the business of this town and ask for your favor on this town, ask for your favor on us as leaders, and we want a great, prosperous, peaceful life. just town, and we definitely need your wisdom to pull that off, so we ask for that. Thank you for all the things you've provided thus far, and we pray for these things, not only for our town, but for our state and our nation and our world. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.”
Town Council · Aug 17, 2026
- Play at 4:17
“Yes, madam mayor, yes, Jessica that have we ever received a request like this. Previously to your knowledge in you just passed your the big national certification. Are there any there any standards of a certainly we have it in my 14 years. So I just is there any context there that you can deliver from your planning and zoning background.”
Town Council · Aug 17, 2026
- Play at 28:13
“Madam mayor, yes, can assess whoever looks into this can can they take a look at solar.”
Town Council · Aug 17, 2026
- Play at 28:26
“Yeah, how far is that technology down the road? I would think that technology is far enough down the road that solar street lights would be a great long-term viable solution. But I don't know, but we should look.”
Town Council · Aug 17, 2026