County Council - Regular Meeting

County Council meeting of January the 20th, 2026 to order. I'm going to ask Councilman Ravenel to give us a moment of thanks before we proceed. Let us bow our heads in a word of prayer. Father God, we want to thank you for allowing us to come out to conduct and hand some business of our county in this meeting. Father, we pray that the decision that we make, the investments of the people that we serve in Christ Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you so very much. I hope every one of council has looked at the minutes of the January 5th meeting. And if you have, I would appreciate a motion and second that those minutes be received as written.

So move, Mr. Chair. Second. Move by Mr. Garvin and a second by M. McCaster that the minutes of the January 5th meeting be received as written. All in favor? Let me know by saying I.

Any opposes to it? eyes having the motion pass. Again, good afternoon to everyone. Um for those of you who may not have been to our meeting again, uh we have public comments in two areas. That's public comments of agenda items and public comments of other matters. That means anything uh on the agenda you want to comment about. When I open the floor for public comments of agenda items, you may approach the podium and us what you want to say or ask questions from staff. Uh we close that. We're going to public comments on other matters. That way you can bring anything you want to council. Again, it's about public comment. We listen to what you have to say. So at this time, I'm going to open public comments of agenda items. Hearing none, we will close the further comments of agenda item and open open it for further comments of other matters. Any other matters you'd like to approach council on at this time? For the comments of other matters.

Yes, sir. Mr. S, come on down. Christ is right. Good Christmas.

Uh I have u spoken on addiction before. [snorts] Uh let's what's some history on that word addiction though? Let's go back way back 451 to 450 BC. The Roman Empire instituted 12 rules of which they would govern their citizenry. Um I read from hope in addiction 2023 Andy Parrington to bring it up to date in 2019 an article on the enmology of the word addiction. and Richard Rosenthal, now clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at David Geffin School of Medicine, UCLA, and Suzanne Ferris delve deep into addiction's backstory. The 12 tables, a series of legal definitions, rights, and procedures inscribed on 12 bronze tables and publicly displayed in Rome, formed the foundation for Roman law for a thousand years and have found profound influence on contemporary notions of justice, punishment, equality, property ownership. In legal proceedings, the 12 tables granted the proour urbanist, the official in charge, the right to judge cases and determine punishments off following an oft rehearsed formula. Do daiko addictio, which is best translated as I give, I say, I judge. In cases of unpaid gambling debts, if the proater urbanists decreed that the debtor's punishment should be enslavement, the judicial act deployed was an addiction. The debtor, no longer in control of his own life, was handed over to his owner and became his addictus slave. In the debt, remained unpaid for a statutory 60-day period. The Adictus became the creditor's permanent property to be kept, killed, or sold as a common slave at his discretion. According to

Roman law, an Adictus was neither a citizen nor a person. The parallels between the Roman Republic's brutal justice and contemporary addiction experience are striking. In addition, the individual experiences a loss of self-control and personal agency, often feeling like a slave to an external personal power. Addiction leaves suffering and deprivation in its wake. It undermines the addict's place in the community, destroying all sense of identity and inherent value. Ultimately, many of today's addicti are killed by their enslaver. That pretty much sums up addiction and what it does to the individual and that's what gambling addiction does. That's why suicide is there too. Uh we need to take it seriously what we're thinking about doing in Orangeburg County. You're our elected officials. We leave it with you. Also, uh if we started meetings at 6:00, more people could make it from other parts of the county to to participate. Thank you. Thank you said [snorts] [clears throat] any other comment hearing not we will close the public comment portion of our agenda and we going to our regular agenda and the first item on the on the regular agenda is the second reading uh and it said for the consideration of a request from Jasper Balls to reszone property at 267 7 Greater Fire Road in Utahville. Tax map number 0362-07-01- 0006 for residential general district to

Forest Agriculture District.

Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, the planning commission met on December 10th, 2025 to discuss this recommendation for Mr. BS. They're requesting property at 267 Greater Fire Road, Utahville to be um reszoned from residential general to forest and agriculture for the purpose of a single wide mobile home. Site is made up of one parcel calculated with 2.92 acres. It has access from greater fire road and does not fall within a flood flood plane. Adjacent property owners were notified via US mail by the planning commission. There was given the opportunity to make comments electronically via email, by phone, in writing or to the planning director or attend in person. Notice was made to the TMD. There was zero citizens that expressed their support. There were zero citizens that expressed their opposition. Planning commission after public hearing discussion made a motion for recommendation with the 60.

Thank you so very much, Mr. Administrator. Anyone in council person have any questions? If not, I would appreciate the motion and second for second reading on the item that just was summarized by the administrator.

So move Mr. Chairman follow the recommendation of the planning commission. Second move by Mr. Rabinel and the second by Master the second reading outline follow the recommendation of the planning commission. All in favor of it, please say I. Any [clears throat] opposes to eyes have motions carry. Uh, next item on the agenda is an order first reading by toggle only. And this one is an ordinance authorizing county to transfer to Ember Holding LLC a portion of a property commonly referred to in the Honeyburg County map system as tax map number 0171-007-002 change for Israel's holding LLC transferring to county a portion of a property commonly referred to county tax number um 0171-007- 003.

Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, this is basically a land swap with the indoor company for us to be able to have this property to um offer the economic development to open up access to economic development piece land. Yes, ma'am. Is it? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Exactly. What's being It's just a small portion of the land that I embrace. Is this a portion that needs to be used for connection for a rail spur? Where's it located? In the old industrial park off of Highway 21. Any other questions?

None. Could I get a motion second for by Tyler only? So move, Mr. Chairman. Second move by Mr. McC by Mr. Garvin for by Tyler only as explained. All in favor, please say I. I. All opposes. The eyes have it. The motion is carried. Thank you so much. Third item on the agenda is a resolution to honor South Carolina State University football team.

Yes, ma'am. Go ahead.

Okay. State of South Carolina, Orangeburg County resolution honoring South Carolina State University Bulldogs football team. Whereas South Carolina State University is the home of the 2025 NBA and HBCU national championship South Carolina State Bulldogs football team. And whereas the Bulldogs captured their 20th overall MEAC title in the school history as well as ninth HBCU national title, including their second cricket wireless celebration bowl national championship. And [clears throat] whereas the Bulldogs have captured back-to back NBA titles in 2024 and 2025 and the head coach Tennis Barry. And whereas the head football coach Tennis Barry was named NBA coach of the year, the numerous athletes earned postseason conference and national awards for the straight year. And whereas the Bulldogs have produced more pro- football hall of famers than any other college or university in the state of South Carolina. And whereas the Bulldogs have played in several conferences over the years would have played in the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference from 1971 to the present. And whereas the Bulldogs posted a perfect 100 mark in league play as well as being undefeated at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium on Willie Jeff Field the past two years. And whereas the Bulldogs claimed a historic monumental win Saturday, December the 13, 2025 in a game against Perry View&M Panthers at

the Cricut Wireless Celebration Bowl hosted at the MercedesBen Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. And whereas the Bulldogs finished the 2025 campaign ranked among the top 25 nationals in FCS at number 21. And whereas the county of Orangeburg thanks all the lawyer fans for showing their support to the Bulldogs this past weekend. Now therefore be it resolved that the county portee Johnny Wright chairman clerk of I'm sorry county portee clerk of court and Johnny Wright chairman

thanks so very much I

so moved Mr. Chair second moved by Mr. cast and second by M. Walker that be pass this resolution has been read by Miss Frasier. All in favor of it, please say I. I. Any oppos? I have it in the motion.

I want to say something else on top of this. Um, Mr. here. Now, the plaque that [clears throat] we're going to present, sorry. This will be presented on tomorrow during the ceremony that they will have after the parade at Bulldog Stadium. And what we did today was to read this so that everybody here will know exactly what we're doing for tomorrow

and we're going to present this to them at that time. And thank you,

thank you for taking the lead on that and charging. And thank clerk for getting it done. Thank everyone who took a part in it. So it's a great it's a great honor. Great honor. Uh the next item on the agenda is an update and I'll yield to the public works committee chairperson. chairman and council we met earlier today at um 4:30 we had one item on our agenda discontinued maintenance on the pond dam portion of de crossing road uh recommendation coming from committee to discontin the maintenance on pond down portion of their crossing road uh that it be discontinued that's just a recommendation from the of the works committee and also that the letter be sent to the pawn owners to his effect and I put that in formal motion second

second moved by Mr. Ravnel, chairperson of the public work commission committee and second by Fel, Miss Cooper Smith that we follow through on that as stated. All in favor of it, please say I. Ies have it. The motion is carried. Council, anybody else have any more comments before we have the motion? You going to start from this time? Uh, I'll be because of you in this month. Well, I'll make it sure.

South Carolina State University will have a parade on tomorrow. And this parade will begin at the old bowling alley on Russell Street here in Orangeburg at 2:00 p.m. The parade will proceed from the bowling alley all the way down across the railroad track, make the left on Magnolia, and go up through the main campus onto Bulldog Stadium to Jeff Field. And that's where they're going to have well, let me say that's where we will have the [clears throat] ceremony as far as presenting the plaque to all of the um presenting the plaque to um the coach. And I'd like to also while I'm talking you all see that we are also going to give them and present them with a t-shirt. And somebody said I had to be the first one to get. Yes. All right. So, as far as we are with Orangeburg County Council, we're going to present the guys with the t-shirt from us as an appreciation for bringing such a great honor to Orangeburg.

Thank you so very much, Doris. No, sir. No, sir. I don't have anything. Mr.

I have a flyer here on this coming Sunday. uh Jim Clarin at our library do a book signing and u between now three and five asking it's illegal or not for each council person at least invite 10 people to come to the book sign on I guess on this coming Sunday between hour 3 and 5 p.m. Can I say something? Um, our community has been recently devastated by um three infant deaths since December, one most recent as yesterday. Um the public has u made statements that elected officials have not acknowledged this um these unfortunate deaths. We can't make statements or um form any opinions because active investigations are underway. And what we can do is offer prayers to all parties involved. Um to the parents, to the family members, and of course as humans, our heart goes out and we we experienced this tragedy within our community and it it's a loss for all. So we just want the citizens to know and as a prior law enforcement officer, we cannot make any statement on anything. Um, we would leave that up to the coroner's office, the investigators, um, the South Carolina law enforcement division, and the appropriate law enforcement agencies, but again, our

hearts go out to all families involved. Thank you so very much, M. Walk. Sometimes we don't even know where a lot of things are going on in our community. So, I thank you for letting people know that we are certain that our prayers are within us. God.

Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, just want to make the public and council aware um that we are definitely tracking the weather for this weekend and based upon the um information that we received so far. Uh the National Weather Service is telling us it's a high probability that we will get um sleet or ice um at some point from Sunday through from Saturday evening through Sunday. um the probabilities will hone in once we get better better and finalized maps, but right now for way is looking there's a high probability that we'll have some sort of winry mix between Saturday and Sunday and possibly into Monday morning. Um we'll be doing our best to make sure we we're ready. We're working with the um public works to get salt trucks and other stuff that we have. Now we try to air on the side of caution. Last weekend they called for some um precipitation and stuff.

We did see a little bit of flurries, a little bit of ice and stuff, but this this time they're telling us it's a higher probability that this is coming through and it and if it does come, it will be more sleep and ice than it will be snow. And so, you know, with sleeping ice comes power outages and other stuff. So, we need to make sure we are prepared and do the best we can on that. And we'll be watching the weather and making statements. So, we ask that you watch our um county website, our emergency services link to be prepared because um some of the weathers um during those time on Sunday evening and Monday morning are projected to be in the low teens. So, whatever precipitation we do get, it will definitely be below freezing. And right now, they're projecting Saturday to Saturday or Sunday to only be a high of 34 degrees. That's barely two two degrees above freezing for the entire day. So if we are hit with ice, it is liable to be here for a couple of days and could cause some power outages. So we just want to make sure everybody's prepared for that. And I understand we do the best we can. The state will be handling the state roads, county will be handling county roads. But in those conditions, we will definitely just focus on the um immediate stuff like the hospital, transportation areas, the sheriff's department, places like that and EMS that we can get people to function until the event is over with. Then we will work on it after the fact. But just want the citizens to be aware. May not turn out to be anything, but you won't say Harold Young didn't tell you about it beforehand. So that's what we're trying to make sure that citizens are very much aware. Always air on the side of caution whether it comes or not. We will be prepared in Orangeburg County. Thank you.

And Harold, let's add to that. The pets. Yes. Yes. Please take care of your pets in this time of cold and and this thing. So make sure they have proper um adequate shelter and heat and whatever you need to do. Bring them on the inside during this event. Do whatever you can. um our animal control site. We'll make sure we put up information on what to do [clears throat] or how to deal with your pets. Also, I need to add we're um working with emergency services. If by Thursday or Friday we make sure the the forecast is finalized, then we will definitely do what we have to do to make sure that we put the information out there about shelters or whatever we have. So, we will maintain that and make sure we're good.

Mr. The city has a shelter. I think it's the gym. Yes, ma'am. Does the county have one or does it share it with that?

We we typically the uh city shelter is a shelter for the greater Orangeburg area. In the event of this ice storm, though, we're looking at two potential other places on the eastern and one on the western. Uh we'll notify that once we know we have to put them in place because if the county puts it in place, then we're binding by the law. we have to provide certain things for the shelter and DHECK and DSS are have to be there in in regards to be able to staff it. It's more complicated than it seems um for the citizens because there's a lot of things that you have to put in place from a DSS and a DA de DHCK perspective because you have families coming in with kids and stuff. You have to do um checks on individuals to make sure not just anybody is walking in there and staying with kids or uh different people of different backgrounds. So there's certain checks you have to do and things you have to put in place um before you can open a shelter. So that's why we're telling the citizens now, get prepared so you could have a plan just in case the ice storm comes and we do get ice and can't travel or lose power. We want to make sure that you're prepared.

And please say something Harold, about the senior citizens. Yes, that phone call to check to make sure they're safe. Yeah, please check on your people, make sure they're safe. and we're we're working with that and uh the council on aging usually does a good job about um making information available for the senior citizens and once we get the information for the um what we plan to do and if the probability of the event sustains itself by Thursday or Friday you'll see some listings and postings of what to do.

Okay, everybody will take this information and govern themselves accordingly. At this time, all hearts support. I do want to say all hearts are clear. I turn a motion for a journal. So move, Mr. Chair. Second. We find