County Council - Regular Meeting

Motion to have Tommy Atkins as chair tonight. Second. All in favor? I.

All right, y'all. Welcome y'all. Um the first thing we will have is um the prayer [clears throat] of Watts Hugby and the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you, sir. Dear heavenly father, we come to you this evening with open hearts and minds, thankful for all of your blessings. Please guide and direct counsel throughout our meeting tonight and all times in between. We thank you for preparing council, county leadership, and staff for our commitment to lead York County with dignity and respect for others. As Kevin Madden leaves the county to begin his next chapter with the Rockill School District, continue to lead and influence his decisions as he tackles challenges that will ultimately benefit our schools in Rockill and beyond. Thank you, dear Lord. In your name we pray this prayer. Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, y'all. [clears throat] This is one of them times that be careful for what you wish for. But um tonight, let's see the OA offices for the newly appointed board and commission members, which I personally would like to say I'd urge more people to try to get involved in their community and surroundings. So whenever I call the names, will the um folks please come forward? Ashley Hamilton, Celeste Tiller, Rob Mason, George Tullson, Ty Hensley, David Wilburn, Charles Permier, Gerald Rams, and I hope I ain't butchering y'all's names. Um, John Gregory and Janelle Stevenson and Laura Youth. All three swear

I doare I dy qualify I'm duly qualify according to the constitution of this state according to the constitution of this state exercise to exercise the duties of the ability that I will to the best of my ability duties thereof discharge the duties thereof serve, protect and defend the state constitution of this state of and of the United States.

So help me God. [applause] Okay, now y'all at this time we have an appearance for the annual audit presentation by Melissa Dixon at Elliot Davis. Thank you everyone. Happy to be here. Hopefully I can make this short and sweet. And real quick, sorry to interrupt, but I do since this is is Kevin Madden's last, I do want him to get to at least introduce uh this this presentation.

Kevin Madden. Okay. Now, Melissa Dixon, I think, gets the prize for travel the furthest. She came up from Texas from Texas for this. She used to live in South Carolina. They moved [clears throat] her out to Texas. So, she's managed the audit from Texas and greatly appreciate the work Elliot Davis did. But that said, here's Miss Dixon. Thank you.

Okay. So what I'll be going over is our audit objectives, our reporting under government auditing standards, some financial statement highlights, accounting manners, compliance require reporting and any questions. So our objective and opinion, you know, the purpose of our audit was to issue an opinion. We issue an unmodified opinion for the financial statements ending June 30th, 2025. This is the highest level of assurance we can provide for an audit. And then the next few slides are just some required communications that we'll talk through. So first, our audit planning process. When we start the audit, we discuss with management. We review county council minutes. We use our historical knowledge from our past audits to plan the audit, determine what we'll be testing, what's significant, and move forward. Regarding internal controls, we walk through key controls and processes for financial reporting. We also do some testing over controls to assist in our testing and overall audit plan. However, we don't appine over the internal control effectiveness, but that is part of our audit process. [clears throat] Um, materiality. So, we don't test everything. We set certain materialities based on different funds and um, you know, we sample and test certain balances. There are things that are are immaterial and we don't look at. Um our auditor responsibilities we are required to be independent remain skeptical of course um significant accounting policies in footnote one of the financial statements which is quite long summarizes all of

your accounting policies and um accounting under GAP and um one thing I will note [clears throat] you know we always evaluate with management's help any new relevant accounting standards each year This year there was one gazby 101 which was regarding compensated absences. Um with management's assessment we agree that it didn't have a material impact so there was no change but we always ensure that all new standards are adopted if needed. Um management judgments [clears throat] and accounting estimates. So similar to any new accounting standards if they have any judgments or accounting estimates simil or primarily the pension and oped liability we evaluate that for reasonleness um continuity year-over-year. We also evaluate the financial statement disclosures if they're clear, consistent, and in accordance with accounting standards. We're always happy to say there's no uncorrected misstatements and no [clears throat] corrected misstatements. So if we were to test something and had a finding or an error, if either it was material or immaterial, we would either adjust for it or pass on it. And we had neither. Um management letter on control deficiencies. You know, it's typical for any audi counties or private company to have various control efficiencies. Um, we communicate [clears throat] those with management, discuss best practices, if you could potentially improve on those. Um, they are consistent year-over-year. There's nothing that rose to the level that we would bring to county council. If they were significant or pervasive, we would discuss it here and have it presented. Um, nothing rose to that level. And then um the last few management

representations. Management takes responsibility for the financial statements ultimately. So there's a letter that you'll sign at the end attesting that you know they are your financial statements. We had no disagreements with management and there were no significant issues that we discussed otherwise. So the next few slides are just some highlights of financial information. I realize that this information is a bit dated and it's all presented in the MDNA in your financial statements. So, I will go fairly quickly. Um, I think an overarching um rule that you'll see with all of [clears throat] this is that you've increased fund balance, that you've exceeded revenue, revenues exceeded expenditures, and you were below budget. So, all really strong financial indicators. um your assets and deferred outflows exceeded your liabilities in the current year by more than prior year. Um your unrestricted net position which meets your you know ongoing obligations as of June 30th 2025 was 132 million. [clears throat] Prior year this was 95 million. So increasingly adding to it, your total net position for the year increased 85 million over prior year and that's revenues exceeding expenditures. Um so those are at the government level. [sighs] These are at the continue I guess this is continuing sorry government level still um your governmental funds fund balance of 618 million increasing by 67 million from last year

and then your revenues and other financing sources 343 million exceeding your expenditures of approximately 277 million and that's prim primarily due to your collection of property [clears throat] taxes and other revenues which always exceed your budget and very conservative spending and cost savings where available. Total fund balance of 106 million for your general fund, 323 million for capital projects and 188 million for all other governmental non- major funds. And a couple more. These are for your general fund specifically. So again, increasing fund balance um consistent with prior years by 7 million for 2025. Your unassigned fund balance was approximately 43 million which was about 27% of your expenditures for the budget. And then I will not read exactly this but this is a for the general fund revenues exceeding expenditures. Um it discusses you know funds for the capital projects your pennies five and economic development expenditures were less than budget due to employee vacancies. conservative spending. And then last financial highlight, um your total capital assets. So as you continue with infrastructure projects and capital expenditures, you're adding to your total capital assets which are over time depreciated on your balance

sheet. And um this is always a nice one to point out. your long-term debt reduced by approximately four million at 45 million at June 30th, 2025. Um, and you continue to pay down your debt and don't have a significantly high balance on that on your general obligation loans. And then switching gears to compliance audit. So every year in addition to the financial statement audit, we audit your federal expenditures. Um there are two additional opinions that we issue relating to [clears throat] that. The first one is under your government auditing standards. This is in compliance with laws and regulations. We had no findings. We have not had any findings in the five years that we've audited these audited y'all. Um the second opinion is over your controls and compliance over specifically federal awards. Um your major program is the corona virus state and local fiscal recovery funds as a major program that has been a major program I think at least the last three years. So that is what we do our testing on and we have had no findings. Both of our opinions were unmodified. Um the only thing to note there is each year the OM issues a compliance supplement directly related to federal programs and that is what we use to audit those programs. It tells us what is important, what we should focus on, what's relevant, what's not each year and it assesses risks based on state and federal programs. Um [clears throat] they did not issue that to until December. So that is why the audit is a little late. We had to wait until that was available to complete our audit, but that was um nothing to do with us or the

county. Um I think we had a really efficient, clean, great audit year just like we always do. So I really really appreciate it. Really appreciate Kevin's help over time. Really enjoyed working with you. Um and that is all I have. Thank you. Kevin, anything else you

I do want to give a shout out to Gar Sawyer. He continued to provide help and assistance um all the way through December um to help make sure this audit was executed as clean as it has in the past. I want to make sure to give him a lot of credit for that and everybody else in the building that assisted and helped out because the audit is just not in finance. It reaches out to a lot of different departments. you know, we rely on clerk court to be doing their bank reconciliations [clears throat] properly. All those things get looked and evaluated and a successful audit is really a team effort from the entire county and I'm very grateful for participation and and positive energy from everybody in the county and getting this executed again for another a clean audit on my way out. One of the things I'll brag about when I leave is um during my time we had no findings. I'm very proud of that. Don't want to jinx it because I'll get a finding next year at the school district or something. But very appreciative of Davis and the work they've done over here. I've known Melissa since she started winning the audit and Tim Grove the partner for a long, long time and they're a very good firm and very appreciative of the work they did. Thank you, Melissa.

Anything you'd like to say, John? [snorts] No, I just want to echo what Kevin shared. Thank you for staff, our finance department, everybody that worked on this, and thank you to Melissa for being here tonight to answer y'all's questions if you have any. I have one question, Melissa. Of all the audits that Elliot Davis completes, what percent of those go five years without a finding? [clears throat] Just a guess. I could not tell you, but not a lot. At least adjustments. We typically always have audit adjustments in some of our clients. So, it's unique, strong a testament to all of the hard work and good oversight and review and controls. Okay. Thank you. Yeah.

Thank you. [clears throat]

All right. So, with that, you know, having heard about the audit, we wanted to make sure uh to recognize that tonight is Kevin Madden's last night. But don't go far, Kevin. Um so, so obviously, you know, we're sad to say goodbye to Kevin. Uh Kevin won't be going far. Uh thankfully he's still going to live in York and he'll still be a York County resident, but he will be working for Rock Hill School District as their CFO starting on March 2nd. Uh and so this being Kevin's last meeting. We did want to, you know, just say thank you. And Kevin, if you come up real quick, come up real quick up here. Uh we did want to say thank you. We've got a couple things for Kevin. Kevin has worked for York County since 2016. Uh so he's almost been here 10 years. He started as our finance director and treasurer. Then a couple years after that, uh Kevin moved up to the manager's office as assistant county manager, but he continued to wear those hats. Uh as he did that, uh Kevin has showed strong financial leadership uh over these 10 years. He's helped us increase our bond ratings. He's he's built uh a financial resiliency that most counties would dream of. We are in a strong financial situation because of Kevin, his hard work, the finance department, and many others. Uh, but we owe a debt of gratitude to Kevin. Uh, and so I wanted to just say thank you. We did a couple things for Kevin. Uh, this was some of our council members idea. Uh, we wanted to make sure you had your own street sign, you know, in the Madden way. It's not Madden Lane, it's Madden Way, which I thought was creative. So, we hope you remember us at at Rocka with that. But then from the manager's office uh and staff, we wanted to give you a plaque that that uh that hopefully you'll hang up in your office so you could at least remember us and think about us as as you work on school or district business. But uh this is just something to say thank you. Thank you for your many years of dedicated service and outstanding contributions. Your commitment and leadership to York County has

strengthened this organization and left a lasting legacy. We wish you continued success in all future endeavors. Then the last thing I want to just say is it's obvious how much Kevin cares about this organization, our our 1300 plus employees, our $450 million budget. Uh but he cares even more about this community in this county. And so I know you'll continue to care that much and I encourage council to think about how we might be able to get him to volunteer in the future. Uh but with that, I just want to say thank you, Kevin. Thank you. [applause] And if you wanted to say a couple things. I want to say a couple things. Hold on.

You want to say something?

Yeah, absolutely. I just want to um personally thank you for all the times you've gotten me out of hot water. That's been a lot. Um but you just you've worn a lot of hats. Every single hat that you've worn has been to perfection. Um, you've given the best customer service to the residents, to our constituents of of York County. I've witnessed it oneon-one [snorts] um with situations that had even gone on two and three years um with members of the community. Um and you come in, you came in and just it was amazing to watch you work and I just admire you so much and thank you so much and I'm going to miss you. What did we wait? Um, when I walked out today at quarter till I looked out here and I said, "My god, look at all the people here for Kevin tonight. That's [laughter] pretty." Then I realized they're here for Sil Fab and QTF, you know. Anyway, I'm gonna piggyback on what Debbie just said. Um, probably in the businesses where you all work or you have worked, you have certain people that come in and they they do their job really well and then somebody leaves and that person takes on that job and they take on this responsibility. They start building their repertoire of responsibilities just by, you know, going above and beyond. And that's what Kev uh Debbie was describing in Kevin. That's what Kevin's done here for the county. Uh, you just heard the audit. You just heard Josh talk about York County is probably the leanest county of the 46 counties in South Carolina. And that a lot of that credit goes to Kevin. And I'll say also that um you know timing is everything. When with Kevin leaving, we've got a

challenge now to fill a number of seats that he assumed. He juggled those responsibilities and juggled them well. But fortunately for Kevin and fortunately for the Rock Hill School District, they're picking up somebody that's really going to do um some significant work from them for them as they begin to look at their finances and manage their finances maybe differently because he is definitely gifted when it comes to managing a budget and managing money. So we are going to miss you. Probably have to call you back for some guidance and support on how to tackle us being so lean and having to find money to do some of the things we need to do. But we'll look forward to making that call. We're gonna miss you.

I just want to say thank you, Kevin. You've done a great job here. Um, no complaints whatsoever. And, uh, would be glad to have you back if you ever decide to to come back to the county. So, uh, for most people, I like to, um, to tell anybody that's leaving, you know, if they've been a really good employee, uh, you can always tell if you would be if you would have them back. and uh and I would have Kevin back. So, thank you, Kevin. Thank you.

Yeah, I'd like to say especially [clears throat] as many times as me and him's butted heads, but you know, coming off farm now, folks, I'm tight, but this joker here is tight tight. I'm talking about he brings new meaning to who controls the purse strings controls. But um yeah, you're gonna be very missed. Um and I wish Chrissy was here because her and Bump probably got more years with you than anybody in this room, but um yeah, you're going to be highly missed.

I appreciate that. Um I'm very blessed, very very blessed to have worked at this county. Um, I'm so grateful for the council that appointed me. So grateful for all the employees that I got to work with and play a part in their career. That's probably definitely the hardest thing, you know, leaving my departments, my department heads, just the employees that I talk to on a daily basis like going through this building, going out and about. You know, I love to go out in the field, talk to a citizen. I love the taxpayers that come in here. um 2017, Brett Vl gave me a list of people. Christy Cox gave me some names to go talk to about what we're going to try to do in that budget and I I talk with those people and I thoroughly enjoy and will miss that part of the job of talking to our taxpayers. We have amazing taxpayers in this county. We're very blessed. Tell people all the time the number one asset of this county, the taxpayers. We've got great schools and you know I I I want the council, this would be sort of my last thoughts here. You know, being lean and being conservative. I'm probably guilty of all those things. You know, Josh and I've talked about things and where the countyy's at right now. And I do encourage you all this next budget, think about the frontline workers. You know, I do think we need more people on the front lines working. um some of the stuff that I've gone through, you know, last year and a half or so being over utilities, um I've had regrets about not getting more positions out there. Um so I look back and some of the things that I'm really proud of, really happy about, and others I wish I'd made a little different. Um I so I do ask you all to consider the employee request particularly on the front line next year's budget. And I'll touch on all the hats I wore too here. I was down at the conference for audit and treasures last week and they mentioned you know I was leaving and this and that and I'm talking to the treasur from Charleston County and she said you know I hope they

separate that and segregate the collections and receipts the the receipts and dispersements. I've worn that hat Beth Leam before me. Um I never really thought much about it because I know I wasn't going to steal anything not do anything wrong. But I talked to y'all last two weeks ago about that the treasur position. And I do ask that y'all separate that from the finance side. The other 45 counties do it. We're certainly big enough for that. Got a billion dollars of assets that the treasur sponsor investing. So, um, keep those things separate. And, you know, when you talk about positions, treasur for the treasur's office, CFO, finance director for the finance department. Be very important. Um, particularly now that I put on record if somebody steals some money, I I wash my hands of that. But no, this county is this county is great. Um, last thing I'll say, I want to thank Beth Laam for everything she did. Um, before I got here, she worked harder than anybody I know. Um, would stay up in that office overnight often times. She worked, worked, and worked. Didn't care about chasing money or anything like that. She just cared about doing a good job. And it was an absolute pleasure to work with her as the county's auditor and I think Watts you got to interact with her on hospitality tax committee.

Mhm. But she left an amazing table for me to work with when I got here. You know, the county wasn't always as blessed as it is. Beth Leam deserves huge credit for the county where it's at right now. You know, the AAA credit rating and the increase in the utility bond rating. Those things wouldn't have happened without the table that Beth Laam did. and I'm forever indebted to her and that council that first hired me. So again, thank all of y'all and um thank you to the taxpayers of York County, too.

Thank you. [applause] And I can also say for for the past three weeks, he keeps reminding me I ain't done with him yet cuz he's in my district. But I told him I was going to put him on the worst board that I could find. Well, we we're going to take one, but then follow up with one with everyone when they're back. Oh, you want you want us to come down? You want us to come down?

He's right there.

I guess We might have a mut's going to take over. I want to embarrass you. Okay, y'all. Let me butcher some names here. All right. Now, we have um our public forum where each person is allowed. We take 30 minutes out and each person gets two minutes to speak. And as Chrissy usually says, please pay attention to the clock so I don't have to call you down. Um, so we'll start that. And the first one to speak tonight is John Worth. John Worth. I live at 731 Amberly Crossing in Fort Mill. I know you cannot answer questions at this meeting, but

following our questions, this council should address in public regarding silab and I will provide copies. Is there any reason to allow any industry to use toxic and hazardous chemicals adjacent to schools, residents, and senior centers? If we can't discuss silab due to litigation, how can you continue issuing permits without the litigation running its course? The AG cited specific case law proving you have the authority to revoke permits to protect community health and safety. Why do you continue questioning the validity of the of this by this finding by refusing to act? Do you believe the USC risk assessment on Silab is flawed and the risks exaggerated? If so, what evidence do you have of any errors on their part? Has Silfab been transparent regarding the risks, types, and quantities of chemicals? If so, why have the documents changed often and multiple times? Recently, the BZA attorney affirmed that the 2024 BCA decision did apply to Silab. Why hasn't a retraction and correction to the previous claim that it did not apply been issued? We just simply can't have it both ways. Should zoning laws be applied rigorously? If certain activities are expressly disallowed in light industrial zones, is there ever any rationale for ignoring the letter of the law? When an accident happens at Silfab and children or residents are harmed or killed, who should be held accountable for allowing this to occur? Do you believe citizens opposed to Silab are ill-informed alarmists? If so, why would you think that about several thousand concerned citizens? What would it take to change your mind and support moving Silap to reduce

health and safety risks to residents and their children? And as an adjunct professor, here's the bonus question. What is more important to you, protecting public health and safety or creating jobs and generating tax revenue? I thank you for your time this evening and I have copies that I'll leave. Thank you. Thank you. Next we have Eleanor Worth.

Hi, I'm Elellanar Worth. I live at 731 Amberly Crossing in Fort Mill. Almost two years ago, the BCA ruled solar cell manufacturing was not allowed in a light industrial zone. The hundreds who attended that meeting went to bed believing this battle was over. Weeks later, the county said the ruling did not apply to Silfab. The BCA's own attorney has admitted in court the ruling does apply to Silab. Yet building permits continue to be issued. Almost two years later, as a social security recipient who should be be enjoying retirement, I spend at least half my hours canvasing neighborhoods, working fundraisers, coming to these meetings, racking my brains wondering why you allow this to continue. I live 610 of a mile from Silab. I am in two reds, one orange, and two yellow zones. And if you don't know what that means, you haven't bothered to look at the USC reports previously provided. If that's the case, then shame on you. My neighbors and I will be breathing the minimum 4% of what comes out of that acid scrubber, as will those dear children at the Flint Hill schools, not to mention those seniors at High Point Living. Name one other LI facility requiring a wet acid scrubber. You can't. There isn't one, so pardon me, but what the hell? Every day I face anger and anxiety worrying about what effect Silab will have on my health and the health of my community. You are hurting Fort Mill. Why you haven't thought of the health impact 5 to 10 years down the road from now is beyond me. Drivers on I77 entering Fort Mill will shout to each other, "Hold your breath and drive faster. You're entering Sulfab territory." When a cancer cluster is dis is discovered from the toxic chemicals we are being exposed to, will you be paying our medical bills? You have created a nightmare for us all. I am in disbelief that you have decided this is good for our community. God help us because this council and your related administrative departments aren't acting in the citizens best interests. We will

not stop and this will not be forgotten. When these issues come to pass, this council will be remembered failing to act and doing nothing. So, thank you for your time and thank you for throwing my life off off course. Um Sean Dner.

Good evening. My name is Shawn Donahghue. I live at 1542 Farmstead Road in Alisonacre subdivision off 274. I'm here with other citizens to talk to you and address to you the concerns that we have about the QTS data center. It is disturbing to our community and our neighborhoods that this is going to grow. What is already going on? I understand rights of uh land usage. It's their land. It was zoned properly. But from my knowledge, the zoning hasn't changed since it was initially put into place when the nuclear station in 1986 was starting to be developed in this area. This area is not proper industrial. This area is residential. From Allison Creek Bridge to 274, it is industrial or I mean, excuse me, residential. More and more neighborhoods of residential is going there. Your park, House and Creek, was just completed in the shadow of this building. There are residents that are being affected by the buffer zones that do not exist. The ordinances and the things that are in place in this county currently do not protect the residents that live in these neighborhoods. Please look into it. The entire country is looking at this. Other states are doing moratoriums on stopping this and studying this. I wanted to introduce myself tonight that I am concerned. I live in a neighborhood that will be looking at their proposal of what they just bought in December. They did buy more acreage and there are no protections of them wrapping my entire neighborhood. Please, I beg of you, look into it more. I will be returning with more information. Please reach out to me and please reach out to our organization to talk more about this. We are not opposing data centers. We're opposing where the county allows them to be placed and the effect for the residents that live by them. A lot of they say uh

a vacuum cleaner running 365 days a year, 247. It's more than that. I pray for you all and I beg you all consider this. Thank you. All right, let's see. We can't answer any questions.

His name is Tim. Tim Hagar. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. [clears throat] All right. Good evening. Tim Hagerty, 747 Birchway Drive, Fort Mill. As I have observed these council meetings over the past two years, I have paid particular attention to the public forum session. When introducing this section, the chairperson typically states that it is a time for the council members to hear from the community. My challenge to you is that you may hear, but you do not listen. There is a quote by M. Scott Peek psych psychiatrist and author that says you cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time. It simply means that listening is not passive. It's active and requires a conscious effort to understand the speaker's meaning and intent. There's another quote by Andy Stanley, the founder of North Point Ministries that says, "Leaders who refuse to listen will soon find themselves surrounded by people with nothing to say." Is that how you wish to be portrayed to your constituents? Silfab solar issue is a perfect example of what I have just described. Not only have you not listened, but you have also ignored your constituents. You have chosen to ignore please advising you that your staff has failed in their responsibility to provide you with accurate and complete information. Instead, they simply provide you with what they want you to know. Thus far, you have chosen to ignore citizens rights to due process by failing to provide a written and appealable zoning decision. You have also ignored citizens request to place this issue on the council agenda. So tonight I present to you York County Code section 30.04 section B which requires that any item shall be immediately placed on a future agenda for consideration if requested by two members of council. The code doesn't say it may be considered. It says it shall be. This rec the record shows that

this request has previously been made twice at previous YCC meetings. If you doubt that statement, I refer you to page 14 of the January 20th meeting minutes and the page 23 of the May 19, 2025 meeting minutes. Thank you. Neither of these previous requests has been honored as per code 30.04. [clears throat] Thank you. any vi one can only conclude that this is an intentional over. Thank you.

Um, next one. Let's see. They're here for the animal shelter at 11:09. I want to say your name right. Alice Schwarz. Alicia.

Alicia. Good evening. My name is Alicia Schwarz and I reside at 11:09 Trinity Ridge Parkway in Fort Mill. Um, we are here tonight to speak in support of a new shelter, not a renovated shelter. We understand it is on the agenda to move forward to the next step and we want to address a few key points that have come up in discussion. One of those points is the suggestion that additional euthanasia is needed. Those who believe that are disconnected from the daily reality of our shelter and the extensive behavioral assessment assessments conducted before uh dogs before dogs are placed into the community or transferred to rescue. We know this because our rescue works directly with the shelter and we pull dogs from the animal shelter. Dogs go through thorough behavioral eval evaluations and assessments before they are approved to rescues and to the public or for placement to be adopted. Um the shelter already makes difficult decisions when an animal does not pass those assessments. So the question becomes why would we euthanize dogs who have passed? This is not about the shelter needing to euthanize more animals. They already follow a strict and responsible process and only release animals into the community who have successfully passed those evaluations. The heartbreaking reality is that sometimes even good adoptable dogs are euthanized not for their behavior but for space. And we have seen this many times. These are dogs that some of us have actually brought to the shelter that were lost. That is not a behavioral problem. That is an infrastructure problem. Our shelter refuses to compromise humane living standards for the animals or for the safety of the staff and they should not be asked to. Youth in Asia is not

the solution to overpopulation. It is it is not the solution to inadequate infrastructure. Capacity, accountability and prevention are the solution. And if uh you can raise your hand if you are here for the animal shelter and in favor of it. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um, Karen Brown,

good evening. Karen Brown, 127 Sunny's Way, Fort Mill. So, as you've you've already heard, um, [snorts] and I know you know this, but your county needs a new animal shelter. It is it is one part of a cost control strategy for animal services. The strategy requires a new modern shelter plus [snorts] a spayneuter ordinance plus public education all working in unison to reduce long-term [snorts] government spending which I know you all um would support. Tonight we're focused on this new modern shelter. If [snorts] you've recently walked through the shelter or observed its operations um it should be pretty self-explanatory why we need this. If you [snorts] aren't aware, our neighboring counties have already recognized this in their own counties. For example, we've got Spartanberg is building a 24.7 million shelter. Chester is building a new shelter right now. Charlotte is investing in a $30 million second adoption center. And Gastonia, Gastonia [snorts] and Lancaster have already upgraded facilities. They recognize animal services as a core public service tied to public safety and fiscal planning. [snorts] Sorry, my sniffling. Um, your county's population now exceeds 300,000. Um, growth means more people with animals. It means more stray intake, more owner surreners, more enforcement calls, more confiscates. All [snorts] of this increases shelter operating costs. These costs are paid by taxpayers every year through the county budget. [snorts] Um, every year we delay construction, the cost of a shelter goes up, right? So [snorts] we can't compare what we heard years ago, right? Um the financial uh reality is simple. Taxpayers are already funding animal services. The question is whether the council is interested in supporting a cost [snorts] uh control

system, a system that reduces future costs, not one that continues paying higher operational costs every year. [snorts] So with that, I see only have one second left, so I'm gonna Thank you. say goodbye. All right, the next one. Um, I know it's a Brown step Stephanie Brown lives at 7:15.

Yeah, Stephanie Stephanie Brown, 715 Sandai Drive in York. Years ago, I heard the director of York County Animal Services speak about a three-pronged approach to addressing animal overpopulation, addressing growth through infrastructure, community education and resources, legislation, and enforcement. That framework still applies today. Our animal control and rescue community do an incredible job providing education and access to resources. Our animal control officers work hard to enforce the existing laws and it shows. We see fewer problems than we did in the past. However, it only takes a small few to create a very large impact. That's why ordinances pertaining to spay and neuter are necessary if we truly want to reduce overpopulation at its source. There's frequent discussion about the need for stronger laws to reduce intake numbers. Communities such as Greenville and Columbia have implemented requirements related to breeding. Lexington has taken action on breeding regulations and mandatory spayneuter. Communities both inside and outside of South Carolina are actively discussing ordinances designed to reduce volume and hold owners accountable instead of shifting that burden onto taxpayers. The purpose of animal services is not to serve as a free dumping ground for irresponsible breeders or repeat offenders who face no consequences. That's an abuse of a support system meant to help pets and families in our community who genuinely need assistance. Rescuers fully agree on the need for stronger ordinances. We have been advocating for improvements for years. Unfortunately, too often our voices feel unheard. At the same time, educating the public about available resources and helping families keep their pets is something both the shelter and rescue

groups are already doing. But none of these strategies can stand alone. To truly address our community's growth, we need all three prongs. We need a new shelter, and we respectfully ask you to do your part.

Um, Claudia Claudia Sip Claudia Dib, 869, Old Cedar Circle. We volunteer our time driving people's animals to be spayed and neutered. We help families. We help their pets. We do our part. Now, we need you to do yours. Our shelter should reflect our growing community. We work for free transporting animals to be fixed, helping families access resources, supporting our community however we can. We are doing our part. Please do yours. Accountability matters, prevention matters, and our shelter should reflect [clears throat] the needs of our growing community. We volunteer, we transport, and we advocate. Again, we are doing our part. Please do yours. Our growing community deserves a shelter that reflects its needs. Thank you. And Andy Linton, thank you for representing District 2.

Mark Sisby. Hi, good evening. Uh, Mark 6by, uh, 1267 Quiet Acre Circle in Rock Hill. Uh, as an engineer, I've learned that when you postpone necessary infrastructure to try and cut cost on something that's essential. You You don't eliminate the problem, simply compound it. When you underbuild or delay, small cracks become structural fractures. What could have been addressed early and responsibly turned into something far more expensive and far more difficult to fix later. [clears throat] The same principle applies to our county shelter. Reducing cost or postponing expansion doesn't make things disappear. Our community is growing. Intake numbers reflect that growth. Thus, capacity must be adjusted. A shelter is our infrastructure is a direct reflection of how we plan, how we prioritize, and how we care about our community. Alongside proper infrastructure, we also need stronger laws that address pet overpopulation and hold the owners accountable. Prevention and capacity must work together. If we fail to invest properly, we will pay more in the long run, both financially and ethically. Thank you. Thank you, Tracy Barrett.

Hello, I'm Tracy Barrett. I live at 6031 Autumn Moon Drive and I'm here asking for a new shelter that reflects our growing community as well as laws to address overpopulation. I volunteer my time driving all over York County transporting cats to the vet to be spayed, neutered. I help people who get overwhelmed with cat food and if they can't help themselves and we do all this through the resources that our rescues provide. We actually have great resources here. We have spay and neuter clinics. We have free programs, lowcost programs, but what we don't have is a shelter large enough to meet these demands or laws that hold owners accountable. I was speaking to a man one day and his cat walked by just free roaming out loose and I said, 'Oh, can I help you get your cat fixed? He actually laughed and said, "She doesn't need fix. She's already had three or four litters. They just disappear." The problem is they don't disappear. They become somebody else's problem. And that mindset continues the vicious cycle that leaves animal control, rescue groups, and volunteers left to clean up the mess of other people. I just feel like we can do better than this. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's see the next uh Stephanie Cob Kire lives at 1267 I think. Quiet acre.

Hello, I'm Stephanie Kman at 1267 Quiet Acres Circle in Rock Hill. Um I'm here with the rest of the ladies and my husband in support of the new shelter. I too am a volunteer. uh driving um all my free time, which could be from morning until the evening hours. Sometimes we all miss our own dinners and being with our own families trying to clean up the messes of the stray and the abandoned. Anyway, we've all seen the situations before when something starts to go wrong, whether it's your home, your car, or even ourselves. You hope you can just ignore it and it will go away. Unfortunately, ignoring it doesn't make it go away. It just continues to get worse. We are at the same junction with the county shelter. It's old. It's too small and incredibly stressful on the animals. And it can't adequately support the community needs since we've grown so much. You cannot ignore this problem away. The price tag will only continue to increase. You're not getting out of this. We're going to have to do something at some point and the sooner the better. Please approve the new shelter. Thank you.

Thank you. Oh, we on the road now. I know this one. Scott Copenh. I could have butchered it worse.

Hey everybody, Scott Copenhound 122 West Oaks Street in beautiful Whiteville Park neighborhood in downtown Fort Mill. So anyway, I was talking to Mr. Madden last week. uh about some items and he dared me to come in here and not speak, but uh Kevin is such a such a great guy. I've known him for years now and fortunately uh we uh get to see some sports even on personal items. So Kevin, just thank you for everything you've done for the county and and good luck in your next position, man. Awesome job here. Uh um coming I got a accounting degree and a lot of people with accounting degrees and my son's a computer science major. A lot of my dad was Anyway, a lot of those people can't communicate well with normal people, but Kevin does a wonderful job. So, thank you for everything you've done for us, Kevin. So, anyway, so and the only thing I had was uh consent agenda item number eight. This is the animal shelter. If we could pull it out and just have staff give us a one minute or two minute spill on where we think this is going to be located. Uh because I know one time I thought we were in Newport and reading this it looks like it may be at the here in York. Uh so anyway, just kind of for a million dollars worth of architectural fees, just kind of let us know where we are since we do have so many people here interested in that and everything. So, uh along that line, but uh hey, once again, I appreciate everything y'all do and thank you for everything. Good luck, Kevin. I'll see you.

Thank Archie. Yeah, that kid sitchi. Uh, I live in the Allison Acres neighborhood with my family, Rebecca and Addie. I believe each and every one of us knows the suffering and devastation that cancer causes. Career path I chose puts me at a 15% greater risk and 70% of the fatalities in recent years have been from occupationally related cancer. But I must say the city I work for has stood up for us and it provides us with the tools necessary to stay healthy as we possibly could. Uh quarterly screenings come early warnings and with detection aggressive treatment and good people who are in the fight with you which raises the question where was our screening and early detection warning for the cancer that is QPS data. I related to cancer because of this. Google search anywhere in this country that they're building a data center, a hypers scale data center. Note the amount of disturbed land around them. It's more construction. Take note of where they started and how far they branched out in a certain area. In our case, it's already rooted and it's spreading. Numerous times we were told when this came up that this was only supposed to be one building. And that's between you and the Lord. if that was true because one building is now nine buildings. Now they bought another 677 acres and it's going to be 18 buildings. They've offered money to people around us in the area wanting our land and expanding more. Other sites in this county were proposed for this. They're built you're actually doing a third reading on a uh a new substation on Cannonball Run. Is that the next spot? That's right next to a school. Where do we stop? Whose life are we going to let this cancer destroy next? Council has the ability to offer people

of York County the aggressive treatment we need to get rid of this rot, this cancer. Question is, are any of you the good people we need by our side in this difficult time? Thank you. Thank you, Ken. Um, Gender Thompson.

Good evening. My name is Ginger Harper Thompson. I live on South Pam Road near the intersection of Harper Road in the very same house where I grew up. I have a large family. Many of my family members and neighbors depend on agriculture and farming to make their living. Some of our concerns with the data centers are as follows. Power. We are concerned that the power grid will be under stress. During a recent ice and snowstorms, customers were asked to reduce their power usage. This raised concerns on how the local power companies will provide power to the data centers and that that extra cost of the electricity will be passed on to the consumers. Water. We are concerned that the water supply will be depleted and the water supply will be polluted and the pollution will flow to the surrounding water systems and eventually to the Kataba River basin. Even closed loop systems will require supply and discharge considerations. environment. We are concerned that the runoff from construction and the destruction of many, many trees will harm the environment and wildlife. We fear many grand trees will be destroyed. Noise, continual humming that can be heard for a considerable distance. Air pollution. The data centers will will use diesel generators as backup power. The emissions from those are enough to cause respiratory distress, headaches, and many other health problems. Fire safety. Our local fire departments are concerned about the 80-foot buildings. Data centers uh involve complex electrical systems that create unique emergency response challenges. I am the third generation of the Harper family whose wishes are to continue the family's lasting ownership on our ancestral grounds in York County. We know this dream ends with the existence

and expansion of the data centers in our community. Thank you, Judy Penard. Penland Pinland. Okay.

Hi. Uh my name is Judy Pinland and my husband Steve and I live at 6457 Campbell Road in York County. We have a small business Pinland Christmas Tree Farm for 60 years and our farm bar borders the uh QTS planned expansion on Param Road. I am very concerned about the trustworthiness of QTS. At their meeting last week, several companies officials stated there were no plans to develop the newly acquired property on Param Road, but site layouts show permitting documents showing nine buildings proposed. This weekend, I was watching a documentary about Vikings and English and the English. If the Vikings were challenged, they would always offer the English a deal. They swear on their armings that they would honor the deal. But did they really mean it? Even if there was a hostage exchange and lives were lost, the VA Vikings did not care. Their goal was to win. QTS seems to uh appear to have that Viking philosophy, showing one building in initial grow drawings for phase one versus the 12 uh buildings planned. Not holding anyformational meetings for the residents until CR uh construction was well underway. denying expansion plans when they were already planned, etc. The present QTS project has already wrecked many residents lives and the surrounding neighborhoods. Any future expansion will continue to do the

same. When dealing with QDS, please remember the proverb, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." There has been a lot of fooling the people in York County lately. Thank you, Miss P. All right, that concludes our public forum. Do I have a motion for consent agenda? Motion to approve the consent agenda. Second. All in favor?

I I Okay. [clears throat] Okay. Name what?

Hey, how are you? See you Dave. Look forward to hearing from you. I look forward to hearing from you. Yes, sir.

Okay. Um, we'll continue on with our public hearing. Um, council to hold the public hearing considering third reading of an ordinance authorizing the approval and execution delivery of the third modification to the development agreements between Hey y'all. We've got a meeting going on. We need you to get out if you're if you're talking. We need you to move.

Okay, let me start over here. [clears throat] Council to hold a public hearing. consider third readings on an ordinance authorizing and approving the execution and delivery of a third modification to the development agreement between York County and Crescent Allison Creek LLC as a master developer and a partial developing party hereto as modified recorded in the office of the register of deeds of York County, South Carolina on June 27th. 2008 to modify and amend the permitted use application to the certain real property located in pod one bearing York County tax map number 488-0000-00-126 owned by Duke Energy Carolina LLC as successor [snorts] in interest to the Dollar Truck North American LLC to allow as a major modification for the placement, location, and development of an electrical station on the property and to provide for other matters related there too. Do I have a motion?

Public? Yep. I thought we had to bring it in first. Yeah. All right. Are there any here who would like to speak in favor? And and and chair, we do have, if council wants a a short presentation from from staff if you want just to share a little context before opening it up. Okay. Would y'all like to

if y'all want? Yep. Sure. Good evening, council members. Bear with us just a moment. Um, so this is the Big Allison Creek plan development. So this is the concept plan. So you can see here there's multiple pods. Um, it was meant to have the Daimler headquarters was going to come to York County and be in pod one, the area that's in blue on the concept map. And this amendment to the development agreement and that concept map really just pertains to 10 acres of that pod one that's currently owned by Duke Energy. They would like to place a new electrical substation on that parcel. That's not a use that's currently allowed in the plan development and this modification would allow a substation to be a use on this parcel specifically. That's it. All right. Do we have anyone who would like to speak in favor? Do we have anyone like to speak against?

Motion to close public hearing. Second. All in favor? I Do [clears throat] we have a new motion? Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? Well, do we have discussion? Yeah, if you want to. I do. Okay. So, um this area it does this have anything? Okay. I need to ask staff a question, Jonathan. Okay. Is any of this land where QTS is purchased? No, this would be north.

How far? I I don't know the mileage distance. It's up on Cannonball Run where the new schools are being built.

Is it You think it's got anything to do with QTS or future development there? So, so I I can jump in there and and some folks from Duke were hoping to be here tonight to answer some of these questions if y'all had them, but I don't see them. Maybe they left with everybody else. Um, I I think it's important uh when thinking about this that that y'all know that this has been something Duke's been asking for for years. I think Michael Kendry estimated it was probably seven, eight years ago that Duke first came to to ask for this substation to be added uh to this development agreement. And so, I know staff has been working I've been here at least a year and a half on this as well. Uh what we've been told by Duke is this is not related to QTS. There's a substation that QTS is building right now. Uh so this is due to residential growth and future growth in this area of the county, the schools, the the neighborhoods being put up there. Uh there's a capacity need up there, but I'd let Tom and and Jonathan answer if I missed anything on that front.

Yes. Um thank you, Mr. County Manager. I think the uh important things to know is there have been nu numerous meetings and communications even since I've been here in the last 15 months between the staff county attorney's office and Duke Energy. And I think the important thing to distinguish distinguish and the confidence we've been given by Duke as to what they want want to construct is that this substation is merely a distribution substation intended to serve future homes and businesses playing nearby versus a subtransmission or transmission substation which typically serves either a regional distribution system or major load center. So there there's we we have no evidence that it's not nothing more than a distribution substation and um with no connection to the QTS project.

Okay. Another question. So what type of development is going to be around this? Because I know there was one coming to Pineville and there was community up there that was very upset because of the look of the substation. So what does that look? Is it going to affect communities if there are communities already there? Are they do they know that this substation's coming?

So in terms of what's uh around it, u so immediately to the north, pod four there in red, just on the other side of Cannonball, that's the site of the two new uh Clover School District schools. And then the rest of pod one there that's in that blue color on the map. That was where the Daimler headquarters was supposed to go. So it's supposed to be a corporate uh headquarters type of use or research and development. It's very limited in terms of the number of uses that they can have in there and it does not include residential. Okay. Any other questions? And there's nothing there right now. It's just woods. I know you as not to say that there won't be some. I know you asked what was there.

Okay. Have any question? What? No, sir. They've been answered. Do I have another motion? We got the motion. Yep. Okay. All in favor? I All right. Let's see. We have no old business, [snorts] new business. Um, since Tom isn't here, we're going to refer this to the next meeting. Okay. Okay. Now we have citizens concerns. We have none there. All right. Council members, new and nonaggenda comments. Abby,

nothing tonight.

Okay. So, I guess we'll proceed in to executive session. um receive legal advice on legal matters and leg litigation updates. Um, we handle a personal matter of treasurer receipts of legal advice requesting authorization to commit to project number 17228-9 US21 Springdale Road track number 9 and 31 contractual matters retention of the outside legal counsel receipt of legal advice and contra contract Contractual matters, consideration of litigation and appeal settlement, personal matters and contractual matters, county attorney matters for consideration following.

So I have a motion for all in favor. All right. All right.

We're out of executive session and no actions were taken. Do we have a motion? Uh yes, we have two emotions. Uh motion to appoint Melissa Limeberger as our interim treasurer as of March 2nd. Motion to approve. Second. All in favor? I.

All right. And the second motion is motion to authorize condemnations regarding project number 17228-00009 US21 Springdale Road track numbers 9 and 31 as discussed in executive session. Second the motion. All in favor? I. Motion to adjurnn. Second. All in favor?