[1:04] Arthle, you going to be good right there? Okay. Good evening and welcome to

[1:08] this regular Lawrence County Council meeting for August 10th, 2026. It is 6

[1:13] pm. We will open the meeting with invocation by Vice Chairman Brownley

[1:17] followed by the pledge of allegiance.

[1:22] Please bow your heads with me. Dear gracious heavenly father, Lord, we thank

[1:26] you for today and we thank you for all your many blessings. We appreciate you

[1:29] sending the rain to all of our farmers and Lord, I just pray your blessings on

[1:32] everyone in this room tonight. May they have safe travels home. Just pray that

[1:35] you guide us as a council to make the best decisions on on behalf of the

[1:39] citizens of this county. It's in your gracious heavenly name we pray. Amen.

[1:46] To the flag of the United States of America to the stand,

[1:54] indivisible, liberty for all.

[2:03] » Thank you all for being here this evening and watching us online. Our next

[2:07] item of business would be approval of our agenda for August 10th, 2026.

[2:12] There's a motion to approve. >> Second.

[2:15] » Second. Any additions, changes to the agenda.

[2:22] Hearing none. All those in favor, please raise your right hand.

[2:26] 5 Z. Next item will be approval of our

[2:30] minutes. There are two sets. One is July 13, 2026 regular session and one is July

[2:36] 24th, 2026 committee on intergovernmental affairs and economic

[2:41] development. >> What is your pleasure?

[2:45] » Motion to approve the minutes as presented for July 13th and July 24th.

[2:51] » Motion second. Any discussion? All those in favor of approving the

[2:56] minutes, please raise your right hand. 5. Excellent. Our next item, there'll be

[3:03] special recognitions. The first thing we have on the agenda is uh emergency

[3:09] management awareness month. And I'd like to uh present that.

[3:14] This is a proclamation on behalf of the county of Lawrence, South Carolina, with

[3:18] deep pride and honor that we, the Lawrence County Council, do hereby

[3:23] proclaim the month of August 2026 as Emergency Management Awareness Month.

[3:28] And whereas emergencies and disasters can unexpectedly pose significant

[3:33] threats to life, property, and environment. And whereas local emergency

[3:37] managers across all sectors, community leaders, as well as state and federal

[3:41] agencies dedicate countless hours to developing preparedness, response,

[3:46] recovery, and mitigation programs to protect the lives and property of all

[3:50] persons in Lawrence County. And whereas emergency managers are charged with

[3:55] establishing and maintaining the capabilities necessary to effectively

[3:59] direct, coordinate, and support emergency and disaster response

[4:04] and recovery align with the core efforts and the mission areas of

[4:10] prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery with the core

[4:16] capabilities identified in the national preparedness goal. And whereas Lawrence

[4:20] County Emergency Management served this county by responding to emergencies and

[4:24] disasters, demonstrating commitment, compassion,

[4:28] and professionalism in in protecting the public. And whereas the efforts of

[4:33] Lawrence County Emergency Management Team have helped many citizens recover,

[4:38] rebuild, and become more resilient in the face of adversity.

[4:42] Now, therefore, the Lawrence County Council do hereby proclaim the month of

[4:45] August as Emergency Management Awareness Month. proclaim this 10th day of August,

[4:50] 2026. Is there

[4:56] motion that we accept this? Are those in favor? Congratulations to

[5:01] our emergency management team. I have a proclamation like

[5:07] [applause]

[5:57] Um if if you want to be up here, you can usually if not you can use that mic down

[6:01] at the podium, but they'll want to hear you. Yes, sir.

[6:23] This is a certificate of recognition to Caroline Barnard in recognition for your

[6:28] unwavering dedicated service to the citizens of the Lawrence County and the

[6:33] animal control division.

[6:39] as well as Kim Jones. She's not here.

[6:49] » We also want to recognize the deputies in the animal control um division. That

[6:54] would be Summer Palmer's, Brandon Schultz,

[6:59] Melody Thompson, and Mackenzie Hotar.

[7:17] No, sir. >> We want to recognize the following

[7:20] people for their unwavering volunteered and dedicated service to the animals of

[7:24] Lawrence County. To the animals of Lawrence County and the animal shelter.

[7:28] Diane Armstrong,

[7:33] » Summer Flowers,

[7:37] » David Smith,

[7:42] Doris Gomez. That was Smith.

[7:48] » Cheyenne, who was that last name? >> Doris Gomez.

[7:57] Kennedy Robertson and Legendary Canines,

[8:04] Aaron and Don Halbert with Dog Pack Patch Rescue.

[8:11] [applause]

[8:25] She's a volunter.

[8:53] Make sure it's green. Thank y'all for what y'all do for

[8:57] Lawrence County every day. Anything that we can do for us, y'all really let us

[9:02] know. This ain't the last time y'all going to be up here. Mr. Filson, hold up

[9:06] one second. Need you back up here. >> We have We have something else this

[9:10] evening. >> Up here.

[9:13] Every month, Mr. Filson has been giving away certificates and he is a constant

[9:17] reminder, you know, seeing county employees in the hall to always give

[9:20] them a thanks that we appreciate them. But it come to my knowledge that Mr.

[9:24] Filson himself does not have a certificate. So two weeks ago we were at

[9:28] the association of counties conference and Mr. Filson graduated from his level

[9:31] one um association of counties instant in institute classes. So Mr. Filson this

[9:38] certificate for you for completing those classes and graduating level one.

[9:44] [applause]

[9:49] » [applause]

[9:57] » He's coming back with us.

[10:05] » Let me get in the middle of the night. >> Yeah. Come on. [laughter]

[10:13] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[10:14] » Congratulations. Go. [applause]

[10:22] Our next item this evening is public comment.

[10:27] We'll start with John Parnell by Bobby uh regarding data center.

[10:44] » All right, y'all. I appreciate the opportunity to come up here again. I was

[10:48] here last month and um I do want to cover some comments and thoughts on data

[10:53] centers and maybe not cover the exact same details of last week, but still

[10:58] some more concerns and believe me there are a lot of them. So, um here goes. Um,

[11:06] I am thankful for being here uh to be able to speak just a few minutes and I

[11:12] want to give a thanks to you guys on the council um for it appears to be uh

[11:17] proactive instead of reactive uh when it comes to data centers because here's why

[11:23] there's so many communities that are taking another route and I can use

[11:28] Spartanberg as an example. Anybody's been on the internet any at all lately?

[11:32] Uh there's one group I think that is uh meeting tomorrow and uh it's probably

[11:38] not a very pretty site because the data center has already been started and a

[11:43] lot of objections have came into place. So here's what I'm trying to say to you

[11:46] all again proactive instead of reactive. So um you brought it to our attention

[11:53] and I just happen to be one of them. I live in Hickory Tavern that I'm

[11:56] concerned about our community and I want you guys I'm going to ask you guys a

[12:01] real big favor to continue to be transparent with anything that's

[12:05] happening in our county and our community when it comes to these data

[12:09] centers. Okay? So, having said that, I am not against data centers per se.

[12:16] That's not why I'm here. But what it takes to create a really large hypers

[12:21] scale data center um it's ruining some communities. I'll just be blunt. And

[12:28] there are some people that are really struggling because of that. Now, can

[12:32] they be made where they aren't harmful to the community, where they are a huge

[12:36] plus to the community? Maybe. So, but I'm not sure if we're there right

[12:41] now. We have the technology to to create those and build them, but everything

[12:47] that it takes to make that happen, there is so many negatives. So, that's the

[12:53] point I just want to make once again on that point. [cough and clears throat]

[12:58] Um, what I'd like to offer, and I'm trying to talk really quick because

[13:02] usually I'm a slow talker, but I only have a few minutes. So, I'm trying to

[13:05] cram as much as I can in a few short minutes. I would like to offer a

[13:09] suggestion to you guys of two names and one of them may be familiar uh and

[13:15] that's Aaron Brachovich and uh it just came to my knowledge just recently after

[13:21] I've done a lot of research myself that she has created a a website of maps a

[13:28] map of the US with all the various data centers that have been created those

[13:33] that are being built and I believe those that are being planned. and maybe I'm

[13:39] not sure there's four categories. Uh the ones like our little county

[13:43] moratorum has being looked at and created. So that was one name I just

[13:48] wanted to throw out there. Like I said, I've been doing a little research on my

[13:52] own. And another name that probably isn't familiar. Uh and again, this came

[13:56] on the internet which came through a data center to get to to me, right? Um

[14:01] and his name is Doug CVI. He's an individual that seems like from what I

[14:06] can tell he knows a lot about them because he's built data centers. Uh it

[14:11] seems that he has a wealth of information. So I'm just kind of

[14:14] throwing out a couple of names, couple of resources that I've come across and

[14:18] what little time I have to research on the subject. So those are the two names

[14:25] I wanted to mention. Um, let's see.

[14:32] One thing I wanted to offer um

[14:37] maybe a little bit off base, but I don't think it is. One thing that I want to do

[14:43] is uh maybe check out one of the uh largest

[14:47] data centers in our state. Uh the reason being um there's a lot of things that I

[14:52] can or we can research that's that's online, but the noise created by some of

[14:58] the larger data centers seems to be a very bad nuisance. Y'all, I have tonitis

[15:06] when I'm speaking. I don't hear the ringing in my ears, but when things get

[15:10] kind of quiet, I'm to myself. I have tonitis. I don't want to live next to a

[15:15] data center that's going to throw more noise into the area for me or anybody

[15:21] else to live with. I want to experience that. So, I'm going to offer you guys I

[15:26] think the largest one in our state, if I looked at it right, is uh in Mons

[15:30] corner. There's 10 buildings there. And one of them in particular uses a huge

[15:36] amount of power. Um I'm going to offer you guys if you

[15:40] want to ride Corner with me one day, I want to see firsthand what this noise is

[15:45] all about. I want to see how bad it is. I can watch it on my phone or on a

[15:50] computer and I can hear the audio, but that's not the same as living next to

[15:53] it. I can't do any research. I can't do any research on noise. But I can take

[16:00] few hours and a little bit of gas and buy you guys lunch, go to Mon's Corner

[16:04] and I can drive by there and see what it sounds like. Okay? I'm just offering

[16:08] that. >> So, um, I said maybe a little bit off

[16:13] key there. I want to find out what this noise is

[16:16] about. I can't physically do anything about the other parts of this that

[16:22] people are objecting to. I can't do anything about the water usage, the

[16:26] electron, the electrical power, and how it affects individuals and communities,

[16:31] but I can certainly do something about that. And one more small thing that

[16:35] » part can you wrap it up? It's been like twice what we do.

[16:38] » All right, my time is is up. All right. I live near some uh pine trees in my

[16:44] backyard. There's acres and acres. And one thing I'm going to do if the nice

[16:49] person that owns that property goes clear cutting those pine trees, I'm

[16:52] going to find out. I'm going to be a nosy neighbor. What's going to be

[16:56] planted next to me? Is it going to be a data center? Is it going to be a

[16:59] Walmart? I'll close with that. >> Thank you.

[17:03] » Thank you guys. >> Appreciate you.

[17:04] » Thank you, sir. Nancy Garrison.

[17:12] » Good evening. >> Good evening.

[17:14] » Um, [clears throat] tonight uh you have you're going to have

[17:17] before you ordinance uh 1013 proposing the amendment to 926 which I think is

[17:23] wonderful, absolutely wonderful amendment. Um, one statement in the

[17:28] proposed amendment particularly caught my attention. and it acknowledges that

[17:31] ordinance 926 has been interpreted in ways that are contrary to the intent

[17:36] proposed and the design of the ordinance. I believe there's another

[17:41] interpretation of ordinance 926 that council needs to address. Public

[17:45] notification of campgrounds and RV parks. I first raised the issue in April

[17:51] after an RV park was scheduled to come to the planning commission without

[17:55] public notice signage required under division 7 of ordinance 926. That

[18:00] meeting ultimately could not proceed because there wasn't a quorum. Then at

[18:05] the April 30th planning commission meeting, the minute specifically uh

[18:09] documented discussion regarding RV parks and campground regulations and

[18:14] commercial notification and public aware awareness requirements.

[18:18] The commission also empas emphasized the need to improve public notification

[18:23] procedures. So this issue has been identified and discussed. Yet since the

[18:29] April meeting, two additional campground RV park developments have been approved

[18:34] by the planning commission without public notification.

[18:37] combined with the project that originally caused me to raise the issue

[18:41] that represented approximately just you know uh what I could kind of gather and

[18:47] get the numbers there's 180 RV or campsites and the different ones um that

[18:53] have come through the process without public notification required by

[18:58] commercial projects under 926. When I originally questioned why the

[19:02] notification requirement wasn't being applied, I was told campgrounds are

[19:07] governed by 872 and that ordinance does not reference ordinance 926. But when I

[19:13] went back and read 872, section 1.3 states, however, where sections conflict

[19:20] or overlap, whichever imposes the most stringent restrictions shall prevail.

[19:25] Then I went back and reviewed actual RV park approvals that have come before the

[19:30] planning commission and at least two of those approval the

[19:34] county itself explicitly applied ordinance 926 to the RV park. The

[19:39] approval condition stated in accordance to 926 appendix B section CA and then

[19:45] opposed ordinance 926 buffer and silk fencing requirements. So I believe the

[19:50] council needs to get the answer. You know, a very straightforward answer. If

[19:55] 926 applies to the RV park when imposing buffers requirements or bas and on what

[20:02] basis does it not apply when it requires public notification?

[20:07] Division seven of ordinance 926 states within five days of applying for

[20:11] residential subdivision or commercial project the applicant must post the

[20:16] proposed development site with public notification of a sign and the ordinance

[20:21] doesn't treat that required optional. It specifically states that the failure to

[20:26] comply with the signage requirements will result in a delay of the

[20:29] application to the planning commission and it says or county council. That

[20:33] might be something else needs to be changed. So, um, and yet yet these

[20:38] applications have proceeded to the planning commission without notification

[20:41] to the public. Um, where does ordinance 872 exempt a campground or RV park from

[20:48] public notification provisions of ordinance 926? And if ordinance 926

[20:54] applies to these developments for buffers and other requirements, why

[20:57] doesn't public notification apply as well? Tonight, council is already

[21:02] considering, like I said, the ordinance 1013 because we recognize that ordinance

[21:07] 926 has been interpreted in a contrary way to its intent. And I'm asking you to

[21:14] address this interpretation, too. If council intends for, you know, RV,

[21:18] parks, and stuff not to go without notification, it needs to be said

[21:21] publicly. Otherwise, apply the existing notification requirement. We should not

[21:26] selectively apply ordinance 926 when it places requirements on development while

[21:32] disregarding the portion of the same ordinance that gives public notification

[21:36] and development. And you know my whole reason for bringing this up. Communities

[21:40] need to know what's coming into their communities. That's it. It's called

[21:44] transparency. And for RV parks to come into communities with no public

[21:48] notification, I you know it's it's troublesome to me. You know, we've had

[21:52] it happen to us. So, thank you for your time. Appreciate it.

[21:56] » Thank you.

[22:01] » Joe Kohler referencing or ordinance 926.

[22:08] Thank you for this opportunity. Council, I appreciate this opportunity to speak

[22:13] as a concerned citizen of Lawrence County. Tonight there is a reading of

[22:17] two ordinances being proposed. the moratorium on data centers and the

[22:22] amending ordinance 926 to clarify and restate the approval process for major

[22:28] subdivisions. While I think both of these items have

[22:31] value, neither are addressing the core issues we are facing in this county,

[22:36] such as overcrowding schools, deteriorating roads and infrastructure,

[22:42] limited to non-existent emergency services, rising property taxes, and our

[22:48] loss of culture through overdevelopment.

[22:52] Shouldn't we be drafting and voting on ordinances that address these core

[22:56] issues? I ask you to consider putting forth an

[23:00] ordinance to put a moratorum on major subdivision development. This would give

[23:06] the county time to get impact fees implemented. The these fees can help

[23:11] build infrastructure to support growth. Create a future land use map. Both the

[23:17] comprehensive plan and ordinance 926 reference the future land use map and

[23:23] yet one does not exist. implement topography studies. All over

[23:29] the country, communities are plagued with unprecedented flooding. This is a

[23:33] fairly new phenomenon and it is tied directly to overdevelopment.

[23:38] It's not too late for us in Lawrence County, but that is the path we are on

[23:43] if we continue. A moratorum on subdivision development would address

[23:48] the core concerns of many citizens in Lawrence County. It would give you the

[23:53] decision makers, council members, time to give the TRC and the planning

[23:59] commission its missing tool, the future land use map. They need that to make

[24:04] proper development decisions. Ordinance 926 references that map three

[24:10] times. The comprehensive plan references it three times.

[24:16] The purpose of that in the document, it's a decision makingaking tool to

[24:21] approve or not approve development, and we don't have it. Makes no sense to me.

[24:27] Errors will continue to be made if development is allowed to continue in

[24:32] its current form. Infrastructure is stressed beyond its limits. Poor

[24:37] drainage can lead to flooding. Car crashes due to insufficient roads. I

[24:42] don't think I'm exaggerating. These things are happening near Durban Road

[24:46] these days. There are real consequences to life and property for developing

[24:53] without the thought through plans. Lawrence County needs a moratorum on

[24:57] major subdivision development until these root issues can be addressed.

[25:02] Thank you. >> Thank you.

[25:10] » Nick Bab on data center.

[25:15] Good evening. How how's everyone doing tonight?

[25:19] » Okay. So, um so I'm just going to try to keep it uh brief. I just came up here to

[25:24] just just u show support for the uh moratorum on the data centers. I think

[25:30] uh Councilman Lane put it best during his county council comments that it is a

[25:34] good thing that this county is being proactive rather than reactive because

[25:38] coming to these meetings for about 10 years now, there's been a lot of

[25:42] reactive stuff when it comes to this council. they like to wait until the

[25:44] very last minute to do stuff. And it's a good thing that that this council is

[25:49] being proactive and I commend uh Councilman Brownley for putting up this

[25:54] uh ordinance for the moratorum on data centers because I mean it's become a

[25:58] really big issue across the upstate. I mean all of all of our neighbors are

[26:02] pretty much having these problems. Spartanberg, Newberry, Greenwood, even

[26:05] pass an ordinance. And um and it's and it's kind of and it's kind of weird that

[26:11] some someone would say that, oh, we're just passing this just to feel good. But

[26:17] I mean, well, how about if you ask people in Spartanberg that have to deal

[26:21] with it who can't even sell their homes anymore because of the no because of all

[26:24] the noise ordinance or the family down in Georgia that had their home imminent

[26:29] domain so that they could have more so George Power could have more property to

[26:33] do a data center. This is not supposed to be feel good. This is real life for a

[26:37] lot of people. And I commend uh this council for voting unanimously last time

[26:43] on the first reading. I hope they do the same tonight for the uh second reading.

[26:47] Thank you. Thank you.

[26:53] » Michate on data center.

[27:02] » Good evening. >> Good evening. Um like like you already

[27:05] said, my name is Michanna Tate. Of course, I live here in Lawrence County.

[27:09] Um I wanted to speak on data centers and specifically the moratorum. Um and I'm

[27:14] speaking from the standpoint of an attorney that does real estate

[27:17] litigation. Um one of my concerns is that we don't want a data center to look

[27:22] at certain counties moratorum and ours doesn't maybe match up or maybe we have

[27:26] a loophole in it. Um, so I went and I looked at the moratoriums for the

[27:31] neighboring counties of Newberry and Greenwood and compared it to Lawren. I

[27:35] think the Lawren moratorium is is great. It's written, I think, better than the

[27:39] other counties. Um, but one of my concerns was um section 4, there is an

[27:45] exemption. Um, section 4B, there's an exemption for facilities owned and

[27:49] operated by a governmental entity for governmental purposes. I don't know if

[27:54] you all had a reason for putting that language in there. um it does not

[27:58] specify whether it's a county government, a state government or a

[28:02] federal government. So my concern is with that exception in Laurens County's

[28:06] moratorum um and not in Greenwood or Newberry, I hope nobody tries to use

[28:12] that as a loophole. So of course I'm not asking you to answer that right now, but

[28:17] is there a reason that that was in there? And I think that might be

[28:20] something that the council needs to further discuss to see if that needs to

[28:24] stay in there. Maybe it can come out or get more specific as to what government

[28:29] could get around our moratorum. Thank you.

[28:32] » Thank you, >> Miss Tay. You said 4B.

[28:35] » Yes. >> Okay. Thank you.

[28:36] » Section 4B. >> Thank you.

[28:38] » You're welcome.

[28:42] » All right. We appreciate that public comment this evening. Next item is

[28:47] reports to council. our county administrator report. Uh, county

[28:50] administrator Jerry Threat. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I only have

[28:56] one report this evening and that is from Darby Jackson, our new PIO, and she

[29:01] wants to give an update from the public information office.

[29:17] » There's something come up with it. [laughter]

[29:20] All right. Good evening, council. Um, >> come down here.

[29:26] » Let me know when >> got one more to come up. Ma'am, just

[29:30] wait it low. >> You're good.

[29:33] » Okay. Um, good evening. As we spoke about a little bit last month, um, we

[29:39] have a lot of exciting things that we are coming forward from the public

[29:42] information office. Um, one of those things is our new Facebook page. So, um,

[29:50] and upon your guys's approval, this is going to become live. As of right now,

[29:55] it is currently unpublished, so it cannot be found um, if you just kind of

[29:58] look it up. Um, but like I said, if you guys like it, then we can go ahead and

[30:03] make it go live uh, tomorrow. So, the purpose of this Facebook page uh

[30:08] will specifically be to post agendas for upcoming public meetings, um provide

[30:13] government updates, press releases from the public information office, and to

[30:17] boost visibility alerts, excuse me, boost visibility on any safety alerts.

[30:22] While there are a few public pages associated with Lawrence County

[30:25] departments, this page is not intended to replace those pages. However, we'll

[30:29] be glad to work uh with those departments to ensure another route for

[30:34] vital information to be released to the public. So, um if you could scroll back

[30:38] up to the top for me, if you don't mind. So, as of right now, how it's going to

[30:41] look, we have our uh government logo right there as our profile picture. We

[30:46] have the uh historic courthouse on its opening day as our cover photo. And I'll

[30:51] have you scroll down a little bit. And all of this can be adjusted if you guys

[30:54] decide to. Um so just as an example of how it's going to initially look is um

[31:00] that first post there is the agenda for tonight's uh meeting. Um and as we get

[31:05] other agendas, you know, those will be posted as those meetings come up. We

[31:09] have our hours of operation available. We have our main there they are. We have

[31:14] our main address available. That link there is going to link uh directly to

[31:18] our county website and we have our main phone number there. Um,

[31:23] so that's really it. This is the going to

[31:26] be, as I discussed last month, this is our first step to make sure that we have

[31:31] more another route for information to get out to the public. So those who may

[31:36] not be able to access our website or they have difficulty understanding our

[31:39] website, a lot of people understand Facebook. So, uh, we have that going

[31:44] there and we have our little bio there. Welcome to the official Facebook page

[31:47] for Lawrence County, your digital gateway to information regarding public

[31:51] meetings, safety alerts, and county government updates. Um, are there any

[31:55] questions? >> I just want to tell you, ma'am, thank

[31:58] you for have you did the setting up this and thank you for the short time that

[32:03] you have came on and already got the ball rolling. Thank you.

[32:07] » Yes, sir. Thank you. >> What What would be the process for

[32:10] approval of submissions on a post that you you publish? How would we approve

[32:15] that? >> Um, so as of now, I mean, it's really

[32:19] just going to be like agendas. Um, we since the public information office is

[32:24] underneath the legal department, how we currently go about getting approval

[32:28] about anything that I do, it comes through uh the approval of the county

[32:32] attorney and the county administrator. Um, but if there's anything outside of

[32:36] what I listed that you guys would like to post or something that you would not

[32:40] like posted um from the things that I just mentioned, I'm happy take any

[32:44] suggestions. So, you can just contact me and talk to me about anything you'd like

[32:48] posted. Did that answer the question? >> Yes. I just if you wanted action tonight

[32:53] by this council to give you the ability to make it live tomorrow, I wanted to

[32:56] make sure we had everything in place to be able to know that the content that we

[33:01] want on that page is accurate, is what we want, and then we're prepared for

[33:06] what's out there. So, >> administration, are is this ready for

[33:11] prime time yet? Do we need to wait or is there

[33:13] I think we're good to go. Um so obviously when we had the uh the train

[33:18] derailment recently um Darby was on the ground uh putting information out and

[33:25] this will allow us to um to distribute that information on our own platforms um

[33:31] while also working closely with the media and and other folks.

[33:36] » And if I can piggyback off of that um that was a very good point in terms of

[33:39] like what we're doing presently. So when that situation happened in terms of

[33:43] press releases um I drafted those press releases upon approval from

[33:47] administrator and county attorney they were uh sent out to the news um by

[33:52] luckily we have our emergency management who has their own Facebook page and

[33:56] Becky Bagwell and um the director Sunny was able to really coordinate with us to

[34:02] get that information out as well and luckily we were able to work with

[34:05] Greenwood too so that everybody could get information. So, this is just an

[34:09] extra route to get information out. >> Any concerns from legal department?

[34:15] » No, sir. Mr. Chairman, I've vetted the um Facebook page and there's nothing

[34:19] legally objectionable. >> We don't need formal approval.

[34:23] » Formal approval. That falls with under the job description of the county

[34:26] administrator. He can authorize the page to go off.

[34:28] » Okay. Can >> you just give me a thumbs up and we're

[34:30] good to go. >> Thank you.

[34:32] » Thank you. >> Appreciate it. You need a motion.

[34:36] » He's gonna No. Awesome.

[34:41] Our next item is uh committee reports. We had one uh committee meeting that

[34:45] will have a report this evening. I'll turn it over to Councilman Brownley.

[34:49] » Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Patterson was not able to be with us tonight. Uh but

[34:53] July 24th, we had the Committee on Intergovernmental Affairs and Economic

[34:56] Development uh to discuss our score funds. That's our opioid recovery fund.

[35:01] Uh coming out of that meeting was to recommend to full council that Lawrence

[35:04] County work with plays safe to administer score funding for Lawrence

[35:08] County. In the process, they will research and compile a list of desired

[35:12] funding and present to a board. And that will consist of a representative from

[35:16] the sheriff's office, coroner, EMS, state health department, gateway board,

[35:23] two county staff representatives, and a representative from Lawrence County

[35:26] School District 55 and 56. and that that board will then come back to full

[35:32] counsel for approval before submission of any new applications. And that's also

[35:35] pending a review of the contract with the county attorney.

[35:42] Be happy to answer any questions that I can.

[35:45] So with that the U plays safe entity would be the representative for us but

[35:51] we would have a committee set up to uh vet opportunities for funding that we

[35:57] would approve and then they would administrative for us.

[36:00] » That's right. So we will have a board consisting of representatives from those

[36:02] respective departments or agencies. That board would then deliver council with

[36:08] their objectives and council would have final approval on

[36:12] that before score or before play safe could apply for score funds.

[36:20] » Mr. Mets, do we need any action from that?

[36:29] » Mr. Mr. Chairman, we do have uh an executive session item to discuss

[36:33] contractual arrangement regarding score funding. So y'all could reserve formal

[36:37] action until then or you could take formal action now. It's really at the

[36:41] discretion of the council. >> So discussions we will have an executive

[36:44] session maybe germanine and we could take a motion after that discussion.

[36:49] » Yes, Mr. Chair. >> Okay. Does council have any questions

[36:53] for Mr. Brownley or the committee report?

[36:56] » Just thank you what y'all do. Awesome. Thank you.

[37:03] Next item is reports from our county attorney.

[37:12] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As uh Cheyenne is pulling up my PowerPoint real quick.

[37:17] Uh this is a little awkward for me because I normally don't give you guys

[37:20] legal briefing in open session. We normally do this in executive session.

[37:23] However, last Monday, the city of Clinton held their city council meeting

[37:28] and the county was a large topic of discussion at that city council meeting

[37:32] and there's some information that was shared at that city council meeting that

[37:36] I don't believe is necessarily accurate. So, I wanted to give you guys an update

[37:40] as where we are in our litigation with uh concerning the Cambridge Farms

[37:45] development in Clinton. U the de the de developer's name is Miranda Homes LLC

[37:51] and I may have stalled long enough to get my PowerPoint up. There we go. All

[37:56] right.

[38:00] Now you lost the big screen. Okay. All right.

[38:03] Um Okay. Give you a brief history lesson here.

[38:08] Um, I don't expect you guys to read all of this, but this is a snippet from the

[38:12] official minutes from the April 7th, 2025 regular meeting of Clinton City

[38:18] Council. Cambridge Farms originally went to get approval of their uh subdivision

[38:24] from the city of Clinton. They asked to be annexed into the city of Clinton. Um,

[38:29] and it did pass first reading. Um, however, there was some strange things

[38:33] that went on there and the mayor said that uh it needed to be brought back

[38:37] before council with discussed judgment judgments adjustments, excuse me,

[38:42] sometime around June. The discussed adjustments were concerns about the

[38:47] zoning levels, whether it was R1, R2, or R3.

[38:53] The application was then pulled from the city. And I always wondered why this

[38:57] application was pulled from the city of Clinton. Uh but when uh the developer

[39:02] came and testified before the Lawrence County Planning Commission, he told us

[39:05] specifically why it was pulled. Um and I've highlighted the the appropriate

[39:10] language here. No, we're not going to final read on it. They were zoned in

[39:13] that way anyways, right? And so we had we had to pull out at that point. And

[39:18] then he says, and this this was some discussion about whether it was R1, R2,

[39:22] or R3 zoning. The developer wanted R1, R2, and R3. And the city told him he

[39:27] could only have R1. And when the city told him he could only have R1, they

[39:32] pulled their application from the city and to the county we go.

[39:38] Here I'm going to give you a brief timeline of events if my eyesight will

[39:41] allow me. On May 6, 20125, Randa Holmes submitted an application for approval of

[39:47] the preliminary plan from Cambridge Farms to Lawrence County. On May 19th,

[39:50] our TRC reviewed it, deemed the application incomplete, and returned it

[39:55] to the petitioner to address certain comments by the TRC. On May 20th, 2025,

[40:00] the Lawrence County Planning Commission meets and they vote unanimously to

[40:05] recommend Lauren County impose a six-month mortorium on open space

[40:08] residential developments. On July on June 16th, 2025, Cambridge Farms

[40:14] resubmits their application. Here's where timing becomes important

[40:19] and the words of documents become very important. On June 23rd, 2025, the

[40:25] Lawrence County Technical Review Committee completed its review of the

[40:29] application for Cambridge Farms, deemed the application complete, and issued a

[40:34] conditional approval letter providing that the application would be forwarded

[40:38] to the planning commission for review and approval tently scheduled for July

[40:42] 15, 2025. Later that evening, Lawrence County had

[40:47] their first reading of ordinance 989 imposing a moratorium on open space

[40:51] developments. July 14th, there is a second reading of Ordinance 989. July

[40:57] 15th, the planning commission meets and votes 50 to table the motion to approve

[41:03] the preliminary plan for Cambridge Farms. I can tell you that the reason

[41:07] they voted to table that was because they did not have a letter from the

[41:11] electrical provider saying that they will serve utilities to the location. So

[41:15] there is a question about who was going to be the utility provider. They come

[41:19] back before the planning commission on August 19th, 2025 and the planning

[41:24] commission votes unanimously to deny the approval of the preliminary plan.

[41:29] To the courthouse we go. Here's where I say words are important

[41:34] and documents are important. This was the letter that Cambridge Farm said

[41:39] granted them approval of their preliminary plan and it plainly says

[41:43] that your application has been forwarded to the planning commission for review

[41:46] and approval. So it doesn't say it was approved. It says it was going to the

[41:51] planning commission for approval. And our statute allows our our ordinance

[41:56] allows for that. It says that a preliminary plat approval is an approval

[41:59] by the staff of the planning and public works departments and or the planning

[42:04] commission which documents for the subdivider that their proposed

[42:07] subdivision is in accordance with applicable regulations and that

[42:11] construction of the subdivision may proceed. So we've got the andor

[42:15] language. So we go to court and Brandon Mahomes

[42:19] makes the following arguments. That the preliminary plan was approved by the

[42:23] technical review committee and approved and approval by the planning commission

[42:27] was duplicative and unnecessary. And two, the decision of the planning

[42:31] commission to not deny approval of the preliminary plan was arbitrary and

[42:34] capriccious. Here's what we argued. The preliminary

[42:38] plan was not approved because it was denied by the planning commission.

[42:42] Because the plan was never approved, it was subject to Lawrence County Ordinance

[42:45] 989. the open space moratorum and finally the decision of the planning

[42:49] commission was not arbitrary or capriccious.

[42:53] So we have our day in court. There's some important facts here that

[42:58] were not brought up at the city of Clinton's meeting. The county was not

[43:00] served with a 367page record on appeal until February 26, 2026, approximately

[43:07] one week before the hearing scheduled in this matter. The county didn't receive L

[43:12] uh Veranda Homes LLC memorandum in support of appeal less than 24 hours

[43:16] before the scheduled hearing in this matter. This gave the county less than

[43:20] 24 hours to review the memorandum and to prepare its initial memorandum in

[43:24] opposition. Based on the above, we requested a continuence, but that

[43:28] request was denied by the judge. So, we received their arguments in support of

[43:32] their motion 24 hours before the hearing. In a typical appellet

[43:36] procedure, you would have 30 to 60 days to review that type of memorandum.

[43:42] So, here's what the judge ruled. He found that the TRC approval was all that

[43:46] was needed. The planning commission did not need to approve or deny. And because

[43:50] the TRC approved the preliminary plan before the first reading of the

[43:53] moratorium ordinance, the moratorium does not apply. And that the decision of

[43:57] the planning commission was arbitrary and capriccious.

[44:01] So, now we're in the court of appeals. The county has taken this case and we've

[44:04] appealed it to the court of appeals. I'm going to give you an appellet

[44:09] flowchart here so you can kind of understand where we're at. Um, and this

[44:12] is a little hard to read and it's even harder to understand. So, let me walk

[44:16] you through it. You get your written notice of order, the order that you want

[44:19] to appeal. You have 30 days from that day to serve your notice of appeal on

[44:23] opposing parties, and then you have 10 days from then to file the notice of

[44:28] appeal and other required documents with the Court of Appeals.

[44:32] 10 days later, you can order your transcript or from the court reporter.

[44:36] That takes 60 days. Then you get your delivery of the transcript. And after

[44:40] you get your transcript, you have 30 days to file your initial brief and

[44:45] designation of matter. I will tell you that 30 limit time limit was today and

[44:50] we requested a 30-day extension. So that'll push it out another 30 days. So

[44:56] in 30 days from now, we will file our initial brief and designation of matter.

[45:01] 30 days from then the respondent will serve their initial brief and

[45:04] designation of matter. 10 days after that we serve our initi our reply brief.

[45:10] 30 days after that we serve a record on appeal to all parties who served a

[45:14] brief. 20 days after that each party serves and files its final brief.

[45:20] Then it goes to the court and the court can do one or two things. It can send

[45:23] out notice of oral argument or it can hear the case without oral argument. If

[45:28] it send if it decides to have oral argument, it'll send you out notice of

[45:31] when the hearings are, ask you to have any conflict. You'll eventually go to

[45:35] court. You'll have your oral argument. The opinion will be filed. Whoever

[45:41] doesn't like the opinion has 15 days to file a petition for rehearing and action

[45:46] thereon. And then after that time limit, it passes. The remitter sent to the

[45:51] lower court unless there is an appeal to the Supreme Court. I tell you all this

[45:55] to tell you that the appellet process takes a very long time. Um, it is not

[46:01] something that the county entered into lightly. It we hired outside appellet

[46:05] counsel to represent the county in this matter. He's experienced. He has a ton

[46:09] of experience in these matters and he felt that the county had a meritorious

[46:13] claim. Therefore, he went forward with representing us in the appeal.

[46:17] All right. I made this um because you heard a lot from the city of Clinton

[46:21] that they didn't like our chances on appeal because they kept hearing

[46:25] statistics that only 10% of appeals are granted. That's true if you include all

[46:30] the criminal appeals of anybody on death row um that have a right to an appeal.

[46:34] But civil appeals are different. Um and here's why I appealed this case. Number

[46:39] one, all humans are fallible. Number two, all judges are human. Therefore,

[46:44] all judges are fallible. And in this case, I think the judge got it wrong.

[46:49] Um, so I appealed the case to the court of appeals. And again, I'm relying on

[46:52] the document that was presented to court that said this subdivision had to be

[46:57] approved by both our technical review committee and our planning commission.

[47:02] That's it. That's the basis of my argument. It's in black and white. The

[47:07] judge read the exact same document and disagreed with me. I tend to think he's

[47:11] wrong. with all due respect. So therefore, I appealed him to a higher

[47:16] court so I can have three judges review this and tell me whether the county is

[47:20] right or the developer is right. Again, our ordinance allowed for it. So

[47:27] that's the end of my presentation. I'll be happy to answer any questions in

[47:30] executive session because you guys would ask me for legal advice then, but I did

[47:33] want to put those facts forward since some other facts were put forward in

[47:37] another public forum. >> Mr. Mittz, thank you so much. Um, you

[47:41] might have already send it over. Is there any chance we could get a copy of

[47:44] the slideshow? >> Absolutely.

[47:45] » Is it it's available? We can share it correct with people. Okay.

[47:49] » Absolutely. >> I'm going to tell you my opinion. I went

[47:52] to that meeting and I'm going to call him out and he can say he got something

[47:56] said to me. Come see me. Ken dog didn't even know the zoner. He don't even know

[48:00] the zoning in his own county in his own city.

[48:03] I would dare man don't even know what a R1 or R2 or R3 is. And you on the boat

[48:08] and been there 30 or 40 years. They're telling me you don't know. You ain't

[48:13] know your whole town. And I couldn't speak then, but I'm speaking now. But

[48:17] let him listen to this. Ole Fton Jr. said it sir to you.

[48:22] You don't even know your whole town and they don't know your or

[48:28] it like this. The city of Clinton don't have the balls to tell them a go or no

[48:34] go. Come back and see me to say the Clint.

[48:39] Anybody else have anything for Mr. Mets? We appreciate that, Mr. Mets.

[48:46] Next item will be old business. Are there any council submissions for

[48:50] boards, commissions, or committees this evening?

[48:55] Okay. Next item would be public hearing of ordinance 111011,

[49:00] an ordinance to amend Lawrence County Ordinance 935 adding responsible pet

[49:05] ownership and targeted spayneuter provisions and other matters pertaining

[49:09] there too. We will open this public hearing at 18:48. Anybody willing

[49:15] wishing to speak for or against this public hearing is open, please come

[49:19] forward.

[49:32] My name's Pam and um Riddle and I for it. You know there y'all know there's so

[49:39] many stray animals. I I actually have three dogs, three puppies and a dog

[49:44] right now from Lawrence County out of a ditch. Nobody owns them. Nobody knows

[49:50] anything which adds a lot of dogs on my property. But anyway, all we can do to

[49:56] support the help for the shelter for the spayneuter,

[50:01] you need to stand behind them. >> Thank you.

[50:04] » Thank you.

[50:15] Anyone else? Seeing none, we'll close the public

[50:20] hearing. Next item is the third reading of ordinance 1011.

[50:25] Is there a motion to approve on third reading?

[50:27] » Motion. >> Second.

[50:29] » Motion is second. Any discussion? >> First off, I just want to thank Caroline

[50:33] and all the animal control staff. I know this is a tool that y'all can finally

[50:36] use now that we're to the finish line. Also want to thank Mr. J and Miss Clark

[50:40] couldn't be with us tonight. Uh part of the criminal justice and public safety

[50:43] committee. I know we had plenty of meetings on it and heard all the input

[50:47] that we possibly could uh to get the best version of this out that we can. Um

[50:50] just again, thank you to animal control. I hope this is a tool y'all can use and

[50:54] I look forward to finally passing it on third read and whoever's playing free

[50:58] bird. That was uh that was awesome.

[51:03] Anybody else? All right, we are motioned and second

[51:09] properly. All those in favor of approving on third reading ordinance

[51:12] 1011, please raise your right hand 50.

[51:18] Hopefully this is going to be helpful to y'all. Hope so. Next item is second

[51:23] reading of ordinance 1012. That is the ordinance imposing a moratorum on the

[51:28] acceptance, review, approval, and issuance of developmental permits for

[51:32] data centers within Lawren County. Is there a motion to approve on second

[51:37] reading? Second

[51:40] » motion and a second at this time. Any discussion council has?

[51:44] » Yeah, Mr. Chairman. Um, you know, I I am interested in striking

[51:50] section 4B. Um, so I guess I would need to put a motion on the table to to

[51:55] strike. Um, Miss Tate had mentioned, thank you, Miss

[52:01] Tate, for bringing that to our attention. Um yes, section four under

[52:05] exemptions uh specifically line B 4B

[52:12] » 4B. Um Mr. Mets, is that an appropriate

[52:15] motion? >> So I was going to get clarification for

[52:18] why that was in there, what it could be used for and couldn't be used for, and

[52:22] give us some clarification before we took action. Is that okay?

[52:28] » Yes, Mr. Chairman. Honestly, I I think this statement or I think this section

[52:32] states the obvious. Um there's only a certain handful of governmental

[52:37] entities. You've got the federal government, you got the state

[52:39] government, you got the county government, and you got the city

[52:41] government, right? And we have no jurisdiction over the federal

[52:44] government. We have no jurisdiction over the state government, and we have no

[52:47] jurisdiction over what a city does inside their city. Um and quite frankly,

[52:51] I don't know that we want to impose regulations on the county. Um which

[52:55] would be the only other governmental entity there is. Um, so I I think it

[53:00] states what the the state of the law is. The supremacy claw of the constitution

[53:03] tells us that we can't regulate the federal government. Um, home rule tells

[53:07] us that we can't regulate the state government to the extent they allow us

[53:09] to. Um, and cities, we don't have any jurisdiction over what they do with

[53:13] inside the corporate cities. Um, so um, we can strike it, but I think that's the

[53:20] state of the law. Um, so I think it's going to be that way anyway.

[53:27] I just want to tell everybody the class they just sent me to, I think

[53:31] he was in that two class, Mr. Matthew, uh, Council Brownley.

[53:37] And people don't understand and I'mma let y'all inside where I was

[53:44] taught in class in school. It retypes a data center.

[53:52] It retypes. Lots of people do not know that it three types of data center is

[53:57] out there. Some counties where I was told in in school

[54:03] should have never took some data center because

[54:08] some counties is still living off of whale water.

[54:13] That whole town is well water. So they should have never got a data center

[54:21] there. Lauren County warden sew that I heard might be wrong but he hear the

[54:28] verified that we have water here in Lawrence County.

[54:34] So people don't understand some county went off the first data

[54:39] center that came in front of them and accept that data center.

[54:44] I thank vice chairman Matthew Brownley by putting this monitor together to make

[54:53] sure and understand to consider the people out here. People don't understand

[54:59] we got soda farms here in Lawrence County. People complaining about noise

[55:06] and all of that. We are trying to put in a moratorum now

[55:11] to put data center in a location that it don't be by a residential or by

[55:19] commercial property and what else uh schools and stuff like that. So we are

[55:26] working on that and I thank him from putting this together and I understand

[55:31] all the rules of regulation I'm learning. I'm gonna keep reading but be

[55:37] tell the people it is three types of data center

[55:42] and like I said last month in my perfect comment

[55:46] y'all here on the county we putting something together but people right now

[55:51] can go to law city hall and put in permit people can go to the city clinic

[55:57] to put in for a permit I don't see y'all at them meetings when they can go put

[56:02] get a permit today or anytime and they can go up in the Hun Industrial Park and

[56:09] go TO LAWN. THEY AIN'T GOT TO come through the county. They can go to the

[56:12] Clinton connection and go to the city of Clinton and get one and go down into the

[56:18] city of Clinton and put one. But that y'all need to be talking to the

[56:24] law city and law city Clinton. Well, some of them don't even know they tail

[56:30] from their butt. So I'm telling you like you need to go

[56:33] to them. We are putting stuff in order. It might not be the order you want but

[56:39] we are working on it. >> Councilman Lane, do you still after

[56:42] hearing >> Yeah, I agree. Mr. Pson, uh Mr. Mets,

[56:46] now I understand supremacy clause and everything and I understand we can't um

[56:51] go we can't necessarily infringe on the cities and the municipalities, but we

[56:56] can manage the county. Is that true? the the significance of that um

[57:01] » would be that if you took out that exemption then Lawrence County would be

[57:04] subject to your right our own ordinance um

[57:08] » which >> I don't feel like

[57:10] » subject yourself to those regulations but you may want to put it you know

[57:13] there may be in the future that the county would want to put a data center

[57:15] somewhere and this would restrict where the county would be able to do that

[57:19] » I mean you know so I I think it's worth covering all of our bases I will resend

[57:24] my previous motion and I'll put another motion on the table to rephrase uh 4B to

[57:31] say facilities owned and operated by a governmental entity for governmental

[57:36] purposes excluding Lawrence County. Would that cover all of our bases, Mr.

[57:40] Mets? >> It would. Gotcha.

[57:45] » That your motion? >> Yes, sir. Is there a second?

[57:55] That motion does for lack of a second. Any more discussion?

[58:04] Call the question. All those in favor of approving on second reading

[58:10] ordinance should get it right. 1012, please raise

[58:14] your right hand. 50.

[58:20] Thank you. Next item is new business, approval of

[58:25] our 2026 a tax allocations. Andy Howard, are you in the house?

[58:40] » Good evening, council. >> Good evening, sir.

[58:44] So, this year was a very um prosperous year for accommodations taxes. Um we

[58:52] received more than we've ever received before, $264,896.13.

[58:59] Um never seen it before. Um but it is a great year. Um we were able to award

[59:04] everybody that applied and have quite a bit left over.

[59:09] The recommendations were that everybody that applied receive everything they

[59:13] applied for. Um I believe everyone has that um recommendation from the

[59:18] accommodations tax committee. Um the remaining funds were recommended

[59:24] to go to pay for placer AI and there's quite a bit left over.

[59:30] Um we have quite a few other opportunities with the a center being a

[59:36] large um tourist generating facility now and my

[59:44] recommendation would be that those additional funds be um sent to that. Um

[59:49] we will have to meet with the accommodations tax for their

[59:52] recommendations after that. But what I am asking tonight is that the

[59:57] accommodations tax original recommendations

[1:00:00] be approved so that we can get those funds out to those original applicants

[1:00:05] um and pay for those and then we will bring another recommendation next month

[1:00:09] after the accommodations tax committee um meets to decide what we do with those

[1:00:15] remaining funds. Does anybody have any questions on how the accommodations tax

[1:00:20] revenues are dispersed or how they received? I am more than happy to

[1:00:26] discuss it after 18 years of dealing with these funds.

[1:00:29] » I realized that you put it in the newspaper and everybody fill out the

[1:00:33] application and turn back in. >> Yes, sir.

[1:00:35] » And and this year, like you said, I'm looking at your sheet. I'm looking at

[1:00:40] numbers that all of them awarded. I mean getting

[1:00:44] them out the amount the amount they asked for.

[1:00:46] » Yes sir. >> And the money that left over from the

[1:00:50] ATAC fund that can some kind of way we can use it

[1:00:56] here in Lawrence County. >> Um I'm not quite sure I'll follow Mr. F.

[1:01:03] » The money that left over out of all the application

[1:01:08] » it come out to be 77 $74,280,000. I'm looking at my sheet, right?

[1:01:14] » Yes, sir. >> Can that money be used back in to

[1:01:17] Lawrence County? >> As long as it's in tourism related

[1:01:20] expenses in in a way that will generate tourism to Lawrence County. We want to

[1:01:25] bring as many people as we can into Lawrence County and get them to spend

[1:01:28] more money in Lawrence County. That's how we boost tourism dollars in Lawrence

[1:01:32] County. >> Can you share with Mr. Phill

[1:01:36] again? >> Yes. the a center and you you all have

[1:01:40] seen reports that we've had just in the small events that we've had so far

[1:01:46] 4500 people at a time coming in. >> So why saying can we put that money back

[1:01:51] in there to buy stuff for our county? >> Absolutely. We've had um interest in

[1:01:56] heer sales. Um, most recently the Black Angus um um

[1:02:03] committee is looking at doing a a black Angus sale and you're looking at around

[1:02:07] 300 people a night and on the average around 65 to 120 cattle and that will

[1:02:14] bring in $350,000 in sales over a weekend sale. Um you're

[1:02:21] talking the price of cars for cattle. Um and that's pretty amazing. I'm not a

[1:02:26] cattle person, but I think we got a few here tonight. Um, I see one back there.

[1:02:31] Um, and these are sales that are typically held at Clemson, and they are

[1:02:37] interested in using our a facility, which is pretty amazing. Um, and we're

[1:02:42] looking at the um red Angus, the Herford, th those different um those are

[1:02:48] specialty um cattle sales, but that does come with specialty

[1:02:54] um and specialty sail rings and those things would be usable in different

[1:03:02] setups in say the horse arena and so those things would also generate you

[1:03:07] know the use for other different types of events like rodeos and things like

[1:03:11] that. So it's not just a one use type thing but it's sales that we would have

[1:03:16] multiple times throughout the year and again generate more revenue and generate

[1:03:21] more tourists coming in. You know, typically you're not going to have those

[1:03:25] types of sales and just with residents from Lawrence County. That's going to

[1:03:29] bring bring people in from different states. And that's what we want. We want

[1:03:34] out oftowners staying here in Lawrence, spending their money in our restaurants,

[1:03:39] spending their money at our gas stations. Again, boosting that that a

[1:03:43] tax dollar here in Lawrence County. >> I'm all for it, sir.

[1:03:48] I'll go ahead and make a motion to approve this 2026

[1:03:52] a tax committee funding that we've already got in front of us and to

[1:03:56] approve the remaining allocation of 74,280

[1:04:00] of the remaining balance to go toward the a center contingent upon a review

[1:04:04] and approval by the tax committee. >> Sounds good.

[1:04:08] » Is there a second? >> Second.

[1:04:10] » Any further discussion? All those in favor of approving the

[1:04:15] motion, please raise your right hand. 5. Thank you.

[1:04:18] » Thank you, council. >> Thank you, sir.

[1:04:21] » Tell your department thank what they do every day, sir.

[1:04:23] » Thank you. >> I know it's hot out there.

[1:04:25] » Yes, sir. Thank you. >> Next item is first reading of ordinance

[1:04:28] 1013. It's an ordinance to amend ordinance 926 by repealing and replacing

[1:04:34] division 6.3 and 8-8.B B and amending division 9A.1

[1:04:42] regarding major subdivision plan approvals and other matters related

[1:04:46] there too. This came from council member Brownley. So I'll let him expound on

[1:04:51] this. >> Thank you, sir. And uh Mr. Mets, our

[1:04:53] county attorney, did an amazing job explaining um the development in Clinton

[1:04:58] and what happened with the county a couple months ago. So essentially this

[1:05:01] ordinance is repealing giving the TRC or andor the planning commission the

[1:05:07] ability to approve major subdivisions and and now making that TRC also called

[1:05:12] the technical review committee advisory only.

[1:05:16] Are there any other questions about that and I'm happy to Mr. Mads if you'd like

[1:05:20] to expand any on anything? Just want to give a quick overview.

[1:05:24] » No, I think you nailed it. Um I just don't like losing lawsuits. Um, and the

[1:05:29] only way I can clarify that provision is to remove the authority of um, and pick

[1:05:34] one. And I figure if we're going to pick one, it should be our planning

[1:05:37] commission as opposed to our TRC. And for those that don't know, the

[1:05:42] technical review committee is made up of county staff. Um, you know, and they're

[1:05:46] really great looking through these, so I don't want to knock on them one bit, but

[1:05:49] this does give us the the tools we need, I think, to make the process a lot

[1:05:54] better and more transparent.

[1:05:58] And I will be happy to make a motion to approve on first reading ordinance 1013.

[1:06:02] » Second. >> Is there any further discussion?

[1:06:05] » Yeah. >> Go ahead.

[1:06:07] » Go ahead. >> Mr. Mats, I do have a question for you.

[1:06:09] I've tried to look up in ordinance 872 for the RV parks. Do you happen to be

[1:06:15] familiar with that language? I know this is first reading so we can fix it later,

[1:06:18] but I would like to address Miss Garrison's concerns on the notices.

[1:06:26] Um, with with all due respect to Miss

[1:06:29] Garrison, she's half right, half wrong. Um, [laughter]

[1:06:32] and and I do agree with her that that the public notice requirement um applies

[1:06:36] to all commercial projects and that an RV campground is a commercial project.

[1:06:41] Um, so therefore, they should have to follow the public notice requirements of

[1:06:44] division 7. I don't think you need an amendment to the ordinance. I think the

[1:06:48] ordinance says that plainly right now. We just need need to make it clear to

[1:06:51] our building and codes and and planning department that that public notice

[1:06:55] requirement needs to be met for RB parks as well. Um

[1:07:00] the part that I'm going to disagree with Miss Garrison about is where it says

[1:07:03] proceeding sections. That refers to any preceding ordinances before that

[1:07:08] ordinance um and not ordinances that are passed afterwards. Um but I I think the

[1:07:15] gist of of her complaint and she is correct is that the public notice

[1:07:19] requirements need to be observed for commercial projects and we will make

[1:07:23] sure that uh myself and the county administrator direct our staff that way.

[1:07:28] » Thank you sir. I appreciate it. >> People might don't like my opinion. When

[1:07:31] somebody want to sell some land they going to sell their land. whoever they

[1:07:34] going to put on it or sell it to. As long they meet the county rules and

[1:07:41] regulation and go by their rules and regulation and

[1:07:45] go by the what they need to go by and get the permits and stuff, why are we

[1:07:49] talking about it?

[1:07:53] » Any other comments? >> Yeah. Um I'm I'm glad we're making this

[1:07:58] change. Um, and as in Wes's slides show earlier, there was an andor uh portion

[1:08:04] line in there. Um, and that's why we have a fighting chance in that appeals

[1:08:08] court. Um, but I just to piggyback on what Mr. Brownley was saying, you know,

[1:08:14] the TRC it is comprised of employees, but it's my understanding it's comprised

[1:08:18] of uh representatives of various entities as well. Correct. Um, and I

[1:08:24] also learned that district 55 is on there. District 56, to my understanding,

[1:08:29] is still not represented by their own choosing.

[1:08:33] » I think they're now on board. Um, >> we got them on board.

[1:08:36] » Both school districts and actually Greenville County is on board now, too.

[1:08:38] So, we've got uh Lawrence 556 in Greenville County weighing in on

[1:08:42] something. >> So, it's good. We've got things uh

[1:08:44] improving and getting better. Um, love to see it. Uh, and you know, obviously

[1:08:49] like Matthew said, you know, we're not knocking the TRC or anything. I I do

[1:08:53] appreciate the fact that we are um moving that authority and that power

[1:09:00] from an employee entity style committee to a citizen-led committee or planning

[1:09:06] commission which is citizenled. Um so I do appreciate that. That's all I got.

[1:09:12] » Awesome. All right. There is a motion and a second on the

[1:09:17] table. Correct. We've had discussion. All those in favor of approving on first

[1:09:21] reading ordinance 1013, please raise your right hand. 5. Great.

[1:09:28] All right. And that gets us to the end. We'll be at County Council comments. Uh,

[1:09:32] Councilman Lang, >> I will keep it quick. Um, you always

[1:09:36] know where to find me. Um, Mr. Joe, I need to get back to you. I'm sorry,

[1:09:40] brother. But I do agree with what you were bringing to us earlier in your

[1:09:44] comments. Um, and uh I am excited about these two ordinances. While they don't

[1:09:50] address the core problems that were brought up earlier, I do think, you

[1:09:53] know, this is something to build on and it's very valuable, as you said. Um, as

[1:09:59] far as the data centers, I I just want to, I guess, make my stance clear now. I

[1:10:04] just hope it doesn't get get me put on a list somewhere, which I might I might

[1:10:07] already be on a list, but um, but I mean, I'm against them. I a brother Uh D

[1:10:15] Parnell who came up earlier mentioned the trip. You don't even have to take me

[1:10:19] brother. I'm already against them. Um for for a multitude of reasons. The only

[1:10:25] situation I see myself being in support of any sort of data center is if they

[1:10:30] are self-sufficient as far as power and water do not raise electricity fees for

[1:10:36] for the citizens. Um their water bill for that matter. also the environmental

[1:10:40] concerns as far as the water supply and it getting contaminated, polluted um or

[1:10:46] whatever it may be. Um but it would have to check all those boxes and and I could

[1:10:52] probably think of some more boxes to check too and on top of that the revenue

[1:10:56] uh benefit that they could bring. Um you know, if we could check all those boxes

[1:11:01] and not harm the community, not harm the environment, anything of that nature,

[1:11:05] and it be completely self-sufficient. And then on top of that, we receive a

[1:11:09] tremendous amount of revenue for the county. I think I could support it. Um,

[1:11:14] I would love to see it generate so much revenue, we just cut out property taxes.

[1:11:18] I know I said that might sound crazy, but um, might be a pipe dream. Wishful

[1:11:22] thinking, but that's just where I stand. I just wanted to make that clear. Um,

[1:11:27] but I appreciate this council. I appreciate all the citizens here. And

[1:11:30] yeah, y'all know where to find me. >> Mr.

[1:11:35] Councilman Filson. >> Uh, I would like to put on the table

[1:11:40] again

[1:11:46] what Greenwood County been doing about the taxes. People pay their taxes during

[1:11:52] the year. And

[1:11:55] I don't know that we had to put it on agenda

[1:12:00] for to vote on it. It's mostly made for the s citizen

[1:12:06] or lawn county and it made for everybody. They can pay their taxes all

[1:12:11] during the year. But I think Greenwood County, if you

[1:12:17] miss a payment, you're on a payment plan. If you miss a payment plan and you

[1:12:21] miss it, you get all your money back and you got to pay the full amount.

[1:12:27] But it's mostly made for I call it military wise they call it hardship.

[1:12:33] So people pay it all during the year and make a payment so they won't have to

[1:12:39] come up with all the funds at one time. Everybody not able to read Facebook

[1:12:47] internet I mean Instagram zel cash app and all of that. So that is

[1:12:55] one of my thing. Uh I want to thank the councilman's Matthew from putting up um

[1:13:03] the Maran together and like I told you earlier today

[1:13:09] people don't understand it is three types a data center

[1:13:14] and nobody don't sell whoever come up and selling you say my car I sell BMW

[1:13:20] you go to the BMW lot they going to say your BMW you go to a Ford lot they going

[1:13:25] to say your board. So you go to the youth side. So that how these other data

[1:13:30] people been coming up in front of these other county and they went off the first

[1:13:35] center data center. I'm I learned a lot about data center while I'm in school. I

[1:13:41] think we go back I think we're going to have another class about data center and

[1:13:45] we're going to meet in Colombia. L46 county going to meet there in Colombia

[1:13:52] and they gonna talk about the BRE data center.

[1:13:55] And I tell everybody I ain't for a data center myself but

[1:14:00] it's three types and it like this and like Justin said

[1:14:07] some data center going to help certain r and we can they do bring a loss revenues

[1:14:15] in but let us get more detail about the data center and so we can pass it on to

[1:14:22] y'all. We ain't finally keeping that from y'all. Just realize that

[1:14:30] I'm glad that we are putting something together to probably make it. Not by if

[1:14:37] one ever want to come in front of us and pose up, but because the people y'all

[1:14:43] the one that gohead, we the one that decide,

[1:14:47] but we finally put stuff in order. I want to thank every department y'all.

[1:14:52] It been a hot summer. I want to thank the park and wreck the

[1:14:58] purple work department billing and cold janitor to everybody who work outside

[1:15:03] for this county because

[1:15:07] and it been hot and I our it rain every day look like we ain't going to never

[1:15:14] get caught up on yards. Thank the uh billing uh park and billing and code.

[1:15:23] Your people got to go outside. Just make sure all your people y'all drink water.

[1:15:28] Thank you. Thank you, sir. Mr. Brown,

[1:15:33] » I'll keep it very brief. Just appreciate you all coming out, all those who spoke

[1:15:36] in public comment as well as all of our departments. That is it for me tonight.

[1:15:40] We just appreciate everybody and appreciate council as well.

[1:15:42] » Awesome. Thank you. And there's some

[1:15:48] concerns that some people have related to a moratorum that

[1:15:52] it means something will never come, something will never happen. And we had

[1:15:58] a moratorum on our subdivisions.

[1:16:02] And to many people's chagrins, it hasn't stopped them from coming. It changed the

[1:16:07] way things come. But we've had um growth in as it relates

[1:16:14] to business and industry in things that we weren't 100% ready for or sure about.

[1:16:21] And we entered into things such as solar farms assuming or thinking that they

[1:16:28] were innocuous and they would just be a good neighbor to you and bring in

[1:16:33] electricity and it wouldn't impact anything negative. And then some come

[1:16:40] and environmentally uh they affect citizens uh things happen. And so this

[1:16:45] is an opportunity to look at something another thing that wants to be here and

[1:16:52] make sure that this is something that would fit within Lawrence County that it

[1:16:56] doesn't have these dilitterious effects that are going to cause these things

[1:17:00] that some of these things do. It doesn't mean there aren't places for

[1:17:04] them. I mean you if you're on your phone, if you're doing things like that,

[1:17:08] data centers are part of our infrastructure. Any AI you ever use will

[1:17:14] be coming from a data center. So it's it's going to be there, but it doesn't

[1:17:18] fit everywhere. It's not for every community. And just because it generates

[1:17:22] a lot of money does not necessarily mean that it's right for us. We're learn

[1:17:27] they're learning a lot. They're going to classes, learning things. And that might

[1:17:30] be in the future something that the county wants to consider pieces of or it

[1:17:34] may not have any interest whatsoever. This gives us an opportunity to look at

[1:17:38] that to get something before the county transparently have meetings have

[1:17:43] everything that's decided and discussed be in the open and then we'll together

[1:17:49] understand this is not for us or this is for us. But this is something that is

[1:17:55] caused so much issues because on the surface of it, somebody may have assumed

[1:18:00] that this was a good thing and in good faith did something

[1:18:04] and it turned out to be very bad for a community. And I if anything I've

[1:18:08] learned in my time here about to be done is that the expectation of the citizen

[1:18:13] is that they know what's going on that they're they're involved in those

[1:18:16] decisions and the things that we do have impacts and we have to be held

[1:18:20] responsible for them. And so if nothing else going forward, everything this co

[1:18:24] this this uh board does, this council does keeps that in mind and it on this

[1:18:30] Facebook thing that everybody knows what the agenda is, not just people who know

[1:18:35] how to get to a certain thing. If it becomes packed houses every time, it's

[1:18:40] the way it should be because if you're interested and want to be involved in

[1:18:43] your government, you should have access and know everything there is. we should

[1:18:47] be doing good government and not stopping and figuring this out would be

[1:18:51] bad bad government and I won't be a part of that. So I appreciate all the work

[1:18:56] everybody's done. Hopefully you'll continue to trust what we're doing and

[1:18:59] we'll get that trust by being uh transparent with what uh we're doing.

[1:19:04] The next item we have is executive session. We have two things on that. One

[1:19:09] is the receipt of legal advice relating to the settlement of the county of

[1:19:13] Lawren versus Happy Valley LLC and the second is discussion of u negotiations

[1:19:20] incident to our proposed agreement our contract with regarding SCORE funding

[1:19:26] administration. That's what came from Matthew Brownley's u report from

[1:19:32] committee related to SCORE funds. We're going to be uh discussing the

[1:19:36] contractual impacts of that and when we finish that discussion any motions that

[1:19:40] are taken will be done out here in public. So if you're interested in that

[1:19:44] uh please stand by and we will come out after our executive session and have

[1:19:49] discussion. So with that other item what did I miss?

[1:19:56] » Okay. Okay. All right. So

[1:20:01] » motion to enter >> motion to enter executive session.

[1:20:05] » Motion and a second. All those in favor of entering executive session. It is

[1:20:12] 7:20. So we'll enter exe executive session at 7:25 and we'll try to be

[1:20:17] mindful of your time. Thank you.

[1:50:25] All right, we are back from executive session. No action was taken in

[1:50:31] executive session. We will now entertain any motions anyone would like to make.

[1:50:36] » Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Y'all bear with me on this one, but I would like to make

[1:50:39] a motion to allow the county administrator to enter into a

[1:50:42] contractual agreement with PlaySafe to apply for Lawrence County score funds in

[1:50:46] the amount of 210,000 for the 2026 year, 35,000 of which to

[1:50:52] continue the program at the corner's office and the remaining 175,000 to fund

[1:50:57] two full-time outreach coordinators to work exclusively in Lawrence County

[1:51:00] Schools and to establish a committee that submits recommendations to council

[1:51:05] as presented earlier in my committee report from the intergovernmental

[1:51:08] affairs and for this committee to begin in the beginning of 2027.

[1:51:14] » There is a motion. Is there a second? >> Any discussion?

[1:51:19] All those in favor of approving the motion

[1:51:22] 5. Mr. Filson, you want to share something?

[1:51:26] » Uh I just want before closing tonight, I forgot to put in my public comment

[1:51:32] in Clinton 55 56.

[1:51:36] We lost two people. Uh, one of them is coach Bill Ro

[1:51:41] and Mr. Hary >> Har

[1:51:47] that. Um, he long time jury man in Clinton that he was in the AOS.

[1:51:55] Uh, he did a lot of volunteer give back to the kids at the Clinton

[1:52:01] YMCA. This man did a lot and I would make sure

[1:52:06] his family get recognized later on and we just want to say

[1:52:12] um a moment silent for those two.

[1:52:19] » Thank you. >> I'll entertain a motion. Motion to all

[1:52:24] those in favor of journ so moved. This meeting is adjourned.

Tammi Hanks's Zoom Meeting

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