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Arthle, you going to be good right
there? Okay. Good evening and welcome to

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this regular Lawrence County Council
meeting for August 10th, 2026. It is 6

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pm. We will open the meeting with
invocation by Vice Chairman Brownley

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followed by the pledge of allegiance.

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Please bow your heads with me. Dear
gracious heavenly father, Lord, we thank

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you for today and we thank you for all
your many blessings. We appreciate you

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sending the rain to all of our farmers
and Lord, I just pray your blessings on

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everyone in this room tonight. May they
have safe travels home. Just pray that

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you guide us as a council to make the
best decisions on on behalf of the

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citizens of this county. It's in your
gracious heavenly name we pray. Amen.

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To the flag of the United States of
America to the stand,

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indivisible, liberty for all.

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» Thank you all for being here this
evening and watching us online. Our next

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item of business would be approval of
our agenda for August 10th, 2026.

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There's a motion to approve.
>> Second.

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» Second. Any additions, changes to the
agenda.

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Hearing none. All those in favor, please
raise your right hand.

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5 Z.
Next item will be approval of our

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minutes. There are two sets. One is July
13, 2026 regular session and one is July

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24th, 2026 committee on
intergovernmental affairs and economic

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development.
>> What is your pleasure?

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» Motion to approve the minutes as
presented for July 13th and July 24th.

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» Motion second. Any discussion?
All those in favor of approving the

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minutes, please raise your right hand.
5. Excellent. Our next item, there'll be

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special recognitions. The first thing we
have on the agenda is uh emergency

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management awareness month. And I'd like
to uh present that.

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This is a proclamation on behalf of the
county of Lawrence, South Carolina, with

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deep pride and honor that we, the
Lawrence County Council, do hereby

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proclaim the month of August 2026 as
Emergency Management Awareness Month.

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And whereas emergencies and disasters
can unexpectedly pose significant

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threats to life, property, and
environment. And whereas local emergency

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managers across all sectors, community
leaders, as well as state and federal

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agencies dedicate countless hours to
developing preparedness, response,

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recovery, and mitigation programs to
protect the lives and property of all

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persons in Lawrence County. And whereas
emergency managers are charged with

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establishing and maintaining the
capabilities necessary to effectively

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direct, coordinate, and support
emergency and disaster response

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and recovery align with the core
efforts and the mission areas of

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prevention, protection, mitigation,
response, and recovery with the core

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capabilities identified in the national
preparedness goal. And whereas Lawrence

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County Emergency Management served this
county by responding to emergencies and

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disasters,
demonstrating commitment, compassion,

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and professionalism in in protecting the
public. And whereas the efforts of

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Lawrence County Emergency Management
Team have helped many citizens recover,

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rebuild, and become more resilient in
the face of adversity.

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Now, therefore, the Lawrence County
Council do hereby proclaim the month of

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August as Emergency Management Awareness
Month. proclaim this 10th day of August,

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2026.
Is there

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motion that we accept this?
Are those in favor? Congratulations to

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our emergency management team. I have a
proclamation like

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[applause]

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Um if if you want to be up here, you can
usually if not you can use that mic down

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at the podium, but they'll want to hear
you. Yes, sir.

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This is a certificate of recognition to
Caroline Barnard in recognition for your

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unwavering dedicated service to the
citizens of the Lawrence County and the

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animal control division.

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as well as Kim Jones. She's not here.

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» We also want to recognize the deputies
in the animal control um division. That

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would be Summer Palmer's,
Brandon Schultz,

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Melody Thompson,
and Mackenzie Hotar.

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No, sir.
>> We want to recognize the following

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people for their unwavering volunteered
and dedicated service to the animals of

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Lawrence County. To the animals of
Lawrence County and the animal shelter.

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Diane Armstrong,

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» Summer Flowers,

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» David Smith,

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Doris Gomez. That was Smith.

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» Cheyenne, who was that last name?
>> Doris Gomez.

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Kennedy Robertson and Legendary Canines,

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Aaron and Don Halbert with Dog Pack
Patch Rescue.

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[applause]

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She's a volunter.

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Make sure it's green.
Thank y'all for what y'all do for

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Lawrence County every day. Anything that
we can do for us, y'all really let us

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

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one second. Need you back up here.
>> We have We have something else this

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evening.
>> Up here.

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Every month, Mr. Filson has been giving
away certificates and he is a constant

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reminder, you know, seeing county
employees in the hall to always give

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them a thanks that we appreciate them.
But it come to my knowledge that Mr.

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Filson himself does not have a
certificate. So two weeks ago we were at

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the association of counties conference
and Mr. Filson graduated from his level

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one um association of counties instant
in institute classes. So Mr. Filson this

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certificate for you for completing those
classes and graduating level one.

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[applause]

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» [applause]

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» He's coming back with us.

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

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» Thank you.
>> Thank you.

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» Congratulations. Go. [applause]

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Our next item this evening is public
comment.

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We'll start with John Parnell by Bobby
uh regarding data center.

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» All right, y'all. I appreciate the
opportunity to come up here again. I was

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here last month and um I do want to
cover some comments and thoughts on data

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centers and maybe not cover the exact
same details of last week, but still

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some more concerns and believe me there
are a lot of them. So, um here goes. Um,

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I am thankful for being here uh to be
able to speak just a few minutes and I

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want to give a thanks to you guys on the
council um for it appears to be uh

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proactive instead of reactive uh when it
comes to data centers because here's why

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there's so many communities that are
taking another route and I can use

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Spartanberg as an example. Anybody's
been on the internet any at all lately?

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Uh there's one group I think that is uh
meeting tomorrow and uh it's probably

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not a very pretty site because the data
center has already been started and a

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lot of objections have came into place.
So here's what I'm trying to say to you

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all again proactive instead of reactive.
So um you brought it to our attention

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and I just happen to be one of them. I
live in Hickory Tavern that I'm

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concerned about our community and I want
you guys I'm going to ask you guys a

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real big favor to continue to be
transparent with anything that's

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happening in our county and our
community when it comes to these data

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centers. Okay? So, having said that, I
am not against data centers per se.

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That's not why I'm here. But what it
takes to create a really large hypers

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scale data center um it's ruining some
communities. I'll just be blunt. And

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there are some people that are really
struggling because of that. Now, can

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they be made where they aren't harmful
to the community, where they are a huge

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

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now. We have the technology to to create
those and build them, but everything

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that it takes to make that happen, there
is so many negatives. So, that's the

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

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Um, what I'd like to offer, and I'm
trying to talk really quick because

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usually I'm a slow talker, but I only
have a few minutes. So, I'm trying to

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cram as much as I can in a few short
minutes. I would like to offer a

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suggestion to you guys of two names and
one of them may be familiar uh and

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that's Aaron Brachovich and uh it just
came to my knowledge just recently after

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I've done a lot of research myself that
she has created a a website of maps a

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map of the US with all the various data
centers that have been created those

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that are being built and I believe those
that are being planned. and maybe I'm

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not sure there's four categories. Uh the
ones like our little county

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moratorum has being looked at and
created. So that was one name I just

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wanted to throw out there. Like I said,
I've been doing a little research on my

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own. And another name that probably
isn't familiar. Uh and again, this came

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on the internet which came through a
data center to get to to me, right? Um

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and his name is Doug CVI. He's an
individual that seems like from what I

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can tell he knows a lot about them
because he's built data centers. Uh it

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seems that he has a wealth of
information. So I'm just kind of

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throwing out a couple of names, couple
of resources that I've come across and

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what little time I have to research on
the subject. So those are the two names

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I wanted to mention.
Um, let's see.

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One thing I wanted to offer
um

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

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is uh maybe check out one of the uh
largest

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

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can or we can research that's that's
online, but the noise created by some of

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the larger data centers seems to be a
very bad nuisance. Y'all, I have tonitis

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when I'm speaking. I don't hear the
ringing in my ears, but when things get

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kind of quiet, I'm to myself. I have
tonitis. I don't want to live next to a

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

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else to live with. I want to experience
that. So, I'm going to offer you guys I

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think the largest one in our state, if I
looked at it right, is uh in Mons

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corner. There's 10 buildings there. And
one of them in particular uses a huge

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amount of power.
Um I'm going to offer you guys if you

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want to ride Corner with me one day, I
want to see firsthand what this noise is

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all about. I want to see how bad it is.
I can watch it on my phone or on a

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computer and I can hear the audio, but
that's not the same as living next to

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it. I can't do any research. I can't do
any research on noise. But I can take

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few hours and a little bit of gas and
buy you guys lunch, go to Mon's Corner

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and I can drive by there and see what it
sounds like. Okay? I'm just offering

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that.
>> So, um, I said maybe a little bit off

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key there.
I want to find out what this noise is

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about. I can't physically do anything
about the other parts of this that

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people are objecting to. I can't do
anything about the water usage, the

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electron, the electrical power, and how
it affects individuals and communities,

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but I can certainly do something about
that. And one more small thing that

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» part can you wrap it up? It's been like
twice what we do.

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» All right, my time is is up. All right.
I live near some uh pine trees in my

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backyard. There's acres and acres. And
one thing I'm going to do if the nice

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person that owns that property goes
clear cutting those pine trees, I'm

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going to find out. I'm going to be a
nosy neighbor. What's going to be

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planted next to me? Is it going to be a
data center? Is it going to be a

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Walmart? I'll close with that.
>> Thank you.

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» Thank you guys.
>> Appreciate you.

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» Thank you, sir. Nancy Garrison.

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» Good evening.
>> Good evening.

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

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before you ordinance uh 1013 proposing
the amendment to 926 which I think is

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wonderful, absolutely wonderful
amendment. Um, one statement in the

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proposed amendment particularly caught
my attention. and it acknowledges that

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ordinance 926 has been interpreted in
ways that are contrary to the intent

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proposed and the design of the
ordinance. I believe there's another

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interpretation of ordinance 926 that
council needs to address. Public

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notification of campgrounds and RV
parks. I first raised the issue in April

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after an RV park was scheduled to come
to the planning commission without

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public notice signage required under
division 7 of ordinance 926. That

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meeting ultimately could not proceed
because there wasn't a quorum. Then at

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the April 30th planning commission
meeting, the minute specifically uh

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documented discussion regarding RV parks
and campground regulations and

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commercial notification and public aware
awareness requirements.

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The commission also empas emphasized the
need to improve public notification

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procedures. So this issue has been
identified and discussed. Yet since the

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April meeting, two additional campground
RV park developments have been approved

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by the planning commission without
public notification.

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combined with the project that
originally caused me to raise the issue

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that represented approximately just you
know uh what I could kind of gather and

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get the numbers there's 180 RV or
campsites and the different ones um that

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have come through the process without
public notification required by

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commercial projects under 926.
When I originally questioned why the

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notification requirement wasn't being
applied, I was told campgrounds are

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governed by 872 and that ordinance does
not reference ordinance 926. But when I

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went back and read 872, section 1.3
states, however, where sections conflict

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or overlap, whichever imposes the most
stringent restrictions shall prevail.

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Then I went back and reviewed actual RV
park approvals that have come before the

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planning commission
and at least two of those approval the

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county itself explicitly applied
ordinance 926 to the RV park. The

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approval condition stated in accordance
to 926 appendix B section CA and then

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opposed ordinance 926 buffer and silk
fencing requirements. So I believe the

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council needs to get the answer. You
know, a very straightforward answer. If

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926 applies to the RV park when imposing
buffers requirements or bas and on what

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basis does it not apply when it requires
public notification?

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Division seven of ordinance 926 states
within five days of applying for

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residential subdivision or commercial
project the applicant must post the

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proposed development site with public
notification of a sign and the ordinance

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doesn't treat that required optional. It
specifically states that the failure to

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00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:31,600
comply with the signage requirements
will result in a delay of the

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00:20:29,919 --> 00:20:34,480
application to the planning commission
and it says or county council. That

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00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:40,159
might be something else needs to be
changed. So, um, and yet yet these

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00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:44,960
applications have proceeded to the
planning commission without notification

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00:20:41,679 --> 00:20:50,080
to the public. Um, where does ordinance
872 exempt a campground or RV park from

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00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:55,679
public notification provisions of
ordinance 926? And if ordinance 926

218
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,240
applies to these developments for
buffers and other requirements, why

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00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:04,880
doesn't public notification apply as
well? Tonight, council is already

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00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:10,880
considering, like I said, the ordinance
1013 because we recognize that ordinance

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00:21:07,679 --> 00:21:16,640
926 has been interpreted in a contrary
way to its intent. And I'm asking you to

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00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:20,240
address this interpretation, too. If
council intends for, you know, RV,

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00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:24,320
parks, and stuff not to go without
notification, it needs to be said

224
00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:29,600
publicly. Otherwise, apply the existing
notification requirement. We should not

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00:21:26,799 --> 00:21:34,159
selectively apply ordinance 926 when it
places requirements on development while

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00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:37,679
disregarding the portion of the same
ordinance that gives public notification

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00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:42,240
and development. And you know my whole
reason for bringing this up. Communities

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00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:47,039
need to know what's coming into their
communities. That's it. It's called

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00:21:44,159 --> 00:21:51,440
transparency. And for RV parks to come
into communities with no public

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00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:55,039
notification, I you know it's it's
troublesome to me. You know, we've had

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00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:59,240
it happen to us. So, thank you for your
time. Appreciate it.

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00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:59,240
» Thank you.

233
00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:06,840
» Joe Kohler referencing or ordinance 926.

234
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:15,600
Thank you for this opportunity. Council,
I appreciate this opportunity to speak

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00:22:13,679 --> 00:22:20,320
as a concerned citizen of Lawrence
County. Tonight there is a reading of

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00:22:17,919 --> 00:22:25,840
two ordinances being proposed. the
moratorium on data centers and the

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00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:29,840
amending ordinance 926 to clarify and
restate the approval process for major

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00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:34,000
subdivisions.
While I think both of these items have

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00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:39,200
value, neither are addressing the core
issues we are facing in this county,

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00:22:36,799 --> 00:22:44,400
such as overcrowding schools,
deteriorating roads and infrastructure,

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00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:50,480
limited to non-existent emergency
services, rising property taxes, and our

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00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:54,720
loss of culture through
overdevelopment.

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00:22:52,159 --> 00:22:58,320
Shouldn't we be drafting and voting on
ordinances that address these core

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00:22:56,640 --> 00:23:03,840
issues?
I ask you to consider putting forth an

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00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:09,120
ordinance to put a moratorum on major
subdivision development. This would give

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00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:14,720
the county time to get impact fees
implemented. The these fees can help

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00:23:11,840 --> 00:23:21,039
build infrastructure to support growth.
Create a future land use map. Both the

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00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:26,000
comprehensive plan and ordinance 926
reference the future land use map and

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00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:30,880
yet one does not exist.
implement topography studies. All over

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00:23:29,039 --> 00:23:36,240
the country, communities are plagued
with unprecedented flooding. This is a

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00:23:33,679 --> 00:23:40,480
fairly new phenomenon and it is tied
directly to overdevelopment.

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00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:45,840
It's not too late for us in Lawrence
County, but that is the path we are on

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00:23:43,039 --> 00:23:51,360
if we continue. A moratorum on
subdivision development would address

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00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:56,559
the core concerns of many citizens in
Lawrence County. It would give you the

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00:23:53,679 --> 00:24:01,679
decision makers, council members, time
to give the TRC and the planning

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00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:07,120
commission its missing tool, the future
land use map. They need that to make

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00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:13,360
proper development decisions.
Ordinance 926 references that map three

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00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:19,120
times. The comprehensive plan references
it three times.

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00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:23,840
The purpose of that in the document,
it's a decision makingaking tool to

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00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:30,159
approve or not approve development, and
we don't have it. Makes no sense to me.

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00:24:27,919 --> 00:24:34,960
Errors will continue to be made if
development is allowed to continue in

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00:24:32,159 --> 00:24:39,840
its current form. Infrastructure is
stressed beyond its limits. Poor

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00:24:37,440 --> 00:24:44,799
drainage can lead to flooding. Car
crashes due to insufficient roads. I

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00:24:42,799 --> 00:24:50,320
don't think I'm exaggerating. These
things are happening near Durban Road

265
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:55,600
these days. There are real consequences
to life and property for developing

266
00:24:53,200 --> 00:25:00,000
without the thought through plans.
Lawrence County needs a moratorum on

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00:24:57,679 --> 00:25:03,520
major subdivision development until
these root issues can be addressed.

268
00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,679
Thank you.
>> Thank you.

269
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,600
» Nick Bab on data center.

270
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:22,080
Good evening. How how's everyone doing
tonight?

271
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:27,840
» Okay. So, um so I'm just going to try to
keep it uh brief. I just came up here to

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00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:32,080
just just u show support for the uh
moratorum on the data centers. I think

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00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:35,760
uh Councilman Lane put it best during
his county council comments that it is a

274
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:40,000
good thing that this county is being
proactive rather than reactive because

275
00:25:38,559 --> 00:25:43,360
coming to these meetings for about 10
years now, there's been a lot of

276
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:47,440
reactive stuff when it comes to this
council. they like to wait until the

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00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:51,520
very last minute to do stuff. And it's a
good thing that that this council is

278
00:25:49,279 --> 00:25:56,640
being proactive and I commend uh
Councilman Brownley for putting up this

279
00:25:54,080 --> 00:26:00,320
uh ordinance for the moratorum on data
centers because I mean it's become a

280
00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:03,520
really big issue across the upstate. I
mean all of all of our neighbors are

281
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:09,600
pretty much having these problems.
Spartanberg, Newberry, Greenwood, even

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00:26:05,919 --> 00:26:14,400
pass an ordinance. And um and it's and
it's kind of and it's kind of weird that

283
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:19,200
some someone would say that, oh, we're
just passing this just to feel good. But

284
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:23,200
I mean, well, how about if you ask
people in Spartanberg that have to deal

285
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:27,279
with it who can't even sell their homes
anymore because of the no because of all

286
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:31,760
the noise ordinance or the family down
in Georgia that had their home imminent

287
00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:35,200
domain so that they could have more so
George Power could have more property to

288
00:26:33,279 --> 00:26:40,480
do a data center. This is not supposed
to be feel good. This is real life for a

289
00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:45,360
lot of people. And I commend uh this
council for voting unanimously last time

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00:26:43,679 --> 00:26:51,240
on the first reading. I hope they do the
same tonight for the uh second reading.

291
00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:51,240
Thank you. Thank you.

292
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:57,960
» Michate on data center.

293
00:27:02,159 --> 00:27:07,360
» Good evening.
>> Good evening. Um like like you already

294
00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:11,679
said, my name is Michanna Tate. Of
course, I live here in Lawrence County.

295
00:27:09,279 --> 00:27:15,679
Um I wanted to speak on data centers and
specifically the moratorum. Um and I'm

296
00:27:14,159 --> 00:27:20,080
speaking from the standpoint of an
attorney that does real estate

297
00:27:17,360 --> 00:27:24,559
litigation. Um one of my concerns is
that we don't want a data center to look

298
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:29,200
at certain counties moratorum and ours
doesn't maybe match up or maybe we have

299
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:32,880
a loophole in it. Um, so I went and I
looked at the moratoriums for the

300
00:27:31,039 --> 00:27:37,679
neighboring counties of Newberry and
Greenwood and compared it to Lawren. I

301
00:27:35,279 --> 00:27:41,679
think the Lawren moratorium is is great.
It's written, I think, better than the

302
00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:48,000
other counties. Um, but one of my
concerns was um section 4, there is an

303
00:27:45,039 --> 00:27:51,919
exemption. Um, section 4B, there's an
exemption for facilities owned and

304
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:56,000
operated by a governmental entity for
governmental purposes. I don't know if

305
00:27:54,000 --> 00:28:00,080
you all had a reason for putting that
language in there. um it does not

306
00:27:58,399 --> 00:28:04,399
specify whether it's a county
government, a state government or a

307
00:28:02,159 --> 00:28:10,240
federal government. So my concern is
with that exception in Laurens County's

308
00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:15,440
moratorum um and not in Greenwood or
Newberry, I hope nobody tries to use

309
00:28:12,559 --> 00:28:19,279
that as a loophole. So of course I'm not
asking you to answer that right now, but

310
00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:22,159
is there a reason that that was in
there? And I think that might be

311
00:28:20,559 --> 00:28:26,320
something that the council needs to
further discuss to see if that needs to

312
00:28:24,399 --> 00:28:32,480
stay in there. Maybe it can come out or
get more specific as to what government

313
00:28:29,279 --> 00:28:33,679
could get around our moratorum. Thank
you.

314
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:36,240
» Thank you,
>> Miss Tay. You said 4B.

315
00:28:35,919 --> 00:28:38,000
» Yes.
>> Okay. Thank you.

316
00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:41,640
» Section 4B.
>> Thank you.

317
00:28:38,399 --> 00:28:41,640
» You're welcome.

318
00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:49,120
» All right. We appreciate that public
comment this evening. Next item is

319
00:28:47,279 --> 00:28:54,320
reports to council. our county
administrator report. Uh, county

320
00:28:50,799 --> 00:28:58,799
administrator Jerry Threat.
>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I only have

321
00:28:56,559 --> 00:29:03,679
one report this evening and that is from
Darby Jackson, our new PIO, and she

322
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:07,159
wants to give an update from the public
information office.

323
00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:22,720
» There's something come up with it.
[laughter]

324
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:26,120
All right. Good evening, council. Um,
>> come down here.

325
00:29:26,399 --> 00:29:32,880
» Let me know when
>> got one more to come up. Ma'am, just

326
00:29:30,159 --> 00:29:37,120
wait it low.
>> You're good.

327
00:29:33,919 --> 00:29:40,480
» Okay. Um, good evening. As we spoke
about a little bit last month, um, we

328
00:29:39,039 --> 00:29:44,880
have a lot of exciting things that we
are coming forward from the public

329
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:53,120
information office. Um, one of those
things is our new Facebook page. So, um,

330
00:29:50,399 --> 00:29:56,720
and upon your guys's approval, this is
going to become live. As of right now,

331
00:29:55,039 --> 00:30:01,840
it is currently unpublished, so it
cannot be found um, if you just kind of

332
00:29:58,720 --> 00:30:06,240
look it up. Um, but like I said, if you
guys like it, then we can go ahead and

333
00:30:03,279 --> 00:30:11,200
make it go live uh, tomorrow.
So, the purpose of this Facebook page uh

334
00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:15,919
will specifically be to post agendas for
upcoming public meetings, um provide

335
00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:20,320
government updates, press releases from
the public information office, and to

336
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:24,480
boost visibility alerts, excuse me,
boost visibility on any safety alerts.

337
00:30:22,799 --> 00:30:27,440
While there are a few public pages
associated with Lawrence County

338
00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:32,240
departments, this page is not intended
to replace those pages. However, we'll

339
00:30:29,679 --> 00:30:36,320
be glad to work uh with those
departments to ensure another route for

340
00:30:34,559 --> 00:30:40,320
vital information to be released to the
public. So, um if you could scroll back

341
00:30:38,799 --> 00:30:44,640
up to the top for me, if you don't mind.
So, as of right now, how it's going to

342
00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:49,200
look, we have our uh government logo
right there as our profile picture. We

343
00:30:46,799 --> 00:30:52,559
have the uh historic courthouse on its
opening day as our cover photo. And I'll

344
00:30:51,279 --> 00:30:57,919
have you scroll down a little bit. And
all of this can be adjusted if you guys

345
00:30:54,399 --> 00:31:01,840
decide to. Um so just as an example of
how it's going to initially look is um

346
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:07,279
that first post there is the agenda for
tonight's uh meeting. Um and as we get

347
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:11,360
other agendas, you know, those will be
posted as those meetings come up. We

348
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:16,320
have our hours of operation available.
We have our main there they are. We have

349
00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:21,039
our main address available. That link
there is going to link uh directly to

350
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:25,679
our county website and we have our main
phone number there. Um,

351
00:31:23,919 --> 00:31:29,279
so
that's really it. This is the going to

352
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:33,760
be, as I discussed last month, this is
our first step to make sure that we have

353
00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:38,000
more another route for information to
get out to the public. So those who may

354
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:41,760
not be able to access our website or
they have difficulty understanding our

355
00:31:39,679 --> 00:31:45,840
website, a lot of people understand
Facebook. So, uh, we have that going

356
00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:49,279
there and we have our little bio there.
Welcome to the official Facebook page

357
00:31:47,519 --> 00:31:53,120
for Lawrence County, your digital
gateway to information regarding public

358
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:57,039
meetings, safety alerts, and county
government updates. Um, are there any

359
00:31:55,519 --> 00:32:01,679
questions?
>> I just want to tell you, ma'am, thank

360
00:31:58,720 --> 00:32:05,840
you for have you did the setting up this
and thank you for the short time that

361
00:32:03,279 --> 00:32:08,000
you have came on and already got the
ball rolling. Thank you.

362
00:32:07,279 --> 00:32:13,440
» Yes, sir. Thank you.
>> What What would be the process for

363
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:16,320
approval of submissions on a post that
you you publish? How would we approve

364
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:22,720
that?
>> Um, so as of now, I mean, it's really

365
00:32:19,519 --> 00:32:26,480
just going to be like agendas. Um, we
since the public information office is

366
00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:30,240
underneath the legal department, how we
currently go about getting approval

367
00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:34,720
about anything that I do, it comes
through uh the approval of the county

368
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:38,559
attorney and the county administrator.
Um, but if there's anything outside of

369
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:42,399
what I listed that you guys would like
to post or something that you would not

370
00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:45,919
like posted um from the things that I
just mentioned, I'm happy take any

371
00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:50,399
suggestions. So, you can just contact me
and talk to me about anything you'd like

372
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:55,279
posted. Did that answer the question?
>> Yes. I just if you wanted action tonight

373
00:32:53,360 --> 00:32:59,519
by this council to give you the ability
to make it live tomorrow, I wanted to

374
00:32:56,960 --> 00:33:04,080
make sure we had everything in place to
be able to know that the content that we

375
00:33:01,279 --> 00:33:08,320
want on that page is accurate, is what
we want, and then we're prepared for

376
00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:12,720
what's out there. So,
>> administration, are is this ready for

377
00:33:11,039 --> 00:33:16,880
prime time yet? Do we need to wait or is
there

378
00:33:13,679 --> 00:33:22,080
I think we're good to go. Um so
obviously when we had the uh the train

379
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:28,559
derailment recently um Darby was on the
ground uh putting information out and

380
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:33,200
this will allow us to um to distribute
that information on our own platforms um

381
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:38,240
while also working closely with the
media and and other folks.

382
00:33:36,159 --> 00:33:42,399
» And if I can piggyback off of that um
that was a very good point in terms of

383
00:33:39,679 --> 00:33:46,240
like what we're doing presently. So when
that situation happened in terms of

384
00:33:43,919 --> 00:33:49,840
press releases um I drafted those press
releases upon approval from

385
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:54,720
administrator and county attorney they
were uh sent out to the news um by

386
00:33:52,960 --> 00:34:00,799
luckily we have our emergency management
who has their own Facebook page and

387
00:33:56,720 --> 00:34:04,159
Becky Bagwell and um the director Sunny
was able to really coordinate with us to

388
00:34:02,799 --> 00:34:07,279
get that information out as well and
luckily we were able to work with

389
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:11,599
Greenwood too so that everybody could
get information. So, this is just an

390
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:17,839
extra route to get information out.
>> Any concerns from legal department?

391
00:34:15,839 --> 00:34:21,200
» No, sir. Mr. Chairman, I've vetted the
um Facebook page and there's nothing

392
00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:25,040
legally objectionable.
>> We don't need formal approval.

393
00:34:23,599 --> 00:34:27,760
» Formal approval. That falls with under
the job description of the county

394
00:34:26,240 --> 00:34:29,200
administrator. He can authorize the page
to go off.

395
00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:32,079
» Okay. Can
>> you just give me a thumbs up and we're

396
00:34:30,399 --> 00:34:33,599
good to go.
>> Thank you.

397
00:34:32,639 --> 00:34:40,280
» Thank you.
>> Appreciate it. You need a motion.

398
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:40,280
» He's gonna No. Awesome.

399
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:46,800
Our next item is uh committee reports.
We had one uh committee meeting that

400
00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:51,440
will have a report this evening. I'll
turn it over to Councilman Brownley.

401
00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:55,119
» Thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. Patterson was
not able to be with us tonight. Uh but

402
00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:59,440
July 24th, we had the Committee on
Intergovernmental Affairs and Economic

403
00:34:56,720 --> 00:35:03,359
Development uh to discuss our score
funds. That's our opioid recovery fund.

404
00:35:01,839 --> 00:35:06,320
Uh coming out of that meeting was to
recommend to full council that Lawrence

405
00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:10,480
County work with plays safe to
administer score funding for Lawrence

406
00:35:08,079 --> 00:35:14,320
County. In the process, they will
research and compile a list of desired

407
00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:20,160
funding and present to a board. And that
will consist of a representative from

408
00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:25,280
the sheriff's office, coroner, EMS,
state health department, gateway board,

409
00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:30,160
two county staff representatives, and a
representative from Lawrence County

410
00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:33,680
School District 55 and 56. and that that
board will then come back to full

411
00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:38,000
counsel for approval before submission
of any new applications. And that's also

412
00:35:35,839 --> 00:35:41,400
pending a review of the contract with
the county attorney.

413
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:49,200
Be happy to answer any questions that I
can.

414
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:54,079
So with that the U plays safe entity
would be the representative for us but

415
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:58,480
we would have a committee set up to uh
vet opportunities for funding that we

416
00:35:57,359 --> 00:36:01,280
would approve and then they would
administrative for us.

417
00:36:00,000 --> 00:36:06,000
» That's right. So we will have a board
consisting of representatives from those

418
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:10,480
respective departments or agencies. That
board would then deliver council with

419
00:36:08,720 --> 00:36:15,359
their objectives
and council would have final approval on

420
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:19,240
that before score or before play safe
could apply for score funds.

421
00:36:20,240 --> 00:36:25,320
» Mr. Mets, do we need any action from
that?

422
00:36:29,760 --> 00:36:35,359
» Mr. Mr. Chairman, we do have uh an
executive session item to discuss

423
00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:39,119
contractual arrangement regarding score
funding. So y'all could reserve formal

424
00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:42,720
action until then or you could take
formal action now. It's really at the

425
00:36:41,119 --> 00:36:46,640
discretion of the council.
>> So discussions we will have an executive

426
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:50,720
session maybe germanine and we could
take a motion after that discussion.

427
00:36:49,839 --> 00:36:54,720
» Yes, Mr. Chair.
>> Okay. Does council have any questions

428
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:59,119
for Mr. Brownley or the committee
report?

429
00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:03,000
» Just thank you what y'all do.
Awesome. Thank you.

430
00:37:03,359 --> 00:37:08,119
Next item is reports from our county
attorney.

431
00:37:12,720 --> 00:37:18,640
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As uh Cheyenne
is pulling up my PowerPoint real quick.

432
00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:21,760
Uh this is a little awkward for me
because I normally don't give you guys

433
00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:25,839
legal briefing in open session. We
normally do this in executive session.

434
00:37:23,839 --> 00:37:30,640
However, last Monday, the city of
Clinton held their city council meeting

435
00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:34,240
and the county was a large topic of
discussion at that city council meeting

436
00:37:32,640 --> 00:37:38,720
and there's some information that was
shared at that city council meeting that

437
00:37:36,079 --> 00:37:43,760
I don't believe is necessarily accurate.
So, I wanted to give you guys an update

438
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:48,079
as where we are in our litigation with
uh concerning the Cambridge Farms

439
00:37:45,599 --> 00:37:53,760
development in Clinton. U the de the de
developer's name is Miranda Homes LLC

440
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:59,160
and I may have stalled long enough to
get my PowerPoint up. There we go. All

441
00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:59,160
right.

442
00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:06,320
Now you lost the big screen. Okay. All
right.

443
00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:10,880
Um Okay.
Give you a brief history lesson here.

444
00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:15,520
Um, I don't expect you guys to read all
of this, but this is a snippet from the

445
00:38:12,880 --> 00:38:21,280
official minutes from the April 7th,
2025 regular meeting of Clinton City

446
00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:26,640
Council. Cambridge Farms originally went
to get approval of their uh subdivision

447
00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:31,760
from the city of Clinton. They asked to
be annexed into the city of Clinton. Um,

448
00:38:29,599 --> 00:38:36,000
and it did pass first reading. Um,
however, there was some strange things

449
00:38:33,599 --> 00:38:40,800
that went on there and the mayor said
that uh it needed to be brought back

450
00:38:37,760 --> 00:38:44,880
before council with discussed judgment
judgments adjustments, excuse me,

451
00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:50,079
sometime around June. The discussed
adjustments were concerns about the

452
00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:53,079
zoning levels, whether it was R1, R2, or
R3.

453
00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:59,200
The application was then pulled from the
city. And I always wondered why this

454
00:38:57,359 --> 00:39:03,760
application was pulled from the city of
Clinton. Uh but when uh the developer

455
00:39:02,079 --> 00:39:08,400
came and testified before the Lawrence
County Planning Commission, he told us

456
00:39:05,359 --> 00:39:12,000
specifically why it was pulled. Um and
I've highlighted the the appropriate

457
00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:16,000
language here. No, we're not going to
final read on it. They were zoned in

458
00:39:13,599 --> 00:39:20,400
that way anyways, right? And so we had
we had to pull out at that point. And

459
00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:25,280
then he says, and this this was some
discussion about whether it was R1, R2,

460
00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:30,079
or R3 zoning. The developer wanted R1,
R2, and R3. And the city told him he

461
00:39:27,680 --> 00:39:34,640
could only have R1. And when the city
told him he could only have R1, they

462
00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:39,280
pulled their application from the city
and to the county we go.

463
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:44,880
Here I'm going to give you a brief
timeline of events if my eyesight will

464
00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:48,720
allow me. On May 6, 20125, Randa Holmes
submitted an application for approval of

465
00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:53,520
the preliminary plan from Cambridge
Farms to Lawrence County. On May 19th,

466
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:56,800
our TRC reviewed it, deemed the
application incomplete, and returned it

467
00:39:55,280 --> 00:40:03,520
to the petitioner to address certain
comments by the TRC. On May 20th, 2025,

468
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:06,800
the Lawrence County Planning Commission
meets and they vote unanimously to

469
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:11,440
recommend Lauren County impose a
six-month mortorium on open space

470
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:17,680
residential developments. On July on
June 16th, 2025, Cambridge Farms

471
00:40:14,800 --> 00:40:21,760
resubmits their application.
Here's where timing becomes important

472
00:40:19,599 --> 00:40:27,280
and the words of documents become very
important. On June 23rd, 2025, the

473
00:40:25,599 --> 00:40:32,079
Lawrence County Technical Review
Committee completed its review of the

474
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:36,560
application for Cambridge Farms, deemed
the application complete, and issued a

475
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:40,320
conditional approval letter providing
that the application would be forwarded

476
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:45,040
to the planning commission for review
and approval tently scheduled for July

477
00:40:42,480 --> 00:40:49,839
15, 2025.
Later that evening, Lawrence County had

478
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:54,720
their first reading of ordinance 989
imposing a moratorium on open space

479
00:40:51,839 --> 00:41:00,160
developments. July 14th, there is a
second reading of Ordinance 989. July

480
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:04,960
15th, the planning commission meets and
votes 50 to table the motion to approve

481
00:41:03,359 --> 00:41:08,800
the preliminary plan for Cambridge
Farms. I can tell you that the reason

482
00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:12,880
they voted to table that was because
they did not have a letter from the

483
00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:16,640
electrical provider saying that they
will serve utilities to the location. So

484
00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:21,040
there is a question about who was going
to be the utility provider. They come

485
00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:26,560
back before the planning commission on
August 19th, 2025 and the planning

486
00:41:24,319 --> 00:41:32,880
commission votes unanimously to deny the
approval of the preliminary plan.

487
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:36,720
To the courthouse we go.
Here's where I say words are important

488
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:40,640
and documents are important. This was
the letter that Cambridge Farm said

489
00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:45,040
granted them approval of their
preliminary plan and it plainly says

490
00:41:43,119 --> 00:41:48,880
that your application has been forwarded
to the planning commission for review

491
00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:54,240
and approval. So it doesn't say it was
approved. It says it was going to the

492
00:41:51,040 --> 00:41:58,160
planning commission for approval.
And our statute allows our our ordinance

493
00:41:56,079 --> 00:42:01,760
allows for that. It says that a
preliminary plat approval is an approval

494
00:41:59,920 --> 00:42:06,079
by the staff of the planning and public
works departments and or the planning

495
00:42:04,319 --> 00:42:09,760
commission which documents for the
subdivider that their proposed

496
00:42:07,839 --> 00:42:13,200
subdivision is in accordance with
applicable regulations and that

497
00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:17,040
construction of the subdivision may
proceed. So we've got the andor

498
00:42:15,359 --> 00:42:21,359
language.
So we go to court and Brandon Mahomes

499
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:25,520
makes the following arguments. That the
preliminary plan was approved by the

500
00:42:23,119 --> 00:42:29,599
technical review committee and approved
and approval by the planning commission

501
00:42:27,040 --> 00:42:32,800
was duplicative and unnecessary.
And two, the decision of the planning

502
00:42:31,119 --> 00:42:36,560
commission to not deny approval of the
preliminary plan was arbitrary and

503
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:40,079
capriccious.
Here's what we argued. The preliminary

504
00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:43,599
plan was not approved because it was
denied by the planning commission.

505
00:42:42,000 --> 00:42:48,160
Because the plan was never approved, it
was subject to Lawrence County Ordinance

506
00:42:45,119 --> 00:42:51,200
989. the open space moratorum and
finally the decision of the planning

507
00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:56,480
commission was not arbitrary or
capriccious.

508
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:59,280
So we have our day in court.
There's some important facts here that

509
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:04,000
were not brought up at the city of
Clinton's meeting. The county was not

510
00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:09,440
served with a 367page record on appeal
until February 26, 2026, approximately

511
00:43:07,839 --> 00:43:14,240
one week before the hearing scheduled in
this matter. The county didn't receive L

512
00:43:12,079 --> 00:43:18,240
uh Veranda Homes LLC memorandum in
support of appeal less than 24 hours

513
00:43:16,880 --> 00:43:22,560
before the scheduled hearing in this
matter. This gave the county less than

514
00:43:20,240 --> 00:43:26,400
24 hours to review the memorandum and to
prepare its initial memorandum in

515
00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:30,480
opposition. Based on the above, we
requested a continuence, but that

516
00:43:28,240 --> 00:43:35,280
request was denied by the judge. So, we
received their arguments in support of

517
00:43:32,319 --> 00:43:39,359
their motion 24 hours before the
hearing. In a typical appellet

518
00:43:36,960 --> 00:43:44,720
procedure, you would have 30 to 60 days
to review that type of memorandum.

519
00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:48,240
So, here's what the judge ruled. He
found that the TRC approval was all that

520
00:43:46,720 --> 00:43:52,400
was needed. The planning commission did
not need to approve or deny. And because

521
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:55,520
the TRC approved the preliminary plan
before the first reading of the

522
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:59,119
moratorium ordinance, the moratorium
does not apply. And that the decision of

523
00:43:57,680 --> 00:44:03,359
the planning commission was arbitrary
and capriccious.

524
00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:08,160
So, now we're in the court of appeals.
The county has taken this case and we've

525
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:10,720
appealed it to the court of appeals.
I'm going to give you an appellet

526
00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:14,319
flowchart here so you can kind of
understand where we're at. Um, and this

527
00:44:12,800 --> 00:44:18,000
is a little hard to read and it's even
harder to understand. So, let me walk

528
00:44:16,240 --> 00:44:22,000
you through it. You get your written
notice of order, the order that you want

529
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:26,000
to appeal. You have 30 days from that
day to serve your notice of appeal on

530
00:44:23,920 --> 00:44:29,680
opposing parties, and then you have 10
days from then to file the notice of

531
00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:33,520
appeal and other required documents with
the Court of Appeals.

532
00:44:32,079 --> 00:44:39,359
10 days later, you can order your
transcript or from the court reporter.

533
00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:42,640
That takes 60 days. Then you get your
delivery of the transcript. And after

534
00:44:40,800 --> 00:44:47,440
you get your transcript, you have 30
days to file your initial brief and

535
00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:52,880
designation of matter. I will tell you
that 30 limit time limit was today and

536
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:58,160
we requested a 30-day extension. So
that'll push it out another 30 days. So

537
00:44:56,160 --> 00:45:02,880
in 30 days from now, we will file our
initial brief and designation of matter.

538
00:45:01,040 --> 00:45:06,720
30 days from then the respondent will
serve their initial brief and

539
00:45:04,160 --> 00:45:12,240
designation of matter. 10 days after
that we serve our initi our reply brief.

540
00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:17,280
30 days after that we serve a record on
appeal to all parties who served a

541
00:45:14,319 --> 00:45:21,920
brief. 20 days after that each party
serves and files its final brief.

542
00:45:20,319 --> 00:45:25,760
Then it goes to the court and the court
can do one or two things. It can send

543
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:29,920
out notice of oral argument or it can
hear the case without oral argument. If

544
00:45:28,240 --> 00:45:33,440
it send if it decides to have oral
argument, it'll send you out notice of

545
00:45:31,520 --> 00:45:37,680
when the hearings are, ask you to have
any conflict. You'll eventually go to

546
00:45:35,520 --> 00:45:43,760
court. You'll have your oral argument.
The opinion will be filed. Whoever

547
00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:49,119
doesn't like the opinion has 15 days to
file a petition for rehearing and action

548
00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:52,960
thereon. And then after that time limit,
it passes. The remitter sent to the

549
00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:57,359
lower court unless there is an appeal to
the Supreme Court. I tell you all this

550
00:45:55,599 --> 00:46:02,960
to tell you that the appellet process
takes a very long time. Um, it is not

551
00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:07,280
something that the county entered into
lightly. It we hired outside appellet

552
00:46:05,520 --> 00:46:11,599
counsel to represent the county in this
matter. He's experienced. He has a ton

553
00:46:09,599 --> 00:46:15,359
of experience in these matters and he
felt that the county had a meritorious

554
00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:19,760
claim. Therefore, he went forward with
representing us in the appeal.

555
00:46:17,920 --> 00:46:23,200
All right. I made this um because you
heard a lot from the city of Clinton

556
00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:27,680
that they didn't like our chances on
appeal because they kept hearing

557
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:32,000
statistics that only 10% of appeals are
granted. That's true if you include all

558
00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:37,359
the criminal appeals of anybody on death
row um that have a right to an appeal.

559
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:41,599
But civil appeals are different. Um and
here's why I appealed this case. Number

560
00:46:39,200 --> 00:46:46,800
one, all humans are fallible. Number
two, all judges are human. Therefore,

561
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:50,800
all judges are fallible. And in this
case, I think the judge got it wrong.

562
00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:55,040
Um, so I appealed the case to the court
of appeals. And again, I'm relying on

563
00:46:52,720 --> 00:46:59,599
the document that was presented to court
that said this subdivision had to be

564
00:46:57,599 --> 00:47:04,400
approved by both our technical review
committee and our planning commission.

565
00:47:02,640 --> 00:47:09,200
That's it. That's the basis of my
argument. It's in black and white. The

566
00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:14,079
judge read the exact same document and
disagreed with me. I tend to think he's

567
00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:18,560
wrong. with all due respect. So
therefore, I appealed him to a higher

568
00:47:16,079 --> 00:47:23,599
court so I can have three judges review
this and tell me whether the county is

569
00:47:20,400 --> 00:47:28,720
right or the developer is right.
Again, our ordinance allowed for it. So

570
00:47:27,280 --> 00:47:31,680
that's the end of my presentation. I'll
be happy to answer any questions in

571
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:35,680
executive session because you guys would
ask me for legal advice then, but I did

572
00:47:33,920 --> 00:47:38,800
want to put those facts forward since
some other facts were put forward in

573
00:47:37,119 --> 00:47:42,640
another public forum.
>> Mr. Mittz, thank you so much. Um, you

574
00:47:41,359 --> 00:47:45,119
might have already send it over. Is
there any chance we could get a copy of

575
00:47:44,079 --> 00:47:48,160
the slideshow?
>> Absolutely.

576
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:50,160
» Is it it's available? We can share it
correct with people. Okay.

577
00:47:49,599 --> 00:47:54,160
» Absolutely.
>> I'm going to tell you my opinion. I went

578
00:47:52,079 --> 00:47:58,640
to that meeting and I'm going to call
him out and he can say he got something

579
00:47:56,000 --> 00:48:02,319
said to me. Come see me. Ken dog didn't
even know the zoner. He don't even know

580
00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:05,520
the zoning in his own county in his own
city.

581
00:48:03,839 --> 00:48:11,440
I would dare man don't even know what a
R1 or R2 or R3 is. And you on the boat

582
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:15,200
and been there 30 or 40 years. They're
telling me you don't know. You ain't

583
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:20,000
know your whole town. And I couldn't
speak then, but I'm speaking now. But

584
00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:24,400
let him listen to this. Ole Fton Jr.
said it sir to you.

585
00:48:22,640 --> 00:48:28,119
You don't even know your whole town and
they don't know your or

586
00:48:28,240 --> 00:48:35,760
it like this. The city of Clinton don't
have the balls to tell them a go or no

587
00:48:34,240 --> 00:48:43,280
go.
Come back and see me to say the Clint.

588
00:48:39,920 --> 00:48:48,800
Anybody else have anything for Mr. Mets?
We appreciate that, Mr. Mets.

589
00:48:46,319 --> 00:48:52,480
Next item will be old business. Are
there any council submissions for

590
00:48:50,960 --> 00:48:57,920
boards, commissions, or committees this
evening?

591
00:48:55,200 --> 00:49:02,319
Okay. Next item would be public hearing
of ordinance 111011,

592
00:49:00,559 --> 00:49:06,880
an ordinance to amend Lawrence County
Ordinance 935 adding responsible pet

593
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:11,920
ownership and targeted spayneuter
provisions and other matters pertaining

594
00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:17,920
there too. We will open this public
hearing at 18:48. Anybody willing

595
00:49:15,359 --> 00:49:22,359
wishing to speak for or against this
public hearing is open, please come

596
00:49:19,359 --> 00:49:22,359
forward.

597
00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:42,319
My name's Pam and um Riddle and I for
it. You know there y'all know there's so

598
00:49:39,359 --> 00:49:47,200
many stray animals. I I actually have
three dogs, three puppies and a dog

599
00:49:44,960 --> 00:49:53,119
right now from Lawrence County out of a
ditch. Nobody owns them. Nobody knows

600
00:49:50,079 --> 00:49:59,200
anything which adds a lot of dogs on my
property. But anyway, all we can do to

601
00:49:56,240 --> 00:50:03,599
support the help for the shelter for the
spayneuter,

602
00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:07,319
you need to stand behind them.
>> Thank you.

603
00:50:04,079 --> 00:50:07,319
» Thank you.

604
00:50:15,359 --> 00:50:23,119
Anyone else?
Seeing none, we'll close the public

605
00:50:20,160 --> 00:50:27,200
hearing. Next item is the third reading
of ordinance 1011.

606
00:50:25,599 --> 00:50:28,720
Is there a motion to approve on third
reading?

607
00:50:27,839 --> 00:50:32,000
» Motion.
>> Second.

608
00:50:29,359 --> 00:50:35,200
» Motion is second. Any discussion?
>> First off, I just want to thank Caroline

609
00:50:33,440 --> 00:50:38,480
and all the animal control staff. I know
this is a tool that y'all can finally

610
00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:42,160
use now that we're to the finish line.
Also want to thank Mr. J and Miss Clark

611
00:50:40,400 --> 00:50:45,920
couldn't be with us tonight. Uh part of
the criminal justice and public safety

612
00:50:43,839 --> 00:50:49,200
committee. I know we had plenty of
meetings on it and heard all the input

613
00:50:47,599 --> 00:50:53,119
that we possibly could uh to get the
best version of this out that we can. Um

614
00:50:50,960 --> 00:50:56,240
just again, thank you to animal control.
I hope this is a tool y'all can use and

615
00:50:54,640 --> 00:51:02,440
I look forward to finally passing it on
third read and whoever's playing free

616
00:50:58,319 --> 00:51:02,440
bird. That was uh that was awesome.

617
00:51:03,599 --> 00:51:10,800
Anybody else?
All right, we are motioned and second

618
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:15,680
properly. All those in favor of
approving on third reading ordinance

619
00:51:12,640 --> 00:51:18,680
1011, please raise your right hand
50.

620
00:51:18,720 --> 00:51:25,920
Hopefully this is going to be helpful to
y'all. Hope so. Next item is second

621
00:51:23,839 --> 00:51:29,920
reading of ordinance 1012. That is the
ordinance imposing a moratorum on the

622
00:51:28,240 --> 00:51:35,920
acceptance, review, approval, and
issuance of developmental permits for

623
00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:39,119
data centers within Lawren County.
Is there a motion to approve on second

624
00:51:37,599 --> 00:51:42,880
reading?
Second

625
00:51:40,319 --> 00:51:47,440
» motion and a second at this time. Any
discussion council has?

626
00:51:44,160 --> 00:51:54,079
» Yeah, Mr. Chairman. Um,
you know, I I am interested in striking

627
00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:59,680
section 4B. Um, so I guess I would need
to put a motion on the table to to

628
00:51:55,760 --> 00:52:02,559
strike. Um,
Miss Tate had mentioned, thank you, Miss

629
00:52:01,359 --> 00:52:10,640
Tate, for bringing that to our
attention. Um yes, section four under

630
00:52:05,839 --> 00:52:13,520
exemptions uh specifically line B
4B

631
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:16,720
» 4B.
Um Mr. Mets, is that an appropriate

632
00:52:15,839 --> 00:52:21,119
motion?
>> So I was going to get clarification for

633
00:52:18,960 --> 00:52:24,400
why that was in there, what it could be
used for and couldn't be used for, and

634
00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:30,720
give us some clarification before we
took action. Is that okay?

635
00:52:28,079 --> 00:52:35,920
» Yes, Mr. Chairman. Honestly, I I think
this statement or I think this section

636
00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:38,480
states the obvious. Um there's only a
certain handful of governmental

637
00:52:37,119 --> 00:52:40,559
entities. You've got the federal
government, you got the state

638
00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:43,119
government, you got the county
government, and you got the city

639
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:45,680
government, right? And we have no
jurisdiction over the federal

640
00:52:44,240 --> 00:52:48,640
government. We have no jurisdiction over
the state government, and we have no

641
00:52:47,200 --> 00:52:52,960
jurisdiction over what a city does
inside their city. Um and quite frankly,

642
00:52:51,599 --> 00:52:56,480
I don't know that we want to impose
regulations on the county. Um which

643
00:52:55,119 --> 00:53:02,240
would be the only other governmental
entity there is. Um, so I I think it

644
00:53:00,160 --> 00:53:05,119
states what the the state of the law is.
The supremacy claw of the constitution

645
00:53:03,839 --> 00:53:08,319
tells us that we can't regulate the
federal government. Um, home rule tells

646
00:53:07,200 --> 00:53:12,640
us that we can't regulate the state
government to the extent they allow us

647
00:53:09,599 --> 00:53:19,200
to. Um, and cities, we don't have any
jurisdiction over what they do with

648
00:53:13,920 --> 00:53:22,800
inside the corporate cities. Um, so um,
we can strike it, but I think that's the

649
00:53:20,640 --> 00:53:26,359
state of the law. Um, so I think it's
going to be that way anyway.

650
00:53:27,119 --> 00:53:34,400
I just want to tell everybody
the class they just sent me to, I think

651
00:53:31,839 --> 00:53:40,720
he was in that two class, Mr. Matthew,
uh, Council Brownley.

652
00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:48,160
And people don't understand
and I'mma let y'all inside where I was

653
00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:54,640
taught in class in school.
It retypes a data center.

654
00:53:52,079 --> 00:54:01,359
It retypes. Lots of people do not know
that it three types of data center is

655
00:53:57,520 --> 00:54:06,800
out there. Some counties where I was
told in in school

656
00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:11,440
should have never took some data center
because

657
00:54:08,800 --> 00:54:17,359
some counties is still living off of
whale water.

658
00:54:13,839 --> 00:54:25,599
That whole town is well water. So they
should have never got a data center

659
00:54:21,119 --> 00:54:32,400
there. Lauren County warden sew that I
heard might be wrong but he hear the

660
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:37,200
verified that we have water here in
Lawrence County.

661
00:54:34,640 --> 00:54:42,000
So people don't understand
some county went off the first data

662
00:54:39,520 --> 00:54:49,280
center that came in front of them and
accept that data center.

663
00:54:44,720 --> 00:54:56,240
I thank vice chairman Matthew Brownley
by putting this monitor together to make

664
00:54:53,359 --> 00:55:03,440
sure and understand to consider the
people out here. People don't understand

665
00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:08,880
we got soda farms here in Lawrence
County. People complaining about noise

666
00:55:06,400 --> 00:55:15,760
and all of that.
We are trying to put in a moratorum now

667
00:55:11,520 --> 00:55:22,800
to put data center in a location that it
don't be by a residential or by

668
00:55:19,040 --> 00:55:28,720
commercial property and what else uh
schools and stuff like that. So we are

669
00:55:26,000 --> 00:55:33,839
working on that and I thank him from
putting this together and I understand

670
00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:39,760
all the rules of regulation I'm
learning. I'm gonna keep reading but be

671
00:55:37,040 --> 00:55:44,800
tell the people it is three types of
data center

672
00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:49,920
and like I said last month in my perfect
comment

673
00:55:46,880 --> 00:55:55,040
y'all here on the county we putting
something together but people right now

674
00:55:51,920 --> 00:56:00,160
can go to law city hall and put in
permit people can go to the city clinic

675
00:55:57,680 --> 00:56:07,200
to put in for a permit I don't see y'all
at them meetings when they can go put

676
00:56:02,720 --> 00:56:10,480
get a permit today or anytime and they
can go up in the Hun Industrial Park and

677
00:56:09,119 --> 00:56:14,799
go TO LAWN. THEY AIN'T GOT TO come
through the county. They can go to the

678
00:56:12,960 --> 00:56:22,079
Clinton connection and go to the city of
Clinton and get one and go down into the

679
00:56:18,079 --> 00:56:28,960
city of Clinton and put one.
But that y'all need to be talking to the

680
00:56:24,319 --> 00:56:32,240
law city and law city Clinton. Well,
some of them don't even know they tail

681
00:56:30,400 --> 00:56:37,280
from their butt.
So I'm telling you like you need to go

682
00:56:33,920 --> 00:56:40,880
to them. We are putting stuff in order.
It might not be the order you want but

683
00:56:39,440 --> 00:56:43,280
we are working on it.
>> Councilman Lane, do you still after

684
00:56:42,720 --> 00:56:48,400
hearing
>> Yeah, I agree. Mr. Pson, uh Mr. Mets,

685
00:56:46,480 --> 00:56:53,920
now I understand supremacy clause and
everything and I understand we can't um

686
00:56:51,280 --> 00:56:59,040
go we can't necessarily infringe on the
cities and the municipalities, but we

687
00:56:56,079 --> 00:57:02,559
can manage the county. Is that true? the
the significance of that um

688
00:57:01,280 --> 00:57:07,440
» would be that if you took out that
exemption then Lawrence County would be

689
00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:09,119
subject to your right our own ordinance
um

690
00:57:08,000 --> 00:57:11,520
» which
>> I don't feel like

691
00:57:10,000 --> 00:57:14,480
» subject yourself to those regulations
but you may want to put it you know

692
00:57:13,200 --> 00:57:18,319
there may be in the future that the
county would want to put a data center

693
00:57:15,839 --> 00:57:22,799
somewhere and this would restrict where
the county would be able to do that

694
00:57:19,520 --> 00:57:27,359
» I mean you know so I I think it's worth
covering all of our bases I will resend

695
00:57:24,880 --> 00:57:34,079
my previous motion and I'll put another
motion on the table to rephrase uh 4B to

696
00:57:31,440 --> 00:57:38,480
say facilities owned and operated by a
governmental entity for governmental

697
00:57:36,000 --> 00:57:42,720
purposes excluding Lawrence County.
Would that cover all of our bases, Mr.

698
00:57:40,319 --> 00:57:46,640
Mets?
>> It would. Gotcha.

699
00:57:45,920 --> 00:57:50,760
» That your motion?
>> Yes, sir. Is there a second?

700
00:57:55,359 --> 00:58:01,640
That motion does for lack of a second.
Any more discussion?

701
00:58:04,960 --> 00:58:12,000
Call the question. All those in favor of
approving on second reading

702
00:58:10,240 --> 00:58:17,680
ordinance
should get it right. 1012, please raise

703
00:58:14,400 --> 00:58:23,200
your right hand.
50.

704
00:58:20,000 --> 00:58:28,240
Thank you.
Next item is new business, approval of

705
00:58:25,040 --> 00:58:31,880
our 2026 a tax allocations. Andy Howard,
are you in the house?

706
00:58:40,559 --> 00:58:49,520
» Good evening, council.
>> Good evening, sir.

707
00:58:44,720 --> 00:58:53,680
So, this year was a very um prosperous
year for accommodations taxes. Um we

708
00:58:52,079 --> 00:58:57,720
received more than we've ever received
before, $264,896.13.

709
00:58:59,040 --> 00:59:06,960
Um never seen it before. Um but it is a
great year. Um we were able to award

710
00:59:04,480 --> 00:59:11,520
everybody that applied and have quite a
bit left over.

711
00:59:09,119 --> 00:59:16,400
The recommendations were that everybody
that applied receive everything they

712
00:59:13,440 --> 00:59:21,119
applied for. Um I believe everyone has
that um recommendation from the

713
00:59:18,559 --> 00:59:27,599
accommodations tax committee.
Um the remaining funds were recommended

714
00:59:24,160 --> 00:59:33,440
to go to pay for placer AI and there's
quite a bit left over.

715
00:59:30,160 --> 00:59:39,200
Um we have quite a few other
opportunities with the a center being a

716
00:59:36,240 --> 00:59:45,520
large um
tourist generating facility now and my

717
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:50,799
recommendation would be that those
additional funds be um sent to that. Um

718
00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:55,280
we will have to meet with the
accommodations tax for their

719
00:59:52,799 --> 00:59:58,960
recommendations after that. But what I
am asking tonight is that the

720
00:59:57,119 --> 01:00:02,240
accommodations tax original
recommendations

721
01:00:00,480 --> 01:00:07,440
be approved so that we can get those
funds out to those original applicants

722
01:00:05,359 --> 01:00:12,160
um and pay for those and then we will
bring another recommendation next month

723
01:00:09,680 --> 01:00:18,400
after the accommodations tax committee
um meets to decide what we do with those

724
01:00:15,680 --> 01:00:23,839
remaining funds. Does anybody have any
questions on how the accommodations tax

725
01:00:20,799 --> 01:00:28,400
revenues are dispersed or how they
received? I am more than happy to

726
01:00:26,480 --> 01:00:31,520
discuss it after 18 years of dealing
with these funds.

727
01:00:29,920 --> 01:00:35,200
» I realized that you put it in the
newspaper and everybody fill out the

728
01:00:33,599 --> 01:00:38,880
application and turn back in.
>> Yes, sir.

729
01:00:35,920 --> 01:00:42,000
» And and this year, like you said, I'm
looking at your sheet. I'm looking at

730
01:00:40,079 --> 01:00:46,160
numbers
that all of them awarded. I mean getting

731
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:47,839
them out the amount the amount they
asked for.

732
01:00:46,960 --> 01:00:52,880
» Yes sir.
>> And the money that left over from the

733
01:00:50,400 --> 01:00:58,319
ATAC fund
that can some kind of way we can use it

734
01:00:56,240 --> 01:01:03,319
here in Lawrence County.
>> Um I'm not quite sure I'll follow Mr. F.

735
01:01:03,760 --> 01:01:13,040
» The money that left over out of all the
application

736
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:15,599
» it come out to be 77 $74,280,000.
I'm looking at my sheet, right?

737
01:01:14,480 --> 01:01:18,559
» Yes, sir.
>> Can that money be used back in to

738
01:01:17,680 --> 01:01:23,440
Lawrence County?
>> As long as it's in tourism related

739
01:01:20,319 --> 01:01:27,359
expenses in in a way that will generate
tourism to Lawrence County. We want to

740
01:01:25,119 --> 01:01:30,480
bring as many people as we can into
Lawrence County and get them to spend

741
01:01:28,799 --> 01:01:33,359
more money in Lawrence County. That's
how we boost tourism dollars in Lawrence

742
01:01:32,880 --> 01:01:37,040
County.
>> Can you share with Mr. Phill

743
01:01:36,400 --> 01:01:42,240
again?
>> Yes. the a center and you you all have

744
01:01:40,160 --> 01:01:48,960
seen reports that we've had just in the
small events that we've had so far

745
01:01:46,319 --> 01:01:53,839
4500 people at a time coming in.
>> So why saying can we put that money back

746
01:01:51,200 --> 01:02:00,000
in there to buy stuff for our county?
>> Absolutely. We've had um interest in

747
01:01:56,720 --> 01:02:05,520
heer sales. Um, most recently the Black
Angus um um

748
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:11,200
committee is looking at doing a a black
Angus sale and you're looking at around

749
01:02:07,839 --> 01:02:17,599
300 people a night and on the average
around 65 to 120 cattle and that will

750
01:02:14,640 --> 01:02:24,559
bring in $350,000
in sales over a weekend sale. Um you're

751
01:02:21,119 --> 01:02:28,319
talking the price of cars for cattle. Um
and that's pretty amazing. I'm not a

752
01:02:26,799 --> 01:02:34,319
cattle person, but I think we got a few
here tonight. Um, I see one back there.

753
01:02:31,440 --> 01:02:40,319
Um, and these are sales that are
typically held at Clemson, and they are

754
01:02:37,920 --> 01:02:45,440
interested in using our a facility,
which is pretty amazing. Um, and we're

755
01:02:42,880 --> 01:02:52,559
looking at the um red Angus, the
Herford, th those different um those are

756
01:02:48,799 --> 01:02:58,880
specialty um cattle sales, but that does
come with specialty

757
01:02:54,880 --> 01:03:05,359
um and specialty sail rings and those
things would be usable in different

758
01:03:02,559 --> 01:03:10,160
setups in say the horse arena and so
those things would also generate you

759
01:03:07,920 --> 01:03:14,400
know the use for other different types
of events like rodeos and things like

760
01:03:11,920 --> 01:03:18,720
that. So it's not just a one use type
thing but it's sales that we would have

761
01:03:16,720 --> 01:03:23,920
multiple times throughout the year and
again generate more revenue and generate

762
01:03:21,680 --> 01:03:27,599
more tourists coming in. You know,
typically you're not going to have those

763
01:03:25,280 --> 01:03:31,440
types of sales and just with residents
from Lawrence County. That's going to

764
01:03:29,200 --> 01:03:37,599
bring bring people in from different
states. And that's what we want. We want

765
01:03:34,640 --> 01:03:40,640
out oftowners staying here in Lawrence,
spending their money in our restaurants,

766
01:03:39,280 --> 01:03:46,480
spending their money at our gas
stations. Again, boosting that that a

767
01:03:43,839 --> 01:03:49,920
tax dollar here in Lawrence County.
>> I'm all for it, sir.

768
01:03:48,480 --> 01:03:54,559
I'll go ahead and make a motion to
approve this 2026

769
01:03:52,319 --> 01:03:58,880
a tax committee funding that we've
already got in front of us and to

770
01:03:56,240 --> 01:04:02,400
approve the remaining allocation of
74,280

771
01:04:00,799 --> 01:04:07,200
of the remaining balance to go toward
the a center contingent upon a review

772
01:04:04,960 --> 01:04:09,359
and approval by the tax committee.
>> Sounds good.

773
01:04:08,480 --> 01:04:13,599
» Is there a second?
>> Second.

774
01:04:10,640 --> 01:04:17,680
» Any further discussion?
All those in favor of approving the

775
01:04:15,359 --> 01:04:19,599
motion, please raise your right hand.
5. Thank you.

776
01:04:18,720 --> 01:04:22,640
» Thank you, council.
>> Thank you, sir.

777
01:04:21,039 --> 01:04:23,920
» Tell your department thank what they do
every day, sir.

778
01:04:23,599 --> 01:04:26,720
» Thank you.
>> I know it's hot out there.

779
01:04:25,359 --> 01:04:30,799
» Yes, sir. Thank you.
>> Next item is first reading of ordinance

780
01:04:28,720 --> 01:04:38,799
1013. It's an ordinance to amend
ordinance 926 by repealing and replacing

781
01:04:34,160 --> 01:04:44,079
division 6.3 and 8-8.B
B and amending division 9A.1

782
01:04:42,319 --> 01:04:49,200
regarding major subdivision plan
approvals and other matters related

783
01:04:46,240 --> 01:04:51,680
there too. This came from council member
Brownley. So I'll let him expound on

784
01:04:51,119 --> 01:04:54,880
this.
>> Thank you, sir. And uh Mr. Mets, our

785
01:04:53,520 --> 01:04:59,680
county attorney, did an amazing job
explaining um the development in Clinton

786
01:04:58,319 --> 01:05:05,039
and what happened with the county a
couple months ago. So essentially this

787
01:05:01,839 --> 01:05:08,799
ordinance is repealing giving the TRC or
andor the planning commission the

788
01:05:07,039 --> 01:05:14,319
ability to approve major subdivisions
and and now making that TRC also called

789
01:05:12,000 --> 01:05:19,039
the technical review committee advisory
only.

790
01:05:16,559 --> 01:05:22,720
Are there any other questions about that
and I'm happy to Mr. Mads if you'd like

791
01:05:20,559 --> 01:05:27,039
to expand any on anything? Just want to
give a quick overview.

792
01:05:24,960 --> 01:05:31,520
» No, I think you nailed it. Um I just
don't like losing lawsuits. Um, and the

793
01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:36,799
only way I can clarify that provision is
to remove the authority of um, and pick

794
01:05:34,880 --> 01:05:41,200
one. And I figure if we're going to pick
one, it should be our planning

795
01:05:37,920 --> 01:05:44,000
commission as opposed to our TRC.
And for those that don't know, the

796
01:05:42,400 --> 01:05:48,000
technical review committee is made up of
county staff. Um, you know, and they're

797
01:05:46,720 --> 01:05:52,799
really great looking through these, so I
don't want to knock on them one bit, but

798
01:05:49,680 --> 01:05:57,880
this does give us the the tools we need,
I think, to make the process a lot

799
01:05:54,319 --> 01:05:57,880
better and more transparent.

800
01:05:58,240 --> 01:06:03,839
And I will be happy to make a motion to
approve on first reading ordinance 1013.

801
01:06:02,240 --> 01:06:06,079
» Second.
>> Is there any further discussion?

802
01:06:05,280 --> 01:06:07,839
» Yeah.
>> Go ahead.

803
01:06:07,119 --> 01:06:12,000
» Go ahead.
>> Mr. Mats, I do have a question for you.

804
01:06:09,440 --> 01:06:16,799
I've tried to look up in ordinance 872
for the RV parks. Do you happen to be

805
01:06:15,200 --> 01:06:19,760
familiar with that language? I know this
is first reading so we can fix it later,

806
01:06:18,240 --> 01:06:24,280
but I would like to address Miss
Garrison's concerns on the notices.

807
01:06:26,160 --> 01:06:31,039
Um,
with with all due respect to Miss

808
01:06:29,440 --> 01:06:34,960
Garrison, she's half right, half wrong.
Um, [laughter]

809
01:06:32,160 --> 01:06:38,960
and and I do agree with her that that
the public notice requirement um applies

810
01:06:36,880 --> 01:06:43,039
to all commercial projects and that an
RV campground is a commercial project.

811
01:06:41,520 --> 01:06:46,799
Um, so therefore, they should have to
follow the public notice requirements of

812
01:06:44,799 --> 01:06:50,400
division 7. I don't think you need an
amendment to the ordinance. I think the

813
01:06:48,319 --> 01:06:54,160
ordinance says that plainly right now.
We just need need to make it clear to

814
01:06:51,839 --> 01:06:57,680
our building and codes and and planning
department that that public notice

815
01:06:55,760 --> 01:07:01,520
requirement needs to be met for RB parks
as well. Um

816
01:07:00,079 --> 01:07:06,559
the part that I'm going to disagree with
Miss Garrison about is where it says

817
01:07:03,760 --> 01:07:12,000
proceeding sections. That refers to any
preceding ordinances before that

818
01:07:08,400 --> 01:07:17,760
ordinance um and not ordinances that are
passed afterwards. Um but I I think the

819
01:07:15,039 --> 01:07:21,359
gist of of her complaint and she is
correct is that the public notice

820
01:07:19,520 --> 01:07:25,680
requirements need to be observed for
commercial projects and we will make

821
01:07:23,280 --> 01:07:29,920
sure that uh myself and the county
administrator direct our staff that way.

822
01:07:28,240 --> 01:07:32,960
» Thank you sir. I appreciate it.
>> People might don't like my opinion. When

823
01:07:31,440 --> 01:07:38,640
somebody want to sell some land they
going to sell their land. whoever they

824
01:07:34,720 --> 01:07:43,119
going to put on it or sell it to.
As long they meet the county rules and

825
01:07:41,200 --> 01:07:47,039
regulation
and go by their rules and regulation and

826
01:07:45,200 --> 01:07:52,920
go by the what they need to go by and
get the permits and stuff, why are we

827
01:07:49,440 --> 01:07:52,920
talking about it?

828
01:07:53,440 --> 01:08:02,000
» Any other comments?
>> Yeah. Um I'm I'm glad we're making this

829
01:07:58,400 --> 01:08:07,119
change. Um, and as in Wes's slides show
earlier, there was an andor uh portion

830
01:08:04,799 --> 01:08:12,640
line in there. Um, and that's why we
have a fighting chance in that appeals

831
01:08:08,960 --> 01:08:17,120
court. Um, but I just to piggyback on
what Mr. Brownley was saying, you know,

832
01:08:14,640 --> 01:08:21,120
the TRC it is comprised of employees,
but it's my understanding it's comprised

833
01:08:18,880 --> 01:08:26,960
of uh representatives of various
entities as well. Correct. Um, and I

834
01:08:24,319 --> 01:08:31,199
also learned that district 55 is on
there. District 56, to my understanding,

835
01:08:29,199 --> 01:08:35,120
is still not represented by their own
choosing.

836
01:08:33,199 --> 01:08:37,279
» I think they're now on board. Um,
>> we got them on board.

837
01:08:36,080 --> 01:08:41,359
» Both school districts and actually
Greenville County is on board now, too.

838
01:08:38,719 --> 01:08:42,719
So, we've got uh Lawrence 556 in
Greenville County weighing in on

839
01:08:42,400 --> 01:08:46,880
something.
>> So, it's good. We've got things uh

840
01:08:44,480 --> 01:08:50,480
improving and getting better. Um, love
to see it. Uh, and you know, obviously

841
01:08:49,040 --> 01:08:56,960
like Matthew said, you know, we're not
knocking the TRC or anything. I I do

842
01:08:53,359 --> 01:09:03,440
appreciate the fact that we are um
moving that authority and that power

843
01:09:00,000 --> 01:09:09,359
from an employee entity style committee
to a citizen-led committee or planning

844
01:09:06,400 --> 01:09:15,440
commission which is citizenled. Um so I
do appreciate that. That's all I got.

845
01:09:12,319 --> 01:09:19,359
» Awesome. All right.
There is a motion and a second on the

846
01:09:17,279 --> 01:09:23,839
table. Correct. We've had discussion.
All those in favor of approving on first

847
01:09:21,759 --> 01:09:30,080
reading ordinance 1013, please raise
your right hand. 5. Great.

848
01:09:28,640 --> 01:09:33,920
All right. And that gets us to the end.
We'll be at County Council comments. Uh,

849
01:09:32,239 --> 01:09:39,279
Councilman Lang,
>> I will keep it quick. Um, you always

850
01:09:36,000 --> 01:09:42,319
know where to find me. Um, Mr. Joe, I
need to get back to you. I'm sorry,

851
01:09:40,560 --> 01:09:48,080
brother. But I do agree with what you
were bringing to us earlier in your

852
01:09:44,159 --> 01:09:52,239
comments. Um, and uh I am excited about
these two ordinances. While they don't

853
01:09:50,640 --> 01:09:55,600
address the core problems that were
brought up earlier, I do think, you

854
01:09:53,839 --> 01:10:01,520
know, this is something to build on and
it's very valuable, as you said. Um, as

855
01:09:59,679 --> 01:10:06,239
far as the data centers, I I just want
to, I guess, make my stance clear now. I

856
01:10:04,640 --> 01:10:11,120
just hope it doesn't get get me put on a
list somewhere, which I might I might

857
01:10:07,840 --> 01:10:17,520
already be on a list, but um, but I
mean, I'm against them. I a brother Uh D

858
01:10:15,600 --> 01:10:22,000
Parnell who came up earlier mentioned
the trip. You don't even have to take me

859
01:10:19,280 --> 01:10:27,600
brother. I'm already against them. Um
for for a multitude of reasons. The only

860
01:10:25,120 --> 01:10:33,120
situation I see myself being in support
of any sort of data center is if they

861
01:10:30,320 --> 01:10:38,640
are self-sufficient as far as power and
water do not raise electricity fees for

862
01:10:36,000 --> 01:10:43,520
for the citizens. Um their water bill
for that matter. also the environmental

863
01:10:40,880 --> 01:10:49,280
concerns as far as the water supply and
it getting contaminated, polluted um or

864
01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:53,520
whatever it may be. Um but it would have
to check all those boxes and and I could

865
01:10:52,080 --> 01:10:59,280
probably think of some more boxes to
check too and on top of that the revenue

866
01:10:56,480 --> 01:11:03,840
uh benefit that they could bring. Um you
know, if we could check all those boxes

867
01:11:01,360 --> 01:11:07,840
and not harm the community, not harm the
environment, anything of that nature,

868
01:11:05,840 --> 01:11:11,280
and it be completely self-sufficient.
And then on top of that, we receive a

869
01:11:09,679 --> 01:11:16,960
tremendous amount of revenue for the
county. I think I could support it. Um,

870
01:11:14,560 --> 01:11:20,640
I would love to see it generate so much
revenue, we just cut out property taxes.

871
01:11:18,880 --> 01:11:24,880
I know I said that might sound crazy,
but um, might be a pipe dream. Wishful

872
01:11:22,960 --> 01:11:28,880
thinking, but that's just where I stand.
I just wanted to make that clear. Um,

873
01:11:27,120 --> 01:11:33,360
but I appreciate this council. I
appreciate all the citizens here. And

874
01:11:30,400 --> 01:11:35,600
yeah, y'all know where to find me.
>> Mr.

875
01:11:35,760 --> 01:11:43,960
Councilman Filson.
>> Uh, I would like to put on the table

876
01:11:40,960 --> 01:11:43,960
again

877
01:11:46,159 --> 01:11:54,159
what Greenwood County been doing about
the taxes. People pay their taxes during

878
01:11:52,000 --> 01:11:59,199
the year.
And

879
01:11:55,840 --> 01:12:04,400
I don't know that we had to put it on
agenda

880
01:12:00,800 --> 01:12:09,280
for to vote on it. It's mostly made for
the s citizen

881
01:12:06,560 --> 01:12:14,080
or lawn county and it made for
everybody. They can pay their taxes all

882
01:12:11,760 --> 01:12:18,640
during the year.
But I think Greenwood County, if you

883
01:12:17,040 --> 01:12:24,239
miss a payment, you're on a payment
plan. If you miss a payment plan and you

884
01:12:21,920 --> 01:12:30,719
miss it, you get all your money back and
you got to pay the full amount.

885
01:12:27,440 --> 01:12:36,800
But it's mostly made for I call it
military wise they call it hardship.

886
01:12:33,840 --> 01:12:43,360
So people pay it all during the year and
make a payment so they won't have to

887
01:12:39,120 --> 01:12:50,960
come up with all the funds at one time.
Everybody not able to read Facebook

888
01:12:47,920 --> 01:12:59,120
internet I mean Instagram
zel cash app and all of that. So that is

889
01:12:55,120 --> 01:13:07,040
one of my thing. Uh I want to thank the
councilman's Matthew from putting up um

890
01:13:03,920 --> 01:13:11,440
the Maran together and like I told you
earlier today

891
01:13:09,120 --> 01:13:17,679
people don't understand it is three
types a data center

892
01:13:14,719 --> 01:13:22,239
and nobody don't sell whoever come up
and selling you say my car I sell BMW

893
01:13:20,640 --> 01:13:27,440
you go to the BMW lot they going to say
your BMW you go to a Ford lot they going

894
01:13:25,040 --> 01:13:32,159
to say your board. So you go to the
youth side. So that how these other data

895
01:13:30,480 --> 01:13:39,120
people been coming up in front of these
other county and they went off the first

896
01:13:35,199 --> 01:13:43,199
center data center. I'm I learned a lot
about data center while I'm in school. I

897
01:13:41,679 --> 01:13:49,360
think we go back I think we're going to
have another class about data center and

898
01:13:45,840 --> 01:13:54,480
we're going to meet in Colombia. L46
county going to meet there in Colombia

899
01:13:52,400 --> 01:13:58,480
and they gonna talk about the BRE data
center.

900
01:13:55,520 --> 01:14:03,040
And I tell everybody
I ain't for a data center myself but

901
01:14:00,960 --> 01:14:12,560
it's three types
and it like this and like Justin said

902
01:14:07,280 --> 01:14:19,199
some data center going to help certain r
and we can they do bring a loss revenues

903
01:14:15,199 --> 01:14:25,199
in but let us get more detail about the
data center and so we can pass it on to

904
01:14:22,480 --> 01:14:32,800
y'all. We ain't finally keeping that
from y'all. Just realize that

905
01:14:30,480 --> 01:14:40,480
I'm glad that we are putting something
together to probably make it. Not by if

906
01:14:37,360 --> 01:14:45,679
one ever want to come in front of us and
pose up, but because the people y'all

907
01:14:43,120 --> 01:14:50,719
the one that gohead, we the one that
decide,

908
01:14:47,199 --> 01:14:56,400
but we finally put stuff in order.
I want to thank every department y'all.

909
01:14:52,800 --> 01:15:01,360
It been a hot summer.
I want to thank the park and wreck the

910
01:14:58,640 --> 01:15:06,239
purple work department billing and cold
janitor to everybody who work outside

911
01:15:03,920 --> 01:15:12,480
for this county
because

912
01:15:07,760 --> 01:15:20,400
and it been hot and I our it rain every
day look like we ain't going to never

913
01:15:14,880 --> 01:15:25,360
get caught up on yards. Thank the uh
billing uh park and billing and code.

914
01:15:23,040 --> 01:15:30,800
Your people got to go outside. Just make
sure all your people y'all drink water.

915
01:15:28,960 --> 01:15:34,800
Thank you.
Thank you, sir. Mr. Brown,

916
01:15:33,199 --> 01:15:38,080
» I'll keep it very brief. Just appreciate
you all coming out, all those who spoke

917
01:15:36,560 --> 01:15:41,440
in public comment as well as all of our
departments. That is it for me tonight.

918
01:15:40,320 --> 01:15:45,920
We just appreciate everybody and
appreciate council as well.

919
01:15:42,800 --> 01:15:50,239
» Awesome. Thank you. And
there's some

920
01:15:48,000 --> 01:15:56,000
concerns that some people have related
to a moratorum that

921
01:15:52,800 --> 01:16:00,640
it means something will never come,
something will never happen. And we had

922
01:15:58,239 --> 01:16:05,760
a moratorum on
our subdivisions.

923
01:16:02,880 --> 01:16:10,239
And to many people's chagrins, it hasn't
stopped them from coming. It changed the

924
01:16:07,600 --> 01:16:17,520
way things come.
But we've had um growth in as it relates

925
01:16:14,320 --> 01:16:24,560
to business and industry in things that
we weren't 100% ready for or sure about.

926
01:16:21,280 --> 01:16:31,199
And we entered into things such as solar
farms assuming or thinking that they

927
01:16:28,159 --> 01:16:36,000
were innocuous and they would just be a
good neighbor to you and bring in

928
01:16:33,679 --> 01:16:42,719
electricity and it wouldn't impact
anything negative. And then some come

929
01:16:40,080 --> 01:16:48,000
and environmentally uh they affect
citizens uh things happen. And so this

930
01:16:45,920 --> 01:16:54,480
is an opportunity to look at something
another thing that wants to be here and

931
01:16:52,239 --> 01:16:58,640
make sure that this is something that
would fit within Lawrence County that it

932
01:16:56,560 --> 01:17:03,120
doesn't have these dilitterious effects
that are going to cause these things

933
01:17:00,080 --> 01:17:07,120
that some of these things do.
It doesn't mean there aren't places for

934
01:17:04,880 --> 01:17:11,280
them. I mean you if you're on your
phone, if you're doing things like that,

935
01:17:08,640 --> 01:17:16,480
data centers are part of our
infrastructure. Any AI you ever use will

936
01:17:14,000 --> 01:17:20,400
be coming from a data center. So it's
it's going to be there, but it doesn't

937
01:17:18,640 --> 01:17:24,640
fit everywhere. It's not for every
community. And just because it generates

938
01:17:22,719 --> 01:17:28,480
a lot of money does not necessarily mean
that it's right for us. We're learn

939
01:17:27,280 --> 01:17:31,520
they're learning a lot. They're going to
classes, learning things. And that might

940
01:17:30,000 --> 01:17:36,400
be in the future something that the
county wants to consider pieces of or it

941
01:17:34,400 --> 01:17:40,960
may not have any interest whatsoever.
This gives us an opportunity to look at

942
01:17:38,159 --> 01:17:45,040
that to get something before the county
transparently have meetings have

943
01:17:43,199 --> 01:17:51,920
everything that's decided and discussed
be in the open and then we'll together

944
01:17:49,360 --> 01:17:58,080
understand this is not for us or this is
for us. But this is something that is

945
01:17:55,199 --> 01:18:02,000
caused so much issues because on the
surface of it, somebody may have assumed

946
01:18:00,000 --> 01:18:06,480
that this was a good thing and in good
faith did something

947
01:18:04,560 --> 01:18:10,880
and it turned out to be very bad for a
community. And I if anything I've

948
01:18:08,400 --> 01:18:15,440
learned in my time here about to be done
is that the expectation of the citizen

949
01:18:13,280 --> 01:18:19,520
is that they know what's going on that
they're they're involved in those

950
01:18:16,880 --> 01:18:22,640
decisions and the things that we do have
impacts and we have to be held

951
01:18:20,880 --> 01:18:27,040
responsible for them. And so if nothing
else going forward, everything this co

952
01:18:24,719 --> 01:18:32,960
this this uh board does, this council
does keeps that in mind and it on this

953
01:18:30,640 --> 01:18:38,000
Facebook thing that everybody knows what
the agenda is, not just people who know

954
01:18:35,600 --> 01:18:42,480
how to get to a certain thing. If it
becomes packed houses every time, it's

955
01:18:40,400 --> 01:18:44,960
the way it should be because if you're
interested and want to be involved in

956
01:18:43,600 --> 01:18:50,159
your government, you should have access
and know everything there is. we should

957
01:18:47,760 --> 01:18:54,159
be doing good government and not
stopping and figuring this out would be

958
01:18:51,920 --> 01:18:57,920
bad bad government and I won't be a part
of that. So I appreciate all the work

959
01:18:56,080 --> 01:19:02,000
everybody's done. Hopefully you'll
continue to trust what we're doing and

960
01:18:59,600 --> 01:19:07,040
we'll get that trust by being uh
transparent with what uh we're doing.

961
01:19:04,719 --> 01:19:11,199
The next item we have is executive
session. We have two things on that. One

962
01:19:09,040 --> 01:19:17,199
is the receipt of legal advice relating
to the settlement of the county of

963
01:19:13,120 --> 01:19:23,040
Lawren versus Happy Valley LLC and the
second is discussion of u negotiations

964
01:19:20,880 --> 01:19:29,040
incident to our proposed agreement our
contract with regarding SCORE funding

965
01:19:26,239 --> 01:19:34,239
administration. That's what came from
Matthew Brownley's u report from

966
01:19:32,080 --> 01:19:38,719
committee related to SCORE funds. We're
going to be uh discussing the

967
01:19:36,400 --> 01:19:43,120
contractual impacts of that and when we
finish that discussion any motions that

968
01:19:40,719 --> 01:19:46,960
are taken will be done out here in
public. So if you're interested in that

969
01:19:44,880 --> 01:19:53,840
uh please stand by and we will come out
after our executive session and have

970
01:19:49,040 --> 01:19:58,880
discussion. So with that
other item what did I miss?

971
01:19:56,800 --> 01:20:02,480
» Okay.
Okay. All right. So

972
01:20:01,199 --> 01:20:07,840
» motion to enter
>> motion to enter executive session.

973
01:20:05,760 --> 01:20:15,280
» Motion and a second. All those in favor
of entering executive session. It is

974
01:20:12,239 --> 01:20:22,280
7:20. So we'll enter exe executive
session at 7:25 and we'll try to be

975
01:20:17,600 --> 01:20:22,280
mindful of your time. Thank you.

976
01:50:25,520 --> 01:50:34,080
All right, we are back from executive
session. No action was taken in

977
01:50:31,280 --> 01:50:38,239
executive session. We will now entertain
any motions anyone would like to make.

978
01:50:36,639 --> 01:50:40,719
» Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Y'all bear with
me on this one, but I would like to make

979
01:50:39,520 --> 01:50:44,960
a motion to allow the county
administrator to enter into a

980
01:50:42,159 --> 01:50:48,800
contractual agreement with PlaySafe to
apply for Lawrence County score funds in

981
01:50:46,639 --> 01:50:53,760
the amount of 210,000
for the 2026 year, 35,000 of which to

982
01:50:52,159 --> 01:50:59,040
continue the program at the corner's
office and the remaining 175,000 to fund

983
01:50:57,199 --> 01:51:03,280
two full-time outreach coordinators to
work exclusively in Lawrence County

984
01:51:00,639 --> 01:51:06,960
Schools and to establish a committee
that submits recommendations to council

985
01:51:05,280 --> 01:51:10,480
as presented earlier in my committee
report from the intergovernmental

986
01:51:08,159 --> 01:51:16,880
affairs and for this committee to begin
in the beginning of 2027.

987
01:51:14,159 --> 01:51:20,880
» There is a motion. Is there a second?
>> Any discussion?

988
01:51:19,440 --> 01:51:25,440
All those in favor of approving the
motion

989
01:51:22,560 --> 01:51:29,199
5. Mr. Filson, you want to share
something?

990
01:51:26,239 --> 01:51:33,840
» Uh I just want before closing tonight, I
forgot to put in my public comment

991
01:51:32,000 --> 01:51:39,280
in Clinton
55 56.

992
01:51:36,159 --> 01:51:46,000
We lost two people. Uh, one of them is
coach Bill Ro

993
01:51:41,599 --> 01:51:51,199
and Mr. Hary
>> Har

994
01:51:47,520 --> 01:51:59,119
that. Um, he long time jury man in
Clinton that he was in the AOS.

995
01:51:55,440 --> 01:52:03,360
Uh, he did a lot of volunteer
give back to the kids at the Clinton

996
01:52:01,280 --> 01:52:10,080
YMCA.
This man did a lot and I would make sure

997
01:52:06,400 --> 01:52:18,040
his family get recognized later on
and we just want to say

998
01:52:12,719 --> 01:52:18,040
um a moment silent for those two.

999
01:52:19,599 --> 01:52:27,280
» Thank you.
>> I'll entertain a motion. Motion to all

1000
01:52:24,960 --> 01:52:31,400
those in favor of journ
so moved. This meeting is adjourned.