Good evening everyone, and, um, welcome to our first meeting
of the year, new year, new new beginnings. And, uh,
I think for the first time in my lifetime that, uh,
I remember I didn't, didn't really research it, but I usually got a pretty good
memory. And I don't think I ever remember a time where we have had a
active serving council member pass. And, um,
I just wanna take a second here and let's, let's take a moment of
silence for, for, uh, councilman wj and also ms. Ms.
roxy mitchell, who works in our auditor's office. She also passed
and, and she was buried yesterday. And, um, we
lost two, two really important people in the county and in this office. And if you would, everyone,
let's, let's take a moment. Silence for
all right now. I guess we will all stand
if you will let recite the lord's prayer, followed by our privilege of allegiance.
our father, what you already heaven hall, be thy name.
thy kingdom come. Thou will be john on earth as it is in
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.
lead us not it's a temptation, but deliver us from evil. For
thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever.
amen.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america,
and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice.
all.
next up, uh, we have the approval of tonight's agenda. Do I have a motion to approve
tonight's agenda? So move, mr. Chairman. Second. A motion for councilman
richardson. Second from councilman coker. All in favor? A. Aye.
all opposed? The motion carries. Next
up, I have, we need to approve the minutes from last month's agenda. Joe,
I have a motion to approve those minutes. Second, I got a motion from
councilman rodin, second from councilman richardson. Uh, all
in favor? Aye. All opposed? And
that motion carries.
next we have a special recognition proclamation honoring councilman
william james wj frierson senior.
I'm going to ask for a motion on that. I'll
make a motion. I got a motion from councilman koch, second from councilman rodin.
and at this time, I would like for councilman
richardson to read that proclamation you have.
she's in the package
county of declaring proclamation honoring reverend councilman william james
wj fry senior, where reverend david j. Fry
senior began to service declaring connie south isaac county
council member on january 1st, 1995. And whereas
reverend councilman reon senior faithfully served the citizen of clar and connie
his capacity to continuously for 30 years of the passing on december 26th, 2025.
and whereas reverend councilman rey senior provided with goddess
foresight and unw and dedication to the citizen of cla and con throughout
his tenure in office. And whereas reverend councilman rey senior
helped lead cla and con with faith, compassion, and understanding,
setting the lasting example of servant leadership for others to follow.
and whereas reverend councilman freon senior will not only respect the political
leader for clarin county, but also a devoted spiritual leader to many.
and whereas reverend councilman freon senior will be deeply missed it by this
council, the citizen of clarine county, his family, his friends, and his
many marty. Now therefore be it resolved that robert councilman
william james wj fry, senior richly deserved this
recommendation for this lifelong dedication and the string service to cla
and county south carolina, be it further resolved that we too proclaim
january 2nd, 2026 at devil j fry. Senior day in
cla and county jeremy johnson. I third chairman dorothy,
mb clerk de council.
do you have that? We have
ms. Kay second. We need to take a plea. Oh yeah. Okay, good.
um, all in favor of passing that mo that motion? Aye. All opposed?
motion carries. Ms. Kay, if you would please come forward and, and, uh, all council members
let's around here.
next we have our service awards with mr. Leonard low.
good evening, mr. Chair council, the citizen of
the plan county. Tonight we'll be
tonight we'll be, uh, awarded six service awards.
first this, uh, shannon ts
okay. Five years of service paramedic firefighter
three. Next addison e
wagon, firefighter, three, five
years of service.
next, we have k jacqueline blackwell,
five years of service.
mr. Dispen tendo operations coordinator
facility, five years of service,
mr. Air champagne corporal in
our detention center, 10 years of service.
and mr. John hardy, public service
director. 10 years of service. Let's, let's give, give all of these employees.
sorry about that. We had a little, something happens that's never happened before.
. Next we have a presentation of the american heart
association by administrator walter ackerman. Thank you, mr.
chairman. Um, we have representative here from the american heart association.
they have been so kind as to donate a blood pressure check station
to clarendon county. Um, once past the presentation
tonight, we'll get this located out in the front lobby area. Um, this
is something I was so excited when she came forward with this. Um, this is
near and dear to my heart. Um, as you know, um, high
blood pressure is, they call it a silent killer. And they call it that for a reason. If
you don't stay on top of it, you don't realize you have it. Um, it has
dramatic negative effects over time. It kind of eats you away slowly.
and in the area where we live, we have a lot of good food. Um,
and it's good on the taste buds, but bad on your, on your blood pressure. Um,
uh, we have a medical professional in the house who can attest to just about everything I'm
saying so far. Uh, but we encourage the citizens to stop by.
whether you just stop by to get your blood pressure checked, whether you're coming in to do
business with the county, take a moment, you know, if you're in that risk category,
if you like to eat like I do, you may wanna stop by and get your blood
pressure under control. And if the numbers are outta whack, please go see your primary
care physician, um, to, to take the steps necessary to
get that back up under control, because we want everybody to be around for a long, long time.
uh, mr. Chairman, if y'all have any questions, we have the experts
here. They are glad to, to answer any questions that council may have.
yes, sir. I'm c with the drinking heart association. Thank you for giving us the
opportunity to represent the heart association. And I am here, um, with
our sponsor who sponsored this, um, wonderful self-monitoring
blood pressure station. And this is a station that your, uh, folks can come
to and then folks that come into the building can go to and check their own blood pressure, write
down their numbers. Um, we work with our federally health qualified health
centers in the community. In this community. It's hope health. So if you do not have a physician,
hope health information is up here, you're able to contact them, um, if your blood
pressure is high or extremely low. Um, but I wanted, um, mr. Steven previs with the
junior chamber to have a moment just to kind of share why they gave this kit
to the administrative building. Um, good evening everybody,
uh, council members and, uh, citizens of claton county. And thank you,
uh, christina for the introduction. Um, as well as the, uh, opportunity
to sponsor something that is also, uh, near and dear to my heart.
um, as it was said earlier, um, you know,
heart disease is something that affects everybody. And
my goal, um, for this, and the cha, the junior chamber's goal for this
is that one day if one person is walking through here and they feel a little off, they
feel a little funny, they take a moment, they stop, they check in on their
selves and get the attention that they need, and at the end of the day, go home to
their families and stay healthy. Um, to tell you a little bit more about the junior chamber
of commerce and who we are and what we do, um, we are a
nonprofit organization that is an extension of the chamber of commerce
here in the county. Um, and our sole purpose and our mission to water
it down is to raise money through various events. Um, you've
probably been to some of our stuff before, whether it be the, uh, taste of
clain or maybe you've participated in our christmas gun raffle. But all the
proceeds that we raise, the sole purpose of them is to go back into
claton county and better it in areas that we see need. Uh,
we are a group of young men under 40 and,
uh, what I think is most special about the junior chamber is that this isn't our job. This
isn't our career. This is all time that we volunteer outside of our time and
our careers and our busy lives. We come from different walks of life, different
career paths, but we all have a like-minded mission of bettering our
community. And I can't think of a better way to better our community than donating
to something that's gonna help a public cri uh, public health crisis.
um, so christina, thank you so much for the opportunity. Absolutely. Um,
I believe we're gonna maybe do a little demonstration. Yes. If y'all don't mind if we could do that.
is that okay? Okay. So we have the wonderful ms. April conyers is here today,
and she is gonna show you guys how we use the blood pressure cuff.
you know how to use it when you come to the administrative building if you work here
or if you coming from your, so we'll have steven have a seat.
I've instructed them that if my, uh, blood pressure's high to just not say anything.
so, . Yeah. . Yes. And we're very thankful
for our fire department, um, and for the lives that they say I get to
fundraise to help save lives, but they're actually the ones out there doing the work. So we are thankful that,
um, we have them in this community to do all of these great things for us.
so we set this up today when she came by the administrative building.
and, um, so all you have to do is when you get there, you'll take this portion,
put it on your arm, it, the cuff is kind of tight
because it's new, but you will put it on, it says your left arm,
so like exposed,
and then relax your arm back, make sure your feet are flat on the floor, and then
you'll just press the start button.
and then from there it starts taping your, um, your blood pressure.
and then we'll have the information, um, up on the wall behind the table
as well. That will show you all the different levels of blood pressure and whatever number
is, um, on the machine will be reflected on this, um, sheet as well in
this poster. And so you'll know that the blood pressure is, and if it's too high
or too, too low. Some, some us have really low blood pressure. So,
so his blood pressure is a little high right now. Yeah. , but he's nervous.
I saw a red light , but again, that's
how, that's how you would, um, you would put it on. And there's also some going to
be some whites on the table, so just make sure that after you use it, you wipe
it down. Yeah. That helps with, um, infection control. And then
after you take your pressure, she has, um, the sheet
here that you can write your name, the date, and what your, um, vitals are.
that's right. Thank you. Awesome. All thank
you. Very good. Thank you.
thank y'all so much. We appreciate that. Maybe, uh, maybe we can get a few of these people around
here to use it. I doubt it, but ,
next we have our public comment section. Um,
ms. Corita dingle would like to speak on jordan elementary
school.
okay.
good evening. Evening. I stand before you
to respectfully request your partnership and support
for the rehabilitation and repurposing of a
treasured south carolina state utilization school. The old
jordan elementary school into a vibrant, essential
community asset. The jordan community center.
the school was constructed in 1950 to educate
and segregate black students living in the jordan community of
claredon county. It once served as a
cornerstone of opportunity, a beacon of hope and resilience
within the community. During a period when quality
education was denied to black communities, that
school was recently purchased. And we
would like to form a partnership with
the county governments in order to
transform the school into a community center.
um, today, the community center does not. Today, the jordan community
does not have a dedicated community center.
the center's location offers exceptional potential. It
sits just minutes away from a private airport. The golf community and
scenic lake marion. Restoring the site
will not only preserve a culturally significant landmark,
but will also provide much needed services, programs, and
gathering spaces for residents of all ages.
it will be an inclusive community center.
it will offer educational facilities, health and fitness, amenities,
community and event spaces, outdoor recreational
areas. The proposed program activities
are youth enrichment, adult engagement, community connection.
interviews with residents of jordan community have been conducted
and they express some of their greatest needs, including transportation,
um, van and bus, transportation to the community center
and medical appointments, food and insecurities, health healthy
eating classes, boys and girls club, legal assistance,
um, homeless services. I have a list and I only have three minutes,
so I'm trying to go through it as fast as possible. Um, so
forming a partnership with claredon county, the jordan elementary
school, a south carolina state equalization
was purchased by a nonprofit to rehabilitate and repurpose
it into the community center. Forming
a partnership between the jordan community center and the
clarinet county local government is vital and can be highly beneficial
for several reasons. Jordan community
center has limited finance financial resources. So partnering with
clarinet county, local government could open access to grants,
low interest loans or tax incentives aimed at community
development or historic preservation.
clarett county government can influence the nonprofits fundraising ability,
volunteer network, and community connections to make the project
more affordable and sustainable.
jordan community center brings expertise in
program and community engagement. Facility management. While
partnering with clarinet county, local government will bring knowledge of
regulations, zoning, construction codes, historic
preservation requirements. Together we can ensure the
rehabilitation meets legal standards and community needs.
the redevelopment project represents a un a unique
opportunity to honor our past while investing in the future
of the jordan community and its surrounding areas, it will serve as a
hub of education, health, recreation, and community
engagement, uplifting the lives of residents across generations.
with your help, we can bring new life to
a cherished building and make a lasting impact on the wellbeing of the community.
so I respectfully request your support and partnership as we move
forward with this important initiative, recognizing
that your collaboration is essential to its success,
sustainability, long-term impact. So I
thank you for your time and consideration and your continued commitment
to the future of clarine county and the jordan community.
thank you, ms. . Alright. Thank you. Um, well, you want, you wanna get with
her after the meeting and see me? Okay. Will do.
thank you. Next we have
approval of fiscal year 20 20 20 20 26, 20 27.
budget schedule. Do I have a motion? We approve that.
I motion second. Second. Motion from councilman rodin. Second from councilman
coker. All in favor? Aye. Aye. All opposed.
motion carries. Next we have resolution 2026
dash oh one a resolution approving, a first
amended and reinstated regional water system
participation agreement and other matters related there too.
do I have a motion on this resolution? A motion motion
for councilman ode. Second. I councilman co. All in favor? Aye.
all opposed. Next
we have a request. A cla county chamber of commerce
is requesting 142,500 from the hospitality
fund to support marketing initiatives
for tourism department. Do we have anybody here that would like to explain that?
I can help out, I can help with that. Mr. Chairman, if you'd like,
um, if you would walk, walk to, alright.
it's not really me, . Uh, I'm the direct interim
chamber director. Okay. Um, she just texted me that she was running
late. Um, I'm about to call her because I don't
wanna speak incorrectly on her behalf.
um, so, and I don't wanna hold everybody up. Yep. I can take care of that, mr. Chairman. Okay.
um, we've met extensively with the chamber of commerce. Um, what they're requesting
funds are actually, what they are, are host fees
for several different, uh, fishing tournaments that'll be held at the lake. Um, two
of 'em are very large tournaments. One is, uh, major league fishing, and
the other one is the bassmaster elite series. Um, these are nationwide
coverages on these tournaments, um, reaching an estimated 12 million people.
um, and these are people who fish and
come to the lake. Um, they, they, they're estimating a direct,
um, fiscal impact of $841,000. Um,
from the, the tournament anglers, the, the folks that
come to see the tournaments, um, you know, staying in hotels, eating at our restaurants
and things like that. Um, the, the good news is, and
it's an outside chance, but the total spend on these is about $330,000
or 3 31 I think. Um, so they're looking for a hundred forty two five from,
from our hospitality fund for the marketing. Um, there's actually some grants that
they will receive, and if things work out right, we may actually
get a little bit of this money back to put back into marketing. Um, I wouldn't hold my
breath on that. I, I, I think that, that the other expenses of the tournaments
will consume that, those grant dollars. So, um,
it's a, it's a worthwhile marketing initiative, um,
getting all of those folks coming. I mean, these are, these are the big league type
tournaments. Um, one of 'em is very small. It's like $2,500 I think for
a, a kayak tournament or something along those lines. But the other two,
uh, well, two of the other three are huge, major nationwide
initiatives. Um, that's gonna bring a lot of traffic to cla county.
okay. We got any questions for, did y'all
actually have a history on the tournaments that's been here before? Yes, we do. Where
they've actually spent more money yes. In this county than, um, I wanna say in 2024,
there were two tournaments that were pretty large, um, like not quite as big as the
ones we have coming up this year. And it brought in 1.1 million
into the county. Yes. Thank you.
okay. Do I have a motion? We approve this. Make a motion. Second. I
got a motion from councilman coker. Second from councilor richard. All in favor? Aye.
all opposed. Motion carried. Thank you.
thank you. Thank you. Next we have ordinance 2025
dash 15, consideration of third and final reading of ordinance
2025 dash 15 an ordinance authorizing
the first amendment of that certain fee in lieu of tax and incentive agreement
by in between cla county, south carolina and san cooperative.
do I have a motion? We approve this solution. A second. Got
a motion from councilman richmond. Second. Councilman rodin. All in favor?
aye. All opposed. Motion carried.
next we have a public hearing on ordinance 2025
dash 16, an ordinance of clarey county council
of clarey county south carolina to amend the county's
official zoning map designation for tax map partial
one 40 dash four dash oh two dash
zero agriculture two to general commercial
and providing an effective date. Um, I would
like to open this the public session at this time if anyone
would like to speak.
okay, mr. You don't have anything to say ?
um, um, well, no sir. It is just basically the second
reading, um, of this ordinance. Um, you all
initially did the first reading approval, um, is I gave
you all maps, um, outlining, um, the, um,
the zoning designation is just changing it from agriculture two to the general
commercial and asked the, um, maps layout is that
it's consistent with the surrounding area and, um, it meets
all the requirements that's outlined in the comprehensive plan and the, um,
udc. And this is a recommendation from, um, the planning commission and the
planning commission chairman is here and the applicant is here as well.
alright, does anybody else have anything?
alright, we will the
public hearing, excuse me. Next we
have ordinance 2025 dash 16, consideration of the
second reading of the ordinance 2025 dash 16, an ordinance
of the county council of clare county, south carolina to amend the county's
I change pages. Officials zoning map
designation for tax map parcel one 40 dash
zero four dash zero two dash zero zero agriculture
two to general commercial I providing an effective date. Do
I have a motion we no. Motion approve. Second reading. Second.
got a motion from councilman rodin. A second from councilman richardson. All in favor,
a aye. All opposed. Motion carries.
next we have ordinance 2026 dash oh one. Mr. Tabitha,
hannah,
good evening again, mr. Chairman and members of council. Um, this is another
zoning map amendment request. Um, the applicant, his name is mr. Sidney
player, and he is requesting, um, that approximately
two acres of land be rezoned from agricultural two, I'm sorry, agricultural one
to residential conservation. Um, the purpose of this request to
allow low density, um, residential development that is more consistent
with the surrounding and the rural residential properties. Um, the property is currently
vacant and was previously used for farming and limited residential purposes.
and low density means that, um, homes that are spaced further apart
with fuses fewer houses on the acre and to preserve open space
and maintain a quiet rural residential character. Um, right
now, um, the property is currently zoned for agricultural,
which means it, um, allows farming related uses.
the applicant is wanting to change the zoning into residential conservation so that the land
can be used for low density residential homes that match the rule character
of the, um, area. And the zoning still protects the open space
and farmland, but allow homes in a controlled manner. Um,
this request does not allow apartments or high density housing.
it is intended to support quiet, rural living.
um, and then what he's wanting to do is that he is wanting to place townhomes
on the parcel. And I think the, um, the maximum, the minimum that
he's gonna do is just two. There is nothing additional that he's wanting to do with it.
um, and then, um, it, it aligns with the comprehensive
plan. Um, and it, um, the comprehensive
plan allows the low density housing that compliments rural land.
um, and it, everything that's located out there in this particular
area is, um, north south. Everything
is rural, agricultural west is undeveloped woodland, small scale agricultural.
and this parcel is located and it's located near, um,
turville and it's located off of, what is
it? Um, american. American avenue. American avenue,
um, near turville. And, um,
and the rezoning of this parcel, um, it is compatible
with the surrounding areas with the town home development. And,
um, he provided, um, adequate sup, um, documentation
that this residential development will not harm the agriculture
character of the area. And, um, the planning commission recommended
this and they recommended to you to all to review for
approval. Okay. We have any questions on that?
believe she answer. Do I have a motion with approved? I
make a motion. Second. You got a motion? Councilman cope. Second for councilman richard.
and all in favor? Aye. Aye. All the folks.
motion carries. Thank you. Next we have ms. Tammy rodsky
with our financial report.
good evening. Good evening, mr.
so I'll start with fund 10 tonight, the general fund,
and I do have some revenue numbers just to report. So
our current revenue is 13,000,889
and $6,000. So that is 41%
without the grant revenues. 43. If we do take into effect the
grant revenues, it is slightly lower than december of
last year, but I do suspect that it will catch up as
more taxpayers pay their real estate taxes. On the
expenditure side, expenditures with grants are at 55%
of the general fund without the grant expenses.
we are at 47%. So our
december we should be at 50%. So if we take out the grant
expenses, we are within our budgeted amount because we
do not budget for grant expenses or revenue.
on the c program report, we have
a december cash balance of 8,800,364,
and we had local expenses of 3,937.
in the month of december, we do have committed roads
of 4,825,896.
so as we start getting into warmer weather and these roads start getting
paved, this fund balance will start to drop. But we still have
an uncommitted fund balance of 3 million nine hundred and seventy four, four hundred sixty
$8. Now, of those funds we need to commit
by the end of june 880,000
$153 to state roads. So we do,
the transportation committee does need to come up with a state road
and we need to get these funds dispersed back to the state for a state
road project prior to june 30th.
our water and sewer, we have revenues of $805,443.
we have expenses of $450,391
for an operating revenue of $355,052.
when we take into account the depreciation and bond expense
and non-operating expenses, we do still
have a small net loss of $16,008.
for the fire department. We have revenues
of $3,684,988,
which is 39% of their revenue, 38%
if we take off the grant revenues and their expenditures
are at $4,348,314
year to date, which is 45% of their budget.
so again, they are still below the 50%, so they are
fine. And that is all I have. Any questions?
no, ma'am. Thank you ms. Town.
next we have our administrative report from mr. Walman.
thank you mr. Chairman. Before I go into the report, and I'll be as brief as possible,
I wanna introduce a very new member of our team, um, ms. Donna prince.
sitting on the front row is our new county assessor. Um,
our former assessor retired as of
december 31st, and ms. Donna started january 2nd,
so she's got just over a week under her belt, so she knows everything already.
um, so we will, uh, we welcome her to our team, to our team. She has
a wealth of experience she brings, um, and just in time
for reassessment. So, um, we, we'll be, we'll be gonna work her. We're
gonna get our money's worth outta her this year. Um, uh, I wanted to
highlight a couple of things, um, and I'll I'll put quite a bit in the packet that
you guys can in take a look at, um, when you get a minute.
um, captain mark brewer with clarinet county fire and rescue was
recognized in a, in a publication for his contributions to clarinet
county, um, leading our community paramedic program. Um,
that is a, a, a program that's been undertaken by,
by our fire rescue department to help educate the
public to teach them how to, to
determine their health status and to take steps
to improve their health. But one, the big benefit
to fire and rescue is it helps people make an assessment of, do I
need to call the ambulance and just get checked out or can I check myself out?
so it helps stretch our resources by him undertaking that, that
program. Um, and then our county economic development
was recognized in expansion solutions magazine
with an article that's titled claredon county, the secret's out.
um, it was a very, very good expose on the economic development opportunities
here in clarendon county. It's gonna give us some good national exposure.
um, hats off to our economic development team for that. Um, we
have a dozen or so projects, major capital projects
underway. I've outlined those in in the report. Um, a few highlights.
um, they're, they're doing the site work on the eoc
9 1 1 center that's back behind the sheriff's office now. Um, they've been moving a lot
of dirt. They ran into some, some wet issues that they're, they're
trying to, to figure out how to, how to deal with. Um, on our
skip project, which is our water project, um, the big water
tower, the legs are up, the bottom of the bowl is built as
of last thursday. It was still sitting on the ground. We're not sure whether they're gonna put the bottom
up and then put the top on it, how they're gonna do it. But, but that project is well
underway. Um, the maintenance facility, the fleet maintenance building
and public services facility, um, they have done a lot
of progress on that one. Um, they're putting walls and stuff up inside,
um, finalizing the grading. Um, the biggest thing left on the outside is the parking
lot. Um, the animal shelter next door to it. They've
got all the steel erected the roof's on it. They're doing some work on the inside now.
um, and fire station number 10, I think is, is just about
ready to open the doors and waiting on the ceo on it. Um, so we're making quite a bit of
progress on these capital projects. And that's all I have, mr. Chairman.
I only got a couple things. Um,
and, uh, I probably just need to on, on on. The first thing
I wanna say tonight is, um, again, we, we
all are very, very saddened by, by councilman
ryerson's passing. Um, but state
law says state law that we have to hold a special election to fill his
seat. Um, I know nobody
really wants to do that, but that's, that's state law. And I'm,
we, we, uh, we have to take applications for anyone who would like
to run. And that starts on january 16th.
and it will go through the following week. I think it, it's 10 days.
is it eight days? Eight days is eight days is what the, the state law
says. We have to open it for. Then, um, after that,
the, the, uh, election will be held and primary will be held.
um, march. March, yes. And the actual election will be
held 1st of may, is that correct? May 12th.
may 12th, yes.
yes. May 12th. Okay. That's, that's first and
foremost. We gotta figure out, you know, what we're gonna do with that. Next, I would like to, uh,
just, uh, let everyone know that the city of manning is having a
dr. Martin luther king jr day. And our very young
ms. Charmaine anderson, deputy administrator will be the guest speaker
and also former chairman dwight stewart will be
there. If you don't have anything to do, uh, I feel
sure the city of main would love to see you all out. Um,
and that's all I got for tonight. So with that being said, I will take a
motion. We adjourn. So both chairman got a motion from councilman richardson.
second from councilman coker. All in favor? Aye. All opposed.
motion carried. Thank y'all.