[0:00] as let us pray. Our dear kind heavenly father, we do acknowledge you as the one

[0:05] in whom we live, move and have our being. We thank you for allowing us to

[0:10] come to do the work that you have ordained and appointed us to do. We

[0:16] thank you for everyone who is present for this meeting. And as we begin our

[0:21] agenda, we invite your presence and ask that you help us to make decisions that

[0:27] are pleasing in your sight. Always remember our men and women who are

[0:31] serving our country, especially those who are serving in harm's way. Let them

[0:36] know that they are not alone and help them to just feel your presence wherever

[0:40] they are. And we ask you to continue to bless the leadership locally and

[0:45] nationally and countywide. Help us to always take care of our constituents the

[0:52] way you would have us to do. And as and when we come to the end of our meeting

[0:56] and ready to go home, bless that you give us traveling mercy. These and all

[1:00] blessings we thank you and ask in the precious name of of Jesus our savior and

[1:05] your son. Amen. [clears throat] >> Amen.

[1:10] » To the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:15] stand one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

[1:23] » [clears throat]

[1:29] » hear a motion on approval of the agenda. So,

[1:33] » sir, >> all in favor say I.

[1:35] » Any oppose? >> Approval of the minutes from the last

[1:39] county council meeting on 21st of July and August the 11th.

[1:44] » Second. >> All in favor say I. I.

[1:48] » Down to land use matters. Miss Helen, please. Helen

[2:00] Reedman. >> Let's try that again. Helen Rudman for

[2:03] planning staff RZ 26031420 Pinewood Road. Uh this is third reading.

[2:09] Uh and we continue to recommend approval. There have been no changes

[2:12] since second reading. >> Move for approval.

[2:14] » Second. >> And there's a motion to second. Any

[2:17] questions? >> Hearing none. All in favor say I. Any

[2:21] opposed? Unanimous and approved. >> RZ 26041830

[2:28] calendar drive. There have been no changes since second reading. We

[2:30] continue to recommend approval. >> Move for approval.

[2:32] » Second. >> The motion is second. Any questions?

[2:36] Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> Any oppose? Unanimous and so. Thank you.

[2:41] » Thank you. >> Down to other public hearings. Mr.

[2:48] Brian,

[2:54] » Mr. Chairman, members of council, we're going to have public hearing for third

[2:56] reading on an ordinance to apply the restrictive covenants that are already

[3:01] applicable in the Pocotalago East subdivision to another piece of property

[3:05] fairly recently acquired. I'm going to ask the clerk, the county council, to

[3:09] put onto the screen a picture of the property. There you go. And you can see

[3:14] it's on the south side of racetrack road. The Pocotelliggo East is on the

[3:18] north side of Racetrack Road. And the covenants already apply to those

[3:21] properties on the north side of racetrack road. So now the covenants

[3:24] will apply to this piece of property recently acquired. So it'll be

[3:28] homogeneous regarding the number or the kinds of uh industries that can locate

[3:32] there. I'm glad to take any questions prior to public hearing.

[3:36] » Any questions for the county attorney? Hearing none. We now have a public

[3:40] hearing. Public hearing is now open. Anyone like to speak for or against this

[3:47] ordinance, please head to the podium. State your name.

[3:52] Seeing none, public hearings are close. What's the will of council?

[3:57] » Move a third read. >> Motion second. Any questions, comments?

[4:02] Hearing none. All in favor say I. >> I.

[4:04] » Any opposition? Unanimous. And so order. Come down to committee reports. First is

[4:11] land use committee. Mr. Chairman, >> uh land use committee met today. We

[4:15] continued discussions on uh land use conservation and no action was taken but

[4:22] as we continue to delve into this and more questions are

[4:26] being answered every meeting. I think we're having good progress and at some

[4:30] point we will bring it forward [snorts] in the committee and move on then but no

[4:35] action was taken. Thank you. >> Thank you Mr. Edens. Now down to public

[4:39] safety committee. Mr. Washington. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, we've had

[4:44] ongoing discussions about a dog issue in the Sans Sushi area. We made further

[4:50] progress today. We're not quite at the point yet to bring before council

[4:57] um an ordinance to vote on. And so we'll continue with that process until we can

[5:03] get those things in place, all those things that are necessary. Thank you,

[5:06] Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. We've had reports from other council members of

[5:11] the meetings. >> Mr. Chairman.

[5:13] » Yes, sir. Mr. Washington, >> I had the pleasure of attending a back

[5:18] to school event at Miss Katherine Washington's church um last week. Um and

[5:25] there were several folks there. They had lots of school supplies. They had good

[5:31] entertainment. And most of all, they had good food. really really enjoyed that.

[5:36] Mr. Chairman, if I could just take a moment just to just to inform council

[5:41] and the [clears throat] community on one other issue. As you know, the proposed

[5:46] magnet school at Rafting Creek has been a hot topic um for a while now. What I

[5:55] found interesting, Mr. chairman is that I have now gotten communication from

[6:00] folks in the Pinewood area and communication from folks in the St.

[6:06] John, Maywood, Shiloh area as well. Um, and both areas, all three areas are very

[6:15] very interested in making sure that their schools are retoled. Um, and of

[6:21] course you have different kinds of magnet. You may have an agricultural

[6:24] magnet in one area, you may have technology in another area, but folks

[6:30] are very serious um about their education and in particular in the

[6:36] Shiloh area, Maywood, St. John's area. They have lost four schools, Mr.

[6:44] Chairman, Mazeville, Maywood,

[6:49] St. John and RE Davis over the course of a number of years they have been

[6:55] decimated with school closings and so it is an

[6:59] issue that is spreading around the rural community. I have received a number of

[7:05] questions from folks in the community and I submitted some questions to the

[7:09] school board or five. I just want to share it with you. The survey says

[7:16] [clears throat] that it's out to parents and so I've

[7:19] asked how many magnet surveys were sent out, how are surveys being sent out?

[7:26] [clears throat] What criteria was used for audience selection? How are survey

[7:31] results being collected? And who is collecting and providing

[7:37] analytical data? So, I sent that to the public information officer who passed it

[7:43] off to the superintendent and I have a message from him and his

[7:48] message says, "We will be sharing this information

[7:52] along all other magnet school data with the board and the community at the

[8:00] September 14th board meeting. Now, this is supposed to be a transparent

[8:07] process. Uh, Mr. Chairman, I'm not sure why um a council member would have to

[8:14] wait until the 14th to receive transparent information that affects all

[8:19] of our communities, particularly the rural communities. I would think that

[8:24] information would have been put out beforehand, but that concerns me very

[8:29] much and it concerns a lot of other residents in the community as well. The

[8:35] second issue I would bring to your attention, Mr. Chairman, is my concern

[8:40] for the fact that taxpayers were not asked to participate in the

[8:46] survey. they are in fact taxpayers and uh have a right to uh voice their

[8:53] opinion on this issue as well. Um I'm not sure if there's going to be a second

[8:58] round of surveys sent out to taxpayers, but I certainly would encourage the

[9:04] district to do that. Um and thirdly, and lastly, Mr. Chairman, there are a number

[9:11] of school board members here who represent rural areas. In fact, we have

[9:16] one here tonight, uh, Dr. Gloria Lee, and there are others. And what I am

[9:22] seeing is that most of the schoolboard members who represent rural areas, they

[9:29] understand the significance of their rural school and they support a magnet

[9:35] program in their school. I am seeing a division

[9:40] with members who serve on the school board in the city who have opposition to

[9:45] that. And I think it's important um for the public to understand that and know

[9:50] that this is one school district now. It's not two school districts. And as

[9:56] you know in 2011 when the school districts were consolidated

[10:01] district 2 which was the rule district did not want to be consolidated and they

[10:07] were in great financial shape. They were in great uh academic shape and they did

[10:12] not want a consolidation. Since that time there has been no realignment.

[10:21] 15 years. Whenever you consolidate a school district, you have realignment so

[10:27] you can redistribute the lines equally. And as a result of that, rural schools

[10:33] have suffered. They suffered with programs. They've suffered in

[10:37] transportation. We have some kids uh who are at the bus stop at 5 5:30 in the

[10:43] morning, not getting home till 6:00 or 6:30 in the afternoon. So it is a major

[10:49] problem that we need to address. Lastly, Mr. Chairman, sort of like a Baptist

[10:55] preacher, you know, he says this is my last point three times and it's not

[10:59] until the third time. >> This is the third one.

[11:00] » This is the third one. This this this is lose count there.

[11:04] » Yeah. This is this is the uh this is the third one, Mr. Chairman. Um the the

[11:10] concern needs to be countywide and not just handled in a silo. And so we'll

[11:16] continue with this conversation and on September 3rd, which is next Thursday,

[11:22] we will be hosting a community meeting at the Rafting Creek Community Center at

[11:27] 6:00. And I've been asked to come to other areas, Pinewood and Shiloh, to

[11:32] talk about this issue as well. So it is gaining a good deal of momentum and I

[11:38] think rightfully so. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[11:42] » For your comments. Anybody else on council?

[11:45] Well, I I mean I can't allow him to to mention my area without saying something

[11:51] and um just you know for the purpose of those who are present and for county

[11:56] council you know we do fund public education. I don't know how magnet

[12:02] schools will fit into that but I certainly hope that as we as um this

[12:07] concept gains traction that everybody will have an open mind. Um I am a

[12:14] product of public schools and um the area where I attended school is the area

[12:21] in SA County that has um uh really suffered the the biggest brunt of

[12:29] changes. Um the elementary school where I attended as a child, St. John

[12:35] Elementary School closed down right along with Maize Bill Elementary School.

[12:41] And then after that um the high school where I attended um shut down as well.

[12:48] And then and um and then um that and Maywood um they it kept um it it stayed

[12:57] open as a middle school but then it eventually closed down as well. and the

[13:02] children on my end of the county which it takes a good with me driving it takes

[13:09] me 35 minutes to get to re Davis where I taught for many years and so those

[13:16] children are standing um at the road um around 5:30 in the morning when it's

[13:22] dark and um and so um it it certainly needs some serious considerations and to

[13:29] see whether there is nothing that can be done that would be would help um

[13:35] children all over the county. You know, when I come into because I've worked in

[13:40] city schools too and and I see that life is completely different for the children

[13:45] there. So there needs to be a leveling of the playing field for the um our

[13:51] children all through throughout the county whether or not we are public

[13:56] school proponents or or not. I have nothing against private schools, you

[14:03] know, people who can afford it um afford it, but private schools the children go

[14:10] because they have no other choice. And so we we really do need to give them

[14:16] some leverage on as to what we can offer and to be fair and not only fair but

[14:23] equitable to those children and families. Thank you for allowing me to

[14:29] say that. >> Anybody else here? All right. Down to

[14:33] monthly reports. They're in our packets.

[14:37] » Yes. >> County administrator's report.

[14:39] » Mr. Chair, if you would just one quick uh comment if you would and indulge me

[14:43] just for a moment. I would like to take this opportunity to uh one recognize

[14:48] Miss Washington um sitting on the front row. Many of you seen her just about at

[14:54] every meeting and she is here uh relentlessly and uh we we share a story.

[15:00] Uh she's pasture road is a road that's on our capital penny sales tax and it's

[15:05] actually coming up uh for bid uh release on September the 3rd. So it'll be before

[15:10] our next meeting and I'm hopeful that everything will go very well with that.

[15:14] But just to recognize her for her patience. Uh she's got a story, a

[15:19] heartwarming story about her father who who was told many many years ago that

[15:23] her road would be paved and uh unfortunately he's passed. but now she's

[15:28] here to carry that torch and to see it through the finish line. And I just want

[15:31] to thank her. She's been so kind and friendly to work with us. It's a

[15:36] pleasure working with folks like that. And uh and congratulator and I want to

[15:40] be out there when that road's paid so we can actually walk on it together. But um

[15:45] thank you. Thank you council for this opportunity. And thank you.

[15:49] » Thank you can administrator. Go downtown to our public comment section. Any would

[15:55] like to speak for council. You got three minutes. Please head toward the podium.

[15:59] State your name for the record. And now public comment is now open.

[16:05] Anybody like to speak?

[16:09] » Uh hello everyone. My name is Julie Baldiff. I'm at 34 Frank Clark Street

[16:13] downtown historic district in Sumpter. Um I brought my work notebook with me

[16:16] today. I work at Shaw Air Force Base and I support downrange um the troops that

[16:20] are uh downrange getting them the right equipment they need for counter drones.

[16:24] I say that because um one thing that has kind of brought all of them together in

[16:28] the midst of nine months of 8 to 12 hour work days is Pizza Cat. I don't know if

[16:32] you've heard of Pizza Cat. Pizza Cat is the queen of the deed, Lud Air Base, and

[16:36] they send proof of life photos uh of her all over Facebook um daily, weekly,

[16:41] whatever they can. She actually got stuck up in a ceiling tile and they

[16:44] rescued her um with the fire department. That's important because when they have

[16:47] an alarm red, they they grab her and they take her to um the bunkers with

[16:51] them to save her. and she has just become this thing um that keeps them

[16:54] going. Um why is that important for Sumpter? We have a cat problem and

[16:58] you've heard that already um at the last meeting as well. I just trapped the

[17:01] fifth cat in my own yard downtown in the historic district because I have a

[17:04] wonderful neighbor who doesn't believe in spaying and neutering because she

[17:08] thinks her cats are cute and they make cute kittens. So, she keeps letting them

[17:11] have kittens. Um luckily I work with a rescue and I know how to TNR. We

[17:15] actually TNRed 35 cats this past weekend. So, pretty impressive and

[17:19] really great work from all the team involved. So, what I uh have done here

[17:23] in Sumpter, I've trapped at Hills Printing. I've trapped downtown at the

[17:26] um parking garage. We've trapped at Shaw Air Force Base, churches, personal

[17:31] homes, neighborhoods, surrounding towns, even surrounding counties. U when

[17:34] somebody needed help, here's the answers I get when I explain what people need to

[17:38] do. These are not my cats. I can't drive. I can't pay. My parents won't let

[17:43] me. These are grown adults, by the way, who just live with their parents. And I

[17:46] don't have time to do that. I'm working 8 to 12 hour days at Shaw right now

[17:50] because of the war. And I come home and I do two hours of cat care before I

[17:53] leave and two hours of cat care when I get back home. And then I transport cats

[17:58] um most evenings to Camden and other surrounding areas. So what what do we

[18:02] need to do? Um I'm calling on you and you've heard this. I'm calling on you to

[18:06] be the voice and the face of what's important to this community because you

[18:11] have power in your faces. you represent us and when people hear you speak, they

[18:16] believe you because you carry that power with you and that legitimacy. So when

[18:19] you walk into an a community and you say how important it is to fix this cat

[18:23] problem, they're going to look at you and say, "How do I do that?" And you can

[18:26] be part of the committee with these people here in the red shirts that can

[18:30] make that happen and come up with a plan. I specifically would call on um

[18:33] our ability to use saving sumpter strays. They do great work. So I am not

[18:37] here to call out anything wrong that they've done. I'm very good friends with

[18:40] Nenah and they've worked hard to get us lowcost spay and neuter for TNR with

[18:44] Pets Inc. who comes there and does lowcost um spay and neuter with their

[18:48] van. Um but it's not enough. If you were here when they very first started that

[18:52] um facility, it was going to have a cat wing as well. So think about that as you

[18:56] think about being part of this community, as you think about ways that

[18:59] you can help us in our endeavors and ways that we as a community can do a

[19:03] better job bringing about a solution to the cat problem in Sumpter. Thank you

[19:07] very much for your time. Thank you. >> Anybody else?

[19:20] [clears throat]

[19:22] » Hi, my name is Lisa Fitzgerald and I live at 125 White Oak Park in Sumpter.

[19:31] I have a recommendation that the Sumpter community has a stray dog and feral cat

[19:36] problem that needs to be resolved in a positive way by the entire Sumpter

[19:41] community. We need to create an executive board umbrella organization

[19:45] that provides guidance to the rest of the community as to how best meet the

[19:50] needs of our beloved stray animal population. The executive board could be

[19:55] comprised of the existing angel an excuse [clears throat] me angel animal

[19:59] advocate groups who have made extreme sacrifices on behalf of Sumpter an

[20:04] animals such as what Julie just mentioned herself. We need their

[20:08] expertise to guide the community in how best meet the needs of our beloved

[20:12] animals. The executive board needs to include the local government officials

[20:17] so they can enable Sumpre to obtain county and state grant funding for these

[20:21] desperately needed funds. The executive board needs to also include local

[20:25] businesses whose owners are animal lovers to add their expertise in

[20:30] managing budgets budgets within excuse me managing programs within budgets etc.

[20:35] Working together with the entire Sumpter community, we can do wonderful things

[20:39] for both our animal population and our people population. There are all kinds

[20:44] of studies proving how working with animals enriches the entire population.

[20:50] Volunteering together benefits the entire community and it's a winwin for

[20:55] everyone. Programs we need in Sumpter. Volunteers for the TNR services trap,

[21:00] neuter release for feral cats and feral colony cats to stop reproduction.

[21:06] Volunteers feed and maintain these feral cat colonies with food, shelter, vet

[21:10] care services, fostering babies and adults so that they can get adopted.

[21:15] Lowcost or free spayneuter vet services in Sumpter. Sumpre County poverty rate,

[21:21] which everybody here is extremely familiar with, ranges between 16 and

[21:26] 29%. Where I live, it's 29%. So, we need to work with our local

[21:32] government to find grant money for TNR and lowcost vet services in Sumpter so

[21:37] people can keep their pets that they love. We also need buildings where the

[21:42] community can volunteer to care for these cats, socialize them, and find

[21:45] adoptive families so they can have a future.

[21:49] Some suggestions. The town and county of Sumpter donate abandoned buildings for a

[21:53] dollar and other building options to our animal advocate organization executive

[21:58] board to provide air conditioning and heated housing for these stray animals.

[22:03] Publicize our endeavors via the Sumpter item and community pages. Incorporate

[22:08] volunteer organizations in Sumpter. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, church groups, high

[22:13] school community service projects for students who want a career working with

[22:16] animals, local businesses, education programs in the schools, etc. Programs

[22:22] fostering baby kittens. [bell] I can finish. I just have a couple more

[22:27] sentences. Families doing TNR together. Families volunteering in the stray

[22:32] animal buildings working with the animals and taking care of the animal

[22:36] needs. Senior programs with animals at senior facilities. And this would remove

[22:40] the burden from the existing animal organizations such as Julie who

[22:45] [clears throat] runs a sanctuary from her home which is just she's absolutely

[22:48] an amazing person and they are all overwhelmed with the

[22:52] Sumpter community's animal needs and have no kill buildings unless the animal

[22:57] is dangerous or critically ill. I would love to see that here in our community.

[23:02] » Thank you, Mr. Terrell. Anybody else?

[23:09] Okay. Good evening, Vice Chair and the members of Sumpre County Council. My

[23:14] name is Miss Wright and I'm here tonight because we need to have an honest

[23:18] conversation about animal welfare and animal control in Sumpre County. I want

[23:24] to tell you about a dog named Libby.

[23:30] That's Libby. [laughter]

[23:34] Sorry, eating up my time. Libby was dumped off

[23:40] of 15 South. She wasn't surrendered to a rescue. She wasn't placed somewhere

[23:45] safe. She was simply left behind to fend for herself. She was running at large

[23:50] because she was in survival mode. And when an animal is abandoned and left to

[23:55] survive on the streets, we cannot be surprised when that animal behaves like

[24:00] an animal trying to survive. But instead of having meaningful resources available

[24:05] to address the situation, people in our community have actually threatened to

[24:10] shoot Libby because of things she did while she was running at large. Think

[24:15] about that for a moment. Remember Washington? A dog was dumped.

[24:22] She became a stray. She survived the only way she knew how. And now the

[24:27] solution some people see is a bullet. That should not be where we are as a

[24:33] community. Since I became aware of Libby, I've provided her food. I bought

[24:38] her a crate to set her up for success and hopefully transition her into a

[24:42] permanent home. I've purchased fleick prevention and other preventative care.

[24:46] And tomorrow, I'm taking her for space surgery and vaccines. But here's the

[24:51] problem. That appointment isn't here in Sumpre County. It is in Marian. It's an

[24:57] hour and 20 minutes each way. I'm driving nearly three hours round trip to

[25:05] access to access affordable veterinarian care for a dog who isn't even my pet. I

[25:11] didn't dump Libby. I didn't create this situation. But I'm paying for her

[25:15] surgery, her vaccines, her preventative care, her food, her crate, and the gas

[25:20] to get her there. I filled my vehicle up yesterday for $346

[25:25] a gallon. Nobody is reimbursing me for the gas. I'm doing it because I refuse

[25:30] to watch another unwanted animal become a statistic. And Libbyy's story is not

[25:36] unique. This is exactly why community members have to start creating solutions

[25:40] themselves. Recently, Sumpter Angels Animal Advocates held our inaugural

[25:46] mobile pop-up pet pantry here in our community. It was at Carquest off of

[25:51] Gineard. We brought pet food and supplies directly to people who needed

[25:56] them. Why? Because sometimes the difference between a family keeping

[26:00] their pet and surrendering their pet isn't a lack of love. It's a bag of

[26:05] food. It's a little help during a difficult month. And that's what

[26:09] prevention looks like. We're trying to keep animals in loving homes and keep

[26:13] them out of shelters in the first place. But here's the thing. Community

[26:17] volunteers should not have to build an entire animal welfare system and safety

[26:22] net by themselves. We can help. Rescues can help. veterinarians, advocates, but

[26:28] we cannot volunteer our way out of this systemic problem. So, I don't want to

[26:32] stand here tonight and simply tell you what's wrong. I want to ask about

[26:36] solutions. First, Sumpre County needs accessible, affordable spay and neuter

[26:40] resources within our own community. Second, we need a meaningful plan for

[26:45] stray and abandoned animals, including field responses, appropriate intake, and

[26:51] partnerships with qualified rescue organizations. Third, we need to invest

[26:55] in prevention. Every animal we can safely sterilize is potentially an

[27:01] entire generation of unwinded pets we don't have to find homes for. And we

[27:06] need to recognize the value of programs like pet food assistance and community-

[27:10] based diversion because it can help a struggling family and it may prevent the

[27:15] animal from ever entering the shelter system.

[27:19] So tonight, I'm asking you to partner with the concerned citizens in our

[27:27] community and help bring to the table animal welfare stakeholders, animal

[27:33] control, veterinarians, rescues, advocates, and community members

[27:37] together and develop a real measurable plan because people in this community

[27:42] are already trying to solve the problem.

[27:48] Anybody else? >> Sir.

[27:53] » Oh, no. You go ahead. [laughter] No, no, it's okay.

[27:57] » Mistake your name for the record, sir. >> Uh, my name is Lorenzo Rivers. I'm from

[28:01] Sumpt, South Carolina as a private citizen and a native resident of Sumpta,

[28:07] South Carolina for over 50 years. I was at the Sumpter the Resource South

[28:12] Sumpter Resource Center and I witnessed two men working to replace ceiling

[28:17] towels. I asked if there was someone working on the leak leaking roof. He

[28:23] said that was someone else's job. As I was leaving, I saw a county worker who

[28:28] appeared to be a supervisor. I asked him about the roof and he blew me off. The

[28:34] next day, I saw one worker who was working on the latest bathroom to keep

[28:38] the door from slamming. I went into the classroom. When I came out, he was gone

[28:44] and has not to return. Has yet to return.

[28:49] The restrooms are minimally adequate and need upgrading. Security concerns are

[28:55] the absence of cameras and a public address system.

[28:59] My next concern is the I saw of abandoned mobile home trailer behind my

[29:04] property. I would ask the county administrator to read South Carolina

[29:09] code 1976-6-150

[29:14] concerning article 8 abandoned mobile manufactured housing. Maybe he will

[29:21] maybe he has not had the time to follow up on this matter.

[29:26] However, if I were a county council member,

[29:31] an elected official, not an appointed or hired person,

[29:36] I would be ashamed of how you take care of the south side of something South

[29:42] Carolina. >> Thank you, Mr. Anybody else?

[29:54] Hi, my name is Chandler Schweight. I'm here um with my friends and colleagues

[30:00] to discuss animal welfare advocacy. Um so for lowcost spay and neuter options

[30:08] um I would I would like to start. So I called today several vets in the area

[30:13] here in Sumpter. Um I have their pricing as follows. It cost between $400 and

[30:19] $800. um to spay and neuter an animal

[30:22] depending on weight in addition to a $75 vet visit to include blood blood work.

[30:29] Um for kittens and cats, $350 to $400 plus a $75 office visit to include blood

[30:37] work. Um, if you go to the SPCA tomorrow and pay their $275 adoption fee, um, and

[30:45] you want a cute little kitten that's less than six months old, um, they're

[30:50] they they don't, um, spay or neuter animals below that age. So, they give

[30:56] you a $30 voucher, um, to go do it on your own. So, the $30 voucher doesn't

[31:03] cover the cone that goes on the animal's head. So a lot of those animals end up

[31:08] not getting spayed or neutered and that contributes um like a feedback loop to

[31:14] the unwanted animal crisis here in some term. However, in adjacent counties and

[31:19] communities, they do have lowcost spay and neuter programs. In Colombia, Humane

[31:25] Society, cat neuter is $50. Dog neuter $100. Cat spay $80. Dog spay $120.

[31:33] Florence, um $85 for cats, ranges between $110 and $160 for dogs depending

[31:40] on size. Um Newberry um county dog is around $30. They have a waiver for

[31:47] financial hardship. Marian between 150 160. Um the point is that it's half to

[31:55] significantly less um to get your animal spayed or neutered there. Um I'm

[32:00] advocating for lowcost spay and neuter here in Sumpter. Um I was going to

[32:05] discuss microchipping as well, but I'll I'll make the most of my remaining time.

[32:10] The most important thing that I want to say here today is I would like to ask

[32:15] county council, will you please sit down with us animal advocates to discuss

[32:22] solutions? We are putting together a proposal um with real solutions. We're

[32:27] not asking you to solve the problem. We we are finding the solutions. As you can

[32:32] see, Julie her home, she has a a a cat sanctuary set up. She spends her time.

[32:39] There are so many more citizens here in Sumpter that spend their own time and

[32:43] their own money to save the animals that are dumped on their property. Um, and

[32:50] with feral kittens, feral cat colonies, etc. The community, I'm wrapping it up,

[32:56] the community cannot continue to carry the burden themselves. We cannot do it

[33:01] without you. So my the most important thing that I have to say is I want to

[33:06] ask you county council, will you please sit down with a few leaders in the

[33:12] community that are putting together a proposal um amending, reviewing a

[33:17] proposal with solutions and have a discussion beyond a three minutes at a

[33:22] council meeting. um and discuss how we can work together and collaborate

[33:27] because as you see the unwanted animal crisis is a huge burden to your voters,

[33:35] to taxpayers, and to our community. Um we just want to find solutions, but we

[33:40] need your help. So will you please meet with us um and so that we can work

[33:46] together on this. We'll find the solutions, but we need help. That's all.

[33:52] Thank you. Anybody else?

[33:59] » Hello, I'm Lisa Hall. I spoke here last uh last time on behalf of Julie because

[34:05] she was out of town. Um since that two weeks ago, I believe in

[34:12] networking. We're not reinventing the wheel. Other counties are doing great

[34:17] things. If

[34:21] uh I'm sure that at your level you may know somebody in one of those other

[34:26] counties that works in your position, uh just reach out to them and ask them

[34:33] advice and how how they got their program off the ground because we're I'm

[34:38] spinning my wheels trying to figure out a solution to the problem when it's

[34:43] already being done in a a neighboring county and we we do rely on neighboring

[34:49] counties to transport all these cats. I transferred ported uh 10 10 uh this

[34:56] afternoon to Camden. They they'll sit in a cat shack overnight. Uh they feed them

[35:02] and then they have to transport them all the way to Spartanberg, South Carolina

[35:06] to be fixed and then brought back and then we go back up to Camden and pick

[35:11] them up to return them to our own community. That's unacceptable. We need

[35:15] to do better. And um I just ask you to ne use your networking and and help us

[35:23] get there. Uh we're willing to help help with the solution if you can help us get

[35:29] there too. Thanks. >> Anybody else like to speak to council

[35:34] this evening? Seeing none, public comments now closed.

[35:41] » Move for a journment. >> Second.

[35:44] » Second. >> All in favor say I.

[35:46] » I. Now you're

Aug 25 2026 Sumter County Council regular meeting

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