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  County Council Adopts New Agenda Practices to Shorten Meeting Time web posted February 6, 2013 EDGEFIELD – The Edgefield County Council held their regular meeting Tuesday night with a change in the agenda format that was intended to shorten meeting times by approving several routine or non-controversial items such a board appoints or boilerplate ordinances. The change did move the meeting along more rapidly, until the ending public comments period came and the meeting got out of hand. The "consent agenda" brought unanimous approval to a final reading of the ordinance to provide the state certain right of ways of county roads for the widening project of highway 25, final approval to an ordinance allowing the Edgefield County Hospital to upgrade a required pharmaceutical system with full reimbursement from the Federal Government, and a number of board member appointments. Following a Public Hearing on the ordinance to create an overlay district in a portion of the zoned area in Merriwether that drew no comments Chairman Dean Campbell moved on to the second reading of the ordinance. Councilman Rodney Ashcraft spoke up on the requirements on signs and wanted clarification on whether or not it applied to political and campaign signs. County Administrator Lynn Strom said it would not; those would fall under "temporary signs", which are allowed. With very little further discussion the second reading was approved on a 5-0 vote. A third and final reading of an overhaul of the Land Use Ordinance was tabled due to concerns raised by council members prior to the final reading. Chairman Campbell stated that it would be better to allow more time for staff, the county attorney, and council members to make needed corrections to "get it right". Councilman Ashcraft stated he does not like holding extra meetings, but wanted to have a work session prior to final approval. Vice-chair Genia Blackwell agreed. The work sessions will be held sometime this month or next month. A request by the Administrator to place 8 surplus vehicles out for bid on GovDeals.com and the items not sold be taken and sold for scrap metal. That drew questions from Councilman Norman Dorn. His comments took a quick turn towards questioning a particular scrap metal facility in Trenton. Chairman Campbell told Councilman Dorn he needed to direct his comments about the approval of the sale, not another topic. Councilwoman Betty Butler interjected that she felt the discussion was about placing the items out for bid and the council could discuss where the unsold vehicles are sold at a later date. Butler then made a motion to approve the request which was passed unanimously. The next two items involved the approved building of the animal shelter. The first item was the approval to use $7,500 from the council's contingency fund to have conceptual drawings of the shelter prepared for council. It was approved. Second was a update from Administrator Strom on the progress of the shelter. Mrs. Strom said that the original location off Weaver Road on county property did not allow enough room for two required septic systems required. Another location on county property on Simmons Road has been suggested and perk tests by DHEC show the location will fit in the proposed area. The property is a 250 acre tracts, however, the shelter will only require about 2 acres. The estimated $200,000 set aside for the project may not be enough to build the entire facility, however, it would cover phase 1 of the project which would be at least 1,900 square feet of the proposed 2,200 square foot facility. Mrs. Strom stated that the enclosed shelter would also reduce any noise coming from the animals kept at the facility. No vote was required on accepting the update. The next item on the agenda was a new ordinance that would allow the county to set aside 10% of any new Fee-in-lieu of tax (FILOT) for the county to use to make funds available to provide infrastructure or other matters to entice industry to locate in the county. The measure passed on a 5-0 vote. A first reading of an ordinance to establish condition uses standards for zoned and unzoned properties in the county drew discussion from Vice-chair Blackwell. She questioned that the ordinance is basically a sister-ordinance to the Land Use ordinance and thought it would be better to table the reading since the previous ordinance was tabled. County Attorney Michael Medlock stated that this was just a first reading and that any questions Mrs. Blackwell had could be addressed at the work session on the previous ordinance. With little other discussion the measure passed on a 5-0 vote. A request to open an account for the newly donated Sweetwater Community Center property to receive donations towards the project by the county drew some resistance from Councilman Dorn saying he did not understand why the account had to be with the county and not at a bank. Administrator Strom stated that the account with the county would allow donations from citizens to be tax deductible and assure that the money donated could only be spent on the project. Approval was unanimous. With the meeting all but over for the business at hand in just 45 minutes, proving the consent agenda did shorten the meeting time, when Chairman Campbell opened the floor to public comments control of the meeting was lost. Ms. Charlena Garrett spoke from her chair, not at the podium provided for public comments, and railed about the one time expenditure of $200,000 for the animal shelter and wanted to know why money was being taken away from "the children" and used for animals. Chairman Campbell explained that the one time expenditure would save the county money and that no money was being taken away from the children in the county. Ms. Garrett continued to rave about why the county council was not doing things to provide activities for the children and brought up the Northside Park, which was built by the county and then turned back over to the property owners - a group of churches - due to it being unable to be used for county recreation because a requires septic system could not be approved by DHEC even after the county spent tens of thousands of dollars building a basketball court, baseball field, and a pavilion that is still available. As she continued, Garrett wanted to know why the county council would spend $200,000 on "dogs and cats" but provide "nothing for the children" when they were out of school for the summer. "I need an explanation for that," Garrett said. "There's no money for the children at all." Garrett also stated, "Everybody does not have daycare," and insisted that the county council is not helping to prevent children from having nothing to do and they end up breaking into people's houses and end up in jail. Even after Chairman Campbell repeatedly told Ms. Garrett that she had made her point, she continued to interject her opinions and even told Chairman Campbell that he would not stop her from talking, even though public comment by each individual is limited to 3 minutes and is even posted on the chamber doors. A question asked from a member of the public about how much was "spent on the children" in the county recreation program Administrator Strom stated that the current budget for the program is $213,000. In just the last 10 years, well over $2 million has been spent on recreation activities for youth recreation programs. Several others spoke on community involvement on things directed at helping the children in the county on a volunteer basis. One woman stated that "charity begins at home," and so it should be for other programs outside of government. It was also brought up that the county library systems have programs each month, free of charge, to help promote learning. The Women in Unity program also offers tutoring in all subjects to help students that have fallen behind in school. The public comment period ended and Administrator Strom reminded council of a planned budget workshop on March 21 at 6 pm at the County Council Chambers. A balanced budget will be presented by staff at the session. After other comments by the Administrator and Chairman Campbell the meeting was adjourned. © Copyright 2012 - 2013 All material is property of
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