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County Council June Meeting Edgefielddaily.com web posted June 8, 2005 The Edgefield County Council held its regular monthly meeting tonight, June 7, 2005 at 6:00 pm. After the call to order the Rev. Williams gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Council approved the minutes of the May 3 meeting and the May 17 called meeting of Council. Council then reviewed reports on the Monthly financial statements by department and approved the minutes of the County Planning Commission and the Hospital Board of Trustees meetings. Council moved on to hold Public Hearings on two ordinances, Ordinance No. 04-05-561; “An Ordinance setting forth criteria for establishing a Vested Rights to Develop in Edgefield County” and Ordinance No. 04-05-562; “An Ordinance providing for the Conveyance of a lard parcel of Edgefield County to Pleasant grove Baptist Church, a non-profit organization, for the assemblage of property to its Cemetery.” There were no public comments on either. Chairman Monroe Kneece altered the agenda by taking the opportunity to bring some guests present to speak to Council. Don Howard, who works with the Continuing Education Program at Piedmont Tech, thanked the Council for their continued support of the local campus and turned the “presentation” over to Rebecca McIntosh, Vice-president of Student Affairs. Ms. McIntosh thanked council for their continued support also and stressed how important the continued relationship is. Ms. McIntosh then let some of the local continuing education students speak led by Mike Holmes who works at Tranter and is going part time at Piedmont Tech. The greatest advantage, aside from continuing his education was the proximity of the campus which allows him to, “get off work and go to school,” without having to travel to Greenwood or Aiken as well as how “lucky we are to have” the campus so close in town. Also speaking was Tonya Stewart, a single “full time mother” as well as full time worker and student and maintains a 4.0 average. She as well as Karen O’Brian, who also said she maintains a 4.0 were also Presidential Ambassador recipients. Both said they would probably not be continuing their education if it were not for the close proximity of the school. Chairman Kneece also recognized a dignitary that was present but allowed Councilman Norman Dorn to introduce his “good friend” SC Representative Bill Clyburn. Rep. Clyburn mentioned he had been following the affairs of the county and commented specifically on the issue of a traffic signal at the intersection of Bettis Academy Road and Highway 25. “That issue will be pursued,” he said. Mr. Clyburn also presented each councilman with a Legislative Manual which contains phone numbers to every elected official in the state. Council moved on to Readings of ordinances with the third and final reading of the ordinance providing for the county general operations, a $7,593,790 budget. Councilman Dorn had a few problems concerning differences in number calculations but was satisfied as the motion to approve the final reading was his, seconded by Councilman Kitchens and followed by a unanimous vote. Council followed the same for the rest of the ordinances which included support for the county recreation, the issuing of construction permits, and enacting a supplement to the Code of Ordinances for the county. Council also held the final reading on the hotly debated Road Maintenance tax of ten dollars per motorized vehicle in the county. The Administrator had originally asked for $15 per vehicle. With Councilman Dorn making his well known thoughts against the tax he himself made the motion to accept its implementation and voted unanimously to enact it. The County Council also had the second reading of Ordinance No. 04-05-561; “An ordinance setting forth the criteria for establishing a Vested Right to Develop property in Edgefield County,” Which allows developers to ignore zoning requirements placed on property owners if they can meet the “criteria” set forth in the ordinance. To implement the ordinance in time to meet state deadlines a special called meeting of council will be held on Wednesday, June 22 at the Council Chambers at 6:00 pm. Council also passed a first reading of a very ambiguously worded ordinance, Ordinance No. 04-05-564, “An ordinance authorizing the issuance and sale of General Obligation Bonds, series 2005B, or such other appropriate series designation, of Edgefield County SC, in the principal amount of not exceeding $765,000; fixing the Form and Details of the Bonds; Authorizing the County Administrator or his lawfully authorized designee to determine certain matters relating to the bonds; providing for the payment of the Bonds and the disposition of the proceeds thereof; and other matters relating thereto.” There was no discussion or explanation and council voted 5-0 for passage. In New Business Council tabled a request concerning the Cable Choice campaign to, “see what the state does with it,” Chairman Kneece stated. Council also approved $3,200 for a funding of the Sheriff’s Department to become certified in courthouse security. In Old Business Saundra Curry spoke about the traffic signal request for Bettis Academy Road and Highway 25. Ms. Curry stated she had received visits from SCDOT officials and still is not satisfied with the results. She stated she was pleased to see Rep. Bill Clyburn in attendance and thanked him for his words of encouragement that the matter would be pursued on a state level. Curry stated that reports for accidents at the intersection were not properly reported citing one report by the Highway patrol stated the accident happened away from the intersection, “Why they are writing reports up the way they are I don’t know,” but stated she could have brought the man in the accident with her to tell council it was at the intersection and she was there at the scene as well. Ms. Curry stated SCDOT had told her that putting a traffic signal in at the location would, “cause more accidents than not”, she said, “If that’s the case then we need to remove all the lights and just have a free-for-all.” She thanked council for their attention and state, “I’ll see ya’ll next month.” With no guest speakers the council ended the meeting. Return to Main Page
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