Roll Call

Members present were Anthony Mizzell, Doris Corley, Joyce Dickerson, Valerie Hutchinson, Damon Jeter, Paul Livingston, Joseph McEachern, Michael Montgomery, Greg Pearce, Bernice Scott, and Kit Smith.

Getting Started

Chairman Anthony Mizzell called the meeting to order at 6 pm. Joe McEachern gave the Invocation, then asked several Boy Scouts in attendance to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. Greg Pearce was caught short and had to beg souvenir pins from other council members to give to the scouts. As the boys were leaving for their seats, Pearce remembered where his hidden stash was and gave each scout an official Richland County pin.

The agenda was adopted after adding an executive session item concerning a land purchase and four additional proclamations.

Proclamations

Dave Zunker , from the Columbia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, gave the council an update on the current state of the tourism industry in the Columbia area. He first told the council he was there to thank them, not to ask for money. Zunker said the area, now being called the Columbia Riverbanks Region, is gaining momentum as a tourist destination.

In the second proclamation, Bernice Scott read a notice honoring all Richland public works employees. After all, this is National Public Works Week.

Joyce Dickerson and Val Hutchinson , looking stunning in matching yellow outfits, presented proclamations honoring four Richland county high school students. Kara Kopf and Allison Matthews from Ridgeview, and Julia Peay and Donvie’r LaBrew , who attend Columbia High, were honored for their achievements as high school students. The list of accomplishments for the four outstanding scholars was as lengthy as a typical entire class.

Regular Business

No one signed to speak during citizen’s input. Minutes from the April 26 zoning hearing and the May 3 regular council meeting were approved. The county attorney mentioned a couple of items that might need executive session discussion.

One was an employee grievance, and one concerned a land purchase associated with EMS. Cary McSwain had no items to report. The county clerk reminded the council of an upcoming awards dinner sponsored by the Central Midlands Council of Government.

There were no public hearing items, and all consent items were approved without change.

Second and

Third Reading

An item rezoning an area near I–77 at Wilson Road was brought up for third reading. McEachern moved for approval. Hutchinson, as in second reading, voiced her concern with the density of the neighborhood. Dickerson agreed, saying this was too much growth too soon. McEachern responded that the rezoning would improve traffic flow by reducing the overall commercially zoned property in the area. The item passed 9–2.

Another third reading item requested a zoning change at New Clemson and Longtown. Again, McEachern motioned for approval. Again, Hutchinson objected. She said this rezoning would throw Longtown Road into failure. This item passed 10–1.

The next issue discussed was the River Shoals project on O’Sheal Road. Scott moved for second reading approval. Mizzell asked why this proposal was on the agenda, since it had been sent back to the planning commission for a discussion about density. Before relinquishing the floor, Mizzell made a motion to defer this item until after the next planning commission meeting. The vote was 6–5 in favor.

After the vote, Scott wondered why this was necessary. She said the planning commission task wasn’t complicated. All they had to do was reduce the number of homes from 170 to 140. Scott saw no need to delay this item since the next council meeting would be one whole day after the next planning commission meeting. Her protests were ignored since the item was already deferred.

An item changing the date of the budget amendment public hearing to May 19 was approved. An item involving the Blythewood Intergovernmental Agreement was deferred, which irritated Scott. She felt different rules were being applied for deferring items. Once again, her grumblings were ignored.

During citizen’s input, Bobby Blackwell broke the existing world’s record for cliches within a two minute speech when he voiced his displeasure with the state of education, or lack of it, in SC. He referred to suckers being born every minute, not being able to fool all the people all the time, taxation without representation, and for good measure said our current education policy is like Stevie Wonder leading Ray Charles through a minefield. He was asked to leave when he used a profane cliché.

Executive Session

The council retired into executive session to discuss two relatively simple items. One was an employee grievance and the other concerning a land purchase. An hour and ten minutes later they reconvened. The refreshments must have been top notch this night.

After passing resolutions specific to the executive session items and a brief motion period, the council meeting was adjourned.