Roll Call

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

Getting Started

Chairman Anthony Mizzell had to force the meeting to order at 6 pm. A work session involving the proposed Fish Fry Project, which is a baseball proposal for the Sandhills area, was still going strong after two hours. (If this gets to a council meeting, it will be fun to watch.) A second work session was scheduled for next Thursday evening to try to answer all questions.

As it was, the chairman had to immediately call a recess after the council meeting was called to order, to allow for the transition from work session to council meeting.

Greg Pearce gave the Invocation, then asked members of Boy Scout Troop Ten to help him with the Pledge of Allegiance. After the Pledge, Joe McEachern challenged the troop to recite the Boy Scout oath. They did so impeccably.

Chairman Mizzell took personal privilege to inform those in attendance today was Val Hutchinson’s birthday, then led the council members in a scary rendition of the traditional birthday song. I’m sure being sung to was as painful as growing a year older.

The agenda was approved, after an item concerning the national search for a new county administrator was added. No one wished to speak during citizen’s input, and the minutes from the last meeting were approved.

Staff Reports

The county attorney notified the council of a couple of executive session items. The first involved the lawsuit between the council and the recreation commission. The other item was the much discussed Innovista Garage proposal.

The county attorney informed the council the budget calendar had been finalized and was available to the council members for final review. Pope also informed the council he was about to move forward on the drug card acquisition.

The clerk of council reported the dates for the SC Association of Counties annual mid–year conference.

Public Hearing and Consent

In an unusual pubic hearing, Pat Vincent thanked the council, especially Joyce Dickerson and McEachern, for helping to resolve the quit claim issue his family had been involved in for too long. After Vincent spoke, public hearings were closed.

An item concerning land purchase for the Township was removed from the consent agenda; the rest were approved.

The Agenda

The first item on the agenda was the Vincent quit claim resolution. It was approved without discussion. Another third reading item, involving the Innovista proposal, was moved to later in the meeting, after executive session. Hutchinson asked for a second reading zoning change ordinance on Three Dog Road to be deferred. Her wish was granted; it is her birthday.

Damon Jeter’s D&S committee had one item not on the consent agenda. A SCDOT grant application for Hwy 21 at I77 was deferred at Jeter’s request.

Most of the Administrative and Finance Committee items were also consent. An exception was the Arthurtown redevelopment proposal. Notification of the winning bid, which came in at a few pennies over $900,000, gave the council the information it needed to approve the proposal.

An item concerning a possible land purchase for the Township caused a bit of concern on the part of several council members. Smith made a motion to allow acting county administrator Pope to negotiate for some property adjacent to the rear of the Township. Her motion died for lack of a second. Smith then made a proposal to not allow Pope to negotiate for the property. This time she got a second.

Pearce asked if the property in question was the Rubin property, and only that property. He was told yes. Smith was concerned the property was about to go on the market, and the council needed to decide if they wanted to make an offer, or tell the owners, who has been waiting on the county for years. Richland wasn’t interested.

Pearce said he didn’t think the property was critical to the Township renovation and was worried the city might not go along with the county’s thinking. Mizzell agreed with Pearce and reminded the council there was a joint Richland County/Columbia meeting on Monday.

Jeter asked if there was a contract with the Rubin family. When told no, he wondered why this is an issue. Smith said her intention was to either lock down a possible price for the property or tell the family the county wasn’t interested in purchasing the land.

McEachern asked whether there was money allocated to the Township for the purchase of property. He was told no. McEachern then asked how much the county had paid for property so far. He didn’t get a figure.

Pearce started a bout of dueling substitute motions by proposing the county get an appraisal on the property. Mike Montgomery then made his own substitute motion to negotiate a right of first refusal with the property owners. Pearce smiled and withdrew his motion.

Bernice Scott then offered another substitute motion; this one to authorize the county administrator to find out what the property is worth and what it might sell for. Her motion was approved.

Another Township proposal also involved a substitute motion. Smith proposed adding $250,000 to the Township budget, 200K to repay a loan and $50,000 to help with operating costs. The second part of Smith’s motion was to give the Township $50,000 annually to help with their operating budget.

Montgomery said he couldn’t support the second part of the motion. Jeter agreed with him. Paul Livingston said the county provides operating money to many county agencies and the Township is no different. McEachern made a substitute motion to approve the first part but not allocate any money for future years. His motion was approved.

An application for approval of a residential care facility was deferred at McEachern’s request for a couple of reasons. The address given by the applicant is a vacant lot, and there are environmental issues.

The Rules and Appointments Committee notified the council of openings on the Accommodations Tax Committee and the Building Codes Board of Adjustments. Rodney Jenkins was appointed to the Accommodations Tax committee.

Citizens Input

A Mr. Liverman spoke during citizen’s input about the lack of money being provided for Linrick golf course. Liverman pointed out Linrick was a park and needed to be funded as such. He said he was at the council meeting to request help, but he had a signed petition and would petition for help if that was the only way.

Mizzell told Liverman he would be glad to discuss the golf course with him, but the recreation commission was responsible for the upkeep of county parks. His statement came just before the council moved into executive session to discuss a lawsuit between Richland County and the recreation commission.

Last Lap

The executive session lasted 34 minutes. When the council reconvened, Montgomery made maybe the wordiest proposal in the history of county government, asking for approval of the Innovista proposal. The item was quickly approved before Montgomery could add another amendment to it. (I wonder if he gets paid by the syllable.)

Livingston told the council how proud he was of USC for this initiative. He mentioned some of the things proposed and said he was excited it was finally approved.

A work session was scheduled for next Thursday evening from 6 to 8 pm to discuss Project Fish Fry. This one is going to be fun. On one side there is a powerful developer, used to getting his way, championing a complicated and innovative proposal.

The other side is convinced it’s all a boondoggle to steal tax revenue from school children. Sounds like a made–for–TV movie. After motion period, the meeting was adjourned.