Roll call

Chair Paul Livingston, Vice Chair Damon Jeter, Joyce Dickerson, Val Hutchinson, Norman Jackson, Gwendolyn Kennedy, Bill Malinowski, Jim Manning, Greg Pearce, Kit Smith, and Kelvin Washington were present at the Richland County Council meeting February 17, 2009.

Special guests

Boy Scout Troop 27 was on hand to observe the council in action and brush up on civics. They were invited to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and did a fine job.

The Richland County chapter of Delta Sigma Theta was also in attendance, resplendent in red outfits. The local Delts are only one of 900 different chapters around the country totaling over 200,000 members. Delta Sigma Theta was founded at Howard University January 13, 1913, and lives by the slogan: Politically Aware, Socially Involved.

Administrator's report

Each council member was given a pre- programmed weather and other disasters radio to keep them informed of any local or national emergency. The spokesman for the county's auditing firm gave a riveting summary of how well Richland County did in the latest audit. The county got an unqualified opinion on their accounting procedures, which is like getting "plays well with others" in elementary school. The auditor didn't spend enough time on document ONB- 133.

Regular agenda

The dirt road paving ordinance received the most attention and the most hot air. Tony McDonald, recently promoted to Dirt Road Expert, explained the staff's recommendations for the proposed plan and answered questions from council members about the dirt road paving plan.

The half mile limit for roads to be eligible for the alternate paving program was dropped by the staff in its recommendation and also approved by the council that way. The final version of who decides which roads get paved was authored by Kit Smith after much discussion.

When a paving project is scheduled, the residents of that particular road will be notified by mail. Each resident will have 30 days to notify the county if they do not want his road to be paved. When the 30 day time limit has passed, more than 25% of the residents must oppose paving for the road to remain unpaved.

The makeup of the paving commission and their responsibilities and duties was also determined. Each district will be represented by an 11 member commission and the primary responsibility will be facilitation.

Committees

Committee vacancies to be advertised include the Employee Grievance Committee, the Hospitality Tax Committee, and the Historic Columbia Foundation. Selena Pickens was added to the Housing Advisory Committee.

Citizens input

Eugene Duval spoke to the council and asked them not to spend surplus budget dollars on furniture at the end of the fiscal year. Duval was concerned that some departments may go on a spending binge with any leftover money and asked them to evaluate all the furniture and not buy anything new unless it is necessary.