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.

Presentation

Chief Summar y Cour t Judge William Womble was honored in a surprise presentation for his 30 years of service to Richland County. Greg Pearce, who was originally sworn in as a council member by Judge Womble read the proclamation. Womble graduated from Richland County schools and initially began working for Lexington County law enforcement. He started working for the Waverly Court at age 18 and became the Summary Court judge in 1979.

Judge Womble told the council and citizens in attendance he “hasn’t regretted a single day” and “feels Milton Pope is the best administrator ever.”

Administrator’s report

The previously mentioned Pope introduced Joe Mergo from the Lexington County administrator’s office. Mergo gave the council a virtual tour of the new “no kill” shelter about to be built. The five million dollar project is scheduled to receive bids early next year with a possible groundbreaking in March. The facility, located on Bowers Parkway, should be completed in about 12 months.

Westinghouse

Former council chair Bernice Scott was on hand to urge the council to work with Westinghouse. Scott said the community needed the company, and Westinghouse is willing to work within the community to the benefit of both parties.

Kelvin Washington proposed the ordinance concerning Westinghouse be deferred until 12/22. After the deferral was approved it was determined that there was no meeting on 12/22 to discuss the issue. The proposal was reconsidered, and time was added during the zoning meeting to address this item. The community is scheduled to meet with Westinghouse that afternoon to iron out any differences between the two parties.

Business Service Center

A policy change for the Business Service Center that was deferred from 12/1, was addressed by the administrative staff concerning questions by council members. Val Hutchinson and Bill Malinowski didn’t understand why Richland County should give back tax money to any business that is annexed into a city during the year.

It was pointed out that the municipality will charge a fee and the business would be charged twice. When Pope mentioned such practices might be considered anti business, Malinowski and Hutchinson had no further objections.

Historic homes

A proposal to move allocated renovation money from one historic home to another was deferred again. The four hundred plus pages of information provided to the council after the item was deferred at the last meeting wasn’t enough for some council members to reach a decision, so it was deferred once again.

A funding proposal for the Pioneer Bowl at the request of Benedict College was also deferred until the next meeting. The game has already been played in Columbia and any funding will be to reimburse Benedict for staging the contest.

Economic Development Strategic Plan

Adoption of a plan to guide the way for economic development in the county was eventually approved, but not until the idea of a conceptual plan was explained to Malinowski several times.

After executive session the meeting was adjourned.