NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL
MINUTES
FEBRUARY 20, 2008
The Newberry County Council met on Wednesday, February 20, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at the Courthouse Annex, 1309 College Street, Newberry, SC, for a regularly scheduled meeting.
Present were: Henry B. Summer, Chairman
William D. Waldrop, Vice-Chairman
Mike Hawkins, Councilman
John Dawkins, Councilman
Edgar Baker, Councilman
Henry H. Livingston, III, Councilman
Wayne Adams, County Administrator
Gary T. Pope, County Attorney
Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council
Debbie S. Cromer, Finance Director
Absent: John E. Caldwell, Councilman (illness)
Press: Cindy Pitts, The Newberry Observer
Heather Hawkins, WKDK
Notice of the meeting was duly advertised as required by law.
Mr. Summer called the meeting to order and determined a quorum to be present.
Mr. Hawkins had the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
1. Personal Appearances.
Nancy Stone-Collum with the Palmetto Conservation Foundation asked Council to consider sponsoring a grant through South Carolina Parks, Recreation and Tourism to replace the old Indian Creek Bridge on the Palmetto Trail in the Sumter National Forest. The maximum amount of the grant would be $100,000 per project with an 80/20 match. If awarded, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation and the U.S. Forestry Service would provide the 20% match. There would be no cost to the County. Ms. Stone-Collum will prepare the grant and will forward it to Gerdi Lake and Wayne Adams for their review and approval prior to submission.
Mr. Dawkins moved that Newberry County sponsor the grant application; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
2. Adoption of Consent Agenda.
Mr. Livingston moved to adopt the Consent Agenda, which consisted of minutes of January 31, 2008 and February 6, 2008; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
3. Additions, Deletions and Adoption of Agenda.
The following amendments to the agenda were requested:
There being no further amendments, Mr. Waldrop moved to adopt the agenda as amended; second by Mr. Hawkins. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
4. Ordinance #01-02-08: An Ordinance amending Chapter 152 of the Newberry County Code of Ordinances relating to flood damage prevention, so as to add certain definitions and make technical amendments to the Ordinance to bring it into compliance with state and federal program requirements, and other related matters.
Mr. Hawkins moved for third reading; second by Mr. Livingston. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
5. Ordinance #01-03-08: An Ordinance approving a zoning request to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordnance #12-24-01, codified in Chapter 153 of the Newberry County Code of Ordinances, so as to rezone a tract containing approximately 30/100 of an acre, designated as TMS Parcel #340-1-43, from Residential (RS-3) to General Commercial (GC).
Mr. Waldrop moved for second reading; second by Mr. Livingston.
At Mr. Hawkins’ request, Wayne Boland, Chairman of the Planning Commission, was present at the meeting to explain why the Planning Commission did not recommend rezoning.
Mr. Boland said the consensus of the Planning Commission was that this piece of property was too small of a tract and considering the setbacks, etc., they didn’t feel it was a viable piece of commercial property. It would require an individual sewer system. From the plat the Planning Commission had, this piece of property appeared to be landlocked.
Mr. Baker said the property didn’t appear to be big enough for anything to go on it and he would vote against rezoning the property.
Mr. Dawkins said DHEC has approved a commercial septic tank for the lot. The lot is not big enough for a residence. This property was offered to the adjoining property owner below the appraised value, and he turned it down. Mr. Dawkins would support the request to rezone the property commercial.
Mr. Pope indicated that the edge of the property comes up to the right of way of the road and did not believe it was landlocked.
There being no further discussion, Mr. Summer called for the question. Voting for second reading: Councilmen Summer, Waldrop, Livingston and Dawkins. Voting against second reading: Councilmen Hawkins and Baker. Councilman Caldwell was absent. Motion passed by majority vote.
6. Ordinance #02-04-08: An Ordinance to provide for the issuance and sale of a not exceeding $1,300,000 General Obligation Bond of Newberry County, South Carolina, to provide for the issuance of General Obligation Bond Anticipation Notes in anticipation of the issuance of said Bond, to prescribe the purposes for which the proceeds of said Bond and Notes shall be expended, to provide for the payment of said Bond and Notes, and other matters relating thereto.
Robert Galloway, Bond Counsel with Haynsworth Sinkler and Boyd, explained this ordinance would provide additional funding of construction costs for the library project in addition to what is to be applied from the capital project sales tax. It is anticipated that the additional funding will be paid from other sources but this would obligate the County in the event those proceeds are not available. The interest rate is in the 3% to 4% range.
Mr. Pope asked if approval was needed from the State Budget and Control Board. Mr. Galloway said it was not needed to issue the bonds.
Mr. Baker moved for first reading; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
7. Committee Reports.
Mr. Baker reported:
· The automated weather observatory system is up and running at the Airport and people can now call in and get the weather report.
· The bid for the asphalt at the Airport is scheduled to go out on February 27, 2008.
· The National Coon Hunters Association met at the Fairgrounds in Newberry last week and hunted over 400 dogs.
· The US Forestry Service is partnering with six other organizations in a Wildlife Habitat Initiative. He and Mr. Waldrop went on a tour this afternoon at which it was explained how to bring in more quail and dove. This project will cover approximately 16,000 to 18,000 acres.
8. Appointments.
Mr. Dawkins nominated Tina Attaway for appointment to the Recreation Commission.
There being no additional appointments, Mr. Waldrop moved to accept the nomination; second by Mr. Hawkins. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
9. Consideration of Bid #2008-001,
Reflectorized Traffic Lines, existing County Roads.
Crystal Waldrop, Purchasing Director, recommended acceptance of the low bid from Mark-It Company in the amount of $19,550. This company met all required specifications. The County Transportation Committee will provide the funding for this project.
Mr. Dawkins moved to accept the low bid from Mark-It Company in the amount of $19,550; second by Mr. Waldrop. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
10. Consideration of bid for clearing
and grubbing at the Newberry County Airport.
Crystal Waldrop, Purchasing Director, advised that the lowest bidder, F.D. Riley & Son, did not meet the DBE requirements and the FAA determined that bidder to be non-responsive. The next lowest bidder was DS Utilities, who met the requirements and specifications. Based on W.K. Dickson’s recommendation to accept the bid of DS Utilities in the amount of $201,404, Ms. Waldrop requested Council’s approval of DS Utilities.
Mr. Livingston moved to accept the bid of DS Utilities in the amount of $201,404; second by Mr. Dawkins.
Mr. Dawkins stated the cost to the County would be 2.5% of this amount. Mr. Baker advised that the bid was under estimate.
There being no further discussion, Mr. Summer called for the question. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
11. Consideration
and approval of budget calendar for fiscal year 2008-2009.
Mr. Summer recommended the elimination of the June 10, 2008 budget work session because of the Primary.
There being no further amendments to the budget calendar, Mr. Waldrop moved to approve the calendar as amended; second by Mr. Livingston. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
12. Consideration of approval for tar
and gravel surfacing on Forest Trail and Glasgow Drive.
Tommy Whitehead, Public Works Director, requested approval to use County funds for tar and gravel surfacing of Forest Trail and Glasgow Drive. The estimated cost for Forest Trail (.15 mile) is $4,000, and the estimated cost for Glasgow Drive (.11 mile) is $3,000, for a total cost of $7,000 from the County matching fund leaving a balance in this fund of $48,000.
Mr. Hawkins moved to approve $7,000 for tar and gravel surfacing of Forest Trail and Glasgow Drive; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous among the members present.
13. Request
for Councilmen.
No requests.
14. Public
Comments.
Gordon Johnson requested that Council do a study to see what was spent on getting the Fairgrounds ready for the National Coon Hunters Association versus the amount of money that was taken in. They rented the building at an extremely low rate for the week. Some of the money spent on the building was for long-term things, but as a taxpayer Mr. Johnson felt that unless the County collected a good going rate for the building, it didn’t need to spend money to get the Coon Hunters Association back to Newberry. He understood the Coon Hunters Association spent some money there for certain renovations and that should be figured into the study.
Mr. Adams estimated the money spent by the County to be in the neighborhood of $16,000 of the $20,000 that was budgeted for the Fairgrounds, but not necessarily all money spent was for this particular event. The renovations and work will benefit the County in the future for renting the buildings. We should look at the lease rate and get more for the use of the buildings.
Mr. Dawkins stated the money was budgeted for the Fairgrounds and not necessarily for this event. We have no wintertime people to rent the buildings to because there is no heat in the buildings. The bathrooms were not usable.
The Fairgrounds Commission runs the Fairgrounds. The lease rate needs to be increased. Right now it is being leased for $100 per day, and the County will be looking at increasing this but still making it affordable to persons who want to lease it.
Mr. Baker advised the expenditures were long-term investments in hopes of bringing in other groups to lease the Fairgrounds. The Coon Hunters Association has voted to come back to Newberry next year.
Mr. Adams thanked Crystal Waldrop, Tommy Whitehead, Jeff Martin, and Sheriff Foster for their help with this project.
15. Vote
for Executive Session.
Mr. Dawkins moved to go into Executive Session on the following items:
· Contractual relating to old landfill
· Contractual pertaining to fairgrounds property lease
· Legal update on Highway 219 building lawsuit
· Update on Eagle Container lawsuit
· Legal matter relating to Frandeena Court.
Second by Mr. Waldrop. Vote was unanimous among members present.
16. Executive
Session.
[EXECUTIVE
SESSION 7:50 P.M. – 10:07 P.M.]
[Mr. Baker left the meeting at 9:48 p.m. when Council started discussions about the Highway 219 building lawsuit.]
Mr. Waldrop moved to return to open session; second by Mr. Livingston. Vote was unanimous among Council members present.
17. Necessary
action on matters discussed in Executive Session.
Mr. Dawkins moved to give first reading by title only to an ordinance to accept Frandeena Court into the county road system; second by Mr. Waldrop. Vote was unanimous among members present.
18. Comments
from County Administrator.
No comments.
19. Comments
from Council Members.
No comments.
20. Future
meetings.
The next Council meeting is March 12, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
The County Council Planning Retreat is scheduled for April 19 and 20, 2008 in the Conference Room at the Courthouse Annex.
21. Vote to
adjourn.
Mr. Waldrop moved to adjourn.
22. Adjournment.
Meeting adjourned at 10:11 p.m.
NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL
________________________________
Henry B. Summer, Chairman
________________________________
Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council
APPROVED: March 12, 2008