NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL

MINUTES

JULY 27, 2005

 

The Newberry County Council met on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. at the Newberry Opera House for a regular meeting.

 

Present were:    Mike Hawkins, Chairman

                        William D. Waldrop, Vice-Chairman

                        John E. Caldwell, Councilman (arrived 7:15 p.m.)

                        Henry B. Summer, Councilman

                        John David Dawkins, Councilman

                        Andy Morris, Councilman

                        Edgar Baker, Councilman

                        Leonard B. Sossamon, Jr., County Administrator

                        Gary T. Pope, County Attorney

                        Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council

 

Media:              Cindy Pitts, The Newberry Observer

                        Heather Hawkins, WKDK

 

Notice of the meeting was duly advertised as required by law.

 

Chairman Mike Hawkins called the meeting to order and determined a quorum to be present. 

 

William D. Waldrop had the invocation followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

 

ADOPTION OF CONSENT AGENDA:

Mr. Baker moved to adopt the consent agenda; second by Mr. Summer.   Vote was unanimous.

 

ADDITIONS, DELETIONS AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA:

 

Two personnel matters were added to Executive Session.

 

Agenda Item #1 was deleted since the needs assessment hearing was previously held in February 2005.

 

There being no further additions or deletions, Mr. Waldrop moved to adopt the agenda as amended; second by Mr. Dawkins.  Vote was unanimous. 

 

 

 

 

 

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

 

The following persons signed up for public comments to speak in favor of postponement of the implementation of the reassessment:  Pee Wee Greene, Ronnie Hydrick, Harold Dominick, George Felker, Howard Thomas, Jim Hough, Ruth Beevers, Wyman Cook.

 

Before proceeding with the agenda, Mr. Hawkins read into the record the attached news release from the South Carolina Association of Counties announcing the election of John E. Caldwell to serve as a Board Member of the National Association of Counties. 

 

1.         Needs Assessment hearing for Community Development Block Grant funds.

 

Deleted.

 

2.         An Ordinance to postpone the implementation of countywide reassessment         and equalization until the 2006 tax year.

 

Mr. Caldwell moved for third reading; second by Mr. Baker.  Vote was unanimous.

 

Nancy Owen, Auditor, commended Council on their decision to postpone reassessment.

 

3.         An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel Nos. 339-4-6, 339-4-8, 339-4-9, 339-4-10 and 339-4-11 from General Commercial (GC) to Single Family Residential (RS-3).

 

Mr. Baker moved for third reading; second by Mr. Summer.  Vote was unanimous.

 

4.         An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-242-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel Nos. 592-3-1 through 592-3-33 from Single Family Residential (RS-1) to Single Family Residential (RS-3).

 

Mr. Dawkins moved for second reading; second by Mr. Morris.  Vote was unanimous.

 

5.         An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel No. 523-16 from Rural (R-2) to Light Industrial (LI).

 

Mr. Dawkins moved for second reading; second by Mr. Morris.  Vote was unanimous.

 

6.         An Ordinance to select a site for the new Newberry County Public Library and to set forth the criteria which must be met for site acquisition.

 

Mr. Hawkins called for the public hearing.

 

 

Helen Dean, 267 Point Circle, Prosperity, a charter member of the Friends of the Newberry County Library, spoke in favor of the Coleman site.

 

Jean Wicker, 8047 US Hwy 176, Pomaria, a charter member of the Friends of the Newberry County Library, spoke in favor of the Coleman site.  She also mentioned the unsigned letter in which the writer accuses Council and the Library Board of not having the best interest of the children at heart and stated that was untrue.

 

Jeff Smith, 2023 Johnstone Street, Newberry, spoke against the Coleman site and urged Council to consider the Mower Building. 

 

Steven ________, 2108 Woodland Way, Newberry, expressed concern over the parking situation if the library is built on the Coleman site and the number of empty buildings in Newberry that could be renovated. 

 

Jason Terry with SC DHEC appeared at the request of Coleman Oil Company to answer any questions concerning that site.  There is a minimal amount of contamination on the property.  The release occurred prior to 1993, and since that time an excessive amount of assessment work has been performed.  There are 27 monitoring wells installed.  Some clean up work has been conducted but it is not your typical full blown clean up effort.  It had relatively small amounts of contamination.  Clean up would not cost the county anything because it would be fully funded by the State, which provides up to $1,000,000 worth of assistance and the clean up would not cost that much on this site. 

 

Lee Potts, 19 Pauline Street, Newberry, spoke against the Coleman site and in favor of the Mower Building.  Discussion ensued as to the types of businesses previously located on the Mower site. 

 

Mr. Hawkins declared the public hearing closed.

 

Mr. Sossamon advised that the County would be applying for a CDBG grant in the amount of $500,000; however, the funds cannot be used to acquire property.  The preliminary application is due August 17, 2005. 

 

Mr. Baker moved to vote; second.  Voting in favor:  Councilmen Waldrop, Caldwell, Summer, Morris and Baker.  Voting against:  Councilmen Hawkins and Dawkins.  Motion passed by majority vote.

 

Mr. Morris moved for second reading; second by Mr. Caldwell.  Voting for second reading:  Councilmen Waldrop, Caldwell, Summer, Morris and Baker.  Voting against:  Councilmen Hawkins and Dawkins.  Motion passed by majority vote.

 

[BREAK 8:55 P.M. – 9:05 P.M.]

 

7.         An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel No. 588-14 from Rural (R-2) to Limited Commercial (LC).

 

Mr. Dawkins moved for first reading; second by Mr. Baker.  Vote was unanimous.

 

8.         An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel No. 243-9 from Rural (R-2) to Light Industrial (LI).

 

Mr. Dawkins moved for first reading; second by Mr. Baker.  Vote was unanimous.

 

9.         An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance No. 12-24-01 so as to rezone TMS Parcel No. 290-11 from Rural (R-2) to Light Industrial (LI).

 

Mr. Morris moved for first reading; second by Mr. Dawkins.  Vote was unanimous.

 

10.       Resolution adopting the National Incident Management Plan (NIMS).

 

Mr. Dawkins moved to adopt the Resolution; second by Mr. Morris.  Vote was unanimous.

 

11.       Committee Reports.

 

No reports.

 

Councilmen Caldwell, Waldrop, Morris and Baker reported on meetings and workshops they attended while at the National Association of Counties Annual Conference and expressed their thanks for the opportunity to attend.

 

12.       Appointments.

 

Mr. Dawkins recommended the following appointments from District 2:

Board of Rural Fire Control –   Donald Wicker, Little Mountain

Rodney Bedenbaugh, Fairview

            Board of Rescue Squads -        Gary Seibert, Lake Murray

                                                            Kevin Worley, Little Mountain

 

Mr. Baker recommended the following appointments from District 1:

            Board of Rural Fire Control -    Carol Thomas, Whitmire

            Board of Rescue Squads -        David Andrews, Whitmire

 

There being no further recommendations, Mr. Waldrop moved to accept the recommendations; second by Mr. Morris.  Vote was unanimous.

 

Mr. Waldrop moved to go into Executive Session to discuss 2 economic development matters and 2 personnel matters.  Vote was unanimous.

 

[EXECUTIVE SESSION 9:28 P.M. – 10:45 P.M.]

 

Mr. Morris moved to return to regular session; second by Mr. Caldwell.  Vote was unanimous.

 

Mr. Pope reported that Council discussed 2 economic development matters, 2 personnel matters and 1 legal matter.

 

Mr. Hawkins announced the future meetings on August 17 and September 7. 

 

No comments from the County Administrator or Council Members.

 

Mr. Waldrop moved to adjourn; second by Mr. Summer.  Vote was unanimous.

 

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:47 p.m.

 

 

                                                            NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL

 

 

                                                            _________________________________________

                                                            Mike Hawkins, Chairman

 

 

                                                            ________________________________________

                                                            Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council