NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL

MINUTES

OCTOBER 17, 2007

The Newberry County Council met on Wednesday, October 17, 2007, at 4:00 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

John E. Caldwell, 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: Mike Hawkins, Councilman

Press: Cindy Pitts, The Newberry Observer

Heather Hawkins, WKDK (arrived at 4:45 p.m.)

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

1. 2007 Tax Levy.

Nancy Owen, Newberry County Auditor, presented the 2007 tax levy (see attached). Ms. Owen recommended for County purposes a levy of 148.9 mills and for school purposes a levy of 250.1 mills for a total 2007 tax levy of 399.0 mills.

Mr. Dawkins moved to accept Ms. Owen’s recommendation; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

2. Adoption of Consent Agenda.

Mr. Livingston moved to adopt the consent agenda; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous.

3. Additions, Deletions and Adoption of Agenda.

Mr. Summer requested the addition of a personnel issue to Executive Session.

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

4. Ordinance #10-30-07: An Ordinance to amend the Official Zoning Map established pursuant to Zoning Ordinance #12-24-01 so as to rezone a tract containing approximately 1.78 acres, designated as TMS Parcel No. 337-3-5, from General Residential (RG) to Limited Commercial (LC).

Mr. Summer called for the public hearing. There being no comments from the public, Mr. Summer declared the public hearing closed.

Mr. Livingston moved for second reading; second by Mr. Waldrop. Vote was unanimous.

5. Committee Reports.

No reports.

6. Appointments.

Mr. Livingston recommended the reappointment of Jimmy Alewine to the Westview Board.

There being no further recommendations for appointment, Mr. Waldrop moved to accept the recommendation; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

7. Consideration of one-year extension (October 1, 2007 – September 30, 2008) of Clemson Extension lease for use of the Farmer’s Market at the Newberry County Fairgrounds.

Mr. Waldrop moved to extend the Clemson Extension lease for another year; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

8. Consideration of roads recommended for tar/gravel surfacing demonstration project.

Tommy Whitehead, Public Works Director, requested that Council approve Wilvant Road in Prosperity for a tar and gravel application.

Mr. Waldrop moved that Wilvant Road be used as an experimental road and then go forward with other roads in the future, if this works out; second by Mr. Baker. Vote was unanimous.

9. Consideration of paving county parking lot off Harrington Street behind Dodgen Building. (Request is for approval up to $10,000, subject to the extension of unit pricing from City’s streetscape project.)

Mr. Adams, after speaking with the Manager of the City of Newberry, said it appears the parking lot will not simply be a resurfacing. Because of the zoning district it is in, new parking lot requirements will be triggered. These include a buffer of planted area or grass area around the perimeter of the parking lot, which will add to the expense. The City will try to pay for that part of the improvements with the grant money they have for the streetscape project. They feel confident that will be approved, but they can’t say for sure until it is.

The price from the contractor was $16,746.56, and the Road Committee approved up to $10,000.

Mr. Dawkins said we had the unit price and the Road Committee underestimated as far as the amount of asphalt. This is budgeted money in the road paving budget.
In order to get the unit price, the contractor is doing work for the City now. If we wait it will be more than the $16,000.

Mr. Dawkins said he would move to go ahead and approve the $16,746.56 to get the parking lot paved, unless Mr. Adams had other information. Mr. Adams was concerned about whether the City would be able to pay for the curb and gutter around the perimeter. The other thing is this is a lump sum quote received this afternoon, and he was not sure it was an extension of the unit pricing. Mr. Whitehead felt while Mr. Campbell was on the job he wouldn’t have to mobilize to come back in and that it was a unit price. Mr. Adams said he could give us a unit price, and it is or isn’t what the City got. The contractor wouldn’t incur mobilization costs, but Mr. Adams asked if the contractor was doing this at unit pricing or is he treating it like a change order. Sometimes change orders go over and above that. Mr. Adams asked if the contractor told Mr. Whitehead what the unit price was. Mr. Whitehead said he did not; that he didn’t ask him.

Mr. Baker asked if the $16,000 figure included the curb and gutter. Mr. Adams said it did not. Mr. Whitehead said Gerald Shealy with S&S Consulting gave an estimate based on the same specs given to Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Shealy priced it at over $23,000. Mr. Whitehead said the lot is 160 by 190, which is much bigger than he anticipated.

Mr. Waldrop asked why Mr. Whitehead took up the asphalt that was there. Mr. Whitehead said it was terribly bad. Mr. Whitehead walked around and could kick it up. They also found a soft spot, which could be a sewer rupture. It needed to be fixed like any road.

Mr. Caldwell asked Mr. Adams how comfortable he was with the proposal. Mr. Adams said the number is within the ballpark. He had Ervin West to look at it today, and Mr. West indicated about $7.50 a square yard. Mr. West was concerned that if required to do curb and gutter, that should go down first and then pave.

Mr. Whitehead said they are moving quickly with the curb and gutter so if the City could move on that, we could get it done.

Mr. West said based on the size of the parking lot, that ups the price to being in line with what Mr. Shealy quoted so based on that square footage, the $16,000 is a good price.

Mr. Adams said he was comfortable based on that information.

If delayed, it will be an inconvenience to employees for parking. However, it will be delayed anyway until the City makes a decision on the curb and guttering. If the City can’t do it with grant funding, the County will have to pay that cost. We are somewhat bound by what the contractor would charge if we go with this contractor since the curb and gutter has to be before the paving. Mr. Adams stated there was funding in the paving account where Council budgeted $250,000 this year. Council could approve the paving and allow staff to negotiate the curb and gutter costs in hopes that the City would be able to pick that up in the end. If they aren’t able, we will have to because it is a city code requirement.

Mr. Waldrop as Chairman of the County Council Road Committee recommended that we go ahead and move forward with this project because it is important to get this straightened out as quickly as possible and get the parking lot rebuilt where employees can park on it and this would include the curb and gutter until we can work out some terms with the City; second by Mr. Dawkins.

Mr. Baker recommended that this be taken out of the asphalt budget and go ahead and get it done. Nobody had mentioned landscaping. Mr. Adams said that would be part of the buffer requirement from the City. It would trigger some planted material requirement other than grass.

There being no further discussion, Mr. Summer called for the question, Vote was unanimous.

10. Consideration of accepting into County System proposed new road to be located adjacent to Pomaria-Garmany School.

Mr. Whitehead said the road going behind the school now is a state road. They want to abandon that state road to the county school system. The school has been deeded some property on the left side and in order to give the property owner access to their property, the school is constructing a 66 foot road to her property. When the school does that, they want to give it over to the County for maintenance. It would probably be about a quarter of a mile or a little better roadway. Brand new road, built up, constructed and then taken into the County Road System for maintenance. Right now we do not have a road on that school property. They are all state roads.

Mr. Baker said the school finance people are here and he wanted to know why they want the County to take it when all the other roads are State.

Al Berry with the Newberry School District explained in regard to the existing situation on site, there are two loops; one in front of the existing building and one in the rear side. Years ago the money came from the State and you were able to build the roads and put them into the State system, but now the State won’t accept any more of these roads. The roads there now will be abandoned. This school will be expanded and additional facilities will be added. A lot of the old buildings will come down and new buildings put in their place. The proposed road will be on the left side of the school going through the piece of property they will receive. The property owner is waiting to convey the property until such time as the County approves accepting the road so they will have access to their property. Without this road, the school would only have one road that comes into the school, and buses and cars would have to be mixed in one access point. The current road that loops around the rear of this building is actually on this property owner already, but the school had the opportunity and privilege to use this road for years. The School District doesn’t care to be in the road business. The School District is willing to move forward and construct the road based on County specifications after which we would like to convey that to the County.

Mr. Waldrop said the Road Committee met recently and adopted a Resolution recommending that the County proceed with the project.

Mr. Dawkins said the County is not paying for the building of the road. It will be built to state standards and turned over to us. It will not only serve the purpose of the school but it hinges on the property transaction to allow the other property owners to have access to their property.

Mr. Caldwell moved to accept; second by Mr. Baker. Motion included adoption of Resolution. Vote was unanimous.

11. Requests by Councilmen.

No requests.

12. Public Comments.

Tom Crooks addressed taxes and questioned approval of school millage by County Council. Mr. Pope requested that Mr. Crooks present a written request to Council setting forth his specific questions, and if Council approved, he would be glad to research it and give him specific answers. Mr. Crooks indicated he would go to the School Board meeting and get some answers and then if he wanted to pursue it, he would come back to Council in writing.

13. Vote for Executive Session, When Necessary.

Mr. Summer advised an Executive Session was needed for a discussion of contractual matters pertaining to property purchase and to discuss a personnel issue.

Mr. Dawkins moved to go into Executive Session; second by Mr. Waldrop. Vote was unanimous.

Cindy Pitts with The Newberry Observer objected to Council going into Executive Session on the personnel matter because it was not being done within the ramifications of the FOIA. Mr. Summer noted her objection.

[EXECUTIVE SESSION 4:55 P.M. – 5:25 P.M.]

14. Executive Session.

Mr. Caldwell moved to return to open session; second by Mr. Dawkins. Vote was unanimous.

15. Necessary Action on Matters Discussed in Executive Session.

Mr. Summer requested that Mr. Pope respond to Ms. Pitts’ objection relating to the personnel issue.

Mr. Pope said on the personnel issue there were two provisions that allow Council to do this. One is Section 30-4-40(A)(2), which says that information of a personal nature where the public disclosure would constitute an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy, that is exempt from disclosure. The second thing is under Executive Session Section 30-4-70(B), it says that when the executive session is held pursuant to Sections 30-4-70(A)(1) or (A)(5), the identity of the individual or entity being discussed is not required to be disclosed to satisfy the requirement that the specific purpose of executive session be stated. In this case to give any identifying information of the personnel issue would basically identify a person and would thereby be an unreasonable invasion of that person’s privacy, and we are trying to respect personal privacy. Under the FOIA, the Council is entitled to treat it the way they have.

16. Comments from County Administrator.

No comments.

17. Comments from Council Members.

No comments.

18. Future Meetings.

Mr. Summer announced the meeting of November 14, at 7:00 p.m.

19. Vote to Adjourn.

Mr. Waldrop moved to adjourn.

20. Adjournment.

There being no further business, Mr. Summer declared the meeting adjourned at 5:28 p.m.

NEWBERRY COUNTY COUNCIL

________________________________

Henry B. Summer, Chairman

________________________________

Susan C. Fellers, Clerk to Council

APPROVED: November 14, 2007