Clarendon County Council held a meeting Monday, October 10 at 6PM. The meeting was located at the Summerton Cultural Arts Center, at 12 Church Street in Summerton. Many proposals were presented to the council.
The first proposal was listed on the agenda as “Providing Authorization for the County to Enter a Lease - Purchase or Other Similar Agreement; and Other Related Matters.”
David Epperson explained to the council and other meeting attendees that the proposal was regrading new equipment for the fire department. He emphasized that the new equipment was much needed. When asked how much the new equipment would cost, he gave an estimate of about $310,000. The motion was approved.
Then, Ted Felder presented a proposal for Clarendon County to support Operation Green Light. This is an organization that assists veterans. The motion was approved.
Jesse Surette from the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce then asked the Council to consider allowing the county to partner with the SC 250 Commission. The SC 259 Commission is a group that celebrates and educates people about the American Revolution. Since we are approaching the 250-year anniversary of the American Revolution, the SC 250 Commission is searching for counties in South Carolina to join. The Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce would like Clarendon to be one of the counties. This motion was approved.
Another item on the agenda related to the compensation of the county employees. Earlier in the year, the council allowed Dr. Campbell to conduct a compensation study for the county. He made some recommendations for the county employees’ salaries, and in order to make those changes, a new ordinance has to be signed in. This will make a change to the compensation policy in the county handbook. The motion was passed.
Then, a rezoning proposal was given to the council. The owners of some land in Clarendon County would like their land zoning to be changed from AG II to the general commercial classification.
The final proposal was presented by David Epperson. The proposal was for updating the county’s definition of “projects.” The purpose of this is to get more things approved to be considered county projects, allowing them to be built using county funds.
Epperson said, “The county is continuing to grow and prosper, thus the need for additional capital for the county to be able to operate and perform services.”
This motion was passed.
Then, the finance report was discussed. It was reported that the county is in month three of their fiscal year. So far, $6 million has been spent. The financial expert informed everyone that everything is going as expected. Some departments are under budget due to lack of staff, but they are working diligently to get those positions filled so they may serve the community further.
