Clarendon County Council proceeded with the opening of their meeting on July 12 as normal.
Introductory remarks, invocation, the Pledge of Allegiance, and approval of agenda and minutes went as planned.
Item five on the agenda saw council awarding a 5-year service award to Joseph K. Coffey, and a10-year service award to Meesha L. Witherspoon, who has served Clarendon County for the past decade. Witherspoon currently serves as the Clarendon County Archivist.
Next on the agenda was a resolution denoting July as fair housing month in Clarendon County.
Fair Housing Month signifies a recommitment to expanding equal access to housing for everyone, and is a common resolution for many municipalities and local governments.
Following this, Council voted on several “Tourism Fund” allocations. They were as follows:
$42,000 to the Clarendon County Chamber of Commerce for tourism promotion initiatives
$5,000 to Santee Cooper Country for out-of-area promotional activities
$1,000 dollars to the Summerton Revitalization Project for promotional activities associated with the 2021 DuckFest, and
$55,000 to Clarendon County Government for the operation and maintenance of the exit 119 beautification project.
Council then heard a presentation from Ted Felder about the Clarendon County Transportation Committee.
The Committe was requesting funding for road materials and maintenance not to exceed $50,000. Council voted to approve this maintenance.
Council then held the third and final reading of an Ordinance that will amend the zoning of a particular parcel of land from Agriculture to General Commercial.
Council then read a resolution to accept funds from the American Rescue Plan Act before hearing Finance, Administrator’s, and Chairman’s reports.
Following these reports, council adjourned to executive session before returing to open session to discuss legal briefing on the Burns v. Greenville County.
This court ruling, which took place recently, stated that Greenville County Council was operating illegally when they imposed a road maintenance and telecommunications fee on their citizens, council met to discuss whether this would affect all counties.
Council decided that they had to change their current road maintenance fee from $35 back to $15 per car, the rate that was established prior to 1997.
The resolution was read and passed, with no opposition from Council.
