Welcome to the newsletter for Lancaster County!
The primary focus of this newsletter is to provide a way for Lancaster County citizens to stay informed on issues within Lancaster County. As I have been talking to people, it is clear that citizens are interested and have opinions on decisions made at the county level but they are frequently unaware on how to know when important decisions are being made and what to do to voice their opinions which has led to lots of frustrations. The intent of this newsletter is bring those issues to your attention and provide you with clear ways to provide input. The email newsletter will be sent out monthly moving forward around the 15th of the month.
The format will be fairly simple. Top section will have call outs or important issues to the county along with ways to voice your opinion or get involved. The following sections will be recaps of the Lancaster County Meetings for the previous month. I will get better at displaying info in this format so bear with me the first few months. Please provide feedback on what you like/don’t like by responding to this email.
If you have any questions/comments, do not hesitate to reach out to me- 803-804-6017 or simply reply to this email. Love to hear your feedback on this newsletter and if you think you will find value in it. Follow me on Facebook for more updates.
If you have friends/neighbors/family that would be interested in this information, forward the email to them and they can click this link to sign up.
Thanks,
Stuart
Important Topics for Lancaster County
- Interested in what Lancaster County Council is all about- Click here. You can stream past meetings or live stream county meetings as they are happening. Click link and go to middle of page- View live and recorded session. I will refer to discussions by meeting and minute discussed in topics. Next County Council Meeting Date: 11/25/24 at 6pm
- Riverchase Roof top fee- Where is it applied to county? Impact for Van Wyck Fire District funding and response times in Riverchase especially as the next phases of Riverchase are under consideration. Impacts to Tree Tops, Van Wyck and Riverchase primarily. See beginning of October 28th meeting. Beginning of meeting for several citizens comments and minute 55 for council discussions.
- Here is how to know what is coming up on county meetings with an email to your inbox!! Click here and sign up. An email will be sent about a week prior to meeting with agenda and supporting docs. Great way to see what is coming, determine if you need to comment/research plus it is a good reminder on what the meetings are happening.
Lancaster County Development updates:
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- Click here for the status of in process developments throughout the county. Check out this link for more details on progress from month to month on permits, etc.
- 2nd Reading to rezone 26.94 acres on Hwy9 Bypass / Kershaw Camden Hwy from Neighborhood Business to Medium Density Residential. Click here for discussion/vote at minute 28:50.
- Riverchase Phase Two has been approved through the planning commission and will be on to County Council for approval/denial. 343 houses on 578 acres
- Town of Van Wyck – 315 house proposal on roughly 400 acres- corner of 521 and #5. Public information meeting on November 20th at 7pm- Van Wyck Presbyterian Church. Status – Information stage. Not approved or denied.
- There are significant number of developments that are approved by the City of Lancaster. I am working on a way to show what is approved/in process.
- Ways to voice your opinion. Citizens comments by signing up as you enter the meeting. You may also click here to fill out a form that will be officially included in the minutes of the meeting and provided to each council representative. Great way to voice your opinion if you can’t make the meetings!!
Lancaster County Council Meeting RECAP- November 12 , 2024
By Clare McConaughay
To stream the meeting- click here.
Councilman Luis present by phone and Councilman Terry Graham absent.
Highlights : New faces ! Swearing in ceremony for District 6 County Councilman Bryant Neal and District 27 State Senator Allen Blackmon by Clerk of Court Jeff Hammond , preceded the regular council meeting . Congratulations, gentlemen . Other elected councilmen will be sworn in in January . Mike Watkins was introduced as the newly elected Clerk of Court to replace Jeff Hammond , who is retiring at the end of the year , and Daniel Wilson was introduced as the new EMS Deputy Director under Clay Catoe.
Council agenda items included rezonings , budget items , update on ARPA projects , and boards / commissions / UDO description updates .
Citizens Comments :
1. Lori Sistare, Lancaster , gave kudos to Mary Ann Hudson , County Director of Registration and Elections , and her staff and volunteers in the recent elections .
2. Jodi Honeycutt, Lancaster , who worked as a poll clerk, also had high praise for Mary Ann Hudson for training her staff / volunteers . Note : 36,000 citizens voted in early voting, and another 10,200 on Election Day , for a 79% total turnout !
3. Ben Stevens , Fort Mill, speaking for BDR Land Acquisitions did Rezoning later in agenda .
4. Angela Davis , Indian Land, presented a petition with 160 signatures requesting a 180 day moratorium on building in the county since there are currently 73 mobile classrooms at the schools with class sizes of 30 . She wants schools and road bonds to be rewritten for another attempt to pass.
5. Melissa James@ Horton , Lancaster , requested help on delinquent tax problem repayment on mother in laws property due to new owners not doing proper paperwork .
6. EMS Director Clay Catoe introduced the new EMS Deputy Director, Daniel Wilson , who was chosen from a nationwide search resulting in 32 candidates, and has been on the job a few weeks.
Welcome ! Special Presentations
A. American Rescue Plan Act ( ARPA ) update . Deputy Admin . Stephany Snowden presented updated graphs showing 28 completed projects costing $12.6 million , and 8 projects in process for another $6.4 million . The new coroner’s building bid came in over budget at bid as expected , ( present site too small to be expanded , so new building will be by the new detention center) so another $750k needed from the general fund . She will give another update at the December council meeting to make sure all ARPA funds are obligated by the Dec. 31 deadline. ( If not , they go back to the federal government).
Non-Consent Agenda :
A. 3rd Reading for the famous “ Chicken Coop “ ordinance amendment, where it reverts to the original, but does add “ no exotic “ creatures like tigers and lions.
Note: It was humorously noted that if the recently escaped monkeys from a research facility in SC made their way to Lancaster County, they couldn’t be kept in your backyards as pets.
B. 2nd Reading to rezone 26.94 acres on Hwy9 Bypass / Kershaw Camden Hwy. from Neighborhood Business to Medium Density Residential. Councilman Luis questioned if issues from last reading had been addressed with the adjacent landowners . The price point will probably start at $400K with 70 ft. wide lots but a builder has not been chosen . Passed 5-1, with Councilman Luis opposed and Graham absent.
C. 1st Reading to authorize the acquisition of .25 acre at 305 N. Catawba Street, via a cashless transaction of resource optimization by amending a fee agreement of approximately $425k between the county and Founders Federal Credit Union. The county needs additional office space. Passed 6-0. D. 1st Reading of an amended fee in lieu for Project Maple related to distribution of revenue to be received from the multi-county park created for it. This company has been here for 10 years but missed its employee number benchmark. Passed 6-0.
E. 1st Reading of an appropriation of budget funds. This is an emergency action for procurement of a second boiler replacement in conjunction with the first boiler currently being replaced for the courthouse . Passed 6-0.
F. 1st Reading to amend the United Development Agreement to amend regulations for archery and airsoft/bb gun shooting ranges to be added ( for Parks and Rec, Scouts, and church grounds, etc ) abiding by USAA and Boy Scouts set guidelines. Passed 6-0.
G. 1st Reading to amend an ordinance in the county code to reference the Fire Marshall as a Building Official. This will be part of the merger of the fire and building boards, limited to 5 members rather than one from each district. There are over 20 boards and commissions with over 170 volunteers, which are being reviewed, combined, dissolved, with new meeting standards and meeting requirements. One of the current appeals board has not met since 2011, for example. Passed 4-2, with Councilmen Carnes and Luis opposed ( for reduction from 7 to 5 members ).
H. 1st Reading to Disestablish/Dissolve the Animal Advisory Board. This board continues to have trouble getting people to serve, only met 3 times in two years, and has never been able to fill the position on the board for an animal care/food industry person. The shelter has tremendous support from volunteers that continue to work with staff on needs, so it seems unnecessary to have a board. Passed 6-0.
I. 1st Reading to amend county code on the composition of the County Community Relations Commission to include members at large. Passed 6-0.
J. 1st Reading to amend county code for the board of zoning appeals to go from 7 to 5 members, composed of 2 professionals and 3 geographic members, one each from panhandle, central, and south areas of the county. Opposed by Councilman Luis as limiting the number of ordinary citizens, like teachers, from serving in its present form. Passed 5-1.
Discussion and Action Items:
A. Adoption of the 2025 calendar meeting schedule for council, committees, boards, and commissions and holiday schedule. Passed 6-0.
B. Approval of appointments to various boards and committees 1. Jenna Bice as one of two lodging industry reps to the ATAX Advisory Committee until 12/31/2028. 2. Sandra Lakatos, District 4 Rep. to the Historical Commission until 6/30/2027. 3. Tracy Hilton, District 6 Rep. to the Board of Assessment Appeals until 6/30/27.
Executive Session to discuss three items:
1. Receipt of legal advice regarding potential property acquisition adjacent to Bear Creek.
2. Receipt of legal advice regarding potential contractual matter relating to the Sheriff’s office,
3. Discussion of personnel matters pursuant to SCCode related to the County Administrator’s Office.
Thanks to Paulette for driving tonight and the other 3 Indian Land citizens and our future councilman Stuart Graham for attending tonight. This post and photos may not be shared without my permission. Notes to the best of my ability.
Clare McConaughay
