Cayce City Council meeting
By Kristin Lavender
kblavender@gmail.com

Feb. 6, 2007

Presentations

Cayce Public Safety Chief Charles McNair presented the 2005/2006 summary of the Lexington County Multi Agency Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET). The team was formed in 2001 and has been partially funded under a five year federal grant. Statistics provided by Chief McNair show there has been an increase in productivity with respect to drug seizures and arrests. In 2005, NET reported 72 drug buys and 47 drug arrests, totaling 119. In 2006, there was a reported 89 drug buys and 51 arrests. An average of $80 is spent on each buy.

Ordinances

Three ordinances were brought to the Council. The first, an ordinance to rezone property on Lexington Avenue currently belonging to Lexington District 2, was presented in an effort to make the property available for residential construction. A similar rezoning ordinance for Lucas Street followed.

City Manager John Sharpe suggested this rezoning would help to "clean up zoning in that area" by building single family residences on the lot. All three readings brought to the Council were approved. The third motion received a second and final reading on the rezoning of property located at 2200 State Street.

New Business

Conversation began pertaining to the approval of a Preliminary Engineering Agreement for a Taylor Road crossing. Cayce City Attorney Danny Crowe has reviewed the agreement citing that the proposed costs are "just for engineering work." He urged countering the document with additional language.

In a discussion of a bid to upgrade Pump Station No. 1 in Cayce, concern was raised by Councilman Rick Myers as to a change of the bid in eight months by a difference of $700,000, an increase of roughly $100,000 per month. Discussion was held as to whether to seek additional estimates. Fellow councilmen brought to light that further delay might induce an increase in the collective costs. The bid award was approved unanimously.

Committee Matters

Two positions have been made available on the Special Projects and Traffic Committee (SPAT). No appointments were made to the Committee.

City Council Bylaws do not specifically state the quantity of members required for the SPAT Committee. Only two out of the six scheduled meetings over the past year were able to be held because of lack of quorum.

The SPAT Committee addresses issues deemed pertinent to the safety of Cayce, including proposals for new streetlight installations. It was suggested that if more dire issues were addressed by the Committee, a greater number of individuals could be expected present. Having the Committee only meet on a need basis was also offered as a solution.

In order to change the frequency of meetings, there must be a change made in the Bylaws. Mayor Avery Wilkerson Jr. was provided with a list of members in attendance for 2006. The Council approved a reduction in membership of the Committee from nine members to seven active members.