Richland County Council meets Feb. 20, 2007
By Mike Cox
MWC423@bellsouth.net

Roll call

Joe McEachern, Val Hutchinson, Norman Jackson, Damon Jeter, Paul Livingston, Bill Malinowski, Mike Montgomery, Greg Pearce, Bernice Scott, and Kit Smith were present. Joyce Dickerson was absent.

Staff reports

The county attorney notified the council of several executive session items, although none of them were new. A couple of TIFs with Columbia, the Farmer's Market, and a personnel matter rounded out things needing discussion behind closed doors.

Still acting county administrator Milton Pope gave an update on recent discussions with Columbia concerning the Township and Roosevelt Park. Nothing between the two entities seems to be smooth. A summary of total county costs for the Farmer's Market will be ready by early April.

Pope told the council members the proposal for animal care was moving forward. An RFQ has been finalized and published, and he is waiting on responses. Val Hutchinson asked how negotiations were going with the city on animal care. Bernice Scott said she was unaware there were any ongoing negotiations. Chairman Joe McEachern explained that Richland County and Columbia were both moving forward separately on animal care. If the two groups decide to get together, it will be done through the councils.

Regular agenda

An amendment to allow tattoo parlors to operate under general commercial zoning rules was removed from consent so the council could discuss whether tattooing and body piercing are to be treated the same. Mike Montgomery , obviously an expert on both subjects, pointed out that most tattoo parlors also offer body piercing. To separate the two would cause future problems.

He was informed that tattooing had been approved in committee, but body piercing would be sent to the planning commission. (That should be an interesting meeting.)

Public Hearing

Kim Murphy spoke against approval of the bond ordinance allocating over $16 million for the Broad River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Murphy is worried the county is moving too fast on this issue and might end up in a court case similar to what happened with Mungo several years ago. Murphy is also concerned about the payback not being fully determined and why $2 million was added in as discretionary.

The county's bond guru suggested the council defer the item until next meeting so they could iron out some issues and negotiate the best bond rates. The council complied.

Back to the regular agenda

An ordinance to add four EMTs and four paramedics to Emergency Medical Services was approved through second reading after budget questions were addressed. The additions won't affect this year's budget, but Montgomery was worried about next year's budget. Pope promised to have the correct number, around $40,000, available before third reading.

An ordinance amending the code of ordinances to restructure elected officials salaries was approved, this time without discussion. An ordinance for approval of a community residential care facility was finally approved, after new member Norman Jackson , and some veteran council members, were schooled on the state law governing the applications. Seems there is a 14 day timetable to raise questions without approval. Since the next council meeting will be more than 14 days from now, the council was almost forced to approve this application without community input.

After motion period, the meeting was adjourned.