Richland County Council meets May 1, 2007
By Mike Cox
MWC423@bellsouth.net

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

Presentations

Chairman Joe McEachern and Vice Chair Val Hutchinson presented diplomas to the 2007 Richland 101 graduating class. Twenty- seven people attended the classes. Richard Evans , spokesperson for the class of '07, thanked the council and county employees for having the class. He said the information went into detail about what is involved with running a county.

Randy Byrd , a Richland County employee for the last 16 years, was recognized for his recent attempt to revive a man he found lifeless in front of the county administration building.

Citizens Input

Local developer Paul Clifton asked the council to approve the pending sewer items on the night's agenda. Clifton reminded the council his company had done everything asked of it, and the project had been approved for several months.

Reports

County administrator Milton Pope reported on the recent lawn mower exchange designed to save the ozone by reducing the number of poor performing lawn mowers in the county. Richland and Lexington were in cahoots on this and drew more than 200 people. About 150 lawn mowers were exchanged.

The recent Pets in the Park event was also a success. The third annual event to raise awareness for proper animal treatment was held in North Springs Park. The event drew 200 people and their pets, and 20 vendors.

Regular Agenda

The first agenda item tonight was the Bluff Industrial Park ordinance, which was approved without discussion or opposition. The last time it was discussed we nearly had fisticuffs. I guess the problems have been resolved.

Joyce Dickerson wondered why an amendment addressing animal care was removed from the agenda. Pope explained he asked McEachern and Hutchinson to remove the item so he could finalize discussions with the city.

Most of the rest of the night was dedicated to sewer talk. Pope asked the council to defer the three sewer related items until the next meeting.

Scott made a motion to approve the first sewer ordinance. Jeter wondered why this approval was taking so long. He felt there were people intentionally dragging the sewer agreements out. Dickerson agreed with Jeter, saying all questions should have already been asked and answered.

Bill Malinowski agreed with the other two about the seriousness of the issue, but he felt the administrator is doing the right thing by making sure everything is correct before proceeding.

Mike Montgomery , always the voice of reason, explained to his cohorts they were stuck with the existing court order and present sewer agreements. The council should approve what is on the table as soon as possible, then work to correct the existing policy to improve future sewer projects. (Montgomery would make a great Jeopardy contestant).

After way too much pontificating and public agonizing, the council passed the three sewer agreements but asked the county attorney to check for surprises in the document and notify the council before the minutes are approved at the May 15 meeting.

After the obligatory executive session to discuss obligatory pending litigation, the meeting was adjourned.