Council authorizes chairman to sign Mark Clark Expressway agreement discussed in executive session

Charleston County Council authorized its chairman on April 20 to sign an agreement related to the Mark Clark Expressway negotiation that the council reviewed in executive session.

Council went into executive session under attorney advice to brief members about discussions with the South Carolina Department of Transportation and the State Transportation Infrastructure Bank about unraveling or "unwinding" the Mark Clark Expressway contract. After a closed briefing (no votes taken in executive session), council reconvened in public and Council member Honeycutt moved to "approve and authorize the chairman to sign the agreement as discussed in executive session with the understanding that this agreement remains privileged until all parties have executed." The motion passed on a public vote; the meeting record states the ayes carried and lists one recorded no vote (Council member Moody).

The county chair and staff said they had been negotiating with the state and other partners for several months and described the matter as time-sensitive, necessitating a closed briefing to present legal and negotiation strategy. No terms of the agreement were disclosed in public because the council explicitly kept the agreement privileged until execution.

Why it matters: The expressway matter involves potential contract unwinding and negotiations with the state; authorizing the chairman to sign allows the county to finalize an agreement reached in negotiations, and the privileged status preserves confidentiality until all parties sign.

What happened: Council received a closed-session briefing, took no public action in executive session and subsequently authorized the chairman to sign the agreement discussed in executive session. Council recorded that no votes were taken during the closed session itself, and the public vote authorized signature with confidentiality until execution.