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Residents press council on meeting audio, budget transparency, Tiger Street project and county fair funding process
Summary
Multiple residents raised concerns during public comment about poor YouTube audio and closed captioning, lack of timely budget detail online, questions about the Tiger Street/RV campsite project, and a county fair funding application that the council said it would review in executive session.
Several residents used the public-comment portion of the Aug. 18 Hampton County Council meeting to press for better meeting audio, clearer budget reporting, information about the Tiger Street project and to inquire about county financial assistance for the Brunson County Fair.
Mary Benton said the last three YouTube meeting recordings had poor audio and malfunctioning closed captioning, sometimes ending abruptly. “I challenge you to go back and listen to the last 3 meetings on YouTube to see if it's me or if there's really an issue,” she told the council. Benton also said the budget book posted online lacked current accounts-payable and accounts-receivable detail, and she urged the county to publish more timely financial information.
Benton asked for public documentation showing how the Tiger Street project originated and expressed concern about a proposed RV campsite connected to that project; she said the campsite would appear to contradict recent camper/ RV permit discussions. The council did not provide a formal response during public comment but later indicated the Tiger Street-related first-reading ordinance would be held for executive-session discussion.
Patricia Williams appeared to represent the county fair organization and asked about county financial assistance. Council members confirmed the council had received a formal application and said they would discuss the request in executive session and return with a ruling when the meeting reconvened.
The council’s administrator and finance staff later gave an update on the financial system rollout and noted improvements planned for online financial reporting.
No formal actions were taken during public comment; council members asked staff to follow up on audio issues and to accept submitted documents from speakers for review.
