York County council directs management to enforce SCDES, EPA orders after Silfab matter

At a March 6 special-called York County meeting, the council voted to direct county management and county legal to "invoke and exercise all powers within the county's authority to direct, support, and ensure that all SCDES directives are strictly adhered to and followed," the chair said when moving the measure.

The motion, made by the chair and seconded by a committee member, instructs officials to consider emergency ordinance powers, issue cease-and-desist directives as needed to comply with SCDES and EPA directives, continue cooperating with state and federal agencies and compile a timeline of recent factual events for public input. The council approved the motion by voice vote after a brief procedural debate.

Why it matters: Council members framed the action as an attempt to ensure public safety and regulatory compliance following a recent site-related incident involving Silfab, a private company referenced during discussion. One council member had earlier urged that presentations and information be kept in public "so that the public has the ability to see" the materials, arguing "the public deserves to have transparency and honesty and openness." The council ultimately moved to seek legal advice in executive session before returning and taking the enforcement-direction vote.

Procedure and debate: The meeting began with the chair calling the special session to order and leading a prayer. A committee member first moved that the council not enter executive session and instead hold presentations in public; that motion failed for lack of a second. Another member then moved to enter executive session for receipt of legal advice on the Silfab matter. Staff explained the meeting had been noticed as a special-called meeting with one agenda item (executive session) and that suspending the rules would be required to add other items. After the parliamentarian's guidance, the council voted to enter executive session, then returned and the chair announced "no action was taken" during that closed session.

Quotes: "I make a motion that we do not enter into executive session and that we hold the presentations and information in public...the public deserves to have transparency and honesty and openness," said a committee member advocating for open presentations. The chair said after returning from closed session that county management and legal should "invoke and exercise all powers within the county's authority to direct, support, and ensure that all SCDES directives are strictly adhered to and followed." Staff noted that "this is a special called meeting. It has 1 item on the agenda, and that item involves executive session," explaining the procedural limits on adding agenda items without suspending rules.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to enter executive session for receipt of legal advice on the Silfab matter: approved by voice vote after the chair called for ayes and declared the motion carried (no roll-call tally recorded). - Motion directing county management and county legal to enforce SCDES and EPA directives and pursue emergency ordinance and cease-and-desist measures, and to compile a timeline for public input: approved by voice vote; the chair declared the motion carried (no roll-call tally recorded). - Motion to adjourn: approved by voice vote.

What comes next: The chair said a statement would be issued later from county council to present consistent factual information. The motion also directed staff to compile a timeline of factual events for public review; no schedule for that timeline or for further council action was specified in the meeting record.

Reporting note: The meeting record does not include roll-call vote counts or named vote tallies for the motions. The transcript shows voice votes and chair declarations of passage; specific yes/no counts were not specified.