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Sumter County Council defers multiple ordinances, preserves Cultural Commission for review, and awards ARPA mini-grants
Summary
Council denied first reading of an ordinance to repeal the Cultural Commission, delayed several economic-development ordinances to December, adopted first-reading action on a business license revision (title only) to meet state deadlines, and staff reported 48 ARPA mini-grant awards totaling $500,000.
At its Nov. 23 meeting, Sumter County Council took several administrative and legislative steps ranging from deferrals to initial approvals as staff and council mapped next steps for county business.
On first reading the council voted to deny the proposed repeal of ordinances establishing the Sumter County Cultural Commission and agreed to allow the commission to continue operating for six months to a year while council reevaluates progress. County Attorney Johnathan Bryan said council had earlier postponed action at a special meeting and chose to retain the commission for further review.
Council also took title-only first-reading action on a revised business license ordinance required by the state Business License Standardization Act (2020 Act No. 176) and scheduled additional readings to meet the Jan. 1, 2022, deadline. Clerk Mary W. Blanding announced a special meeting Nov. 30 to complete the required readings.
Two items tied to economic development were deferred: Ordinance #21-965 (authorizing a fee-in-lieu of ad valorem taxes agreement for "Project Honey" and enlarging an industrial park) was deferred to Dec. 14 at the request of the project attorney; and Ordinance #21-966 (an option to lease county property to FTC Communications, LLC) was deferred to Dec. 14, with council requesting full lease particulars, including term and escalator details, before third reading.
Staff reported redistricting preparations with S.C. Research and Statistics and said Sumter County would use in-house mapping software (Option #2) and aims to complete the process before March 2022. Administrator Gary Mixon also reported that the county received 79 ARPA mini-grant applications and awarded 48 grants totaling $500,000; applicants were being notified by mail.
During public comment, speakers raised unrelated items: Amy Vaughn of the Genealogical Society asked about historic records handling; Dr. Brenda Williams asked about mini-grant notifications and Manning Avenue Bridge safety; and Cheryl Moye urged the county to hire a full-time executive director for the cultural center rather than rely solely on volunteers.
Next steps: Council set a special meeting Nov. 30 for additional ordinance readings and will take up deferred items and requested lease details at its Dec. 14 meeting.
