Dillon County Council approves two economic-development ordinances, postpones two others

Dillon County Council on July 23 approved two ordinances tied to prospective economic-development projects and postponed two related measures to a special meeting set for Aug. 8.

Kenny Cook Jr. moved to approve Ordinance No. 25-10, authorizing the execution and delivery of a purchase-and-sale agreement between Dillon County and a company identified in the minutes as "Project Runway." Brad Coward seconded the motion, and the minutes record that "all were in favor." Later in the agenda, James Washington moved to approve Ordinance No. 25-11, a land conveyance and incentive agreement with a company identified as "Project ZIP;" Robbie Coward seconded and that motion also passed by unanimous voice vote.

The council also deferred two items. Ordinance No. 25-05, which the minutes describe as authorizing a fee-in-lieu-of-tax and Special Source Credit agreement with a company identified as "Project Evergreen," was postponed until the August 8 special called meeting. Ordinance No. 25-06, authorizing the issuance and sale of a general-obligation bond not exceeding $2,200,000 (Series 2025), was likewise postponed to the Aug. 8 special meeting; the minutes record the postponements but do not identify who made the motions to postpone.

Procedural motions that appear in the record include approval of the meeting agenda and the June 25, 2025 minutes (both approved on motions by Robbie Coward, seconded by Detrice Dawkins), and a brief public hearing opened and closed on Ordinance No. 25-10 (opened on a motion by Robbie Coward, second by Brad Coward; closed on a motion by Detrice Dawkins, second by Robbie Coward). The minutes show that the council voted "all were in favor" on recorded actions; no roll-call tallies are recorded in the minutes.

The ordinances approved on July 23 are described in the agenda text as enabling the county to enter contractual agreements with the named projects; the minutes do not provide further details on the companies, the terms of the incentives, or timelines for either project. The record also does not include supporting documents such as finalized purchase agreements, incentive schedules, or staff reports within the minutes themselves.

Council members also approved a Council Recreation Request and announced several personal donations to local athletic programs; those donations and the recreation request were approved on a motion by James Washington and seconded by Robbie Coward.

The council entered executive session to discuss a personnel matter and economic development and later reported no action was taken in executive session.

Next steps: two postponed ordinances remain scheduled for consideration at the special called meeting on Aug. 8, 2025. No additional implementation dates or effective dates for the approved ordinances are recorded in the minutes.