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Beaufort County Council hires outside lawyer to review two development agreement applications
Summary
The council voted unanimously to hire attorney John DeBow to represent the county in reviewing and negotiating development agreement applications for Pine Island Property Holdings LLC and Ramsey Farms (98 Jennings Road) and authorized the county administrator to sign an engagement letter; public hearings were set for Aug. 11.
Beaufort County Council voted unanimously Friday to retain attorney John DeBow of the firm Smith, Robinson, Holler, DeBow and Morgan to represent the county in reviewing and negotiating two pending development agreement applications and authorized the county administrator to execute an engagement letter.
The motion to hire outside counsel was made after an executive session called under South Carolina Code section 30-4-70(a)(1). A council member moved, "I move that counsel engage the legal services of mister John DeBow, of the law firm Smith, Robinson, Holler, DeBow, and Morgan, to represent counsel in reviewing and negotiating development grama," and the motion was seconded and approved by a show of hands; the chair announced the vote was unanimous.
The motion specifically named the two pending applications to be covered by the representation: Pine Island Property Holdings LLC and Ramsey Farms 98 Jennings Road. Council members authorized the county administrator to sign an engagement letter to formalize the representation. The record does not specify contract terms, fees or the duration of the engagement.
The hiring followed the council's executive-session discussion that, according to remarks recorded by the chair, was held "to engage in discussions, incident to the employment, appointment, compensation of a person regulated by a public body, prospective outside legal counsel to advise counsel on development agreement applications." The council provided no further public detail about the content of the executive-session discussion.
In addition to approving the retention of outside counsel, the chair announced that the council will set dates for development agreement public hearings and associated zoning map amendments at its Aug. 11 meeting; staff will announce the specific hearing dates after conferring with the new attorney.
What the county will ask counsel to review and any proposed terms in the development agreements were not described in the public record. The motion and vote are recorded in the meeting transcript and were announced by the chair as unanimous.
