NEWBERRY COUNTY — Newberry County Council discussed a first reading and a resolution involving two separate special tax districts during Wednesday’s County Council meeting.
The first reading was for an ordinance to create the Mountain View Subdivision Special Tax District. According to County Administrator Wayne Adams, on Dec. 17, 2019, by a margin of 16-2 votes, voters residing in the Mountain View Subdivision approved the creation of a special tax district.
“The purpose is to maintain the unpaved roadways of their subdivision. The approved referendum calls for a not-to-exceed $150 annual uniform service charge to offset expenses incurred by Newberry County in providing this service,” Adams said.
Under the South Carolina Code of Laws, the creation of a special tax requires the adoption of an ordinance by County Council, according to Adams. Council approved the first reading after Councilman Scott Cain made a motion and Councilman Steve Stockman gave a second.
This subdivisions’ main road is Glade Springs — this road runs off of Coley Todd Road in Little Mountain.
Council also approved a resolution calling for the J.B. Fulmer Court Special Tax District election. Adams noted the similarities between this district and the Mountain View Subdivision District, but the J.B. Fulmer Court District is at the beginning of the process.
“The residents of J.B. Fulmer Court have petitioned for the creation of a special tax district for the same purpose as that currently under consideration by Council for Mountain View Estates,” he said. “Each community is seeking the creation of a special tax district under Code Section 4-9-30 (5) of the South Carolina Code of Laws, for the maintenance of their unpaved roadways. The difference between the two is down to where each community is, in terms of the legislative process. Mountain View Estates is nearer to completion, while J.B. Fulmer Court is in the initial stages.”
Adams explained that, by statute, no less than 15 percent of the electors in the proposed J.B. Fulmer Court Special Tax District have petitioned to request a referendum on whether to impose upon themselves the same $150 annual uniform service charge that the electors of Mountain View Estates have already approved.
Council approved the resolution after Councilman Johnny Mack Scurry made a motion and Councilman Travis Reeder gave a second. With the resolution approved, the J.B. Fulmer Court referendum is scheduled for April 14, according to Adams.
J.B. Fulmer Court is off of Beisel Road, which is off of Mt. Bethel Garmany Road.
In other business, with this being the first meeting of the year, Newberry County Council held elections for the chairman and vice chairman. After the meeting was turned over to County Attorney A.J. Tothacer Jr., and a motion was approved to open the floor to nominations, Cain nominated Councilman Henry Livingston, the current chairman, and Reeder gave a second.
After the nomination period closed, Newberry County Council voted Livingston as the 2020 chairman.
“Councilmembers, thank you for your continued support, I appreciate your vote of support,” he said.
Tothacer turned the meeting over to Livingston, and after a motion was made to open the floor to nominations for vice chairman, Rucker made a motion to nominate Councilman Kirksey Koon (the current vice chairman), which was seconded by Reeder.
After the nomination period closed, Newberry County Council voted Koon as the 2020 vice chairman.
Other business:
• Council approved third and final reading of an ordinance modifying the makeup of the Joint Planning Commission. According to Adams, the primary objective of this ordinance is to reduce the number of seats on the Planning Commission, which will help ensure a regular quorum. The number of Council-appointed seats for the Planning Commission will be reduced from 12 to seven, with the five at-large appointments being eliminated. Currently, only three of the five at-large appointments are filled; those three persons would continue serving until June 30. Also, representation for Whitmire and Silverstreet would be deleted, since neither of these municipalities either 1) has its own zoning regulations, or 2) utilizes those zoning regulations adopted by Newberry County. References to separate finances for the Planning Commission would be removed from the Code as well.
• Council voted against an ordinance which was to amend the Newberry County Code of Ordinances to determine the minimum lake shore setback. This ordinance would have implemented a universal 50-foot principal structure setback from the respective contour lines at both lakes. Council felt it was best to stick to the existing ordinance, which has been in place since 2016. The current ordinance calls for staff to calculate a setback for a new principal structure already existing on both sides of the prospective building. In all other cases, the 50-foot setback pertains.
• Council approved first reading of an ordinance that provides for a $25,000 grant from Newberry County to a small Samsung supplier — this supplier’s investment is not large enough to qualify for a Fee-in-Lieu of Tax agreement. Rick Farmer, director of Newberry County Economic Development, said this will be a matching grant, with other grants coming from both the private and public sectors.