County Council talks permit program, recognizes employees

NEWBERRY — Going into last week’s County Council work session, County Administrator Jeff Shacker was anticipating on bringing a draft ordinance before Council addressing the proposal of an agribusiness/husbandry permit program for haulers carrying 90,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight (GVW) on county roads.

Shacker said during the last month’s council meeting, an option that would mirror the current program used by the South Carolina Department of Transportation was brought before the group. He said if the road is a shielded road like South Carolina highways, it would require a bulk permit while secondary routes would need an individual permit for each route.

“We’ve got a company (Amick Farms) that’s requested we take an action on that and I thought what would be wonderful would be to get an ordinance in place that addresses that and while we’re at it – it would be nice to have some provisions in our code of ordinances, that when we have damage to our roads by an individual, contractor or an agency that has performed work within the right of way or has utilized the right of way for a business purpose, for us to recover the cost of repairing the road,” Shacker said.

But after having discussions with retiring Director Public Works Mike Pisano, Director of Public Works Josh Rowe and Zoning Administrator Katie Werts, the process began to develop a draft ordinance revising Chapter 91 in the County’s code of ordinances pertaining to roads and bridges.

“We looked at our land development regulations – back in the day they were called subdivision regulations. Not only do they govern subdivisional land, but also the infrastructure requirements and standard specifications for when land is subdivided, so we’re mainly talking about residential and commercial subdivisions,” Shacker said. “As part of that revision, not only to create a new ordinance for roads and bridges, but also create a manual, something that would be downloadable off our website and we could give a private party so they could see our standards.”

Shacker said this could also include provisions for amendments of the manual as an alternative way of amending as the County’s standards change without having to go through the ordinance process.

He said they are about a month out from having a draft prepared for Council and opted for more work sessions for Council to give their input and suggestions before action is taken.

Moving forward, Shacker said their is an encroachment permit in progress for Amick Farms to utilize two roads, Whitman Road (off of Dennis Dairy Road) and Derrick Road in Silverstreet (off Silverstreet Road). Both roads are gravel roads and Pisano and Rowe are confident the roads could handle an additional 5,000 pounds, give or take, that would be on the loads coming through.

“It should be somewhat of a relief to the roads because it should slightly reduce the amount of traffic because the more they can haul the fewer trips they’ll make,” Shacker said.

A condition Shacker wants to have added to the encroachment permit is that if the roads, which he said are currently in good condition, are damaged, that the company responsible would have to cover the cost for repairs.

“On Derrick Road, there’s a little bit of vegetation that Josh would like us to go ahead and have addressed, which we really need to do anyway and there’s one part there where there’s some additional rock that’s necessary. With Whitman Road, there’s a whole area where we would like to dump some more rock and spread it out. Once that’s done, they’ll be in A+ shape and if there are any signs of extraordinary use and weights cause damage then a condition on the permit would be that the company would be responsible for covering the costs for repairs,” he said.

Shacker said he would bring updates to Council over the course of the next few work sessions.

Other business:

• Council recognized employees for their years of service with the County. Laural Keen was recognized for 10 years of service. She joined the County in 2014 in the Assessor’s Office and last year was hired as a Zoning Permit Specialist. Virginia Atkins was recognized for 15 years of service. Atkins began working with the County in 2009 where she worked in the Human Resources Department before taking on the position of Administrative Coordinator. Donald Leitzsey, heavy equipment operator for the Public Works Department, was recognized for 20 years of service.
• A resolution was presented to Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster for his outstanding law enforcement career and being named the 2024 Sheriff of the Year by the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association. Foster also accepted proclamations honoring Peace Officer Memorial Day and National Correctional Officer Week.
• A third reading of an ordinance regulating public nuisances and unfit dwellings within Newberry County and providing procedures for enforcement and penalties for violation and matters related was unanimously approved.

• A public hearing was held and second reading was passed unanimously for an ordinance requesting to amend the official Zoning Map to rezone one parcel totaling 11.70 acres from General Commercial to Industrial. The parcel is located on the northeastern quadrant of the Highway 121/I-26 interchange.

• A public hearing and second reading passed unanimously for an ordinance to provide appropriations for the Fiscal Year beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2025 for the Newberry County budget for County Ordinary purposes and for other County purposes for which the County may levy a tax and receive revenues; to provide for the levy of taxes on all taxable personal and real property in Newberry County for all county purposes, including sufficient tax to pay the principal and interest on outstanding indebtedness of Newberry County payable during the fiscal year; to provide for the expenditure of taxes and other revenues received by the county during the fiscal year and to provide for borrowing in anticipation of tax collections by the issuance of one or more tax anticipation notes, if necessary.

During the public hearing, Tyler Johnson spoke on the topic to offer suggestions to Council moving forward. Johnson said with the raise in taxes, it was suggested the reason was to offset the raises for County employees, giving them just a standard percentage raise. He said instead of using a percentage to use a lump sum so there would not be a widening in the pay scale in the County and making it further between the employees instead of shifting them upward. Another suggestion, he said, would be to look at impact fees for development and people moving into the County to help offset future raises in taxes for citizens that have been in Newberry and have been paying taxes. Johnson’s last suggestion was for Council to be conscientious of ad valorem in fee of lieu of taxes. He said once those are granted, they are locked in and that a fair sum of the County budget is spent on industries that get those, yet they’re already locked in.

Johnson also asked for clarification on the nondepartmental salary adjustments in the revenue.

Later in the regular meeting, Shacker said the tradition and practice in Newberry County has been to budget a percentage of payroll for salary increases and then Council, at a later date, would authorize the distribution of the money.

“It’s actually, I think, a pretty good way of doing it because if there’s a merit basis for the increase, sometimes performance is not going to be consistent across departments so you’re able to – through a budgeted adjustment – move the money, that amount needed for each department to fund those increases,” he said.

Reach Kelly Duncan at 806-768-3122 ext. 1867 or kduncan@championcarolinas.com.