Latest / Saluda County Unplugged / August 10th, 2026 County Council Recap
Transcript
- Josh Morton: A new building permit fee schedule sparked the longest discussion of the night. Council found a $35,000 deal for the Fire Training Center. They're looking for a new home for EMS at the circle. And we found out exactly how much money was left over in last year's county budget. We've got all of that and more from Monday night's county council meeting. This week on Saluda County Unplugged. Welcome back to Saluda County Unplugged, where we shine a light on Saluda County government. I'm Rachel. And I'm Josh. Each week we talk about what's happening in county government, explain how the process works, and hopefully make all of this a little easier to follow. Saluda County Council held its regular monthly meeting Monday night, August 10th, and there was actually quite a bit of discussion during this one. Before we go to the meeting though, we want to start out with an important reminder about the Capital Project Sales Tax Referendum. Beginning next week, Saluda County will hold a series of community information meetings about the proposed capital project sales tax referendum that will be on the November ballot. These meetings are strictly informational. There won't be a vote and no official action will be taken. They are an opportunity for residents to learn about how the Capital Project Sales Tax works, hear about the projects included in the referendum, and ask questions. Each meeting begins at 6 o'clock PM. The first is Monday, august seventeenth at Old Town Fire Department. Next, Tuesday, August eighteenth at the Trinity Community Center. Tuesday, august twenty fifth, August. At Circle Fire Department, Monday, August 31st at Hollywood Fire Department, Tuesday, September 1st at Sardis Community Center, Tuesday, September 8th at the Ridge Spring Fire Department, and the final meeting will be held Monday, September 21st at the Saluda County Administration Office. You don't have to attend a meeting in your particular area. Pick the date and location that works best for you. And if you have questions about the referendum, these meetings are a good place to ask them. Okay. Now let's talk about what happened Monday night. Council started the meeting with a special recognition. State Senator Shane Massey joined council to recognize Saluda County native Corey Beatenbow, who has been named the 2026 South Carolina Teacher of the Year. And if the name Biedenbow sounds familiar, it should. Corey is the son of Councilman Carrie Biedenbow. So, yes, Councilman Bietenbow got to have a pretty good proud dad moment on Monday night. Corey teaches social studies, history, and civics, and is South Carolina Teacher of the Year. He will spend the next year representing more than 60,000 educators across the state. His role includes speaking at events, mentoring future educators, and serving as an ambassador for the teaching profession. Congratulations to Corey on this incredible honor and on representing Saluta County while he does it. Council members also used their comment period to recognize several people in upcoming events. Councilman Frank Daniel recognized the work being done at the Salute and Nursing Center. Councilman Biedenbow also acknowledged the loss of Circle Fire Chief Donny Longshore. Who passed away after serving the Circle Fire Department for 45 years? Chairman Jim Moore also reminded everyone about the ribbon cutting for the new urgent care facility on August 12th at 3 p.m. and the special recognition and dedication at Saluda Elementary School on August 14th. Chairman Moore also announced that the Saluda County Library renovation project has officially gone out for bid. Bids are due September 2nd at 2 p.m. There was also an interesting discussion before public comments even began. Chairman Moore brought up a discussion about what happens after somebody comes to a county council meeting and speaks during public comment. Right now, the answer from council is simply thank you for your comments. And there's a reason for that. Public comment is intended to give citizens an opportunity to speak to council. It really isn't designed to become a back and forth question and answer session. Council members most likely do not have all of the information in front of them, and an individual council member can't speak on behalf of the entire council. But Chairman Moore said he doesn't want residents to feel like they came into a meeting, raised a concern, and then nobody ever acknowledged it again. So he asked council to think about whether issues raised during public comment could be discussed at a later meeting after everyone has had time to research them. There was no vote taken on this and no new policy was adopted. The discussion basically ended with the understanding that some concerns can simply be handled by county staff, while larger policy issues may need to come back before council. But it was a very interesting conversation because council was openly talking about how to make public participation more meaningful while still following the rules that govern public meetings. And that conversation led directly into public comments, where three citizens spoke. Dr. Patricia Graham returned to council with concerns about road and litter in the Higgins Zor area. She said gravel roads in the community continue to erode, potholes remain a problem, and litter is an ongoing concern. She also asked whether no littering signs could be installed in the area. Amy Potts spoke on behalf of the Saluda County Republican Party and presented council with a proposal concerning the sale of county owned property. The proposal asked council to consider adopting an ordinance that would require an independent determination of fair market values before county-owned land is sold. The proposal would still allow council to sell property below that value where there's a legitimate public purpose or economic development reason, but the reason would have to be documented. Again, council did not take any action on that proposal Monday night. It was presented during public comments for council to consider. Finally, Frederick Weaver spoke about two different areas of concern. First, he raised concerns about working conditions and safety at the county's convenience centers, including heat and the placement of controls on some of the equipment. He also raised concerns about road conditions on Topaz Road and visibility around intersections where overgrown vegetation has made it difficult for drivers to see approaching traffic. Moving into old business, council gave second reading to an ordinance dealing with tea hangers at the Saluda County Airport. This ordinance would increase lease rates for county owned tea hangers. There was no discussion Monday night, and second reading passed unanimously. Because this was second reading, the ordinance is not finished yet. It will still have to come back to council for a public hearing and third reading before it can take effect. Council also gave third and final reading to Saluda County's updated comprehensive plan. And if you've been listening for a while, you know we've been talking about this one for months. The comprehensive plan is essentially the county's long range roadmap. It looks at things like future growth, land use, transportation, housing, economic development, community facilities, and other needs over the coming years. it gives the county a framework to use when making future planning and development decisions. Council approved third reading unanimously, which completes the process and formally adopts the updated comprehensive plan. Then we got to what was easily the longest discussion of the night. Council considered first reading of an ordinance that would update Saluda County's building permit fee schedule. Representatives from Safe Built, the company that provides building inspection services for the county, told council that the fee schedule has not been increased since 2018. And this was not just a five minute does anybody have any questions kind of discussion. There were questions. Lots of questions. council wanted to know how the fees work, when a plan review is required, how much some of the fees would increase, how Saluda County compares with surrounding counties, and whether higher permit costs might discourage people from building here. One example that got a lot of discussion was the lowest construction cost category. Currently, a project valued at five thousand dollars or less has a fifty dollar permit fee. Under the proposed schedule, that would increase to one hundred twenty five dollars. SafeBuilt said that the increase is needed because the current fees no longer cover the cost of processing permits and providing inspections. They also said Saluda County is still receiving next day inspection services in most cases. There was also a lengthy discussion about plan reviews. Not every homeowner adding a room onto their house has to go hire an architect. Depending on the project, the homeowner or contractor may be able to provide basic drawings showing what they intend to build. Representatives from SafeBuilt said that the purpose of the review is to catch potential code problems before construction gets started and somebody has to tear something back out. Safe built also talked about code enforcement. They said seven new complaints had been received during the previous month, including three involving construction taking place without permits. And SafeBilt representatives pointed out that a lot of their job is simply educating residents who may not realize that a permit is required for that particular project. After all that discussion, council voted three to two to approve first reading. So this one moves forward, but it is not final. There will be additional readings before the new fee schedule can actually be adopted. And judging from Monday night, I don't think we've heard the end of the discussion on this one. Next up was the future Saluda County Fire Training Facility. Council approved spending $35,000 from the Fireboard Millage account to purchase three sets of industrial stairways for the training center. And this one came with a pretty interesting backstory. The stairways originally came from a pharmaceutical facility and had an asking price of $75,000. County fire officials negotiated that price down to $35,000. And that price includes loading them, transporting them, unloading them, and using a crane to stand them up at the training site. Fire coordinator Austin Rogers told council that having something comparably built would cost more than $200,000. So $35,000 delivered and set up versus more than $200,000 to have something new built. Even better. The stairways were built, but the facility was never actually completed, so they were never installed. So these are actually brand new stairways. The stairways will eventually be incorporated into a training structure built primarily from shipping containers. The county has already purchased several containers for the training structure and another for storing training materials. But before everything can be assembled, engineered drawings and the appropriate permits Will still be required. Austin told council that other nearby counties already have similar training facilities and that Saluda County has been behind in this area. Once completed, the facility will give local firefighters a place to practice things like working in multi story structures and other scenarios that are difficult to safely recreate without a dedicated training site. Council approved the purchase unanimously. Council also gave county staff permission to begin looking for a property for the future circle EMS substation. And this one has become a little more urgent. Chairman Moore stated that the existing station recently had a bug and rodent infestation that forced EMS personnel to relocate. The current circle substation is a single wide mobile home located next to the convenience center. And council members pointed out that it was never intended to be a permanent facility. A replacement circle EMS station is one of the projects included in the Capital Project Sales Tax Referendum, but Chairman Moore made one thing very clear during Monday night's discussion. Whether the referendum passes or not, the current station needs to be replaced and relocated. If the CPST passes, that would provide the funding source included in the referendum. If it doesn't, council will have to find another way to pay for a replacement. Monday night's vote simply gives county staff permission to start looking for a suitable piece of property so that the county can get ahead of that process. The motion passed unanimously. Council also appointed Todd Poole as an alternate representing the Circle Fire Department on the Saluda County Fire Board. The appointment was approved unanimously. Next, Council approved transferring $220,000 from the County Reserve Fund into the Heavy Equipment Reserve Fund. That money will cover lease payments for heavy equipment during the 2026-2027 budget year. In previous years, the county has sometimes used money left over at the end of the budget year to help cover expenses like this. This year not so much. Chairman Moore announced that after closing out the previous budget, Saluda County has exactly Drumroll, please. thirty dollars and seventeen cents left over. That's cutting it a little close. But as someone pointed out during the meeting, they can roll that thirty bucks over. County Administrator Regina Turner will apparently have to figure out what to do with the 17 cents. The $220,000 transfer was approved unanimously. Council ended the meeting with an executive session to receive legal advice. As always, an executive session allows council to privately discuss certain matters that state law permits to be handled outside of the open meeting. Council returned to open session afterward and announced that there was no action coming out of executive session. They then adjourned. So the big takeaways for Monday night, Saluda County's updated comprehensive plan is now officially adopted. The new building permit fee schedule passed first reading on a three to two vote and will come back to council. The fire service is moving ahead with equipment for its new training facility. County staff can begin searching for a permanent home for the Circle EMS substation. And the county transferred $220,000 from reserves to cover the heavy equipment lease payments. And starting August 17th, don't forget about those Capital Project Sales Tax Community Information Meetings. This referendum will ultimately be decided by Saluda County voters. So whether you already know how you plan to vote or you haven't thought about it much yet, take advantage of the opportunity to learn what's actually in it and to ask questions. Have questions or an idea for an upcoming episode? Email us at publicinfo at saludacounty.sc.gov. And remember, as Dr. Ian Malcolm once said, life finds a way. Apparently so does the last thirty dollars and seventeen cents in a county budget. See ya.