May 2011

If you have attended a meeting in the month of May 2011, please comment under this blog and I will add it upon approval. This will help keep the community informed. 

These are the collected highlights for town council meetings in 
Fort Mill, SC:
 York County Council
Monday, May 2, 2011
6:00 PM

Highlights:
• The new County attorney, Michael Kendree, was introduced. This was his first day in this new full-

time position.
• A representative of Rock Hill churches, which have daycares in area of new facility for homeless
men, expressed concerns about the facility’s lack of promised communication and for security
regarding the projected pedophile population at the facility.
• State Representative Ralph Norman spoke about the Culture & Heritage Foundation reading from a
letter from the State Senators & Representatives of York County. This noted the issue has taken far
too long to resolve and the public trust is key for this public entity overseen by the Council.
• A Pastor & a representative from Lifepointe Christian Church spoke during the public hearing on the
creation of an easement for emergency vehicle access (“deceleration lane”) to a fire lane. This will
be executed with agreement of Lifepointe, the Charlotte Knights, and York County. They expressed
concern with the details, but Jim Baker, County Manager, stated these items are not new and have
been there since the initial agreement was proposed. He also stated the cost to Lifepointe has been
reduced from $188,000 to $155,000.
• A great deal of time was focused on the Culture & Heritage Foundation. The Council has requested
financial information (“sources and usage of funds” & “ledger detail”) regarding activities taken by
the Foundation to build a new County Museum. This project has been stopped. The Foundation
has delayed providing the information and is inclined to have a third-party auditing firm gather the
requested information. The estimated cost of that action is $60,000. Several Councilmen expressed
disappointment and offense at the Foundation’s lack of timely response. More Council action to
come on this issue.
• An update on the Dave Lyle Blvd Extension project (estimated to be $165M) was provided by
County personnel. This 9-mile, 4-lane, limited access highway will run from the Galleria mall in Rock
Hill to Route 521 in Lancaster County. This project has been around in various configurations for
the last decade. Others involved in this are the Catawba Nation and Lancaster County. State will
largest benefactor from tax revenues from this project. There are funds from another project that
has stopped elsewhere in the state. The State Infrastructure Bank will have these funds available
making another attempt to fund Dave Lyle Ex reasonable. Councilman Chappell expressed his
indignation relating facts about SC and County highways & roads. He related the focus on new
and not maintaining current infrastructure caused many to walk the roads looking for work. He
expressed concern his children and grandchildren will experience such economic situations if the
Council (State & Nation) does not turn from spending like this project.
• Council is in budgeting process with a workshop Wednesday, May 4. All Councilmen received the
weighty financial plan book for review. Fiscal year is July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.

Interesting Facts:
• The York County ratio of county employees to county residents is the second lowest of the state.

York County Council – May 2, 2011
Jim Baker, County Manager
• The deterioration of the quality of South Carolina highways is reflected by the Department of
Transportation funding reduction to the current 6% of the state’s budget. Councilman Chappell
• The State Infrastructure Bank was appointed to oversee projects of $100M or greater for the State.
• There is a webpage for the County Manager: http://www.yorkcountygov.com/Departments/
DepartmentsAE/CountyManager.aspx

Curwood Chappell, a Councilman with a Biblical worldview, quotes from this meeting:
• In frustration with projected financial benefits for the County in a presentation by Gray Styers (an
attorney specializing in energy & land use law) on a proposed large upscale development near the
Catawba River, which is seeking Council support,
“I always bought the horse before I bought the saddle and always had a good ride.”
Prior to leaving the Chambers in disgust with the pitch for the Dave Lyle Blvd Extension (“Economic
Development”) project,
“You need to put money into restoring and maintaining the quality of County roads, not creating
new ones. We spent $1M on road repairs in my District and they have already deteriorated.”
John P.

Fort Mill School Board Meeting
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
6:00 PM

. A concerned parent expressed concern over the fact that French 4 and 5 has been
dropped from the curriculum. This was done due to budget cuts, however, she voiced
concern over the fact that the excellence of the Fort Mill School District is showing signs
of declining. Future budget cuts are certainly possible, and this could very well affect the
quality of education.
. Gym renovation, the modernization of the Biology room and related activities were
taking place at Fort Mill High School.
. Athletic field renovation was taking place at the Nation Ford High Schoo.
. Roof maintenance was being conducted in several schools
. Property acquisition has been completed in anticipation of constructing new schools in
the district. This is in conjunction with standard operating procedures in anticipation of
future growth in the area.
. The update of the Fort Mill Administration Building and the update of the School Bus
Lot and Maintenance facilities are taking place.
. The Grassroots Advocacy representative reported that the final education budget for the
stated had not been completed. This impacts the local school district.
. The State School Voucher legislation was tabled for this year. This legislation is
expected to gain momentum for the next session.
. The March finance report stated that the actuary figures indicate that the district is in
the red, however, more revenues will correct this at the end of the school year.
. Expenditures for March were $54 Million with revenue levels being at $51 Million. An
expected surplus should show in the future. This happens every year due to the revenue
collecting methodology and reporting. I will keep an eye on this.
. The actual cash flow was reporting at $4.5 Million at this time as compared to 5.4
Million for 2010. Again, this will change as revenues come in.
. A Field Trip Survey indicated that parents, faculty and students favor field trips in
conjunction with curriculum. Teacher dissatisfaction indicated that some of the trips were
too expensive, and that there was lost time in education associated with the field trips.
The following breakdown is how the respective school levels rated their favorite types of
field trips: 1.Grade School-Environmental sites; 2.Middle School-Museums and historical
sites and 3. High School-Social interaction and participation type field trips.
. Impact fees-The funds are showing positive growth. This comes from new construction
of apartments and houses in Fort Mill. This is very important for the funding of the
district.
.Enrollment: 10,402 (currently) and the projections were 10300. This is normal for this
time of year. The projection for next year is 10,700, and this does indicate future growth.
John P.

These are the collected highlights for town council meetings in 
Mecklenburg County, NC:

Please put your:

1. first name and last initial
   
2. date of the meeting
3. county
4. highlights
5. meeting attended(city council, school board...)

We are just looking for highlights and NOT the whole minutes, what you think would be important for the community to know. Thank you very much!