Tuesday, June 23, 2026 · 6:00 PM · Council Chambers, Camden ► Watch the full meeting on YouTube »
Present: Chairman Ben Connell, Vice Chairman Russell Brazell (D1), Sammie Tucker Jr. (D2), Derek Shoemake (D3), Jimmy Jones (D4), Brant Tomlinson (D5, arrived after the start), Danny Catoe (D6).
The headline
Over the objections of a packed room of Bethune-area residents, Council passed second reading of the tax-incentive package for "Project Ballast" - a roughly $900 million, ~500-megawatt natural gas power plant near Bethune - by a 4-3 vote. Catoe, who represents the area, said he "cannot turn my back on the people I was raised around"; Brazell and Jones joined him in opposition. Council stressed the vote is a fee-in-lieu-of-taxes (FILOT) deal only - the plant is already an allowed use under county zoning - and a third and final reading is still to come. The same night, Council passed the FY2026-27 budget unanimously - the first unanimous budget vote in over a decade - with no millage increase.
Votes at a glance ▸ tap to showtap to hide
Project Ballast FILOT + special source revenue credits (2nd reading) - PASSED For 4 · Against 3. ▸ detailsless
~$900M anticipated investment ($400M minimum), 15 full-time jobs, 4% assessment ratio
For: Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, Tomlinson. Against: Brazell, Catoe, Jones.
FY2026-27 County Budget (3rd & final reading) - PASSED unanimously. ▸ detailsless
No millage increase; ~$3M in new revenue from reassessment. EMS got the largest single-department increase (~$1.1M): four new FTEs to stand up a sixth ambulance, Battleship Road station work, and $300K in capital toward a future station targeted for Baron DeKalb
- Tucker amendment (slate) - PASSED unanimously: a revenue-neutral ~$120K probate court mental-health account, $175,563 in A-tax (accommodations tax) grant recommendations, and a grants provision letting the county accept awarded grant funds (others still need individual Council approval)
"Project Gemstone" special source revenue credit (2nd reading) - PASSED unanimously. ▸ detailsless
Revealed at the meeting as Candyroot Lodge Golf: four golf courses plus a par-3, wellness amenities, a restaurant, and eventual lodging. Minimum $100M investment and 150 jobs within 10 years; 50% credit for a 30-year term. Confirmed on the record: zero residential development
$2M general obligation bonds for wastewater infrastructure (3rd & final reading) - PASSED For 5 · Against 2. ▸ detailsless
(The public hearing drew no speakers.)
Against: Brazell, Jones.
Leases at 632 W. DeKalb St. for the Dept. of Natural Resources and the Forestry Commission (2nd readings) - both PASSED unanimously. ▸ detailsless
Housekeeping
Lugoff Fire District FY27 budget - ACCEPTED unanimously. ▸ detailsless
No millage increase; the chief plans a medic unit at Lugoff Fire within ~2 years, coordinated with county EMS
Routine: ▸ detailsless
agenda amended (dropping Clean Community Commission items and an executive-session matter) and adopted unanimously; minutes of the prior meeting approved (Brazell abstaining); a presentation of Clay Young's book on South Carolina's county courthouses was received
Discussed, no vote taken ▸ tap to showtap to hide
- Recycling centers closing Sundays and Mondays. Starting around July 18, all 10 convenience centers move to standardized hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 6 AM - 6 PM. Large loads (anything bigger than a ¾-ton pickup, or trailers over 8 ft / more than one axle) must go to the landfill, whose hours extend to Monday - Saturday, 7 AM - 5 PM. Staff projects ~$166K/year in savings, partly by cutting out-of-county dumping on Sundays. No vote required (administrator's authority). Brazell objected, warning it shortchanges rural areas and Lake Wateree weekenders.
- EMS expansion plan. Responding to public comment and Brazell's push, EMS Director Will Glover laid out the phased plan: a sixth ambulance this year, a roaming QRV program for rural zones (300+ hours logged), and four more FTEs requested each year toward a goal of eight ambulances and three QRVs, with Baron DeKalb the target for a future northern station.
- New county HR policy manual distributed for review; questions to the administrator.
What residents said (9 speakers) ▸ tap to showtap to hide
Four speakers - Timrod and Thiem Road residents and neighbors - urged Council to reject the Bethune gas plant and its tax incentives, citing groundwater and well contamination risks, air quality and health effects, noise (one home sits ~1,800 ft from the site), and property values; one presented a long list of unanswered environmental questions that council members asked to receive. Three speakers pressed for EMS coverage in Liberty Hill / Beaver Creek, where response times run 35-40 minutes; business owner Joel Hubbard offered to donate HVAC work for a future station. A Vietnam veterans representative asked for a joint committee on a county veterans monument, and a longtime resident asked for help with a years-old drainage problem - a runoff pipe under her yard washing her land away.
Coming up ▸ tap to showtap to hide
- Third and final reading of the Project Ballast FILOT - the company's actual name is typically disclosed at third reading; public-hearing notice runs ~15-21 days ahead. Tucker and Catoe want the residents' questions answered first.
- Third readings for the Candyroot Lodge (Gemstone) incentives and the joint-park expansion.
- ~July 18: new recycling center hours take effect (closed Sundays & Mondays).
- July 10, 10 AM: ribbon cutting at KC West recreation improvements (ballpark ribbon cuttings in Westville and Bethune were held June 30).
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