TOWN OF LAKE VIEW COUNCIL MEETING
December 21. 2023
Council Chambers
Date: Thursday, December 21, 2023 Time: 7:00 P.M.
Place: Council Chambers, Lake View Town Hall, 201 N. Main Street, Lake View, SC
Presiding: Mayor Sterling Lee
Present at Chambers: Councilmembers Tracy Townsend, Mitsey Church, Paula King, and David Kitchens
Also Present: Toney McDuffie, Amanda Garris, Kenneth Bethea, Nikki Lee
• Welcome call to order by Mayor Lee.
• Pledge of Allegiance by all.
• Prayer by Mayor Lee.
• Motion to approve meeting minutes for 11/16 and 12/4/23 by Councilmember Church, seconded by Councilmember Townsend, all in favor.
• No one present for Citizen Concerns.
• Committee Reports: Councilmember Church spoke on behalf of Julie Hatcher who was not present and stated that they will be working on Walking and Biking Signs as well as low speed limits around parks. Julie also stated to Councilmember Church that there needs to be more advertising completed next year for the Veterans Breakfast and Mayor Lee stated we should get in contact with Veteran Graves at the Courthouse. Councilmember King stated that in January 2024 we would like to get together with the Events Committee to plan out the entire year of events. Councilmember Townsend stated she will have the remainder of toys left at the Community Center picked up.
• Financial report was review by all and noted how detailed it has been by the Municipal Clerk and requested to continue to do so for each meeting.
• Mill Pond Spraying Contract: Since PSE has never responded to our letter we will take that as contract terminated. Municipal Clerk received a contract from the Lake Doctor for $1681.00 monthly, she will haggle to see if she can get it down to $1500 monthly but either way motion to approve the Lake Doctor at $1681 monthly was made by Councilmember Church and seconded by Councilmember Kitchens, all were in favor.
• Parcel 111-07-06-001 – tabled till next meeting awaiting owner response, Municipal Clerk is working on this.
• Parcel 111-07-06-002 & 111-03-08-007 – tabled till next meeting while the Town Attorney gets in touch with Attorney Paschal from Dillon County to set up ancillary probate, Municipal Clerk is working on this as well.
• 2nd reading for Ordinance 2023-11-29. Motion to adopt was made by Councilmember Kitchens, seconded by Councilmember Church, all were in favor.
• Rec Field Project: Dillon County will supply dirt/sand for free of charge. Kenny Bethea has been in contact with 2 places for quotes for the grading of the field. Councilmember Church motioned to approve quote from Bryant Backhoe for $8,800, seconded by Councilmember King and all were in favor. Mr. Bethea will also get quotes for fencing and tin roofing for the dug outs.
• Strategic Planning Board Nominations were made for Joe Gleason, Perry Ford, Jalena Borders and Karen Cook-Henderson. Councilmember Church stated that Ms. Cook-Henderson, who was not present, has declined acceptance. Councilmember Church also stated that Julie Hatcher and Robert Bryant, who were not present, requested that Council only votes for 1 spot at this time since they think they will have 2 more spots available come the new year and want to get more nominations in. Council voted on Jalena Borders, motion to appoint by Councilmember Church, seconded by Councilmember Townsend, all were in favor. Congratulations Mrs. Borders.
• Old Town Hall: Municipal Clerk will do some research to locate if any contract that is in place with TOLV and the Fire Department for rental of space of the bay area. Roof quotes need to be obtained, Interim Chief Kernard will look into this. Municipal Clerk will also look into options of turning the old town hall into a historical site and then turning the bay areas into the police dept. and court room once she finalizes if there are any rental agreements on the bay areas.
• K&R Lawn Car contract: motion to approve by Mayor Lee, seconded by Councilmember Kitchens all were in favor on contract for 2024 at $1500 per month.
• Town of Lake View Employee Handbook Changes were made as follows:
-Packet page 22 – Anti bullying added clause “Retaliation against an employee after the employee questions a policy or workplace procedure.”
-Packet page 28 – Classification System added clause “The Mayor may develop a system for classifying positions within the Town of Lake View, including pay ranges for those positions. These pay ranges will be discussed and approved by Mayor and Council before being put in to place. Classification systems and pay ranges are subject to change at any time. The establishment of pay ranges or grades for any position does not guarantee the occupant of that position any particular rate of pay.”
-Packet page 30 – Performance Evaluations added clause “Annual wage increases will be discussed, determined and approved by council and mayor.”
-Packet page 30 – Holiday schedule change “The Town of Lake View observes the following holidays: New Year’s Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day President’s Day Good Friday Confederate Memorial Day Memorial Day Juneteenth Fourth of July Labor Day Election Day Veterans Day Thanksgiving Day the Friday following Thanksgiving Day Christmas Eve Christmas Day”
-Packet page 34 Travel Expenses added clause “All travels will be discussed with council and mayor prior to the travel.”
-Packet page 37 Health Insurance added clause “The Town of Lake View does not offer Health Insurance. All employees are encouraged to obtain insurance through healthcare.gov and apply for a subsidy in accordance with the Affordable Care Act or obtain a private policy of their choice. A Health Stipend will be given to all full time employees to help reimburse employees a portion of their personal out-of-pocket health insurance premiums. This Health Stipend is a predetermined sum of money given to employees monthly. This sum will be determined and approved by Council and Mayor.”
-Packet page 38 Discipline Policy added clauses “The mayor should discuss these actions with the Council.”
Motion to adopt was made by Councilmember Church and seconded by Councilmember Townsend, all were in favor. Municipal Clerk will send off changed to be approved by Attorney Peterson and then will re-distribute to employees.
-Mayor’s Report – Mayor Lee has graciously created the M.O.R.E. (Mayors Offset Refundable Expense) Account and fully funded by donating his entire annual salary to help pay for Town of Lake View employees health care premiums that are above the allotted stipend approved by the Council.
• Council Concerns: It was brought to our attention that the Community Center needs to have security cameras now that we have expensive sound and video equipment in place. Town Hall needs to look into getting security system and was agreed by all present to obtain either a Ring or Blink type of system to be installed where the cost would only be less than $5 monthly. Municipal Clerk will order and have cameras installed and set up. Mayor Lee request Toney McDuffie to speak on behalf of the Shop Building that was previously approved to be purchased. Mr. McDuffie stated that it was not yet purchased because of the cost that it will take for electricity and plumbing. He also stated that he was approached by Grand Strand who stated to him that the land where we wanted to put the shop building was owned by Grand Strand. Municipal Clerk will look into this as Council stated there should be a contract somewhere between 2012 and 2016 with former Mayor Page. Mr. McDuffie will quote in the meantime the cost to get the Boy Scout Camp updated to become the shop building. Council motioned to approve travel expenses for Mayor Lee to travel for Riley Fellowship Conference February 28th thru March 2nd and for Municipal Clerk Amanda Garris and Interim Chief McLellan to travel separately in case of Police emergency to Grant writing class on January 23rd in Columbia, SC.
• Meeting closed 8:32 p.m. Motion to close by Councilmember King, seconded by Councilmember Church, all were in favor with no other discussions taking place meeting adjourned.
Called Meeting & Executive Session
January 16, 2024
6 p.m.
Council Chambers
Town Hall
201 N Main Street
Lake View, SC 29563
Mayor Sterling Lee welcomes everyone to the meeting. Councilmember Kitchens opened the meeting with prayer.
Mayor Sterling Lee motioned to closed the called meeting and enter into Executive Session, Councilmember Townsend seconded. All in Favor.
At the conclusion of the discussion in Executive Session Councilmember Kitchens motioned to adjourn the Executive Session and return to the called meeting, Councilmember Townsend seconded, all in favor.
Discussion and results of Executive Session was to set up a date for an interview for each candidate that has applied for the Chief of Police position for the Town of Lake View. The interviews will be an “interview panel” made up of a group of individuals which will include town council members, mayor and other officials within Dillon County. Interviews will be on February 9th @ 3 p.m. Council and Mayor will meet again to discuss the results of the interview and make a decision at that time.
With no further business Councilmember King motioned to adjourn, Councilmember Kitchens seconded, all in favor. Meeting adjourned at 6:34 p.m.
