Aiken County Council's 2023 priorities include addressing EMS issues, public safety, economic development
Jan. 2—After a break for the holidays, Aiken County Council is gearing back up to resolve issues, look for ways to make improvements locally and take care of routine business.
The panel has two new members, Ron Felder and Mike Kellems, who were elected last November to represent District 1 and District 2, respectively, after Kathy Rawls and Camille Furgiuele decided not to run for office again.
The Aiken Standard recently asked Felder, Kellems and their County Council colleagues to write about or discuss their top priorities for 2023.
Their responses were edited for brevity and clarity.
Chairman Gary Bunker
Aiken County's challenges revolve around the rising cost of doing business. County Council must balance the needs of providing efficient, effective services against increasing revenues from already overburdened taxpayers.
The top priority is retaining Aiken County's professional workforce and filling vacancies across the organization. This involves keeping salaries competitive, maintaining attractive benefits, providing quality leadership and recognizing employees for their positive contributions.
Skilled personnel are the county's most valuable assets, and every available dollar will be put into our people. Failure to do so creates unacceptable taxpayer costs resulting from high turnover, reduced services and greater inexperience.
These workforce issues include filling vacancies within the public safety departments, including Emergency Medical Services.
EMS departments nationwide are struggling to find qualified personnel due to the rising demand for emergency medical technicians and paramedics.
Thanks to the generosity of Aiken County taxpayers through the Capital Projects Sales Tax, our EMS department enjoys outstanding equipment and facilities. But to attract quality personnel, EMS salaries and benefits must be dominant over those of surrounding departments.
Aiken County will become the employer of choice, and we will keep the ambulances on the road.
Second, overcrowding at the Aiken County Courthouse will be addressed.
Unfavorable working conditions result from increased staffing across the various offices (clerk of court, probate judge and solicitor, among others) handling the affairs of a rapidly growing population coupled with growing records storage requirements.
The "nuclear option" is building a new courthouse adjacent to the Aiken County Government Center on University Parkway. But more cost-effective solutions, for the next 20 to 30 years, include acquiring the old City Hall (municipal building) on Park Avenue for the Solicitor's Office and purchasing the vacant Charles E. Simons Jr. Federal Courthouse for other court-related functions.
Action needs to be taken quickly so rising costs don't stall this initiative.
Third, Aiken County's capital needs are covered through the voter-approved sales tax initiatives. And this year, American Rescue Plan Act proceeds provide additional short-term resources.
Both funding sources allow projects to be completed "cash on the barrel" without burdening taxpayers with long-term interest payments.
But due to rising material and construction costs, these projects must be expedited before the real value of these funds are further diminished. These projects include improvements at the Horse Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, expansion of the Detention Center, Whiskey Road drainage improvements, the Aiken County Public Library north wing renovations and road surfacings and resurfacings across Aiken County.
Vice Chairman Andrew Siders, District 7
Looking ahead, I want to redouble my efforts to ensure that Aiken County is a great place to live, work and shop!
We need to make sure our law enforcement, EMS and fire services are all first class.
Economic development is also a priority. We want to attract quality jobs and businesses to our area.
I will also work to make sure our roads are clean and safe. I will work closely with private and public groups to accomplish this.
[With Aiken] being an equine community, I would like to see, as a major initiative, the recruitment of events and quality equine services.
I also would like to have a multidiscipline Aiken County Equine Board to help us accomplish this.
Ron Felder, District 1
As a newly elected county councilman, I will continue to live up to my campaign promise to represent the people in my district by addressing their concerns.
In 2023, my focus areas are:
1) Community safety and EMS. Given my strong support of law enforcement and fire departments, I plan to utilize my experience to help ensure that there is adequate law enforcement in District 1 and that any bottlenecks with EMS services can be cleared so the people get the best services possible for the budget.
The residents of rural District 1 deserve to have what the rest of the county already has, and I will work to make this happen.
2) Trash-free roadsides in District 1.
I have been a longtime supporter of roadside trash pickup and I am a member of Clean Up Aiken! I will look for opportunities to ensure that cleanup efforts and education get the attention they deserve.
3) Protecting agribusiness and jobs in District 1.
I will be an advocate for the South Carolina Equine Advancement Act to help support rural agribusiness and create opportunities and jobs in the equine industry.
There is legislation for 2023-2024 (S0303 and H3514) that will provide methods to ensure a strong Aiken County through new revenue streams that benefit rural agricultural businesses and jobs, especially those related to the equine industry.
These bills can lead the way for economic development and job protection for the rural residents of Aiken County.
Mike Kellems, District 2
One of my top priorities will be working to fill the job vacancies that we have throughout the county.
We have several open positions throughout our departments. I want to work with our staff and create ways to promote Aiken County as an employer, especially with the great benefits we have to offer.
In 2023, we will start working on the next list of capital sales tax projects. There are some projects that have been started by funding with CPST IV that will need support again in order to get completed.
I will be deliberate in requesting funding for the Aiken County firefighter training center as well as funding for a new system that dispatches our volunteer fire departments. This is an absolute need with the aging hardware and system that is currently used.
Lastly, I can only speculate on the level of how bad, but I'm sure there are infrastructure needs that will need to be addressed with the growth we are experiencing. This too can be addressed with the CPST along with the ARPA funding that has been allocated.
Danny Feagin, District 3
I will continue to work with county staff and Council on [improving] EMS and all public safety services throughout the county, work to keep taxes low and work to improve infrastructure.
Kelley Mobley, District 4
For me, No. 1 right out of the gate is for us to continue to focus on the resolution of our EMS challenges and make sure that we are doing everything we can to be there for the citizens of Aiken County in their time of need. I think that's critical.
[In addition to] looking at ways to improve the county's EMS services, [we should be] looking for ways to better our relationship with our partners, meaning the two independent providers (Gold Cross EMS and SouthStar EMS] that provide us [ambulance] services as well.
Public safety is No. 2. As our population continues to increase in Aiken County and as our economic base remains strong as companies, corporations and businesses continue to have an interest in our area ... we get a lot of a lot of trials and tribulations that go along with that from the stresses and strains on things like ... public safety and the sheriff's department.
Keeping the community foundation solid and safe and sound [is important]. I don't think you can effectively sell your community on being a place to come to if you're not prepared to take care of the folks that are coming, and it starts with taking care of the folks that we have.
And then No. 3, economic development, as always, continues to be at the forefront of thought. It provides good, stable jobs and income and benefits for our citizens.
There is a misconception that residential development provides a lot of tax revenue for the county to pay its bills and improve and provide support services. But in actuality, the expense outweighs the revenue generated by rooftops.
And so the way we have to counter that is we have to have business and manufacturing and industrial growth to contribute to the tax base in a higher volume than what residential units do.
We need that revenue because we are facing some super challenging times from a budget standpoint to do what we need to do for county employees to get paid a market-based rate of pay and get compensated for the jobs that they do in an equivalent fashion, as best as possible, to the private sector.
I don't want the employees of the county feeling like they sacrifice to be employed by the county. I want people to want to work for the county and not see it as philanthropic effort, but see it as us being a good, viable, competitive employer.
Sandy Haskell, District 5
Aiken County had its challenges in 2022 and will continue to have challenges in 2023. We need to look at how we face those challenges thoughtfully and responsibly.
I would like to see our 2023-2024 budget, as were the budgets of the last 11 years, without a tax increase although it is becoming increasingly challenging as there is little to no fat left to trim from the budget.
It looks as though we are about to receive additional funds from the recent plutonium settlement with the DOE (U.S. Department of Energy). We need to make sure these monies are spent on long-term, beneficial, capital type projects, as these are one-time funds. They should not be spent on programs that will require recurring funding such as salaries and benefits.
In order to respond to the increased growth in Aiken County and an aging population, we need to expand the capabilities of the Emergency Medical Services Department. We need to put two additional ambulances into service and provide staffing for them. We also will have to look at staffing as to whether we go with 24 hours on/48 hours off shifts or 24 hours on/72 hours off shifts.
The county employees who make Aiken County great are our greatest assets. They need to receive competitive salaries and benefits comparable to the private sector. In light of rising inflation, we must do all we can to make sure our employees are appropriately compensated.
I would like to continue to provide excellent constituent service to the citizens of District 5 and all of Aiken County.
Phil Napier, District 6
1. Promote economic development.
2. Improve public safety.
3. Improve pay for all county employees.
Willar Hightower Jr., District 8
As the councilman for District 8 my constituents call me most about the following three items:
1. Road Maintenance.
Paving and resurfacing roads in District 8 is important to the general public.
Residents need to determine if the road they are concerned about is a state road, city road or a county road.
Once that determination is made, I will work with the residents of District 8 to determine the best path forward to resolve their issues.
County roads should be prioritized based on need and funding. Council must work to prioritize roadwork based on a transparent graded approach.
2. Community Safety.
Aiken County residents deserve to live in safe communities. This requires a joint effort on the part of citizens and law enforcement working together to ensure our communities are free from crime. I will do my part to be the conduit from the District 8 citizens to law enforcement to resolve any issues.
3. General Information About County Government.
Often people have general questions about issues related to county government. As a councilman it is important to be accessible, helpful, and diligent in serving the community. I pledge my continued support to help resolve issues and ensure fair distribution of county resources for all areas of the county.
