Cheraw Town Council Meeting

Cheraw Town Council Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 5:30 pm 1. Call to Order Minutes: Mayor Byrd called the meeting to order at 5:30pm. Members Present: Mayor Byrd, Jim Crawford, Tom Boan, Cherryl Melton, Jerry Tucker, Amy Gavin and Harvey Johnson Others Present: Brian Rogers (Interim Town Manager), Patti Norris (Clerk/Treasurer), Madison Scott (HR Director), 2. Invocation Minutes: The invocation was given by Interim Town Manager, Brian Rogers. 3. Pledge to Flag. 4. Approval of Minutes of January 13 Council Meeting. Minutes: Councilman Crawford did point out that the motion he made in January to appoint Councilwoman Melton as mayor pro tempore was not noted in the minutes. Clerk Treasurer Norris stated that that has been corrected and is now part of the January minutes. Councilwoman Melton made a motion to approve minutes. Councilwoman Gavin seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 5. January Financial Report. Minutes: Councilman Crawford made a motion to approve the January financial report. Councilwoman Melton seconded the motion, and the motion passed by unanimous vote. 6. Presentation from Karen Short of the ALPHA Behavioral Health Center to Discuss a Low-Barrier Naloxone Vending Box Minutes: My name is Karen Short, I work for the county but at the ALPHA Behavioral Center as the county's opioid abatement coalition director and grant manager. Within my duties is to get overdose reversing methods out in the community, this is to abate opioid related  fatalities. I have a free standing vending machine at the detention center that is for detainees leaving incarceration or for the public. The box is the size of a magazine box, it requires no electricity. I have one in Chesterfield, Ruby, Patrick and McBee. The medication is Naloxone, and it is not harmful. If someone administered this medication to someone thinking they had an overdose but they had not, it would not cause any harm. The medication is administered in the nasal canula. This is a life saving medication and I would like to place one of the boxes inside the town limits. Mayor Byrd asked if we currently have one in the town and Mrs. Short stated that we do not. In Chesterfield there is one at the detention center and at the food bank in Chesterfield. Patrick has one at the fire department and Mcbee's will be placed by the ABC store. I feel the community center here in town is a good fit because it is a hot spot for overdoses. The two main hotspots for overdoses in the county is Town of Pageland and Town of Cheraw, according to our OD data from last year. Councilman Tucker stated that we may want it somewhere that there is possibly 24hour surveillance. Mrs. Short stated that the one at the detention center has been there for over a year and there have been two incidents where someone has taken more than one box of medication but no vandalism. Councilwoman Gavin asked for clarification on taken too many from the box. One incident was that the detainee did not have that type of machine in her town so she wanted to have an extra one. The other incident seemed that someone was just upset and took the medication out and just opened it and dumped it on the ground. Time was called and council thanked Mrs. Short for her time. 7. Presentation from the Southern Crescent Regional Commission regarding Project Hometown. Minutes: I am Jonathan Ire with with Main Street South Carolina and we are happy to be here tonight. This is a grant from the SC Southern Crescent Regional Commission that was received by Main Street, SC in partnership with SC Office of Rural Health. This will be a program that is administered here in Cheraw, Hartsville and Walterboro. Cheraw is one of our classic Main Street communities. I met with Patricia Dixon earlier today and the town is doing really well with your Main Street program. We appreciate your partnership and I am going to turn this over to Paul who will go through more specifics of the grant. Paul thanked mayor and council for working with the program. The concept is simple, it is to take storytelling at a local level and roll it into campaigns that celebrate the best of our communities. The state of SC is projected to grow substantially in the coming years. We don't want too much growth but you don't want the population to decline. This project is a great way to get out and celebrate professionals and local folks. If you have seen the Facebook stories where they promote local businesses and it is usually with a really nice picture. We are basically going to be doing more of that. There is opportunity for a local apprenticeship of a photographer to be trained in a way of telling stories locally so the town would have that asset and that person available in your community. The Office of Rural Health is a key partner in this because you know what is one of the types of folks you really need in your rural communities is healthcare workers and educators and they are really keen to see these stories. Again my name is Paul Danieli and I am with Rural Growth Initiative and we have partnered with Main Street SC on this project as well as SC Office of Rural Health. We have a whole team including Mr. Luke Giddens wo works with our non profit in the region. If you know of anyone you would like to recommend for one of these stories please reach out to Brian  and Patricia. Councilman Boan asked how much the grant was for. Paul stated that the grant is for $300,000 and it will be split between the three municipalities across a two year span. The money will also be spent on making sure the websites are up and running and those types of things. This would be different than your own branding this would be representing the whole program. 8. Comments from Robert Marshall regarding Foundry Hill Cemetery Minutes: Good evening, I am Robert Marshall and I am here to discuss Foundry Hill Cemetery . Foundry Hill is a historical cemetery that has become dilapidated and needs a lot of work done. Previously there was a committee but we have formulated a new committee and I as the chairperson am trying to get the cemetery up and looking beautiful and be represented as a historical landmark. We have come here tonight to invite the whole town to come out on the 28th of this month for our first cleanup day. We will start the morning at 9am with a brief history and then we will start the clean up. The cemetery dates back to the 1800's and the previous committee aged out and were not able to be active so we have our new committee and I would like for them to stand for recognition. We will have five phases to the clean up and this will include trying to have the cemetery mapped out. Once we have some more finances we are hoping to be able to have a machine come out and tell us where the graves are. Right now if someone wanted to be buried in the cemetery they would stick a long prong in the ground to see if they hit a grave. It will take support and all of us coming together to make the cemetery great again. Foundry Hill is an African American cemetery and it is historical but it is not just African American History it is Cheraw history. We as a committee would love for the cemetery to become a tourist site. We thank you for your time. Councilwoman Melton stated that Mr. JT Fleming helps a lot with cemeteries in the county and with keeping them up and making sure that when someone is buried that it is done correctly. I hope that what the committee is trying to put together that the town comes together to make it happen. Councilman Crawford stated that he has been over St David's Cemetery Association for 20 plus years and would be happy to share his contacts in reference to C13's. Mr. Marshall stated they are open and happy to receive any type of help including monetary so we can preserve the African American history along with Cheraw history. 9. Citizens Comments Minutes: Melinda Boan stepped forward stating she was asked by Mr. F Raymond Babb to read a letter he had written to the mayor and council. (letter is attached) This letter thanked several departments within the town stating that Mr. Babb appreciated all the men and women and they service that they give our town. They all have his thanks and deserve kudos for jobs well done. Mayor Byrd gave his congratulations to our employees. He stated that he knows they do a great job with the leadership of Brian and council. Steevenson Pierre came forward stating that concerning the Foundry Hill Cemetery, can someone help them possibly get a grant to help them with the work. Brian stated that we could look into that.  For Council Action 10. First Reading of Ordinance: a. Ordinance 2026-07 - An Ordinance Amending Section 13-1 - Consumption of Beer, Wine, and Alcohol Restricted, Subsection C in the Cheraw Town Code of Ordinances to Permit the Consumption of Alcohol in Certain Spaces in a Defined Entertainment District During Special Events. Minutes: Brian states that this ordinance permits the consumption of beer and wine in certain defined spaces in the entertainment district during special events downtown. The town manager would designate which events would include this and the manager would also oversee, review and provided specific details for each permit on what can and can not be done. Any alcohol consumed would have to through a vendor downtown. The beverage would have to be in a special 12oz container. Councilwoman Gavin asked where the entertainment district is. Brian stated Market St to Front St to Third St. Councilman Boan made a motion to approve the ordinance. Councilwoman Melton seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. b. Ordinance 2026-08 - An Ordinance to Dismantle Cheraw's Park's and Grounds Department. Minutes: Brian states this ordinance is to establish a dismantle of Parks and Grounds department so we can combine Parks and Grounds with the Recreation department. Our hope is to improve efficiency and provide better services to members of the community. This goes back to the way it was a number of years ago, when we first erected the parks and recreation departments that is how we started out. This will also allow us to be better organized, more efficient in how we provide services and how we maintain our parks and provide recreational services. Councilwoman Gavin made a motion to approve the ordinance. Councilman Tucker seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. c. Ordinance 2026-09 - An Ordinance to Dismantle Cheraw's Recreation Department. Minutes: Brian states this ordinance to dismantle the Recreation department and combine it with Parks and Ground. Councilman Boan made a motion to approve the ordinance. Councilwoman Melton seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. d. Ordinance 2026-10 An Ordinance to Combine Cheraw's Parks and Grounds Department and Recreation Department into the Cheraw Park's and Recreation Department. Minutes: Brian states this ordinance combines Parks and Grounds with the Recreation  Department to create Cheraw Park's and Recreation Department. Again this is to improve daily operations and efficiency for the citizens of Cheraw. Councilwoman Gavin made a motion to approve the ordinance. Councilwoman Melton seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 11. Request from Town Manager to Create a Fire Station Committee to Discuss the New Construction of the Fire Station Minutes: Brian states in anticipation of the new fire station, I recommend forming a committee composed of current firefighters, volunteer firefighters and elected council members to gather input and evaluate the various functional options to be incorporated into the new facility. I recommend the appointment of Councilman Boan, Fire Chief Murray, Captains Dickson, Harper and Rivers as well as volunteer firefighter Patrick Gavin. Councilman Crawford made a motion to approve the request. Councilman Tucker seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. 12. Request from Town Manager to Create a Tree Committee Minutes: Brian states that he is recommending to start a tree committee made of some certified arborists and members of the community for guidance, support and direction to continue to be recognized as a tree city USA. Some of the committee members would be Scott Laney, Kenny Robertson and Phillip Tucker. There will be others announced at a later date. Councilman Boan asked if all these members had been approached and agreed to serve. Brian stated that yes they have and they all agreed to serve. Councilwoman Gavin made a motion to approve the recommendation.. Councilman Williams seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. For Council Information 13. Activity Reports a. Business License Report b. Code Enforcement Report c. Fire Report d. Parks and Grounds Report e. Personnel Report f. Planning and Community Development Report g. Police and Animal Control Report h. Recreation Report i. Public Utility Report j. Public Works Report k. Loss Control Committee Report 14. Executive Session a. Request to enter into executive session to discuss personnel compensation. Minutes:  Councilman Boan made a motion to enter into executive session. Councilwoman Gavin seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. Entered into executive session at 5:58pm. Councilman Boan made a motion to exit executive session. Councilwoman Melton seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. Exited executive session at 7:09pm. No action taken. b. Council may take action upon exiting executive session Minutes: No action taken. 15. Adjournment. Minutes: Councilwoman Melton made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Councilwoman Gavin seconded the motion and the motion passed unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 7:10pm Rules for Citizen Comments The citizen comment period is designed and intended to allow members of the public to provide information directly to the Town Council. Other than asking a question to clarify a statement council members will refrain from entering into a dialogue with the speaker. This time on the agenda is not intended to be a discussion between Town Council and the speaker and should not be intended for that purpose. Persons wishing to make comments during this time will need to observe the following: 1. Person should approach the podium and state their full name and address before addressing the Town Council. 2. All speakers must conduct themselves in a professional manner. 3. All speakers will be limited to three minutes to speak. This time allotment may not be transferred to anyone else. The Town’s Clerk/Treasurer will notify the speaker if they exceed their three minutes to talk. 4. Speakers will refrain from using: profanity; language likely to incite violence or outbursts from the audience; language that is disruptive to the orderly process of the meeting; engaging in conversations with individual council members; making comments of a personal nature regarding others; shouting, yelling, or screaming. 5. Speakers should understand that the Town Council cannot deliberate on any questions presented by the speaker if the question or topic is not posted on the agenda. Freedom of Information Act In compliance with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act written notice of this agenda was delivered to the local media by email at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting time, duly posted at Town Hall located at 200 Market Street, and made available on www.cheraw.com. | Minutes published on 03/19/2026 at 9:48 AM