The Town of Chapin has been busy since I took office over six months ago. We are working through several administrative initiatives and have dealt with developers on numerous projects. Some of those projects have been withdrawn at an administrative level and some have moved throughout our process.

On Friday, the Town advertised the Planning Commission’s work session to be held at 3:00 pm this afternoon (Tuesday) at Town Hall and since then I have received input from numerous community members regarding the proposed planned development on Amick’s Ferry Road. I want to assure the public that I have been receiving your feedback and I value your input. The passion and commitment of our citizens is an asset to the community. Your time and input are both valued and appreciated. As I sort through the messages, please know that if I have not yet had a chance to respond to you individually, I have received your concerns and I take your feedback very seriously.

Several of the comments I have received indicated that the public is unaware of the process the Town is required to follow and I wanted to assure the community that this project is no where near approved. This afternoon’s meeting is preliminary in nature and the Town has not received any official submittal at this time. The meeting time and date are part of the regularly scheduled Planning Commission meetings. The meetings are set based on the Commissioners schedule at the beginning of the year. For this particular work session the intent of the meeting is to provide the Planning Commissioners the opportunity to review the project details for the first time and for Commissioners to have the opportunity to ask questions of the developer. Rather than conduct meetings of this sort in a closed-door manner shielded from public view, this process is designed to be very open and transparent.

After receiving input from the Planning Commission if the developer elects to move forward with a formal application there will be several opportunities for public input throughout the process. Planned developments involving aspects of both commercial and residential development are meant to be customized to our communities needs and there can be several changes throughout this process. We welcome the public to attend our meetings but ask that they maintain decency and decorum throughout the process.

In addition to addressing pending development and ordinance changes, a priority for my administration has been to develop our Police Department into an elite force. The promotion of Chief Thomas Griffin and Captain Ryan Galinski has set the tone for the development of the department. Our department is committed to serving the public in proactive manner. Due to recent events in our nation, our leadership recognized the need to hold active shooter training in coordination with Chapin High School and Lexington County. Last week, two days of training were conducted to ensure that in the worst set of circumstances our officers and coordinating agencies would be prepared. In addition, Captain Ryan Galinski was recognized for his recent efforts in utilizing his Crisis Intervention Training to assist a member of the community who was suffering from a mental health crisis.  Due to his actions Captain Galinski was presented with the Crisis Intervention Team Challenge Coin.

As the Summer is quickly coming to an end our community is looking forward to its favorite tradition the Chapin Labor Day Festival. It is truly an honor to be able to put on such a wonderful event and to welcome new faces to our community. This year’s parade will be led by Grand Marshal, Chip Huggins. You would be hard pressed to find a community member that doesn’t know Chip. He has worked tirelessly on  behalf of this community and we are thrilled to be able to honor him with this year’s event. If you have questions or would like to participate, please contact Nicholle Burroughs at communications@chapinsc.com or you can visit the website at https://www.chapinsc.com/269/Chapin-Labor-Day-Festival-Parade

Please know we, at Town Hall, are working hard to continue to make our community a wonderful place to live, work and play. 

 
Sincerely,

Mayor Al Koon