County Council makes changes to meeting schedule

For the first time in memory, the Laurens County Council is changing its regular meeting schedule.

Council will now hold regular meetings once a month instead of twice, and that meeting will be held on the second Monday of each month at 6 p.m. Regular meetings were previously held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month.

“We’ve been at two meetings a month probably since conception,” said Council Chairman Brown Patterson. “Now, with technology and with a solid staff on board, there’s no need to meet twice a month regularly. Staff is able to handle putting things together for one meeting a month.”

Patterson said the council will hold called and special meetings whenever necessary and sees the change as a cost-saving move for the county. He also pointed out that several meetings have recently been canceled due to

“Every other government agency in the county meets once a month, and this way we’re not paying overtime for staff to sit around for hours to accommodate a council meeting.”

The first county council meeting under the new schedule will be held Monday, Aug. 14.

The change to Mondays is a move for the benefit of staff, which routinely wraps up the agenda for upcoming meetings on Fridays, said County Administrator Thomas Higgs.

It will also be a positive for council members, Patterson said.

“We can knock it out at the beginning of the week and allow people to get to work and do their jobs,” he said.

Meetings will continue to be held at the county Voter Registration and Veteran’s Affairs Offices, also known as Hillcrest Complex East at 105 Bolt Drive in Laurens, for the immediate future as renovations continue at the Historic Laurens County Courthouse on the public square in Laurens.