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Council in 5 Minutes · October 12, 2026

Council in 5 Minutes: Citizen Engagement Sessions Pass, Hoffmeyer Road Sewer Work Starts, and Six Zoning Items Move Ahead

What Florence City Council took up on Monday, October 12, and what is still unconfirmed.

~9 min read • HelloFlorenceSC • Updated October 14, 2026

Florence City Council met at 1:00 p.m. on October 12 and spent about an hour and a half in open session before going into executive session. Most of what came up was routine, but three items affect residents directly: a new way to reach the mayor and city manager, sewer repair work that began that same evening on a busy four-lane road, and a run of zoning and annexation votes. Council voted by voice on everything below, so no vote counts are available until the minutes post.

A new way to reach the mayor and city manager

Council passed Bill 2026-31 on second reading. As printed in the agenda packet, it creates monthly Citizen Engagement Sessions: a resident asks the City Clerk in writing or by email by the last business day of the month before, and gets a 10-minute slot with the mayor and city manager (or their designees) on city services and operations. Personnel matters and pending or threatened litigation are off limits. At the meeting, Council added phone calls as a way to request a session.

The same ordinance rewrites Section 2-24(h), the rule for speaking at regular Council meetings. The packet text says a resident may speak only on an item on that meeting's published open-session agenda, for up to five minutes, after notifying the clerk in writing before the meeting starts. The ordinance says it takes effect on adoption at second and final reading, so the October 12 vote appears to be the last one. WPDE reported it still needs final approval; the minutes should settle that.

Officials said during debate that public speaking is not being removed. The debate ran about 20 minutes, and one council member called it another layer of bureaucracy. The sessions have no set dates or times and no stated recording policy. Details are in our full article on the ordinance.

Hoffmeyer Road sewer repair began Monday night

City staff told Council that a contractor started work on the Hoffmeyer Road sewer line at 6:00 p.m. Monday. The work is being done at night, and the first phase is an investigation of the line.

The Hoffmeyer work is one of 31 active utility projects, according to staff: 12 water, 10 sewer, 6 stormwater and 3 that cross all three. (In September, staff described the project area as running from the Five Points area to Darlington Street, and said a bypass pump is carrying wastewater around a blockage from aging pipe and grease.) Staff also said the Oakland Avenue stormwater contractor was on site and that pipe and storm boxes typically take four to six weeks to arrive, after which traffic control notices will go out. Design work is starting on rehabilitating the Dawn Street elevated tank (300,000 gallons), a new 6-inch water line on Stadium Road and a new 12-inch line on South Irby Street.

Six zoning and annexation items

Three items were up for second reading and three for first reading. The recording indicates all six moved ahead by voice vote. Details below are from the agenda packet staff reports.

Second reading:

Bill 2026-33, Kuker Street. Rezone five lots (206, 208, 210, 211 and 212 Kuker Street) from CR to CBD. The lots are parking lots for adjacent businesses. The owner plans to renovate them and would consider commercial and townhouse development later. Planning Commission voted 5-0 on August 11.

Bill 2026-34, 2711 Ascot Drive. Annex and zone NC-15. City water and sewer are available at no cost to extend. Planning Commission voted 5-0 on August 11.

Bill 2026-35, North Aiken Drive. Rezone 18 parcels from NC-6.2 to NC-6.3, which opens the land to townhouses and multi-family. The applicant intends to demolish the existing houses and build townhouses described as affordable, multi-generational housing. Planning Commission voted 5-0 on August 11.

First reading:

Bill 2026-37, 221 North Lakewood Drive. Annex and zone NC-15. Planning Commission voted 8-0 on September 8.

Bill 2026-38, 2509 West Edgefield Road. Annex and zone NC-15. Planning Commission voted 8-0 on September 8.

Bill 2026-39, Stratton Drive. Annex and zone one parcel NC-6.3. The owner, South Creek Land Co., LLC, intends to build townhouses. Planning Commission voted 8-0 on September 8.

All three first-reading parcels have city water and sewer available. Each returns for a second reading, presumably November 9.

Also approved

Budget amendment, Bill 2026-30. Second reading. At first reading in September, the Finance Director said it reappropriates unspent FY 2025-26 money for projects and purchases not finished by June 30 (General Fund, Water and Sewer, Stormwater and related funds). He said these are not new projects.

Resilience and Sustainability Advisory Committee repeal, Bill 2026-32. Second reading. The packet says the committee, created in 2021, has "met its intended purpose," and the September minutes say the upcoming Comprehensive Plan update will include a resilience and sustainability section. No reason was stated at the October 12 vote.

Accommodations tax, FY 2026-27. Council accepted the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee's recommendations by voice vote. Per the packet table, the Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau gets $373,500 from the 30 percent tourism promotion fund, and 24 organizations are recommended for a combined $809,250 from the 65 percent fund, down from $1,567,500 requested. Recommended amounts include the Convention and Visitors Bureau at $276,845, the Florence Center at $116,126, Freedom Florence at $110,928, the Florence Museum at $21,451 and the South Carolina Pecan Festival at $35,477. Two applicants were recommended for $0. (The transcript's spoken total sounded like $89,250; the packet figure above is the one to use.)

Money and projects from the city manager's report

Pine Street groundwater plant: $2.25 million in federal funding, which the city manager credited to Congressman Russell Fry, toward a larger $10 million project for new pumping systems, chemical treatment upgrades and filter work.

Carolina Theater: $2 million in state appropriation plus a $600,000 state grant. The city expects a certificate of occupancy in about two weeks, followed by a grand opening tour.

Budget retreat: held September 23, covering debt capacity and how to fund identified projects.

Media and Industry Day: Thursday, November 5, at the surface water plant, the city's third year, hosted by its three engineering firms.

Recognitions and awards

Pee Dee IceCats (Resolution 2026-47): recognized for bringing pro hockey back to the region and setting a Federal Prospects Hockey League single-season attendance record of about 157,588 (per the packet). A team representative at the meeting said the new season starts Friday.

Dr. Cecil Edward Floyd Memorial Award (Resolution 2026-49): a new award for community involvement and engagement. Speakers recalled his philanthropy and community leadership.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month (Resolution 2026-48): names the Pee Dee Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Assault as a support provider, per the packet.

Duke Energy Foundation: presented a $10,000 grant to Florence Downtown Development Corporation for its micro grant program. Duke says these grants can fund facade work, signs, public spaces and small business incentives.

FMU walkability study: Francis Marion University occupational therapy doctoral students audited the Cheves, Irby, Evans and Dargan Street corridors downtown. The packet lists recurring concerns about crossings and signals, sidewalk conditions, accessibility, lighting, traffic conflicts and transit amenities.

Service awards (packet): Wendy Dillon, 15 years, Equipment Maintenance; Christina Morales, 15 years, Beautification and Facilities; Jamey McCall, 10 years, Police; Austin Terry, 10 years, Fire.

Dates to mark

What went to executive session

Several items were flagged "may be discussed in Executive Session" on the agenda and were moved there. The recording ends as Council enters executive session, so we do not know what, if anything, was decided on them.

Bill 2026-40 (first reading), partisan nominations. The packet says Act 213 of 2026 (H. 3556), signed May 19, 2026, requires cities of Florence's size to drop partisan nomination and adopt a nonpartisan method by ordinance no later than April 1, 2027. The bill adopts a nonpartisan primary and general election. Staff say that if no method is adopted by the deadline, a plurality method applies. The election date does not change.

Bill 2026-17 (second reading), Pee Dee Healthy Start lease. The original ten-year lease expired June 30, 2026. The proposed update is five years, through June 30, 2031, with an annual written report to the City. (In September, this bill was deferred after executive session.)

Bill 2026-36 (first reading), noise rules. Moves noise and vibration rules out of the Unified Development Ordinance into the Code of Ordinances, fixes inconsistencies and changes the times of maximum allowable decibel levels in commercial zones. Planning Commission voted 6-2 on September 8.

Resolution 2026-50. A Conditional Grant and Development Agreement for a project in the Downtown Central Overlay District. No details are public in the packet.

Bill 2026-29 (second and final reading), The Grove at Ebenezer. Annexation and PDD zoning for Phases 5A, 5B and 5C of The Grove subdivision, with 219 single-family lots planned. The zoning dates to a 2016 development agreement. The recording indicates it was deferred.

Also on the executive session list: board and commission appointments, legal advice on sewer claims and a personnel matter.

What we're still chasing

Tell us

Have you noticed work on Hoffmeyer Road at night, and how is traffic near Evans Street? And if you have asked to speak at a Council meeting before, what would make a Citizen Engagement Session useful to you?

Sourced from the City's October 12, 2026 agenda packet, the City Council meeting video (auto-generated transcript), WPDE's October 14 report, the City's Hoffmeyer Road release and October 12 posts, and Duke Energy Foundation's October 12 release. This issue will be updated when the minutes post.

Sources

Checked October 14, 2026. Primary sources first.