Yemassee annexation stalls after petition didn’t meet requirements. What’s next?
Despite a dramatic, months-long effort to unite in one county, the Town of Yemassee will remained straddled between two counties for at least a while longer.
A recent letter from S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster’s office to annexation organizers in Yemassee said the materials submitted did not meet the state’s requirements for signature confirmation or financial deposit and actually “raised several additional questions.”
The two-page letter, signed by the governor’s chief legal counsel, Thomas A. Limehouse Jr. and dated Sept. 1, said he could not offer legal advice, but could provide information that may be “helpful.”
After an “initial review of the records submitted, it is not clear that the petition satisfies” the requirements in state law regarding annexation, Limehouse wrote.
In late July, lifelong Yemassee resident and business owner Stephen Henson mailed a copy of a petition to the governor’s office with more than 140 signatures, a map of about 7 square miles proposed to be annexed, and a copy of a $1,000 check.
The submission came after months of work garnering local support, including fending off rumors at public meetings.
Henson did not respond to a call Wednesday or text Thursday.
“It’s our understanding that lead petitioner Mr. Henson is still working on getting the town annexed,” Yemassee Town Clerk Matt Garnes said Thursday. He confirmed town officials were aware of the letter from the governor’s office.
Two major issues were highlighted in Limehouse’s letter.
The first was the $1,000 check, which was submitted with a note that said petitioners understood the cost of surveys, plats, annexation commission, and election “will be significantly greater” but that the exact cost “is currently unknown” and could be “paid once an estimate is available.”
Limehouse acknowledged the note, but said the law requires petitioners deposit “an amount of money sufficient to cover the expenses” and the submitted $1,000 is likely not enough.
The second issue was the lack of confirmation on whether the petition contained the required signatures of 10% of registered voters in Yemassee. Limehouse said the Hampton County Board of Voter Registration and Elections would have the documentation to confirm the signatures.
The redirection is not a dismissal, though.
Limehouse wrote that the governor’s office “remains willing to consider” other requests or petitions submitted in relation to the annexation attempt, but it needs more information and documentation to “perform and complete the review required by law.”
The letter was briefly mentioned at Hampton County Council’s Sept. 21 meeting by county attorney and magistrate judge Algie Solomons.
He said he wanted to make sure everyone saw the governor’s response to the “action filed by the folks that are promoting the secession of a portion of Hampton County into Beaufort County.”
He said it was “encouraging” to know the governor’s office declined to accept the submission “to try to take part of Hampton County away from us. Where that leaves us, I can’t tell you.”
Whatever happens next, he said, “depends entirely upon the group that is promoting secession, but at least at this point that is stalled.”
Hampton County Chairman Clay Bishop told The Island Packet on Thursday that the letter from the governor’s office was “positive news.”
“Yemassee has always been a part of Hampton County and, of course, that’s the way we continue to see it,” he said.
Bishop said the annexation issue has been “near and dear” to him because he lives next door in Early Branch and spent a lot of his childhood in Yemassee, where his grandmother lived.
He also said multiple projects are planned for improving the town, including acquiring a new ambulance for the EMS base and installing additional lighting at Exit 38.
“We’re poised for growth, and we’re certainly planning to keep Yemassee as part of Hampton County and make things better for everyone,” he said. “Yemassee staying in Hampton County is going to be the best outcome for everyone, including the Town of Yemassee.”
Conversations of annexation between Yemassee and Beaufort County officials began as early as December, but were kept relatively quiet and held behind closed doors until The Island Packet first reported on the efforts in February.
When rumors bubbled in the town of about 1,500 people, residents went to Town Council meetings upset and demanding answers. The petition effort then became public, and the paperwork was submitted to the Hampton County Clerk of Court and the governor’s office in late July.
