In what Barnwell County Councilman Thomas Williams jokingly referred to as a "non-ceremonial process" - he and former Council Chairman Joe Smith exchanged name plaques as Williams took chairmanship of the Council.

Starting out a new year, Council passed a recommendation from the judicial committee to do a topography survey at the Barnwell County Detention Center.

It's the first step in compiling information to see what the options would be to repair the old part of the detention center, said Councilman Travis Black.

Black said Council is not jumping the gun on any type of large scale project but it needs to start examining what options it has and the feasibility of each.

The options are to move it completely or build an add-on, said Black.

"We would like to leave it where it is," said Black.

Sewage line issues, safety issues, and maintenance to the detention center is costing the county money, said County Administrator Pickens Williams, Jr.

Councilman Joe Smith there are water drainage problems on the land at the detention center.

There is a ditch that has been enlarged a few times and the question is where to put the water, he continued.

The survey will help determine if the land at the detention center's site can actually be used for an addition, said Councilman Keith Sloan.

Other actions or business the County Council handled included:

• Accepted a recommendation from Rick McLeod of the Savannah River Site Community Reuse Organization for Barnwell County to join Energy Community Alliance.
EAC advises and guides communities that are adjacent to or are affected by Department of Energy facilities.
The uniqueness of the Central Savannah River Area is it has five counties and two states bordering or close to the Savannah River Site, said McLeod.
Membership to EAC can help the court have a voice with DOE in Washington D.C., said Sloan.

• Accepted a recommendation concerning the repayment of a $475,000 advance Council made to the Barnwell County Hospital last year.
Council authorized Pickens Williams Jr. to hold back county tax receipts in three stages owed to the hospital to repay the $475,000 debt.

• Councilman Freddie Houston and Keith Sloan - whose districts cover Williston and Elko - presented a plaque to the Williston-Elko Blue Devils football team for winning the Class I-A Division II state championship.

• Danny Black of Southern Carolina Alliance reported because of the bad economy there has been more of a focus on internal marketing and existing industry within the region.
Most of the job creation the last year came from existing industries in the region, said Black.

• Barnwell County Sheriff Ed Carroll said crime continued to rise in Barnwell County in 2009 with about 1,000 new cases.
Since Jan. 5, there have been 91 incident reports filed, he said.
He added the Barnwell County Sheriff's new Web site - http://barnwellcountysheriff.com - is operational.
The site features crime news, an outstanding warrant list and other features residents might find useful.
Read a resolution supporting upgrades to U.S. 278 from the Aiken County line to the Bamberg County line.

• P.F. Beck, the chairman of the Barnwell County Regional Airport Commission, said the airport has no major projects planned for the year.
He said some preventative repairs - such as repairing cracks in the runway asphalt - will be underway during the year.
Federal Aviation Authority grants will cover 95 percent of the repairs, said Beck.
He said the airport was able to return $10,000 during the 2009 calendar year and made an $8,500 bottom line profit.
Beck said he would like to see more customers and activity at the airport but he has heard businness at avaition airports is down 46 percent across the country because of the recession.

• Approved resolution for Department of Energy intergovernmental agreement for a payment in lieu of taxes, which needed to be approved to get DOE payments started. Barnwell County will receive $4,476, 933 from DOE for fiscal year 2009 from county land the government claimed to place the Savannah River Site.