Simpsonville City Council held a regularly scheduled Committee of the Whole* meeting on July 22, 2025 in Council Chambers a.k.a. “The Ellipse.” Results of votes taken are not final decisions of the Council but have the status of recommendations or declarations of intent to be further considered by Council in succeeding meetings. Below is a recap of the meeting:
Present: Councilman Chad O’Rear (Ward 1), Councilwoman Shannon Williams (Ward 3), Councilwoman Sherry Roche (Ward 4), Councilman Tim Pinkerton (Ward 5), Councilman Lou Hutchings (Ward 6), Mayor Paul Shewmaker
- Presentation by Katelyn Moore, Miss Teen Simpsonville: Ms. Moore informed City Council about her time as Miss Teen Simpsonville, including her serve initiative or service project choice of Wait Until 8th, an initiative that aims to reduce the number of children younger in 7th grader or lower who have access to smartphones due to the harmful effects that screen time can have on children, citing scientific research. Ms. Moore encouraged all in attendance of the meeting to participate in “Screenless Sundays” to go as much of the day as one can without their smartphones or other devices.
- Staff Reports (The Highlights)
- Community Relations: About 7,000 people attended Simply Freedom Fest; the City’s United Way of Greenville County annual pledge campaign is starting soon; and a new entertainment series similar to the Music Series & Food Truck Rodeo for the fall will be officially announced shortly.
- Financial: Revenues from the General Fund are $4 million greater at this time in Fiscal Year 2025-2026 as the same time in Fiscal Year 2024-2025, which is 119% of anticipated revenues in the budget.
- City Administrator: Councilman Hutchings asked Mr. Coker about the Swamp Rabbit Trail extension project. Mr. Coker explained the status of the project is that staff and engineers are discussing the logistics of getting trail users over Fairview Road from South Main Street onto South East Main Street toward Heritage Park as well as discussions with a key property owner. Mr. Coker said the list of roads for resurfacing has been revised downward from a total count of eight streets to five streets of about 3.86 miles and noted that the cost of road resurfacing has doubled in the last few years to more than $1 million per mile resurfaced.
- City Council discussed City Administrator Tee Coker’s intention to put proceeds from the sale of the old city hall property into an account designated for downtown revitalization project expenses (From the Ellipse: Council Recap | 07-08-2025). Council members expressed varying views about the best use of the $843,000. Councilman O’Rear and Councilman Pinkerton advocated for using the funds to address stormwater issues and road paving. Councilwoman Roche, Councilwoman Williams and Mayor Paul Shewmaker advocated for using the funds to complete portions of the downtown revitalization project with Ms. Roche emphasizing reducing traffic congestion. Mr. Coker answered in the affirmative to Councilmember Hutchings’s question as to whether the funds could be effectively directed to the General Fund until Council reached a consensus. Mayor Shewmaker noted that adding such proceeds to the General Fund would require an agenda item for Council to take up in first and second readings.
- By a vote of 6-0, City Council approved the placement of Resolution R-2025-02 on the Aug. 12, 2025 Business Meeting agenda. Proposed by Councilman Hutchings, Resolution R-2025-02 would designate the song “Simpsonville (Simply Home)” by Steve Eager as the official anthem of the City of Simpsonville. Mr. Eager spoke to Council about the process of writing the song and making the music video and expressed gratitude to City Council, Councilman Lou Hutchings and Community Relations Specialist Justin Campbell.
- Upon coming out of executive session to discuss a personnel matter in the Administrative Department, City Council voted 6-0 to appoint the person selected by Mr. Coker for the finance director position as treasurer of the City of Simpsonville. It is customary for Council to appoint the City’s finance director as treasurer. The final vote for appointment of the treasurer position will be at the business meeting on Aug. 12.
The meeting started at 6 p.m., and City Council adjourned at 7:10 p.m.
Visit the meeting webpage at the following link: Committee of the Whole Meeting 07-22-2025.
*Committee of the Whole meetings allows City Council to receive information concerning issues that are anticipated to come before Council at upcoming regularly scheduled business meetings. The purpose of Committee of the Whole meetings is to provide a forum for thorough and detailed discussions and considerations of current or prospective Council agenda items.