Five.

That's the number of priorities Lexington’s Town Council members will select from an extensive list of priorities. 

Earlier this month, Hazel Livingston, elected Lexington’s mayor in November, asked council members to provide her with their top five priorities, receiving an abundance of answers covering general topics they will look to narrow down into five main priorities.

The council looks to shape its priorities as it moves forward with a membership that looks a good deal different than it has in recent years, with Gavin Smith, Will Allen and Jeannie Michaels joining the seven-member voting body last year, and Livingston, who previously served as mayor pro-tem, replacing Steve MacDougall, who had served as mayor since 2013.

According to a priority list provided to the Chronicle, the five general topics council will look to focus on include improving communication, conducting a study of the town’s infrastructure (traffic, parking, utilities, etc.), assessing the way the town is using its human capital, along with assessing fiscal and government policies.

All of the council members, along with Livingston, included priorities that targeted enhancing communication and all recommended the appraisal of the town’s infrastructure.

The communications enhancements on council members’ minds include:

• Broadcasting Town Council work sessions and all town board, commission and committee meetings
• Developing a simple video template to celebrate small businesses in the town (new and existing)
• Exploring and implementing different platforms to get information out to the public, including an app, QR code, text, email, and a survey of citizens
• Council member or staff liaison to interact with groups of neighborhoods
• Post financial information on town website to be more transparent
• Post all meeting packet backup information on town website for all boards, commissions and committees
• Align marketing, communications, public relations staff to enhance types and frequency of communication materials
• Launch podcast featuring town happenings, history and highlights
• With the infrastructure study, the members hope to:
• Holding a conversation with West Columbia about future utility agreements
• Holding a conversation with West Columbia and Cayce for more uniformity in territory service area
• Exploring public parking location(s) for Old Mill Pond Trail off U.S.Highway 6
• Hiring an engineering firm to do a comprehensive traffic study
• Exploring wireless internet availability in town parks
• Addressing traffic cameras
• Maintaining efforts to ensure quality growth patterns now and into the future
• Evaluating parking downtown for additional public parking locations, ensuring additional handicapped parking is made available

The mayor along with Council Members Todd Carnes, Smith and Ron Williams identified  priorities having to do with human capital and quality of life

Those human capital priorities included:

• Performing a town-wide staffing needs assessment
• Designing and launching a town youth council for town residents
• Evaluating how to move forward with the town’s Vision Plan, including the involvement of citizens
• Aligning marketing, communications and public relations staff to enhance types and frequency of communication materials
• Designing and launching a “Town of Lexington Academy” for town residents
• Structuring human resources policies and benefits to ensure the town is the employer of choice in the Midlands
• Implementing  strategies for town council to show more appreciation and love to town employees

The quality of life priorities included:

• Exploring the possibility of a Corley Street Park
• Exploring the possibility of a town park near Sunset Boulevard/U.S. Highway 378 and Interstate 20
• Hosting more events at the Icehouse Amphitheater and Pavilion
• Installing a variety of types of public art, including murals and interactive displays
• Enhancing alleys off Main Street, including painting murals, interactive art and lighting
• Moving Wine Walk on Main event back to Main Street
• Partnering with Main Street/Old Mill merchants to create and promote events for residents and visitors of all types
• Enhancing Icehouse Market to increase its duration and add new types of vendors, creating a “small Soda City” atmosphere
• Lengthening the free concert series to include concerts that feature local youth talent and other types of local talent

The fiscal and government policies were contributed by the mayor and Carnes, with three items being solely submitted by Will Allen.

Submitted by Livingston and Carnes were:

Seeking to ease property tax burden on town residents by educating citizens on how the hospitality tax has helped lower their property tax and exploring new revenue sources to ease that burden

Putting a better emphasis on grant writing

Submitted by Allen were:

• Ending the hospitality tax
• Passing an ordinance for Lexington County concurrency
• Passing ordinance prohibiting all governmental mask mandates, business closures, capacity restrictions (other than fire code) and vaccination requirements

Prior to the meeting Smith and Allen shared their priorities with the public through Facebook.

Allen’s other two priorities were:

• Publishing itemized expenditures online going back to 2015
• Addressing road capacity and traffic flow by replacing the Bluetooth adaptive surveillance system (he wants to review more traditional approaches that prevent the invasion of individual privacy and to look at removing current traffic cameras)

Smith's five priorities included conducting infrastructure planning, prioritizing better communications, updating the town’s Vision Plan, conducting a salary and personnel study and launching the town’s youth council.