Orangeburg County didn’t have to pay any cash to defend its short-lived poultry house regulations because insurance covered the costs, Orangeburg County Administrator Bill Clark said.

“There were no direct legal fees to the county,” Clark said, explaining that the county’s insurance covers matters “of legal defense that would be necessary in normal governmental business.”

“This is a policy we carry as a matter of business prudence from year to year,” Clark said.

County attorney D’Anne Haydel the legal fees totaling about $7,032 were all covered under the South Carolina Budget and Control Board’s Insurance Reserve Fund, the county’s insurer.

Earlier this week, the issue came to an end when county council gave first reading to an ordinance repealing the temporary moratorium on new poultry houses. Council also agreed to a legal consent order in the lawsuit brought against it by those opposed to county’s regulations.

In September 2005, council voted 5-2 for the moratorium on new chicken houses until a zoning ordinance could be enacted. The moratorium included a provision that, unless neighbors agreed, new chicken houses could not be built closer than 1,875 feet from residences. S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control regulations place the restriction at 1,000 feet.

However, the issue was rendered moot, when, in June 2006, the state Legislature passed a bill that made DHEC the only agency with the power to regulate the distance poultry houses should be from neighboring homes and property lines.

Before the legislature settled the issue, however, opponents of the moratorium, including several local chicken farmers and corporations, sued the county, arguing that the ordinance violates state law.

In addition to legal fees, the discovery period in the lawsuit took at least 25 hours of county employee time, but Clark said no overtime was required as a result of the information-gathering process.

Information gathered included about 4,660 pages from when the lawsuit was filed in Nov. 2005 until the legal consent order was finalized in Dec. 2006. The case never went to court.

“It took months to work out the consent order,” Haydel said, explaining that the county had requested a dismissal without prejudice when the state Legislature gave authority over chicken houses to DHEC.

Negotiations on the consent order were not completed until Dec. 2006, Haydel said. Under the order, Orangeburg County Council agreed not to enforce the ordinance it is withdrawing.

County Council Chairman Harry Wimberly said that, although he voted against the moratorium, in hindsight county council’s decision may have clarified the issue on the state level.

“It may have been exactly what the state needed to get things leveled off and on an even playing field,” he said. “If Orangeburg County had not done this, we would not have a statewide ordinance at this time.”

Orangeburg County Council Vice Chairwoman Janie Cooper, who voted for the moratorium, said she had no regrets voting the way she did.

“If I were to vote, I would vote the same,” she said, explaining that homeowners have rights and should be able to see those rights protected.

“I have nothing against chicken farms as long as they are put at a distance where they will not be a harm to anybody,” she said.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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