York County Council returns largely intact. But Allison Love plans to make her mark.

Hers is the only new face on York County Council. Voters gave her a “backstage pass to what's going on in the county” this fall, and Allison Love won’t soon forget it.

“My goal is remain in the same wavelength as my constituents,” she said.

Love, 52, is a long-time Lake Wylie resident and owner of Allison Love’s Fine Jewelry in Rock Hill. The Jan. 3 Council meeting begins her four years serving the Lake Wylie and Clover areas in Dist. 2. Areas that bring pre-packaged issues for Love to take up after years of work by her predecessor, Bruce Henderson.

“I am certainly looking forward to representing the district as a whole,” Love said. “We're diverse and we've got a lot of diverse issues coming up. The biggest priority, just because it's time sensitive, is the Carolina Water issue.”

Residents and elected officials made repeated calls in recent years for a new water provider to replace Carolina Water Service, often as part of water and sewer rate increase requests by the private utility. A franchise agreement was to come due at the start of 2017, but the county negotiated an extension to mid-year.

Work continues to determine whether Carolina Water will continue serving the area, serve under a newly negotiated arrangement or even turn the system over to the county through a sale. Love began meeting with decision-makers even before starting on Council, and expects the county to have some update on its plans by the end of January.

The turn of a calendar year also brings work putting together a recreation board in Lake Wylie. Voters approved a new special tax district in November. Love and Council will review applicants for and appoint the five-member board. The tax board will make financial decisions expected to lead to a new sports park in the coming year.

“We also have a park board that we've got to put together,” Love said. “That will probably be the focus for quite a few months.”

Whether upcoming issues are anticipated or surprises, the new Council member expects to approach them the way she does everything else in life.

“I'm pretty outspoken,” Love said. “I usually don't take no for an answer. If I need a yes I tend to get a yes. I've got a lot of things that I want to accomplish countywide.”

While all of Lake Wylie has one Council representative, the Fort Mill Township is split into three districts. Here is a look at those Council members:

Christi Cox

Age: 41

District: District 5

Area: Dobys Bridge Road corridor, southeastern York County

Term: 2nd (four-year term)

Occupation: Attorney

Big issue for 2017: “Growth management and road maintenance are my top priorities.“

What constituents need to know: “At the strategic planning session, Council unanimously agreed to make growth management a top priority on Council. My goal is to focus on this issue — do what we say we are going to do. To do this we must not only revise our local ordinances but more importantly strengthen our relationships with our state delegation. I want to see York County grow in the most desirable way possible, with least impact to our local taxes. We must think long-term and avoid being reactive.”

Contact: 803-984-0138; christi.cox@yorkcountygov.com

Chad Williams

Age: 51

District: 7

Area: Downtown Fort Mill, eastern half of Baxter, parts of Rock Hill

Term: 5th (two-year term)

Occupation: Landscape maintenance contractor

Big issue for 2017: “Hopefully we're moving forward where, we have been more reactive in the past with some things where we need to be moving toward a more proactive approach. One of the things that's showing that and sort of rising to the top is our fire protection services. It's just about getting better York County fire services. It's more of an effort to coordinate everything instead of everybody working in silos.”

What constituents need to know: “If somebody just moved here, they’d need to know just how lucky they are to live in the best place in the world. We're diverse in many ways. You can live out in the middle of nowhere. You can live in a resort. York County has a lot to offer.”

Contact: 803-327-6333; District7@yorkcountygov.com

Michael Johnson

Age: 45

District: 1

Area: Tega Cay, Gold Hill Road corridor, Springfield, western half of Baxter

Term: 3rd (four-year term)

Occupation: Attorney

Big issue for 2017: Attempts to reach Johnson for an interview were unsuccessful.

Contact: 803-984-0126; michael.johnson@yorkcountygov.com

This story was originally published January 3, 2017 at 2:20 PM with the headline "York County Council returns largely intact. But Allison Love plans to make her mark.."