I found the minutes from the meeting that I missed at the start of February. Generally speaking, the minutes from one meeting are approved at the following meeting. I found them linked in the agenda for the February 17 meeting.
While I think reading the minutes was a useful way to get caught up on what I missed, I also think that they don't quite capture the whole meeting. The minutes from February 3 include the names of people who made public comments during the meeting and the general topic they spoke about, but there are no details. For example, someone "appeared regarding the Greenville Theatre" and another person "appeared regarding buried barrels of poison" (both on page 5 of the minutes).
Not gonna lie: I would like to know more!
Personally, I think hearing from other citizens of the county is the most interesting part of the County Council meetings. I love learning what people care about and how they understand the issues that County Council works and votes on. Alas, I'll be left wondering about those barrels of poison for now.
The biggest item appears to have been about the Greenville Arena District (which owns and operates Bon Secours Wellness Arena). There was a motion to vote on the second reading of an ordinance that would allow Greenville Arena District to issue General Ordinance Bonds to raise money for improving and updating the arena, the parking lots, and such.
I did not know this, but the Greenville Arena District was created by Greenville County and is a nonprofit that is "owned by the taxpayers" in Greenville County (page 3 of the minutes). County Council also says that it makes money for Greenville County (again, page 3). The arena's website is light on it's history, but you can learn more from this Greenville Journal article on the 25th anniversary of the arena.
Council voted on the ordinance whether to allow the arena district to issue the bonds with all but two council members present voting in favor. Several members of council said they'd been hearing from constituents about the arena, and one cited those comments as the reason they would vote no on it.
Spoiler: this came up again with more detail at the next meeting, which I was able to livestream in part.
A couple of times, one of the councilors requested a "roll call vote," so you can see in the minutes who was in favor and who was opposed.
Conclusion: reading the minutes can help fill in the gaps if you miss a meeting, but they don't provide as full of a picture as being at the meeting or watching the livestream.
