CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
December 7, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held December
7, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mr. Coleman Cannon, Mr. Wayne
Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins, City
Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul,
Fire Chief Stone, Mr. David Brown, Mr. Ken McRae, and Mr. & Mrs. Tony
DiLeo, Bond Attorney, Mr. Ben Zeigler, Mr. Dannie Satterfield, Ms. Kathy
Elliott and other visitors.
PRAYER
Councilman Segars gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to approve
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting November 2, 2010. All approved
the motion.
DDRA MANAGER – MR. TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said signage was approved for Peebles and also for a new
business on Governor Williams Highway called Happy Nails. He said they
had the merchants Halloween Dress-up contest was a success. He said
Carolina Bank had the best business participation. The Business Pride
Award will be given to C. Boan Steakhouse on Cashua Street. The
Residential Pride Award of Darlington will be given to Mr. Shaw Dargan.
He said Crystal Cleaners moved from their N. Main Street location into a
building on Pearl Street behind Burger King. Mr. DiLeo said the Mayflower
Restaurant on Hartsville Highway has asked him to do a ribbon cutting for
them, so hopefully they will be doing that really soon. Mr. DiLeo was he
has two parties interested in the former Arthur Barber Shop building and the
101 Pearl Street building. Another party is interested in the Baker Street
Café Building and/or Cromer’s. Mr. DiLeo said the Christmas decorations
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are up and he has the music ready to be played but he was told by officials at
the courthouse that he can’t start playing music until the 15 th. Mr. DiLeo
said he helped Dr. Eads distribute turkeys during the give-away. Mr. DiLeo
said he confirmed with Darlington Raceway that the next “Taste of
Darlington” will be on Thursday, April 11, 2011 in the same area as it was
this year. He said they had a very successful Open House last Thursday.
Mr. DiLeo said he was asked to make a parking sign to put up on Cashua
Street saying “11 compact cars only”. Mr. DiLeo said after twenty-two
years he has decided to call it quits. Mr. DiLeo introduced Mr. David
Vaughan and said he will be his replacement as DDRA Manager.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE FOR ISSUANCE OF
WATER/SEWER REFUNDING REVENUE BOND (MASTER BOND
ORDINANCE)
Mr. Ben Zeigler, Bond Attorney for BB&T, said the Master Bond Ordinance
will replace our old bond. Mr. Zeigler said the new master ordinance will
provide the framework under which we can issue bonds now and in the
future. Mr. Zeigler passed out copies of the ordinances to Council members.
Mr. Zeigler said the second ordinance is a series ordinance. Mr. Zeigler said
the only bond we have outstanding is the one we issued in 2002 with
approximately $590,000 at an interest rate of about 4.46%. Mr. Zeigler said
he suggested to Mr. Garland was to refinance the old debt, wipe the slate
clean, put everything under one bond and we’ll only have one annual
payment to make rather than two payments. Mr. Zeigler told Council they
have an amortization schedule which shows the $2,200,000 waterworks and
sewer system revenue bond with an interest rate from BB&T of 3.96% on a
fifteen year term. He said this is payments of approximately $181,000 a
year beginning in fiscal year 2012 and ending in fiscal year 2026. Mr.
Zeigler went over the proceeds of the bond. He said approximately $25,000
of this will go toward the cost of issuing the bond; $591,141.37 will be the
payoff of the old bond and we’ll put approximately $1,403,000 in our
construction plan. Mr. Chapman made a motion to approve Second
Reading on Ordinance No. 2010-14 for Issuance of Water & Sewer
Refund Revenue Bond (Master Bond Ordinance). The motion was
seconded by Mr. Segars. Mrs. Cohen asked if we would only pay interest
on the amount that we borrow and Mr. Zeigler said, “Yes”. Mrs. Cohen also
asked if there was a penalty for prepayment. Mr. Zeigler said there was a
penalty provided for, but BB&T was to render on the initial loan and on this
new loan they have waived the prepayment penalty. Mrs. Cohen asked if
Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority would own the towers. Mr.
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Kinsaul said Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority will own all
major infra structure as far as communication. Mr. Kinsaul said Darlington
County Water & Sewer Authority will have eight towers around Darlington
County and all of the towers will pick up our meters. He said if one of the
towers is down, then another one will pick it up. Mr. Kinsaul said the
towers will belong solely to Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority
and they will be responsible for all maintenance and upkeep on them. Mr.
Kinsaul said we will have a radio network interface at their office to read our
meters, but they will not access to our numbers or anything pertaining to our
meters. Mr. Cannon asked if there will be a limit on the time limit that we
would do this with Darlington County. He also asked if there would be
some type of contract with Darlington County Water. Mr. Kinsaul said we
will make an agreement with Darlington County, but right now there is no
time limit set. He said hopefully we will continue with them as long as the
system is functional. Mr. Kinsaul said the Town of Chesterfield has a
written agreement with all of the people they associate with and we will be
working on the same type agreement with Darlington County Water. Mrs.
Cohen said Council would like to see a written agreement also. Mrs. Cohen
asked Mr. Kinsaul if he feels confident the system will work. Mr. Kinsaul
said Chesterfield has had this system for two years and Brunswick County
has had their system in for about six months and they both have been more
than satisfied with the system. Mayor Watkins asked if we will be able to
read the meters in the event there is a problem. Mr. Kinsaul said, “Yes”. He
said we have been reading them initially like the other meters. He said the
digital readout is across the top of the meter, but these meters are a lot more
accurate than the other meters, they read down to the gallon rather than the
thousands. Mr. Kinsaul said this system has a guarantee accuracy of 1/300th
per gallon. Mr. Kinsaul said hopefully we will start installing the new
system in early 2011 and hope to complete in a six month time frame and
this will be using all of our workers. Mr. Kinsaul said Franklin Dowdy said
he and the workers can install the new meters themselves. Mayor Watkins
asked about training. Mr. Kinsaul said the Town of Chesterfield has offered
whatever support they can give. He said their people will come down and
our people can go to them if necessary. All voted in favor of the motion.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO BORROW $2,200,000
WATER/SEWER BOND (SERIES ORDINANCE)
the series ordinance (the smaller of the two) has the details of the issuance of
this bond. Mr. Zeigler said once the old series ordinance is paid off the
ordinance becomes invalid and the new ordinance will be in force.
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Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, Second
Reading on Series Bond Ordinance to borrow $2,200,000 Water/Sewer
Bond for telemetric water meters, which unanimously carried.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO TRANSFER 0.35 ACRES OF
PROPERTY TO DARLINGTON VENEER COMPANY
Mr. Cannon made a motion for First Reading on Ordinance to transfer
0.35 acres of property to Darlington Veneer Company. Mr. Chapman
seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen wanted to know how much of the land
next to the line will have an easement on it for use by the City of Darlington.
Mr. Kinsaul said there are currently no easements, but Darlington Veneer
has agreed to stipulate that a sewer line is there and exists. Mr. Kinsaul said
with the updates that the City will be doing, we will have to work with
Darlington Veneer on other easements because we will have to access
Darlington Veneer property to do the sewer upgrades. Mr. Kinsaul said the
easements they are working on now are for the Westend and will be working
on easements for all of the new sewer upgrades. He said the sewer line that
runs through Darlington Veneer Mill property will be upgraded with EDA
grant funds. All approved the motion.
DARLINGTON COUNTY RECREATION DIRECTOR – MR. KEN
MCRAE
Mr. Ken McRae appeared before Council to let them know they have formed
a Recreation Committee made up of several officials. He said they have laid
the ground work for the Darlington area to look at future recreation in terms
of facility. Mr. McRae said they are putting together a group that can meet
and come up with ideas about building a recreation complex for the City of
Darlington area. He said the majority of people involved in recreation are
outside the city limits. Mr. McRae said he looks at Byerly Park as a regional
type facility, but we’re not looking for something on that grand a scale. He
said we want to concentrate on the citizens and bring the community
together in a recreation sense. Mr. McRae said the biggest thing now is
trying to make sure they put together a good group of people who will stay
focused on this because we are in tough times. He extended an invitation to
Council to join the committee. Mrs. Cohen wanted to know what type sports
would be included in the complex. Mr. McRae said baseball, softball, and
basketball. Mr. McRae said as far as the City is concerned, there has been
so much done to the football fields that we may or may not have football at
the complex. He said we have such a good relationship with the school
district and they have worked so well with the recreation department for so
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many years that we really don’t have a need for football at the complex. Mr.
McRae said they looked at things like the expansion of tennis program,
soccer has come up in their discussions. He said they would certainly want
to have picnic areas and a playground system. He said the key to this will
being able to acquire a really good piece of property that’s strategically
located. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. McRae if he anticipate this property to
be owned by the City of Darlington. Mr. McRae said since the County has
not been officially approached at this point because of the change that’s
going on with them, since it will be a city type facility, he would envision it
being owned by the City. Mr. Cannon said since Mr. McRae said the
majority of the children are from Darlington County, maybe he needs to
approach the County of Darlington as well.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO ANNEX PROPERTY (#16600-02-115 - 1524 S. MAIN STREET (BOJANGLES)
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Cannon, First Reading
on ordinance to annex property of 166-00-02-115 at 1524 S. Main Street
(Bojangles). All approved the motion.
MR. DANNIE SATTERFIELD SEMI-PRO FOOTBALL TEAM
Mr. Danny Satterfield appeared before Council once again to talk about
starting a semi-pro football team in Darlington. Mr. Satterfield asked the
City if they will buy the shoulder pads and helmets. Mr. Garland said the
cost for thirty (30) adult shoulder pads and helmets will cost $3,750. Mayor
Watkins asked Mr. Satterfield when does the season start and he said in
April. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Satterfield if he talked with Mr. Bradley
and Mr. Ken McRae. Mr. Garland said they have met twice since Council
instructed them to. Mr. Garland said Welch Stadium would work, but there
are other issues to address such as security and insurance for players. Mayor
Watkins asked Mr. Garland if he’s come to any conclusion as to the liability
involved. Mr. Garland said his and Mr. Langley’s opinion is Mr.
Satterfield’s group still has some organizational work to do. They need to
demonstrate to the City that they do have insurance and they do have a plan
for some type of security at the stadium. Mr. Garland asked Chief Cox if
off-duty police officers could help out. He said there are issues of
concessions and other things that need to be worked out. Mr. Garland said
we can look at this some more, but the issue that Mr. Satterfield wanted the
City to look at was the cost of helmets and shoulder pads. Mayor Watkins
asked Mr. Garland if the City would be in any shape financially to make a
commitment that would be contingent to working out some of these issues
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that he mentioned. Mr. Garland said he don’t have a problem with this is
insurance and security issues are worked out, but the city can’t let the group
use the facility for a sanctioned football game without insurance. Mr.
Chapman wanted to know the difference between this type football and
church softball. Mr. McRae said a church team would be considered a part
of their program. They register through the recreation department, they pay
the recreation department and the teams are set up through the recreation
department. Mr. McRae said insurance for any of sports is covered under
their Pearce & Pearce policy. Mr. McRae said his advice would be for the
City to give a sub-lease agreement which would hold the City harmless.
Chief Cox asked if it will make a difference with insurance if the team is just
a recreation department team, an adult football, semi-pro or professional
team. Mr. Garland said it seems like this needs to come back to
administration again. Mr. Garland told Mr. Satterfield to come to his office
on Friday at 3:00 PM. Mr. Cannon told Mr. Satterfield if he has a manager
who is over this league maybe he should be the one to come so they can get
the info they need. Mr. Satterfield said the manager lives in Anderson, SC,
but he will see if he can get him to come.
RELAXATION OF SUNDAY BLUE LAWS FOR CHRISTMAS
SEASON
Mr. Garland said Citi Trends and Peebles made a request that the City allow
them to open their stores earlier on Sunday, December 12th and Sunday,
December 19th for the Christmas season. Mr. Garland said its management
recommendation that we allow them to open earlier for the holidays. Mrs.
Cohen made a motion that Council resolve to relaxing of Sunday blue
laws for the Christmas season. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Cannon. All approved the motion.
INFO – COUNCILMAN CANNON
Mr. Cannon passed out papers concerning B.A. Gary Complex. He said he
would like the complex to have the name of A.W. Stanley on the gym. Mrs.
Cohen asked Mr. Cannon if he knew Mr. Stanley well. She said it would be
good if there was research done on Mr. Stanley of his contributions. Mr.
Cannon gave Mrs. Cohen a list of some of Mr. Stanley’s accomplishments.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the heat pumps are in at the new street department
building 2) A letter about a grant that the City received for $25,000 grant
for South Darlington 3) We received word from our grant consultant, Ms.
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Haidee Stith & Ms. Teresa Young that there’s a $300,00 that’s available for
improvements to sewer pumps, lift stations, aerators and generators and
there’s no match involved. Mr. Garland said we will be applying for this
grant. 4) On November 8, 2010 he and Mayor Watkins at the request of
Hartsville Mayor Pennington, met with several other officials from
Darlington County at a restaurant in Hartsville to discuss different concerns
the City and County may have together. Mr. Garland told council he
included a synopsis of the meeting in their packet. 5) Mr. Garland went
over the hospitality tax balance. 6) Mr. Garland said Council gave approval
for him to work on a deal for the fire truck. They were able to work a deal
with United Financial, a 3.9% APR for ten years with an annual payment of
$35,500 a year. The total finance cost of the truck is $355,000. The first
payment is not due until December 7, 2011. Chief Stone said there is a
target date of December 15, 2010 for delivery of the truck. 7) Mr. Garland
gave Council members the meeting schedule for 2011. 8) Mr. Garland went
over general fund and water & sewer balances. 9) Mayor Watkins said Ms.
Betty Carnes called and complained about rats around her house. Mr.
Garland said the City put rat poison out around her house. Mayor Watkins
said Ms. Carnes said she has an infestation of chinch bugs and asked if the
City would pay $135.00 to have her house fumigated or have extermination
done. 10) Mr. Langley and Mr. Shaw Dargan met with the County
Transportation Committee last month and Mr. Langley requested $50,000
for the Cashua Street drainage project. Mr. Garland said they took Mr.
Langley’s information and said they were going to meet. Mr. Garland said
we should have a decision on this some time this month. 11) Mayor
Watkins said Pastor Maxine Richardson is on the Board for the Veteran’s
Outreach Center and she said someone stole the heating and air conditioning
units which set them back so they can’t open the facility. Mr. Garland said
Pastor Richardson came by the office on Friday and he told her to write a
letter which we would put on file for next budget year. He said we will
consider this along with other budget requests. 12) Mr. Garland said he
needs to have an executive session to discuss an economic development
issue.
REMINDERS
Darlington YMCA Reindeer Run, 8:00 AM on Saturday, December 11,
2010; City Offices will be closed December 23rd, 24th & 27th for Christmas
Holidays; City Offices will be closed Monday, January 3, 2011 in
observance of New Year’s Day; Regular Council Meeting will be held
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Tuesday, January 4, 2011 at 7:00 PM in the city of Darlington Council
Chambers.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to go into
executive session at 8:25 PM to discuss an economic development issue.
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Cannon the executive
session ended at 8:51 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Cannon, the meeting
adjourned at 8:53 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
November 2, 2010
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The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held November
2, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons Mr. Cannon, Mr. Wayne Chapman and Mr. John Segars.
Also present: Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr.
Rodney Langley, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Fire Chief
Stone, Police Chief Jay Cox, and a room full of visitors.
PRAYER
Mayor Pro-Tem Cannon gave the invocation which was followed by the
Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Mr. Cannon, seconded by Mr. Segars, to approve
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting October 5, 2010 and one Work
Session on October 26, 2010. All approved the motion.
MR. WILLIAM JACKSON
Mr. Jackson said he has a concern about the quality of life where he lives on
St. John’s Street. He said over a period of time properties are run down and
there’s a problem with people walking through his yard. Mr. Jackson
wanted Council’s feelings on this. Mr. Jackson said a lot of the homes have
been turned into section 8 housing and with this brings its own issues.
Mayor Watkins said they all are concerned with the quality of life and also
different characters for different neighborhoods. Mayor Watkins said as a
City, when someone approaches us about a problem, the first question we
have to ask is if that person is breaking the law. He said we don’t have a lot
to do with rental home and Section 8 housing. Mr. Jackson said it makes
him pause and wonder if he wants to keep putting money into his piece of
property here in town. Mr. Jackson said worked up and down the East Coast
and his wife works in Florence and they chose to live in Darlington because
they like it. Mr. Jackson said he grew up here and he likes the historic older
homes. He said he doesn’t want to think about moving because they enjoy
their neighbors, but it’s disturbing to him what seems to be the trend. Mayor
Watkins said it’s difficult to go above the limits of the law. Mr. Cannon
asked Mr. Jackson if people come in his yard. Mr. Jackson said, “Yes, they
cut through his yard and there’s also a lot of paper that ends up in his yard.
Mayor Watkins told Mr. Jackson he would address his second concern
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because they previously talked about it. Mayor Watkins said a couple of
months ago Mr. Jackson attended a meeting in which he came in later in the
meeting. When discussing the trees on Cashua Street Mr. Jackson had an
idea about what could be done to make the situation better or look for
someone who could take care of the drainage problem, Mr. Jackson raised
his hand to be recognized so he could speak and Mr. Garland would not
recognize him nor allow him to speak. Mayor Watkins said Mr. Jackson’s
complaint to him was why Mr. Garland would stop him from talking when
he wanted to be recognized. Mayor Watkins said he told Mr. Jackson that
Mr. Garland should not have done this because he is the Mayor, he runs the
meetings and he recognizes people that want to speak at the meetings.
Mayor Watkins said he told Mr. Jackson that this would not happen again.
Mayor Watkins said Mr. Jackson asked him if Mr. Garland would apologize
for his behavior and he said that he would because this was something that
Mr. Garland should not have done. Mr. Garland apologized to Mr. Jackson
for hurting his feelings. Mr. Garland said he just wish Mr. Jackson would
have come to him with this issue because the first he heard about it was at
the last Council meeting. Mr. Jackson accepted Mr. Garland’s apology.
Mayor Watkins said with the transition from Mr. Langley to Mr. Garland in
January of this year, these second readings were not done.
SECOND READING ON TAX LEVY ORDINANCE 125 MILS
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Cannon, Second
Reading on Ordinance for Tax Levy of 125 mils. All approved the
motion.
SECOND READING ON BUSINESS LICENSE ORDINANCE
Upon motion of Mr. Cannon, seconded by Mr. Segars, Second Reading on
Ordinance for Business License Tax, which unanimously carried.
CASHUA STREET DRAINAGE LINE UPDATE – MR. LANGLEY
Mr. Langley said on the Cashua Street drainage problem, we have five
options 1) Do nothing; 2) Take down the existing healthy trees, grind the
stumps and DOT would come in and replace the line itself and cover it back
up. Mr. Langley said just guessing, it would cost the City approximately
$6,000; 3) Mr. Langley said a company from Pembroke, NC by the name of
Porta Scientific gave a price of $6,912 to come in and clean the terra cotta
pipe. Mr. Langley said at first the company said they would not touch terra
cotta because it is extremely brittle and will break. The price they gave of
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$6,912 would be to clean only and they said they would not be responsible if
the line collapsed or if it collapsed with what they did; 4) Mr. Langley said
he received a price of $21,000 from another company to go in and clean the
roots out with the same type hydro-blast system. He said they would then
put a root cutter in and cut roots out. Mr. Langley said this company said
they would put someone in the line if they had to. Mr. Langley said they
also talked about putting metal rings at the joints to keep the roots from
coming back through the joints. He said this was all based on cement pipes
and when they found out the pipe was terra cotta; they strongly suggested
putting in a slip-line. Mr. Langley said the company guarantees they can get
through the line. They gave an estimate of $41,000 to put in a slip-line; 5)
Mr. Langley said he had a local engineering firm look at putting a parallel
line in and cap off the existing line. Mr. Langley said both option #4 and #5
would require a new catch basin near the corner of Spring & Cashua Streets.
He said if we put a new line in and by this being a state highway, the
highway department will not let us patch the area, they will require that we
resurface the entire street from the beginning to the end of the project. The
total for this option of $114,000. Mr. Langley said the committee and his
preference and recommendation is option #4 (the slip-line). Mr. Langley
said its 201 feet to the corner of Spring & Cashua Streets. Mr. Langley said
he initially thought about asking Council to budget one-half of the money
next year and the other half the following year, but if we do it this way, it
will be 2 1/2 years before we would have the money and the committee
wants it done sooner. Mr. Langley said we could borrow the money from
our surplus fund and pay it back. Mr. Segars asked about the option to
relocate the line under the sidewalk. Mr. Langley said the committee
discussed this and felt that this could do as much damage to the trees as
taking them out because you are going to cut so many roots while doing this.
Mayor Watkins asked what was in this year’s budget where we could
borrow the money. Mr. Garland said we will be talking about our bond and
if we come under, it’s possible we could use some of the surplus for this if
the bond attorney says it’s ok. Mr. Segars asked if DOT could do the project
cheaper than $114,000 and the City possible pay part of the bill. Mr.
Langley said in retrospect he sees what they will probably say; you take the
trees down and we’ll put the line in. Mr. Langley said we can ask DOT to
help us with the slip line if that’s what Council wants to do. Mr. Segars
suggested that we negotiate with DOT on the street part of the project first
and if not, see if they will share part of the slip-line expense.
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FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE FOR ISSUANCE OF
WATER/SEWER REFUNDING REVENUE BOND
Mr. Ben Zeigler, Bond Attorney for BB&T, said now is as good a time as
any to take out our old debt and putting on new debt. He said this will save
us some money because the bond market is more favorable to borrowers
now than it’s been in decades. Mr. Zeigler gave Council copies of two
ordinances. He told Council they have two ordinances because they will be
wiping away all of the old debt which was issued under an old master bond
ordinance. Mr. Zeigler said the second ordinance is a series ordinance. He
said state law allows municipalities to borrow money to make improvements
to a “system” in our case, our water and sewer system and pledge the
revenues of the system, but also to give a lien to the bond holders against the
system. Mer. Zeigler said this basically what’s included in the first
ordinance (the Master Bond Ordinance). Mr. Zeigler said this ordinance will
allow us to have that lien and secure not only this bond, but also future
bonds. Mr. Zeigler also said City is definitely on mark this new ordinance
pays off the old bond. He said the Series Ordinance has the payback terms
included and the details of the bond. Mr. Zeigler said the bond ordinance
includes a lot of covenants, operational requirements regarding the system.
He said the terms in the bond ordinance are pretty standard. Mr. Garland
said he had Mr. Langley to look over the bond ordinance also since he has
had previous experience with this. Mr. Garland said Mr. Langley agreed
that the language was standard and everything looked fine. Mr. Garland told
Council said he is recommending a fifteen year payback at approximately
$181,172.24 and our first payment will be 2011 and the last payment would
be in 2025. Mr. Zeigler told Council if they approve the bond ordinance and
the series ordinance tonight and have second reading in December, we will
be able to close sometime before Christmas. Mr. Garland said timing is the
key here because if we are not able to do this now and we try to do it later,
we will have to furnish our own tower and lose the volume of power of not
working with the City of Hartsville and Darlington County. Mr. Zeigler
reiterated again that the bond ordinance (the larger ordinance) has most of
the detail of the covenants and the series ordinance (the smaller of the two)
has the details of the issuance of this bond. Mr. Zeigler said once the old
series ordinance is paid off the ordinance becomes invalid and the new
ordinance will be in force. Mr. Garland said the savings projection is
$146,000 per year according to our engineers. Mayor Watkins said Mr.
Kinsaul expressed his confidence in this endeavor by saying in a work that
with the new meters, we should be able to contain our cost and we would not
have to go up on our water and sewer rates for two years. Mr. Kinsaul said
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unless we get a major hit from the sewer side, he feels confident that we
would not have to raise water rates for a couple of years. Mr. Kinsaul said
Chesterfield Rural Water has had this system in for over two years and their
savings has been astronomical not to mention the customer service. Mr.
Kinsaul said this is the only working system in the Country that they have
seen. Mayor Watkins asked if Hartsville is committed to this project. Mr.
Kinsaul said Hartsville has gone to Rural Development (RDA). Mr. Garland
said the County is committed as well and they are waiting to hear back from
the State. Mr. Garland said we plan to use our staff to install the meters.
Mr. Chapman made a motion to approve First Reading for issuance of
water and sewer refunding revenue bond. Mr. Segars seconded the
motion. All approved the motion.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO BORROW $2,200,000
WATER/SEWER BOND
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars, First Reading
on Series Bond Ordinance to borrow $2,200,000 Water/Sewer Bond for
telemetric water meters, which unanimously carried.
MR. JOHN KENNEDY - SEMI-PRO FOOTBALL TEAM
Mr. Danny Satterfield said he has been playing with a semi-pro football
team at Myrtle Beach and he was wondering if they could bring something
like this to Darlington. He said they are registered with IRS as a non-profit
organization. He said this program is to help young men with their lives.
He said you really don’t know how a sport can really change someone’s life.
Mr. Satterfield said they practice at the high school every Sunday evening.
Mr. Satterfield said he feels this would be a big success for the City of
Darlington. He said they can get the recreation department, the high school
and the middle school involved along with the marching band. He said it’s
not that much of a cost to do this. Mr. Satterfield said they were looking for
sponsors, but this didn’t work out. He said they are asking if the City can
help them buy helmets and shoulder pads. Mayor Watkins asked Mr.
Satterfield if there were leagues in other towns that they can play against and
Mr. Satterfield said, “Yes”. Mr. Satterfield said they played for Myrtle
Beach this year, but their team had to fold because they had no means of
getting to different areas. He said the person who is in charge of the league
was supposed to be sending them some paperwork. Mr. Satterfield said the
league is organized through the State. Mr. Garland asked Mr. Satterfield
how many people he was looking to buy helmets and shoulder pads for. Mr.
Satterfield said some of the guys have their helmets and shoulder pads, but
13
they are looking to suit up thirty players. Mayor Watkins asked the young
man if he talked with our Recreation Director, Mr. Wallace Bradley and he
said, “No”. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Satterfield that they need to get with
the City Recreation Director and the County Recreation Director and see
what they can come up with. Mr. Garland told Mr. Satterfield to come to his
office tomorrow at 3:00 PM and he will have both Mr. Wallace Bradley and
Mr. Ken McRae there. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Satterfield we will see what
we can do.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the decision is due next week for the Renaissance
Planning Grant that we applied for S. Darlington. 2) EDA Grant
implementation has not changed. The engineering is due in January and we
will bid out in February and hopefully finish in July, 2012. He said this is
the industrial grant for Georgia Pacific, and our head works for Polyquest
and Nucor. 3) The CDBG West Darlington sewer grant has been delayed.
We have to get a railroad permit from S.C. Central Railroad to work on their
property since the sewer line runs under their property. Mr. Kinsaul is
working on this. 4) Mr. Garland said this was discussed in the last work
session that Darlington Veneer has asked for one-third of an acre of property
that the city owns. Mr. Garland said the property is not used by the City and
it sits between two pieces of property owned by Ms. Jean Quick. Mr.
Garland said Darlington Veneer has asked that the City convey this property
to them with no fees involved. Mr. Garland told Council that Darlington
Veneer wants to push this through in a hurry, but we can put this on the
December agenda. Mayor Watkins said this is a piece of property that the
City did not know they owned. Mayor Watkins said there is a sewerline that
runs through this property to our old headworks. Mayor Watkins said we
don’t know if there’s a recorded deed. Mr. Garland said Mr. Howle and the
attorney for Darlington Veneer are working doing a title search.
Mayor Watkins made a suggestion that we could pass a resolution of intent
to convey the property. Mr. Segars made a motion of our intent to
convey the property to Darlington Veneer. The motion was seconded by
Mr. Cannon. Mr. Cannon said we need to get in writing that we will be
able to go on the property to do work or whatever needs to be done. All
voted in favor of the motion. 5) Mr. Garland said for several weeks the
City has been meeting with Blanchard Caterpillar about leasing a 416E
Backhoe Loader. He said the backhoe we have now is pretty old. He said a
Caterpillar salesman came in about a month ago and he said Sumter,
Orangeburg, Florence, Georgetown and Horry Counties are moving toward
14
leasing equipment rather than purchasing. Mr. Garland said the salesman
pointed out the advantages of leasing vs. owning. Mr. Garland said he
would like to lease the backhoe for five years and the cost per month will be
$1,190 for sixty months with a balloon payment of $24,692. Mr. Garland
said after checking with other municipalities and counties, when the lease is
up, the equipment is worth more than the selling price. Mr. Garland said the
equipment is covered under a warranty and if anything happens to it,
Blanchard Caterpillar is responsible for fixing it. He said the City is only
responsible for changing the tires and buying the gas for it. Mr. Garland
said the lease price will be split between the water & sewer department and
the street & sanitation department. Mr. Garland said we would sell one of
the other backhoes to help cover some of the cost per year. Mr. Segars
made a motion to lease the 415E backhoe loader for five years @ $1,190
per month. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chapman. All approved
the motion. 6) Mr. Garland gave Council the general fund balance.
Mayor Watkins said we need to try and get Burger King into the City Limits.
REMINDERS
Thursday, November 18, 2010 @ 6:30 PM – City Supper at Recreation
Department Gym on Sanders Street; Thursday, November 25th & Friday
November 26th, City offices will be closed in observance of Thanksgiving
holidays; Thursday, December 2, 2010 – Christmas on the Square; Sunday,
December 5, 2010 at 4:00 PM will be the Annual Christmas Parade followed
by the Tree Lighting ceremony at 5:00 PM; Tuesday, December 7, 2010 @
7:00 PM – our next regularly scheduled council meeting.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Cannon, to go into
executive session at 8:28 PM to discuss an economic development issue.
Upon motion of Mr. Cannon, seconded by Mr. Segars to end executive
session.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Chapman, the meeting
adjourned at 9:18 PM.
15
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
October 5, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held October 5,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons Ms. Gloria Hines Williams, Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette
Thomas, Mr. Cannon and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins,
City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Rodney Langley, Mr. Robert
Garland, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Fire Chief Stone, Police Chief Jay Cox, Mr.
Jim Brunson, and a room full of visitors.
PRAYER
Mrs. Thomas gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to approve
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting in September, 2010. All approved
the motion.
MS. WANDA WINGATE – SOUTH MAIN STREET
Ms. Wingate said there was a rut in S. Main Street for seven or eight years
and with the big trucks coming thru town and hitting the holes in the street
caused her steps to separate and damage her columns. (Ms. Wingate said
DOT has recently paved this area in the street.) She said she fixed her steps
in 2000 and where the rut was running through the street it runs directly to
her column and caused it to rattle apart. Ms. Wingate said the late Mr.
Preacher Muldrow had columns built on his house and they were level, but
in a short period of time they already look like the leaning tower. Ms.
Wingate said she called someone at the City today and they told her she
should get her lawyer and go see DOT. Ms. Wingate said she pays her taxes
to the City and County of Darlington and she thinks they should fend for her
as far as getting her columns like they were before the trucks caused damage
to them. She said she wouldn’t have anything to say if she hadn’t fixed the
column. She said one side of her columns are still intact. Ms. Wingate
asked Mayor and Council what can be done as far as them taking care of the
matter. Mayor Watkins said he doesn’t know if there is any precedent for
the City to fix someone’s home or foundation because vibration from trucks.
Mr. Watkins said the City has an ordinance that prohibits trucks from
coming through the City Limits, but he knows there are some that do get
through. Ms. Wingate said her thing is, she asked for this to be fixed several
years ago and nothing was ever done. Ms. Wingate said when she first
asked for something to be done, there was nothing wrong with her columns
at that time, but after years of waiting, the problem occurred. Mayor
Watkins told Ms. Wingate that the City is not in a position to fix her steps.
He said he doesn’t know if they can make a connection, maybe it is and
maybe it’s not. Ms. Wingate said she is not asking for ram-jack to come,
which is what really needs to be done to re-level her whole house, but she is
only asking about her steps. Mayor Watkins said the thing is is the City
liable. Ms. Wingate said this is the same as a pothole in the street. She said
if a person hits a pothole and damaged their car the City would be liable for
that. Mayor Watkins told Ms. Wingate there is a clearer connection between
potholes this scenario. Mayor Watkins said he doesn’t think they can make
the decision as to whether the City is liable because it is a state highway.
Ms. Hines suggested that we contact DOT and see what they can do about
17
this problem because it has been going on for a long time. Ms. Hines said a
letter was written to DOT and they came in and paved that part and it has
stopped the problem, but the problem that was there before they came in still
there. Ms. Wingate asked Mrs. Thomas how she feels about the problem
since she lives on S. Main Street. Mrs. Thomas said our local police officers
are allowed to enforce laws on this street, but where do you draw the fine
line whether it’s a state controlled street or city controlled street. Mrs.
Thomas said we didn’t have any liability to the boys that drowned at the
pool, but money was pulled from somewhere to pay for their funerals. Mrs.
Thomas said there needs to be some sort of conference between the City
Manager and Ms. Wingate. Ms. Wingate said she talked with Mr. Garland
this morning and she was not satisfied with what she was told. Ms. HinesWilliams made a motion to instruct Mr. Langley to write DOT about
the three houses that were affected by the street. Mrs. Thomas said she
doesn’t want to be included because she had her house repaired. Ms.
Wingate said she can repair her house also, but that is beside the point. Ms.
Hine-Williams restated her motion-to instruct Mr. Langley to write
DOT to see what they can do about the two houses on S. Main Street
about the upset from the highway from previous years. Mr. Cannon
seconded the motion. Mrs. Thomas asked Ms. Hine-Williams why instruct
Mr. Langley and not the City Manager. Ms. Hines-Williams said with all of
the attitudes, she thinks Mr. Langley would be best suited to handle the
situation. Mrs. Cohen said Council is not empowered to instruct anybody
under the City Manager to take action. Ms. Hines-Williams amended her
motion to include: City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland to find
someone other than himself if he doesn’t want to handle the matter to
see what can be done about Ms. Wingate’s house on S. Main Street.
Mrs. Thomas seconded the amended motion.
BOY SCOUT TROOP #547
Mayor Watkins recognized Boy Scout Troop #547 and their leaders. The
troop has to do community involvement in order to earn merit badges.
Mayor Watkins thanked the troop for coming and told them they were
welcome to stay as long as they like.
BOND ATTORNEY BEN ZEIGLER- POSSIBLE W&S BOND
Mr. Garland said he and Mr. Kinsaul has been in conversation with Mr.
Zeigler for about three or four months. Mr. Garland said with interest rates
as low as they are he feels this is a historic time to refinance what we owe
(approximately $700,000) and look at adding on additional debt for 1)
18
telemetric meters where we can read all the meters at one time and 2) have
enough money to match storm drainage grants that we have applied for. Mr.
Garland told Council after they hear Mr. Zeigler’s numbers they have a work
session to talk about specific projects. He said whatever date council
chooses, someone from Chesterfield Rural Water that has telemetric meters,
will come to the work session and tell us about what the improvement
upgrade has done for their company. Mr. Zeigler said he is a bond attorney
with Haynesworth, Sinkler and Boyd and has done a great deal of work for
the City of Darlington over the years. He said he represent a lot of counties,
cities, and school districts and help them borrow money in compliance with
the law and make their borrowing is done properly under the law as well as
cheaper and efficiently as possible. He said Mr. Garland contacted him
earlier this year about helping to finance the proposed improvements. Mr.
Zeigler said he looked at the outstanding debt that the City has. He said
after the City makes their bond payment December 1st, the City will have
about $590,000 outstanding on the bond that was issued in 2002 at a rate that
considerably higher than available rates on the market now. Mr. Zeigler said
in addition to looking at the new borrowing for the new project, they looked
at rolling the old bond over into the new bond and have one single bond
outstanding. He said you would get cost savings by doing this. Mr. Ziegler
passed out an amortization schedule showing the payment schedule for
refinancing our current bond at 10 and 15 year repayment. He also included
a schedule combining the old bond loan and the new bond for 10 and 15 year
payments. Mr. Zeigler told Council if would like to move forward with the
improvements Mr. Garland discussed, they can do the improvements as a
bond by itself leaving our old bond outstanding or they can combine the two
by refinancing the old bond, wipe the slate clean and have a new set of
documents and a new structure. Mr. Zeigler said if Council decides to move
forward with this they will come to our next meeting with two ordinances (a
master bond ordinance and a series ordinance for this particular series of
bonds that will be issued). He said the commitment from BB&T is dated
September 22, 2010 and is good for 45 days, but the bankers have indicated
a willingness to extend this date or issue a new letter. Mr. Garland said this
new system will improve our revenue stream and we won’t have to raise
water rates for another two to three years. Mrs. Cohen asked if we are in a
rush to do this. Mr. Kinsaul said we are trying to rush with this because
Darlington County Water & Sewer Authority is installing new meters at the
end of the year and they have offered the City a chance piggy-back their
infrastructure which will save us approximately $250,000. Mr. Kinsaul said
the County made the offer to the City of Darlington and the City of
19
Hartsville. He said the County will put up towers which the City would
otherwise have to put up (and pay for) if we don’t use their system. Mrs.
Thomas asked Mr. Kinsaul if he talked to the County during his negotiations
about adding in all the areas in the City of Darlington that have water and we
can’t collect sanitation. Mr. Kinsaul they have a wonderful working
relationship with Darlington County Water & Sewer and they will cut the
water off if a person doesn’t pay their sanitation bill. Mr. Kinsaul said he is
looking at a 5% efficiency increase. Mrs. Thomas asked if we looked at this
so that we don’t have to raise our water rates in order to make the payments
on this bond. Mr. Garland said this new system will improve our revenue
stream and we don’t see a need to have to raise water rates for another two
to three years. Mayor Watkins said Council should have enough info for
them to empower the City Manager to move forward and we can schedule a
work session. Mrs. Thomas had concerns about not accepting bids from
other companies. Mr. Kinsaul said this is the only company that has this
system. Mrs. Cohen said she would like to see numbers before making a
decision. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know what we will do with the new
meters we just purchased. Mr. Kinsaul said the company will buy back any
of their meters and all others will be sold for scrap. Mr. Segars made a
motion that we move forward and finish discussing this at the work
session. Mr. Zeigler told Council he don’t think they need a resolution but
he will go ahead and prepare the ordinances and have them ready if they
decide to move forward after the work session. Mr. Segars withdrew his
motion. No Council action needed.
INFO
Mayor Watkins said Council will need to go into executive session to
discuss an economic development issue immediately after reminders.
REQUEST TO CHANGE DATE FOR HALLOWEEN
Mayor Watkins said it was suggested to change Halloween from
Sunday, October 31, 2010 to Saturday, October 30, 2010. Upon motion
of Ms, Hine-Williams, seconded by Mrs. Thomas to change Halloween
from Sunday, October 31, 2010 to Saturday, October 30, 2010, which
unanimously carried.
WILLIAMS/FARROW MONUMENT UPDATE
Mr. Langley gave a report on the Elloitt Williams, Billy Farrow statuettes.
Mr. Langley said the committee would like to have life size statues of the
two monuments and have them placed at Carnegie Library. He said they
20
cost approximately $75,000 each. Mr. Langley said the committee has been
meeting for about a year and a half and they have raised approximately
$2,400. Mr. Langley said the committee voted and wants to move forward
with fundraising projects. Mr. Langley said the committee is not asking for
any funds at this time, but they are asking for Council’s endorsement of the
project. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to endorse the committee’s efforts
to raise money. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. Mrs. Thomas
said since we are such a small town is there some way we can incorporate
this and put the statutes on the front lawn of the Carnegie Library. Council
told her that is the plan to put them at the Carnegie Library. Mrs. Thomas
said it might be a little haphazard to put the statues in the yard of the
Carnegie Library and the inside of the building needs to be repaired first.
Mr. Langley said in his opinion, since a different committee was not able to
raise the money to do the interior, if they raise the money to put the statues
on the outside may generate enough interest that they can get something
started for the inside. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know who picked these two
people. Mr. Langley said these are two local heroes. There was discussion
between Mr. Langley, Mr. Garland and the Mayor about how these two
people were chosen. Mrs. Thomas said she wants it to go on record that Mr.
Langley said the committee is not asking the City for any money, but this a
community effort. Mr. Garland said the committee asked the County if they
could put the statues on the courthouse grounds and they said “No”. Ms.
Hines-Williams said there can be another committee at another time that can
have a statute erected of the person of their choice. Mayor Watkins said if
the City endorses this he thinks we should offer the committee City property
to put it on. Mrs. Cohen withdrew her motion. Mrs. Thomas made a
motion for the City to endorse the concept to allow the committee to
raise money and give them a place for the statues and that’s it. The
motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. All approved the motion.
BIDS FOR CASHUA STREET STORM DRAINAGE LINE
CLEANOUT
Mr. Langley said he met with Mr. Bill and Joe Ervin about the possibility of
putting a parallel line on Cashua Street and they suggested putting in a catch
basin. Mr. Langley said he does not have the bid information tonight. He
said Mr. Ervin is working on a price and engineer drawings to put a parallel
line in, but he’s not prepared to give a price.
INFO
21
Senator Malloy stopped by the meeting on his way to Hartsville and Mayor
Watkins invited him to say a few words.
SAFETY IN WORKPLACE RESOLUTION
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mrs. Thomas to approve
“Safety in the Workplace” resolution, which unanimously carried.
INFO
Mrs. Hines-Williams had Senator Malloy to come back in the meeting once
he left, to give clarity on the Preservation of Evidence Act. Senator Malloy
said if it’s a case that’s pending, evidence must be preserved. He said you
must petition the courts to get items back if sentence is 10 years or more.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the hazard tree grant has been completed and they were
able to take down fifteen trees. He said they have money left over and they
may be able to take down three or four more. 2) Darlington School District
is having Principal for a Day on October 13, 2010 if anyone wants to take
part. 3) Mr. Garland said the Police Department received a DUI
Enforcement Program Award for the eighth straight year in the amount of
$45,273. 4) Mr. Garland said the USDA Fire Truck Grant is in doubt and as
of today he still hasn’t heard from them. He said the current quote they have
for a fire truck is $275,000 fully equipped. He said Fire Chief Jim Stone
would like to go ahead and get the truck with a ten year payback and
financed by the company itself with around 3%-3.5%. Mr. Garland said if
we lose this truck, a truck of similar size with equipment would cost
$350,000. Chief Stone said the company is holding this truck and if we
don’t get this particular truck because of the size, it will cost us a lot more to
get one later. He said if we have to purchase a truck it will cost more than
$275,000 and it won’t come with the equipment that this company is willing
to put on it. Chief Stone said this is a 2007 fire truck and it carries a full
factory warranty. Chief Stone said he has a payback amount of $31,000
already budgeted. Mr. Garland said he still don’t have word back from
USDA and it would be about a month of a window and we would put in the
order for the truck and if we happen to get the grant we would apply it
toward the purchase price. Mr. Garland said if get the grant before the truck
is delivered, we can still apply it, but once we agree to purchase the truck
and agree to our own terms, we can’t go back and retroactively use grant
money. Mr. Robert Garland said the problem is the size of the truck and
when we go to replace this truck we will spend $75,000 plus to get back to
22
where we are now. He said the price includes putting this truck to their
exact specs which they were not willing to do until we sign an agreement.
Mr. Garland said putting the truck to our exact specs will take approximately
three or four weeks which gives us that window to possibly get the money
from USDA. Mrs. Thomas said it seems like Council just voted on buying
three fire trucks in the last few years. Chief Stone said the last several trucks
purchased were used trucks. He said the last truck purchased was a 1995
model that we are paying on. Chief Stone said the size of the truck that they
purchase is an issue in order to get it in the fire station. Mr. Robert Garland
said Council has approved buying this truck with the grant money, but it
doesn’t seem they are going the grant money but they need to go ahead and
buy the truck anyway. He said if they wait and buy a truck like this later
with equipment, it will cost a lot more. Mr. Segars made a motion to
move forward on purchasing the fire truck with the caveat that we buy
as much time to keep the grant possibility open and ultimately purchase
the truck with or without the grant. The motion was seconded by Mrs.
Cohen. All approved the motion. 5) EDA Grant that was awarded has a
large engineering process to go through which should be finished sometime
in January, 2011 and then we will put the grant out for bids with the idea that
we will award the bid sometime in Spring and the project will be completed
around June, 2012. (The grant was for $1.8M and a match of $204,000 from
the City) 6) Mr. Garland said he worked out a deal with Allied Waste to
save approximately $28,00-$30,000 on recycling. He said if a person has a
Thursday recycling day, it will be picked up Monday and if you have a
Friday recycling day, pickup will be Tuesday. Mr. Garland said this will
start Monday, November 1st. He said he asked Allied Waste to do a study of
how many homes were using recycling and only 900 homes out of 3,300
were using recycling. Mr. Garland said we will publicize this heavily this
month by putting in News & Press, put on the water bills and also have
flyers placed in resident homes. He said they negotiated a new contract with
Allied Waste for two years which will save us additional money. Mr.
Garland said looking back in 2008, we paid Allied Waste $383,000 and this
amount will be reduced to around $290,000 7) Mr. Garland went over
general fund balance and hospitality tax fund balance. 8) Mr. Garland said
an executive session is needed to discuss an economic development matter.
REMINDERS
Wednesday 6, 2010 MASC Regional meeting in Dillon, SC at 11:00 AM;
Saturday, October 9, 2010 S.C. Sweet Potato Festival-Public Square from
9:00 AM-4:00 PM; Saturday, October 16, 2010-DDRA Yard Sale on the
23
Square; Tuesday, November 2, 2010 Regular City Council Meeting at 7:00
PM.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to go into
executive session at 9:40 PM to discuss negotiations.
Upon motion of Mr. Cannon, seconded by Mr. Segars to end executive
session at 10:05 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 10:05 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
24
September 7, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held September
7, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons Ms. Gloria Hines Williams, Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette
Thomas, Mr. Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins,
City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Freddie
Kinsaul, Mr. Lee Bass, Fire Chief Stone, Police Chief Jay Cox, Mr. Tony
DiLeo, and a room full of concerned citizens.
PRAYER
Mr. Chapman gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to approve
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting in August, 2010. Mrs. Thomas said
she was not present at the August, 2010 meeting and asked if the name of
the lady mentioned in the City Manager’s Update on page 6 of the minutes.
Mr. Garland said the ladies’ name is Ms. Jackie Breland. All approved the
motion with the amendment noted by Mrs. Thomas.
MR. TONY DILEO – D.D.R.A. MANAGER
Mr. DiLeo said signage was approved for Title Max and for Mr. Charles
Boan’s Steakhouse. In October, 2010, the Business Pride Award will be
presented to the Jeweler’s Bench and the Residential Pride Award will be
presented to Mr. and Mrs. Michael Sprott at 310 Wyandot Street. Mr. DiLeo
said he is working on and has several quotes for a historic fence for the front
of the City Admin Building. Mr. DiLeo said a new roof was put on Baker
Street Café and the contractor is going to give him a quote to redo the
interior of the building. He said he also has quotes for roof repair for the
Emmanuel Building (the former Coggeshall Building) and the Crystal
Cleaners Building. Mr. DiLeo said two sets of race driver hand-prints have
been added to Liberty Lane - Mr. Jeff Burton and Mr. Ward Burton.
AGENDA CHANGE
25
Mayor Watkins asked Council and Ms. Jackie Anderson if they would allow
him to go ahead and address item #6 (Dixie Youth Machine Pitch Team
Presentation) and then address item #5 (Anyone wishing to appear). There
was no objection from Council.
DIXIE YOUTH MACHINE PITCH TEAM PRESENTATION
Mayor Watkins presented each Dixie youth and the coaches with a “Key to
the City of Darlington” for winning the State Championship.
MS. JACKIE ANDERSON – COUNCIL ON AGING
Ms. Anderson asked Council to consider paving or resurfacing the parking
lot at the Council on Aging building. Mayor Watkins said we have a tight
budget this year, but we’ll take a look at it.
MS. JANICE BAROODY – PDRTA
Ms. Baroody appeared before Council to thank them and the community for
giving them a chance to bring the DART bus to Darlington. She gave them
an update on how things are going with the new transit system in Darlington.
She said the average pick-up is about 30 people a day. Ms. Baroody said the
commuter route picks up about 30-40 riders everyday. She said they get a
lot of phone calls everyday about the service. She said they will continue to
have “travel training” to educate locals on how to use the bus service. Ms.
Baroody said they will be looking at the comments that they are getting to
see how they can improve the service. Ms. Baroody said they have been
asked about work transportation. She said this is critical right now and if
they need to add an hour here or move things around so people can get to
work, they will work on this because it is the most important thing right
now. She said they put the bus stop sign information out for bids about a
year ago. Ms. Baroody said it will take a few more months because it has to
be bid out part by part. She said there is a lot of permitting involved and
everything has to pass DOT specs. Ms. Hines wanted to know how long of a
trial period there will be before they add another bus route and also when a
bus route would be going to Society Hill because a lot of people from
Darlington go to the doctor there. Ms. Baroody said they will have a public
hearing to see what the need is for the community. Mrs. Thomas asked Ms.
Baroody if she could let Council know an approximate amount of money
that was granted for Darlington to do this and when will they get information
for inclement weather. Ms. Baroody said PDRTA didn’t get a grant for
Darlington. She said seven vehicles were purchased through SCDOT. They
received stimulus money and it was dedicated to the rural areas. She said
26
stimulus money paid for the vehicles and as far as inclement weather, they
will update their website with this info. She said they do have an inclement
weather policy posted on their web. Ms. Baroody said PDRTA generally
follows what the Highway Patrol and the police departments tell them about
the roads.
MR. DEAN SIGMON – DARLINGTON LION’S CLUB
Mr. Sigmon, who is past president of the Lion’s Club, gave an update on
what was done by the Lion’s Club for the tornado victim’s in Darlington.
Mr. Sigmon said the Lion’s Club received a grant of $10,000 to provide
emergency assistance to the citizens that are affected. He said those funds
allow them to issue vouchers for food, clothing, water, medical needs, but
not addressing any sort of building material or suchlike. Mr. Sigmon said
they assisted approximately 250 individuals and disbursed most of the
$10,000. He said these funds come from international funds whereby
individuals are honored with a $10,000 honorarium which goes into a large
fund and this fund provided the Lion’s Club with the $10,000. Mr. Sigmon
said they had never provided a $1,000 donation to this fund until this past
year. He said the Lion Clubs in district 32C started sending them money
also. He said twenty-four clubs sent a $100 each, so the Lion’s Club has
$2,400 of undesignated money which they can use for building materials and
to assist individuals who still have a need. Mr. Sigmon said they don’t want
to hand out money, but can give vouchers or provide to the community a
way for them to get building materials and supplies. He asked Council for
their guidance for the $2,400. Ms. Hines said there are three houses left to
be repaired. She said when we get the Chamber funds and the $2,400 from
the Lion’s club, they will be able to complete all three owner occupied
houses. She said if they don’t get the money from the Chamber, they should
be able to complete two of the houses.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO ADOPT 2009 ICC
BUILDING CODE – LEE BASS
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, Second Reading
on Ordinance 2010-06 to adopt 2009 ICC Building Code, which
unanimously carried.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO ADOPT 2009 ICC FIRE
CODE – LEE BASS
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, First Reading on
Ordinance 2010-07 to adopt 2009 ICC Fire Code. Mrs. Thomas wanted
27
to know if the Fire Inspector gives any type instructions to the business as to
the maximum number of occupants that can be inside a building. Chief
Stone said they do this if it’s an assembly or something similar. Mrs.
Thomas wanted to know if a person has to request this. Mr. Bass explained
the inspection procedure to Mrs. Thomas. Mrs. Thomas asked if it would
cost too much for the City to give some type of certificate to post showing
how many occupants are allowed within a building. Chief Stone said all
businesses would not require that you post the occupancy. Mr. Bass said
whenever he does his initial inspection he can add this to the certificate of
occupancy. He said they can add a line that says “maximum occupancy” for
the building. All voted in favor of the motion.
SECOND READING ZONING REQUEST ON GROVE STREET –
LEE BASS
Mr. Bass said Mr. McIver Odom asked to rezone the property at 113, 115 &
117 Grove Street from Core Commercial (CC) to General Commercial (GC)
for purpose of converting the property from old washerette into a mini
storage building. Mr. Bass said the Zoning Board approved Mr. Odom’s
request. Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Ms. Hines Second
Reading on zoning request to change 113, 115, & 117 Grove Street from
Core Commercial District to General Commercial District. All
approved the motion.
BID APPROVAL FOR HEAT PUMPS AT NEW STREET DEPT.
BUILDING
Mr. Garland said ten bids were received to install heat pumps at the new
street department building. The low bidder was Kentco Heating & A/C with
a bid of $21,000; MKA Mechanical was next with a bid of $21,800; the high
bid was from W.L. Heating & Cooling for $51,589. Mr. Garland said
Kentco is a reputable company with a solid reputation and has stood behind
their work. Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Thomas to
accept low bid from Kentco Heating & A/C, which unanimously
carried. Mr. Garland said to note that this grant was given to us last
December with the City putting in approximately $2,500 and the balance is
being paid with a weatherization grant of approximately $19,200.
BID APPROVAL FOR HAZARD TREE REMOVAL
Mr. Garland said three bids were received for hazard tree removal:
1) The low bid of $15,150 was received from Clearways Tree Service; J&J
Complete Tree Service gave a bid of $18,900 and Hultgren’s Tree Service
28
gave a bid of $23,900. Mr. Garland said the grant award was around
$20,000 and with the extra money, he suggests that we work in areas that
had tornado damage and work with them first. This does not include the
four trees on Cashua Street that the citizens had a dispute about. Upon
motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Thomas to accept low bid of
$15,150 from Clearways Tree Service, which unanimously carried. Ms.
Hines said a lady on Jessamine Street said at one time the City asked her to
remove a tree on her property because the magnolia leaves were clogging
the drain. Ms. Hines said the ladies’ husband was living at the time and he
said, “No”, but he has since died and the wife asked her if the City would
reconsider taking the tree down because it is stopping up the drain. Mr.
Garland said if we can get the approval of the owner of the tree we can look
at it in our regular tree maintenance.
CDBG PLANNING RENAISSANCE GRANT – SOUTH
DARLINGTON
Mr. Garland said this is a planning grant where we would bid it out and have
a company come in and see where our greatest need is for massive
neighborhood improvements in S. Darlington. Mr. Garland said this not
only includes housing rehab, but storm drainage improvements, street
lighting and sidewalk improvements. He said Ms. Haidee Stith found this
grant and if we qualify through the planning, the City can receive up to $1M
over two years. Mr. Garland said right now we need to apply for $25,000 to
plan it and the City would have to match it with $2,500. Mr. Garland told
Council if they approve this, the City will apply for the grant which will be
due September 20, 2010. He said the Council of Governments (COG) will
write the grant and we will bid it out sometime next winter. He said we will
apply for the first $500,000 in September, 2011 and the second $500,000
would be in September, 2012. Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded
by Ms. Hines, for City to apply for CDBG Planning Renaissance Grant
for the S. Darlington area. Mrs. Thomas said she was looking at the
boundaries noted in paragraph #2 of the proposal and it states the WestSouth Darlington neighborhood which the infrastructure was already
replaced in a previous grant. Mr. Garland said this is a comprehensive grant,
not just a grant for water and sewer. Mrs. Thomas said from reading the
proposal, she doesn’t see where it’s named in the proposal what’s going to
be done. Mr. Garland said this is about the need, not about what’s going to
be done. He said we will have a planning grant to see what’s going to be
done and which areas have the greatest need. Mr. Garland said this is the
pre-application which includes the narrative in order to get an application.
29
Mrs. Thomas said she doesn’t see anything in the proposal about the
specifics that he mentioned, such as sidewalks, etc. Mr. Garland he had to
put this in for the pre-application in order to get an application. Mr. Garland
previously stated that this grant not only includes housing rehab, but storm
drainage improvements, street lighting and sidewalk improvements. All
approved the motion.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the Beautification Committee wants to appoint Ms. Sue
Kilgo to the committee. Mr. Segars made a motion to appoint Ms. Sue
Kilgo to the Beautification Committee. Mrs. Cohen seconded the
motion. All approved the motion. 2) Two trees fell due to the
thunderstorm Friday-one on Jackson Street and one on the corner of
Maryland and Kentucky Drive. 3) Mr. Garland said there is a large hole in
the Council on Aging parking lot and he asked Mr. Merrill Sheffield to fill
the hole with dirt and pack it. Mr. Garland said he asked Mr. Sheffield to
get a quote on fixing the parking lot and by looking at it Mr. Sheffield
estimates it will cost approximately $15,000 to pave the entire lot. Mr.
Garland said there is also an issue with tree roots. Mrs. Cohen made a
motion for the City Manager to get bids on repaving the Council on
Aging parking lot. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. Ms. Hines said
if the City does the paving, as large as the tree roots are, they will pushing
through the pavement. Mr. Garland said we will have a recommendation on
the paving and also on the tree roots. All approved the motion. 4) Mr.
Garland said Friday at noon, there will be a CDBG check presentation for
the sewer grant for West Darlington at the Admin Building for the. All
Council members are invited to come for the photo shoot. 5) Mr. Garland
said Darlington County hired Ms. Allison Peterson as the new Tourism
Director. 6) Mr. Garland said he, Ms. Haidee Stith and Dr. Fred Carter will
meet on September 14th to discuss uses of the old post office building. 7)
Mr. Garland said Mr. Langley received a bid from Eaddie’s Construction to
vacuum tree roots on Cashua Street. Eaddie’s Construction gave two
estimates, one on sections of 22” pipe being 8’ (feet) in length at an
estimated cost of $19,000; and the other for sections of the 22” pipe being 4’
(feet) in length at an estimated cost of $23,500. Mr. Garland said Mr.
Langley investigated this and this is the best way for us to clean the lines
without us having to go in the middle of the road which would cost
anywhere between $80,000-$100,000. Mr. Garland said we would use line
item 801-279 or take the money from the reserve fund; whatever Council
decides. Mr. Garland said his recommendation would be to try this
30
otherwise we are back where we were a month ago. Mrs. Cohen asked if we
couldn’t find anybody else to bid on this. Mr. Garland said this is a very
specialized area of work. There was a gentleman in the audience that said
there is a lady out of Wilmington who has the ability to do this and she has
the equipment to cut the roots out. The man in the audience said he gave the
info to Mr. Bass, but Mr. Garland told him Mr. Langley is the one who
would handle this. Mrs. Thomas asked if we can wait and get another bid.
Mrs. Thomas said she has concerns about money coming out of the reserve
fund and not being charged to department 630. Mrs. Thomas said when it’s
time for the bids to come in she wants to know where we are going to get the
money from to pay for it. Ms. Hines said one thing Council needs to
consider is that the gentleman in the audience said he gave info to Mr. Bass
about the lady that had the equipment to do this. Ms. Hines said they need
to talk with Mr. Langley about this and see company would be the best to
choose. Mr. Garland said he will instruct Mr. Langley to look into the other
possibility. 8) Mr. Garland gave Council balances of the general fund and
water & sewer accounts.
REMINDERS
Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 9:00 AM-Williamson Park 5K Run/Walk
on the Public Square; Thursday, September 28, 2010 at 6:00 PM – The
Water Quality Association Meeting at the gym on Sanders Street; Saturday,
October 2, 2010 at 10:00 AM – the Elk’s Club Parade, Downtown
Darlington; Tuesday, October 5, 2010 at 7:00 PM the Regular City Council
Meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 8:25 PM.
Mayor
31
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
August 3, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held August 3,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons Ms. Gloria Hines Williams, Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mr.
Cannon, Mr. Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins,
City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Freddie
Kinsaul, Mr. Lee Bass, Fire Chief Stone, Mr. Tony DiLeo, Ms. Susan
Alexander, and a room full of concerned citizens.
PRAYER
Mrs. Cohen gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Cannon, to approve
Minutes of Regular Council Meeting in July, 2010. All approved the
motion.
MR. TONY DILEO – D.D.R.A. MANAGER
32
Mr. DiLeo said Baker Street Café and the finance company both had new
roofs put on. The contractor is going to give a quote on doing the interior of
the Baker Street Cafe. Mr. DiLeo said they also have a problem with the
roof at the old Coggeshall Building. He said they also have a pigeon
problem because there are holes in the side of the building. He said there are
three trees on the Square that are diseased and they have to be cut down.
Mr. DiLeo thanked Council for the landscaping that was done at the City
Admin Building. Mr. DiLeo said there was a successful appreciation Day
for Dr. Altman. Mrs. Jenny Altman opened up “Doodlebugs” on Exchange
Street.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there was no objection from Council he would like to
move item nos. 7 & 8 before item #6 (anyone wishing to appear) on the
agenda. There was no objection from Council.
MS. TRICIA LECQUE – UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU
Ms. Lecque, Partnership Specialist-(Charlotte Region) with the US Census
Bureau said that at the State level, South Carolina finished the mail response
rate at 73%. She said this is 1% above the State and 8% above what we did
in 2000. We were ranked at 49, but now we’re at 23. Ms. Lecque said there
will be a final mail response and hopefully we will remain at #23 or go even
higher. Ms. Lecque said this will make a difference with our funding. She
said Darlington County maxed the national rate and the City of Darlington is
74%. Ms. Lecque told council that the Census Bureau sent her here to thank
them for what they have done and also to let them know it’s not quite over
yet. The Census Bureau will be sampling households to make sure they
have an accurate and complete count (field verification). She said in
September they will be providing training for use of the census data.
PRESENTATION TO MS. SARA HARDEE
Mayor Watkins said Ms. Hardee has been named by the Morning News as
“Pee Dee Player of the Year”. Mayor Watkins presented Ms. Hardee with a
“Key to the City of Darlington” for her accomplishments in baseball.
CONCERNED CITIZENS – TREES ON CASHUA STREET
Mayor Watkins said a situation arose from complaints about flooding on
Cashua, Russell and S. Main Street. He said several years ago Council
instructed the City Manager to write a letter to SC Department of
Transportation (DOT) to request their aid in seeking a solution to the
flooding problems. The problem on S. Main Street was because of
33
insufficient sized pipes on S. Main and this would be a major fix costing in
the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The problem on Cashua Street was
determined to be caused by pipes blocked by roots from trees growing along
the tree wall. We requested DOT to come and see what could be done about
it and they made a couple of attempts to free the line, but could not. Mayor
Watkins said DOT came to the conclusion that they would not attempt to
route the line out and suggested that we place a parallel line and agreed to do
the drainage if the City of Darlington will take the trees down. Mayor
Watkins said several trees in the area have become diseased and it’s really
only one tree that is in question. Mayor Watkins said this was a possibility
for the City because it was a very low cost solution to a problem that has
existed for a long time. He said the City was in the process of looking at
doing this, but by no means are we close to actually beginning work.
Several citizens from the area spoke to Council stating their displeasure
about the trees being cut down. Mrs. Martineau said the trees are what
create beauty. She said the two properties on the corner of Cashua Street
(the pretty white house and the pretty yellow) have made Darlington a show
place. She said with all of the work that has been put into those two
properties, there’s got to be a better way than to cut the trees down. Mrs.
Martineau said she will do everything in her power to keep the trees
standing. Mr. Shaw Dargan said to not take away the one thing that makes
Darlington beautiful-our trees. Mr. Dargan told Council for them to remove
the trees is a travesty. Dargan said his company has been in business for
over fifty-five years because they do not base decisions on the bottom line.
He said they base decisions on what is the best thing to do for the client, the
community and for the people involved. Dr. Barry Clark lives on Cashua
Street said he is concerned that because of the water that’s been allowed to
collect and stand on the street has caused settling of the street. Mr. Clark
told Council even if they repair the storm drains and remove the trees, he
doesn’t think we will fix the water issue. He said some of the water will
drain off, but the majority of the water won’t drain off. Mr. Clark said it’s a
simple plumbing problem and he feels the only solution would be to raise
the street and re-channel the street to drain to the drains. Mr. Clark asked if
there was a way to run the drains underneath the street. Ms. Peggy Sheffield
said she would like to see a comprehensive plan to drain the City of
Darlington because this is not the only location. She then started talking
about tractor trailer trucks coming down Columbian Street. Mayor Watkins
said we have a truck ordinance to prevent the big trucks from coming into
town. Another lady said we need to wait until the economy gets better and
research this some more before removing the trees. She said there are things
34
that can be done to make this livable because they have dealt with it this
many years. Mrs. JoEllen Carroll said she and her husband feels that
something can de done without taking the trees down. Mr. George Dargan
wanted to know why the City couldn’t run the pipeline down the middle of
Cashua Street. Mayor Watkins said DOT refused and told us they wouldn’t
do it. Mr. Eugene Vaughan said to run the pipes under the sidewalk. Mr.
Cannon made a motion that Council takes a second look at this in order
to save the trees. Ms. Hines seconded the motion. Mr. Garland told
Council they need to direct the management to look at engineering solutions
with a plan A, B & C. Mr. Garland also suggested having a citizens
committee (no more than 5-6 people) consisting of some of the citizens
present tonight that can meet with staff on this issue. Mrs. Cohen amended
the motion that we ask DOT and an engineer to look at the possibility of
placing the pipe under the sidewalk and also have an outside
engineering firm look at options which would include looking at Dr.
Clark’s point (about there still be additional problems) and to ask DOT
to articulate in writing what the cost would at taking another approach
that would save the trees. Ms. Hines seconded the motion. Mr. Langley
wanted clarity on which trees they were speaking of. Mayor Watkins said
they are addressing the healthy trees on Cashua Street. Mr. Chapman
amended the motion to include five (5) members of the community to
work with city staff on the issue. All voted in favor of the motion and
the amendments.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO ADOPT 2009 ICC
BUILDING CODE – LEE BASS
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars, First Reading
on Ordinance 2010-06 to adopt 2009 ICC Building Code, which
unanimously carried.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO ADOPT 2009 ICC FIRE
CODE – LEE BASS
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, First Reading
on Ordinance 2010-07 to adopt 2009 ICC Fire Code, which
unanimously carried.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE #2010-5
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mr. Cannon, Second Reading
on Ordinance Number 2010-5 to sell 101 Exchange Street to Mr.
Charles Boan for $5,000. Mrs. Nock will get one-half of the money
35
($2,500) received and the city will get the other half ($2,500). All voted in
favor of the motion.
ZONING REQUEST ON GROVE STREET – LEE BASS
Mr. Bass said Mr. McIver Odom asked to rezone the property at 113, 115 &
117 Grove Street from Core Commercial (CC) to General Commercial (GC)
for purpose of converting the property from old washerette into a mini
storage building. Mr. Bass said the Zoning Board approved Mr. Odom’s
request. Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen to grant
zoning request to change 113, 115, & 117 Grove Street from Core
Commercial District to General Commercial District. All approved the
motion.
USDA FIRE TRUCK GRANT FINANCING
Mr. Garland said we haven’t received word from USDA yet, but we
understand the application has been approved at state level. Mr. Garland
told Council he would like permission to bid this out for financing which has
been included in this years’ budget. (Reminder: This is a $125,000 grant
and the truck costs $275,000) Mr. Garland said the City’s portion would be
$150,000 with approximately five years for payback. Mrs. Cohen made a
motion for Mr. Garland to bid this out for financing. The motion was
seconded by Mr. Chapman. All approved the motion.
YEAR END FINANCIAL STATEMENT – MRS. DYAN COHEN
Mrs. Cohen said she was given the information that all of the bills for the
previous year would be in by July 17th or 18th so we would know how much
we really spent for the year. Mrs. Cohen said she is interested in seeing the
year end statement. Mrs. Cohen said she asked Mr. Garland about the
statements and he suggested she bring it before Council and they consider it
as a whole. Mr. Garland showed Council a copy of the year end statement,
which is over 1,000 pages. Mr. Garland said he just charged to the 2009-10
budgets last Friday, so we still have items coming in that have not closed out
the prior year. The City Clerk told Council she can print them a summary of
revenues and expenses and if they need to look at something in more detail
they are welcome to come by the office and look at our records.
FUNDING REQUEST – COUNCILWOMAN GLORIA HINES
Ms. Hines said last month it was discussed and she backed down from
asking for funding from the City. Ms. Hines said she will ask the City for
$3,500 to help renovate five houses (owner occupied) damaged during the
36
tornado. Ms. Hines made a motion to use $3,500 of the funds in the
building improvement grant to help renovate five of the homes that
were damaged during the tornado. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Cannon. Mr. Segars said he is still opposed to spending public money for
private property. Mayor Watkins said he agrees with Mr. Segars and doesn’t
think we should do this without having an emergency fund. Mr. Cannon
told Council they need to remember what goes around comes around. Ms.
Hines withdrew her motion. Ms. Hines then made another motion to
instruct Mr. Garland to see if he can find $3,500 that we can use as an
emergency fund to help the people that are helpless. The motion was
seconded by Mr. Cannon. Mr. Garland said he can use two account in
non-departmental - #801-272 (special contracts) or 801-279 (other operating
expenses). Mr. Segars and Mr. Chapman opposed. All other members
voted in favor of the motion.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) EDA second submittal was made July 15th which included our new
engineering report; 2) Mr. Garland said a letter was received from Governor
Sanford announcing that the City has received a CDBG in W. Darlington
area for sewer line upgrades in the amount of $447,450; 3) Mr. Garland said
the owner of the property at 114 Fleming Street put in a claim with the City
and we sent it to the insurance reserve fund and they did pay the owner
$3,349.83; 4) Senator Malloy asked Mayor Watkins for a list of streets that
needed to be paved and they included the area in front of G.P. Gandy
swimming pool and also Haynesworth Alley; 5) PDRTA will begin the City
route on Monday, August 16th. Mrs. Cohen said the route will run MondayFriday from 7:00 AM-5:00 PM; 6) Mr. Garland said he met with a lady who
is an accountant that has worked with some large cities at the
recommendation of Councilwoman Cohen. Mr. Garland said he would like
to put the firm on retainer in the event we have an accounting question. He
said the retainer should be no more than $2,600 a year. Mr. Garland said the
firm would not bill us unless we called. Mr. Chapman made a motion for
City Manager to put the accounting firm on retainer. The motion was
seconded by Mr. Segars; 7) Mr. Garland told Council he fired two
employees for stealing old water meters and selling them to Nucor Steel. He
said another person took crush and run and put it in a customer’s yard. This
employee was reprimanded in house, but not fired. Ms. Hines said some
other things need to be checked on as well. Ms. Hines said a lot of things
have been ordered in different departments, but no one has checked on these
things to see if they are still there. She said a lot of our revenue is being
37
spent for the same things over and over again. She said these particular
employees got caught, but she knows there are a lot of things that have been
missing in the past.
OTHER INFO
Mr. Chapman said it’s sort of embarrassing to drive through Darlington on
Friday afternoon and there’s a group on the Square begging for money. He
said a couple of weeks ago the Florence Soccer Association was on the
Square. Mr. Chapman said the kids are in the middle of the street and this is
dangerous. Mr. Chapman said he would like to see some type of regulation
on begging for money. Mayor Watkins said there should be some sort of
guidelines for this. Mr. Garland said he will look into guidelines for
solicitation on the Square.
REMINDERS
Saturday, August 7, 2010 – 10:00 AM-2:00 PM Back-to-School Bash on the
Public Square; Saturday, August 14, 2010 – 8:00 PM NASCAR Truck Race
at Darlington Raceway; Monday, August 30, 2010 – 6:00 PM City/County
Supper hosted by Darlington County School District; Tuesday, September 7,
2010- 7:00 PM-Regular City Council Meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the meeting
adjourned at 9:10 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
38
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
July 6, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held July 6,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons Mrs. Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria Hines, Mr. Cannon,
Mr. Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins, City
Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul,
Mr. Lee Bass, Mr. Tony DiLeo, Ms. Susan Alexander, and other visitors.
PRAYER
Mayor Watkins gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there was no objection from Council, how would like
to add item #14-A short executive session to discuss a legal issue. Upon
motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines to add item #14-executive
session to discuss a legal issue. All approved the motion.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ms. Hines made a motion to approve the minutes of the May 4, 2010 and
June 1, 2010 Council meetings. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chapman.
Mrs. Thomas said to note on page 6 of the June 1, 2010 minutes under the
“City Manager’s Update” that the name of the business does not appear in
the minutes and it would be helpful to include the name “Polyquest” as the
name of the business. All approved the motion with the noted change. Ms.
Hines said she left the meeting for a few minutes and when she came back in
Council had already voted on the water & sewer increase. Ms. Hines said on
page 5 of June 1, 2010 minutes, she should like for the record to show that
she opposed second reading on ordinance to increase water and sewer rates.
MR. TONY DILEO – D.D.R.A. MANAGER
39
Mr. DiLeo said they approved signage for Kilgo Law Firm & Merle
Norman. The Residential Pride Award was given to Ms. Shelley at 112
Woods Street and the Business Pride Award was given to the McClellan
Building at 20-22 Public Square. Mr. Anthony Outlaw and Ms. Janice
Murray with Premier & Partners moved into one side of the McClellan
Building. Mr. DiLeo said he has two parties interested in the building on S.
Main Street where Premier & Partners were located. The roof has been
completed on Baker Street Café and Mr. DiLeo will be getting a quote on
redoing the interior of Baker Street Café soon. He said Mrs. Jenny Altman
leased the building next to Attorney Dan Causey where she plans to have a
children’s workshop. Dr. Altman had a very successful Appreciation Day.
Upcoming Events- On Thursday, September 2nd – Sunday, September 5th,
The Mayo Alumni Association will have their homecoming; On Saturday,
September 18th is the Williamson Park Road Race; Saturday, October 2ndThe Elk’s Parade at 10:00 AM- 11:00 AM; On Saturday, October 9th – The
Sweet Potato Festival; Saturday, October 16th-Annual Yard Sale; On Friday,
October 29th-Halloween Dress-Up Contest; Thursday, December 2nd is the
Downtown Open House from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM and on Sunday, December
5th The Kiwanis Christmas Parade followed by the Kiwanis Tree Lighting
Ceremony.
MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER – CHAMBER UPDATE
Ms. Alexander gave Council an update on relief funds collected to repair
damaged homes. Ms. Alexander said right now they have a commitment of
a little over $4,500 but she spoke with Mr. Garland and he thinks we will be
able to give an additional $3,500 from the City of Darlington. She said they
have collected enough money to fix three homes that were damaged by the
tornado. She said The Welsh Neck Baptist Association is offering free labor
to repair the homes. Ms. Alexander said she found a site where they are able
to design their own website in house and it will cost less than $200 a year to
host the site. Ms. Alexander said the site should be up and running in about
two weeks. Ms. Hines asked Ms. Alexander what three homes are going to
be repaired.
MRS. VIVIAN FLYNN –
Mrs. Flynn appeared before Council to ask their support for a back-to-school
kick-off which would include some type of entertainment around the
Courthouse. She said they will ask people as they come, to donate school
supplies which will be donated to the elementary schools. Mrs. Flynn said
she will meet with Dr. Knight one night this week and ask if she will bring a
40
school bus to the Square and as supplies are collected, they will be loaded on
the bus. She told Council she needs their support in doing this. She will be
meeting with County Manager, Ms. Phyllis Griffith to see what dates are
available. She will also meet with the Chamber of Commerce to see if they
can help with the kick-off. Mrs. Flynn said she knows she will need help
from the Police Department with traffic control. Mrs. Flynn said the
following week she plans to have an open house for her business which will
include a concert on the property at 509 S. Main Street.
PRESENTATION TO MR. J.C. WASHINGTON
Mayor Watkins presented Mr. J.C. Washington with a “Key to The City” for
his seventy-one years of service as a barber on the Square in Darlington.
Mr. Washington is 86 years young and has been barbering for seventy-one
years. Mr. J.C. told Mayor and Council he appreciated very much what they
had done.
HISTORIC LANDMARK COMMISSION NOMINATIONS – LEE
BASS
Building Inspector, Mr. Bass gave the following names to Council for
consideration to the Historic Landmark Commission: Ms. Janet Clark who
lives on the corner of Columbian and Cashua Streets; and Mr. James Hinson
who lives off of S. Spain Street. Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded
by Mr. Segars, to appoint Ms. Janet Clark and Mr. James Hinson to the
Historic Landmark Commission which unanimously carried.
MS. PATRICIA WILLIAMS – WATER/SEWER ISSUE
Ms. Williams read a letter she wrote to Council addressing the recent
renovation to the water meters and the charge they will impose for turning a
customer’s water off. She said she is on a fixed income and cannot afford to
pay $15.00 every time she has a busted pipe or plumbing problems. Ms.
Williams said the Water & Sewer Department will charge $15.00 to turn the
water off and then another $15.00 to turn the water back on. Ms. Williams
said she lives in an old house with galvanized pipes and she will have
problems from time to time with her plumbing. She said she uses Stuckey
Plumbing and he told her it would cost around $5,000 to replace all the pipes
in her house. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Kinsaul about the $15.00 charge.
Mr. Kinsaul said they do charge $15.00 to turn a person’s water off and
another $15.00 to turn the water back on. Mr. Kinsaul said he talked with
Mr. Stuckey and he recommends putting a customer cut-off right outside the
new box for approximately $15.00-$20.00. Mr. Kinsaul said every house
41
should have a customer cut-off. Ms. Williams said she was not aware this
could be done. Mayor Watkins told Ms. Williams since Mr. Kinsaul has
talked with Mr. Stuckey she needs to contact him and have him install a
customer cut-off at her meter. Ms. Hines asked Mr. Kinsaul if he mentioned
about locks being on the meters during his discussion. Mr. Kinsaul said he
didn’t know they were going to have locks on them. He said the meters are
coming with the locks on them. Mayor Watkins said despite that, an
individual is not supposed to go into the meter box.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE #2010-5
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, First Reading
on Ordinance Number 2010-5 to sell 101 Exchange Street to Mr.
Charles Boan for $5,000. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know if Council would
be able to suggest where the income from the sale of the building goes. Mr.
Garland said the building was given to us and when we took possession of
this building in December of 2005, it was stipulated that when the building
was sold, Mrs. Knox would get one-half of the money ($2,500) received and
the city would get the other half ($2,500). All voted in favor of the motion.
VIRGIL WELLS STADIUM USES
Mayor Watkins said we now have lease of the stadium property for twentytwo years and they need to decide what they will use the stadium for. It was
suggested to use for a walking track. Mr. Garland said Mr. Wallace Bradley
suggested that we use the area for teams to practice during football season
since they can’t practice at the Blue Street Field. Mr. Garland said the teams
have been practicing at the First Church of God on N. Main Street, so the
stadium would be a good place to have football practice. Mr. Garland
suggested that we have a community meeting at Mayo High School to get
input from the public about uses for the stadium. Mr. Garland said he would
get with Mr. Bradley on a date and time and get back with Council.
USDA POLICE CARS GRANT
Mr. Garland said Capt. Danny Watson found funding for police cars through
a USDA Community Facility Program. Mr. Garland said The City would
like to apply for two police cars (Dodge Chargers) and two golf carts with a
$38,700 match from the City. Mr. Garland said he included a grant match of
$32,500 in the budget and Chief Cox said he could find the remainder of the
money in other line items. Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by
Mrs. Thomas to allow City Manager to apply for USDA grant to
purchase two police cars and two golf carts, which unanimously carried.
42
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said work has started on the Syracuse Street portion of the
waterline grant. 2) Mr. Garland said they expect to hear word on the sewer
line by July 20th. 3) The first cut was made on the EDA Grant. 4) Mr.
Garland said the Eastern Carolina Community Foundation gave the City
$3,500 to be used for house repairs to uninsured residents from the April 25 th
tornado. Mr. Garland suggested the City match this with $3,500 from the
building improvement grant. He said this would give us $7,000 to go along
with what the Chamber has raised making the total over $10,000. It was
discussed that only owner occupied residences should be eligible for repair.
Ms. Hines said Mr. Wilds lives in the house on Avenue H and has lived
there as long as she can remember. Ms. Hines said since money was raised
to fix homes, we should fix the house for Mr. Wilds if we can. Ms. Hines
said she got an estimate of $1500 for another home at 200 Southern Pine
Street. Mr. Garland said if Council approves this, staff recommendation
would be to use city funds this one time. Ms. Hines said the estimate for the
home at 127 Gandy Street is only $600. Mr. Segars and Mrs. Thomas had
concerns about using public funds to repair private property. Mayor
Watkins said they can stipulate that the public funds of $3500 cannot be
spent for anything other than individuals that own their own homes (owner
occupied) that has suffered uninsured damage as a result of the tornado.
There was discussion about which homes or homeowners should have their
homes repaired with the funds. Mr. Chapman said to return the money or
give it to United Way and let them distribute it. Mrs. Thomas wanted to
wait and have a work session concerning this. Mr. Garland said if Council
can’t make a decision tonight, he would suggest that we give the $3,500 that
was given to us (not taxpayer funds), to the Chamber to add to their pool of
funds and get the work done on the homes that need it. Ms. Hines made a
motion for us to transfer the $3,500 that was donated to the Chamber of
Commerce for them to disperse. The motion was seconded was by Mrs.
Thomas. All approved the motion. 5) Mr. Garland went over general
fund balances 6) He said the Water & Sewer accounts have been
transferred to Carolina Bank. 7) As of Monday, July 5th, 255 people have
been to the pool since it reopened after the drowning.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines to go into Executive
Session at 8:40 PM to discuss a legal issue.
43
Ms. Hines made a motion at 8:55 PM to end executive session. The
motion was seconded by Mr. Segars.
REMINDERS
July 15th-18th, 2010 - MASC Annual Meeting in Charleston, SC; Tuesday,
August 3rd, 2010 at 7:00 PM Regular City Council Meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Chapman, the meeting
adjourned at 8:55 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
City of Darlington
Special Meeting Minutes
Thursday, June 24, 2010
A Special meeting of the Darlington city council was held
Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 6:00 pm in the City Council Chambers of
City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
44
Present at the meeting:
Mayor Anthony Watkins,
Councilpersons, Ms. Gloria Hines, Ms. Dyan Cohen, Mr. Coleman
Cannon, Ms. Annette Thomas, Mr. John Segars, and Mr. Wayne
Chapman along with City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, and City
Planner, Mr. Rodney Langley. Also present were Mr. Patrick
Cavanaugh, Mr. Bill Howle, Ms. Jean Bacote, Mr. Robert Thomas, Mr.
Cleveland Jordan, Ms. Delores Jordan, Mr. Bobby Ross, Mr. Willie
Muldrow, Mr. Wayne Byrd and a room full of visitors.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to The News & Press, The
Morning News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time
of meeting.
Mayor Watkins called the meeting to order a 6:00 pm. Mayor
Watkins read a brief statement concerning the current deaths of the two
young men at the City of Darlington swimming pool.
Mr. Langley presented to council the recommendations made by
the Pool Committee, which included himself, Mr. Wallace Bradley, Mr.
Pat Cavanaugh and Mr. Lee Bass. The committee recommended that
the pool be reopened and the Police Department be allowed to continue
to run the pool. All children age 13 and under must be accompanied by
an adult over the age of 18 and be limited to signing in no more than
two. All Children 13 and under must be supervised by the adult that
signs them in at all times. Whistles are currently being used, but horns
will be used in the event of an emergency exit. All non-swimmers and
poor swimmers will not be allowed in the deep end. All swimmers must
wear a wrist band, non-swimmers will be indemnified with a different
wrist band, highly visible from a distance. A lifeguard on duty of least
the age 21 years old at all times. There will be a limited number of
people allowed in the deep end. A weather radio will be purchased to
help aid in forecasting weather. The trees will be trim back around the
fence near the deep end. A camera system is to be installed. The
lifeguards on duty will have their on CPR masks. A defibrillator will be
keep at the pool while open and all the lifeguards will be trained to use
it.
Ms. Jean Bacote approached council and explained that she feels
the pool should remain open. She feels the children need the pool to
have something to do during the summer.
45
Ms. Cohen said she appreciated the work of the committee, but
she feels that the city needs to get an outside consultant to look at the
plan and fine tune it. She thinks it is important to get outside expertise
help. She also said the YMCA has offered in helping run the pool, but
probably would not be able this summer. They could look at next
summer.
Mayor Watkins said that there were obviously rules and
regulations prior to the drowning, but these recommendations are
improvements. Mr. Cox said that they did previous make them wear
wrist bands but now the non-swimmers and weak swimmers will wear
an additional band that signifies them as such. Ms. Thomas asked Chief
Cox if anything was done for the community healing and the children
being uncomfortable to get in that pool now. Jay said most of people he
has talked to it has not been an issue, not to say that it doesn’t bother
them. Mayor Watkins thanked Sheriff Wayne Byrd for all his help in
assisting our personnel.
Motioned by Ms. Hines, seconded by Mr. Cannon to go into
Executive session at 6:45 pm to discuss personnel issue with our
attorney, Mr. Bill Howle. Motioned by Ms. Cohen, seconded by Mr.
Segars, Executive Session ended at 7:07 pm.
Mayor Watkins said we have received a proposal from the
committee to reopen the pool. Mr. Garland agrees with the committees
recommendations. Motioned to approve recommendations by Mr.
Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars. Mr. Chapman said that he had
some suggestions. He said that he thinks that the $1 a day should be
raised especially because of the new changes made. Mr. Chapman said
he thinks that swim lessons should be required, some kind of id card in
reference to there swimming ability, signing a liability release form,
master swim lessons and the banning of cell phones. Mr. Cox said the
cell phones haven’t been a problem. Mr. Chapman said he liked the
wrist band idea but would like to see it go a step further and have color
coded area in the pool to correspond with the wrist band color.
Motioned by Mr. Chapman for the City Manager to keep the committee
open to consider the items that Mr. Chapman presented, seconded by
Ms. Cohen. Mrs. Thomas said she thinks it is not fair that city personnel
should be the ones to be making this decisions, the community should be
46
involved. Ms. Hines said she also feels that they need citizens input. She
said you can’t just do all this overnight, and cannot be decide in one
meeting. Mr. Segars, Mayor Watkins Ms. Cohen and Mr. Chapman all
in favor. Mr. Coleman, Ms. Thomas and Ms. Hines were not in favor.
Mr. Garland said it was up to Council to instruct him on what to
do. Ms. Thomas said she feels this meeting should have been cancelled
and feels like this all the plans and strategies were decided on before the
meeting. Motioned by Ms. Cohen for the committee to take into
consideration the fee that they charge does not adversely effect under
privileged families. Seconded by Mr. Chapman. All in favor.
Motioned by Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars to accept the
committee’s recommendations. Ms. Cohen suggested that reopen the
pool soon. She also suggested that we look at outside plans and consider
a proposal from the YMCA. Ms. Hines wants stricter supervision at the
pool. Mr. Cox said that they have ran the pool for the last 13 years and
they have done a good job. All approved the motion.
Ms. Cohen had to leave at 7:45 pm
Ms. Thomas expressed her concern for opening the pool, that the
community needed psychological healing.
Mr. Segars made a motion for the Police Department to open for
the rest of the season when they are ready to open. Seconded by Mr.
Chapman. Mr., Langley stated that they do not have all 14
recommendations in place. Ms. Thomas feels that if they are not in
place, we don’t not to open until they are. All in favor, except Ms. Hines
and Ms. Thomas.
Motioned by Mr. Segars to adjourn meeting, Seconded by Mr.
Cannon. All in favor. Meeting ended at 7:56 pm.
Mayor
47
ATTEST:
Gloria Pridgen
CITY OF DARLINGTON
PUBLIC HEARING &
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
June 1, 2010
A Public Hearing of Darlington City Council was held June 1, 2010 at
6:30 PM with all Council members present to discuss the 2010-2011
budgets. There wasn’t any public comment. Ms. Hines said there are a few
things she wanted explained to her, but she did not get a chance to go over
the budget in its entirety because of the incident that happened at the pool
this weekend. Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the
public hearing ended at 6:45 PM.
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held June 1,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilperson Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria
Hines, Mr. Cannon, Mr. Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present:
Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland,
Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Ms. Susan Alexander, and other visitors.
INFO ONLY
The Mayor said since there will be a coroner’s inquest into the deaths of two
teens at the B.A. Gary swimming pool, Council should wait before trying to
question person(s) about what happened because this could create problems
48
with the investigation. Mayor Watkins said after the inquest is held, Council
is free to investigate what happened. Mayor Watkins said he hoped that we
would do this because it is in our best interest. He said we need to know
exactly what happened. Mr. Segars asked if they, as a Council are prepared
to investigate something that SLED and the coroner’s office has already
investigated. Mr. Garland said they will be looking at what to do with the
pool as an ongoing concern; do we keep it, do we give it to a non-profit
organization, and what is the liability going to be moving forward or do we
open it up at all. Mr. Garland said these are some of the things Council will
have to consider about the pool. Mrs. Cohen said she prefers that we get
comment from our City Attorney. Ms. Hines asked who has the highest
authority-SLED or the coroner. Mayor Watkins said the coroner’s decision
would supersede the City’s. Ms. Hines said we can’t make any decisions
until all of the information is in. Ms. Hines agrees that the pool should stay
closed until the investigation is over and then council will come back and
make a final decision as to what the outcome of it is.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to the News & Press, The Morning
News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time of meeting.
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
The regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor
Watkins.
PRAYER
Mr. Segars gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Council did not receive their minutes early enough to read, so approval of
minutes for May, 2010 will be done at the July meeting.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there are no objections from Council, he would like
to amend the agenda by moving item #7 up to item #4 since Council will not
be approving minutes; add item #6A-discuss incident at B.A. Gary Pool.
There were no objections from Council.
49
PRESENTATION TO MS. LOIS EDWARDS-S.C. FORESTRY
COMMISSION
Mayor Watkins said Mrs. Edwards is retiring from the S.C. Forestry
Commission after working for a number of years. Mayor Watkins presented
Ms. Edwards with a “Key to the City of Darlington” for all her years of hard
work and dedication.
MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER – CHAMBER UPDATE
The Chamber had their Annual Spring Golf Tournament; The Lunch and
Learn will be held on Thursday, June 10th; The Restoration Relief Benefit
concert featuring Derrick Bull & Remnant Ministries will be on the Square
Saturday, June 12th at 6:00 PM. The money collected from the benefit will
go to help the families that suffered loss during the tornado. Ms. Alexander
said new to the Chamber will be weekly webinars. Starting next month they
will be working with board nominations. The Chamber will also be working
on “Taste of the Farm” and the Yam Jam Festival.
MRS. ADDIE WILLIAMSON – VACANT HOUSE @ 105 REID
STREET
Ms. Williamson said about four years ago a vacant house caught on fire
about 3:00 AM in the morning causing minimal damage to her house. Mrs.
Williamson said she and her husband hosed her house down so it wouldn’t
catch on fire. She said that particular house is gone now, but there’s another
vacant house on the opposite side of her and she gathers there is some
activity going on in the house at night. She called the police department and
they said they had problems with people going in and out of the house. She
said the house is not boarded up or anything. Mrs. Williamson said if that
house catches on fire it is going to cause her house to burn. Mrs.
Williamson is asking that the City get in contact with Ms. Graham and find
out what she plans to do with the house. Mayor Watkins told Mrs.
Williamson he would turn this information over to our building inspector.
Mrs. Williamson said she talked with a man who she believes work for the
City. She asked him what he planned to do with the house and he replied,
“We plan to tear it down”. She said this has been a while ago. Mr. Garland
told Mrs. Williamson she did not have to call Mr. Bass; he would take care
of giving Mr. Bass the message.
B.A. GARY POOL
50
Mayor Watkins said two teens drowned at the B.A. Gary pool and the
coroner has asked that Council not get involved. Mr. Garland said when
they do have their committee of Council members and staff, they will not
only see if the pool will reopen this summer but they will consider if the City
will continue to operate the pool or turn it over to a non-profit organization.
He said there is also the issue of liability and what that will entail for the
City moving forward. He said these are some of the things that the
committee will be looking at once we get clearance from the Coroner’s
Office. Mayor Watkins said he planned to ask Council if they would
establish a committee and to weigh any information received about the
drowning at the pool. The members of the committee would work with Mr.
Langley and he would be the single information voice to speak to the
Council, the public and to the media. Ms. Hines made a motion that we
close and the pool and keep it closed until after the investigations of
SLED and the Coroner and until after Council come back, sit down and
take their time and take the recommendation of the City Manager as to
whether we want to keep the pool or whether we want to get some nonprofit organization or what they want to do with it. Ms. Hines said she
feels the City should not reopen the pool until that time. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Cannon. All approved the motion.
MRS. EVELYN JETT – B.A. GARY POOL
Mrs. Evelyn Jett said her concern is that she would love to see the pool to
stay open because a lot of the children on that side of town don’t have
anything to do. Mrs. Jett told Council to think of the parents of the two
children that drowned and show love toward the families. She asked
Council if any of them has contacted the parents and several said that they
had. Mrs. Jett told Council if they reopen the pool make sure they have the
proper supervision at the pool. She said to put someone there that is
responsible, qualified and can take care of her kids (all the children). She
asked Council to get together and stop thinking about their side of town.
Mrs. Jett told Council they are going to see her, they are going to hear from
her, and she’s not stopping. She said we are going to do better in Darlington
as a community. Mrs. Jett told Council to think about the families and pray
for them and let them know you all care. Mayor Watkins said he spoke with
the step-father of Justin McKay and told him the City will pay for the
funeral expenses. Mayor Watkins said the same will be done for the other
young man that drowned (Timquan McAllister). Mayor Watkins expressed
condolences on behalf of all Council members and the City as a whole.
51
SECOND READING ON SETTING TIME LIMIT FOR
ADDRESSING COUNCIL
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, Second
Reading on ordinance to set time limit for persons addressing city
council; five (5) minutes for people not on the agenda and ten (10)
minutes for those who are on the agenda. Mr. Segars said he feels the
time limits are excessive for the meeting. All approved the motion except
Mr. Segars who opposed the motion.
B.A. GARY HEAT PUMP BIDS – WALLACE BRADLEY
Mr. Wallace Bradley said he received bids to replace five heat pumps at the
B.A. Gary Gym. He said he received a bid for $23,900, a bid for $27,000
and a bid for $28,750. Mr. Bradley recommends we accept low bid of
$23,900 which was received from Carolina Mechanical, Inc. located on
Graham Drive here in Darlington. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Bradley if he
mentioned the SEER rating on the units. Mr. Bradley said that he didn’t.
Ms. Hines made a motion to accept the recommendation of Mr. Bradley
to accept low bid of $23,900 from Carolina Mechanical, Inc. The
motion was seconded by Mrs. Thomas. All approved the motion.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE FOR 2010-2011 BUDGETS
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, Second Reading
on ordinance for 2010-11 budgets. Mrs. Thomas asked Council to please
return the amount given to Pine Center to $8,000 because the condition of
the building is such that it takes a lot of money for the upkeep of it. She said
the use of the building has increased so much, but they only charge a
minimal fee. Mrs. Thomas made a motion to amend the budget under
Community Promotions to increase line item for Pine Center from
$6,400 to $8,000. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. All
approved the amended motion. Mr. Garland said to delete line item 55002-Christmas decorations for $1,600 and move those funds to the line item
for Pine Center.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO INCREASE WATER &
SEWER RATES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the proposed rate increases for
water and sewer and capital fund. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion.
All approved the motion except Mr. Chapman, who opposed.
52
REQUEST FOR COUNCIL TO MEET TWICE MONTHLY –
COUNCILMAN CANNON
Mr. Cannon said it will be to our advantage to meet twice a month rather
than once a month. He said our agenda is so long and feels meeting twice a
month would shorten it. Mayor Watkins said in his opinion, a work session
would be more advantageous. Mr. Cannon said it was just a thought that he
wanted to bring before council. Mrs. Thomas said she hopes we don’t have
any more work sessions.
INFO ONLY
Mr. Cannon feels the City needs to offer incentives to get businesses to
come to Darlington to stay. He said maybe we can exempt them from
paying taxes for a year. Mayor Watkins said the State legislature
recommends not offering incentives to companies to get them to come to
their towns. Mr. Garland said he talked with Mr. Cannon and he is
specifically talking about Burger King. Mr. Cannon made a motion that
the City work toward an incentive to waive a year’s property tax. Mr.
Cannon said whatever Burger King pays in taxes, the City will reimburse
them. Ms. Hines seconded the motion. There was discussion as to
whether Burger King’s property was contiguous or not. Mayor Watkins said
it’s contiguous from the backside of By-Pass from Clanton’s Auto Auction.
All approved the motion except Mrs. Thomas.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) The first payment in the amount of $167,867.55 was made on the
hospitality tax loan. 2) The Mickey Moss Building roofing contract has
been signed. 3) The MASC Annual Meeting dates are July 15-18, 2010. 4)
The City of Darlington was named “Tree City USA” for the thirteenth year
in a row. 5) The floor at B.A. Gary Gym was finished Friday, May 28th. 6)
The EDA Grant letter was received and they are committed to thirty jobs and
$8M in improvements to the plant (Polyquest). 7) CDBG waterline grant
application was approved. 8) Mr. Garland said he has not heard anything yet
about the sewer line grant for West Darlington area.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Segars to go into Executive
Session at 8:50 PM to discuss an economic development issue.
REMINDERS
53
Thurday, June 3rd at 6:00 PM PDRTA Meeting at Mayo High School;
Saturday, June 12th at 6:00 PM, Derrick Bull Concert for Tornado Victims
on the Square; Monday, July 5th- Independence Day Holiday Observed for
employees; Tuesday, July 6th at 7:00 PM – Regular City Council Meeting.
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines Executive Session
ended at 9:01 PM.
Mayor Watkins said a local business person wants to purchase the Nock
Building and make apartments out of it. The City Manager is to negotiate
with the City Attorney to come up with a time frame for the development of
the apartments. Regarding the Nock property, a motion was made by the
Mayor to sell the property for $5,000 and let the City Manager enter into
negotiations which would go through the City Attorney. Mrs. Cohen
amended the motion to include that any agreement would include
preservation of historical characteristics as designated by the appropriate
historical registry and that the agreement specifies a time frame for making
the planned improvements. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. All
approved the motion.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 9:05 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
54
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
May 4, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held, May 4,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilperson Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria
Hines, Mr. Cannon Mr. Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present:
Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland,
Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Mr. Lee Bass, Ms. Susan Alexander, Mrs. Wilhelmina
Johnson, Mr. Rob Jordan and Hiral from Hill and Jordan, CPA’s, Mr.
Derrick Bull along with a few members of his group Remnant and other
visitors.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to the News & Press, The Morning
News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time of meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Ms. Hines gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting, minutes of March 30, 2010 work session and a special meeting
held April 27, 2010. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cannon. All
members approved minutes.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there are no objections from Council, he would like
to amend the agenda by adding Ms. Susan Alexander to item #4 since Mr.
55
DiLeo is not here. Mayor Watkins said we will add item 5A-Bids for
Demolition Project.
MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER – CHAMBER UPDATE
Ms. Alexander said the Chamber had two successful “Business After Hours”
one at Wachovia in February, 2010; and at Pee Dee Health Care in April,
2010. She said the Lions Club approached her today and said they received
a grant for tornado victims and they will contact the victims, but the
Chamber will be the site for giving out the vouchers. The Race Fest will be
Thursday, May 6, 2010 from 5:00-10:00 PM on the Square. Ms. Alexander
said they will have a collection bucket in front of the Chamber for the
tornado victims. On May 13, 2010 the chamber will have “Introduction to
Microsoft Windows 7”. She said this event is being sponsored by Microsoft.
She said they will be giving them all of the materials as well as copies of
Microsoft Office 7 and several things to give out as door prizes. On May 14,
2010 they will have a “Moonlight Golf Tournament” at Beaver Creek Golf
Course. Ms. Alexander said Beaver Creek talked about promoting
“moonlight” golf in the off season to help promote their business and what
better way than for the Chamber to introduce it and see how well it goes.
Ms. Alexander said they will have two golf tournaments this year; one on
May 21, 2010 at Darlington Country Club and the second tournament will be
at Beaver Creek in the spring. Ms. Alexander said Society Hill will have a
golf tournament on May 22, 2010 to raise money for the town. Ms.
Alexander said they announced today in their news letter that they have four
new board members. She said they had two seats that have been vacant
since the first of the year and two members to drop from the board in order
to spend more time with their business. They have been replaced with
Charles Woodle, Tracy Norris, Steve Vandenburg and Mark Delemo. She
said in the next couple of months they will be doing the board nominations
for the following year. Ms. Alexander said she is in the process of forming
the nominations committee which consists of at least six non-board
members. She said she spoke with Mr. Garland to represent The City of
Darlington; Randy Reynolds will represent the Town of Lamar. She is
hoping to get the Mayor or someone to represent Society Hill as well as
someone from County Council so that the board will consist of county-wide
representation. Ms. Hines said those eligible for the vouchers will be able to
pick them between the hours of 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Ms. Hines said the
vouchers can be used for food, bottled water, clothing, blankets, medicine
and cleaning supplies. Ms. Hines said she was told there may be a very little
that can be used for roof repair. Mrs. Thomas asked Ms. Alexander who in
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her office might be able to advertise about the funds that the Lions Club
received. Mrs. Thomas said there is concern among the citizens as to why
the City has not notified them that there is no FEMA money and why and
who’s eligible if there are other funds available. Ms. Alexander said her
understanding with the Lions Club is that they received a list of people that
experienced loss from the tornado. She said they are contacting those people
individually to come in and pick up the vouchers. Ms. Alexander said the
Lions Club asked her not to publicize about the vouchers because they
already had a list of who was supposed to receive them. Mrs. Thomas asked
who is responsible for letting the citizens know why they are not eligible for
assistance. She wanted to know if there is any way people can find out why
they can’t get assistance. Mayor Watkins said the City did not meet the
threshold to qualify for FEMA assistance. Mrs. Cohen said she agrees with
Mrs. Thomas that the citizens need to know why we are not getting FEMA
funds. Mr. Garland said the threshold for FEMA assistance is $5.2 million
for Darlington County. He said the uninsured damages weren’t 20% of that
value. He said the insured damage was well over this amount because the
schools received most of the damage and they were insured. Mr. Garland
said their initial survey showed that fifty-two homes were damaged in the
City limits. Mr. Garland said there have been more than three hundred
volunteers from local and regional churches that have come in and worked
on private property. Mr. Garland said he received calls from several people
wanting the City to give them money to work on their houses, but this isn’t
something the City does because we can’t afford it. Mr. Garland said
beginning July 1st we will have the building improvement grant in the
budget again, but this is only a small amount of money. He said he checked
with USDA and they have money available for single family housing rehab,
but the application period is competitive. Mr. Garland said this money
wouldn’t be available for six months to a year. Mrs. Thomas said she knows
this, but her main interest is informing the citizens so they are aware of why
the City didn’t receive FEMA assistance.
MINISTER DERRICK BULL – RELIEF CONCERT
Mr. Derrick Bull appeared before council along with several members of his
group to offer their support for the tornado victims by doing a benefit
concert. Mr. Bull said he and his group were supposed to go to Haiti to do a
benefit concert for the victims there a week before the tornado hit
Darlington, but since this happened here he feels obligated to do something
at home first. Mr. Bull asked Council to support them in getting something
set up. He told Council they can get whomever they want to handle the
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money. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Bull if he had a location in mind. Mr.
Bull said the SIMT Building at Florence-Darlington TEC, but the building
was booked for this date. He said maybe the concert can be done May 15th
or June 12th because he’s trying to be time sensitive so it’s not so far away
out of the minds of the people. Mr. Bull asked Council what ways they
would be able to help with the concert- collecting money, etc. He wanted to
know what Council’s suggestions and ideas are so they can move forward
with this and help the people in need. Mr. Bull had his agent pass out
brochures to Council with information about the group and he also left a
copy of his CD for their listening pleasure. Mayor Watkins asked about a
place to have the concert. Mr. Garland suggested the amphitheater. Mrs.
Thomas said maybe it could be downtown. Mr. Bull said they had the
Square in mind. Mr. Bull asked about the sound equipment that’s used for
the Sweet Potato Festival. Mr. Garland said they rent the equipment for the
festival. Mr. Garland said the Rec. Dept. has three speakers and a
microphone. Mayor Watkins asked Council to put their heads together and
see what they can come up with to support this benefit concert. Council
discussed a couple of places to have the concert so they can control the
people coming in. Mr. Bull told Council when he does a concert the people
comes in at no cost. He said they normally have a collection box set up at
the door in the event people want to donate some money and then there
would be a time during the intermission that they would take up donations.
Mayor Watkins said we will look at some possibilities. Mr. Garland told
Mr. Bull if he or someone from the group would call him tomorrow
morning, he will get with Rec. Director and they will come up with a date.
Mr. Garland said the date farthest away would be better. Mrs. Cohen said as
far as the proceeds, since the Lions Club is set up and have identified the
people, maybe the group can work with them. Mr. Bull wanted to know
how soon it would be before he hears something on this. Mr. Garland told
Mr. Bull if he sends someone up tomorrow morning, he will get with Mr.
Bradley and they will work on it.
MR. LEE BASS – BIDS FOR DEMOLITION OF PROPERTY
Building Inspector, Mr. Lee Bass, said they received six bid packets for five
houses to demolish. Mr. Roosevelt Scott was low bidder with a bid of
$13,000. Mr. Garland said there is a part “B” of the demolition project but
he is not sure about the funding. Mr. Bass said he took bids for list “B”
houses and awarded it to the low bidder contingent upon the availability of
funds. Mr. Bass said the bid covers complete demolition and removal of all
debris from the site. Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs.
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Cohen to accept low bid of $13,000 from Mr. Roosevelt Scott to demolish
five houses. Ms. Hines asked if Mr. Scott knows he has to pay for the
landfill charges. Mr. Bass said, “Yes” and when the people came and picked
up the bid packages all of this was explained to them and what their
responsibilities were. Mrs. Thomas asked Mr. Bass who owns the property
on Whipple Street. Mr. Bass told her he didn’t have the information with
him, but he properly notified the homeowner and was informed of the City’s
intent. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know if the homeowner would have to pay
the City back for tearing down this house. Mr. Bass said the City will issue
a bill to the homeowner of record and if they don’t pay this bill it will be
assessed as a lien against their property taxes and will be included in their
property tax bill. Mrs. Thomas then asked Mr. Garland if the money
collected for previously demolished houses goes back into the fund where
the money is in now. Mr. Bass said whatever we’re being charged the City
is responsible to pay that to Mr. Scott, so that price would be attached to the
property plus either a 15% administrative fee or $100.00, whichever is
greatest. Mr. Garland said we haven’t had any demolitions in the last few
years. He said it’s been in the budget, but we haven’t done any. Mr.
Garland said if a person doesn’t pay their bill, then we can collect it through
the set-off debt collection program where debt will be taken out of their state
refund. He said we don’t go back and reimburse the specific line item. Mrs.
Thomas said about three years ago, the Municipal Association talked about
this and they said there were ways cities were able to recoup this money.
Mrs. Cohen said they have been checking on this and the County Treasurer
informed them recently that the City can add this cost to the tax bill if the
homeowner doesn’t pay the City//If they don’t pay the bill, the County won’t
let them pay their property taxes. Mrs. Cohen said the homeowner can
either pay the City the money or have their house put up for sale. Ms. Hines
asked about the fire department burning some of the homes that need to be
demolished. Mr. Bass said he discussed this with the fire department but
they have not indicated to him if they would be able to burn any of the
houses. All voted in favor of the motion. Mr. Cannon said on the corner
of Whipple Street and Avenue F there are about thirty-five cats and they are
really doing damage to people homes. Mr. Bass said he can meet the animal
warden at that location and assess the situation. Mrs. Thomas said from an
authentic source, there are only thirteen cats there, not thirty-five.
PRESENTATION OF CITY OF DARLINGTON AUDIT
Mr. Rob Jordan and Mr. Hiral Goupaldas presented the 2009-10 audits to
Council. He gave copies of the preliminary audit to Council members. Mr.
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Jordan went over pages 3, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 38, 60, 61, 62 and 64. Council
members had an opportunity to ask the auditors questions. Mr. Jordan
mentioned the $244,000 transfer from the water & sewer fund to the general
fund. Mrs. Cohen said it was determined this was for paying of bills for the
water & sewer department. Mrs. Thomas asked if it was mentioned that we
need to try and separate the two funds. Mr. Garland said we are going to
separate this, so that the water & sewer department will have their bank
account and the general fund will have their bank account to that it will
alleviate the crossing of funds. Ms. Hines wanted to know if this was a
software problem. Mr. Jordan said he can’t make that determination since
this is not his expertise. Ms. Hines said she has been on council for nine
years and there’s always been confusion about something with the software.
Mrs. Thomas said if you have the right program you can program it to show
what went where and when it was put back. Mr. Garland said this is
becoming an old argument (transfer of funds from water & sewer fund to
general fund) because this is going to be switched in the new budget year.
Mrs. Cohen said she along with the other audit committee members (Mrs.
Annette Thomas, and Mr. John Segars) want to thank the auditors for their
hard work and everyone for the part they play in city government. Mrs.
Cohen suggested that we keep detailed statements of the hospitality tax
money. Mrs. Thomas asked the auditors if there is a way there could be an
amortization statement as an addition to the budget to show what grants
were received, how much we had to pay to match the grant, and the
payments that came in for the grant. She said it seems like everything is
scattered in different accounts in the budget and it’s hard for her to put it
together. Mr. Jordan said they could probably structure something, but it
wouldn’t be proper for it to be a part of the audit. Mr. Jordan said this is
more of a management issue. Mrs. Cohen asked if something like this could
be done for the hospitality tax money. She said it would be good to have a
statement detailing hospitality tax activity. Mrs. Cohen told council if they
are interested in doing something like this, they can ask the City Manager,
Mr. Garland, to look into devising a statement of activity for hospitality tax
money. She said maybe the City can look into the audit firm helping us
devise a statement. Mr. Jordan said they can help us set up a spread sheet.
Mr. Garland said this will probably be done once a year because we are
getting to the point that the money will be gone soon. Mr. Jordan said they
will get with Mr. Garland and the audit committee and devise a statement
detailing hospitality tax activity. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to direct the
City Manager to look into the City devising a statement on hospitality
tax activity and look into the possibility of having Hill & Jordan work
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with the staff and to recommend that the statement be prepared once a
year or twice a year, whichever is appropriate. Mrs. Thomas seconded
the motion. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Garland if we needed to use the
auditors to devise a statement and Mr. Garland said, “No”. Mayor Watkins
amended motion not to include the auditors to prepare a statement
detailing hospitality tax activity because Mr. Garland said staff can
handle this and will be done at the City Manager’s choosing. The
motion was seconded by Mrs. Thomas. Mr. Garland said 30 days after the
completion of B.A. Gary project will be reasonable time to prepare a
statement of activity. All approved the motion.
VIRGIL WELLS STADIUM LEASE
Mr. Garland gave Council copies of the lease agreement. He said the
pertinent points of the contract is item #3-lease has a term of twenty-two
years beginning July 1, 2010 terminating June 30, 2032; item #4-the lease is
for public recreation purposes; and item #10-states that in the event that we
cease to use the property for public recreational purposes for 90 consecutive
days, the lease agreement shall terminate unless we give the lessee 60 days
written notice of intent to terminate. He said everything else in the lease is
standard. Mr. Garland said there was damage to Virgil Well Stadium, but he
talked with the building supervisor for the school district and he said they
will put a fence up where the blocks came down. Mr. Garland said he talked
with Mr. Wallace Bradley and he said they are looking at using this for an
entrance area. Mr. Garland said he had city Attorney, Mr. Bill Howle to
look over the lease agreement and everything is in order. Mr. Garland
recommends Council approve the lease the way it is written. Mr. Garland
said the City will take possession of the stadium July 1, 2010. Mrs. Thomas
asked about item #11. Mrs. Thomas had concerns about the wording of item
#11 where it states that at the expiration of this lease, the lessee shall give
peaceable possession of the property back to the lessor. She asked if at the
end of twenty-two years the City just hands the property over to the school
district with all of the improvements that have been done. Ms. Hines said
there is something wrong with the wording and she can see what Mrs.
Thomas is saying but in twenty-two years the school district might abandon
all of the property at that location. Mr. Garland said this is a standard lease
like we did for Blue Street. Mr. Garland said the City suggested a twenty
year lease, but the school district said for insurance purposes, it should be
twenty-two years. Ms. Hines made a motion to accept the Virgil Wells
Stadium lease as written. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cannon.
Mayor Watkins said we are accepting the lease that gives us control over the
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property and we are making no commitment, but at this point it does. All
approved the motion.
MRS. WILHELMINA JOHNSON – CRC CENTER
Mrs. Johnson said the Cultural Realism Charm Center (CRC) is in
foreclosure after thirty-eight years. She passed out flyers listing the foreclosed properties with an area at the bottom for interested persons to send in
a donation if they like. She said for thirty-eight years they have made a
difference and she wants Council to know what she’s up against. She gave
Council background info on her organization and different things her
organization has done for children. Mrs. Johnson told Council she’s not
asking them for a thing. She said she is not just going to go away because of
foreclosure proceedings, but she wants us to know the fight is on. Mrs.
Johnson said a lot of grants out there, they should have been receiving. She
said wealth must be distributed for all people. She said the children now
must be saved and if we don’t do it, who is going to do it. Mrs. Johnson said
for thirty-eight years she has done it. Mrs. Johnson told Council they have a
sheet with the donation portion on the bottom and for give to “give until it
hurts”. Mrs. Johnson then asked Council if they had questions. Mrs.
Thomas asked Mrs. Johnson if she had an original payoff debt. Mrs.
Thomas questioned Mrs. Johnson about she got into this predicament. Mrs.
Johnson said she kept refinancing to keep things afloat. Mayor Watkins
asked Mrs. Johnson if there was a possibility she would be able to settle this
debt without the bank foreclosing on the property. Mrs. Johnson said they
are at the stage where she might be able to do that. Mrs. Thomas was trying
to get to the bottom of why Mrs. Johnson feels that Carolina Bank did the
CRC Center an injustice. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know what Mrs. Johnson
wanted the City to do. Mrs. Johnson said she didn’t come to ask the City for
any money, she just wants them to be aware of her situation. Mrs. Thomas
asked Mrs. Johnson if she passed out the sheets means that she wants them
to make a donation. Mrs. Johnson said, “Yes”. Mrs. Johnson thanked
Council for listening to her about the foreclosure of her properties.
FIRST READING ON SETTING TIME LIMIT FOR ADDRESSING
COUNCIL
Upon motion of Mr. Cannon, seconded by Mr. Segars, First Reading on
ordinance to set time limit for persons addressing city council. All
approved the motion.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE FOR 2010-2011 BUDGETS
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Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Ms. Hines, First Reading on
ordinance for 2010-11 budgets, which unanimously carried.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO INCREASE WATER &
SEWER RATES
Mr. Kinsaul went over proposed increases for water and sewer rates. Mr.
Kinsaul proposed a 2.5% increase for in city water and sewer rates, a 5%
increase for out of city water and sewer rates and a $.50 per meter increase
in the capital fund. He said this will bring in approximately $83,000 a year.
Mr. Cannon asked if the water rates went up recently. Mr. Kinsaul said the
out-of-city rates went up last year. Mr. Cannon said we have to consider
that people are losing jobs; where are they supposed to get the money from.
Mayor Watkins said we only have a few sources for revenue. Mayor
Watkins said the water and sewer fund is an enterprise fund and they must
make money to survive on their own. Mr. Cannon said if a person is on a
fixed income and we keep raising rates, how will they survive? Mayor
Watkins said we all have to share the cost in maintaining the water & sewer
department. Ms. Hines said if we are in such bad shape, why are we buying
cars and allowing workers to drive their cars home. Mr. Cannon wanted to
know how the water department is charging car washes, etc. He wanted to
know if we charge an extra fee for the chemicals running through our sewer.
Mr. Kinsaul said at this time, rates are the same. Mr. Chapman said in his
seven years on council, water rates have increased every year except one.
Mr. Chapman asked Mr. Kinsaul if he has parked all of his vehicles to help
curtail expenses. Mr. Kinsaul said he and Franklin Dowdy are the only ones
that drive vehicles home. Ms. Hines told Mr. Kinsaul that Council was told
that after he was hired, Davis & Brown would be phased out in a couple of
years and this hasn’t happened. Ms. Hines said we still are in debt by using
Davis & Brown. She said Council was told that Davis & Brown would be
called in if we needed them, not continue paying them a monthly fee. Mr.
Kinsaul said consulting is basically all Davis & Brown does. Mrs. Thomas
said the bottom line is we’re paying them about the same amount of money.
Mr. Garland said, “No”, were not paying them the same amount of money.
Ms. Hines said she feels they were lied to about what was to be done. Mrs.
Thomas said Mr. Garland was not here during a lot of the discussions
concerning water rate increases. She said she feels she was misled about the
water rate increases. Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the proposed
rate increases for water and sewer and capital fund. Mrs. Cohen
seconded the motion. Mr. Cannon, Mr. Segars, Mayor Watkins, and
Mrs. Cohen approved the motion to approve the proposed rate
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increases for water and sewer rates. Ms. Hines, Mr. Chapman and Mrs.
Thomas opposed the motion. Motion passes.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said 180 tons of storm debris was picked up during the
tornado; 2) Allen, Hickory, Kirven and Guess Streets & McInnis still have
debris, but should be back on target by Thursday. Mr. Garland said he will
be sending letters of thanks to Mayors of Chesterfield and Cheraw for
allowing their employees to assist us during the storm clean-up. 3) EDA
application for Water & Sewer improvements was mailed April 20th; 4)
CDBG application was completed and mailed on April 19th and we’re
requesting $458,000 for the W. Darlington sewer upgrade. 5) Deadline for
police applications was April 30th. 6) Budget work shop with department
heads is scheduled for Tuesday, May 25th at 6:00 PM at Admin Bldg. 7) Mr.
Garland gave Council members a list of trucks and the numbers
corresponding to the truck; 8) Mr. Garland said he received complaints from
two homeowners on S. Main saying that the empty trucks that go back and
forth are hitting ruts in the road and causing damage to homes in the area. 9)
Mr. Garland said he purchased a cherry picker for $22,000 from Amick
Equipment. Mr. Garland said he felt like this was a really good deal and will
replace the one we had since 1985. He said with all of the stress on our
equipment in the last few weeks, we had a breakdown. He said we will pay
$11,000 upfront and $11,000 30 days later. 10) July 15th-18th is MASC
Annual Meeting; 11) May 13th and 14th – 3 rd Annual Dinner/Concert
sponsored by Trinity United Methodist Church.
REMINDERS
Thursday, May 6, 2010-Race Fest 5:00 PM - 10:00 PM on the Public
Square; Saturday, May 10, 2010-Southern 500 at 7:00 PM - 11:00 PM at the
Darlington Raceway; Saturday, May 29, 2010-Mayo Health and Fitness
Walk; Tuesday, June 1, 2010 at 7:00 PM, Darlington city Council Meeting.
Mrs. Thomas asked about Mr. Garland purchasing the cherry picker without
it going through Council. Mr. Garland told Mrs. Thomas that Council gave
him approval at the meeting the other night to do it. Mrs. Thomas said it is
against state law to do that. She said if she is correct, the Manager is not
allowed to have a large purchase like this without it going through Council.
Mayor Watkins said unless it is an emergency. Mrs. Thomas said it was not
an emergency. Mr. Garland said it was an emergency. He said both of our
cherry pickers were down and we were using the one Cheraw brought over.
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Ms. Hines said Mrs. Thomas was not at this particular meeting, so she didn’t
know both of out cherry pickers were down and we needed to purchase
another one.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Cannon, the meeting
adjourned at 10:05 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
April 6, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held, April 6,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilperson Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria
Hines, Mr. Cannon and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins,
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City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Tony DiLeo,
Mr. Kinsaul, and several visitors.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to the News & Press, The Morning
News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time of meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Mayor Watkins gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. Mrs. Thomas asked if
a motion carried for the time limit for visitors. Mayor Watkins asked
council what was their recollection. He said in his recollection the motion
carried. Mayor said minutes stated that “council agreed to the time limit”,
but the minutes are to be changed to read: all present voted in favor of the
motion. All members approved minutes with noted change.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said they approved the colors for Ward Street Café. The
Business Pride Award was presented to the McClellan Building downtown.
The Residential Pride Award was given to a home on Woods Street.
Mr.Dileo said he is still working on the “Taste of Darlington”. He said the
flags on the By-Pass were shattered, so new ones were purchased. New
signs were made for the McClellan Building. He said a lady is still
interested in Mr. David Rolfe’s Building (she wants to open a home for
battered women).
MRS. BEATRICE WILSON
Mrs. Wilson said she is surprised that with all of the renovations and
development going on and she’s lived here for fifteen years and her street
has never been resurfaced. Mrs. Wilson said there are so many potholes on
First Street, Bacote Street and Juleswood Drive. She said she not only has a
problem with the streets tearing up your tires, but she has to deal with ball
teams that use the field across from her house. She said when they leave,
they leave paper and it blows into her yard and her husband has to pick it up.
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Mrs. Wilson said since this is the street where the buses come everyday and
the trucks come in to bring supplies, and they have yet to resurface her
street. Mrs. Wilson said three years ago she presented the same issue about
her street and she was told to go to someone who was over this and he told
her they just didn’t have the money. Mayor Watkins said the City can make
recommendation to DOT for First Street to be added to the list. Mrs. Wilson
said this street is only one block and she doesn’t see why it can’t be
resurfaced. Mrs. Wilson said she’s not going to stop this time; she will go to
the newspaper, the television station, whatever it takes to get something
done. Mr. Cannon said for the last three years he has been asking that
something be done about these streets. He said it doesn’t make sense to
have a street in front of a school and it looks the way it does. Mayor
Watkins asked Mr. Cannon if he was only talking about First Street. Mr.
Cannon said there are a lot of streets that need work done to them; First
Street, Second Street, Third Street, etc. Mrs. Thomas said she has observed
the shoulders on this street as well. She said there are dips and ditches that
really need to be filled in with some dirt. Mrs. Thomas asked if we have to
ask the State for permission to put dirt in the holes. Mayor Watkins said,
“No”, but when it comes to paving the streets, we do.
MR. JEFF JEFFERS
Mr. Jeffers appeared before council once again to try and get the City to pay
some outstanding debts that were incurred by the Little League. Mr. Jeffers
then asked Council a series of questions such as who does Mr. Wallace
Bradley works for, who is in charge of Darlington Little League, etc. Mayor
Watkins asked Mr. Jeffers if he wanted to make a statement. Mr. Jeffers
said he was there to ask questions, but he’s not getting any answers so he’s
here tonight to get his facts straight. Mr. Jeffers asked if anybody knew
whether there was a little league franchise. Mrs. Thomas said the City
Attorney established that the City was not responsible in any way for any of
these charges. Mr. Jeffers said the City still doesn’t know if the little league
has insurance, the City does not know if they have a license to sell food at
the ball field. Mrs. Wilson said she has never seen anybody selling any food
at the field across from her house. Mr. Cannon told Mr. Jeffers he was
acting like a lawyer by asking Council all of these questions, but we don’t an
attorney to answer back. Mr. Jeffers said he is asking these questions for
himself. Mr. Jeffers wanted to know if the little league field is the property
of the City or County. Mr. Garland said he believes the little league field is
the property of the City. Mrs. Wilson said Cain ball field is property of the
school district. Mr. Jeffers said the City of Darlington or somebody owes
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him up to $10,000. Mr. Howard Garland said he, Mr. Langley and City
Attorney, Mr. Bill Howle met with Mr. Jeffers in December and as Council
instructed, offered for the City to pay the second debt in the amount of
$900.00 the first year and $900.00 the second year. Mr. Garland said Mr.
Jeffers asked about the rest of his money and he told him the City couldn’t
address that because it goes too far back and this was a one-time offer. He
said Mr. Jeffers got an attitude and said he had twenty-five lawyers on speed
dial and that is when the meeting ended. Mr. Howard Garland said Council
should invite a local representative from the little league to come to a
council meeting so we can hear their side. Mrs. Wilson said she hopes to see
something done soon maybe within a month. Mayor Watkins said we will
do our best. Mr. Cannon asked Mayor Watkins if he heard Mrs. Wilson’s
last words. Mr. Cannon said Mrs. Wilson said she hopes something is done
within a month. Mr. Garland said if it’s a pothole we’ll take care of it, but
anything else more serious we will have to put in a request. Mr. Cannon
said there is a problem on First Street because the property of the
homeowners is in the street. He said there’s not enough sidewalk clearance
on either side to do anything in their yard. Mayor Watkins said they asked
every property owner if they would relinquish a portion of their right-ofway. Mrs. Thomas asked if they could address on a future note because all
of the people that was against this is dead or just about dead. Mayor
Watkins said Mrs. Wilson is one of the people in this area that owns
property.
CDBG SEWER GRANT APPLICATION/RESOLUTION
Mr. Garland said Mr. Langley is applying for a CDBG sewer grant which
will be a continuation of the waterline grant in West Darlington area. The
City will apply for $458,000 grant for sewer line upgrades. He said the City
will be responsible for any engineering costs associated with the project.
The grant application would be done through the Pee Dee Regional Council
of Governments (Pee Dee COG – Mrs. Shannon Munoz). Mr. Garland said
after this project is done, we will try and get funding for the South
Darlington area and sewer lines where we did water line improvements a
few years back. Mr. Garland said then we will start looking at storm
drainage issues. Mrs. Thomas asked if this resolution could be a little
clearer and include language to read: they will waive the 10% costs if the
City will pay the engineering costs. Mr. Garland said we can write a letter to
CBDG stating that the City is only responsible for the engineering costs and
that everything else is covered by the grant. Mrs. Cohen said to also include
“not to exceed 10%”. Mr. Garland said he can get them to clean up the
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language some, but the grant is due the 18th or 19th of the month. Mr.
Garland said this grant also involves a long trunk line that serves this area as
part of the grant, but it’s not as “labor intensive” as the water meters. Mr.
Kinsaul said they have already done a lot of the engineering work. Ms.
Hines said to be sure to include the area (The Westside). Mrs. Cohen
suggested that Council go ahead and change the wording on the resolution
now and vote on approving it. Mr. Garland said we can change it tomorrow.
He will talk to Mrs. Shannon Munoz, we will change it and have Mayor
Watkins sign it in the morning. Mr. Segars made a motion for the City to
accept the block grant resolution based on the grant of $458,000 plus
the City will pay engineering cost and COG fee which will waive the
10% CDBG fees and this location is on the Westside of Darlington.
Mrs. Thomas seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen asked was the COG fee
out of the $458,000. Mr. Garland said the COG fee goes on top of the
$458,000 but the City does not have to pay this. He said the grant would
pay for the COG fee. The City would only be responsible for the
engineering costs. Mrs. Cohen amended the motion to take out the COG
fee. Mayor Watkins said the motion will then state that the COG fees will
come out of the grant. Mr. Segars restated his motion: motion is
approved for a block grant of $458,000 plus the City will pay the
engineering costs between $28,000 and $55,000. By paying these fees,
this will waive the normal 10% CDBG costs. This will be for the West
end of Darlington. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion. All approved the
motion.
EDA GRANT APPLICATION/RESOLUTION
Mr. Garland said for the (EDA) Economic Development Administration
grant, the City does not have to have a resolution, Council just need to give
the Mayor authority to sign a commitment letter stating we will match a $2.1
million grant request with $210,000. He said this grant is for the interceptor
line between Georgia Pacific and our old head works and also include head
works upgrades and the aerator for the wastewater treatment plant. Mr.
Garland said this assist the following industries: Georgia Pacific, Citi
Trends, Polyquest and Nucor Steel. Mrs. Thomas said she was lost on the
subject and needed further information. Ms. Hines agreed. Mr. Garland
said the City was approached by the County to apply for an EDA grant in
December, 2009 because they were applying for a similar EDA grant for the
Lamar I-20 – 340 Interchange for an industrial park. Mr. Garland said the
City agreed to do a pre-application which was put in 45 days ago with the
idea we would take care of our consent order which DHEC sent to us
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because of our overflow several years ago and our old head works. He said
part the consent order was that we upgrade our head works and by doing this
it will take care of some of our industrial needs. He said this grant will give
us the money to take care of our industrial sewer needs and to prepare us for
a pre-treatment program for industrial waste if DHEC orders it. He said this
lays the foundation for us to keep our wastewater treatment plant open for a
few more years and it allows us to put off going to Florence for a while. Mr.
Garland said there is a 10% ($210,000) match that EDA requires. He said
with the original EDA grant it was 50%/50%. He said this grant is part of a
stimulus package and the grant for counties that have been affected by
layoffs in industry. Ms. Hines asked if this grant would allow the City to get
another bed at the sewer plant. Mr. Kinsaul said, “No”. He said the beds are
working really well and this improvement will increase the aeration. Ms.
Hines said in a previous meeting it was stated that we could put in another
bed if we had enough room. Ms. Hines said she made the statement they
were told by Davis & Brown a long time ago that we didn’t have enough
room to do another bed. Mr. Kinsaul said he hadn’t heard that. Mayor
Watkins said he heard the same thing. Mr. Garland said he had a
conversation with former Council member Mr. Jay James who was on
Council when this plant came online. Mr. James said this land was
purchased with the idea that we could go in and add two more beds if
needed, but we would have to bring in more sand and dirt to do it. Mrs.
Cohen made a motion to approve the City applying for the EDA
(Economic Development Administration) grant for $2.1 million and
Council empower the Mayor to sign off on the City’s responsibility for
the 10% match. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. All approved
the motion.
BIDS FOR FLOOR AT B.A. GARY GYM
Mr. Garland said three bids were received for the floor at B.A. Gary Gym: 1)
G&M Builders, Lake City, SC - $49,395, which includes item #2,
mobilization licensing and permitting; 2) Sports Equipment & Flooring $42,000. Mr. Garland said this company was invited to come in and look
and give another estimate, but they did not. 3) Mr. Wallace Bradley and Mr.
Langley recommend the third bid which was received from Bliss Products
out of Georgia - $46,376.02. They will install a maple laminate 18”x18”,
1/2”. Mr. Garland said they will give us 75-100 replacement squares with a
12 year warranty. Mr. Garland said if approved, this company said they
could have this done in two to three weeks. Mr. Garland said they
recommend that Council approves this bid. He said if we get this done, they
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will then start getting bids for heat pumps. Mr. Garland said the heat pump
companies would be able to have their work completed in two to three
weeks also, with the idea everything will be ready by the first or second
week in June. Mr. Garland told Council if they want to stick with the June
time line he would need approval tonight. Mayor Watkins said he was
thinking this was hardwood flooring, but this is snap-lock and hardwood
flooring is tongue and groove. Mr. Segars said this is a plastic type floor
that looks like wood, but it has laminate flooring on top. Mr. Garland said
the company told him you can use a floor buffer on this floor with no
problem. Mrs. Thomas said she feels that we are taking too great a risk to
deal with laminate flooring. She said if we have enough money we don’t
need to short change ourselves. She said the gym floor at the old armory is a
good durable floor and easy to keep up. Mrs. Thomas said she feels we will
have a problem with laminate flooring and over time it will start to buckle.
Mrs. Thomas said this company that we are recommending does not state in
their proposal what they are planning to do as far as preparing the floor for
installation of the flooring. She said it is not stated whether they will
prepare the present floor for installation or do we have to get it prepared
before they come in. Mrs. Thomas said we have enough money to go with a
sturdier, long lasting and dependable floor. Mayor Watkins said to get real
hardwood floors would cost a lot more. Mr. Garland had a quote of $51,000
($8.50 a square foot) from 2007 when the floor was installed at the “Y”.
Mrs. Thomas said to go with a good floor like this. Mr. Segars said the
upkeep would be more for hardwood flooring. Mr. Segars made a motion
to get Mr. Garland to ask Bliss Products to send us a sample of the
flooring and Council can look at it along with the second product that
Mr. Bradley has and make a decision prior to the next Council meeting.
Mrs. Thomas said her question is, what the company plans to do with the
existing floor that is cracked up. Mr. Cannon asked if any work has to be
done to the floor so the new floor can be installed. Mr. Segars said he would
think if this company gave us a quote it would be included in the bid.
Council agreed with Mrs. Thomas about her concerns. Mayor Watkins told
Council they will look hardwood, look at samples from both companies,
answer the question concerning the preparation of the floor and we will
come back and vote on it. Mrs. Cohen seconded Mr. Segar’s motion.
Mr. Segars restated his motion: To ask Mr. Garland to ask Bliss
Products to send us a sample of his product that they are quoting us on
so that we can compare it to a second bid that Mr. Bradley has and we
will try to get the hardwood company out of Raleigh, NC to give us a
quote. And make sure it includes preparation of the floor. Mrs. Cohen
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seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen amended the motion to include: for
us to get information on the company and experience other companies
have had with this product. Motion seconded by Mrs. Thomas. All
approved the motion.
USDA FIRE TRUCK GRANT APPLICATION
Mr. Garland said he found out about six week ago that USDA has stimulus
money available for vehicles. He said the federal portion of this would
$123,750 with a local match of $151,250 for a 2010 fire truck. Mr. Garland
said they have tried to get grants for fire trucks the past six years but has not
been able to one because our call volume is too low. Mr. Garland said the
fire department fleet is very old some vehicles in the 60’s and 70’s. Mr.
Robert Garland said they are looking at a first out pumper with a price quote
of $325,000. This new truck will replace a 1970 model fire truck. Mr.
Garland said if the City gets this grant we will put it out for bids to finance
over four or five years. Mr. Segars made a motion to instruct Mr.
Garland to apply for the USDA fire truck grant. Ms. Hines seconded
the motion. All approved the motion.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Industrial Paving completed the paving of Wells & Orange Street on
March 15th. 2) Wells Stadium lease was sent to City Attorney, Mr. Newton
Howle for his review and the school district will approve it at their next
meeting; therefore it will come up at our June meeting for approval. It has a
twenty-two year lease. 3) Cookout for City employees will be April 30,
2010 at 12 noon. This is only for full-time employees. Council members
are invited as well. 4) Planning for the Street and Sanitation move to W.
Broad Street has begun. 5) Stripping for W&S, and Sanitation vehicles is
being done so they are easily identified. He said they also put emergency
lights (yellow flashing lights) on the vehicles so they are easily identified
when they are out working. 6) Mary Altman resigned from the Historic
Landmark Commission because of more time needed for her job at the
dental clinic. Mr. Garland asked council members to come back with
recommendations for someone to replace her. 7) The audit committee
meeting has been set for April 26th at 10:00 AM in the Admin Conference
Room. 8) Waterline upgrades in West Darlington are almost finished. 9)
Mr. Garland gave the balance in the hospitality tax account - $265,493. The
first payment of $171,000 for the hospitality bond is due June 1st. 10) Mr.
Garland said he had a department head meeting last week and we are
partially out of the spending freeze. He said we have a priority for spending
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in certain departments. He said there is a priority for the move for the Street
Department from Sanders Street to Broad & Washington Street. He said
there is also a priority for the housing demolition which needs to be done for
Codes Enforcement. He said Mr. Lee Bass should be getting out invitations
for bids on housing demolition. Mr. Bass sent out condemnation letters for
approximately twenty homes. He said in the last three of four days property
owners have come in and said they will either take care of it or they will do
the demo the property themselves which will save the City some money.
The Fire Department has offered to burn structures that meet their criteria.
Mr. Garland said we want to try and take down between 8-10 condemned
homes by the end of this budget year and look at taking down 8-10 more
during the next budget year.
Mayor Watkins said we need to go into executive session to discuss
negotiations and a personnel issue.
REMINDERS
Thursday, April 15, 2010-Taste of Darlington, 7:00-9:00 PM at Darlington
Raceway; Saturday, April 17, 2010 – Williamson Park/Earth Day, 10:00
AM – 2:00 PM; Tuesday, May 4, 2010 at 7:00 PM Regular City Council
Meeting.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to go into
executive session at 8:45 PM to discuss negotiations and a personnel
issue, which unanimously carried.
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the executive
session ended at 9:10 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mr. Segars, the meeting
adjourned at 9:10 PM.
Mayor
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ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
April 27, 2010
A Special Meeting of Darlington City Council was held in the
Conference Room at the City Admin Building on April 27, 2010 at 6:00
P.M. Present: Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mrs.
Cohen, Ms. Hines, Mr. Segars Mr. Freddie Kinsaul and Mr. Wallace
Bradley.
Mayor Watkins called the meeting to order at 6:05 P.M. The purpose of the
special meeting is to discuss the floor at B.A. Gary Gym and we will follow
up with a budget work session.
BIDS/DISCUSSION OF B.A. GARY GYM FLOOR
Mr. Wallace Bradley had two floor samples, one which was hardwood and
the other which was a maple laminate. Mr. Bradley recommended that the
City approves the maple laminate floor because of the upkeep and general
maintenance of the floor. Also, this was the lowest bid. Mr. Bradley said
the maple laminate floor snaps together and if we ever need to replace a
section, it will be very easy to do. He said with the hardwood floor, they
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recommend their company come in at least once a year and this will cost
approximately $1800 for them to maintain it. The company also
recommends that every 7-10 years their company come in and do a major
renovation on the floor with a cost of approximately $7,500-$8,000 at the
present time. Mr. Bradley said in 7-10 years from now we know the cost
will be much higher. Mr. Bradley said the high school has this same
hardwood floor and they had problems during the playoff season and this
company had to come in and redo the floor and he’s sure it was no less than
$7,000 for them to come in and do it. He said the high school floor is only
two years old. Mr. Bradley said the flooring he’s recommending is
supposed to withstand what they do at the Recreation Department- senior
dances, arts and craft classes, etc. Mr. Bradley said we will be given about
twenty-five replacement pieces and if they need to replace a section, they
will be able to snap one section out and put another one in. Mr. Segars
asked Mr. Bradley what would need to be done to maintain the floor. Mr.
Bradley said you would use a clean damp mop to clean the floor. He said
we would need to make sure we have good mats at the door for people to
wipe their feet. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to accept the
recommendation of staff for the maple laminate flooring. The motion
was seconded by Ms. Hines. All approved the motion.
Mayor Watkins closed the public meeting at 6:20 PM.
Mr. Bradley left after the special meeting.
BUDGET MEETING
Mayor Watkins called the work session to order at 6:21 PM.
UPDATE ON TORNADO DAMAGE
Mr. Garland gave Council an update on the tornado damage to the area.
He said fifty-two residential building sustained damage from the tornado on
Sunday evening with a total of approximately $802,000 in damages. The
damage at the two schools (Cain Elementary & Mayo) with damages
estimated at $3,906,679. Mr. Garland said all the school district damage is
insured and in order to meet the threshold for FEMA assistance, we have to
have $5.2 million of uninsured damage in the County. He said the County
only had damage approximately $240,000 and if we combine with the City,
it’s a little over $1 million. Mr. Garland said we had very good volunteer
help from regional and area churches that have come in and is helping on
private property, which the City can’t do. Mr. Garland said our cost is not as
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much as we had anticipated. We’ve had assistance from the Town of
Cheraw. One day the Town of Cheraw sent six people and another day they
sent seven. They also brought their cherry picker because both of ours are
down. The highway department came in and we used their cherry picker
yesterday and today they brought another one. The Town of Chesterfield
sent two of their seven full-time employees today with a dump truck. Mr.
Garland said to note for future reference that the City didn’t get any help
from Lamar or Hartsville. Mayor Watkins 2) Pee Dee Regional
Transportation Authority (PDRTA) sent a letter asking for $10,000 to help
pay for a trolley they are proposing for the City of Darlington. Mayor
Watkins asked if PDRTA has a route in mind for the trolley. Mrs. Cohen
said PDRTA has an idea of a route, but they are planning to have a
community meeting on May 27th. Mr. Garland said when he was in Mullins,
PDRTA requested that they put up $15,000, which they did. The trolley ran
for 18 months, but there was hardly ever anybody on it. Mrs. Cohen said
PDRTA will start operation with no more than three days a week. She said
PDRTA already has the buses to put on the road and the drivers, but they
don’t have money to set up an office in Darlington where people can buy
passes. Mr. Garland suggested setting this up with the Water Department or
Admin Office where people can buy passes. Mrs. Cohen said this could be
set up at several different places where people can buy passes. She said
PDRTA said they can’t take this on. The trolleys would be kept here in
Darlington probably inside the fence at the old Darlington Builders Supply
building. Mrs. Cohen said she is hoping to promote this and make people
aware of it. Mayor Watkins said he sees the trolleys in Florence and they
don’t have anybody on them. Ms. Hines said PDRTA would be cheaper
than a taxi because if you take a taxi to Florence it costs somewhere between
$20-$25 one way versus a couple of dollars to ride the bus.
2010-2011 BUDGET UPDATE
Mr. Garland went over the revenues and expenses in the general fund budget
and also the capital outlay budget. Mr. Garland told council that all of the
figures in the budget include a 2% wage increase for employees. Mr.
Garland recommended that we have a public hearing prior to a special
budget meeting in May and have second reading at the June Council
meeting.
Mr. Kinsaul went over the water & sewer budget. He said water revenue is
down, but they are down nationwide. Mr. Kinsaul recommended the
following increases for water and sewer rates: a 2.5% increase for water and
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sewer rates inside the City Limits and a 5% increase in water and sewer rates
outside the City Limits. He also recommends a $.50 increase in capital fund.
(Mr. Kinsaul passed out copies of the proposed rate changes to Council).
The meeting officially ended at 7:54 P.M.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
March 30, 2010
A Special Meeting of Darlington City Council was held in the
Conference Room at the Admin Building, 410 Pearl Street on March 30,
2010 at 6:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard
Garland, Ms. Hines, Mrs. Thomas, and Mr. Segars.
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Mayor Watkins said the purpose of the meeting was to discuss
the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance for the City of Darlington which is
a requirement for us for people in the flood plains of Swift Creek and Black
Creek so that they can buy flood insurance. Mayor Watkins said this would
be administered by our Codes Enforcement Officer, Mr. Lee Bass and no
cost is associated with it. Mr. Garland said any new buildings that are done
under the flood plan will have to be approved by FEMA as well as the
Building Official. Mr. Segars made a motion for Second Reading of Flood
Zone Management Ordinance for the City of Darlington. Ms. Hines
seconded the motion. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know when the State
mandated for the Cities and Counties to do this. Mr. Garland said this was
supposed to be a part of our 2006 International Building Code of Ordinance,
but Mr. Kendall did not attend the training or meeting and when the FEMA
official came in December, 2009, he and Mr. Langley found out we were
behind on this. Mr. Garland said the FEMA official told them at that time
we needed to adopt this ordinance and have it passed or properties will not
be able to get flood insurance. Mr. Garland said he doesn’t know when the
State first mandated this, but he knows it’s supposed to be an addition to the
2006 building code. Mr. Garland said the only time he knew anything about
this was in September, 2008 when FEMA came for a meeting the library and
they had some flood maps from 1928 and some flood maps from 1989 that
showed how the paths had changed at Black & Swift Creek. He said they
wanted to adopt the 1989 map over the 1928 map and they had to have a
City official sign off on it which he did. He said this is the only involvement
he has had with any of this before December, 2009. Mrs. Thomas said she
has her questions as to whether we’re in a flood plan at all of we’re only
talking about sixteen people. Mrs. Thomas said it has taken this many years
for this to come about and now they want to push this through. She said this
is more than she can comprehend. She said they don’t even have a map to
show Council of the areas in question. Ms. Hines made a motion to adopt
the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. The motion was seconded by
Mr. Segars. All voted for the motion except Mrs. Thomas.
Mayor Watkins said there is a need to go into executive session to discuss a
personnel issue. Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mr. Segars to
go into Executive Session at 6:35 P.M. to discuss a personnel issue.
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mr. Segars, to come out of
Executive Session at 7:07 P.M.
Mr. Segars made a motion to go into the budget work session at 7:07 P.M.
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The motion was seconded by Ms. Hines.
BUDGET WORK SESSION
Mr. Garland passed out a list of the City’s debt to Council. He also passed
out budget information to Council. He discussed the hospitality tax fund
balance and our payback beginning in June, 2010- $171,000. Mr. Garland
said we will have two gyms and the stadium, so we have to hold onto every
dollar we have because we are going to need it. Ms. Hines asked about the
lease for the stadium. Mr. Garland said the lease will be for twenty-two
years. The school district will approve this at their May meeting and we will
approve it at our June meeting. He said they looked at a “pour floor” on
Monday night, but they said once you pour this down the best that it will
look is the first day you do it and it never looks the same again. They also
looked at the wooden laminate flooring and it looks really nice. If
something happens to an area, all you do is replace the section that was
damaged. Mr. Segars asked Mr. Garland if he looked at the same type floor
that’s at the Recreation Department now, a rubber type floor. Mr. Garland
said there is too much expansion and contraction and wood holds up better
and there are fewer issues with cracking and bubbles. He said this is Mr.
Langley and Mr. Bradley’s recommendation. Mr. Garland said we will
maintain the floor with a large buffer machine. Mr. Segars said if we have a
wooden floor at the gym we will have to make sure people don’t come in
with a lot of sand on their shoes because the sand will grind up the floor. Mr.
Segars asked if the gym will be open without supervision. Mr. Garland said
during school hours the gym will be used for school activities which is part
of the lease. Mr. Garland said the supervision issue is something that they
will need to talk about. He said they will also have a police sub-station in
there on a limited basis. Mr. Garland said this is more of a recreation
department issue.
Mr. Garland told council he can’t give them any specific budget numbers
because he doesn’t have the price increase for our health insurance nor for
Allied Waste. Mr. Garland went over some of the line items in the budget.
He said we don’t need to go to raise millage this year nor water and sewer
rates. He said he would like to increase our capital fund by $.50 because we
need to build up the capital fund because we will have to pay this out for the
EDA grant. Mr. Garland said he has factored in a 2% raise for employees.
Mr. Garland said there are two priorities that he wants to undertake in the
new budget year: 1) Street Department taking over the building on
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Washington and W. Broad Street and 2) Codes Enforcement Office taking
down buildings. He said everything else will be on an as-needed basis. He
said budget wise, the City is in really good shape.
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, the
meeting adjourned at 7:40 P.M.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
February 2, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held, February
2, 2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Court Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilperson Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria
Hines, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Cannon and Mr. John Segars. Also present:
Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland,
Mr. Tony DiLeo, Mr. Kinsaul, Mr. Lee Bass, Mrs. Rita Pegelow, Ms. Susan
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Alexander, Mr. Winfred Flowers, Mr. Orlando Hudson, Ms. Cathy Elliott
and several visitors.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to the News & Press, The Morning
News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time of meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Councilman Chapman gave the invocation which was followed by the
Pledge of Allegiance.
OATH OF OFFICE
City Attorney, Mr. Newton Howle administered the Oath of Office to
Councilman Coleman Cannon.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chapman. Mrs. Thomas said
on page 7 line 4, the position that Mr. Langley will be taking was not named
and she remembers they discussed it. Correct minutes by adding that Mr.
Langley will be moving into the full-time position of Planning Director. Mr.
Cannon asked about the terms of employment beyond five years for Mr.
Langley. He said Council should leave it at five years. Ms. Hines said the
reason it was stated this way was because everybody’s retirement age is not
sixty-six. She said it was stated this way because they weren’t sure if Mr.
Langley’s retirement age is sixty-five or sixty-six. All members approved
minutes with noted change.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said The Business Pride Award was presented to Kistler-Hardee
Funeral Home and the Residential Pride Award was presented to Mr. Jerry
Wilson at 127 N. Ervin Street. Mr. DiLeo said signage was approved for the
Darlington County Elections & Registration at 131 Cashua Street. A new
sign was made for the YMCA. Habitat for Humanity is interested in a
building on Grove Street. Merle Norman is moving out of their current
location into the old Patricia’s Gift Shop Building. Mr. DiLeo said the Ken
Baker building is for sale. Mr. DiLeo said he already has sixteen grillers for
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the “Taste of Darlington” which will be Thursday, April 15th at the infield in
the garage at Darlington Raceway.
CHAMBER UPDATE – MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said they changed the hours of operation at the Chamber
from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM to 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. The Chamber had their
Annual Banquet last week. The Chamber presented Mrs. Denny Neilson
with Lifetime Achievement Award; Dr. David Eads was presented with
Citizen of the Year award; Billie Hardee Home for Boys was presented with
the Community Pride Award, Mr. Tony DiLeo was presented with
Outstanding Service Award. Educator of the Year award was presented to
Mr. Renny Johnson. Mr. Anthony Outlaw received Future Business Leader
of the Year. The Board Members of the Year were Ms. Pat Godbold and
Mr. Victor Pizzarro. The Legislative Luncheon will be held March 19th at
the Country Club. The Administrative Assistant’s Luncheon will be April
23, 2010. April 19, 2010 will be Premier Night plus they will have
moonlight golf.
ORLANDO HUDSON
Mr. Hudson thanked Council for the signs they put up at two entrances and
the sign they presented him with.
MCCLELLAN WALKWAY SIGNAGE
Mr. Garland said the walkway has been open for two weeks now and the
Police Department opens and closes it every morning and night. Mr.
Garland asked Council’s pleasure for putting up signage. Mrs. Cohen said
some of the businesses have signs hanging perpendicular to the store fronts
and this is one possibility. Mr. Chapman said maybe it can be done like the
parking signs right in front of the parking spaces. Mayor Watkins said an
overhead sign would be better. Mr. Chapman suggested asking DOT if we
put diagonal stripes on road so that it leads into the building. Mr. Chapman
said he doesn’t know if DOT will let us do this on Highway 52. He said he
can’t think of a better way to catch a motorist’s eye as they are driving on
the Square signifying that you can park on the backside of this building.
Mrs. Cohen asked if we would have a sign with this or just a crosswalk. Mr.
Chapman said we could write “pedestrian crossing” on the street. Mayor
Watkins said we can check with DOT to see what we can do. Council
discussed the wording for the sign and also where the sign should be placed.
Council agreed to put “Public Walkway” on the sign to place over the back
door. Mr. Cannon asked if we were going to put a canopy over the door.
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Mr. Garland said the average cost for something like this is over $1,500.
Mr. Garland said he and Mr. Langley will work with Mr. DiLeo on this. Mr.
Chapman said we could sell advertisements on the walls of the walkway and
have them sealed and locked and this would pay for an awning.
WINFRED FLOWERS – SPEEDING ON N. MAIN STREET
Mr. Winfred Flowers appeared before Council because of his concern for the
safety of pedestrians on North Main Street. Mr. Flowers said for safety
reasons, if the City could reduce the speed from 40 mph during school hours
to 25 mph during school hours. Ms. Hines said she has been trying for about
three years now to get something done on Pine Street where she lives. Mrs.
Cohen had a copy of a letter that the Police Department sent to DOT
requesting this change, which DOT approved. She said the change to make
the school zone change would have to be requested by the school district.
Mayor Watkins said when Mr. Flowers talked with him about this
previously he spoke with Police Chief Cox and asked him to weigh in on
this. Mayor Watkins said he mentioned the section between Blue & Main
Streets and Doneraille & Main Street. Mayor Watkins said he sees more of
a problem at Doneraille & Main Streets. Mayor Watkins suggested a 30
mph sign. Mayor Watkins said a recommendation from Council to DOT
should be done. Ms. Hines said Council needs to look at Pine Street as well.
Mr. Chapman made a motion to write a letter to DOT asking them to
reduce the speed limit to 30 mph during school hours with signage
(whether flashing or blinking lights). The motion was seconded by Mr.
Segars. Mrs. Cohen said to make sure it is specified this is between
Doneraille and Blue Street traffic. Mrs. Thomas said the Police Chief asked
for blinking lights on S. Main Street at different intervals to call drivers
attention to the fact this is a school zone, but DOT did not approve it. She
wanted to know why Council couldn’t ask DOT for blinking signs during
school hours. Mr. Cannon told Mayor Watkins, as a Council, a lot of times
they put things on the back burner and they forget about them. Mr. Cannon
told Mayor Watkins he told Ms. Hines they would talk about her situation
later, but he said why not do it all together and get it over with. Ms. Hines
amended Mr. Chapman’s motion to include making a recommendation
to DOT for Pine Street also. Mr. Garland asked Ms. Hines where on Pine
Street. Ms. Hines said there are speeders on Edwards Avenue and Pine
Street. Ms. Hines said there needs to be signs stating the speed limit in this
area before and after school. Ms. Hines said the hours would be the same as
on S. Main Street. Mrs. Cohen said we should let the Police Department
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specify the streets. Mrs. Cohen seconded the amendment. All approved
the motion.
ATM MACHINE AT CITY HALL
Mr. Garland said he, Chief Cox and Mr. Kinsaul feels an ATM machine
would be convenient in the hallway near the Police Department. Mr.
Garland said he would like to get permission from Council to talk with some
of the banks to see what type of deal we can get and see if there is any way
we can make some money off of it. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to direct
the City Manager to discuss with local banks any kind of arrangements
that allow us to put an ATM machine in the City Hall building. The
motion was approved by Mr. Segars. All approved the motion.
DISCUSSION – TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
Mr. Cannon with all of the disaster and tragedies, Council needs to act on
getting something done about people texting while driving. Mr. Cannon said
why you would debate about something when you can see the negative
results. Council discussed this among themselves for several minutes. Mr.
Segars, Ms. Hines, Mr. Chapman and Mrs. Cohen suggested that we
investigate the legalities of texting while driving a little more and come back
with a recommendation. Ms. Hines made a motion that we do fact
finding first before we have any more discussion about texting while
driving. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cannon. All approved the
motion except Mr. Chapman. It was suggested that administration check
with various entities to see what they are doing.
DISCUSSION OF STRAY DOGS IN DARLINGTON
Mr. Garland gave Council a copy of the City’s dog ordinance. Mr. Garland
read certain excerpts from our ordinance that would handle the stray dog
issue. Mayor Watkins read from the ordinance the section that says a police
officer/and or animal warden that sees a stray dog is to stop and secure the
dog. He said the Police Department is doing this and he is not sure that they
should. Mayor Watkins said the question is do we have enforcement or do
we have a legislative problem. Ms. Hines said our ordinance has a section
about dangerous dogs. Mayor Watkins said he doesn’t know if we can
specify if a particular breed of dog is dangerous or not. Ms. Hines said our
ordinance states that an animal is not a dangerous animal solely by virtue of
their breed. Mayor Watkins and Mrs. Cohen said they agree with what is
stated in our ordinance. Mayor Watkins said this is one of the questions that
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have been coming up-what makes that breed a dangerous animal. Mr.
Cannon said it should be dogs whether small or large. He said if a person
has a dog they need to keep a nice place for the dog and take care of him.
Mayor Watkins said our ordinance has a good definition of what constitutes
a “dangerous animal”. Mrs. Cohen asked if we have adequate personnel to
enforce the ordinance. Mr. Garland said whenever we get a complaint we
try to answer as best we can. Mr. Garland said he talked with Street
Superintendent, Mr. Merrill Sheffield and he said the traps only work about
30% of the time. Mr. Garland said the dogs are so good when they hear the
click of the motor, they run. Ms. Hines said the City needs to get more and
the traps they have are not large enough. Ms. Hines said they caught four
possums under her house. She said they set a small trap there, but the
possum was so big he went in the trap each time, ate the food and when the
animal warden came back there was nothing in the trap. Mrs. Thomas said
in the code prohibits any dog from running at large. Mrs. Thomas said if a
police officer, animal control person or anybody comes by, they should be
able to get the dog and take it to the pound. She asked if we were doing this.
Mayor Watkins said he doesn’t think we are doing this. Mayor Watkins said
he doesn’t think that every stray dog is being picked up by the animal
warden, it’s mainly by complaint. He said Council needs to decide if the
animal warden should pick up dogs by complaint or should he/she pick up
every dog that they see. Mrs. Thomas said the ordinance states that picking
up stray animals is to be enforced by all means of the City. Mayor Watkins
asked Council if they want to make it the duty of the police officer to pick
up dogs. Mrs. Thomas said we need to change our ordinance. Mrs. Cohen
made a motion for City Council to direct the City Manager to initiate
discussions with city personnel who are involved with animals as to the
merits of picking up any animal seen running loose versus strictly
working on demand approach of picking up animals. (Motion failed for
lack of a second) Mrs. Thomas made a motion to instruct the City
Manager look into what the City is obligated to at this time and what
should be change; whether it’s the responsibility of the Police
Department to pick up dogs or not. The motion was seconded by Mrs.
Cohen. All approved the motion.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland gave Council the Hospitality Bank Acct. balance $223,196.36; 2) Received award letter from the Forestry Commission for
hazard trees grant for $22,000. 3) Williamson Park Boardwalk project is
complete. Mr. Garland said they are waiting on the final inspection which
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will be sometime this month. 4) Work is finished on the exterior roof at
Darlington Jr. High gym. Mr. Garland said interior roof repairs should start
soon. Mr. Wallace Bradley thinks once this is done, we can start looking at
bringing bids before council for work on the floor. Mr. Garland said he will
try to have estimates at the next Council meeting on the floor. 5) PDRTA
will hold a community meeting on February 16, 2010 at 6:00 PM in the
courtroom. Mr. Garland said PDRTA wants to add four or five more routes
in Darlington and they want public comments. The buses will run more to
Hartsville and Florence and also circulate some in the City. PDRTA wants
public comment about times and where they should be picking people up. 6)
Mr. Garland reported on power outages during the ice storm. 7) Mr.
Garland said the preliminary audit reports should be finished in the next two
weeks. 8) Mr. Garland said SC DHEC will be offering free flu shots on
Friday, February 5, 2010 to all City employees, Council members and
spouses or family in the City Admin Building Conference Room. 9) Mr.
Garland asked Council to give them a day to unveil the two signs for
Orlando Hudson. It was decided that Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at
10:00 AM at the entrance near Huddle House for the sign unveiling. 10)
Economic Development Administration has started a new grant program,
(communities affected by unfair trade practices) and Darlington County is
eligible for this because of the closing of Wellman. Mr. Garland said instead
of having to put up a 50% match for an EDA grant, we only have to put up a
10% match. Mr. Garland said this money will be available a lot sooner. He
said he put in a pre-application last week requesting $2.1M which will cover
the interceptor line for Georgia Pacific; the head works improvements at the
old treatment plant, the new aerators for the current wastewater treatment
plants. Mr. Garland said these improvements put us in much better shape to
take care of the consent order from DHEC and a lot of our industrial needs
for the next few years. 11) The waterline project in West Darlington is
about 40% complete.
MR. KINSAUL – INFO
Mr. Kinsaul reported on sewer problems on the corner of Orange and Wells
Streets. He said they have encountered two sewer breaks and a possible
cave-in by the fire department. He said this will be a slow meticulous
process, but they are doing their best to reroute the traffic and keep the road
closed off.
INFO ONLY
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Mr. Garland said our new minimum wage for City employees will be $8.00
an hour. He said every employee that was making under $8.00 an hour was
adjusted. Mrs. Thomas asked if this was keeping us under budget. Mr.
Garland said there were no raises given to everybody, but he has factored in
a 2% raise for the 2010-11 budget years which will be approximately
$55,000. Mrs. Thomas asked Mr. Garland if he could change the hourly rate
for the employees without Council vote. Mr. Garland said the increase is
only for the employees that were making under $8.00 an hour. There were
only three employees whose hourly rate changed. Mr. Chapman asked Mr.
Garland the occupancy rate for the apartments. Mr. Garland told Mr.
Chapman he did not know what the rate is for phase 1.
REMINDERS
Monday, February 15, 2010 – President’s Day (Work day for City of
Darlington); Wednesday, February 17, 2010 – MASC Legislative Day in
Columbia, SC; Tuesday, March 2, 2010 @ 7:00 PM – Next Regular City
Council Meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mr. Segars, the meeting adjourned
at 8:47 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
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CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
January 5, 2010
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held, January 5,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Court Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilperson Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs. Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria
Hines, Mr. Chapman and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor Watkins,
City Manager, Mr. Rodney Langley, Assistant City Manager, Mr. Howard
Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Tony DiLeo, Mr. Kinsaul, Fire Chief, Jim
Stone and several visitors.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to the News & Press, The Morning
News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time of meeting.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 P.M. by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Councilwoman gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
OATH OF OFFICE
City Attorney, Mr. Newton Howle administered the Oath of Office to
Councilwoman Gloria Hines and Councilman John Segars.
PRESENTATION OF EMPLOYEE SERVICE PINS
Mayor Watkins said service pins are normally given out at our annual city
supper, but because of budget restraints the supper was cancelled in
November, 2009. Department Heads were to notify their employees that
were to receive service pins to be present at this meeting in order to get their
service pin. Mayor Watkins presented service pins to the employees that
were present at the council meeting. For the employees that were not
present, the service pins will be given to the department head to give to
them.
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EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
Mayor Watkins said each year a single employee is named “employee of the
Year”. Mayor Watkins said this is the highest honor an employee can
receive. This year’s “Employee of the Year” was presented to Mrs. Cheryl
DuBose. The employee of the year receives a check for $300.00 and three
days off with pay.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Mayor Watkins also presented Mr. Rodney Langley with a “Key to the City”
for his years of dedicated service to the City of Darlington.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. Ms. Hines said on
page 3 above “agenda change” where it says Mayor Watkins told Ms. Hines
Council agreed upon these terms, this was not said. Mayor Watkins told
Ms. Hines she was correct and we need to strike this from the minutes. All
approved minutes with noted change.
MS. SHARON BLACK – AIDS AWARENESS
Ms. Black said they are a community health center and they have offices
throughout the Pee Dee. She said one of the things they are working on is an
HIV/AIDS awareness on January 16, 2010 at Hartsville Country Club. Ms.
Black said South Carolina ranks in the top ten for AIDS cases and has been
consistent for the past few years. She said her organization would like to
come together and see what can be done to raise the issue within our local
community and also let people know what services are available. Ms. Black
told Council she would like for them to either come to the event or let people
know what services are available. Ms. Black left flyers that can be given out
in the community.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said signage was approved for U.S. Money Shop at 959 Governor
Williams Highway and Stephanie’s Income Tax Service at 1034 Pearl Street.
He said we had a successful “Open House” in December. Mr. DiLeo said he
mentioned previously that the District Manager of the Rotary Club called
him about a group coming from Brazil to visit our area. Mr. DiLeo said they
have it all resolved and the group will be here on March 20, 2010 to visit
The Darlington Raceway and areas around Darlington. Mr. DiLeo said
today they presented The Business Pride Award to Kistler-Hardee Funeral
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Home and the Residential Pride Award will be given to Mr. Jerry Wilson at
127 N. Ervin Street. Mr. DiLeo said our Annual Taste of Darlington will be
Thursday, April 15, 2010 at Darlington Raceway. Mr. DiLeo said the event
will be moved from the tent area to the garage area. Mrs. Thomas asked if
we were required to get a certain voltage for the lights downtown because
the lights look too dim the in downtown area. Mayor Watkins said we have
period lights downtown and they are designed to cast the light downward.
Mr. Langley asked Mrs. Thomas if she was talking about Christmas lights or
street lights. Mrs. Thomas said she is talking about the street lights. Mr.
Langley said one of the things they found was that a lot of the Christmas
lights were not burning and the reason being a lot had bad cells, but a lot of
them have been replaced now. There was one that had a broken wire that
Progress Energy will have fixed, so hopefully that lighting is better than it
was a week or so ago.
MR. MIKE WOODALL
Mr. Woodall said he appeared before Council four months ago and asked
Council to take a look and see what could be done at the intersection of Pearl
and S. Main Streets. Mr. Woodall said he has been in touch with Mr.
Michael Bethea and the State again and they have replaced the post at the
corner of his building and this is all they have done. He said they have not
braced the three posts like they said they would do. Mr. Woodall told
Council he came last time to ask for different resolutions from them and
asked them at the end of that time to get back with him and let him know
what they are going to do. Mr. Woodall said he can see tractor trailers
coming through town all the time and he doesn’t see very much being done
to stop them. Mr. Woodall told Council he is coming to them with another
resolution since he is getting nothing from the Council or from the City. He
proposed having a “No Right Turn” sign put up so that no trucks can make a
right hand turn off of Pearl Street onto S. Main Street and enforce it. Mr.
Woodall told Council he is not satisfied with their actions. He told Council
he’s asking for their help and if they aren’t going to give it to him he can’t
understand why. He said he’s not going to stop and he’s going to continue
to come back and one way or another he will get this done. Mr. Woodall
went on to tell Council he doesn’t know what it will take, maybe a removal
of all of them from Council, but he will get it done. He said this is just not
right; he’s laid out four months ago why it’s not right and he’s back tonight
to ask for Council help since they had one dissenter who did not want tractor
trailers to go around the Square and down S. Main Street. Mr. Woodall said
he doesn’t think his request his out of line and he don’t think it’s too much
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to ask of Council. Ms. Hines said she doesn’t think it would be such a big
problem to stop the trucks, but it’s left up to Mr. Langley and Mr. Garland
with Council’s approval. Mr. Woodall said it’s not going to cost the city
anything. The only thing it will cost the city is for the Police Department to
enforce this. Ms. Hines told Mr. Woodall after he came to the meeting four
months ago she was not aware that he had gotten this far. Mayor Watkins
told Mr. Woodall that Council doesn’t think the trucks should be in the city
to begin with. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Woodall he is asking Council to do
something, but they are not going to do that without hearing from everyone
because this is a bigger problem than with him. He said this decision affects
the downtown. Mayor Watkins said the City has an ordinance that restricts
trucks coming through the City. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Woodall that we
will look at this issue and if he does not agree with everything that Council
does then he’s sorry. Mayor Watkins said City Council represents everyone.
Mr. Woodall said understands we have an ordinance in place, but it’s not
being enforced. Mr. Woodall said he may be the only voice in this town that
saying something about this, but he can’t wait for something to happen to his
building. Mr. Woodall said the amount of damage that’s been done to the
city property on the Square should be important to the City. Mayor Watkins
told Mr. Woodall that the City has the same objective that he has. Mr.
Watkins said he doesn’t really want the trucks downtown whether they have
a bill of laden or not. Mr. Woodall said when the City passed the resolution
he thought that meant there would be no thru trucks allowed in the
downtown area. Mr. Woodall said he has created the other resolutions based
on the fact that we haven’t been able to get a law that says that trucks are not
allowed on the Square to begin with. He said unless you have the
enforcement of the law and of the signs people are going to continue to
break them. Mr. Woodall said before you can enforce anything you have to
have something in place. Mr. Woodall said he would rather scrap the last
two things he has proposed, both in September and tonight, for just no trucks
downtown and have directional signs showing the drivers an alternative way.
Mrs. Thomas suggested to Council to consider listing how many trucks the
police department has pulled and begin to study the enforcement of it. Mrs.
Thomas said maybe with the Police Department’s cooperation we can begin
to study whether we are having an increase or decrease of trucks going
downtown. She said we need to try and get a truck route and put up
directional signs for the drivers. Mayor Watkins said we will present the
following to the City Manager; 1) check ambiguity in the current law;
look at the feasibility of restricting tractor trailers 100% from the
Public Square and document in writing enforcement of our truck
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ordinance which Mr. Segars put in the form of a motion. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Chapman. All approved the motion.
REQUEST TO PURCHASE FORMER DARLINGTON BUILDERS
SUPPLY BUILDING
Mayor Watkins said there is a request from someone for us to sell them the
old Darlington Builder’s Supply building. Mr. Langley said the gentleman
did not offer an amount, but he did tell him that our plans were to remodel
the building and move the Street & Sanitation Department office there. Mr.
Langley said the gentleman wants to use the facility for a distribution point
for goods to be shipped to other places. Ms. Hines made a motion that we
keep the building for the purpose it was donated to us and not sell it.
Mr. Chapman said he disagrees and feel that we should hear what the
gentleman has to offer. Mr. Chapman said with the state of the economy it
may be a year or two before our department fully move in. Mayor Watkins
said it’s the fact that the building was donated to us. Mr. Chapman said we
can ask the person who gave us the building their feelings about it. Ms.
Hines amended her motion to include “if the gentleman offers us a
substantial amount of money to cover the cost of another building that
we could purchase or another area where we could build a building
without going into our funds she will agree to it. And also ask
Darlington Builders Supply owners how they will feel about this. Mrs.
Cohen seconded the motion. All approved the motion.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE REQUIRING PAYMENT OF
LICENSE FEES
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, First reading on
ordinance requiring payment of license fees on business occupations
and professions. All approved the motion.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE SETTING TAX LEVY
Upon motion of Ms .Hines, seconded by Mr. Chapman, First reading on
ordinance setting Tax levy for 2010. (125 Mils). All approved the
motion.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley said the roof at B.A. Gym is almost complete 2) Physical
work on the Carnegie Library is almost done. Mr. Langley said the next step
will be to organize themselves and committees and set up a group to try to
help us do some fundraising. 3) Letters were hand delivered to residents in
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the Country Club area concerning trash dumping. 4) Mr. Kinsaul gave
Council an update on the credit card machine. 5) Mr. Langley said the signs
for Orlando Hudson have been ordered. He ordered one for S. Main Street,
one for the City Limits sign on the Hartsville Highway and one for Orlando
to keep. 6) For info only – Has hired new Building Official by the name of
Lee Bass and he will start work on Wednesday the 15th. Mr. Langley said
Mr. Bass is certified in residential codes, but not in commercial codes. Mrs.
Thomas asked Mr. Langley to explain the negotiations concerning Mr. Bass’
salary since he doesn’t have certification in commercial building. Mr.
Langley said they originally had an idea for Mr. Bass’ salary and when they
made him the offer they cut this back with the understanding that as soon as
he gets the commercial certification, we will be able to increase his salary to
the amount they originally talked about. Mayor Watkins asked if not having
his commercial certification would prevent him doing certain aspects of his
job. Mr. Langley said he probably won’t be able to sign off on certain things
pertaining to commercial. Ms. Hines wanted to know if we gave Mr. Bass a
time limit to get his commercial certification. Mr. Langley said reasonable,
which is about six months to us.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said we have the preliminary approval for the weatherization
grant. 2) He applied for the hazard tree grant, which was hand delivered on
the 18th 3) the following streets are to be added to the waterline upgrade –
Syracuse Street (from Strickland Street to Tallulah Street), Player Street,
Davis and Harper Streets. 4) Also working on sewer plans for the same
streets. 5) As of today, we have over $202,000 in our hospitality tax funds;
6) Carnegie Library exterior has not been closed out yet due to a problem
with the brick work and concrete pad. 7) Williamson Park boardwalk should
be finished in the next two weeks. 8) Budget meetings for department heads
will begin next week and Council is invited to be present. 9) January 7, 2010
at 9:00 AM is the next Census Count Meeting and 10) Signed last document
on the McClellan Building.
REMINDER
January 18, 2010 – Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Segars made a motion to go into Executive Session at 8:55 PM to
discuss a personnel matter. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen.
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Mayor Watkins asked everyone to be excused except Council members.
Mrs. Cohen took the minutes after the executive session. The following
motion was approved unanimously by Council:
The salary of Mr. Howard Garland, who begins his tenure as City Manager,
would be set at $68,500 total annual salary including longevity and
education. The salary of Mr. Rodney Langley, who is moving out of the
position of city manager and into another full-time position for the City,
would be set at $50,000 total annual salary including longevity and
education. The term of employment for Mr. Langley would be up to five
years, and continued employment beyond the five-year mark could also be
considered. These salary changes take effect on Monday, January 18, 2010.
ADJOURNMENT
Did not have this info.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
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