Council Minutes
2009
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
December 1, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held, December
1, 2009 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. Cannon 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, Ms. Lois Edwards and
several visitors. News reporter Ms. Cathy Elliott.
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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 Cannon gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Ms. Hines made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cannon. Mrs. Thomas said
on page 5 at bottom of the page the word “reading was left off after the word
“second”. All approved minutes with noted change.
TREE CITY PRESENTATION - MS. LOIS EDWARDS
Ms. Lois Edwards said on behalf of the Forestry commission and the
National Arbor Day Foundation, she appeared before Council to present to
the City of Darlington their 12th year “Tree City USA” award. Ms. Edwards
said with the “Tree City USA” designation we are able to apply for federal
and state funds through their grant program. She said they did get some
stimulus money which will be sent to the Tree Cities first. She said the
funds will be distributed shortly to take down hazardous trees and plant new
ones. Ms. Edwards said this is a program where they will pay entities to
take down hazardous trees and plant new ones to create jobs. There is no
match for this grant. She said with their regular grant program they give
extra points since we are a “Tree City” to get that grant as well. Ms.
Edwards presented the City with a “Tree City Flag, a sign and a hat. Ms.
Edwards said they are working with Mr. Garland to get the application in.
She said the grant gives up to $1,000 per tree to take them down with a
maximum of twenty-six trees and up to $350 per tree to plant new ones.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said Beginning January 1, 2010 and ending March 31, 2010, The
Business Pride Award will be given to Kistler-Hardee Funeral Home and the
Residential Pride Award will be given to a home at 127 N. Ervin Street. Mr.
DiLeo said a contractor met with him for several hours concerning the
“Baker Street Café” building. He said the owner has agreed for him to get
someone to fix the building. Signage was approved for US Money Shop.
Mr. DiLeo said all the Christmas decorations are in and he is ready to start
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lighting them up. After the last session of court on December 11, 2009, we
can start playing the Christmas music. The Merchant’s Open House
downtown on the Square will be Thursday, December 3, 2009 from 5:00 PM
– 9:00 PM. Mr. DiLeo said in conjunction with the Arbor Day tree planting
at the Presbyterian Church, they will be remembering Mrs. Joby Bristow
because she has been on their board for fifteen years. Mr. DiLeo said he
received a call from the District Manager of the Rotary Club and there is a
group coming from Brazil to visit our area and they would like to visit the
Darlington Raceway in mid-March.
PRESENTATION TO ORLANDO HUDSON
Mayor Watkins presented Orlando Hudson with a “Key to the City” which
was mounted on a plague for his athletic accomplishments and for being a
role model for the youth of Darlington. Mr. Hudson said he has several
concerns that he wanted to discuss: Mr. Hudson said he has the CATCH
(Curing Autism Through Change and Hope) Foundation. Mr. Hudson said
by playing in Arizona he has had the opportunity to talk to a couple of
people that has a great autistic school in Arizona and they have offered to
come here for free and give some of the teacher’s proper lessons on working
with autistic children. He said this will give the children a chance to get a
proper education. Mr. Hudson told Council he would bring the teachers to
meet them once they get here. Secondly, he said he received a call about the
swimming pool area being moved from B.A. Gary and also the football field
looking the way it does. Thirdly, he said we lost the race and he sees they
are building new stands. Mr. Hudson said he notices not too much money is
being put into the area where the pool is, but a new apartment building is
downtown. He said he is going by what he sees and what people call and
tell him when he’s away. Mr. Hudson wanted to know how much it will
take to redo B.A. Gary gym, the swimming pool at B.A. Gary and the old
football area. Mayor Watkins said we just accepted a bid to replace the roof
at B.A. Gary Gym. He said we are planning to do the floor also. Mr.
Langley said we are going to do the ceiling inside as well. Mr. Langley said
he got prices on resurfacing the parking area, replacing some of the boards,
redoing some of the plumbing and some other things which is approximately
$38,000-$40,000. This is for the building itself and outside of the building.
Mr. Langley said we spent around $160,000 to fix the B.A. Gary Swimming
Pool and it’s in the best shape it’s been in 30 years or more. Mr. Langley
said we asked Senator Malloy to help us get a grant to help with the
renovations. Ms. Hines said the inside of the football field has been gutted
and at one point we thought the school district was going to give us the
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football field, but now they have changed their minds and offered us a long
term lease instead so that the school district will have more room for
parking. Ms. Hines said she doesn’t know if the school district plans to tear
the stadium down completely, but they said they want to use the area for
parking for adult education. Mayor Watkins told Ms. Hines that Council
agreed upon these terms. Mr. Hudson said it would not be a good idea for
the school district to tear down a historic building such as this. Mr. Langley
said the best person for us to talk with would be Mrs. Joyce Thomas who is
on the school board. He said Mrs. Thomas has been the person he has been
able to contact and talk with concerning the stadium. Mr. Hudson’s final
request from Council is that they get more African-American history in the
library. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Hudson that Council is receptive to what
he’s asking, but the County controls the library.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there is no objection from Council, he would like to
add item #8-A – Resolution stating our opposition to Bill H3272 referred to
as the Point of Sale Bill. Mayor Watkins said this bill would eliminate point
of sale assessment from Act 388 and limit increases in fair market value of
sold properties to 15 percent at the point of sale. This is in addition to the
existing 15 percent cap at reassessment. Mayor Watkins read the resolution
stating Council’s opposition to Bill H3272. This bill would protect rapidly
appreciating property from ever being taxed at 100 percent of its value and
shift more of the cost of city, county and school operations to businesses and
owners of less rapidly appreciating property. Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen,
seconded by Mrs. Thomas, for The City of Darlington to approve
resolution asking the General Assembly to defeat H3272, the point of
sale bill. All approved the motion.
GOLDIE & ASSOCIATES – TERESA YOUNG
Ms. Teresa Young, a Geologist and Environmental Scientist with Goldie &
Associates which is a twenty-five year old company in Columbia. Ms.
Young said her company is offering grant writing services to the City of
Darlington on some of their larger water & sewer projects. Mayor Watkins
said when we do CDBG grants we rely on Pee Dee Regional COG and
wanted to know from Ms. Young if this over lapped with what her company
was doing. Ms. Young said sometimes it does, but she has found that
oftentimes COG personnel is over worked and they usually appreciate the
assistance they can get from the City or the County. Ms. Young said her
company will also be looking at EDA grants. Mr. Garland said Ms. Haidee
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Stith brings the political connections to this arrangement, which is
something we wanted to work on. Mr. Garland said Ms. Stith has extensive
connections at the federal and state levels which we will try to use to get
earmarks to go along with these projects. Mr. Garland said we’ve already
gotten a verbal commitment for an EDA grant, but we have got to match that
with $900,000. Mr. Garland said we were going to try to work with Ms.
Young and Ms. Stith to try and get this money. Ms. Hines asked Ms. Young
if her fee would be included in the grant or would we have to pay this
separately. Ms. Young said normally this fee would be separate, but there
are some instances where grants allow you to be reimbursed for this. Ms.
Young said she can work things out with her clients as to how they can pay
her. Mayor Watkins told Ms. Young that Council would allow Mr. Howard
Garland to continue dialog with her. Mrs. Thomas said when she came on
Council we had COG helping to write grants, then Council had a lengthy
discussion that the Planner would write grants. She asked if we are going to
be changing the duties of the planner and their income. Mr. Garland said
every CDBG grant that the city has ever gotten was written by the COG.
Mrs. Thomas asked what kinds of grants the Planner would write. Mr.
Garland said the Planner’s position will be discussed in executive session.
MR. JEFF JEFFERS – LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
Mr. Jeffers said he appeared before Council about three years ago because of
some unpaid invoices that the Little League Baseball owed him when Mr.
Robert Jones was working with the league. Mr. Jeffers said he received a
call from the Recreation Department saying they had a new person involved
and they think they would be responsible. Mr. Jeffers said he decided to let
the new person charge items for over $1,800 made one payment $400 and
was never paid anything else. Mr. Jeffers said he filed a judgment for
$7,000 (with interest the amount is now close to $14,000) against Mr. Robert
Jones and another judgment against Darlington Little League for $1,400.
Mr. Jeffers said the second person that owes $1,400 is Ms. Jennifer Hooks.
Mr. Jeffers said the league has operated the league for half a dozen years and
has not turned in a budget. He said they have changed banks a half dozen
times and operated on cash last year. Mr. Jeffers said he’s just trying to find
a way to get his money. Mr. Jeffers said he has yet to get answers as to,
does the league have insurance and if so, who pays for it and how much does
the City give the league each year. Mayor Watkins said this is public
information and we can give him this info. Mr. Jeffers said he doesn’t want
to take this any further, he just wants to get his $8,500 (forget the interest)
and never do business in Darlington any more if they want him to. Mayor
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Watkins asked Mr. Jeffers if he thinks the City is liable. Mr. Jeffers told
Mayor Watkins that if one person signed up at the Recreation Department,
then he does feel we are liable. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Jeffers since he
feels the City is liable, we should contact the City Attorney. Mr. Jeffers said
the league has to answer to somebody and since the City gives them money,
they should have to answer to us. Mr. Jeffers said the league does not have a
record to show what they did with the money. Mayor Watkins told Mr.
Jeffers that he sympathizes with his situation, but we are not ones to accept
liability for something we don’t control just because we give them money.
Mr. Jeffers wanted to know who controls the league. Mayor Watkins said he
is sure they have a Board. Mr. Jeffers said the league is using a City facility
and the City is giving them money and they don’t care what they do with it.
Mr. Langley said the field is actually school property, but we have a joint
use agreement with them. Mr. Cannon asked Mr. Jeffers if he has ever been
before County Council and Mr. Jeffers said “no”. Mr. Cannon suggested
that Mr. Jeffers go before County Council and explain the situation to them.
Mr. Cannon said he doesn’t see why no one ever looked into this after Mr.
Jeffers came to Council the first time. Ms. Hines asked Mr. Jeffers if he
would be satisfied if he got the $1,500 since this is two separate incidents.
Mr. Jeffers said he would like to get the entire $8,500. Mr. Jeffers said he
feels that the City is involved because he received a call from Mr. Wallace
Bradley stating that he thinks the new people will be good for the money.
Mr. Orlando Hudson asked Mr. Jeffers if there was anyway possible that he
could have a one-on-one meeting with the persons involved. Mr. Jeffers
said Senator Malloy wrote a letter to the persons involved but was unable to
get the persons together for a meeting. Mr. Cannon said there should be
some way that we can work with Mr. Jeffers. Ms. Hines said if this
happened three years ago and was never resolved, we should try to do
something to help. Mr. Langley said there is money in Mr. Bradley’s budget
and it is divided among the teams. Mrs. Thomas said she believes the
Mayor is right when he said we need to establish who is liable because they
have an agreement with the Little League Association and they are supposed
to abide by those rules as far as collecting money from the players and their
accountability for it. Ms. Hines asked if there is any funding that the City
has where we can give Mr. Jeffers something. Mayor Watkins said before
we give funds we are establishing a precedent of admitting liability. He said
we should seek advice from our lawyer about our liability. Ms. Hines said
the reason why she said this was because Mr. Bradley allowed Ms. Hooks to
come back and coach a second time knowing she owed Mr. Jeffers money.
Mr. Langley said before the City puts any more money into those programs,
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maybe we need to divert some of that money toward paying off the bill. Mr.
Garland said we have the hospitality money that is to be used for tourism
and recreation and maybe we can use some of it to pay off part of the debt.
Ms. Hines made a motion for Mr. Garland to look into us using part of
the hospitality money to pay Mr. Jeffers part of his money. Mrs.
Thomas added that there was not accountability for what was made on
concessions and any other income. She said they refused to bring their
records and we didn’t keep control of the situation. Mrs. Thomas said if
we’ve got enough money to give Mr. Jeffers all of his money since he said
he is willing to drop the interest. Ms. Hines made a motion that Mr.
Garland negotiate with Mr. Jeffers for the possible use of hospitality
funds to see if we can do anything financially for part or all of his
money. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Thomas. Mr. Segars said
before we write the first check, we need to find out where the County stands
on this because the County employee is the one who is running this league
and overseeing it. Mrs. Cohen said the hospitality tax money is for facilities
and not for equipment. She said it is appropriate for us to look into how we
are supporting the little league. Ms. Hines restated her motion: Ms. Hines
made a motion that we ask Mr. Garland to look at possible funding if it
is, then negotiate with the County and see if we can do this out of
hospitality tax money. All vote for the motion except Mrs. Cohen and
Mr. Segars who opposed. Motion carries.
TREES ON SECOND BLOCK OF CASHUA STREET
Mr. Langley said we wrote a letter to DOT about helping us with the
drainage problem on Cashua Street. Mr. Langley said they have tried to
camera the line, but was unable to get through from either end because it is
completely closed in with roots. Mr. Langley said they brought in a root
cutter and put it on our machine, but it just didn’t have the power to cut
through it. Mr. Langley said DOT said the only way to solve the drainage
problem is to put a parallel line in which will involve taking out the trees in
front of Dr. Eads’ office on the opposite side of the street to Spring Street.
He said DOT has to do away with the metal grated catch basins on the street
and put in the ones inserted in the curb. Mr. Langley said he feels like they
will join us in this effort to get this done. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Langley
if he was prepared to make a recommendation. Mr. Langley said he is not
prepared to tell them this is what we should do, but he wanted to see if they
wanted to proceed. Mr. Garland said he just got a grant application from the
Forestry Commission ten days ago and it is due by December 18th. He said
he needs guidance from Council as to what to do. Mr. Garland said they can
put a plan together in a quick amount of time with help from an arborist that
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would come in and consult with us and also with help from DOT. Mr.
Langley said if DOT is not going to help us, then we don’t need to take the
trees down. Mr. Cannon made a motion for administration to get all
information they need and go ahead and apply for the grant. The
motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. All approved the motion.
SPENDING PROCESS – MS. GLORIA HINES
Ms. Hines asked that Mr. Langley and Mr. Garland check with the treasurer
before purchasing anything so we want over spend. Mayor Watkins said he
hopes this is the way they have been doing things. Mrs. Thomas said while
we were discussing the budget we were talking about ways we could cut
back on spending, but it seems like we are spending bits of money in
different places that we didn’t account for when we were discussing the
budget. She said if we start hiring for all kinds of positions, she wonders
where we are going to get the money from. Mayor Watkins said the
treasurer would know what’s in the bank and she would have to alert Mr.
Langley if we need to get funds from the reserve fund. Mrs. Thomas asked
if we are allowed to go into the reserve fund just like that and are we
allowed to establish positions without it being in that particular budget year.
Mayor Watkins said if there is a position already funded administration has
the right to replace people. Mayor Watkins said administration would have
to come to Council before creating a position. Ms. Hines said all she is
asking is that Mr. Langley and Mr. Garland check to see if we have the
money before they buy anything.
MISC. INFO – MR. COLEMAN CANNON
Mr. Cannon brought up about pit bulls again. He said something needs to be
done about the dogs roaming the streets.
Mr. Cannon said he sees how dirty our streets are around the Square and in
different areas. He said when he was in Memphis he noticed they had a
machine about the size of a four wheeler which had a big tank on the back
and a vacuum on the front to keep the streets clean. Mr. Cannon said the
machine cleans the streets really good. Ms. Hines said it would be cheaper
on gas to operate a machine this size. He said we need to look into getting
one of these to keep our streets clean. He also noticed they had small police
cars. Ms. Teresa Young said there are a lot of grants available for cities that
want to go green. She said it goes toward that type of program, anything
that you can do to cut waste, gas, etc. Mr. Cannon said the City needs to do
something like this to save us some money.
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Mrs. Thomas asked if we are in control of the dog catcher. She said the dog
catcher does not patrol the City enough. Mrs. Thomas said too many people
are walking their dogs and they don’t have tags on them. Mr. Cannon said
vicious dogs need to be registered.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Update on B.A. Gym. 2) Will be taking bids on the floor and will bring
info back to Council. 3) Mr. Langley said he met with Mr. Michael Bethea
with SCDOT and they have agreed to straighten the pipes at 101 Pearl Street
and brace them which will add strength to them. Mr. Langley said they
discussed signage, but they will not put directive signs to businesses but they
will put signs on Avenue D pointing toward the Florence area so they can hit
the By-Pass. He said they will not put a sign coming into town that saysGeorgia Pacific Shipping; this is something we have to do or get Georgia
Pacific to help us with this. Mr. Langley said he talked to the Police
Department and they are calling some of the truck dispatchers letting them
know not to come through the City of Darlington unless they have a bill of
laden for Darlington. 4) Mr. Langley said they have been having an issue
with yard trash collection in the Country Club area. He said there are houses
that are in the city limits, houses that are out the city limits and vacant lots
around. He said people put yard trash in front of or on the vacant lots and
this is fine and we don’t mind picking it up, but the problem is that people
that are not city residents are putting their trash on the lots as well. Mr.
Langley said we can’t distinguish which is which, and this means the city
residents are paying for people not in the city limits to have their yard trash
picked up. Mr. Langley said he needs some guidance from Council as to
how to handle this situation. Mr. Langley said the vacant lot that the
residents are putting the trash on is in the City Limits, so we are picking up
the yard trash. Mr. Langley said it’s not fair to the people who pay water,
sewer and sanitation. Mr. Langley said we could write a letter explaining
the situation to the surrounding effected areas. 5) Mr. Langley said Mrs.
Fulton in the Water Department has been working on getting information on
a credit card machine. She has talked with the County about who they use
and also with MASC. 6) Mr. Langley said Mr. Clyde Scott called him
today and asked him if City Council would look into the possibility of a
traffic light at Spring and Cashua Streets. Mr. Langley said this is a tough
area to get out of at 5:00 and with school traffic. Mr. Langley said if
Council considers this, we would have to ask DOT to look into it. Mayor
Watkins said he hates to see traffic lights in residential areas. He said you
can turn off Cashua Street onto Oak Street and go around to avoid the traffic.
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Mrs. Cohen said she’s not sure this is that pressing. Council agreed for Mr.
Langley to check with DOT and see what they say. 7) Mr. Langley said
he’s working on a sign for Orlando Hudson to honor him. Mr. Langley said
he went to Latta, SC to see what type signs they had, but he didn’t see
anything on their city limits signs. He said they had something on their
water tank though. Mr. Langley said he and Ms. Hines talked and he feels
appropriate language under city limits signs should read, “Home of Orlando
Hudson – Major League Baseball Player”. Ms. Hines asked about the
possibility of putting this on the water tank on Pine Street. Mr. Langley said
he would love to do this, but it would be terribly expensive. Mr. Segars
wanted to know what time frame we will keep the sign up. Mayor Watkins
said he really don’t think we will need to worry about this. Mr. Langley said
DOT told him the sign has to be green with white letters. Mrs. Cohen asked
if we could put up a “35 mph sign unless otherwise posted”. Mayor Watkins
asked Mr. Langley to bring back a couple of ideas about the sign. Upon
motion of Mrs. Thomas, seconded by Ms. Hines, for the City to put up
signs at the City Limits honoring Orlando Hudson. All approved the
motion.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the final walk through at the Carnegie Library Building
will be December 17th at 2:00 PM. 2) McClellan Update- Landmark’s
Attorney didn’t get with Mr. Bill Howle, but he is supposed to meet with
him tomorrow at 9:00 AM and will look over what they are proposing. 3)
Prescott Insurance has moved into their retail space and will open either
tomorrow or December 3rd. They will operate an insurance company and
Boost Mobile phone service. 4) Water line grant update – Conder
Construction was low bidder for the project and they got their business
license today and should begin work sometime this week. 5) Mr. Garland
asked for an executive session to discuss the following: 1. Planning position;
2. Goldie & Associates-contract matter.
Mr. Langley said we’ve got a really good selection of candidates for
Building Inspector. Mr. Langley said he would like to have the person in
place by the first of the year. Ms. Hines asked them to consider a person
that has people skills.
REMINDERS
December 4, 2009 – Arbor Day Celebration
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December 24, 25, & 28, 2009 – Christmas Holidays
January 1, 2010 – New Year’s Holiday
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mr. Segars made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:45 PM to
discuss a personnel matter. The motion was seconded by Ms. Hines.
Mayor Watkins said also to note that we will also be discussing negotiated
property.
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Segars, to end Executive
Session at 10:25 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the meeting
adjourned at 10:30 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
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CITY OF DARLINGTON
PUBLIC HEARING
November 3, 2009
A Public Hearing of Darlington City Council along with
concerned citizens was held November 3, 2009 at 6:30 P.M. in the City
Council Chambers of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street to provide an opportunity
from the community to voice opinions pro or concerning rezoning property
between Allen & Kirven Streets. This section of property that lies parallel to
S. Main Street and is owned by Salem Baptist Church and they plan to use
area to provide over parking for the church. Mayor Watkins said the legal
requirements have been met. Mayor Watkins opened the floor for comments
from the public. No one wanted to speak.
Present at the public hearing: Mayor Anthony Watkins,
Councilpersons, Hines, Thomas, Cohen, Chapman, Cannon and Segars.
Also present was City Manager, Rodney Langley, Assistant City Manager
Howard Garland, and a room full of concerned citizens.
There were no questions or comments from the public, so Mayor
Watkins ended the Public Hearing at 6:35 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
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CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
November 3, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held November
3, 2009 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. Rodney Langley, Assistant City
Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. “Sandy” Kendall,
Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Tony DiLeo, Ms. Susan Alexander and a host of
visitors. News reporter Ms. Cathy Elliott.
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 Segars gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there is no objection from Council, he will move item
#12 – second reading on ordinance to rezone property between Allen &
Kirven Streets, to take place immediately following the reading of minutes.
Also the City Manager requested we add an item - approval of bids for B.A.
Gary Gym. This will be item #8-A.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting and one special meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Chapman. Mr. Segars amended his motion to include the minutes of the
regular meeting, one special meeting and a work session. Mrs. Thomas
said on page 2 of the regular meeting minutes under “Main Street” update
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to change the date to December 6th instead of December 5th. On page 8 of
regular meeting minutes under City Manager’s update - “Mr. Woodall was
present…include the words “in downtown Darlington on Square at Main
and Pearl Streets”. All approved minutes with noted changes.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO TRANSFER CITY
OWNED PROPERTY
Upon motion of Mr. Cannon, seconded by Ms. Hines, Second Reading
on ordinance to rezone property between Allen Street and Kirven
Street, which unanimously carried.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said signage was approved for Darlington County Bank on
Orange Street and Verizon Wireless formerly Alltel. Beginning January 1,
2010, The Business Pride Award will be given to Kistler Funeral Home and
the Residential Pride Award will be given to a home at 127 N. Ervin Street.
Mr. Tommy Taylor is drawing up landscape plans for them to look at for the
beautification project at City Hall, Council on Aging Building and the City
Admin Building. Mr. DiLeo said he is already working on the Christmas
decorations and the Christmas music. Mr. DiLeo said he and Mr. Langley
met with the owner of Baker Street Café and he has asked Mr. DiLeo to get
a contractor to look at the building and see what it will take to get the
building back in shape. Mr. DiLeo said the Halloween Dress-Up Contest
last Friday was a success. He said the best business participation came from
Carolina Bank. Raven’s Closet was chosen for “Most Original” costume.
There was a tie between The Jeweler’s Bench and Med Center Pharmacy for
the “Cutest Costume”. Open House downtown will be Thursday, December
3, 2009 from 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The parade and tree lighting ceremony
will be on Sunday, December 6, 2009 beginning at 4:00 PM.
CHAMBER UPDATE – MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said the Chamber hired Ms. Erma Goss and she will be over
member services. Ms. Alexander said Ms. Goss’ job will be to recruit new
members and make sure they are educated in all services provided by the
Chamber. Ms. Alexander said the first annual “Taste of the Farm” was a
success. The Chamber will be having their board retreat on November 6,
2009 to finalize plans for 2010. Ms. Alexander said they are adding a lot of
new events for 2010 such as Premier Night & Moonlight Golfing in April,
2010. They will have a Teachers Appreciation Reception next year the
Friday night prior to Teacher Appreciation Week. The Chamber will have a
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statewide Bar-B-Que Cook-Off next year probably in November of next
year. Ms. Alexander said they will be adding a spring golf tournament. She
said they will have one tournament in the spring @ Darlington Country Club
and the one in the fall @ Beaver Creek. She said they will be adding a Nonprofit Day where they will be showcasing all of the non-profits in the area
and all of the good things they do for the County. Ms. Alexander said next
year they are going to try to do a “Trunk or Treat” on the Square for
Halloween. On Thursday, November 12, 2009 will be a ribbon cutting &
Business After Hours at Scorpitt Wellness & Rehabilitation in Lamar, SC.
On November 26th & 27th the Chamber will be closed for Thanksgiving.
MS. MARY CAPERS - DARLINGTON MEMORIAL CEMETERY
Ms. Capers appeared before Council to ask for $2,000 to help purchase and
install raised footstones at the gravesite of 155 veterans buried in the
Darlington Memorial Cemetery. The cost of the footstones and installation
of the footstones is $5,500. The footstones will help to identify the
gravesites of veterans where headstones are frail and are flat to the ground
surface. Mayor Watkins said without objection from Council they will
receive as information for consideration.
BID APPROVAL FOR CDBG WATER LINE GRANT
Mr. Langley said they had the bid opening October 8, 2009. He said they
had sixteen bidders and the low bidder was from Conder Construction, Inc.
with a bid of $395,468.00. Mr. Langley said Davis & Brown looked over
the bids and documentation and said everything was in order and
recommended that we accept low bid from Conder Construction, Inc. Upon
motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to accept low bid of
$395,468.00 from Conder Construction, Inc. out of Lugoff, SC. Mrs.
Thomas wanted to know if this was the same company that did the southeast
area. Mr. Langley said, “No”, this will be the first time we’ve used this
company. Mr. Cannon wanted to know how much the highest bid was. Mr.
Langley said the high bid was $745,533 and another for $700,000, one for
$464,000, and some in between these amounts. All approved the motion.
BID APPROVAL FOR B.A. GARY GYM
Mr. Langley said he checked to see if he could find out about the roof. Bids
were received from Harvey Singletary Roofing for $32,500; Linton &
McKenzie Construction for $34,650; Gardner Roofing $30,720 and any
wood work would be additional. Mr. Bradley has worked with Mr.
Singletary in the past and is pleased with his work and recommends that we
15
use his company. Mr. Langley said Mr. Singletary’s price includes the
entire gym roof. Mr. Langley said the price does not include the wings on
the gym because we are not having a problem with them. Mrs. Cohen
made a motion to accept low bid of $32,500 from Harvey Singletary
Roofing from Lake City, SC. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars.
All approved the motion.
DISCUSS TRIBUTE FOR ORLANDO HUDSON
Mayor Watkins said he feels we need to honor Mr. Orlando Hudson,
professional baseball player for the L.A. Dodgers for his accomplishments.
Mayor Watkins told Council he didn’t think they could possibly decide
tonight the best way to honor Mr. Hudson. Mayor Watkins said he can
contact one of Mr. Hudson’s former teachers and she can invite Mr. Hudson
to meeting when he is home and Council can present him with a “Key to the
City’ and a proclamation. Mayor Watkins suggested putting up a sign at the
entrance to Darlington that states, “Welcome to Darlington – Home of or
Birth Place of Orlando Hudson. Ms. Hines said she was the one who
requested to have this on the agenda and she would like to see a sign
entering into Darlington that says, “Home of Orlando Hudson”. Mayor
Watkins said we will look into doing something like this. Mr. Langley
asked Council if they wanted him to check on prices of signs.
DISCUSSION OF COUNCIL’S INTEREST TO RIDE IN PARADE
Mayor Watkins asked Council’s interest in riding the float in the Christmas
Parade this year. Mr. Langley said the price of the float is $375.00. Mrs.
Thomas said she doesn’t know if anyone recognized the girl’s softball team
that went to the finals or playoffs, but if Council members don’t want to ride
the float, maybe the girl’s softball team can ride the float. Mayor Watkins
said we can invite them and they can wear their uniforms. Mayor Watkins
told Council if any of their grand children want to ride the float they can
also. There was no objection from Council members.
DISCUSSION OF CHRISTMAS BONUS FOR CITY EMPLOYEES
Mr. Langley said this is budgeted every year and is included in the
employee’s salary. The amount of the Christmas bonus is 15% of a month’s
salary. Any employee that has not worked at least six months will not be
entitled to a Christmas bonus. Six months to one year is prorated.
(Schedule of bonus to be attached to final minutes) Upon motion of Mr.
Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines to approve Christmas bonuses for
employees, which unanimously carried.
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SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO TRANSFER CITY
OWNED PROPERTY
Mr. Garland said he received McClellan Manor’s version of the walkway
easement yesterday. He said they made some changes as of this afternoon.
Mr. Garland said at the bottom of page 1 the walkway hours was changed to
include “walkway to be open whenever public events is on the Square”. On
page 2 under walkway easement maintenance the grantee has agreed to take
up half the cost of maintenance expenses which includes replacing, cleaning
and any expenses relating to this. McClellan Manor, LLC has also agreed to
take up all the cost for heating and air. He said they can control the
walkway heating and air because they have a thermostat that is locked in one
of the janitor rooms. Mr. Garland said they talked about paving the parking
lot in back, but because of our budget situation, it was recommendation of
staff that we not pave the parking lot, but that we clean the sand off of it.
We will then have the parking lot sealed and restriped. City Attorney, Mr.
Newton Howle said McClellan Manor, LLC is signing a noted mortgage to
provide for payment of three different loans. Mr. Howle said his
understanding of the lease agreement for the retail spaces is that the City will
be the tenant for retail spaces. Mr. Howle said the City would want to
control who occupies the retail spaces otherwise McClellan Manor would
determine what tenants they will have in there. Mr. Howle said he has
looked over the easement and everything is in order. Mrs. Cohen had
concerns about who would be liable if someone were to get hurt in the
walkway. Mr. Howle said the owner, which is McClellan Manor, LLC
would be the responsible party. Mrs. Cohen said we are required by the
agreement to carry certain set amounts of liability insurance at a minimum.
She said we should have it in the record that the City puts these properties
(the walkway and retail spaces) include them in our general liability
insurance as specified in the retail agreement. Mrs. Cohen said this will be
for the retail and any additional that we need for the walkway. Mr. Howle
said the rental agreement with McClellan Manor, LLC provides for us to
carrying liability insurance as well as them carrying liability insurance. Mr.
Howle said McClellan Manor, LLC will carry coverage on the structure
itself in the event of a loss or fire. Mr. Howle told Council that the property
does not transfer tonight, the property transfers when we are satisfied and
McClellan Manor is satisfied with all portions of the sub-agreement. Upon
motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to approve second
on ordinance to transfer city owned property. All approved the motion
except Mrs. Thomas and Ms. Hines.
17
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley said they are in the stages of making plans for the use of
B.A. Gary Gym 2) Mr. Langley reported on the status of the Virgil Wells
football field. He said he talked with Dr. Knight and she said we may
consider a long-term lease on the field instead of full ownership. Mr.
Langley said he told her we would consider a long term lease for use of the
facility. 3) Mr. Langley said he tried to meet with Mr. Roy Parnell, but they
did talk about the truck traffic and also about the drainage problem on
Cashua Street. Mr. Langley said the City does not have the manpower or
equipment to solve the flooding problem. He said Mr. Parnell referred him
to Mr. Michael Bethea, but did not get a chance to talk with him yet. He
said maybe by the end of the week he will be able to meet with him and try
to come up with recommendations about what to do about the truck traffic.
4) Mr. Langley said the employees he has heard from seem to be okay with
the fact that we are not going to have the City supper and that they will
receive some of those funds in the form of a check. 5) Mr. Langley said he
had a visit by one of the County council people two or three weeks ago and
he gathered from the meeting he was being asked for the City to consider
collecting garbage outside the City Limits. Mr. Langley said when you start
picking and choosing, you’re going to create a problem. He said he went to
a meeting today with some of the people interested in the City picking up
their garbage and he told them that the City can’t afford to do this, nor do
they have the manpower or equipment. Mr. Langley told Council since he
was speaking on behalf of the City he wanted them to know that he told the
group we would not be interested at this time. 6) Mr. Langley said it has
been mentioned over the years about the City getting a credit card machine.
Mr. Langley said he is going to ask Mr. Kinsaul and his Department look
into the possibility of the City putting in some type of credit card system.
Mr. Langley said we get a lot of requests from people that want to pay their
bills by credit card. Mr. Langley said we will be looking into this and will
come back to Council with a proposal.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) The Carnegie Library exterior renovation is complete. 2) Council will
need to meet with City staff to determine what will be done with the
Carnegie Library Building. Mr. Garland said he has made repeated inquiries
to the chairperson of the committee, but she will not talk with him. Mr.
Garland told Council it will be their choice as to what they want to do with
the building as long as it’s for public use. Mrs. Thomas said whatever we
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decide to do with the building we would need to establish a position as
overseer or caretaker. Mayor Watkins said there’s expense involved with
these things. Mr. Garland said we could use the building for a community
center, museum or whatever council wants it to be. Mayor Watkins said the
County does not have adequate display space in their court. He said maybe
we could partner with the County to provide a place to rotate exhibits and
displays. Mayor Watkins said it would be a County Museum. He said he
would think that the County would have more resources than the City does.
Mrs. Thomas said there is a great need for a meeting place and wanted to
know if the building has easy access for handicaps. Mr. Garland said the
biggest problem we would have with this building since it is historical, we
can’t modify the building to make it handicap accessible, but the architect
plans to install a lift to get people to the top floor. Mr. Garland said this
topic is worth discussing in a work session and when we bring in a new
planner we can let them take a look at this and make recommendations to
Council. 3) Williamson Park boardwalk is 35% complete. 4) Mr. Garland
said he and Mr. Kinsaul met with Mr. Phil Golf, Assistant Director of Pee
Dee Regional COG and EDA Representative SC, Ms. Robin Cooley on
October 21, 2009 to discuss a potential sewer line grant for the City of
Darlington. Ms. Cooley said the EDA could potentially fund $900,000 of a
$1.8 million dollar project. The City would have to find funding from non
federal sources for the other $900,000. The proposed project details will be
worked out with the engineer, but we project new head works at the old
treatment plant which is part of our consent order from DHEC; new aerators
at the current treatment plant which will help with treatment situation with
Nucor; and a new sewer line for Georgia Pacific to the old treatment plant.
Mr. Garland said this will help if Georgia Pacific ever wanted to expand and
this also prepares the way for us to look toward sending, first our industrial
waste and eventually our residential waste to Florence. He said this would
be pre-work for this. The total cost of the project is approximately $1.8
million dollars and the timeline, if we decide to apply, would be to get a
grant award sometime next fall and work would begin January, 2011. 5) Mr.
Garland went over department financial reports. Mr. Garland said once the
transition is made and he takes over as City Manager, he will be looking at
the City’s insurance, phone bills, etc. to see if he can save the City some
money versus what we are currently paying. 6) On Thursday, November 12,
2009 @ 9:00 AM at the Admin Building there will be a Census Training
Meeting.
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Mrs. Thomas asked why the City did not tell the public that the City of
Darlington did not have any candidates to run this year and that there would
be no election. Mr. Langley said when we do have an election, we put the
different voting locations in the paper and the times they open and since we
were not having an election this year, we did not have to do this. Mrs.
Thomas wanted to know what office usually handles this as far as keeping
the public informed. Mr. Langley said there is a time frame because after
the polls officially close, any interested person has two weeks after the polls
close to come in and request to be a write-in candidate. Mrs. Thomas said
she did not see anything wrong with putting something in the paper to let
citizens know that we would not have an election this year. Mr. Langley
said to be honest, he just didn’t think about doing this.
REMINDERS
November 18, 2009 MASC Meeting at Darlington Raceway
November 26 & 27, 2009 – Thanksgiving Holidays.
December 4, 2009 – Arbor Day Celebration
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Ms. Hines made a motion to go into Executive Session at 8:40 PM to
discuss a legal matter and possible negotiations concerning the
acquisition of a particular piece of property. The motion was seconded
by Mrs. Cohen.
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Ms. Hines, to end Executive
Session at 9:25 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, the meeting
adjourned at 9:25 PM.
20
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
WORK SESSION
October 20, 2009
A Work Session of the Darlington City Council was held Tuesday,
October 20, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the Conference Room at the City
Administrative Building, 410 Pearl Street.
PRESENT: Mayor Watkins, Councilpersons Segars, Hines, Thomas,
and Cohen. Also City Manager, Rodney Langley, and Assistant City
Manager, Howard Garland and Mr. Bill Scantland with Landmark Assets.
Mayor Watkins called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM.
MR. BILL SCANTLAND – LANDMARK ASSETS
Mayor Watkins said at the meeting Council voted to defer transfer of
property until they tied up some of the loose ends in the agreement. Copies
of the agreement with changes were given to Council. Mayor Watkins said
Mr. Garland noted all of Council’s concerns and forwarded them to
management at Landmark Assets. Mr. Scantland said Mr. Garland brought
21
all of Council’s concerns to them and he incorporated all of them into the
new proposal. Mr. Scantland said of the meeting was for Council members
to meet with someone from Landmark Assets and answer any questions they
may have pertaining to the property transfer. Mr. Langley said on page 1, #3
under rental, he said the language in the lease agreement still says that it will
be 3% increase each year. Mr. Scantland said this has been changed to a 3%
increase every fifth year. Mr. Scantland said in the lease agreement as well,
they modified the maintenance & repair cost from $300.00 to $150.00. He
told Council they will find that the lease agreement in the same form as the
one they currently have on the other commercial facilities associated with
Darlington County. Mr. Garland said he has verbal agreements on both of
the retail spaces, but we can’t do anything until the property transfer has
been signed. Mr. Garland said once we are able to do transactions he will
more than likely ask for a three year lease agreement with one month’s
deposit in advance. Mr. Garland told Mr. Scantland he noticed on the
bottom of an email that they had already set the price for the residential
spaces. Mr. Garland said the inflation clause was changed from 3% every
year to 3% every five years. Mr. Garland said Mrs. Cohen wanted a 5%
vacancy rate built into retail spaces and Landmark included this in the
revised agreement. He also said that Landmark is supposed to be
responsible for the payback amounts on the listed on the performa. Mr.
Garland said we have had some Council members express concerns about
the 3% interest that we have to pay back to USDA which comes to over
$330,000 over a 10 year period. He said this is $3,000 a year the City has to
pay back, but there’s no interest that Landmark is paying back on this. Mr.
Garland asked about the City’s position if something happened to McClellan
Manor, LLC or Landmark Asset Services. Mr. Scantland said McClellan
Manor, LLC-Landmark Assets is manager of the LLC. He said the members
of the group include quite a few people. He told Council the two people
they are most familiar with is Mr. Dwayne Anderson on the Landmark side
and Mr. Ed Lipskey on the Rehab Builders side. Mr. Scantland said he can’t
really picture the whole LLC going away. He said should something happen
to Landmark he would envision that one of the members would become the
manager of the LLC. Mr. Garland asked if the repairs to the property would
fall to the group. Mr. Scantland said, “Yes”. Mr. Scantland said the
property will be managed by Landmark Property Management and this is the
front line of any expenses that come up and need to be handled through the
property. He said should funds through the LLC then it becomes the
responsibility of the members of that group to contribute based on their
share of ownership. Ms. Hines said this is not listed in the agreement. Mr.
22
Scantland said this is standard operating procedures. Ms. Hines said, “it’s
pretty standard, but I like to see it on paper”. Ms. Hines said the first sheet
of the revised copy that Howard sent difference between line 7 and line 9-,
reduced total pay back. Mr. Scantland said the first line of his report
documents the changes that he was asked to make to the financials. He said
originally the report showed a total of $330,000 coming back including the
interest. He said they have reduced the payback from $330,000 to $300,000.
He said they are going the extra mile to get all of the City’s funds back and
with this in mind they decreased the total payback by $30,000. Mr.
Scantland said the next item simply says this will be the first money to be
paid back. Mrs. Cohen asked Mr. Scantland who he discussed this with.
Mr. Scantland said it was suggested by Mr. Garland the day of the grand
opening. Mrs. Cohen said every year we will pay $33,000 for ten years so
we will already have this expense item. Mr. Garland said the point Mr.
Scantland was making is that the CDBG money that’s passed through didn’t
cost us anything but a match and they are paying all of that back to the City.
Mr. Garland said the $350,000 more than out weighs the $30,000 cost of
interest over ten years. Mr. Garland asked Council if they were willing to
put the $30,000 back in. Mr. Scantland told Mr. Garland with the other
changes that have already been made has pushed them all the way to the
thirty year window to fully be able to recover the amounts outlined. He said
putting another $30,000 on, they would not make it within that window
given the rents they have and the other assumptions that are made. Mr.
Garland asked Mr. Scantland would it help to do a 3% increase every four
years rather than every five years. Mr. Scantland told Mr. Garland it would
change it a little bit, but he would have to run the numbers tomorrow and let
him know. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know when the City gave this property
to McClellan Manor. She said she wants to see some documentation on this.
Mayor Watkins said the property has not been transferred yet. Mrs. Thomas
wanted to know how McClellan Manor can legally deal with us when we
gave the property to another company. Mr. Scantland said the property has
not been transferred to the LLC yet, the City still owns the property. Mayor
Watkins said once we have second reading the property will be transferred.
Ms. Hines said what Mrs. Thomas is trying to say is in the beginning we
were dealing with Landmark not McClellan Manor. Ms. Hines asked how
the property changed from being Landmark to McClellan Manor. Council
discussed this for a few minutes to get an understanding of the name change.
Mr. Garland said the question Mrs. Thomas is asking makes sense because
they don’t understand this is something they are doing and some of the
people that work with Landmark or with Rehab Builder is going to be
23
outside of this. Mr. Garland told Mr. Scantland it would help if they had a
list of who the partners are and that these people are responsible for the
liability we talked about and not Landmark nor Rehab, but the people that
make up McClellan Manor, LLC. Mrs. Cohen said if it’s an LLC then she
doesn’t think the liability falls to the individuals, it stays with the
corporation. Mrs. Thomas said they were under the impression that a certain
percentage of the apartments were supposed to be low-moderate income.
Mr. Scantland all seven apartments will not exceed 80% of the median
income. Council discussed this topic for several minutes. Mr. Scantland
said he will put together a table that shows what the area income is, what
80% of that is and what that translates to for a family of one bedroom, two
bedrooms, and three bedrooms. Mrs. Thomas said her concern is we’re
living in a depressed area and the vacancy rate will be very high and nobody
is going to be able to afford the apartments. Mr. Scantland said this project
was built at a slightly higher income rate to meet a difference group of
individuals but they have projects in Darlington that address the concerns
she has such as Pecan Grove and the downtown loft apartments. Council
and Mr. Scantland continued to discuss rental of different properties and
guidelines that have to be followed as far as income is concerned. Mrs.
Thomas has concerns with the language in the contract where it states that
after year 2038 the contract shall be renewed without further notice. Mrs.
Thomas said she thought we would be finished with this in 2038, but what
the contract is stating that it will be renewed in 2039 without further notice.
Mrs. Thomas asked Mr. Scantland why the contract couldn’t state that it’s
over in 2038. Mr. Scantland said they can change the contract, but it would
be to City’s benefit to have the contract worded this way because the
contract would continue under these terms. He said if the contract
terminates in thirty years, whoever is in charge thirty years from now may
want to continue but they won’t be able to use this lease. Mrs. Thomas
asked why this couldn’t be stated in another sentence that the lease
agreement could be renegotiated after 2038. Mr. Scantland said this would
be the same as terminating the agreement and renegotiating it. He said he
doesn’t have any problem changing the wording if that’s what Council
wants. Council continued to discuss this issue until 8:08 PM. Mrs. Cohen
asked Mayor Watkins the advantage of the City being the master lease
holder rather than McClellan Manor, LLC. Mr. Scantland said the City has
the upper hand because if McClellan Manor rented the spaces they would
put anybody in them as long as they can pay the rent. Mr. Scantland said he
will go back and make the following changes to the lease agreement:
24
1)$300,000 of USDA funds, go back and add $30,000 interest to it and
review lease terms; 2) Answer questions about what expenses would be
covered; 3) List of partners in the LLC; 4) Add mirrors to the retail
agreement about “maintenance”. In the lease itself, change the date from
October to November. Ms. Hines told Mr. Scantland he should have come
here three years ago when the Mayor first started this and they would have
been more informed. Ms. Hines and Mrs. Thomas both agreed that Mr.
Scantland has been thorough in his answers and they understand things a lot
better now. She said this is the first time they have gotten any answers and
if this was done with the first project, they wouldn’t have had such a
problem with it.
UPDATE ON B.A. GARY GYM
Mr. Langley said bids were received for the roof at B.A. Gary Gym. Mr.
Langley said Harvey Singletary from Lake City, SC gave a bid of $32,500 to
redo sky lights and to replace bad spots on the roof. Linton & McKenzie
Repair gave a bid of $34,650; Gardner Roofing from Hartsville, SC gave a
bid of $30,720 and any woodwork would be additional. Mr. Langley said
Mr. Bradley has worked with Harvey Singletary at the recreation department
and is confident he will do a good job. Mr. Segars said he talked with Mr.
Larry Stegner and he said work was done on the roof a couple of years ago
and thought it only needed minor repairs. Mr. Segars said he would like a
fourth or fifth opinion. He said he has someone in mind that can look at the
project and give us a price. Mrs. Thomas said it’s not fair to get another bid
at this point. Mr. Segars said he wants someone to look at the roof and see if
all this work needs to be done to the building. Mr. Langley said when Mr.
Stegner gets back he will get with him and come back to Council with a
recommendation.
INFO ON ANNUAL EMPLOYEE DINNER
Mr. Langley said he met with the employee dinner committee last Friday
and the majority would not like to have the employee dinner this year. Mr.
Langley said it was suggested that we give the employees $25.00 instead of
the $15.00 gift certificate. Ms. Hines suggested for us use $3,000 that’s
budgeted and divide this money among the employees and retirees.
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 8:40 PM.
25
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
October 6, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held October 6,
2009 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. Rodney Langley, Assistant City
Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, and former City Adminstrator, Mr. Cecil E.
Ward, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Tony DiLeo, Ms. Susan
Alexander and a host of visitors. News reporters Mr. Dwight Dana and Ms.
Cathy Elliott.
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 Hines gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance.
26
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins asked Council’s permission to amend the agenda by adding
the following: Item #6A – A proclamation commending BlueCross
BlueShield for their support of the Free Medical Clinic and Item #8A – 1st
Reading to rezone a parcel of property off of S. Main Street behind Salem
Church. There was no objection from Council.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the minutes of our last regular
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. Mrs. Thomas said
on page 4 of the minutes to delete” the census forms were mailed to forms”
and correct to read the Census Bureau will mail the forms out the middle of
March, 2010. Mrs. Thomas said in reference to the minutes, Council voted
at the last meeting to have a new recording system in place to make sure our
minutes are recorded. The Clerk told Mrs. Thomas she is using a recorder
that Mr. Garland had given her. Mrs. Thomas asked if we were going to
ignore the motion to purchase a new recorder. Ms. Hines read in the
minutes where the motion stated that administration is to purchase a new
recorder if this one does not record. Mayor Watkins asked Council if they
wished to purchase a new recording system when we have one that’s
adequate. Mrs. Thomas said the preposition “if” might have been
substituted for “because” this one does not record. She said there were two
missed meetings that weren’t recorded and she thought this was addressing
that problem that we had adequate recording equipment in the Council
Chambers. Ms. Hines said she was in the office today when the Clerk tested
the recorder and it worked fine. She said since the recorder works, she’s
satisfied with it since she is the one that made the motion. Ms. Hines said
since this recorder is working she is satisfied and we can use this one.
Everyone was satisfied with the Clerk using the recorder that Mr. Garland
gave to the City except Mrs. Thomas.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said the “Residential Pride Award” was given to Ms. Terri
Brown at 205 Barfield Road. “The Business Pride Award” was given to
Med Center Pharmacy. He said he still has someone interested in the
Baker’s Street Café Building. He has someone to inspect one side of the
McClellan Building. Mr. DiLeo said they had a successful grand opening at
the McClellan Building and also a grand reopening at Food Lion. The
Merchant’s Halloween Dress-up day is Friday, October 30, 2009. Open
House downtown will be Thursday, December 3, 2009. The parade and tree
27
lighting ceremony will be on Sunday, December 5, 2009. A home health
care group will be occupying the building on Exchange Street that was
occupied by the County for about seven years.
CHAMBER UPDATE – MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said the Annual Golf Tournament which was on Friday,
September 18, 2009 at Beaver Creek Golf Club was a success. The State of
the County Luncheon is tomorrow at Pee Dee Electric Coop @ 12 noon. On
October 8, 2009 there will be an open house for J&W Greenhouse in Lamar,
SC from 5:30-7:00. Ms. Alexander said the biggest thing they are working
on right now which is a new venture for the Chamber is “Taste of The Farm”
which will be on October 29, 2009 at Ovis Hill Farm outside of Lamar, SC.
They will be working in conjunction with Pee Dee Land Trust, USDA,
Arbor One Clemson Ext. on the “Taste of the Farm”. She said Census 2010
is also joining in helping to promote this. Ms. Alexander said the purpose is
to celebrate S.C. grown products. She said from the Chamber stand point,
they need to start embracing our agricultural industry more than we have in
the past. The Chamber will be announcing their new board members for
2010 on October 21, 2009. She said the Chamber has been working closely
with Representative Robert Williams and the Fatherhood on the Carriage
House property. She said the Fatherhood now owns the Carriage House and
will be turning this into a home for displaced veterans initially.
MS. GRACIE LYDE – WATER BILLS
Ms. Lyde appeared before Council to complain about her water bill. She
said she wants answers because her water bill went up from $43.00-$45.00 a
month to a little over $57.00 last month and this month when the bill came it
was a little over $54.00. She said she lives alone and doesn’t own a car nor
wash down walls or anything. Ms. Lyde said she called several people in
the neighborhood that live alone and asked them how much their water bill
was and they said $40.00 something dollars. Ms. Lyde said she wants to
know how her bill gets to be $50.00 something dollars. Mayor Watkins told
Ms. Lyde he could perhaps arrange a meeting with her and Mr. Kinsaul to
go over her bill to see if there’s excess usage that may or may not be
something that’s attributable to inside plumbing plus we had a rate increase
on the water bills. Ms. Lyde said she understands there has been a rate
increase, but her bill is higher than anybody else in her area. She said she
had Mr. Stuckey to come and check her lines and she doesn’t have a leak.
Mayor Watkins told Ms. Lyde that he would get her and Mr. Kinsaul
together and go over her bill and see if he can find anything that does not
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look right such as if the meter has been overread or estimated. Ms. Lyde said
somebody is not reading her meter right because it’s not looking right and
the bill is not right. Ms. Lyde said if she was using the water she would not
have a problem with paying a high water bill. Councilman Cannon said he
would like to meet with Mr. Kinsaul also because he was out of town for
two weeks and his water bill went up $40.00. Councilman Cannon said he
doesn’t have any leaks either because he had a plumber to check. Mr.
Kinsaul will check on Councilman Cannon’s problem as well.
PROCLAMATION FOR BLUECROSS BLUESHIELD
Mayor Watkins said that City of Darlington will express their gratitude to
BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina by presenting them with a
proclamation on October 29, 2009 commending them for a $70,000
contribution to The Free Medical Clinic in Darlington. Upon motion of
Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Segars, to present BCBS with a
proclamation recognizing their $70,000 contribution to the Free Medical
Clinic, which unanimously carried.
PROPOSAL FROM CAROLINA WASTE SOLUTIONS – MR. BRIAN
BAGWELL
Mr. Bagwell was not present at the meeting, so Ms. Nancy Matthews gave
Council an update on their findings. Ms. Matthews said they have
completed the audit of the billings from our waste hauler and the billings to
clients. She said they have cleaned up all of the accounts that were being
charged and should not have been, and also double billings, etc. She said
they found a savings of over $18,000 annually just by cleaning up the books.
Ms. Matthews said there is nothing to be done on the City’s part, but in the
next month they will be looking at future opportunities for future savings.
Ms. Matthews said she hopes they will have a proposal to look at other ways
to save the City some money. Mayor Watkins asked Ms. Matthews if she
could make the proposal available to management for their recommendation
and consideration so they can give Council advice on it. Ms. Matthews told
Mayor Watkins she should have that info available in the next couple of
weeks.
REQUEST FROM MRS. MARY CAPERS FOR DARLINGTON
MEMORIAL CEMETERY
Ms. Capers was not present at the meeting, but Mr. Howard Garland said
that Ms. Capers called and requested that Council provide funding for
markers for veterans in the cemetery. Mr. Garland said Ms. Capers did not
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give him a dollar amount, she just mentioned to him why she wanted to
appear before council.
FIRST READING TO REZONE A PARCEL OFF S. MAIN STREET
BEHIND SALEM BAPTIST CHURCH
Mayor Watkins said the purpose of the request is so that the church would
be able to provide parking behind the building. Mayor Watkins said because
the area behind the church is zoned residential, they must come before
council in lieu of going to the planning commission since they are not fully
staffed at the present time. Mayor Watkins suggested that Council have first
reading so that we’ll be able to move the request forward and consider the
request of the church and hear from any interested parties. Mrs. Cohen
asked how the neighbors would be advised of the property change. Mayor
Watkins said it is done supposedly with signs and advertising stating there
will be a hearing on the rezoning of the property. A gentleman was present
at the meeting representing Architect, Mr. Harvey Ezekiel who is working
on the project. He said if he is not mistaken, the signs are already on Kirven
and Allen Streets. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Langley the time table in order
to meet the requirements for advertising the property rezoning. Mr. Langley
said the ad has to be in the paper fifteen days before the public hearing.
Mayor Watkins said if Council agrees, they will have a public hearing on the
property rezoning at 6:30 PM on November 3rd prior to the regular council
meeting.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE TO TRANSFER CITY
OWNED PROPERTY
Mayor Watkins said Council has had opportunity to review the agreement
between the City and go ahead and give second reading to the form. Ms.
Hines said she has several concerns with the contract; one stating that the
term of the lease beginning October 1, 2009 and ending September 30, 2038
which in twenty-nine years. She said this is a long time to hold a mortgage
on anybody. The second issue is the rental, the first year the City will pay
$17,566 and thereafter a 3% increase each October. Ms. Hines said for
twenty-nine years the City would have paid Landmark which has changed to
McClellan Manor, LLC a total of $794,312.17. Ms. Hines said this is just
for the retail space and it’s a lot to pay for two retail spaces. She said this
has nothing to do with phase 1; this is phase 2 she’s talking about. Her third
concern is under Maintenance & Repairs. The City would have to pay
$300.00 per service call for the walkway and two retail spaces. Ms. Hines
asked if the City would have to pay $500,000 in fire legal liability. She
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wanted to know if the tenants would be responsible for their insurance. Mr.
Garland said the City’s liability would only be for the walkway. Mayor
Watkins said the 3% is based on the premise that the retail spaces would be
rented at a cost above what we paid Landmarks. Ms. Hines said her
understanding was that phase one has a 30 year payback, and phase two is
supposed to have an 18 year payback. She said according to her copy of
phase 2 it says 30 years also. Ms. Hines wanted to know why her copy of
the agreement says twenty-nine years and not eighteen years. Mayor
Watkins said twenty nine years is actually the amount of time that
Landmarks owns the property. Mr. Garland said it was discussed at the last
meeting for the City to do one of two things; either let Landmarks collect the
retail rent or we can collect it ourselves. Mr. Garland said he thinks the City
should have control of the retail spaces. He said if we allow Landmark to
have control over the retail spaces we could end up having a not-so-desirable
business on the Square. Mr. Garland said we can suggest to Landmarks to
increase the 3% rate every five years rather than every year. Mrs. Thomas
said the City of Darlington turned over the CDBG Grant to Landmark
Assets. She wanted to know how the name changed from Landmark Assets
to McClellan Manor, LLC. Mrs. Thomas said she is confused about who is
in charge. Ms. Hines said from day one of the phase 1 project there was not
enough information given to them. Mrs. Thomas said she believes
transactions are being handled by unauthorized people who know more
about this than the City Manager. Mrs. Thomas said as far as the meeting
that was called on September 22nd, she understands now that it was the
Assistant City Manager who called the meeting, but the memo she received
came from the City Manager. Mrs. Thomas said she is beginning to get
mixed up as to who is in charge. She said the City Manager was not present
at the meeting neither was the Clerk present to take minutes. Mrs. Thomas
said they don’t have a record of what was discussed in the first meeting.
Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Langley if he delegated this to Mr. Garland. Mr.
Langley said Mr. Garland started the program, but he would say he told Mr.
Garland that this was his project. Mrs. Thomas said she doesn’t think Mr.
Garland is authorized to handle this. She said it seems like everything is
being taken out of the hands of the City Manager. Mayor Watkins said there
is nothing that has happened that Mr. Langley did not know about. Mrs.
Thomas told Mayor Watkins he and Mr. Garland are the ones running
things. She said our City Manager is supposed to be the one to know
everything and report to Council because he is the one that will be held
responsible for whatever goes wrong. Mrs. Thomas said Mr. Garland has
been working on this since December, 2008 because that is the date printed
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at the top of the report and they just received info on September 22, 2009
and then they are expected to vote on leases and ordinances. Mrs. Thomas
said they have been asking and asking for numbers and information on this
project. Mayor Watkins told Mrs. Thomas this is a work in progress and
Council has been kept up-to-date and they know everything that Mr. Garland
knows and so does Mr. Langley. Mrs. Thomas said her point is the info that
Mr. Garland gave them had a print date of December, 2008 and it was just
given to them September 22nd. Mayor Watkins said Council has had many
work session and many meetings concerning this. Mrs. Thomas said she
doesn’t think the Council should sit by and let two people run this City. Ms.
Hines said from day one of phase one everything was not put on the table.
She said a lot of things were said, but there was nothing in writing. Ms.
Hines said it’s always good to have a paper trail and there was not enough
clarity on it. Ms. Hines said it was despicable the way things were done.
Mr. Cannon said in order to clear things up we need to have a meeting to
answer some of their concerns. Mayor Watkins said it would be a good idea
to get someone from Landmark to come and answer any concerns Council
may have. Mr. Cannon made a motion for Council to call a meeting and
go back and make things right. Mrs. Thomas seconded the motion.
Mayor Watkins suggested that we not transfer the property until all of
Council’s questions are answered. Mrs. Cohen amended the motion to
delay second reading on transferring the property and fast track this
session to get these questions answered. Mrs. Thomas seconded the
motion. There was discussion as to which motion took precedent over the
other. Mr. Segars said if we approve the amendment which will delay
second reading, then this will delay closing the whole project out. Mayor
Watkins said that second reading does not constitute transferral of property,
it only allows the City Attorney to make sure he has the proper paperwork
signed at the time that Council indicates to him that they are ready to close
on the property. Mr. Chapman asked if this would hinder the water & sewer
improvements. Mr. Garland said the bid opening is supposed to be
Thursday at 2:00 PM. He said if this motion passes, we can open bids, but
we can’t accept any. Mr. Garland asked to speak, but Mrs. Thomas told him
they were in the middle of a motion. Mayor Watkins recognized Mr.
Garland and allowed him to speak. Mr. Garland said someone used the
word “despicable”. He said he has all of the records for this project and all
of the checks. He told them they’ve seen all of the payouts, October 2006,
July, 2008 and Council approved the CDBG application in September, 2008.
He told Council these items are the same things he’s given them three
different times on this property. He said there are no games with this and
32
everything has been done above board. Mr. Garland said he’s a public
servant, and he takes his responsibility seriously. He said he’s an honest
person and he doesn’t appreciate someone saying he and the Mayor is doing
despicable things behind their backs. Mrs. Cohen stood on her amended
motion that she previously made. Mr. Cannon voted – Yes; Mrs. Cohen
– Yes; Ms. Hines – Yes; Mrs. Thomas – Yes; Mr. Segars and Mr.
Chapman voted – No. The amended motion passes. Mr. Cannon said
when we get into certain issues such as this we need our City Attorney
present. Mayor Watkins said when we advertise for our City Attorney we
need to make it a prerequisite that the City Attorney attend the City Council
meetings as part of their retainer. Mayor Watkins asked if someone wanted
to make this motion. Mr. Cannon made a motion for the City Attorney
to be at all Council meetings. Mayor Watkins told Council before they
continue, they need to understand that this is not included in Mr. Howle’s
retainer at the present, and would we pay him more to come to the meetings.
Mr. Cannon told Mayor Watkins he will withdraw his motion and for him to
ask the City Attorney if he would appear before Council.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) B.A. Gary Gym update – we now own the gym and it has been included
on our insurance. We decided to get the roof repairs started first before we
get a request for bids for the floor; 2) Mr. Langley said at the last meeting
Mr. Woodall was present to talk about the truck traffic and he has talked
with Mr. Roy Parnell with SCDOT. Mr. Langley said they will meet on site
to look at the building and the poles they have put up to see if there’s
anything they can do to strengthen them or do something to protect Mr.
Woodall’s building. He said he mentioned about them checking to see if we
can put concrete around the pole to make them sturdier. He said he talked
with the Police Chief about stepping up enforcement. Chief Cox suggested
we put up larger signs for the truckers to see. 3) Mr. Langley announced
that as of January 15, 2010 he will be retiring from the City. Ms. Hines said
Council gets reports from all departments except the Police Department &
Courts. She said she has been on Council for eight years and the audit
reports have always said they can’t get reports from the Police Department.
Ms. Hines said the Police Department collects money, so they should be able
to give them a report as to how much money is collected on a monthly basis.
Mayor Watkins said he believes the Police Department use to give Council a
report. Mayor Watkins said Mr. Langley will pass this on and make sure
Council gets a report.
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ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Final inspection on the Carnegie Building will be October 28, 2009; 2)
Staff, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul and myself will meeting with EDA
Representative for SC, Robin Cooley on October 21, 2009 at the Pee Dee
COG. Mr. Garland said they will be seeking funding for sewer
improvements to tie in the line to send wastewater to Florence. Mr. Garland
said this is based on the idea that Dixie Cup is getting some of the jobs that
they are bringing in. He said we would like to partner with the Darlington
County Water & Sewer Authority, EDA and the City to see how many jobs
we can create and that way if we have partners we won’t have to put in as
much money. 3) The City has been talking with another water & sewer
engineering company about helping us with larger grant funding projects.
He said they are going to have someone come from Goldie & Associates,
which is a water & sewer company from the upstate to come to either the
November or December council meeting to make a presentation. 4) $2,200
in gifts were donated to The Williams/Farrow Memorial Fund 5) Bid
opening for the CDBG-R grant for water line improvements in West
Darlington will be Thursday @ 2:00 PM. 6) Started laying pipeline in
Williamson Park; 7) The Williamson Park Road Race was a success. They
had 109 runners. 8) There was Darlington County Census Count meeting
this morning. They met with Ms. Phyllis Griffith, representatives from the
City of Hartsville, Town of Lamar, Town of Society Hill and City of
Darlington. They will have another meeting where they will start training
people on Thursday, November 12, 2009 @ 9:00 AM at the Admin
Building.
WORK SESSION
A work session has been scheduled for Tuesday, October 20, 2009 – 6:00
PM in the City Admin Building. Mr. Garland asked if they wanted to have a
representative from Landmark present at the work session to answer any
questions.
Mayor Watkins told those present that Council needed to go into executive
session to discuss a personnel issue and negotiations concerning a potential
purchase of property.
REMINDERS
October 10, 2009 – Sweet Potato Festival; November 18, 2009 – MASC
Meeting at the Raceway @ 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM; November 19, 2009 – City
34
Employee Dinner @ 7:00 PM; November 26 & 27, 2009 – Thanksgiving
Holidays.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:14 PM to
discuss a personnel issue and negotiations concerning a potential
purchase of property. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars.
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to end Executive
Session at 10:10 PM.
Mayor Watkins said it was discussed in executive session about the City
possibly purchasing the old S&E Cleaners property. The owner stated that if
the City wants the property and doesn’t have the money right now, it can
take it’s time to pay for the property. The property can be demolished and
the space used for parking if the City decides to purchase it. Mrs. Cohen
made a motion to check with any environmental authority to find out if
there would be any encumbrances for us using this land for parking and
if we find it’s not going to be a problem, then we move forward and
accept the offer for $15,000 and put in next year’s budget. Mrs. Cohen
said if we do find a problem we take it up at the next work session. No
one seconded the motion. Mr. Cannon asked if we could talk to the owner
to come down on the price. Mr. Garland said we could make a counter offer
for half the amount because the owner really wants to get rid of it. Mrs.
Cohen said maybe we can offer him $10,000. Mr. Cannon said to start at
$9,000 and then go up. Mr. Langley told Council it won’t hurt to ask Mr.
Weatherford, but he needs guidance from Council as to how far to go. Mr.
Cannon told Mr. Langley not to go to $15,000. Ms. Hines said we need to
find out what DHEC has to say first and what kind of problems we may
encounter. Mr. Langley and Mayor Watkins agreed with Ms. Hines. Ms.
Hines said purchasing this property might be too much for the City to
encounter. Mayor Watkins said after we see what DHEC has to say, we give
the owner the following option: that we promise you that we will purchase
this property within a year for $15,000 however, if there is an environmental
liability that we are not willing to consume based on the advise of DHEC,
the City does not have to purchase the property. Mayor Watkins said we can
put anything in the agreement that we want to and can change our minds if
not desirable, but the owner can’t change his mind. Mr. Langley said he
would see if he can get the owner to come down on the price and let him
know that it is still based on their findings. Mr. Cannon made a motion
35
for the City Manager to handle this. The motion was seconded by Mrs.
Cohen. All approved the motion.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the meeting
adjourned at 10:25 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
SPECIAL DARLINGTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING
HELD TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2009
A special meeting of Darlington City Council was called for Tuesday September 22,
2009 at 6 p.m. in the Darlington City Council chambers. The following people were in
attendance: Mayor Anthony Watkins, Councilwoman Gloria C. Hines, Councilwoman
Dyan R. Cohen, Councilwoman Annette D. Thomas, Councilman Wayne G. Chapman,
Councilman John Segars, and Assistant City Manager Howard Garland. Not in
attendance were City Manager Rodney Langley, Clerk/Treasurer Gloria Pridgen, and
City Councilman Coleman Cannon.
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Watkins at 6:04 p.m. A motion was made by
Councilwoman Cohen to make Assistant Manager Garland Clerk for the meeting. Her
motion was seconded by Councilman Chapman. Mayor Watkins then asked for a motion
to go into executive closed session to discuss an economic development matter.
Councilman Segars made the motion that Darlington City Council go into executive
closed session and the motion was seconded by Councilwoman Hines. The closed
executive session began at 6:08 p.m.
36
City Councilman Segars made a motion that Darlington City Council end the executive
closed session at 7:17 p.m. The motion was seconded by Councilwoman Cohen. Mayor
Watkins then called for a vote for first reading of an ordinance to sell the McLellan
Building from the City of Darlington to McLellan Manor LLC. Voting in favor were the
following: Councilman Chapman, Councilwoman Thomas, Councilwoman Cohen,
Councilman Segars, and Mayor Watkins. Voting no to the transfer was Councilwoman
Hines. The ordinance passed 5-1. Councilman Segars then made a motion to adjourn the
meeting seconded by Councilman Chapman. The vote to adjourn was unanimous. The
meeting ended at 7:26 p.m.
_____________________
Howard Garland
Temporary Clerk to Council
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
September 1, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held September
1, 2009 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, Assistant City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Robert
Garland, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Fire Chief Jim Stone, Tony DiLeo and Ms.
Susan Alexander. News reporters Mr. Dwight Dana and Ms. Cathy Elliott.
Copies of the agenda were faxed to the News & Press, The Morning
News and the Hartsville Messenger with place, date and time of meeting.
37
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.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there were no objections from Council, he would like
to add item 5-A to the agenda- Mr. Walter McCall & Mr. Milton Smalls
from the U.S. Census Bureau. Also add item #7. Mayor Watkins said Mr.
Bagwell is not here, but he has heard from Mr. Howard Garland some of the
subject matter concerning his presentation. Mayor Watkins asked Council if
they would hear the information provided by Mr. Bagwell in executive
session since it involves contract re-negotiations. All of Council was in
favor to hear the information in executive session except Mrs. Thomas. Mrs.
Thomas said she objects because of the fact we are giving Mr. Bagwell
undue privilege over any other company. Mrs. Thomas said she thinks this
is a citizen concern anyway. Mr. Chapman made a motion to hear Mr.
Bagwell’s information in executive session. Mrs. Cohen seconded the
motion. All approved the motion except Mrs. Thomas.
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 5 of the minutes under “info only” to change the wording from “an
incident occurred on Housing Authority property involving Mr. Robinson
who works for Housing Authority to who worked for Housing Authority.
Thomas said a lot of verbage is cut out of the minutes. Ms. Hines said the
recorder did not record at July’s meeting and the clerk thought the recorder
was fixed by last month’s meeting, but it did not record August meeting
either. Mr. Cannon said he thinks the minutes should only include the main
discussion and any motions that are made. Ms. Hines said some things are
said at meetings that are very important therefore, it needs to be recorded in
the minutes even though it’s not a motion. Mrs. Thomas said if we don’t
have a recording system that is recording on two months occasion with no
back-up systems, is it possible for council to consider doing something about
the recording system. She said if someone wanted to come listen at the
minutes from the meeting there wouldn’t be anything for them to listen to.
She asked Mayor Watkins isn’t it Council’s responsibility to have minutes
38
so that they can be reviewed for up to 30 days. Mayor Watkins said we do
need to make sure the recording equipment is operating properly, but this
needs to be handled administratively. Mayor Watkins said it is in the clerk’s
job description to record the minutes of the meeting. Mrs. Thomas said she
was talking about equipment and not about the clerk’s qualifications. Mayor
Watkins said if the clerk is responsible for recording the minutes it would be
her responsibility see that she has the proper equipment. Ms. Hines made a
motion for administration purchase a new recorder before the next
meeting if this one does not record. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Cannon. All approved the motion. All approved the motion to approve
the minutes of our last regular council meeting with noted changes.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said Flower Baskets by Becky received the “Business Pride
Award”. The Residential Pride Award was given to Bill & Carolyn Abbott
on North Street. Signage was approved for Victory Tabernacle Church. Mr.
DiLeo said he and Mr. Langley have met with a man from Taylor Garden
shop a couple of times about landscape ideas for the City Admin Building,
City Hall and The Council on Aging Building. Mr. DiLeo said he got a
plat of the area from the Courthouse and Mr. Taylor will come up with
suggestions for the area and then it will go out for bids. Mr. DiLeo said he
drew the plans up for E. Broad Street improvement in detail and submitted
them to the Highway Department. He said he met with the Highway
Department officials three different times and they want some changes
made, so he will redo the plans and resubmit them to DOT for their
approval. Mr. DiLeo said he is still getting calls about the Carriage House.
He said Robert Williams is interested in the building also. 5K Run for
Williamson Park will be September 19, 2009. He has two ladies interested
in opening a restaurant in the Baker’s Street Café Building. He said he had
someone inspect the Cromer’s Building and someone is interested in
opening an antique shop at 101 Pearl Street. Mr. DiLeo said he is working
on a ribbon cutting ceremony for the McClellan Building.
CHAMBER UPDATE – MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said they are in the process of board nominations for 2010
board seats. She said as of this afternoon, the Chamber has signed
partnership with 2010 Census. She feels it is very important for the
Chamber to participate with them because the census has a lot to do with
how much money we get as a State, community and town. The Chamber is
still working to get their accreditation. The Chamber will be participating
39
with the Taste of Society Hill which will be Thursday September 17, 2009;
The Annual Golf Tournament will be Friday, September 18, 2009 Beaver
Creek Golf Club; The State of the County Luncheon will be October 7,
2009; On October 8, 2009 will be an open house for J&W Greenhouse in
Lamar, SC; On October 29, 2009 the Chamber will be hosting “Taste of The
Farm” as part of their outreach to the agricultural community. The “Taste of
the Farm” will be held at Ovis Hill Farm outside of Lamar, SC. Every table
has to provide a certified SC grown product.
2010 CENSUS – MR. MILTON SMALLS & MR. WALTER MCCALL
Mr. Milton Smalls, with the U.S. Census Bureau appeared before Council to
ask their help in reaching out to Darlington residents. He brought along tote
bags for council which included a sample of next year’s application. Mr.
Smalls said the bureau has simplified the application and there are only ten
questions a resident has to complete. He said the message they are trying to
get out to citizens is that it is important for people to fill out the census
forms. He said all of the programs that the federal government fund is doled
out based on the census count. He said he just received info last week from
the US Census Bureau and it defines the areas that have a low response rate
in Darlington. Mr. Smalls said he would like for Council to form a
“Complete Count Committee” and each council member will nominate a
person(s) from their district and they will come in and train them and steer
them in the right direction. He said they want to get an accurate count for
Darlington because it does affect the dollars that come back into the
community. Mr. Smalls said they want to get out that the census is easy, it’s
safe and it’s confidential. He said any census information that’s collected
for the 2010 census will be safeguarded for seventy-two years and will not
be made public until 2082. Mr. Smalls said the census forms will mail the
forms out the middle of March, 2010. Mr. Cannon asked Mr. Smalls where
a person would be able to get a form if they are not mailed one. He said they
will have sites set up called “Be counted Sites” and if a person did not get a
census form they can go to the site and fill out a form.
WILLIAMSON PARK BOARDWALK BIDS
Mr. Howard Garland passed out copies of the bid tabulation to council. He
said fourteen companies purchased plans from Ervin Engineering Company.
He said nine bids were received for the Williamson Park boardwalk from a
low bid of $133,030 from Henley Construction Company from Cheraw, SC
to a high bid of $367,816.50 from L-J., Inc. Mr. Howard Garland said
Henley Construction did the previous work on the boardwalk in the 1980’s
40
and 90’s. Ms. Hines wanted to know what percentage of people will be
using the park since it is more private than public. Mayor Watkins said the
Council as a whole has appropriated $150,000 of hospitality tax money for
Williamson Park renovations. Mr. Chapman wanted to know if Henley’s
Construction is licensed. Mr. Garland said since the bid opening Ervin
Engineering has checked to make sure they were licensed and bonded. He
said Henley Construction also did Phase 3 of the Streetscape project on Pearl
& Cashua Streets. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to accept low bid of
$133,030 from Henley Construction Company. Mr. Chapman seconded
the motion. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know if construction is included in the
$63,900 since it’s the highest division on the sheet that Mr. Garland passed
out. Mr. Garland said divisions 1, 2 & 3 will ensure that the loop goes
around the park. Mrs. Thomas said since we don’t have any expectation of
when each section is going to be completed when we will know when to pay
the contractor. Mr. Garland said once the contract is signed and we have a
preconstruction meeting, they will have 120 days from that meeting to finish
the work or they are fined $120 a day. Mrs. Thomas was unclear about the
amounts in each division on the bid tabulation sheet that Mr. Garland passed
out. He said he would image that the company would submit a request for
payment after 25% of the work is complete, after 50%, etc. Ms. Hines asked
if the contract lists specifically what will be done for the $133,000. Mr.
Garland said, “Yes”. All approved the motion.
RIGHT TURN RESTRICTION FROM PEARL ONTO S. MAIN –
MIKE WOODALL
Mr. Woodall said he’s requesting from the City to prevent trucks from
making a right hand turn off of Pearl Street onto S. Main Street. He said he
owns the building at 101 Pearl Street and he is tired of it getting hit. He said
he is not asking that normal vehicles and light weight trucks be prohibited,
but for tractor trailers and heavy trucks not be able to make the turn. Mr.
Woodall said he is asking, which is what Mr. Langley proposed several
years ago to DOT, that instead of trucks being able to make the right hand
turn, they will have to go around the Square, make a left turn and go straight
down S. Main Street. He said this will prevent trucks from hitting the
building as well as safety. He said DOT has reviewed the situation and feel
it is appropriate and has already indicated they are willing to provide the
signs. Mr. Woodall said their request is that the City would back those signs
up by putting them in place and enforce it through our local police
department. Mr. Woodall said in 2005 he had posts put up on the corner of
the building, but a tractor trailer hit the corner again. He said that post has
41
been moved and DOT is working with the City to replace those posts again.
Mr. Woodall said he has now asked that they weld the three posts together
because the center post will get the most damage. He said he carries
insurance on the property, but it is not fair to him to carry the burden of
whatever happens to that building when it was not caused by him, but by a
third party. Mr. Woodall said it’s not in the best interest of the City to have
to bear the burden of someone else’s accident. He said he’s considered
putting cameras on his building, but it’s not likely they would get a license
tag number. Mr. Woodall said a lot of the trucks come in at night and he
realizes that it would be impossible for law enforcement to catch the drivers
unless there was an officer stationed on the Square at all times. Mr. Woodall
said he made a suggestion to Mr. Langley that the City could easily identify
vehicles that had to come into the City on business by using a bright neon
sticker to register their trucks. He said it would have to be clearly placed on
the cab of that truck in visible sight so that any officer or citizen could see.
The City could charge for this and this would mean revenue for the City.
Mrs. Cohen asked Mr. Woodall if he knows of any communities that uses
the stickers. Mr. Woodall said he has lived in several different places and
the companies he’s worked for their trucks had to have specific stickers that
were licensed for the different communities that they had to go to. She also
asked Mr. Woodall what would be the strongest possible protection that
could be constructed for him. Mr. Woodall said he asked for two poles and
for it to be legislative and policy as far as signs and enforcement. He said he
also asked DOT to keep the post there and replace the center post that has
been knocked down and weld them together. He said even if we put this in
place, somebody is going to break the law. Mr. Woodall said it’s not only
his situation, but the City’s as well, because if someone hits his building he’s
not planning on paying for it, he’s going after the City. Mayor Watkins said
he doesn’t think the poles are big enough and Mr. Woodall said he agrees
they are not. Ms. Regina Weatherford said she has a business on the Square
and she agrees with what Mr. Woodall has said. She said maybe barriers
would help Mr. Woodall’s situation, but if traffic was rerouted through the
Square we’re going to have more problems. She said the big rigs cause a lot
of problems and she feels the pedestrians are at risk as well. Ms.
Weatherford said there aren’t any businesses on the Square that would
require those big rigs to come through town. Mayor Watkins said we have a
difficult situation and before we send big trucks around the Square, we
should see how it would impact the merchants. He said we need to look at
how, when and if we are enforcing the law. Mayor Watkins said it is
Council’s pleasure what should be done about this. Mrs. Cohen made a
42
motion for the City Manager to look at the reconstruction of barriers
and look at the enforcement of the law as it is written. Mr. Chapman
seconded the motion. Mr. Woodall asked what makes it difficult not to
allow tractor trailer trucks into the City. Mayor Watkins said he thinks it
will require a little more work. Mayor Watkins said he believes trucks
making deliveries in the downtown area shouldn’t be an 18-wheeler. He
said if they want to deliver downtown, they need a city van or a modified
truck. Mayor Watkins said in order to review our laws the motion made
could be amended not only to look at the way the law is enforced, but to
amend the law which would state, “that any truck cannot come downtown at
all delivering or not. Mrs. Cohen amended her motion to include
possibly looking at the types of vehicles. Mr. Chapman said he likes the
idea of the stickers, but asked how we would prohibit the big trucks from
going to Dixie. Mayor Watkins said the truck drivers would have to find
another way to get to Dixie other than through downtown Darlington. All
approved Mrs. Cohen’s motion. Mr. Cannon said we went through this
same thing about five years ago. He said this is the second time we have
been through this, but the problem is the law is not being enforced. Mr.
Woodall wanted to know when he can follow up on this to see what the
resolution will be on this. Mayor Watkins said once we talk with DOT he
should be able to let him know something.
APPROVAL OF WEATHERIZATION GRANT APPLICATION
Mr. Garland said he is applying for stimulus money (Weatherization Grant)
to purchase four new heat pumps for the West Broad Street location. He
said he had to get a proposal from a heating & air company for the four new
heat pumps. Mr. Garland said they propose to put 2-10 ton heat pumps and
2-7 ½ ton pumps at a cost of $22,830 for the location. Ms. Hines asked if
the City has to match this amount. If Council approves, he will go ahead
and get Mr. Langley to sign the application. Mr. Garland said, “No”, but
$2,500 has been added so that we can get long term warranties on each unit.
Mr. Chapman made a motion to approve the weatherization grant
application. Ms. Hines seconded the motion. All approved the motion.
If we receive the grant, we will then bid this out.
SECOND READING TO CHANGE W&S RATES
Mayor Watkins said last month we had first reading to change some of the
rates in the Water & Sewer department. Mr. Kinsaul said there will be a
$.50 increase on the capital fee which will go into the capital fund. Upon
motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars, second reading of
43
ordinance to change rates in the water & Sewer Department, which
unanimously carried. Mr. Chapman said he would like for the return check
fees to also be transferred to the capital fund. Mr. Chapman made a
motion to instruct administration to transfer return check fees to the
capital credit fund. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Thomas. All
approved the motion.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the Carnegie Library should be complete in a couple of
weeks. He said sewer lines leading out to the street from the building were
clogged with coal from the old boiler, but most of the lines have been
cleaned. 2) The Williams/Farrow Committee will visit Cheraw on
September 21st to see the Dizzy Gillespie statue. 3) We are ready to bid out
work for the CDBG-R grant for water line improvements in West
Darlington. 4) The McClellan Ribbon Cutting/Grand Opening is set for
Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at 12 noon. 5) Mr. Garland said they have
been working diligently with the developer and our attorney. He said
Council needs to call a special meeting later this month to look over the
agreement with the developer and approve First Reading of Property
Transfer. 6) Raven’s Closet opened today on 8 Public Square in the old
Alexander’s & Isabella’s location. He said there are no firm tenants for the
two retail spaces at the McClellan Building yet. He said they will start
marketing the retail spaces on the radio stations WDAR and WJMX
tomorrow to try and get traffic in there to look at the spaces. 7) The
hospitality tax bond was signed earlier this past month and we received our
first reimbursement from BB&T. 8) The Williamson Park Road Race is
scheduled for Saturday, September 19, 2009. 9) The Mayo High School
Alumni Association will have their annual celebration this weekend. 10)
The first week in October, the Elks will host the State Convention here. 11)
Saturday, October 10, 2009 – The Sweet Potato Festival; The Darlington
Race Festival will be September 26th & 27th, 2009. Mr. Garland invited
Council to take a tour of the McClellan Building – the walkway, retail
spaces and apartments at their convenience.
REMINDERS
September 4, 2009 – Election filing ends
September 7, 2009 – Labor Day Holiday
Mr. Segars made a motion to go into Executive Session at 9:00 PM to
discuss a contractual matter. The motion was seconded by Ms. Hines.
44
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, to end Executive
Session at 9:30 PM.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 9:31 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
August 4, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held August 4,
2009 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. Freddie Kinsaul, Tony DiLeo and Ms.
Susan Alexander. News reporters Mr. Dwight Dana and Ms. Cathy Elliott.
45
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
Mrs. Dyan Cohen gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve minutes of our regular city
council meeting. Ms. Hines seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen said on
page 3 of the regular meeting minutes under presentation by Carolina Waste
Solutions, to add at the end of the motion: …give CWS an opportunity to
look at this and come back to Council to see if this is something they would
like to do. On page 4 of regular council meeting minutes under “agreement
with DBS Communication, Mrs. Cohen had the following changes: where
Mrs. Cohen made her motion, add provide a trial period of three months of
videotaping council’s meetings” and strike “film three meetings at no cost
for us to review and add if acceptable to the council as to audio/visual
quality, that the city would go for a three-year contract at a negotiated per
meeting cost. Strike “made a motion to” for sentence to read: Mrs. Cohen
suggested that we begin negotiations…. After $125.00 add per month, since
we would not include special meetings. Strike – the motion was seconded by
Mrs. Thomas. Under Mr. Cannon’s motion, delete made a and add moved to
amend the motion and to specify that, delete the words for and to for
sentence to read Mr. Cannon moved to amend the motion to specify that the
City begin a thee month trial with DBS…… Mrs. Thomas said on page 5 of
the minutes under discussion of appointment of Municipal Judge, to change
the following: She said since the committee wanted someone that was a
judge to …someone that was a lawyer. All approved the minutes with
noted changes.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said Mr. William Abbott’s home received the “Residential Pride
Award. Flower Baskets by Becky received the Business Pride Award. Mr.
DiLeo said he is working with the Roth Building and he’s also working with
three ladies interested in the Old Carriage House building. A Ribbon
Cutting for Pic-A-Pet, 601 Pearl Street, will be Thursday, August 13, 2009
46
at 12 noon. He said he is working with Hardee’s on the E. Broad Street side
where the sidewalk is in bad shape and needs some work to fix the problem.
Mr. DiLeo said he is also working with the Highway Department concerning
this.
CHAMBER UPDATE – MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said it’s been along time coming, but the new maps are in
and they have all of the streets listed and it’s very accurate. Ms. Alexander
said she and the Board has been working on getting U.S. Accreditation for
the Chamber. She said they attended a SACCE meeting in Raleigh, NC and
she learned a lot of information. On September 11, 2009, there will be a
golf tournament at Beaver Creek Golf Club on McIver Road. Darlington
After Hours will be August 11, 2009 at the jet port here in Darlington.
There will be a Lunch ‘n Learn on August 18, 2009. On October 7, 2009
there will be a State of the County Luncheon at the Pee Dee Electric
Conference Room. Ms. Alexander said they are not having the luncheon at
the Country Club this year because she feels they need to give some of the
other chamber members a chance to do something.
REQUEST TO RESTRICT TRUCKS FROM MAKING RIGHT TURN
ONTO S. MAIN STREET – MR. MIKE WOODALL
Mr. Woodall was not present at the meeting, but Mr. Langley said he
received a letter from DOT and Mr. Woodall is requesting that the City
restrict trucks from making a right turn from eastbound Pearl Street onto
Southbound Main Street at the Square because the trucks keep hitting his
building. Mr. Woodall is requesting that the trucks be required to go
straight, turn around the courthouse and make a left turn at the light so they
can go straight. Mr. Watkins said he doesn’t think this is an attractive
option. Mr. Chapman asked who is going to enforce this. Mayor Watkins
said our Police Department will enforce this. Mr. Chapman said they don’t
enforce the ordinance that we already have in place. Mayor Watkins said he
sees potential problems with big trucks going around the Square. Mayor
Watkins said he would like to know more about this. Mrs. Cohen said
maybe we can try this for a few months. She said maybe we can send letters
to the merchants and get their input. Mayor Watkins said there will be an
expense involved in doing this, signs, etc. Mayor Watkins asked council if
they objected to receiving this as information. No one objected.
APPROVAL OF GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES – DISABILITIES
ACT.
47
Mrs. Thomas wanted to know if Mr. Kendall makes sure all businesses have
handicap accessible ramps. Mayor Watkins said all new businesses are
required to have handicap accessible ramps, but the old businesses are
grandfathered in. Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Segars,
to approve Grievance Procedures to meet the requirements of Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act as amended and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990, which unanimously carried.
DISCUSSION OF WATER RATES – MR. KINSAUL
At our last council meeting Mr. Kinsaul gave Council a handout of proposed
increases for out of city water and sewer rates. Mr. Kinsaul said he also
proposes an additional $.50 on each residential customer to go toward the
capital credit fund. The capital credit amount will increase from $1.00 to
$1.50. Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Chapman, First
Reading of ordinance to change rates in the Water & Sewer
Department. Ms. Hines wanted to know why we needed a .50 increase.
Mr. Kinsaul said in order to build up the capital fund to do projects or
whatever else needs to be done. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Kinsaul about
the life of the treatment plant. Mr. Kinsaul said the treatment plant should
be able to operate another 10-15 years. Ms. Hines asked Mr. Kinsaul about
certain expenses that are paid to Davis & Brown. All approved the motion.
Mr. Chapman asked Mr. Kinsaul if we could take the return check fees and
put into the capital fund since this is not money we expect to get. Mr.
Kinsaul said he needs some of the money collected to operate on. He said
the City received a consent order on May 7, 2009 because of a major
overflow at the treatment plant. Mr. Kinsaul said it rained 4 inches in three
hours and this caused several beds to overflow. Mayor Watkins asked if we
agreed with the consent order. Mr. Kinsaul said, “No.” He said they are to
meet with DHEC people on Thursday. We have to pay $11,900 if we don’t
agree and$5,900 if we do agree. Mr. Langley said this is not our first
overflow. Mr. Kinsaul said DHEC went back 10 years and considered our
past history. Mr. Kinsaul recommends that we make construction
improvements for $435,000 and pay $5,900. He told council he will keep
them up-to-date with what’s going on. Mr. Langley said we will probably
appeal this and negotiate with DHEC.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley said as far as the hospitality tax bond, everybody is ready
except the appraiser. He said once we close, we will be able to pay
ourselves back. 2) For info only: Senator Malloy is interested in visiting the
48
swimming pool. He said he didn’t know the pool was up and running. 3)
Mr. Langley said the City now owns the B.A. Gary Gym. He said we will
start getting bids for roof and floor repairs. 4) Mr. Langley said he called
Mr. Larry Smith with DBA Communications and they are not in agreement
to do tapings for free. 5) Mr. Langley said he, Mr. Kinsaul and Mr. Howard
Garland went to Chesterfield, SC to look at their system to read water
meters. He said The City of Chesterfield can read 700 square miles in a
minute. Mr. Langley said the systems can tell you at what point a household
starts using water. The system can detect leaks immediately. Mr. Langley
said this technology qualifies for green and stimulus money. Mr. Langley
said he, Mr. Kinsaul and Mr. Garland will be going to Alabama to look at a
system there. He said some from the County Water & Sewer Authority will
be going to Alabama as well. Mr. Langley said HD Water Supply is paying
the expenses for the trip, so there is no cost to the City. Ms. Hines wanted to
know how much money would a system like this cost. Mr. Kinsaul said
about $2M. Mrs. Thomas asked how a new system like this would affect the
workers, etc. If the City chose to put this new system in this would cut out
two meter readers and their trucks. 6) Mr. Langley said he found out that
Fireman, Heyward Shoemake will be deployed to Afghanistan and could be
gone anywhere from a year to a year and a half.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) The Municipal Association of SC will have their regional meeting
November 18, 2009, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM at the Darlington Raceway; 2) Mr.
Garland said he has shown the Alexander’s retail space three times with no
firm commitment yet. 3) The French drain at the Carnegie Library is
complete and the contractor came in $10,000 under budget. 4) The South
Carolina Business Initiative has received a USDA grant to extend Mrs.
Karen Carroll’s job. The new grant will give Karen additional funding for at
least two more years. 5) The Farrow/Williams Memorial Committee met
Monday afternoon and approved joint fundraising effort for both memorials.
6) Mr. Garland said we still don’t have a working agreement with
Landmarks concerning the McLellan Building. The McClellan agreement is
being worked on by Landmark Attorney, Ms. Deborah Kinney and City of
Darlington Attorney, Mr. Bill Howle. Landmark has agreed to add the cost
of paving the parking lot behind McClellan’s at a cost of $40,000 and the
cost of the parking lot ($30,000) to the payback. No payments will be made
until the deal is finalized. The grand opening will be in September. 7)
Rehab Builders will add an eight foot high wall with two closets to
straighten out the left-side indentation in the walkway. This will be done at
49
no costs to the City of Darlington. Mr. Garland received an email from the
developer, Mr. Ed Lipsky saying that Rehab Builders will install three large
mirrors in the front of the walkway to allow pedestrians to look on either
side of the entrance to the retail spaces. This cost will also be absorbed by
Rehab Builders. 8) The bid opening for Williamson Park will be August 13,
2009 at 2:00 PM.
INFO ONLY
Mrs. Thomas said she received a copy of a letter from Mr. Jackie Robinson
where he was given a citation from Officer Danny Watson for trespassing on
Housing Authority property. The letter stated that he cannot go on certain
streets within housing authority property. An incident occurred on Housing
Authority property involving Mr. Robinson, who once worked for the
Housing Authority. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know if the City has such a law
on the books that can bar a person from going on city streets. Mayor
Watkins said he contacted Mr. Bobby Kilgo about this incident. Ms. Hines
said this has already been taken care of and that the citation should never
have been signed by Officer Watson this should have been signed by Mr.
Earl Johnson, Jr., the Housing Authority CEO.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 8:40 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
50
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
July 7, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held July 9,
2009 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. Coleman Cannon and Mr. John Segars. Also present: Mayor
Watkins, Assistant City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, City Judge, Mr.
Daniel Causey, Mr. Robert Garland, and Mr. Tony DiLeo. News reporters
Mr. Dwight Dana and Ms. Cathy Elliott.
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
Mr. Cannon gave the invocation since Mr. Chapman was not present. The
invocation was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said if there are no objections to Council, he would like to
make an agenda change by adding item 8-A –Nomination to fill vacancy on
the Zoning Board of Appeals. There were no objections from Council.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said another party is interested a 1500 square foot building to
have a Christian Dance Studio. Mr. DiLeo said he is working with Mr.
David Rolfe on his building. Mr. Bill and Mrs. Carolyn Abbott who lives on
North Street received the Residential Pride Award. Flower Baskets by
Becky at 204 Russell Street received the Business Pride Award. He said
Alexander’s and Isabella’s closed their business on the Square. Mr. DiLeo
said there are four different people interested in the old Carriage House for a
home.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
51
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve minutes of our regular city
council meeting and the minutes of one public hearing and special
meeting. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen said on page 3 of
the public hearing and special council meeting minutes of June 9th to add the
words “if it’s possible” at the end of the sentence changing the sentence to
read: …….those who don’t want to go can give their money to the
employees if it’s possible. In the regular council meeting minutes of June 2,
page 6 under Assistant City Manager’s Update, delete the sentence that
reads He said the City will be responsible for $47,000. Mr. Howard Garland
said it would be ok to delete this. Ms. Hines said on page 7 of the regular
council meeting minutes under Assistant City Manager’s update it’s
mentioned that Mr. Garland’s contract was approved by resolution, but she
looked through all of her previous minutes and can’t find where this was
approved. Mayor Watkins said it was approved and he asked Mr. Langley to
research this. Mrs. Thomas said on page 7 of the regular council meeting
minutes under the Assistant Manager’s update (item #8 ), it is stated that
there will be a tour of the Darlington Memorial Cemetery after the meeting
at Bethel AME Church on the 14th, but she doesn’t remember hearing
anything about a tour at the meeting. Mr. Garland said it was mentioned at
the council meeting and there was supposed to be a tour following the
meeting, but the tour was cancelled. All approved the motion with the
changes above.
ANYONE WISHING TO APPEAR
Mr. Sylvester Hudson, Vice-President of the Darlington branch NAACP
appeared before Council to make comments concerning our current City
Judge. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Sylvester Hudson since he was there to
comment on the discussion about the appointment of the Municipal Judge,
he could wait until we get to that particular item or he could go ahead and
speak. Mr. Hudson chose to go ahead and make his comments. Mr. Hudson
said the NAACP has been getting complaints from citizens stating that Judge
Causey would ask certain people personal questions that don’t have anything
to do with the issue at hand. Mr. Hudson said Judge Causey would ask the
young ladies if they have children and if so, how many. He would ask them
if they are married and if all of their children have the same daddy. Mr.
Hudson said this doesn’t have anything to do with someone coming to court
to pay a fine or appearing before him for some other reason. He asked the
Council consider not hiring Judge Causey based on these facts.
PRESENTATION TO WEST END REUNION ORGANIZATION
52
The members of the West End Reunion committee petitioned the City of
Darlington for the rights to a portion of property (no less than 24’ x 24”) at
the corner of Orange and Buchanan Streets for the purpose of constructing a
brick memorial with a walkway, concrete benches and shrubs in memory of
those who worked at the Darlington Manufacturing Company from 18851956. Mayor Watkins presented Mrs. Peggy Sheffield and Mrs. Becky Lee
with a check for $1,500 to help them with setting up a memorial to
commemorate those that worked for the company during those years.
Mayor Watkins said last year we approved a resolution in the amount of
$1,500 for the memorial.
Mrs. Sheffield said the mill closed in 1956.
MR. BRIAN JACKSON – ANNEXATION REQUEST
Mr. Jackson was not present at the meeting, but Mr. Langley said Mr.
Jackson wants to annex two or three pieces of his property into the city
limits in order to receive city services such as water and sewer, but he wants
the city to waive the requirements for him. Mayor Watkins said we would
receive this as information at this time.
VACANCY ON THE ZONING BOARD OF APPEALS
Mr. Kendall said the Zoning Board of Appeals submitted the name of Mr.
William Burgenstock who lives at 262 W. Broad Street to fill the vacancy of
Mr. Brian Pickens who has moved outside the city limits of Darlington. The
term will expire June 30, 2012. Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by
Mrs. Thomas, appoint Mr. William Burgenstock to fill open seat on the
Zoning Board of Appeals, which unanimously carried.
PRESENTATIONS BY CAROLINA WASTE SOLUTIONS – MS.
NANCY MATTHEWS
Mrs. Nancy Matthews and Mr. Brian Bagwell, representatives of Carolina
Waste Solutions appeared before Council to offer the City a proposal to try
and help us save money by reducing waste costs. Mr. Bagwell said his
company will do an analysis for the City and see where we can cut costs.
Mr. Bagwell said their cost is 100% contingency fee. Mr. Garland said the
City spent approximately $370,000 last year with Allied Waste and he thinks
we should at least take a look at this. Upon motion of Mr. Cannon,
seconded by Mrs. Cohen, to give Carolina Waste Solutions (CWS) an
opportunity to look at this and see if they can save the City some money.
Mr. Bagwell said they will take a look at what we’re paying and see if they
are able to recover any funds for the City. All approved the motion.
53
AGREEMENT WITH DBS COMMUNICATION
Mayor Watkins said because of an interest in having our council meetings
on the government access channel, it has been brought up again for
discussion. Mrs. Cohen said to look into having our regular meetings
recorded, but pay on a per meeting basis rather than on a monthly basis. A
proposal was made to try DBS on three of our meetings to see if this is what
they want to do. Mrs. Cohen said as a Council they need to decide if they
want to do this. Mayor Watkins said the suggestion of a three meeting trial
is a good idea. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to direct the City Manager to
contact DBS to see if they would film three meetings at no cost for us to
review. The motion was seconded by Ms. Hines. Mrs. Thomas said DBS
said at the meeting they had with us, that there was a way to filter the sound
of the heating and cooling unit. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to begin
negotiations at $83.00 per meeting rather than $125.00. The motion was
seconded by Mrs. Thomas. Mr. Cannon said the audio on the public access
channel is not that good anyway. Mr. Cannon made a motion for the City
to begin a three month trial with DBS involving at least one broadcast
and if at the end of the three month period, council will evaluate it and
see if they want to continue with recordings. If they are satisfied with
everything at this time, they can enter into a contract with DBS. The
motion was seconded by Ms. Hines. Mr. Segars said he’s not in favor of
broadcasting our meetings and this is a waste of our money. Mrs. Thomas
said Mrs. Cohen stated that this is a good way to communicate with the
citizens and also to get them involved. Mrs. Thomas said by making the
citizens feel like they are a part of Darlington, how can they lose. All
approved the motion except Mr. Segars. Mayor Watkins instructed Mr.
Langley to contact DBS and begin the three month trial period and at the end
of three months council will evaluate the effectiveness of the recordings and
make a determination.
DISCUSSION OF APPOINTMENT OF MUNICIPAL JUDGE
Mayor Watkins formed a committee to review applications and meet with
applicants for the position of City Municipal Judge and make a
recommendation to Council. Mrs. Cohen, Ms. Hines and Mr. Segars were
on the committee. Ms. Hines said five applicants applied for the City
Judge’s position, but they chose two applicants to interview Ms. Mamie
Harris and Mr. Chevron Scott. Ms. Hines said she has sat in the courtroom
on numerous occasions and she sees how Judge Causey treats some people.
She said since the committee wanted someone that was a judge and who
54
lives in the City of Darlington; she leans toward Mr. Chevron Scott. Mr.
Segars wants to stay with Judge Causey. Mrs. Cohen said her overall
opinion is that we don’t make a change. She said if there are concerns about
the Judge, then we need to check them out. Ms. Hines said everybody has to
start somewhere. She said Mr. Chevron Scott is lawyer and he lives in the
City. She said we need someone that the people can relate to when they
come to court and she doesn’t think they can relate to Judge Causey. Mrs.
Thomas said since there’s a council member not present to vote they should
wait. Mr. Cannon said it can be recommended that we don’t vote at this
time. Judge Causey told them he needed to correct them because our city
ordinance states that the municipal judge must be appointed by the council at
its first meeting in July of each year to hold office for a period of two years.
Mr. Segars made a motion to reappoint Judge Causey as Municipal
Judge. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. Mayor Watkins took a
poll of council to see how they wanted to vote. Ms. Hines-No; Mr. CannonNo; Mr. Segars-Yes; Mrs. Cohen-Yes; Mayor Watkins-Yes. Mrs. Thomas
was hesitant as to whether she wanted to vote for Mr. Causey or not. She
finally voted – Yes. (Judge Causey reappointed). Mr. Cannon said since we
had two other candidates, we should have voted on all of the candidates
individually. Ms. Hines told Judge Causey she has nothing against him
personally, but he needs to learn how to treat people.
DISCUSSION OF WATER RATES – MR. KINSAUL
Mr. Kinsaul gave Council a handout of proposed increases for out of city
water and sewer rates. Mr. Kinsaul said he also proposes an additional $.50
on each residential customer to go toward the capital credit fund. The
capital credit amount will increase from $1.00 to $1.50. Upon motion of
Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Ms. Hines, to receive this as information in
order to give us time to review and bring back to council in ordinance
form. All approved the motion.
SECOND READING ON ORDINANCE – US BY-PASS
ANNEXATION
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, Second Reading
on ordinance to annex property on the US 52 By-Pass next to the new
Dollar General store (Tax Map #166-00-02-108 owned by By-Pass
Development, LLC). All approved the motion.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
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1) Report on finances; 2) Bond Attorney update; 3) Status of swimming
pool - Mr. DiLeo said it would be a good idea to have a grand re-opening of
the pool. Mrs. Thomas said she hopes they get reports on the money that’s
collected at the pool as well as what’s being spent. 4) Status of B.A. Gary
Gym – Mr. Langley said the School District will have their regular meeting
next week and they should sign the papers then. 5) Mr. Langley said there is
a concern about the blue house on Pearl Street. He said they are planning to
sell the property to the Presbyterian Church and then the church will either
try to sell the building or tear it down. Ms. Hines said a motion was made at
the last meeting for the money that was left from the trip to the annual
meeting at Hilton Head to go to the workers making less than $7.25. Ms
Hines said she wanted to change that and make a motion to let money
that’s left over to go toward the fitness program for the employees. Ms.
Hines said she talked with Mr. Curtis Boyd and he has agreed to accept
$4,000 so that employees can continue the fitness program at Fitness
World. Mrs. Thomas seconded the motion. All voted in favor of the
motion.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the City received that CDBG Water Grant for $471,000
due to shortages in the money that was made available; 2) Mr. Garland said
Alexander’s & Isabella’s moved out of the building on the Square without
his knowledge and they didn’t give the key to the building back to us; 3) The
French drain work at the Carnegie Library will start July 13th; 4) Mr.
Garland gave Council members with information on the McLellan Building
and payout info. Mrs. Thomas asked Mr. Garland how the City could have
done negotiations concerning property and don’t have a contract. Mr.
Garland said everything was done verbally, but the City has the upper hand
because if they walk away from this project, the City will get the buildings
with everything in it and they can get all of the money they collect. 5) Mr.
Garland said Councilwoman Cohen is not pleased with the way the walkway
is constructed so she wrote a letter to the architect. Mrs. Cohen said she had
concerns about the structure of the walkway. Mr. Garland told Council if
they want to do a walk through he can arrange for them to do so. Mayor
Watkins said he, Police Chief Jay Cox, and Mrs. Cohen walked the area and
he suggested putting mirrors up so you can see if someone is hiding in the
nook.
AGENDA CHANGE
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Mayor Watkins said this is not on the agenda so he asked to suspend the
rules concerning the agenda and add the resolution concerning CDBG Water
Grant as item #15. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to suspend the rules,
seconded by Mr. Segars. All approved the motion.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Thomas, the meeting
adjourned at 9:30 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
PUBLIC HEARING &
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
June 9, 2009
A Public Hearing followed by a Special Council Meeting of
Darlington City Council were held in the Council Room at City Hall on June
9, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. Present: Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Rodney
Langley, Assistant City Manager Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Chapman, Mrs.
Cohen, Ms. Hines, Mr. Cannon and Mr. Segars. Also present was Mr.
Kinsaul and Ms. Cathy Elliott from the newspaper.
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Mayor Watkins opened the meeting at 6:08 PM to discuss the
2009-10 budgets. There was no one wishing to speak, so Mayor Watkins
closed the Public Hearing at 6:09 P.M.
BUDGET DISCUSSION
There was a budget discussion until 6:30 PM. Mr. Garland went over the
budget changes with council. Ms. Hines said she wish she could give the
money that she would be getting for the trip to Hilton Head to the workers
that are making less than $7.25 per hour. Mr. Kinsaul passed out a sheet
with proposed water, sewer and sanitation rates beginning September, 2009.
Mr. Langley said he, Mr. Kinsaul and Mr. Garland met with a group last
week and they talked about automated meter reading. Mr. Langley said we
will be able to read all of our meters in less than two minutes any time of the
day. Mr. Langley said this system will detect how many gallons of water
have been used in a given period of time. Mr. Kinsaul said Chesterfield
Rural Water has this system and it gives a report of suspected leaks.
SPECIAL MEETING
Mayor Watkins called the special meeting to order at 6:35 PM. Mr. Langley
said we have been invited, at no charge to the City, to Alabama to look at
this system and also talk with them about it. Mr. Langley said the County is
looking at this system also. Kinsaul and Mr. Howard Garland will be going
to Alabama to look at the system of radio read water meters. Ms. Hines
asked if we were to go with this system, would we have to hire someone to
do this or would the girls in the office do this. Mr. Kinsaul said the girls in
the office would operate the system. He said with this system it will
eliminate two meter readers and two vehicles. Mr. Kinsaul said it would
take about $1-$1.5M to do put the total system in. Mr. Kinsaul said when
we get the CDBG water grant we can go ahead and put radio read meters in
this area. He said the meters can be read manually for the time being, but if
we decide to go with the new system this will put us that far ahead. Mayor
Watkins said we discussed this at length a couple of years ago with Johnson
Controls. Mr. Kinsaul said this new system will put a red flag on the
computer if someone turns their water back on once it has been turned off.
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Ms. Hines wanted to know how much each meter costs. Mr. Kinsaul said
they are $300.00 each which includes the whole set. Mr. Garland said when
we get the grant for the waterline improvements we can update the homes in
that area with the new meters. Mr. Garland said we should hear something
about the grant by June 18th. Mr. Kinsaul told Council he would want to
know which system they are thinking about before we put two hundred
meters in. He would need to be partly committed to going with one system
of the other before we put meters in. Mr. Kinsaul said since the City of
Darlington and The County Water & Sewer Authority are both looking at
doing this, they will do proposals for both and we can go together.
Mayor Watkins asked if we would have to change our billing system. Mr.
Kinsaul said this will run on Nicholson software. Mrs. Cohen asked Mr.
Kinsaul if this budget included any of the proposed rate increases. Mr.
Kinsaul said, “No.” Mayor Watkins suggested we pass the budget as is and
if there are changes and amendments we will take those up when it’s time
prior to the first motion. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the 200910 budgets. The motion was seconded by Mr. Segars. Mr. Chapman
made a motion to amend the budget by $7,000 by deleting the monies
allocated to legislative education at Hilton Head. The motion was
seconded by Mr. Cannon. Ms. Hines said to delete this particular line
item, but give the money to the employees making a low salary. Mayor
Watkins said those Council members who wish to attend the annual meeting
should have the opportunity to do so. Mr. Chapman said he has a hard time
telling city employees they are going to use $7,000 in the budget to go to a
conference at Hilton Head. Mrs. Cohen said there are only three council
members that are planning to go. Mr. Chapman said if any of Council goes
it looks bad. Mr. Cannon said for those who want to go its fine, but for
those that don’t want to go, give that money to the workers. Mr. Cannon
made a motion to amend the motion so that any Council members that
want to go to Hilton Head can go and those who don’t want to go can
give their money to the employees. Ms. Hines seconded the motion. All
approved Mr. Cannon’s motion. Mr. Langley said Mr. Chapman’s motion
is still on the floor. Mr. Chapman’s motion failed. Money that is left in
the budget from the trip will be looked at and possibly given to the workers
making less than $7.25 per hour.
SECOND READING ON 2009-10 BUDGET
Back to motion on 2009-10 budget. Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen,
seconded by Mr. Segars, Second Reading on ordinance approving the
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2009-10 Budgets. All voted for the motion except Ms. Hines and Mr.
Chapman.
TAX MILLAGE RATE 125 MILS
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mr. Chapman, Second
Reading on an ordinance setting Tax Levy for 2010 at 125 mils. All
approved the motion.
MISC. INFO
Mrs. Cohen asked if she could get a statement on the reserve fund and water
& sewer fund at budget time and also the water & sewer capital fund. Mrs.
Cohen made a motion for Council to direct the City Manager to issue a
statement on the reserve fund, the reserve fund balance and activity; for
the general fund and the water & sewer fund. (One report would be at
budget time and the other at some time in between). Mr. Chapman
seconded the motion. All approved the motion.
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the
meeting adjourned at 7:15 P.M.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
60
June 2, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held June 2,
2009 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall at 400 Pearl
Street.
Present at the meeting: Councilperson Mrs. Dyan Cohen, Mrs.
Annette Thomas, Ms. Gloria Hines, Mr. Coleman Cannon, Mr. John Segars,
and Mr. Wayne Chapman. Also present: Assistant City Manager, Mr.
Howard Garland, City Judge, Mr. Daniel Causey, Mr. Robert Garland, Mr.
Kinsaul, Mr. Kendall, and Mr. Tony DiLeo. News reporters Mr. Dwight
Dana, Mr. Will Isgett and Ms. Cathy Elliott.
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
Mrs. Annette Thomas gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge
of Allegiance.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said we will omit item #10 because staff is not prepared to
discuss it at this time and item #13 (City Manager’s Update) because Mr.
Langley was not at the meeting.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve minutes of our regular city
council meeting and the minutes of one work session. Mr. Chapman
seconded the motion. Mrs. Thomas said on page 3 of the work session
minutes to delete the word “police cars” and add “city cars”. Mrs. Cohen
said in the work session minutes on page 4 to delete the sentence where it
states “this will be the last year to donate to the “Y” because this is not what
was said at the meeting. Ms. Hines said it was said because she questioned
it. Mayor Watkins said Clerk could listen to the tape to see if this was said.
Mrs. Cohen said she does not remember this being said, but if a couple of
council members remember she does not have a problem leaving this in if
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this is what was said. Mrs. Cohen then stated she was satisfied with leaving
this as it is based on the discussion. All approved the motion.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said he is working with a lady out of Columbia, SC who is
interested in opening a home care staffing service. He is working with Ms.
Barbara Bruce and the New Beginning Salon to get signage for her building.
Pic-A-Pet has moved to 601 Pearl Street. He said he has two ladies
interested in the Carriage House. He said one wants to open a home for
battered women. Birds of A Feather had their grand opening. Mr. Bobby
Kilgo has retired from his government job and opened a law practice on
Cashua Street. Mr. DiLeo said Psychiatrist, Dr. Weinbaum will be moving
out of his building on the Square as of July 1st and relocating to Florida.
Dollar General on the By-Pass should be opening in about a month. Mr.
DiLeo said he is working with Mr. George Harrison and Mr. David Rolfe on
their buildings. The Business Award presentation went to Chameleon Art
Gallery and The Residential Pride Award went to Ms. Eleanor Langley on
North Street. Mr. DiLeo said the landscaping at the new City Admin
Building needs to be landscaped. He said he would like to work with Taylor
Landscaping and get some prices on landscaping. He said he would like to
have landscaping done at our building and the Council on Aging Building.
Mr. DiLeo told Council if they gave him permission he would go ahead and
get prices.
Mayor Watkins welcomed Ms. Rebecca Swan, a student from Coastal
Carolina, who is working with Mr. Howard Garland through a summer
intern program.
PDRTA – MRS. JUDY ALEXANDER
Mrs. Alexander, Chairman of the City Committee for Transportation, said
she conducted a needs assessment survey regarding expansion of PDRTA
services in Darlington. She gave council members a copy of the survey
conducted. Mrs. Alexander said she conducted a needs assessment to
determine the transportation wished and interest in our community. The
results of the survey showed a high interest in reliable bus service and
respondents would be willing to pay for the service. Mrs. Alexander
recommended that PDRTA consider extending services in the Darlington
area. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know how many bus stops are in Darlington.
Mrs. Alexander said as of right now, there aren’t any specific bus stops. She
said the bus does random stops, but if a person calls and needs
62
transportation, PDRTA will tell them where they will stop. Mrs. Alexander
said she would like to see designated bus stops in the City of Darlington.
Ms. Hines said she feels if we had designated bus stops in Darlington,
people wouldn’t have to call PDRTA to see where they are going to stop.
Mrs. Alexander said the Board members would be willing to meet with them
and answer any questions that they have.
MS. JACKEE’ WILLIAMS
Ms. Williams said she has concerns with the City and County of Darlington
not having a website where citizens of Darlington can go online and do
background checks on people that you come in contact with to see if they
have a criminal or arrest record. Ms. Williams said Florence has all of this
information posted on the web. She said she had a break-in and it was a
person she befriended; not knowing the person had a criminal record. Ms.
Williams said had she known this, this person would have never been
allowed to befriend her or her daughter or be allowed to come into her home.
She said this same person broke into her home and hurt her daughter. She
said the City needs to have a website set up like Florence does so anyone can
check a person’s credentials before you allow them into your home. Ms.
Williams is not sure whether it’s the County or City of Florence that hosts
the site, but she said you can get information from both the City and County
from the website. Mayor Watkins said we can look into this and see what
we can do. Mayor Watkins said he and Council feels that if there is any way
they can prevent this type of thing from happening they would be willing to
do something to help.
MISS DARLINGTON – TERRILYNN STEPHENS
Miss Darlington, Ms. Terrilynn Stephens, introduced herself to everyone and
told them a little about herself. Mayor Watkins presented Ms. Stephens with
a “Key to the City” and a check from the City of Darlington.
HOSPITALITY TAX FUNDING
Mr. Howard Garland said Council requested pictures of the floor at the B.A.
Gary Gym, so he passed them around so Council could see the cracks in the
floor. He had pictures of the ceiling which showed water damage to the
interior. Mr. Garland said Council requested that Mr. Langley talk with our
Bond Attorney, Mr. Bill Hirata, to get answer to several questions: 1)
what’s the ratio of collateral needed for the bond? Mr. Hirata said
approximately 75%. 2) What is the City’s credit rating? Mr. Hirata said the
City does not have a credit rating because most of our borrowing has been
63
through local financial institutions. If he had to guess, our rating would be a
low A or high B. 3) Do we have to borrow the entire $1M? Mr. Hirata said
we do not have to borrow the entire $1M, but it would be a good idea to
borrow all of it in case there are overruns on the projects. Mr. Hirata said
the draw down method is more expensive. 4) Can we prepay with no
penalty? Mr. Hirata said he would write this into the proposal, but it would
be a slight increase in our payback if we did. He suggests we do the draw
down method instead of the prepay method. 5) How long should we
schedule to pay the loan back based on our projected income? Mr. Hirata
said seven years. This way would give us a little cushion built in so we can
build up funding for projects in case it was needed. Mr. Garland said Mr.
Langley’s recommendation to Council is that they adopt the following
tonight: the B.A. Gary Pool - $160,000; Pedestrian walkway through the
McLellan Building - $260,000; B.A. Gary Gym - $120,000; Williamson
Park - $150,000; Carnegie Museum - $50,000 for a French drain around the
building for a total of $740,000. Mr. Garland said the $120,000 for B.A.
Gary Gym includes the roof repair. He said if Council wants to include the
floor repair it would be another $100,000 and would include work on some
classrooms. Mayor Watkins asked if the floor is usable as it is. Mr. Garland
said, “No”. He said the cracks are large enough for a person to get their toe
stuck or a twisted ankle. Mr. Garland said $100,000 was cut from this total
because he felt this was the consensus of Council from the meeting last
week. Mayor Watkins said the whole purpose of getting the gym was for us
to use it. Mr. Chapman asked about the collateral. Mr. Garland said if we
borrow the $1M, the collateral would be $750,000 worth of property. Mr.
Langley said the Carnegie Library and the City Admin Building would be
enough. Mrs. Cohen asked if other properties were considered for collateral.
Mr. Garland said the banks wouldn’t consider a gym or a pool. The banks
could sell the Carnegie Building or the City Admin building and this is what
they were looking at. Mr. Garland said if this is approved tonight, Mr.
Hirata said he could have everything done and we’ll be ready to go by the
first week of July. Mayor Watkins said he doesn’t see the benefit of taking
possession of the gym without fixing the floor if it’s not usable, so he
suggests we include funds to repair the floor. He said we need to go forward
with the entire projects that were mentioned and fulfill the requirements that
we need to borrow the money. He said regardless of what we do, we still
have to collateralize something. Mr. Chapman made a motion to table
this discussion for a work session with regards to the collateralization of
property. Mr. Segars seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen asked if we
knew what sort of interest rate we would be getting. Mr. Garland said this
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was not mentioned. Mrs. Thomas asked whether the bids that were received
were for a high quality floor. She feels that $100,000 is a bit much for this
floor. Mrs. Thomas said classrooms were mentioned in this price and she
wants to know why the classrooms got added into this. Mr. Garland said
Mr. Bradley and Mr. Langley have been involved in this and he’s just
reporting on what was told to him, but he can check on this. Mayor Watkins
asked Mr. Garland about the collateral. Mr. Garland said in his opinion, he
doesn’t think the requirement that we have collateral is going to change, but
the percentage could probably be negotiated. Mr. Garland said banks are
much stricter now and by us not having a history with the hospitality tax,
these are the requirements that have been put forth. Mrs. Thomas said we
discussed this enough in our work session last week. She said she is not
going to be satisfied with the roof being fixed and the floor left as is because
it is in terrible shape. She said if we are going to spend money for the roof,
we need to make the building usable. Mrs. Thomas asked why there’s so
much more discussion and we’re still below the $1M. Mayor Watkins asked
Mrs. Thomas her feelings about going forward in light of collateralization.
Mrs. Thomas said this is nothing new and knew we were going to have to
put up something. She said if the City Manager has suggested that we put
up the Admin Building and the Carnegie Building then we need to move
forward. Mr. Chapman said he doesn’t think it’s wise to put up the Admin
Building or the Carnegie Library. Mr. Garland said another choice would be
the McCullough House. Mr. Chapman said we need to wait until we have
collected twelve months hospitality tax so we can give a sound estimate of
what our revenue is going to be. Mrs. Thomas said we need this facility to
help preserve our children and everybody in Darlington. Mrs. Cohen said
based on the numbers we would have the money to pay the loan. She said
the collateral issue is mostly because the banks have to have those numbers.
Ms. Hines said if this did not involve our children she would say no. Ms.
Hines said if we can spend $260,000 on a breezeway, we can do this project.
Mr. Cannon said he feels we took on more than we should have, but we’re
already out there in the water now, so we need to go ahead and do this
project. Mrs. Thomas and Ms. Hines said to go ahead with the project.
Back to motion to table the Manager’s recommendation and proceed with a
work session to discuss the matter of collateralization. Mr. Chapman and
Mr. Segars voted in favor of the motion to table Manager’s
recommendation. Mr. Cannon, Ms. Hines, Mrs. Cohen and Mrs.
Thomas voted against the motion to table Manager’s recommendation.
(Motion failed) Mrs. Cohen made a motion to accept the Manager’s
recommendation with the change at B.A. Gary Gym we go ahead and
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do the floor for $100,000 and instead of $120,000 for project total the
total will be $220,000 making the total $840,000 for the entire project.
Mr. Segars said we are committed to some of these projects, but not to all of
them so we don’t need to over extend ourselves. He said some of these
projects need to be prioritized and maybe not try to do them all this year.
Mr. Chapman said he concurs with Mr. Segars thoughts and said he doesn’t
object to the items on the list, but on how we are funding it. All voted for
the motion except Mr. Chapman and Mr. Segars. (Motion Passes)
ANNEXATION OF US 52-BYPASS PROPERTY
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Ms. Hines, First Reading on
ordinance to annex property on the US 52 By-Pass next to the new
Dollar General store (Tax Map #166-00-02-108 owned by By-Pass
Development, LLC). All approved the motion.
ADOPTION OF 2006 INT’L BUILDING CODES
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, Second Reading on
ordinance to adopt the 2006 International Building Codes including the
first Chapter of the International Building Code which specifies the
Administrative Enforcement of the Codes, which unanimously carried.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the City made application for a $500,000 CDBG Grant
for the waterline project in West and South Darlington and Council needs to
sign a resolution authorizing such. He said the grant would include
approximately eleven streets. They will increase the water line size and we
would like to add some radio read meters in this area as well. He said the
City will be responsible for $47,000. Mr. Garland said he needs Council to
authorize the resolution and sign it.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said this is not on the agenda so he asked to suspend the
rules concerning the agenda and add the resolution concerning CDBG Water
Grant as item #15. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to suspend the rules,
seconded by Mr. Segars. All approved the motion.
BACK TO ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
2) Mr. Garland said Mr. Langley asked that Mayor and Council form a
committee to review applications and resumes’ and make a recommendation
for appointment of City Judge. Ms. Hines, Mr. Segars and Mrs. Cohen will
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be on the committee to review applications for City Judge. 3) Reminder of
Public Hearing & Special Council Meeting next week. 4) Mr. Garland said
Mr. Langley wanted him to mention that starting July 1st they will begin the
transition from Mr. Langley to Mr. Garland as City Manager. He said he
will start handling all purchase orders and be in on all discussions involving
city personnel and Mr. Langley will take phone calls from day to day. Mr.
Garland said he will continue to handle the responsibilities of the Planner
until we get finished with the McLellan Building and the Carnegie project.
5) The water, sewer and sprinkler tie-ins for the McLellan Building are
complete. Mr. Garland said the retail spaces are ready and we will probably
have seven residential spaces. (Gloria Hines wants figures Howard quoted
included in her minutes – here) 6) the Carnegie Library cornice work has
been completed. The project is 70% complete. 7) The City has been
awarded Tree City USA for the 12th consecutive year. 8) The Darlington
Memorial Cemetery Association will have a meeting and a tour of the
cemetery. The meeting will be at Bethel AME Church, 1333 S. Main Street
at 4:00 PM Sunday afternoon (June 14th) followed by a tour of the cemetery.
Mrs. Thomas said she does not know whether she would be able to say
anything since she was not at the meeting in December when it was voted on
that we would take on Mr. Garland as the City Manager when Mr. Langley
retires. She said he’s a hard worker and he explains things to them better
than she’s had them explained before, but that’s against Equal Opportunity
Laws for us to appoint somebody way ahead of time like that and not recruit
and go through the regular procedure. Mayor Watkins said Mr. Garland
already has a contract stating that he would be manager. Mrs. Thomas said
Mr. Garland was hired as Planner/Assistant City Manager, but being an
Assistant City Manager doesn’t guarantee that you will get the job as
Manager. Mrs. Thomas said she is expressing this openly because she
doesn’t want Mr. Garland to hear it later that she said it. Mrs. Thomas said
it’s not fair to appoint Mr. Garland as City Manager this far ahead of time
rather than recruiting someone. Mrs. Thomas said it’s nothing personal
against Mr. Garland, as a matter of fact, she likes him and he seems to be
doing a good job, but it’s not fair the way it was done. Mayor Watkins said
at some point and time they probably need to set up a work session to
explain this contract because this was approved by resolution. Ms. Hines
said she and Mrs. Cohen asked to see Mr. Langley’s contract at the work
shop, but she never saw it. Mrs. Cohen said she didn’t see it, but she knows
Council voted for this. Mayor Watkins said we can correct this situation by
sitting down with Mr. Garland and going over his contract. Mr. Cannon said
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we need to look at the things we have already done in the past. Mr. Cannon
said in his opinion, if we rehire someone that’s retired, they need to start
back as a new hire and not in the same position they left in. He said you’ve
got to be careful when you start doing things like this. Mr. Cannon said Mr.
Garland stated that he would like to have Mr. Kinsaul take on additional
responsibilities as Assistant City Manager. Mr. Cannon said if we don’t
work this thing out like it should be and Mr. Garland was to leave, then Mr.
Kinsaul could end up being the next City Manager. Mrs. Thomas said it
needs to be talked about now because in reference to an excerpt that was
read it’s saying “that in Mr. Garland’s absence, Mr. Kinsaul would take over
his duties and also hire a planner and let the planner take over some other
duties. Mrs. Thomas said the thing is, how Mr. Kinsaul would know how to
do all of this and he hasn’t been here but two or three years and Ms. Pridgen
has been here for umpteen years. She said we have got to start seeing who is
really qualified for the job. Mr. Cannon said we need to make sure whatever
we do it’s done right.
$500,000 CDBG WATER GRANT APPLICATION
Mr. Cannon made a motion to approve resolution authorizing the
submission of an application by the City of Darlington for a $500,000
CDBG Water Grant. Mr. Segars seconded the motion. All approved
the motion.
Mayor Watkins suggested that Assistant City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland
get a bid for a new desktop computer.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
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Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
WORK SESSION
May 26, 2009
A Work Session of the Darlington City Council was held Tuesday,
May 26, 2009 at 6:00 PM in the Conference Room at the City
Administrative Building, 410 Pearl Street.
Present: Mayor Watkins, Councilpersons Segars, Hines, Thomas,
Cohen, Chapman. Also City Manager, Rodney Langley, and Assistant City
Manager, Howard Garland. Mayor Watkins called the meeting to order at
6:15 PM.
Mayor Watkins called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM the purpose
being to discuss the hospitality tax and the budget.
Mayor Watkins turned the meeting over to Mr. Langley because he
has some thoughts about the hospitality tax. Mr. Langley said he talked with
Bond Counsel, Mr. Bill Hirata, to check on the status of the bond. Mr.
Langley said Mr. Hirata told him he’s not getting a lot of conversation from
banks. He said all of the banks have asked for a three year history on
collection of hospitality tax which we don’t have since we just started in
February, 2009. Mr. Langley said since we don’t have a history of
collections yet, the banks want the City to put up collateral. Mr. Langley
said the hospitality tax collections per month will not be as much as he
anticipated they would be. It was stated that we can use the swimming pool,
the Carnegie Library, the gym, etc. Mr. Langley said Mr. Hirata has been in
touch with Mr. Andy Smith with BB&T since we have several projects
financed with them. Mr. Langley said the problem he has with this, is that
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we have been making payments out of the general fund money for the
McLellan project and the swimming pool and our general fund money is
running pretty low. He said we need to get this bond closed so we can
reimburse ourselves. He said one of the things Council needs to talk about is
what we’re going to use this money for. Mr. Garland gave Council a list of
projected hospitality collections over the first twenty-two months and list of
expenditures for the hospitality tax money. Mr. Garland said our total
commitment so far is $640,000. Mr. Langley said if we were to get the B.A.
Gary gym, there are some things that we would need to do to it in order to
operate. He said if we don’t get the money, we can put it off. He said there
are a lot of things that can be done in-house. Mr. Langley said the building
needs roof and ceiling work and to put some type of floor in the building
will cost approximately $220,000. Ms. Hines said she understands what Mr.
Bradley wants to do at the gym and since we don’t have the money now, just
secure the roof so it won’t leak inside the building and put everything else
on hold. Mr. Langley said one of the things we’re told we really need is a
French drain around the perimeter of the Carnegie Library building to keep
moisture from around the building. Mr. Langley said we made a request to
the school district about the Virgil Wells football ballfield and if we get this
we would have the makings of a nice neighborhood sports complex. Mr.
Langley said he didn’t realize the building at the swimming pool was in such
bad shape. He said there’s no money allocated for this, but the building
really needs to be reworked and plumbing work needs to be done. Mr.
Langley said we can probably get the sewer department to do some
plumbing repairs at the pool. Mr. Langley said they are looking at
approximately $20,000-$25,000 to fix up the building at the pool. Mr.
Langley told Council they needed to discuss amounts and what they want
him to present to Mr. Hirata so he can put it out for bids. Ms. Hines said she
wants to finish the pool and the gym, but she doesn’t want to put the City at
risk. She said if the money is not there, why put ourselves at risk. Council
discussed which properties could be put up for collateral. Mayor Watkins
said the banks don’t want the property they just want to make sure they get
their money. Mr. Langley said he talked with Mr. Bill Howle last week and
the school district put a few stipulations on the use of B.A. Gary such as
being able to use the building at times during school hours. Mr. Howle is
supposed to get with Mr. Jay James, Attorney representing The School
District, and have him go ahead and draw up the deed. Council continued to
discuss the bond and what to use as collateral. Mr. Langley said the total
commitment for the McLellan Walkway is $260,000; The Swimming Pool $160,000; B.A. Gary Gym - $220,000 but we will decrease that figure to
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$120,000; The French drain at the Carnegie Library/Museum - $50,000; and
possible decrease Williamson Park from $275,000 to $150,000. Ms. Hines
said we knew going into the Carnegie Library project, that we would not
have enough money to pay for the entire project, but Ms. Mary Demetrious
was supposed to solicit funding for the project. Council continued to discuss
the projects that Council has listed to be funded with hospitality tax money.
Ms. Hines said she is not against doing any of the projects, but if we don’t
have the money, we need to wait. Mr. Langley asked for guidance from
Council about what they want him to present to them on Tuesday night, a
proposal, etc. Mrs. Cohen told Mr. Langley to find out from Mr. Hirata
what the City’s credit rating is. Mrs. Thomas asked Mr. Langley for his
recommendation. Mr. Segars asked Mr. Langley to get estimates on how
much it will cost to fix the roof, the floor and classrooms at the gym. Mayor
Watkins said to leave out Virgil Wells Stadium for now. Mr. Langley said
staff will make a proposal to Council on Tuesday. Mr. Langley said he
knows this is nothing we will do now, but he would like for Council to
consider a nice playground for children in the near future
Mrs. Thomas said she wonders when the City is going to stop spending so
much money on police cars. Mrs. Thomas wanted to know how much the
City spends on gas for vehicles each month. I told her I think it’s around
$7,000-$8,000 a month.
Council discussed this issue until 7:40 PM.
For information only, Mr. Garland said the City will be able to apply
for a $500,000 CDBD grant (stimulus money) to upgrade the waterlines on
the West End of Darlington. Mr. Garland said the application is due by June
10th. Council continued a lengthy discussion about different budget items.
Mr. Garland went over all of the changes that were made in the general fund
budget. Council members asked questions about the line items they had
concerns about. The Clerk told Council that any particular line item they
wanted to see could be printed out for them if they let me know. Ms. Hines
asked about employees that drive cars home and what it costs the City of
Darlington for gas. She said there are employees that use city vehicles for
personal use. Mr. Langley asked if he needed to put a limit on the radius for
employees who drive vehicles home. Mayor Watkins said management
needs to look at this situation. Mr. Garland said when someone leaves a
position, we will not rehire anyone to fill the position but try to utilize
employees we have. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Garland if he is going to
recommend a replacement for him when he becomes City Manager. Mr.
Garland said he would like to have Mr. Kinsaul take on additional
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responsibilities as City Manager. Mr. Garland said he would like to still
have a full-time planner, but to cut costs we could use someone from
Council of Governments two or three times a week. Mrs. Thomas said this
will be a good thing to think about since we won’t have to pay a salary for a
Planner or Assistant City Manager. Mr. Garland said if they hire a Planner,
he would like for the person to supervise the parks, help coordinate what
type of festivals and activities to bring in, be a fundraiser to raise money for
the Carnegie Building, handle all of the boards and also start some type of
community foundation that could be used for the City of Darlington. Mr.
Garland said he would like to see us plant more trees in South Darlington
and keep up our right-of-way a lot better. Ms. Hines asked Mr. Garland to
explain Department 550 – Community Promotions and what they do to
benefit the citizens in the City of Darlington. Mr. Garland said these were
organizations that were already in the budget when he came on board.
Mayor Watkins explained why we fund these organizations and how they
benefit Darlington. Mr. Garland told Council if they tell him what
community promotions they want him to take out of the budget, he will take
it out. Mr. Chapman said he would like to see the City of Darlington
gradually decrease funding to DDRA and the Chamber. It was stated that
this will be the last year that we would donate funds to the “Y”. Mrs. Cohen
said she would like to see our meetings on public access television. An
informal poll was taken to see what council members would be interested in
having the meetings on television. Mrs. Cohen, Ms. Hines and Mrs. Thomas
said yes. Mr. Segars said no and Mayor Watkins said he has mixed feelings
about it. Mr. Chapman asked for an informal poll to see which council
members would be in favor of decreasing Main Street to $7,000. Mrs.
Thomas, Ms. Hines and Mr. Chapman were in favor of decreasing Main
Street donation. Mr. Chapman asked for an informal poll to see who would
be in favor of deleting line item 500-215 (Travel Expense Acct.)
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 9:05 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
72
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
May 12, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was
held May 12, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall
at 400 Pearl Street.
Present at the meeting: Mayor Anthony Watkins, Councilpersons,
Hines, Cohen, Cannon, Segars, and Chapman along with City Manager,
Rodney Langley, and Assistant City Manager Howard Garland. Also
present were the following city employees: Mr. Robert Garland, Mr.
“Sandy” Kendall, and Mr. Freddie Kinsaul.
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 PM by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Mr. Cannon gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
RECOGNITION OF VISITORS
Mayor Watkins took a moment to recognize Mr. Larry Donaldson, several
boy scouts and one Girl Scout to the meeting. Mr. Donaldson said the
scouts are working to get credit for a citizenship award. He said one of the
requirements is to attend a meeting for the City or County. Mayor Watkins
welcomed them to the Council meeting.
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AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins said we will omit item #9 (reading of a resolution
consenting to the placement of industrial property within the corporate limits
of the City) because they don’t have things ready yet.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes of regular council
meeting and one work session. The motion was seconded by Mr.
Segars.
CHAMBER UPDATE - MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said on April 22, 2009 the Chamber hosted The
Administrative Professionals Luncheon at the Country Club. She said the
Chamber has twenty-four new members since January, 2009. There was a
ribbon cutting ceremony at Hot Dog Haven on S. Main Street. Ms.
Alexander said on May 27, 2009 there will be a Lunch & Learn at the
Country Club. She said they should have their membership directory by mid
July and also their new maps.
AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT
Mrs. Cohen gave an Audit Committee report. She said the Audit Committee
consists of three council members-Mrs. Annette Thomas, Mr. John Segars
and herself. Mrs. Cohen said the purpose of the committee is to work with
the auditors to see where we can improve our practices and internal control.
PROCLAMATION – BUILDING SAFETY WEEK
Mr. Kendall said as a result of the death of Mr. Jeffrey Kimbrell, who
sustained fatal injuries from a fall off of the scaffold while working on one
of his houses, he felt it was necessary to inform the citizens of Darlington
the importance of building safety. Mayor Watkins read the proclamation
declaring May 17-23, 2009 as Building Safety Week.
FIRST READING ON ORDINANCE TO ADOPT 2006 INT’L
BUILDING CODES
Mr. Cannon made a motion for First Reading on ordinance to adopt the
2006 International Building Codes including the first chapter of the
International Building Code which specifies the Administrative
Enforcement of the Codes. Mr. Segars seconded the motion. All
approved the motion.
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INFO
Mr. Cannon said rather than the City continuing to cut overgrown lots, let
them grow to their natural vegetative state because this can become very
expensive for the City.
SECOND READING DESIGN REVIEW BOARD BYLAWS
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Cannon, Second
Reading on ordinance approving the Design Review Board’s Bylaws,
which unanimously carried.
DISCUSSION & FIRST READING OF 2009-10 BUDGETS
Mr. Garland went over different sections of the proposed budget. Mayor
Watkins said we should schedule a public hearing prior to our next regular
council meeting. Mr. Segars made a motion to approve first reading of
the 2009-2010 budgets which was seconded by Mr. Cannon. Mr.
Chapman asked to hear from staff about budget changes. Mr. Garland went
over the general fund and water & sewer breakdown. Mr. Chapman wanted
to know how much money was transferred from the reserve fund into the
general fund and how much. The City Clerk told him we transferred
$600,000 but since the work session in April, 2009, $300,000 had been put
back into the fund. The Clerk told Council if we were still doing the TAN,
we would have to pay it back in April of each year. Mr. Chapman said even
though this money is in the City’s reserve fund, we still need to pay the fund
back like we would if we had borrowed the money from a lending
institution. The Clerk told council we just didn’t have the money to pay the
fund back and if we had borrowed the money, I don’t know how we would
have paid it back. Mr. Chapman said Council should approve all
expenditures for the reserve fund before any money is transferred to the
general fund. Mr. Chapman also said we need to delete the $7,000 that’s in
the budget for Council to go to the annual meeting. Mrs. Cohen and Ms.
Hines said they agree with Mr. Chapman. All approved the motion for
First Reading on 2009-2010 budgets. Mrs. Cohen said it would be a good
idea to post the budget on our website before the public hearing.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley went over financial reports. 2) Mr. Langley said Mr.
Bradley feels like things are still on target for the opening of the swimming
pool. 3) Mr. Langley gave an update on the B.A. Gary Gym. He said he
talked with Dr. Knight, but he doesn’t know what the hold up is. 4) Mr.
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Langley said he asked Mr. Bradley to give him a list of things he plans to do
at the gym, the hours of operation, programs, and who will supervise.
5) Mr. Langley said the notice of filing for the election will be August 5,
2009 – August 19, 2009. The filing dates for candidates running for office
this year will be August 24, 2009 beginning at 8:30 AM until September 4,
2009 and ending at 5:00 PM. The election date is November 3, 2009. 6)
Mr. Langley said the ad for the City Judge’s position will go into the paper
next week.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
1) Mr. Garland said the Carnegie Library is 60% complete. He said there
was a problem with about 600 of the old bricks. Mr. Garland said there was
a difference in the size of the old brick and the new brick so the contractor
decided to take the new brick and cut them in half so they will blend in with
the old brick. 2) Mr. Garland said he will ask Council to consider putting in
a French drain which will cost approximately $40,000. 3) He said the
McLellan building is 75% complete. He said the completion date for the
McLellan Building is the middle of July. Mr. Garland told Council he
would like for them to take a tour of the walkway sometime in June. 4)
Dale Jaegar who’s working on a master plan for Darlington Memorial
Cemetery is 40% complete.
WORK SESSION
A work session has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 26, 2009 6:00 PM at
the City of Darlington Administration Building. A public hearing has been
set for June 9th at 6:00 PM rather than on June 2nd before our regular
meeting. We will have a special meeting at 6:30 PM immediately following
the public hearing.
REMINDERS
May 25, 2009 – Memorial Day Holiday
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the meeting
adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Mayor
76
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
April 7, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was
held April 7, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall at
400 Pearl Street.
Present at the meeting: Mayor Anthony Watkins, Councilpersons,
Thomas, Hines, Cohen, Cannon, Segars, and Chapman along with City
Manager, Rodney Langley, and Assistant City Manager Howard Garland.
Also present were the following city employees: Mr. Robert Garland, Mr.
“Sandy” Kendall, and Mr. Freddie Kinsaul.
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 PM by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Mr. Segars gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mrs. Cohen made a motion to approve the minutes of regular council
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chapman. Mrs. Thomas said
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on page two under DDRA Manager’s update, to add “Scarlett’s” as the
name of the antique shop on Broad Street. She also said on page five to
change the wording from sewer repairs to repaving of street. All approved
the motion.
CHAMBER UPDATE - MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said on April 22, 2009 the Chamber will host Administrative
Professionals Luncheon at the Country Club. On Tuesday, April 28, 2009
from 5:00 PM -7:00 PM, the Darlington Chamber will host an open house to
celebrate the opening of the Darlington Economic Partnership Office. Ms.
Alexander said all Chamber repairs are complete.
INFO
Mayor Watkins said Assistant City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, went to
Columbia to pick up a 2009 award the City of Darlington was presented with
(2009 Honor Award) from the Governor.
AUDIT PRESENTATION – MR. ROB JORDAN
Mr. Rob Jordan appeared before Council to give them the results of the
audit. He went over pages 3, 16, 19, 38, 40, 53, 56, 59, 60, 61, and 62, of
the 2007-2008 audits with Council. Council members were given an
opportunity to ask questions about the audit. Mr. Jordan told Council to
look over the financial statements and if they have any more questions, he
can come back at a later date and answer their questions.
GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL – MR. LARRY SMITH
Mr. Larry Smith along with Ms. Chelsey Brown, his Assistant, appeared
before Council to discuss the City of Darlington having their council
meetings on public access channel. Ms. Brown said the City of Darlington
can broadcast all of their meetings on the Time Warner public access
channel each month. She said the cost is $125.00 per month and this would
be a good way to keep all of the citizens informed and involved. She said
this cost would include all of the regular monthly council meetings with the
exception of executive session meetings. They will also cover six special
meetings each year. Ms. Brown told Council if they approve this, they can
start the broadcast with May, 2009 meeting and run on a twelve month
program schedule. Mr. Larry Smith said the City of Darlington already has
a relationship with Time Warner, but they are seeking to provide physical
coverage of our council meetings that would be given to Time Warner to
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broadcast at a cost of $125.00 per meeting. Mr. Smith said Ms. Brown
would come to our council meeting each month and record it and a couple
days after that the program will be ready to air on the public access channel.
Mayor Watkins asked Ms. Brown if she set up lighting for the recording.
She said she would provide lighting, depending on the lighting in the
Council Chambers. Mr. Smith told Mayor and Council that for the first
couple of months he would let them view the recording before it is sent to
Time Warner to make sure it’s the quality they want. Mr. Smith said they
would tell us what time slot the council meeting will be in so that we can
inform the community. Mr. Langley asked if the council chambers will be
large enough and bright enough to do a recording. Ms. Brown said it’s large
enough, but she does not think it would be bright enough. Mayor Watkins
said he finds this very intriguing and interesting and would give it some
consideration. Mr. Segars made a motion to receive this as information
at this time and discuss at our work session. The motion was seconded
by Ms. Hines. All approved the motion.
WILLIAMSON PARK – MS. JENNIE WILLIAMSON
Ms. Jennie Williamson along with Mr. Bill and Joe Ervin from Ervin
Engineering appeared before Council with information on the Williamson
park project. Ms. Williamson passed out copies of pictures of the
boardwalk. She said Mr. Ervin drew up preliminary estimates on specific
figures on the distance of the boardwalks and a general idea of how much it
might actually cost to repair it. Ms. Williamson said based on what Mr. Bill
& Joe Ervin drew up, their estimate came close to $220,000 which is
considerably less than her estimate of $235,000. Ms. Williamson asked
Council to take full consideration in funding the Williamson Park boardwalk
project. Mayor Watkins said we would receive this as information for now
and look at this as we will all other projects that are candidates for the
hospitality tax funds. Ms. Williamson asked Mayor Watkins if Council was
in a position to say what their schedule is. Mayor Watkins said we have not
scheduled a meeting to discuss this, but he believes we would be able to
work this into a work session that we have scheduled for this month. He
said this would be contingent on the ability of the staff to give us reasonable
or accurate recommendations. Assistant City Manager, Mr. Howard
Garland told Mayor Watkins he would need to put this off until another
work session because we are going to have a budget work session and
Representative Robert Williams would like to make a presentation at this
meeting as well. Mayor Watkins told Ms. Williamson that Council would
address this at a future meeting. Mrs. Thomas asked Ms. Williamson if she
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considered doing the different boardwalks in phases. Mr. Ervin told Mrs.
Thomas the project can be phased and his plan for construction is that the
construction will take place along the trail. Ms. Hines said with losing two
months of hospitality tax money and it’s not coming in really fast, we can’t
say if we can pay for this at one time. Mr. Ervin said he will look at a
phased approach for Ms. Williamson to give her an idea of how we would
do it. He said the cumulative cost would be greater, but it’s possible to do.
Mrs. Thomas said she loves the concept they have at the park in Florence
which has a playground area and a picnic area. Mrs. Thomas asked Ms.
Williamson if she has thought about something along these lines. Ms.
Williamson said there are areas to picnic now, but the idea of Williamson
Park is a woodland preserve, bird watching and other things that are nature
oriented. Mayor Watkins said we will receive this as information and give
attention to it as soon as we can.
N. MAIN WELL MAINTENANCE – MR. FREDDIE KINSAUL
Mr. Kinsaul said he received a bid of $52,481 from Professional Pump &
Well to pull, clean, refurbish and put a new hose and pump on electrical
controls. He said Professional Pump & Well is a local company and they do
all of our service work. Mr. Cannon asked about the time frame. Mr.
Kinsaul said they will be able to start within a month and will need to be
done before we get into the dry months. Mr. Langley asked Mr. Kinsaul if
the company would be able to start and finish the project by the first of July.
Mr. Kinsaul said whenever they start the job, they will finish it. Mrs. Cohen
asked if there were any other bids. Mr. Kinsaul said we received several
bids and Professional Pump is not the lowest, but it was not the highest bid.
Mr. Kinsaul said he recommends that we use Professional Pump & Well to
do this job. He said this is a budgeted item and he also has money left from
the loan for the treatment plant. Mr. Chapman made a motion to accept
the bid from Professional Pump & Well. The motion was seconded by
Mr. Segars. All approved the motion.
DISCUSSION – CONNECTING PUBLIC SQUARE TO ORANGE ST.
SEWER
Mr. Kinsaul said we have a sewer problem in downtown and Rehab Builders
approached us because they have to make a tie on the McLellan Building.
He said Rehab Builders have to run a water line out to Orange Street. Mr.
Kinsaul said Rehab Builders made us an offer to have their plumbers dig the
hole deeper so that we can install our sewer line while they are putting in the
new water line. Mr. Kinsaul said for about $32,000 the City will run a new
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sewer line from the McLellan Building and pick up the sewer coming from
the other buildings in the parking lot and take the new sewer tap out to
Orange Street. Mr. Kinsaul said hopefully this will solve some of the sewer
backup problems they have been having a Jewel’s Restaurant, Papillon, the
doctor’s office and the jewelry store. Mr. Kinsaul said this is not a budgeted
item, but we should have enough left out of the loan money to do this.
Mayor Watkins said the entire parking lot will have to be repaved. Mr.
Kinsaul said Rehab Builders has to run a new 6” water line from Orange
Street to have enough water volume and pressure for the sprinklers in the
building. Mayor Watkins asked if this will help with other problems. Mr.
Kinsaul said this will not alleviate all of the downtown problems. He said
they will tap off of the 8” line on Orange Street and run a new 6” main over
to the back of the McLellan Building. Mr. Chapman asked Mr. Kinsaul
what would be the maximum cost for this project if we were to bid it out.
Mr. Howard Garland said Rehab Builders is going to use their plumber and
all we have to do is give them the go ahead to do it. Mr. Langley asked Mr.
Garland and Mr. Kinsaul if we have to get approval for the change. Mr.
Garland said the money is ours to use as we see fit and when he called the
State Revolving Loan Fund Office and they said as long as we use the
money for water & sewer, we’re ok. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Kinsaul
what happens if we don’t do this project at this time. Mr. Kinsaul said
Rehab Builders will tie another set of apartments from another building into
that sewer line. Mrs. Thomas asked about funds that Senator Gerald Malloy
was supposed to get us. Mayor Watkins said we were contacted by Senator
Malloy telling us that there were funds available to help with the water and
sewer project, but we didn’t get the money, so we have to use money from
the loan. Mrs. Cohen asked if we could get someone to do the job cheaper
than $32,000. Mr. Kinsaul said his crew will do some of the work in
conjunction with Rehab Builders plumber. He said his crew will do the
sewer tap and he has coordinated with Rehab Builders that when they dig the
trench for their water tap we can install our sewer tap at the same time. Mr.
Segars made a motion seconded by Mr. Chapman to go ahead and move
on this and uses the $32,000 or whatever is needed. Mrs. Cohen said she
is in favor of doing this, but she wants to know how the money will be
accounted for in the budget. Mr. Kinsaul said we have the money. He said
this is left over funds from the treatment plant. Mayor Watkins said we have
the money and we can either return it or we can borrow against it and pay it
back. Mrs. Cohen said her concern is we list a project that is not already in
the budget, but we’re not amending the budget. Mayor Watkins asked Mr.
Langley and Mr. Garland’s opinion on this. Mr. Langley said we have the
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money and the State said we don’t have to get permission to change the
scope of the project, so basically it’s already been approved from the State.
All approved the motion. Mr. Cannon said we need to understand that
running a City is like running your house. He said we are going to have
unexpected things come up and if we have the money to do it, let us do it.
CHANGE DATE OF NEXT COUNCIL MEETING
Mayor Watkins said the “Taste of Darlington” falls on the first Tuesday in
May, 2009 which is when we are to have our regular City Council meeting.
Mayor Watkins asked Council their feelings about moving the date of our
meeting to the 12th so that they can attend the “Taste of Darlington” if they
want to. Mr. Segars made a motion to move our regular council meeting
from May 5, 2009 to May 12, 2009. All approved the motion.
HISTORIC LANDMARKS COMMISSION – MR. KENDALL
Mr. Kendall had a list of four names for the Historic Landmarks
Commission, but there are only two vacancies. He said he has vacancies for
two alternates to serve on the commission. The nominees are as follows:
Mrs. Janet Clark, wife of Dr. Barry Clark; Mrs. Linda Dargan, wife of Mr.
Shaw Dargan; Mr. Mark Mozingo, son of Mrs. Mary Mozingo and Mrs.
Eleanor Langley. Mr. Chapman made a motion to nominate Mrs. Linda
Dargan and Ms. Eleanor Langley to fill the two vacant seats on the
Historic Landmarks Commission and Mr. Mark Mozingo and Mrs.
Janet Clark as alternates. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion. All
approved the motion. Mr. Kendall said Council misunderstood him.
He only has two vacancies for alternates. Mr. Chapman rescinded his
motion. Mr. Chapman then made a motion to nominate Mrs. Linda
Dargan and Ms. Eleanor Langley to fill the terms of alternates for the
Historic Landmarks Commission. Mr. Cannon seconded the motion.
All approved the motion
APPROVAL OF MEMBERS FOR BEAUTIFICATION BOARD
Mr. Langley said there are three vacancies for the Beautification Board. He
said the Board nominated some people and they are willing to serve on the
committee. They are as follows: Eleanor Bonnoitt, Ms. Becky Ishman, and
Heather Jordan. Mr. Langley said he may have a fourth vacancy at next
month’s meeting and would like to nominate Mrs. Delores Jordan. Mrs.
Thomas said the last time she heard about this she submitted her sister’s
name to serve on the board and she has not heard anything from the City
Manager. Mr. Langley told Mrs. Thomas that was the Design Review
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Board. Mrs. Thomas said it was not. Mr. Kendall said Mrs. Thomas’s
sister’s name was given to him for the Design Review Board. Mr. Segars
made a motion to accept slate of names to serve on the Beautification
Board. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion. All approved the motion.
FAIR HOUSING RESOLUTION
Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Segars, approval of Fair
Housing Resolution.
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD BYLAWS – MR. KENDALL
Mr. Kendall said after last month’s meeting the bylaws for the Design
Review Board were reviewed and grammatical errors were cleaned up. Mr.
Kendall said the correct name is The Design Review Board. Mr. Chapman
made a motion that we approve the first reading of The Design Review
Board bylaws with the addition in section B-2 to include that the
Chairman of that board must live in the City limits of Darlington. Ms.
Hines seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen said in the section where it says
the Design Review Board established- this board has been established in the
zoning ordinance. She said we can reference this. Mrs. Cohen made a
motion to amend the motion. Mr. Chapman seconded the motion.
Mayor Watkins said Mr. Chapman’s original motion was to approve the
Design Review Board bylaws which contains language that is in the Zoning
Ordinance with the code of ordinance. Mayor Watkins said Mr. Chapman
mentioned in his motion to change the language to state that a member could
be a person who does not live inside the city limits, but the Chairman may
not. He said Mrs. Cohen made a motion to amend the motion taking that
language back out and going back to the original language that is part of the
ordinance. Mr. Chapman withdrew his second, and the motion failed for
lack of a second. Mrs. Cohen stated that the ordinance as presented stated
that under item A (Creation) that the Design Review Board will consist of
five citizens of the City, but paragraph 1) went on to say that the five
members could be five citizens “who reside or own property within the
corporate limits of the City.” Mrs. Cohen made a motion to amend Mr.
Chapman’s motion to remove the words “of the City” from item A, which
would change the wording to “The Design Review Board will consist of five
citizens who reside or own property within the corporate limits of the city.”
Mayor Watkins said that this would not conflict with Mr. Chapman’s
motion, and Mr. Chapman seconded the motion. Mayor Watkins took a
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roll call vote: The vote was four ayes and three nays. Motion passes.
Going back to Mr. Chapman’s motion, Mr. Cannon voted yes; Ms.
Hines voted no; Mrs. Cohen voted no, Mr. Chapman voted yes; Mrs.
Thomas voted no; Mr. Segars voted yes; Mayor voted yes. The motion
passes.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley reported on finances for general fund and water & sewer
fund; 2) Mr. Langley reported on hospitality tax; 3) Mr. Langley said the
pool should be finished by the first or second week in June; 4) Mr. Langley
said we applied for about fifteen young people to work with different
departments of the City of Darlington through the stimulus package program
that schools received; 5) The Taste of Darlington will be May 5, 2009; 6)
The Car Haulers Parade & Race Fest will be May 7, 2009; May 8, 2009
Nationwide; 7) May 9, 2009 – Southern 500.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
Mr. Garland gave an update on the McLellan Building project; 2) Mr.
Garland said the space for the walkway is visible; 3) He said the Carnegie
Museum is halfway done; 4) He said the City will receive credit from the
contractor because they did not have to fix six of the eighty-eight windows
in the back because they were reinforced with steel; 5) He said he will be
requesting in the budget that we do work on a French drain that will go
around the entire building because of major drainage issues in the basement.
He said the drain will cost about $40,000 over and above what we have. Mr.
Garland said he would like to do this in the next budget year and we can
keep the same contractor on board and have him do a change order and have
the work done in July. Mr. Garland said we can keep the same contractor
without having to put it out for bids.
WORK SESSION
A work session has been scheduled for Thursday, April 23, 2009-6:00 PM at
the City of Darlington Administration Building.
REMINDERS
Good Friday Holiday, April 10, 2009; Easter Sunday, April 12, 2009.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 9:18 PM.
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Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
March 3, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was
held March 3, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall
at 400 Pearl Street.
Present at the meeting: Mayor Anthony Watkins, Councilpersons,
Thomas, Hines, Cohen, Cannon, Segars, City Manager, Rodney Langley,
and Assistant City Manager Howard Garland. Also present were the
following city employees: Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. “Sandy” Kendall, Police
Chief Jay Cox, Fire Chief Jim Stone and Mr. Freddie Kinsaul.
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 PM by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Ms. Hines gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
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APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the minutes of regular council
meeting. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. Mrs. Thomas said
when Mr. DiLeo was giving his update on the area near Hardee’s, to include
“working on the curb and gutter at S. Main Street near Hardee’s”. On page
five (5) under City Manager’s update – Mrs. Thomas wanted to know if the
ditches on S. Main Street were going to be opened to help drainage. Mrs.
Thomas said in the last paragraph, Mrs. Cohen made a motion to enter into a
partnership with an area corporation. She said now that the motion has gone
on the floor, she wonders whether she should put in the minutes that we
enter into a partnership with “Honda” for an improvement project in
Williamson Park. She said it needs to be put in the minutes specifically
what that motion was involved with. Ms. Hines said we were not supposed
to call their name. Mayor Watkins said the company in question did not
want to be named until we have a formal agreement. Mayor Watkins said
the company indicated at the time that they had a formal agreement, they
would make their own announcement. Mrs. Thomas said in order for our
minutes to be official, we need to include the name of the corporation.
Mayor Watkins said this was discussed in executive session and was not to
be discussed publicly. She asked if we could put Williamson Park in the
minutes. Mayor Watkins said he doesn’t think it would matter if we
mention the name of the area in the minutes. All approved the motion.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – MR. TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said signage was approved for Dollar General and for Food Lion.
The Hartsville Medical Enrichment Services has moved into the old Farmers
Mutual Insurance building. Mr. George Harrison, Jr. opened Burger Max in
the old Central Park building. Mr. DiLeo said Kids Closet opened in the
building next to the Carolina Bank Plaza. He said there are two people
interested in the Café Bleu building. He said our Annual Golf Tournament
will be Wednesday, April 8th. Mr. DiLeo said the Antique Shop on E. Broad
Street is still working to get in compliance with the building codes. The
Easter Bunny will be on the Square again this year on Saturday, April 11th
and they will also have an Easter Egg Hunt the same day for the children.
The Business Pride Award went to the Camillia Garden Club on North Main
Street and the Residential Pride Award went to Dr. Barry Clark at 210
Cashua Street. The Taste of Darlington will be Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 from
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
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AGENDA AMENDMENT
Mayor Watkins asked Council’s permission to amend the agenda by
replacing item #7 with Design Review Board Bylaws because Mr. Will
Isgett and Miss Teen Darlington were not present. There was no objection
from Council.
CHAMBER UPDATE - MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander they are working very hard on publishing a membership
directory this year. Ms. Alexander said the open house that was held at the
Free Medical Clinic last month was a success. On March 26, 2009 the
Hartsville, Florence and Darlington Chambers will come together for an
“After Hours” at the Darlington Raceway. Ms. Alexander said the Chamber
will be operating from her house tomorrow because of work being done to
some of the walls in the chamber building. Ms. Hines asked if the work Mr.
Anderson did was only to the front of the Chamber and not anything on the
inside. Mayor Watkins said he thinks this is the result of some drainage
issues where the water was leaking down the side of the building. Ms.
Alexander said she understands that the problem came from the drainage
from the roof which was leaking down inside the walls which caused the
walls on the inside to buckle. Ms. Hines asked if there was a charge for this
and Ms. Alexander said. “No”.
MR. JIM MONEY – DARLINGTON COUNTY TOURISM
DIRECTOR
Mr. Money invited Council to come to a tourism meeting at the Raceway on
March 24, 2009 from 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM to discuss the future of tourism
and the direction that the County should take in regard to the County and the
Pee Dee area. He told them if they can’t attend the morning meeting they
will have a public forum that same evening from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM at
Black Creek Arts Council in Hartsville, SC. Mr. Money told Council they
really need their input because the direction of tourism in the County is
going to be as much their responsibility as it is his.
MR. PETER THOMAS – CONCERNED CITIZEN
Mr. Peter Thomas, brother to the late former City employee, Mr. Cecil
Thomas said he has concerns about Railroad Avenue which is the area
where he grew. Mr. Thomas said he has concerns about not having any
street lights in South Darlington because he walks a lot. He said his main
concern tonight is the lack of lighting on Railroad Avenue. Another issue is
there are trees that have been on Railroad Avenue since he was a child and
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now they are covered with vines. He asked if there is any type of agreement
between the City of Darlington and the railroad company to clean the under
brush. Mr. Thomas said this area is only about six blocks from the
courthouse and this is something that we need to look at and see what can be
done. Mr. Thomas then asked if there is anything on agenda for a sports
complex in Darlington. Mayor Watkins told Mr. Thomas it might be helpful
for him to make a list of some of the areas where the lots are overgrown. He
said we receive a lot of street light requests, but we can’t put lights
everywhere, but we can certainly look at the area and see if it is feasible. He
said we do have areas where people can walk, which are mostly indoors.
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD BYLAWS – MR. KENDALL
Mr. Kendall gave Council a draft of the Design Review Board bylaws for
review. He said this Design Review Board deals with commercial property
and not residential. Mr. Kendall said all of the commercial construction
(new and alterations to existing buildings) should go through a design
review process which this board that is established by Council has the right
to review those items. Mr. Kendall said this is what the ordinance addresses.
Mr. Kendall said they will be looking at the exterior cosmetic designs of the
building. He said he wants their input and would appreciate any changes
they make. Mayor Watkins suggested that Council give first reading on the
draft and they can make any changes before we have second reading. Mr.
Segars made a motion for First Reading on Design Review Board
bylaws. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chapman. Mrs. Thomas
asked if it is possible to footnote it that these duties were once regulated by
Darlington Downtown Revitalization Association and have now been
changed and are under the auspices of Darlington City Council. Mayor
Watkins said this is understood. Mr. Kendall said the bylaws start with
stating the purpose of the board. He said they are trying to make sure they
go through the legal process. Mr. Kendall said he understands we had a
problem with the legality of the Downtown Revitalization Committee
because they weren’t appointed by Council. Mr. Langley said this draft is
not in ordinance form and in doing so we can address Mrs. Thomas’ concern
as we word the ordinance. Mr. Langley told Council they can go ahead and
have first reading. All approved the proposed bylaws. Mayor Watkins
said by the time we meet again the ordinance will be in legal form signed by
the City Attorney.
REQUEST FROM SCDOT TO PURCHASE LAND AT N. MAIN
WATER WELL
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Mr. Langley said a week or so ago he met with Mr. Reginald Elliott, Rightof-Way Agent for SCDOT because they are working on a project to widen
US 52 North and the City owns a portion they need for the expansion. Mr.
Langley said the City owns a small piece of property at Citi Trends where
the entryway to the water tank is. He said SCDOT would like to purchase
the 0.112 acres or 4,883 square feet of this property to expand their right-ofway. Mr. Langley said he had a concern about the City workers not being
able to get to the water tank which he addressed with SCDOT. He said they
came back and said they would include language in the agreement that we
would be able to get to the tank. Mr. Langley said they are offering us
$1,200 for the property. Mr. Chapman made a motion to instruct the
City Manager to request the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance to
allow the City to sell the property. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion.
Mrs. Thomas said as she looked in our preliminary budget, she does not see
anything in it that shows physical property that the City owns so it can be
counted as an asset. Mayor Watkins said he knows this would be part of an
audit, but he does not know that it would be part of a budget. Mr. Langley
said property is not listed in the audit as such, but they are included in the
audit as assets. All approved the motion. Mr. Langley asked Mayor and
Council if SCDOT is willing to have their attorney draft the ordinance
would this be okay with them to let them do it. Mr. Langley said they would
pay the cost as well. Council was okay with doing this.
BID APPROVAL FOR S. MAIN & THIRD STREET SEWER REPAIR
Mr. Langley said he only received one bid for S. Main Street and Third
Street sewer repairs which was received from Industrial Paving. Mr.
Langley said there is 553’ on Third Street that has to be resurfaced and
repaired at a cost of $25,000. He said on S. Main Street we had a sewer
collapse and when they went in they found good pipe and then they found
95’ with no pipe. Mr. Langley said 95’ later they found pipe again and Mr.
Kinsaul said it appears they had a wooden trough. He said the cost to repair
this job is $4,960. He said our crews have already gone in and put concrete
in. Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars, to accept
bid from Industrial Paving to repair Third Street at a cost of $25,000
and S. Main Street at a cost of $4,960. All approved the motion.
BID APPROVAL FOR GANDY SWIMMING POOL
Mr. Langley said only one bid was received for Gandy swimming pool
repairs which was from Pee Dee Pool & Spa. He said one pool company
came and looked at the job and said they would not tackle a job this big and
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another company only did residential jobs. Mr. Langley said Pee Dee Pool
& Spa gave a bid of $160,290. He said we will pay for this with hospitality
tax money. Mr. Kinsaul said after completion of repairs to pool, it will have
to meet DHEC certification. Mrs. Thomas made a motion to accept the
bid from Pee Dee Pool & Spa in the amount of $160,290. The motion
was seconded by Ms. Hines. All voted for the motion except Mr.
Chapman.
REQUEST FROM DARLINGTON COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRIST
FOR BROCKINGTON SCHOOL
Mr. Langley said he met with Mr. Larry Stegner and the School District
need a 1,000 gallons of water per minutes to put in a fire suppression
system. Mr. Langley said the City of Darlington cannot provide that amount
of water without going through a great deal of expense. Mr. Langley said
Mr. Stegner said if we cannot provide this amount of water, would the City
of Darlington release them as a client of the City and let them go to the
County and become a customer of the county water. Mr. Langley said he
and Mr. Kinsaul talked about this and they don’t have a problem with it
because the City can’t provide that much water. Mr. Langley said the
County already has a 12” line on the By-Pass. Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen,
seconded by Ms. Hines, to allow Brockington Elementary School to be
released from the City of Darlington’s water system so that they can
become a customer of the County Water System to provide the
necessary water supply they are requesting. All approved the motion.
SECOND READING ORDINANCE NOT TO EXCEED $1,000,000
Our Bond Attorney, Mr. Bill Hirata was supposed to be at the meeting to
answer any questions Council may have concerning ordinance authorizing
hospitality tax financings. Mr. Langley gave Council members a
memorandum from Mr. Bill Hirata because he was unable to be at the
meeting. Mr. Segars told Mayor Watkins he would like to reiterate what he
said at the last Council meeting and consider approving the bond for up to
$3M. He said we don’t have to spend the money, but we’ll have everything
in place if we ever need it and we won’t have to go back and pay expenses to
get additional money approved. Mr. Segars then made this in the form of a
motion. Mr. Segars made a motion that we change the wording in the
ordinance to allow approving this bond for up to $3,000,000. The motion
was seconded by Mr. Chapman. Mrs. Thomas said she does not know what
kind of meetings have been going on for them to want to change the motion
that was made at the last meeting. Mrs. Thomas told Mayor Watkins it’s not
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fair for him to allow this motion be brought back to the floor again about the
$1,000,000 bond. Mrs. Thomas said, “This man sent this memo February
26th, this is the first time I’ve seen it, it’s on my desk tonight, I haven’t had a
chance to read it, but then you gonna come up wanting a motion to go on the
floor to make sure you put that $3M figure back in there again”. Mayor
Watkins tried to say the bond attorney was instructing us what to do. Mrs.
Thomas said the bond attorney doesn’t pay anything in Darlington, and he
doesn’t run our business. Mayor Watkins said, “No, we pay him”. Mrs.
Thomas said that’s why he needs to do what we ask him to do if we pay
him.” Mr. Chapman said his understanding from the memo is you get a
better interest rate if we use the language for $3M rather than $1M. All
Council members voted to approve the motion to change language in
ordinance from $1M to $3M except Mrs. Thomas who opposed the
motion.
Mr. Cannon wanted to know why Ms. Jennie Williamson was allowed to
stay in the executive session after her discussion was over. He said we are
starting a trend of doing something that will start trickling down if we allow
some people to do it. Mayor Watkins said he made a mistake in doing this
and will take responsibility for it. Mayor Watkins said in the event this
happens again and he does not catch it, if someone would remind him, he
will excuse that individual.
Mr. Cannon said he feels the swa-cars and dump trucks need to have a cover
on the on the trucks so the trash won’t blow out. Mr. Langley said the
workers are required to do this and if they care caught not having a cover on
the trucks and they are given a ticket, they know not to come to his office for
him to help work it out.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley said he hopes to have B.A. Gary Pool up and running by
early June, 2009. 2) Mr. Langley said he received a letter from Dr. Knight
with Darlington County School District and everything is coming along very
well with B.A. Gary Gym. He said they talked with their attorney as to how
much property will be involved with it and as soon as this is done, Mrs.
Knight will take it before the School Board and hopefully we will get a
favorable response. 3) For Info Only – Mr. Langley said after talking with
Mr. Wallace Bradley and Mr. Ken McRae, he wrote a letter to Dr. Rainey
Knight asking her if she and the School Board would consider turning the
title to Virgil Wells Football Stadium over to the City. He said the
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Recreation Department can use the additional facility to develop a walking
track. Mr. Langley said we also need space for youth soccer and also space
for the older boys to play. He said he did get a response from Dr. Knight
stating she did receive the letter and that she would be back in touch with
me. Mr. Langley said if we could get the football stadium we have the
beginning of a sports complex.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
1) Mr. Garland passed out copies of the Sandlapper Magazine to Council
members; 2) Darlington Memorial Cemetery Association received twenty
qualifications from different architectural landscape firms. Mr. Garland said
they met twice to go through the different applications and the Memorial
Cemetery Association felt comfortable with Dale Jaeger Company out of
Gainesville, GA to handle the landscape master plan at a cost of $20,000.
Mr. Garland said when the project is finished they will have a nice landscape
plan and a nice GIS digital map of the area. He said they will also work on
signage to let people know how to get to the cemetery. The work is
supposed to be finished by August 17, 2009. 3) Mr. Garland said the first
round of budget meetings have been held, but he will meet with department
heads again next week to go over their reduced budgets. 4) Mr. Garland gave
an update on the Carnegie Library Building. He said fifty-five of the eightyeight windows have been repaired. The contractor is working to clean the
exterior brick. 5) Mr. Garland said the contractors are still on schedule to be
finished with the McClellan Building by June 15, 2009.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the meeting
adjourned at 8:45 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
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CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
February 3, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was
held February 3, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers of City
Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
Present at the meeting: Mayor Anthony Watkins, Councilpersons,
Thomas, Hines, Cohen, Cannon, Segars, City Manager, Rodney Langley,
and Assistant City Manager Howard Garland. Also present were the
following city employees: Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. “Sandy” Kendall, Police
Chief Jay Cox, Fire Chief Jim Stone and Mr. Freddie Kinsaul.
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 PM 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 a public hearing
and regular meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Cannon. All
approved the motion.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – MR. TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said he is working on the area near Hardees and has a rough
sketch of it. He said he is working on a sign renovation for Darlington
Office Supply. Mr. DiLeo said the lady that was going to open the
Mayflower Bistro will not be opening because she could not get financing
for it. He said the colors have been approved for the old NAPA building.
He said they are thinking about opening up a youth center in this building.
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Hartsville Medical Enrichment Services moved into the old Farmers Mutual
Insurance building at 146 Exchange Street. Mr. DiLeo said the antique shop
on Siskron Street is doing well. Mr. DiLeo said there are several roofs that
are being repaired. The Taste of Darlington is scheduled for Tuesday, May
5, 2009.
CHAMBER UPDATE - MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said the Chamber had a “Board Retreat and restructured a lot
of their committees to try and make the Chamber more effective. The
Chamber had their Prime Time where they showcase the new members and
Business After Hours. She said their annual banquet was a success. Ms.
Alexander said they have a “Business After Hours” with the Free Medical
Clinic and Darlington Personal Services on February 16, 2009. She said
their new website is being launched this week. Ms. Alexander said the
Chamber should be getting their maps soon and they should be ready to
distribute in about a month.
APPROVAL OF BIDS TO PURCHASE POLICE CARS
Mr. Langley said he sent request for proposals to all of the financial
institutions in Darlington and only received one back. Mr. Langley said the
proposal came from Carolina Bank at 5.90%. Mr. Langley said we also got
a proposal from Ford Motor Credit Company which was at 6.5% plus the
fact when we go to pick up the vehicle, we would have to make a payment.
Mr. Langley recommended that Council approve Carolina Bank at 5.90% for
the four new police cars. Mr. Segars made a motion to accept low bid
from Carolina Bank at 5.90% for four new police cars. The motion was
seconded by Mrs. Thomas. Mrs. Cohen wanted to know the amount of the
loan. Mr. Langley said he thinks we did $118,000. Chief Cox said the price
won’t be that much because he has equipment from the old cars that can be
used and he also found out they take trade-ins, so he plans to trade-in the
two unmarked police cars. Chief Cox said hopefully we should be looking
at approximately $114,000 to $115,000. All approved the motion.
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
Mr. Kendall gave Council copies of the minutes from their board meeting.
He said the wording of the bylaws is open for Council’s approval as is or as
amended. Mr. Kendall said they only had three of the five board members
to attend the last meeting. Mr. Kendall said he has concerns about this and
feel we need to have a couple of alternates for this board. Mr. Langley said
this was information that was sent in Council’s packets and Mrs. Cohen said
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she did not receive hers. Mayor Watkins said he did not receive his packet
either. He said rather than asking Council to approve something they have
not read or had opportunity to look through, maybe they could receive
tonight as info and vote on it for approval at the next meeting. Mr. Cannon
made a motion to receive bylaws as info. The motion was seconded by
Mrs. Cohen. Mr. Langley told Council they could get two or three more
names for consideration to serve as alternates. All approved the motion.
MASC – “CITIES MEAN BUSINESS” MONTH
Mayor Watkins said the Municipal Association of SC has urged us to
proclaim February, 2009 as “Cities Mean Business” Month. Mayor Watkins
read the proclamation to everyone and then signed it proclaiming February,
2009 as “Cities Mean Business” Month.
FIRST READING ORDINANCE NOT TO EXCEED $3,000,000
Mayor Watkins said we were advised by our bond attorney to add flexibility
in the language of the ordinance not to exceed $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 in
the event the City goes over the projected amount, we would not have to go
back before City Council for approval of additional funds. Mr. Langley told
Council that this ordinance authorizes the City to go out and try to get the
bond sold. Mr. Langley said when working with the bond attorney he had
questions about the payback of the note and the number of years. He said
this info would be in the actual bid documents. Mrs. Cohen made a
motion to approve the ordinance with the stipulation that the bond we
issue in this current fiscal year does not exceed $1,000,000 and any
additional bonds that apply to this would only be done with the
approval of Council. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Langley if this limits our
ability to be flexible and Mr. Langley said, “No”. Mr. Segars said we are
going against what the bond attorney advised us to do. Mr. Langley told
Council we did not have to approve the ordinance for $3,000,000. He said it
could be $1.5M or $1M, but by approving $3,000,000 and we got into the
project and underestimated how much it would be, or something comes up
and Council feels we need to expand the project, we would not have to go
back before Council to get it approved. Mr. Langley said Council can
approve for us to spend up to $1M, but in order for us to be able to do this
without paying the bond attorney again, we would need some sort of
flexibility. Mr. Langley said if Council feels that we need to keep the
ordinance at $1M at this point, that’s what they need to do. He said staff is
not going to go over $1M whether they vote $1M or $3M until we get
permission from Council. Mrs. Thomas said Mayor Watkins said we were
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advised by our bond attorney to add flexibility in the language of the
ordinance not to exceed $1,000,000. Mrs. Thomas said Council voted on
four different items and the bond attorney doesn’t know their calculations to
be able to project to us to give a $2M stretch from what Council voted on.
She said Council needs to stick to the language of $1M that this council
unanimously carried for four different projects. Mrs. Thomas said if Blue
Street or another project comes up later, then we will handle it the way
we’ve handled the police cars, the fire truck, and anything else that comes
about. Mrs. Thomas said she voted on us doing $1M for the four projects
they talked about. She said she hopes that’s the understanding that council
members had when they voted on it. Mrs. Cohen said her understanding is
the initial bond is $1M. Mr. Langley said this is legal language. Mrs.
Thomas wanted to know why the language in the ordinance has to read $3M
and not $1M which council voted on. Mayor Watkins said he thinks the
bond attorney has learned from experience that a lot of cities end up needing
more money than they originally thought they would. Mr. Howard Garland
said the bond attorney told him that it’s harder to bid out a $1M bond than a
$3M bond. Mayor Watkins said we have a motion on the floor and unless
we plan to amend the motion, we need to proceed with the original motion.
Mayor Watkins said we would not exceed $1M, but because of certain legal
and financial benefits that would occur to us because of the language and
upon recommendation of the bond attorney, that language would be
included. Mr. Langley said the bond attorney offered to come to second
reading on the ordinance and answer any questions that Council may have.
Mayor Watkins said in order to keep this on track, we probably need to go
ahead and have first reading tonight. Ms. Hines said she wants to see
something in writing on what can be done with the hospitality tax money.
Mr. Segars said to get the wheels in motion, we need to follow the bond
attorney’s advice and approve the ordinance for what he said. Mayor
Watkins said no one made a motion to amend the motion, so we will proceed
with the motion. Mrs. Thomas said the citizens and the merchants of
Darlington are looking for the headlines in the paper to read $1M and not
this mixed-up language of “not to exceed $3M”. She said we have to give
the public the correct information.
There was no second to Mrs. Cohen’s motion, so the motion failed. Mrs.
Cohen said she would like to amend her motion to change the aggregate
amount from $3M to $1M. Mr. Cannon said since it doesn’t seem like the
discussion is going anywhere and Mr. Langley said the bond attorney is
willing to come and discuss this with us, why not receive this as information
at this point and once he explains everything, then they can move forward.
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Mrs. Cohen said her motion would be for Council to approve first
reading of an ordinance authorizing issuance of the bond, but changing
the amount from $3M to $1M. The motion was seconded by Mrs.
Thomas. Mrs. Cohen said she would request that the bond attorney come
whenever they meet to have second reading and explain the idea of $3M so
that they can see if it has merit. Mr. Segars said he did not understand the
first motion, but he thinks we need to consider what the attorney is advising
us to do and set the amount at “not to exceed $3M”. He said we need to
have that flexibility. Mr. Segars asked to amend the motion to go back to
“not to exceed $3M”. There was no second. Motion failed. Going back
to Mrs. Cohen’s motion to change ordinance amount from $3M to $1M, all
voted in favor of the motion except Mr. Segars and Mr. Cannon.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Financial update- Met with department heads to stress the importance of
them keeping their spending under control. Mr. Langley said he went as far
as sending a memo to all departments advising employees that because of
our financial situation, everyone is required to take five days off without pay
between now and the end of June. 2) Will put bids out for the swimming
pool 3) Sent letter to DOT concerning S. Main Street drainage and Cashua
Street drainage problems. Mr. Langley said he received a letter back from
DOT and they said they would help with this project. He said they will
clean the ditches and clean the drain pipes under the driveways and the
different streets that connect on S. Main Street. They will rod the line on
Cashua Street. Mr. Langley said DOT asked if the City would be willing to
clean catch basins out for them. He said he told them we would be willing
to do this and anything else they need them to do. 4) Talked with Dr.
Rainey Knight and she has asked the school attorney to draw up papers
turning the B.A. Gary Gym over to the City. He said with the hospitality tax
money we will be able to do some roof work and work to the floor to try and
get the gym in place. 5) Hospitality Tax is up and running.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
1) Mr. Garland said there were some brochures printed for Downtown and
they will be on display at welcome centers and rest areas in South Carolina.
Mr. Garland said it cost $590 to print 5,000 brochures. 2) Representatives
from Sandlapper Magazine came and they are going to do a six-page feature
on Darlington. Mr. Garland said this was something that was planned a year
in advance. 3) Mr. Garland said they had a meeting with the developer on
the McClellan Building. Mr. Garland said they have poured the concrete for
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the rear foundation. He said when they went in and took up the original
floor they found out there was a wooden floor four feet beneath that one.
Mr. Garland said they will use the wood from the second wooden floor as
lumber for the flooring of the second floor apartments. He said Rehab
Builders are still working with Representative Robert Williams’ group. Mr.
Garland said they have hired two local people to work on the project, but
he’s not sure how long they will be able to keep them on. He said they are
thinking everything will be up and running by June 15th. 4) Carnegie
Library Building - A brick mason will be coming in starting March 2nd to
redo the outside brick. Mr. Garland said the brick mason is supposed to be
here for six weeks. Mr. Garland said they are thinking the original work
order should be completed by the 1st of July. He said if we have some
funding from hospitality money, he would like to work on drainage issues
around the building. 5) Stimulus Package – Mr. Garland said Mr. Phil Goff
said when putting together our stimulus requests, water and road projects
look best for funding at this point. He said the mixed projects are not
looking good at this time.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Mayor Watkins said there is a need to go into executive session to discuss
negotiation and a legal matter. Ms. Hines made a motion to go to into
executive session at 8:16 PM to discuss negotiations and a legal matter.
The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen.
Mr. Cannon made a motion, seconded by Ms. Hines to come out of
executive session at 9:20 PM.
Mrs. Cohen made a motion, seconded by Mr. Segars, Council agrees
in principle to enter into a partnership with an area corporation for an
improvement project for the City of Darlington. All approved the motion.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Ms. Hines, the meeting
adjourned at 9:25 PM.
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Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
PUBLIC HEARING
January 6, 2009
A Public Hearing of Darlington City Council along with
concerned citizens was held January 6, 2009 at 6:00 P.M. in the City
Council Chambers of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street to discuss the annexation
of a tract of land consisting of 4.6 acres of land on US By-Pass. Our
Regular Council meeting followed the public hearing at 7:00 PM.
Present at the public hearing: Mayor Anthony Watkins,
Councilpersons, Hines, Thomas, Cohen, Chapman, and Segars. Also present
was City Manager, Rodney Langley, Assistant City Manager Howard
Garland, Mr. Tony DiLeo and Mrs. Rita Pegelow.
Mr. Langley said one section has been taken out of the original
annexation request which was purchased by Winburn Used Cars. Mr.
Langley said he thought the Waffle House, Dollar General and the car
dealership would be moving to this location, but the Waffle House backed
out because they are looking at another location in the City. Mr. Langley
said Winburn Used Cars does want to annex into the City of Darlington.
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Ms. Hines asked if we could make Winburn Used Cars annex into the City
of Darlington. Mayor Watkins and Mr. Langley said, “No, we can’t make
them”. Mr. Langley said we don’t have to give them sewer either.
There were no questions or comments from the public, so Mayor
Watkins ended the Public Hearing at 6:45 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
January 6, 2009
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was
held January 6, 2009 at 7:00 P.M. in the City Council Chambers of City Hall
at 400 Pearl Street.
Present at the public hearing: Mayor Anthony Watkins,
Councilpersons, Thomas, Hines, Cohen, Chapman, Segars, City Manager,
Rodney Langley, Assistant City Manager Howard Garland. Also present
were the following city employees: Mr. Robert Garland, Mr. “Sandy”
Kendall, Police Chief Jay Cox, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul, Franklin Dowdy,
Danny Watson, and Pat Cavanaugh.
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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 PM by Mayor Watkins.
PRAYER
Mrs. Cohen gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of
Allegiance.
AGENDA AMENDMENT
Mayor Watkins asked Council’s permission to amend the agenda by adding
items 6A-Discussion of Williamson Park-Ms. Jenny Williamson and 8ARequest from the W&S Department to purchase a backhoe. Mr. Segars
made a motion to suspend the rules to amend the agenda. The motion was
seconded by Mrs. Cohen. All approved the motion.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the minutes of the regular
meeting. The motion was seconded by Ms. Hines. Mrs. Cohen said on
page 4 of the regular meeting minutes make the following correction:
replace Mrs. Cohen made a motion to give Mr. Langley the authority to
move forward with funding for the project with Mrs. Cohen made a motion
that Council authorize Mr. Langley to secure a bond of $1 million based on
anticipated revenue from the hospitality tax. On page 5 under “Loan for fire
truck” make the following correction. After “Mr. Langley
recommended…from Carolina Bank,” insert the sentence: “Mr. Langley
confirmed to the Council that the first payment on this loan would be after
July 1, 2009. Mrs. Thomas said for clarification, on page 3, in the section
regarding the opening of the gym, to reword to read - Mr. Bradley said he
currently opens the current gym twice a week. All approved the motion
with noted changes.
MAIN STREET UPDATE – MR. TONY DILEO
Mr. DiLeo said the “Open House” downtown was a huge success. He said
the “Pride of Darlington Award” was presented to Kalmia Garden Club on
N. Main Street last Wednesday. He said this Thursday at 12:00 noon, the
“Residential Pride Award” will be presented to Dr. Barry Clark at 210
Cashua Street. Mr. DiLeo said the former Café Bleu Building will be
opening soon and will be called “The Mayflower”. He said a new business
by the name of Hartsville Medical Services will be moving into the old
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Farmer’s Mutual Building on Exchange Street as soon as he can get it ready
for them. Mr. DiLeo said this medical office does all of the drug testing for
the Sheriff’s Department, Detention Center and some for the fire department
in Hartsville. He said they will be doing a grand opening soon for the
antique shop that is opening on Siskron Street.
CHAMBER UPDATE - MS. SUSAN ALEXANDER
Ms. Alexander said the Chamber will have their Annual Board Retreat on
the 14th of this month to plan for 2009; On January 15, 2009-5:00 PM at the
Country Club the Chamber will have Prime Time to showcase new members
that signed up in 2008; On January 22, 2009 the Chamber will have a ribbon
cutting and Business After Hours for Mr. Anthony Outlaw of Premier &
Partners located at 103 S. Main Street. On Thursday, January 29, 2009 the
Chamber will have their Annual Banquet at the Country Club at 6:30 PM.
WILLIAMSON PARK - MS. JENNY WILLIAMSON
Ms. Williamson appeared before Council along with several members of the
Williamson Park Committee to ask for monetary support for the park. Ms.
Williamson said they have been developing a master plan for the park. She
said their top priority in the master plan is to reconnect the route trails that
tie the trail on Medford Street side across the old sewer line and back to the
trail that parallels the park drive. Ms. Williamson said she doesn’t have an
estimate yet for the cost to do this, but they have hired an engineering firm
to come up with a design so that it would be appropriate to bid out, if and
when there’s money to do it. She asked Council to consider giving $275,000
for the Williamson Park Fund. Ms. Williamson said they have established a
beautification plan and is working to try an eradicate some of the invasive
plants and restore the hardwood trees and increased accessibility in the
places that they could. She said Mayor Watkins said Council will review the
allocations that we will be able to make from the bond. Mrs. Thomas asked
Ms. Williamson if the repair of the handrails is included in this figure. Ms.
Williamson said some of the boardwalks have broken handrails, in particular
the one over the sewer line. Ms. Williamson said what they have been doing
and will continue to do with this money and their own resources are to repair
that. She said their main focus is to get the boardwalk in better shape. Mrs.
Thomas asked about the cost of the project. Ms. Williamson said a lot of
this has to do with crossing over wet and damp areas where you can’t just
clear the trail, you have to build a small bridge, and this is expensive as well
as the cost of materials. Ms. Williamson said they put the boardwalk at the
top of their list because it seems to be the most community interest and it’s
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such a big expense. Mrs. Thomas asked Ms. Williamson if the money she
was asking the City to give was in addition to what they would be raising
and Ms. Williamson said, “Yes”. Ms. Hines asked Ms. Williamson if she
had a poll on the traffic in the park. Ms. Williamson said she doesn’t have a
scientific count, but Mr. Andy Cohen might be able to answer that question
since he’s at the park the most. Mr. Andy Cohen said when he started
working at the park in October, 2007 no one was coming into the park. Mr.
Cohen said in the last year and a half, the count has been increasing
geometrically. Mr. Cohen said he and his wife has donated significant funds
and time to Williamson Park and would appreciate the appropriation of
funds to begin to restore the boardwalk, trails and bridges. Mr. Brad Odom
said where he lives on Carroll Drive is adjacent to the park and he has had
opportunity to visit the park with his kids on a regular basis and he has seen
more people visit the park. Mr. John Rider, who also lives on Carroll Drive,
said he bought his house in 2002 and didn’t know the park was there at the
time, but when he moved in he discovered the park and now he visits the
park almost every day. Mr. Rider said there isn’t a way to get back to
Spring Street unless you turn around and go back the other way or go down
Carroll Drive to Medford Dr. Mr. Rider said the trail that the committee is
proposing to close the circle will work. He said it will take a piece of his
land to do this and he is willing to give it up. Mr. Eugene Vaughan also
made remarks about Williamson Park. Mayor Watkins encouraged
everyone to visit the park and see the nature.
WORLD EARTH HOUR – FRANCIS PARNELL
Mayor Watkins said on March 28, 2009 from 8:30 PM - 9:30 PM an
international event (“World Earth Hour”) will be observed for one hour
around the world to promote greater awareness of climate change. The
“World Earth Hour” campaign is requesting people to turn off non-essential
lighting during this hour.
LOAN TO PURCHASE POLICE CARS
Mr. Langley said last year we were told we would get grant money to
purchase new police cars, but it didn’t happen. Mr. Langley said we have
the “grant match money” in the budget. Police Chief Jay Cox said over the
last two years, they have lost three police cars, one by accident and two by
attrition. He said they have four fairly new cars and 12 officers are sharing
the four vehicles. Chief Cox said by the end of the year the 2005 vehicles
will top 120,000-140,000 miles with just routine patrol. He said he wants to
have six good patrol cars, two officers to a car and two good spares. He said
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right now the two spares are a 1998 model and a 2000, one with a 165,000
miles and the other with 147,000 miles. They have a 1998 model with
165,000 miles and two unmarked vehicles that are 10 years old with 117,000
and 116,000 miles. Chief Cox said it is well known in throughout the law
enforcement community nationwide, that once a marked unit reaches
100,000 miles, it becomes a liability. Mr. Langley asked Chief Cox how
much it would cost to get a car with the radio, camera, lights, etc. Chief Cox
said around $34,000. Chief Cox told Council the price he’s giving them is
not going to be the price we will have to pay. He said everything they can
use out of the cars that have been wrecked and taken off line will be
transferred to the new cars. Chief Cox asked for five new police cars (3
marked and 2 unmarked cars). Mrs. Thomas asked if we had a systematic
replacement program in place for buying new cars so that we won’t be
caught buying so many cars at one time. Mr. Langley said at one time the
City had a depreciation program in place, but has since depleted those funds.
Chief Cox said right now, he can live with getting four new cars (two
marked and two unmarked cars). Mrs. Cohen asked Chief Cox if he felt
certain that he could get financing that we wouldn’t have start paying on
until after July 1st. Chief Cox told Mrs. Cohen he felt certain he could defer
the payment until after July 1st. Chief Cox said Mr. Hill has already assured
us that we could pay after July 1st. Mayor Watkins interrupted the meeting
to welcome newly elected Sheriff, Wayne Byrd. Sheriff Byrd said he was
standing at the door and overheard what Chief Cox said and wanted to back
him up about the need for new police cars. Chief Cox gave a rough estimate
of $115,000 for four cars using all existing equipment from the cars we now
have. Mayor Watkins asked Mr. Langley if he could make a
recommendation tonight. Mr. Langley said he and Chief Cox talked about
this and he knows the need for new vehicles and if we do this we need to
spread the payments out as much as we can. Mrs. Cohen said she liked the
idea of four new police cars with payments starting after July 1, 2009. Mrs.
Cohen said with take home cars when people see a marked car in the
neighborhood it tends to make them feel secure. Mr. Langley said if the
City is going to buy four new police cars, he would insist that Chief Cox go
ahead and takes the cars offline that he plans to get rid of. Mrs. Cohen
made a motion to authorize Mr. Langley to seek financing that will
enable the City to purchase four new police cars with payments starting
after July 1, 2009. The motion was seconded by Ms. Hines. All
approved the motion.
REQUEST FROM W&S DEPARTMENT TO PURCHASE
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BACKHOE
Mr. Kinsaul said the Water & Sewer Department seriously needs a backhoe.
He said the rear end locked up on the 1985 backhoe at the Street &
Sanitation Department and it will cost between $8,000-$10,000 to repair it.
Mr. Kinsaul said the 1985 model is not worth fixing. He said Sunbelt
Rentals has a used 2005 backhoe for approximately $20,000 which is a good
price and it’s in good shape. Mr. Kinsaul recommended that we give the
Street & Sanitation Department the one they are using and purchase the used
2005 model for the Water & Sewer Department. Mr. Kinsaul said they use
their backhoe everyday, but the Street and Sanitation Department may not
use their backhoe but two or three times a month. Mr. Kinsaul said it’s
almost impossible for the men in the Water Department to work without a
backhoe. Mr. Kinsaul said he has the money to pay for the backhoe because
they worked a joint project on the demolition at the Cotton Mill and received
a $20,000 check for services rendered. He said hopefully Mr. Merrill
Sheffield can get enough out of selling the old backhoe to make up the
difference. Ms. Hines made a motion to allow Mr. Kinsaul to use
$20,000 received from working on the joint project to purchase the 2005
backhoe from Sunbelt Rentals. The motion was seconded by Mrs.
Cohen. All voted in favor of the motion.
DESIGN REVIEW BOARD
Mayor Watkins said it was found that the Design Review Board was not
fully implemented and there was a motion to request that Mr. Langley come
back with a solution to that situation. Mr. Langley said he and Mr. Kendall
has been trying to put together bylaws for the board, but was unable to
complete them. He asked that Council allow them to finish the bylaws and
call an organizational meeting of the board members that were approved by
Council a couple of years ago to get them oriented into what the board will
be doing and review the proposed bylaws. Mr. Langley said after that, he
will get the bylaws to Council ahead of time and have them vote on their
approval and put things in motion. Mr. Langley said they should have the
bylaws for Council review by the February council meeting.
RESOLUTION FOR RIMBURSEMENT FOR CAPITAL PROJECTS
Mayor Watkins said in order to create a bond to leverage the financing or
revenues from the hospitality tax it is necessary that the City must resolve its
intent to reimburse itself for capital expenditures connected with the
construction of or implementation of any of these capital projects from those
funds derived from the bond. Mr. Langley said the bond attorney said this
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resolution in no way binds the City to spend any of it or do any of the
projects. Mr. Langley said all the resolution is saying is that if you go ahead
with these projects and expend finances from the City of Darlington, we
could reimburse ourselves once the hospitality tax money comes in. Mr.
Segars made a motion to approve a resolution declaring the intent of the
City of Darlington to reimburse itself for future capital expenditures
incurred by the creation or construction of various projects. The
motion was seconded by Mrs. Thomas. All approved the motion.
SECOND READING ON ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY ON US
HWY 52 BY-PASS
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Ms. Hines, Second Reading
on annexation of 3.865 acres on US 52 By-Pass next to the Movie
Gallery, which unanimously carried.
SECOND READING ON BUSINESS LICENSE ORDINANCE
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, Second
Reading on ordinance requiring payment of license fees on business
occupations and professions, which unanimously carried.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Langley gave Council the following for capital projects: swimming
pool $150,000, walkway-$260,000; Williamson Park-from $200,000$275,000 based on Council’s decision; B.A. Gary-$150,000 for a new roof,
floor, equipment, etc.; Carnegie Library-$100,000. Mr. Langley said we are
proposing to do a $1 million bond. 2) Mr. Langley said on Cashua Street
and Main Street there are problems with water standing in the road. He said
he has written to DOT asking for their help, but has not received a response.
3) Mr. Langley said he talked with Mr. Larry Stegner and he said the school
board has approved to transfer the B.A. Gary gym to the City and the school
attorney is getting all of the paperwork done. 4) Mr. Howard Garland
worked on a letter today that he will send along with coupon books to all of
the businesses that will pay hospitality taxes. A meeting is scheduled for
next Friday @ 3:00 PM for any of the vendors that would like to come and
ask questions. Mr. Langley said at this point and time he feels that the
hospitality tax collection can be done in house.
ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
1) Rehab Builders is projecting a July completion date for the McClellan
Building. 2) The Carnegie Building demolition is complete and the
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radiators will be removed next week. They have started with brick removal.
3) Mr. Garland nominated Mr. Brad Odom to replace Mrs. JoEllen Carroll
on the Williamson Park Committee. Mr. Chapman made a motion to
accept the nomination of Mr. Brad Odom. The motion was seconded by
Mrs. Thomas. All approved the motion. 4) Mr. Garland gave an update
on the stimulus funding.
REMINDERS
City offices will be closed January 19, 2009 in observance of Martin Luther
King Jr. holiday.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion of Ms. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, the meeting
adjourned at 8:59 PM.
Mayor
ATTEST:
Clerk & Treasurer
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