Hartsville recognized for water park success
Hartsville City Council members (left to right) Teresa Mack, Tre Gammage, Bobby McGee, MASC Field Services manager Charlie Barrineau, Mayor Mel Pennington, Mayor Pro Tem Johnny Andrews, Bernice Wilson, Bob Braddock Photo by Samantha Lyles
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
The City of Hartsville celebrated an attendance milestone for the Neptune Island Waterpark last week, and received an award from the Municipal Association of South Carolina (MASC) for the park project at the Aug. 13 meeting of City Council.
“We commend you for your bold vision. That is an incredible project, and (city manager) Natalie Zeigler just told me that you’ve hit 80,000 visitors this year,” said MASC Field Services Manager Charlie Barrineau.
Barrineau presented City Council members with a trophy naming Hartsville as winner of the 2019 MASC Municipal Award, chiefly due to the success of the new waterpark.
Neptune Island opened last summer and saw over 64,000 guests in its inaugural season.
Ziegler noted that Neptune Island’s attendance for summer of 2019 had reached 80,425 on Monday, Aug. 12. This prompted Mayor Mel Pennington to set a new goal of 90,000 guests for this season, which ends on Sept. 8.
Finance director Karen Caulder observed that the big bump this year is owed to increased weekday attendance, and weekend guest numbers that remain consistently high.
“During the week, that’s the big change,” said Caulder.
She added that the park welcomed over 2,600 guests on a recent Saturday, and bus and tour group traffic has also picked up this year.
On the regular agenda, Council approved first reading on a few new ordinances: No. 4368 alters the commercial user rate schedule for roll carts and dumpsters; No. 4369 continues the Hartsville Rescue Squad’s lease of the property at the corner of Marlboro Avenue and Seventh Street for $1 per year; No. 4370 annexes three parcels of land behind the current Walmart property into city limits.
Regarding No. 4370, the developer plans to construct apartment complexes and a private road on the property.
