McGee welcomed to Hartsville City Council
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Hartsville City Council started its March 12 meeting by welcoming a new member to the fold.
Mayor Mel Pennington (left) swears in new Hartsville City Council member Bobby McGee (right), who won a special election to represent District 6. McGee is pictured with his wife, Nancy. Photo by Samantha Lyles
Bobby McGee joins council as the representative for District 6, and will serve out the remainder of retired council member William Shirley’s term.
McGee faced off with Casey Copeland in a Feb. 19 special election, and the certified results were read before council. City Clerk Sherron Skipper noted that McGee received a total of 159 votes and Copeland received 34.
After Mayor Mel Pennington swore McGee into office, the freshman offered thanks to supporters and pledged to work toward greater success for the city.
“I’ll simply say to everyone that I am grateful, and I look forward to serving the people of this great city and doing everything we can to make it more vibrant than it is, to keep attracting people here, and keep the good things going,” said McGee.
Bishop Tracy Mouzon of Tabernacle of Faith Outreach Ministries spoke to council about using the city-owned Lincoln Village property to develop an affordable housing community equipped with on-site vocational training. Mayor Pennington lauded the idea and suggested working with the city to identify an ideal property and launch a pilot program for Mouzon’s project.
“You’ve identified a niche that even the (Darlington County) School Board is talking about. We have fallen off from teaching people trades,” said Pennington.
City manager Natalie Zeigler offered to meet with Mouzon to discuss available properties that might be suitable for a pilot program.
On the regular agenda, council approved final reading of Ordinance 4361, which will sell city-owned property at 120 West Washington St. to Darlington County Habitat for Humanity. Habitat has leased the building from the city for years and wished to purchase it, so the city agreed to sell the building to the non-profit for $1.
Council approved final reading of Ordinance 4362, which will annex 1300 South Fourth St. (the offices of Welch and Bonds Orthodontics) into city limits.
Renovations to the Pine Ridge Pump Station will be done by the Harper Corporation, general contractors from Greenville. Council approved a bid package totaling $1,265,820, which will install a new bypass pump, a coating of the existing wet well, and coating of the new wet well.
Zeigler noted that this expense will be reimbursed by Duke Energy.
Council also approved the bid of Palmetto Utility Group LLC of Branchville to install force main and air release valves required for the Pine Ridge Pump Station renovation. This bid totaled $221,034.
By approving a resolution of agreement with Main Street South Carolina, the city moved to establish Main Street Hartsville as a new department of city government.
The resolution (03-19-03) states that “Main Street South Carolina empowers residents with the knowledge, skills, tools and organizational structure necessary to revitalize their downtowns, neighborhood commercial districts and cities into vibrant centers of commerce and community… (and) follows the National Trust Main Street’s Four Point Approach – Organization, Promotion, Design and Economic Restructuring.”
