County Council kicks in $14K for Society Hill PDRTA service
By Bobby Bryant, Editor
The town of Society Hill is a step closer to again having bus service for the first time in about a decade. During its July 12 meeting, Darlington County Council voted to contribute $14,000 toward the Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority’s bid to raise $45,000 for the bus plan. PDRTA Executive Director Don Strickland has said that, if the PDRTA can get that amount of money from local governments, businesses or other “stakeholders,” it can match that money with federal money and could then offer bus service in Society Hill three days a week. “One place we know we’re lacking is Society Hill,” Strickland told council in May. “ … They rely on family and everybody else to try to get to and from, and that doesn’t always work out. We would like to put some service in place.” In other business: — Council approved a proposal to pave the parking lot at the old Carnegie Library. The county is planning to lease the building from the city of Darlington and renovate it for yet-unspecified uses. The parking lot at the library is dirt. The county wants to pave it, with permission from the city, providing 25-30 additional spaces that can also be used by employees who work at the new judicial center to be built nearby. City Council gave its approval to the plan the next day. — Council members voted to provide $75,000 in matching funds for the city of Darlington to apply for a $750,000 Community Development Block Grant. — Council members did not discuss, at least in public, the potential impact that a June 30 state Supreme Court ruling might have on Darlington County’s ability to continue to collect a $30-a-year road maintenance fee from county vehicle owners. The court’s ruling struck down a similar fee that Greenville County charges.