Hartsville City Council honors citizens, hears audit and trash collection reports
By Stephan Drew, Editor
When the Hartsville City Council met on Tuesday, February 14, they honored local citizens who have made an impact on the community, discussed the progress of new trash collection services and received a good audit of the city’s finances.
Hartsville Mayor Casey Hancock presented proclamations of Black History Month and honoring Rev. Jim Blue and his tireless efforts to improve the lives of all Hartsville citizens. A proclamation was also made to honor Random Acts of Kindness and People for People. Accepting the proclamations were Barbara Carraway and Clayton Richardson.
Council also heard the report (by electronic meeting) of the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Redistricting Board regarding Hartsville’s changing population. The population of the City of Hartsville has decreased from 7,764 to 7,406, which equals approximately 1,241 people per district. The three areas which experienced the greatest changes were Districts 1, 3 and 6. Districts 6 gained people while Districts 1 and 3 suffered a loss in population. Councilmember Teresa Mack (District 3) expressed concern. Her district has a majority of minorities and she stated that she hopes that minorities in her district maintain their majority.
Shane Kirkley, CPA of Sheheen, Hancock & Godwin LLP, gave council a full report on the recently completed audit of the 2021-2022 fiscal year. An audit is required by law every year for municipalities. Kirkley reported that the city received a “clean audit”, meaning that no red flags, irregularities or abnormalities were found during the audit of the city’s financial records. The full audit report may be seen at www.hartsvillesc.gov
Hartsville City Manager Daniel Moore gave council an update on the progress made with the new trash and leaf collection system. The City of Hartsville provides residential garbage pickup as well as recycling pickup. The City provides green roll carts for garbage and blue roll carts for recyclable materials. They also provide large bags for leaves, which are collected at regular intervals in an effort to keep the city streets as clean and appealing as possible.
Moore reported that the leaf collection system is improving rapidly. In January of 2022, the city carried 345.5 tons of collected debris to the landfill, making 63 trips to do so. In January of this year, 193.72 tons were collected, making 34 trips to the landfill, a significant improvement, cutting the amount of waste by approximately 40%. This eliminates 151.68 tons of waste, cut 21.75 hours of labor and saved $418.76 in fuel to transport the debris. Moore also reported that he was working with the City Finance Department to pay $1 million towards the City’s loan by July 1, 2023, thus effectively paying off the entire loan.
In other business, council approved Resolution 02-23-01, which alled the application for a FEMA Assistance to Firefighters Grant to purchase self-contained breathing equipment for the Hartsville Fire Department. Council also approved Resolution 02-23-02, which allows the Hartsville Police Department to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding Agreement with the Chesterfield County Sheriff’s Office for the Public Safety Radio System Usage, getting everyone on the same “800-type” radios. Council stated that both agencies agreed to collaborate and work together, saving time, money and increasing efficiency in the control of criminal activity within the community.
Council then entered Executive Session. The Mayor’s State of the City address will occur at 6:00 p.m. on February 20th and Council will meet again on March 14, 2023.