Hartsville passes budget, preps for traffic roundabout
By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net
Hartsville City Council convened their regular monthly meeting on June 13 and unanimously approved first reading of a $9.9 million General Fund budget for the 2017/18 fiscal year.
The budget package in Ordinance 4296 also includes a Water and Sewer Utilities Enterprise Fund budget of $3,976,500, an Infrastructure Fund budget of $654,000, a Solid Waste Fund budget of $1,437,000, a Hospitality Fee Fund budget of $994,500, an Accommodations Tax Fund budget of $185,000, a Debt Service Fund budget of $165,000, a Storm Water Fund budget of $168,756, a Recreations Concessions Fund budget of $62,000, and a Splash Pad Fund budget of $112,500.
Council will hold a special meeting on June 29 for final reading and adoption of this budget prior to the June 30 deadline. New fiscal year budgets begin on July 1.
In other matters, Council approved a bid award of $681,195 to Lawrimore Construction of Conway to relocate water and sewer lines on Carolina Avenue. This relocation will allow for future construction of a traffic circle (also called a roundabout) at the intersection where West Carolina Avenue and West Home Avenue converge. Funds will be taken from the Water/Sewer contingency fund to pay for this project.
Council approved $37,832 to buy a Ford F250 with a Par Kan dump body from Vic Bailey Ford of Spartanburg, per a state-purchasing contract. This vehicle will allow city sanitation workers to pick up and empty refuse cans on narrow streets the full-sized garbage truck cannot access.
In a related matter, Council approved a bid award of $30,966 for Amick Equipment of Lexington to refurbish garbage truck #88, replacing the rear load refuse body and updating hoses and equipment. Repairing this truck will allow it to become the backup for the city’s primary garbage truck.
Resolution 06-17-09 received unanimous approval, authorizing the expenditure of $172,000 to update wayfinding signage around the city. The resolution states that most of the current signs “do not direct visitors the correct direction.” The bid award was given to ACSM, and city staff has worked with the company to determine design and locations for the new signs, which will include gateway signs, parking signs, kiosks, and various wayfinding signs. Grant funding of $9,500 was received from the Byerly Foundation for this project.
Council approved first reading of Ordinance 4293, granting incentives for Clark Ihrie of High Cotton Homes to build new single-family dwellings on Norwood Avenue in the Oakdale Community. By meeting incentive criteria and building in Hartsville’s Strategic Overlay Zone, Ihrie qualifies for a 100 percent rebate on water tap fees and 50 percent rebates on building permits. City manager Natalie Zeigler said it is Ihrie’s stated intent to rebate these savings – about $1,500 – to the homebuyers.
By unanimous consent, Council approved an application for a 2017 Bulletproof Vest Partnership grant program, which could allow the Hartsville Police Department to be reimbursed for half the cost of vests scheduled for purchase in the upcoming fiscal year. Currently, eight vests are to expire during this period and will require replacement per the department’s policy of retiring vests after 5 years of wear. The cost for eight vests is approximately $5,232.08, and the city has committed to fund half that amount – $5,232.08 – to satisfy matching requirements of the grant.
Also at this meeting, the City of Hartsville received its 31st Tree City USA award from the SC Forestry Commission.
