CITY OF DARLINGTON
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
February 7, 2012
The Regular Meeting of Darlington City Council was held February 7, 2012 at 7:00 P.M. in the Council Room of City Hall at 400 Pearl Street.
PRESENT AT MEETING:
Councilpersons: Hines, Chapman, Cannon, Cohen, Segars, and Cooper. Also present: Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland, Mr. Lee Bass, Police Chief Danny Watson, Mr. David Vaughan, Fire Chief Jim Stone, Mrs. Rita Pegelow, Ms. Jannie Lathan, Mrs. Rosena James and a room full of visitors.
NEWS REPORTERS
Also present was News Reporter, Ms. Lisa Rock and Mr. Dwight Dana.
PRAYER
Councilman Cannon gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting on January 3, 2012. The motion was seconded by Mr. Chapman. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to amend the following on page 4 of the minutes during the discussion on getting a cost benefit analysis for sanitation and the motion made should state to do a cost analysis before the next “reading” rather than before the next “meeting”. All approved the amended minutes.
DDRA MANAGER – MR. DAVID VAUGHAN
Mr. Vaughan said The Beautification Board met on Wednesday, January 18, 2012 and received a report from the Kalmia Garden Study Club that they requested and received approval for funds up to $300 out of the beautification funds to continue some of the work they are doing. They want to continue the landscaping project between the Council on Aging and Administrative Buildings. The Garden Club also expressed interest in the partnership of the amphitheater and its restoration. Mr. Vaughan said his understanding is that this will be a joint effort between the City of Darlington and the school district. He said the school district has not been approached at this time. The “Residential Pride Award” was presented to Ms. Quida Page at 144 Spring Street. The “Business Pride Award” was presented to First Palmetto Savings Bank. The Design Review Board did not meet in January. The DDRA held their first meeting of the year this morning. Dr. David Eads was elected President and Mr. Pete Dennis was elected Vice-President. The Annual Golf Tournament will be April 11, 2012 at Darlington Country Club. The “Taste” of Darlington has been scheduled for April 19, 2012 at the Darlington Raceway. Mr. Vaughan said the “Market on Darlington Square will re-open on March 17, 2012. One of the committee’s concerns concerning the market was advertising. He said the committee would like to reach out beyond Darlington to promote the market. Mr. Vaughan said he was contacted by Ms. Kathy Baxley with the Free Medical Clinic and she has asked that they join the market and have their annual “Diabetes Awareness Walk” on April 21, 2012. Ms. Baxley has received the necessary paperwork for the parade permit and Mr. Vaughan has also spoken with Mr. Garland and Chief Danny Watson and both are willing to work with the volunteers for this event.
AGENDA CHANGE
Mayor Watkins asked Council’s permission to add item 5-A to the agenda – Mr. Stewart Hucks – USDA grant. There was no objection from Council.
MRS. GRACIE LYDE, 206 B AVENUE - WATER BILLS
Mrs. Lyde said she has been to the Council meeting before about her water bill. She said she is not happy with her water bill because she is a senior citizen who lives alone and there is no way her bill can be as high as it is. Mrs. Lyde said a couple of months ago her bill went from $40.00 something to $60.00 something dollars. Last month her bill was $75.05 and the current month’s bill was $72.35. Mrs. Lyde said she wants someone to explain to her why her water bill is so high. Mayor Watkins asked Mrs. Lyde if Mr. Kinsaul has taken a look at her situation and she said, “No”. Mr. Garland said he will get Mr. Garland to check on this. Mrs. Lyde said she has checked with neighbors and all of their bills are lower than hers and she lives alone. Mr. Garland said to note that new meters were installed around town. Mrs. Lyde said new meters were put in on the entire street, so how can her meter read higher than theirs? She said she can’t afford to pay that high water bill. Mayor Watkins told her we will look into this.
MR. STEWART HUCKS – USDA
Mr. Hucks gave Council a letter of conditions which must be agreed upon by Council before further consideration may be given for the USDA grant application. The project is for two vehicles for the Police Department, one of which will be used for animal control. Mr. Hucks went over some of the conditions of the grant. He said the total project cost is $60,000. The grant amount is 55% of this amount or $33,000. The City will be responsible for $27,000 match. Mr. Garland asked Chief Watson where the match would come from. Chief Watson said from funds that they already have on hand that we’ve gotten back in-kind for other projects. Mr. Chapman made a motion to approve the letter of conditions of the USDA Grant for two police cars. Mr. Segars seconded the motion. All approved the motion.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION – MAYOR WATKINS
Mayor Watkins presented Ms. Peggy & Mr. Andy Cohen with a “Key to the City of Darlington” for their hard work that they put into Williamson Park. Mayor Watkins said the couple has trimmed and planted trees, cleared brush, etc. Mayor Watkins said they have made two separate $5,000 donations to the Williamson Park Fund and this year they matched the proceeds from the 5K Run which was an $11,500 donation. Mr. Cohen said if it wasn’t for the Council members, Howard Garland, Rodney Langley, and Mrs. Jennie Williamson. Ben Williamson and members of the park committee this would not have been possible because all of these people were instrumental in making this happen. He also thanked Mr. Wallace Bradley for aiding and assisting them.
VILLAGE RENAISSANCE GRANT UPDATE
Mr. Garland gave Council a list of grants awarded The City of Darlington in the last few years. Mr. Garland said he has four different grant awards that he will announce. He thanked the following people for their work on the Village Renaissance Planning Grant: Mrs. Henrietta Pauley and the Southeast Darlington Neighborhood Association Group, Ms. Haidee Stith, Mr. Phil Goff from Pee Dee Regional COG, Mrs. Wanda Selph from Pee Dee Regional COG and Council members who were involved in this project. Mr. Garland said he received word last week that the Village Renaissance Grant Phase 2 has been approved in the amount of $500,000; the Village Renaissance Grant Phase 3 has been approved in the amount of $500,000; USDA Housing Preservation Grant in the amount of $35,000 has been approved; The FEMA Fire Prevention Grant for fire fighting equipment in the amount of $29,000 has been approved. Mr. Garland said he received the announcement today about the police grant. A total of $4, 048, 00 in grant funds has been award to the City of Darlington in the last two years with a total match from the City of $431,500. Mr. Garland told Council he needs their approval for Phase I and also included in Council’s info is an implementation schedule for Phase 2. Mr. Garland said Phase 2 will cover improvements from E. Broad Street to H Avenue and Phase 3 will cover improvements from H Avenue to Joe Louis Blvd. He said they expect that the Phase 2 grant will be bid out in the next few months with the implementation sometime during the 2012-2013 budget years. The Phase 3 grant will be bid out in the spring of 2013 with implementation sometime during the 2013-2014 budget years. USDA Housing Preservation Grant is just about ready to go and we can do this whenever we’re ready. The FEMA Fire grant requires only a $1,500 match from the City, so we should be able to get quotes on the equipment right away. Mr. Garland told Mayor Watkins he needs a resolution approved from Council to move forward with Phase 2. Mr. Cannon made a motion to approve the resolution for a $500,000 Village Renaissance Grant Phase 2 with a $50,000 match from the City of Darlington. Mrs. Cohen seconded the motion. All approved the motion. The City will match the project which includes an engineering fee of $25,000 and an additional City match of $25,000 for a total match from the City of Darlington in the amount of $50,000.
POLICE CAMERAS – CHIEF DANNY WATSON
Chief Watson gave Council a list of grants that the Police Department received. Chief Watson said he has gotten a program started with a digital camera system for the City of Darlington. He said they were able to install five color digital PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) cameras throughout the City. He said two are located on the Square – 1 on each end of the courthouse, one is located in the police department parking lot on the tennis court light pole, one is on the voter registration building and one on the City shop stage facility on W. Broad Street. Chief Watson said the five cameras cost $19,000 was purchased with federal funds and did not cost the City a dime. He said each one of the cameras is a hot spot for Wi-Fi. He said if an officer is driving around in the police cars and comes underneath the camera and turns their laptop on, they will see what the camera sees. Chief Watson said 145 additional cameras can be added to the current system. He said he feels if we had 150 cameras, we could probably video record the entire city. Chief Watson said the City is going to have the opportunity to partner with the apartment complexes. He said Springfield & Palmetto Apartments have already talked with him about partnering with the City. Chief Watson did a slide presentation showing each camera at their location and what they picked up while scanning the area. He showed the screen capture feature and how the cameras are able to zoom in on objects. Chief Watson said the cameras have pretty good night vision. Mrs. Cohen wanted to know how they could tell if the cameras are operating properly. Chief Watson said the cameras are tied in to the internet and if the system goes down for whatever reason, the company that controls the camera system for us knows if the system is down and they will send a technician out to fix the camera or in some cases, they can go online and fix the camera. Chief Watson said if he wanted to go home and get online and look at the cameras in the City of Darlington, he can do that. He said we are not far enough into this project to know if the City wants to make these cameras available for the public to see. He said this would be something that Council would have to sit down and carefully consider the pros and cons of doing this. He said the whole purpose of having this system is to have an addition “eye in the sky” that’s helping to watch for the people that live and work in the City of Darlington.
Chief Watson said the cameras are low light cameras, but they are not night vision cameras. The cameras will have the capability to store up to 30 days recording.
CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE
1) Mr. Garland said the new residential water meters are in place. Mr. Garland thanked Mr. Franklin Dowdy and his crew for working nearly eleven months to get the meters installed. He said they did such good work for the City, he understands there may be opportunity for our men to do some work on Saturdays for the County as they install their 17,000 new meters; 2) The audit should be complete in the next two weeks. The audit committee should get ready to meet really soon; 3) Howard reminded Council of the MASC Legislative Action Day sponsored by MASC on February 15, 2012 in Columbia, SC; 4) General Fund balance $456,592.72; Hospitality Tax Fund $328,522.77; Fund Balance Acct. - $17,814.26; W&S General Fund $244,834.09; W&S Fund Balance $330,141.78; Capital Fund 457,750.56; 5) Burger King has not sent the $41,000 hospitality tax money that they promised the City nor have they returned any of our calls. Mr. Garland said it’s the recommendation that Council vote to earmark these funds for possible use on the Carnegie Building or maybe repair the mural. Mr. Garland said we need to put pressure on Burger King to live up to what they said they would do. Mrs. Hines made a motion to earmark the $41,000 that Burger King to complete the Carnegie Library for a museum. Mr. Cannon seconded the motion. Mrs. Cohen said she feels they need a little more plans on where they are going with the Carnegie. All voted in favor of the motion.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars to go into executive session at 8:35 P.M. to discuss a contractual matter concerning the Sanitation Department.
Mr. Cannon made a motion to end executive session at 8:35 P.M. Mrs. Hines seconded the motion.
It was suggested that Allied Waste take over the entire sanitation system. There was discussion about what would happen to our employees. Council talked about the $2.00 increase being put on hold and think it’s worth considering issuing and RFP and putting it out for bid which we will not be obligated to accept if we choose not to. Mayor Watkins said Mr. Chapman made a point that we have already had first reading increasing sanitation $2.00 while it’s pending a second reading. The second reading is contingent upon the completion of the review of the cost of privatizing. Mr. Chapman made a motion that we instruct the City Manager to issue an RFP to privatize all of our sanitation pick-up in the City and that the utmost consideration be given to all of our current employees in the sanitation department so that they are not jobless. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. All approved the motion.
Mr. Segars made a motion that we have second reading on ordinance to increase the sanitation fee $2.00 to cover the deficit we are losing on doing away with the yellow bags. Mr. Cooper seconded the motion.