CITY OF DARLINGTON

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – 7:00 PM

April 2, 2013

PRESENT AT MEETING:

Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland and Councilpersons: Segars, Cohen, Hines and Cannon. Also present: Mr. Lee Bass, Chief Watson, Pat Cavanaugh, Mr. Kinsaul, Mr. Danny DuBose, Mr. Vaughan, Ms. Jannie Lathan, Ms. Capers, Mr. Charlie Cserny, and Mr. Rob Jordan.

NEWS REPORTERS

Also present was News Reporter, Ms. Lisa Rock.

PRAYER

Mayor Pro-tem Cannon gave the invocation which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mayor Watkins introduced Mr. Lee Andrews, who has assumed the role of director at the recreation department after Mr. Wallace Bradley retired. Mr. Andrews introduced everyone to his wife Keisha, his son “Bo” and his daughter Mattie.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mr. Segars made a motion to approve the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting on March 5, 2013. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Cohen. Mrs. Hines said she approves the minutes for the special meeting, but not the minutes for the regular council meeting. Mrs. Hines said there are some changes that need to be made on page 6, but she would like to have those minutes tabled that part until next month until they go over them. Mr. Cannon said he will second the motion because he was not at the last meeting therefore he didn’t fully understand what was going on. All approved the motion to table the minutes of the regular council meeting except Mr. Segars. All approved the motion to approve the minutes of the special meeting.

DARLINGTON DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION ASSOCIATION – MR. DAVID VAUGHAN

Mr. Vaughan said the Annual Golf Tournament is April 10, 2013. The first Market on Darlington Square will be Saturday, April 20, 2013 from 9:00 AM-1:00 PM and will continue through September 21, 2013. The “Taste of Darlington will be April 25, 2013 at Darlington Raceway. Mr. Vaughan said in cooperation with the City of Darlington, Darlington High School had a service work day and approximately 100 students were divided among The Habitat House that is being built on Parrott Street, The Free Medical Clinic, Council on Aging, some worked with a team out of Trinity Methodist Church to building a wheelchair ramp on E. Broad Street, some students worked with the Humane Society and some students went to Hartsville to work in the Humane Society Resale Store.

MR. DANNY DUBOSE – GREATER DARLINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Mr. DuBose said Kingdom Life Ministries had a crosswalk in celebration downtown this past weekend. Agape Hospice along with Carolina Bank had a “Business after Hours” on the Square in the grassy area in front of Carolina Bank. McLeod had an Easter Egg Hunt this past weekend. The “Taste of Mayo”, which was sponsored by the Academic Booster Club, was a great success. They have three new board members Ms. Harriett Hobbs of Genesis Healthcare, Dr. Gregg Harrison of Darlington High School and Mr. Chris Browning of Darlington Raceway will be joining the Chamber on the board of directors. He said Woodard Farms joined the Chamber of Commerce. The Kiwanis Oyster Roast & Pig Picking is this coming weekend. Mr. Dubose listed several upcoming events for the months of April and May, 2013. Mr. DuBose said a “Lunch & Learn” is planned for May 1st or May 2nd where Ms. Becky Airheart will come and talk about the Build-up Darlington Program. There is no charge for the event. The same night the Chamber of Commerce has a “Business after Hours” in the Town of Lamar. They are planning a family event which will be scheduled sometime in the summer and free to the community.

MS. MICHELLE JAMES

Ms. Michelle James appeared before Council urging them to ride the DART bus for one hour so they can see where the heartbeat in the pulse of Darlington City is. She said the constituents are the ones that voted them in and they are the ones that keep you there. Ms. James told Council if they want to know the concerns of Darlington, not just the DART bus, but Darlington as a whole, those are the people that are riding the bus. She said she is not asking as a DART bus rider, but as a voter.

MS. MAMIE HUDSON

Ms. Hudson said the weather is getting nice now so more people want to get out and go places. She said the taxis are too high and many people can’t go places so she asked Council if the bus could run on Saturdays. Mayor Watkins told Ms. Hudson that a representative from PDRTA is present at the meeting and is listening to her concerns and that he would be making a presentation soon.

2011-2012 AUDIT PRESENTATION – MR. R0B JORDAN

Mr. Rob Jordan presented the 2011-2012 audits to Council. Mr. Jordan said the City of Darlington has received a clean opinion from them. He went over pages 3,16,17,19,20,21,22,30,39,60,62,64 and 66. Mrs. Cohen thanked Mr. Cooper, Mr. Segars, the staff and the auditors for all of their hard work. Mrs. Cohen said the auditors pointed out a lot of problems we’ve had in previous years has been ironed out. The water department is utilizing the software more fully than before. Mrs. Cohen said one thing they have heard a lot about is internal controls. She said we have a great staff and don’t have a lot of worries, but it’s a good time for us to put some things in place to protect us for the future. Mrs. Cohen said Ms. Holly Schofield, the outside accountant, felt that looking at our policies and procedures is a good place to look at this point. She said this is something that maybe the audit committee will work a little with city staff on this.

PDRTA BUDGET REQUEST – MR. CHUCK MCNEIL

Mr. Don Strickland appeared before Council instead of Mr. Chuck McNeil to discuss their funding for Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority (PDRTA). Mr. Strickland said right now they have approximately 100 employees, but in the next week or so they will have approximately 50 employees because their Medicaid contract will run out. Mr. Strickland said even after that they will probably be down to about thirty-five employees, but they will try to sustain the fixed route services that they currently have. Mr. Strickland said in order for PDRTA to be able to sustain the DART bus route and the commuter bus route they are looking at approximately $60,000 a year. He said they are trying to find a dedicated revenue source that they can look at each year in order to sustain the services. Mr. Garland recommended giving PDRTA $25,000 in the 2013-2014 budget. Mr. Garland said they still haven’t heard anything officially from the County of Darlington, but he hopes they will step forth and make a commitment as well to keep our public transportation options open here in the City and County of Darlington. Mrs. Hines asked Mr. Strickland if there is any way they could do a trial run for about one month on Saturdays. Mr. Strickland said the problem would be the funding. He said they can’t afford what they are currently doing now. Mr. Strickland said they are in the hole now and this would put them even further in the hole. He said if they did this now; there would be no way they could make it until July 1st without additional funding. Mrs. Hines made a motion that the City includes $25,000 in the 2013-2014 budget for PDRTA, which was seconded by Mr. Cannon. All approved the motion. Mr. Willie Gregg suggested that the buses are equipped to carry two wheelchairs. Mr. Strickland said all of the buses are ADA accessible and they hold two wheelchairs.

CDBG FAIR HOUSING RESOLUTION

Upon motion of Mrs. Hines, seconded by Mrs. Cohen to approve the Fair Housing Resolution for 2013. All approved the motion.

FIRST READING ALLOWING DARLINGTON COUNTY

ELECTION COMMISSION AUTHORITY TO CONDUCT CITY ELECTIONS – ORDINANCE #2013-03

Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen First Reading on ordinance allowing Darlington County Election Commission authority to conduct city elections. Mr. Garland said we would be dissolving our municipal election commission and going with the county, but the City would maintain control over day-to-day operations such as advertising notices and making sure that everything goes by the letter of the law. The City will also pay all bills pertaining to the election. Candidates would still file at the City Admin Building. All approved the motion.

FIRST READING ON UPDATING CITY OF DARLINGTON WARDS 1, 2, 3 PER 2010 U.S. CENSUS NUMBERS

Mr. Garland passed out copies of maps that include the old ward lines, the old ward numbers and the proposed wards. Also included was map showing the new projected numbers for the district. Mr. Garland said we will have a public hearing on May 7, 2013 at 6:00 and maps will be available for the public to view. Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Cannon, First Reading on updating City of Darlington wards 1,2,& 3 per 2010 U.S. Census number, which unanimously carried.

CITY MANAGER’S UPDATE

1) Mr. Garland said on Tuesday, April 23, 2013 we will have our first budget work session from 6:00 PM- 8:00 PM; 2) The City County Supper will be Monday, April 29, 2013 at 6:00 PM at C’Boan’s Restaurant; 3) The City of Darlington has been named the S.C. Municipal Insurance Trust Division Risk Management award winner for 2013. The competition criteria consisted of our experience modifier and gross loss ratio which means that we had the best record in the state for risk assessment. The City will be featured in the Municipal Association’s risk letter, receive an engraved plaque, a check for $2,500 and a staff luncheon for up to 25 employees and the City will be recognized at the Annual Meeting in Greenville, SC in July. Mr. Garland thanked Fire Chief Cavanaugh and Police Chief Watson and city staff for all they do to keep our city clean and safe. Mr. Garland said he has an executive session item to discuss an economic development issue. General Fund Balance - $788,519.99; Hospitality Tax Fund - $457,338.27 Fund Balance Account - $208,057.65; W&S General Fund Balance - $106,304.25; W&S Fund Balance - $106,279.79; W&S Capital Fund - $599,207.15.

REMINDERS:

1) Saturday, April 20, 2013 – Earth Day Williamson Park 9:00 AM-1:00 PM; Thursday, April 25, 2013 – Taste of Darlington at Darlington Raceway 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM; Monday, April 29, 2013 – City/County Supper C’Boan’s Restaurant at 6:00 PM; Tuesday, May 7, 2013, next regular city council meeting.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen to go into Executive Session at 7:58 PM to discuss an economic development issue.

Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Hines, Executive Session ended at 8:10 PM.

ADJOURNMENT

Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Hines, the meeting adjourned at 8:10PM.

Mayor

ATTEST:

Clerk & Treasurer

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