Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
Phillip Delk recites the oath of office to serve as the chief of the City of Barnwell Fire Department on August 7.
Scotty Hankins takes the oath of office to step into his new position as chief deputy of the City of Barnwell Fire Department on August 7.
Before the City of Barnwell called their August 7 meeting to order, a public hearing was held regarding the 2023-24 budget.
With minimal comment from the public, the budget was later passed on the second reading during the meeting.
The budget is balanced at $5,839,800. This shows a decrease of $278,740 from the current fiscal year’s budget of $6,118,540 – a 4.56% decrease.
Swearing in of fire leadership
With the impending August 22 retirement of Chief Tony Dicks from the City of Barnwell Fire Department, new leadership was sought.
Phillip Delk was sworn in as the chief and Scotty Hankins was sworn in as deputy chief. Both men have been dedicated members to the department before stepping into these roles.
Only four days after being sworn in, they sprung to action when Hagood Avenue Baptist Church was struck by lightning and fire broke out. Delk and Hankins were both on scene directing other first responders on next steps to control the flames.
Ordinances
Five ordinances were approved on their second and final reading. The People-Sentinel has covered the first reading of these ordinances indepthly in the July 26 and August 2 editions.
Datamax presentation
Datamax was in business for 134 years before it was acquired by HdL Companies based in Brea, California in January 2023.
According to their website, HdL Companies was founded by government leaders and aids public agencies/municipalities in generating revenue from overlooked business licenses.
A representative attended the council meeting to provide some information about the services they offer. He explained 80 cities in the state have already begun working with the company– many of which are near or around the city.
A partnership between HdL Companies would not impact licensed brick and mortar stores, but look into the vendors of larger corporations coming into the City of Barnwell.
An example of this process would be the vendors of Barnwell businesses like Tractor Supply, Walmart, and McDonald’s who may not have a specific business license to operate in the city limits.
HdL Companies would locate these vendors monthly and initiate a business license agreement to ultimately bring in the town more revenue.
According to the representative, the current state statutes allow the company to go back three years to receive funds. A contract would be established between the company and the city if the council decides to work with this company.
Pavilion grant
The City of Barnwell was awarded $50,000 from the S.C. Department of Commerce’s S.C. Great Community Competition to make an addition to Fuller Park.
The city was one of three finalists for the $200,000 available in the competition alongside the Town of Lane (the overall winner) and the City of Abbeville.
This grant funding will go toward building another pavilion located on the cemetery side of Fuller Park. The pavilion will be 16-feet wide and 24-feet long totaling 384 square feet.
Not only will it provide more space for events, family gatherings, birthday parties, and celebrations, but it will bring more revenue into the town as it can be rented out for these events. The new pavilion will also provide additional opportunities for community development.
“We also have had interest from the community to assist us in more of our park renovations and upgrades as we continue to move forward to enhance this park, making it a prime location for our community and visitors to enjoy,” said Mayor Marcus Rivera in a commitment letter for the grant.
The splash pad and playground at Fuller Park, opened in 2022, have exponentially increased traffic at the park. In addition to these amenities, the park has a large pavilion where the Barnwell Farmer’s Market is held. There are also restrooms, a disc golf course, basketball courts, and a walking path with a story walk.
“We will spend the next few months getting plans and public input on several other Fuller Park amenities that we want to explore for Community Development Block Grants, Department of Transportation grants, and hospitality funds,” said City of Barnwell Administrator Lynn McEwen, who projects it to be completed within a six-month period after grant approval.
Constructing the pavilion will not require excessive grading and excavation due to the area of the proposed construction site. It will sit on a four-inch concrete pad with steel reinforcement as a base for the structure.
“No environmental impact is expected as the structure will be placed away from trees in an open flat area of Fuller Park,” said McEwen in a memo.
The council was also considering constructing an amphitheater but has redirected this idea due to funding.
“The idea for the pavilion/amphitheater needs more work along with more grant options that Lower Savannah Council of Governments has spoken to us about,” said McEwen in a memo.
Sale of land
Councilman Louis Claytor and Councilman Ron Still provided an update on the potential sale of land currently owned by the city.
Claytor and Still recently met with Hamilton Dicks, owner of Melon1– the largest watermelon growing, shipping, and handling company in the U.S.
Dicks is interested in purchasing land near Diamond Road in Barnwell and his current property to construct a new building.
“We had a meeting with Mr. Dicks and we walked down the property,” said Claytor. “We would like to get city council approval to allow him to pay for a survey.”
Claytor and Still were not asking the council to approve the sale, but only conduct a survey of the land to clearly see where lines are drawn.
“From our measurements, and they are very crude, it comes up to about three to four acres,” said Claytor. “Not a whole lot of property but he’s willing to pay a reasonable price.”
“Once you get in that wooded area it is hard to draw a straight line through everything,” said Still. With the survey, it would allow the council to view the parcel clearly.
This land is not within the city limits, but is owned by the city. Although it is not actively being used, it is near the Barnwell County Animal Shelter as well as a wastewater treatment plant owned by the city.
Dicks is willing to leave a wooded buffer between the parcel and the animal shelter. The city and county currently have a standing agreement regarding use and ownership of the shelter; McEwen explained she will need to review this agreement before moving forward.
“The Dicks’ company owns a considerable amount of property that they are paying taxes on in the city. This will allow them to build a building that will increase the revenue to Barnwell,” said Claytor. “If he wants to build a building, he has to have this piece of land.”
Claytor made a motion to approve the survey being conducted and paid for by Dicks. Still seconded the motion.
Mayor Rivera asked what the benefit for the city would be; Claytor explained it would bring more employment opportunities and therefore tax collection to the city. However, this cannot be guaranteed.
Councilwoman Alicia Davis requested Claytor and Still keep McEwen involved in future conversations regarding the sale of this land.
“She can be involved in the end, she doesn’t need to be involved right now,” responded Claytor.
However, as the administrator, McEwen being involved in the surveying and potential sale of land is within her job description.
After much discussion, the council approved the survey to be conducted.
