Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
The Town of Williston met on Monday, September 11 to discuss ordinances and approve upcoming events.
Cleaning up the streets
Williston Police Department (WPD)’s code enforcement officer Captain Roger Kaney has been actively sending letters to homeowners with properties, both vacant and not, in need of repairs requesting they begin maintenance.
Article III Section 38-46 of the town’s code of ordinances makes it unlawful for homeowners within the corporate limits of the town to accumulate old fixtures, junk, or trash on their property.
Captain Kaney has noticed vehicles with no tags being left on properties. This violates Section 38-87 of the town’s codes which finds vehicles with unpaid property taxes remaining on property to be unlawful.
Section 38-56 of the code of ordinances permits Captain Kaney to contact homeowners in writing to “remedy or remove the condition within ten days after such notice.” If the owner fails to make corrections after notice, they may be ticketed.
Captain Kaney explained these nuisance tickets can reach a maximum of $1,195, but can be lowered per a judge’s order if the problem is addressed.
“Our main vision is to clean the properties up,” said Administrator Michael Beasley. “We are not out to try to charge somebody, we just want them to clean up their property where it won’t be a nuisance to the town.”
Mayor Brett Williams asked Captain Kaney to see what can be better in these ordinances and “if anything can be changed to help the code enforcement or the town as a whole,” said the mayor.
Councilman Eric Moody asked Captain Kaney to take note of any intersections with blind spots, and noted one being the left turn from Harold Street to Marica Avenue off of Route 78. Captain Kaney’s observations will be taken into consideration when updating the ordinances.
The town’s code of ordinances are available on www.williston-sc.com/.
Keep Barnwell County Beautiful board member Margo Huggins also brought news to the council about clean-up efforts. The quarterly trash pick-up in Williston has been moved from Saturday, October 14 to Saturday, October 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Volunteers will meet at Folk Funeral Home on Elko Street.
There will also be a trash pick-up in Blackville on Saturday, September 30 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Volunteers will meet at the top of the hill on Highway 3 to clean up illegal dump sites on Oak Avenue.
Upcoming happenings
The Ivy Garden Club is accepting applications until October 6 for the fifth annual scarecrow contest. Those interested can find an application on the club’s Facebook page: Ivy Garden Club of Williston.
Displays can be set up for the contest on October 7 and 8, and must be up by October 9. Participants are asked to maintain their display throughout the month and remove it by November 6.
The Williston Craft and Vendor Fair will be held on Saturday, October 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the rail trail in front of Meeting on Main, the post office, and Enterprise Bank. Food trucks and vendors can be expected. Applications for vendor spots are due by October 7.
Portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Williston Recreation Department. For more information contact willistoncraftandvendorevent@gmail.com.
The Town of Williston will officially be observing Halloween on October 31 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The town will be holding their annual trunk-or-treat event on October 28 tentatively from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Academy Street field.
The community pep rally was approved by the council to be held on September 21 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the front lawn of the First Baptist Church of Williston. Homecoming itself will be the following day on September 22. The community is invited to both.
Water Improvements
Three grants have been posted for bids totaling $8 million worth of improvements to the town’s water system.
“We have about $8 million dollars that we hopefully are going to start seeing in the next few months get out for bid and also get started on,” said Beasley.
The S.C. Infrastructure Investment Program (SCIIP), the Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA), and the Community Development Block Grant were all previously allocated to the town. Various delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic prevented these projects from moving forward.
“We are trying to tailor our needs to the new challenges we are facing,” said Mayor Williams.
Beasley is meeting with Dominion Energy in the coming weeks to discuss installing streetlights at the basketball courts near the town park. He predicts lights to go up in the coming weeks.
The administrator has received three recent requests for streetlights in several areas in the town. Beasley requested Captain Kaney to identify areas in need of light for safety reasons.
Beasley is also finalizing quotes for fencing at the Academy Street and town parks. He hopes to see this happen in the next month.
EMS services
The council approved an ordinance to enter a lease agreement with the county’s new provider, Thorne Ambulance Service (TAS).
TAS recently conducted a walkthrough of the Williston EMS building located on Rescue Squad Boulevard. Once a bit of maintenance is done, the EMS provider plans to move into the building the week of September 11. TAS is currently housed at the Williston Fire Department.
TAS staff is set to come to the council’s October meeting to meet the council and community.
