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CITY OF DARLINGTON

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – 7:00 PM

SEPTEMBER 1, 2015

PRESENT AT MEETING: Mayor Watkins, City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland and Councilpersons:

Hines, Segars, Chapman, Cohen, Cannon and Cooper. Also present: Mrs.

Lisa Rock, Police Chief Danny Watson, Fire Chief Pat Cavanaugh, Mr.

Albert James, Mr. Henry Chapman, Mr. Lee Andrews, Mr. Freddie Kinsaul,

Ms. Jannie Lathan, Mrs. Sabrina Derry, Mr. Linwood Epps, Mr. James C.

Stone, Mr. William Jackson, Mr. John Wallace, Mr. Todd Hardee, Mr. John

Milling, and a room full of visitors.

NEWS REPORTERS Also present were News Reporters from the News & Press and the Morning

News.

PRAYER

Councilman Coleman Cannon did the invocation which was followed by the

Pledge of Allegiance.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Upon motion of Mrs. Cohen, seconded by Mrs. Hines, to approve the

minutes of August 4, 2015 regular City Council Meeting. All approved

the motion.

DARLINGTON DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION ASSOCIATION –

MRS. LISA ROCK

Mrs. Rock said the next Market on the Square will be this Saturday from

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM. She said they will have live music from three different

bands, food vendors, arts & craft vendors, produce and plant vendors. Mrs.

Rock said the “special feature” this month will be a free kid’s sidewalk chalk

art Contest. She said the theme this year for the contest will be “racing”

since its race week. There will be two categories – ages 12 and under and

ages 13-18 with cash prize to the winners. A Race Week Kickoff Party was

held in Liberty Lane this past Friday to celebrate the return of the Southern

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500 for Labor Day Weekend. The Speakeasy Band performed and food was

provided by local businesses and adult beverages were served. Mrs. Rock

gave a special thank you to the Darlington Recreation Department who

helped before, during and after the event and also the Police Department,

Fire Department and Street and Sanitation Department. She also recognized

Mr. Todd Hardee and Mrs. Roseanna Dudley for their hard work on this

event. She said the proceeds from this event will fund the DDRA’s

Improvement Incentive Program which will provide businesses with grants

to paint their building, install/repair awnings, and freshen up signage. She

said this will be a 50/50 match reimbursement grant of up to $1,000 per

business. Mrs. Rock asked if the City Council would consider matching the

$5,000 that they raised from the event on Friday. Mayor Watkins said after

a brief consultation with the City Manager considering Mrs. Rock’s request

he will take another look at that budget and see what can we can do there.

He said things are a bit tight right now, but we will consider it at the

appropriate time.

Mayor Watkins recognized Mr. Todd Hardee for being at the City Council

meeting.

GREATER DARLINGTON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – MRS.

JANNIE LATHAN & MRS. SABRINA DERRY

Mrs. Jannie Lathan introduced Mrs. Sabrina Derry, who is the new

Executive Director for the Greater Darlington Chamber of Commerce. Mrs.

Lathan said Mrs. Derry was born and raised in Darlington, SC. She is

married and has two children. She received her Bachelors and Masters

Degree in Business Administration from Francis Marion College. Mrs.

Derry said the Chamber membership is continuing to grow. They will be

starting a new invoicing system in October, 2015. Mrs. Derry said they are

working on the “Toast of Darlington” which will be held on Thursday,

November 5, 2015. Mrs. Derry said they have started having meetings for

this event. She said as far as upcoming events, they are preparing for their

Annual Banquet in February and she is trying to bring back having “Lunch

& Learn sessions as well as Business after Hours. She said she plans to visit

some of the Chamber members and if they are thinking about not renewing

their membership, then she will try to figure out what’s going on and why.

She said she will be visiting Society Hill and Lamar as well. Mrs. Derry

said she has been attending meetings at the Civic Center around the Car

Haulers parade and the only thing they are asking the Chamber to do is

support them by taking pictures so that we can use them on our website and

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they can use this as advertisement for next year. Mayor Watkins welcomed

Mrs. Derry and said he hopes she will be there for a long time.

DITCH ON CHALMERS STREET - UPDATE

Mr. Garland said DHEC asked the City to do more camera testing and dye

testing of the systems on several streets and we have done it and found no

issues where we have any sewer getting into the ditch on Chalmers Street.

He said we are ready to go to DHEC and ask them to begin their

enforcement responsibilities as it relates to businesses inside the City of

Darlington. Mr. Garland said we will continue to take this issue very

seriously and will address later in the meeting what we plan to do.

MS. DEBBIE HARDEE – DOG OWNERS REMOVING WASTE

Ms. Debbie Hardee, who lives on Warley Street, said she has an issue with

dog waste in her yard. She passed around pictures that she took of dog waste

in her yard. She also passed out copies of a handout about “Toxic Dog

Waste”. Ms. Hardee said she can’t go in her yard for the smell and she can’t

do her yard work because dog poop is all in her yard. She said it’s getting

more and more prevalent. She said everyday she sees new dogs, which are

on leashes, but the owners let the dogs poop in her yard. Ms. Hardee told

Council if they read the handout that she passed around they will find out

that dog poop is not safe. She said the City should have an ordinance, “if

you poop, you scoop”. Ms. Hardee asked that Council take her request

under consideration. Mayor Watkins said judging from the piles of poop,

these have to be some sizable dogs. He asked Ms. Hardee if the dog owners

see her looking at them. She said sometimes when she comes out of the

house and the dog is getting ready to poop in her yard, they will yank the

leash and it doesn’t happen at that time. Mayor Watkins said people should

know that is they allow their dogs to poop in someone’s yard, that there is

recourse for the people whose yard they are doing this in and be subject to a

citation if the owner complains. Ms. Hardee asked if she puts up a

surveillance camera and catch them on camera. Mayor Watkins told Ms.

Hardee this would give her more ammunition if we do this. Mayor Watkins

said we should receive this as information, but at the same look into what

other towns do concerning this. Ms. Hardee said there are a few dog owners

that clean up after their dogs, but the majority of them don’t. Mayor

Watkins asked Council to receive this as information and at the same time

instruct the City Manager to do some research into what other towns are

doing. Mrs. Cohen added that the City Manager come back to Council next

month to let them know what he found out. Mayor Watkins told Mrs. Cohen

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Council will leave the up to the City Manager. Mrs. Cohen said we would

like for the City Manager to consider establishing an ordinance that would

require people to clean up after their pets and report back to them at the next

meeting. Mr. Cooper wanted to know if it would be feasible to put a notice

on the water bill for pet owners that walk their dogs to be more mindful of

their dogs waste. Mayor Watkins said this should be contingent upon what

the City Manager finds. Mrs. Hines said it’s not right for dog owners to let

dogs poop in a person’s yard and don’t get it up. Mrs. Hines made a

motion to receive this as information and instruct the City Manager to

investigate other towns and what they do, the feasibility of enacting an

ordinance and report back to Council. Mr. Cooper seconded the

motion. All approved the motion.

NEW BUSINESS: STREAMLINING PERMIT PROCESS –

COUNCILMAN COOPER

Mr. Cooper said the idea is to come up with a packet and whenever a new

business comes into town they will have information from each department

with requirements. He said they are going to put a universal business license

application on the City’s website which can be downloaded and brought into

the office. Mrs. Rock said the MASC standardized business license form is

already on the City’s website. She said the Planning Commission is

working on a detailed brochure about temporary signage. Mr. Cooper said

working with City’s staff has been great and once they started to meet they

have come up with a lot of ideas. Mrs. Cohen said there is a brochure called

Appearance Guidelines that the City developed a few years back and it gives

people guidelines about sign approval, paint colors, etc. Mrs. Cohen said

she hopes this will be considered as part of the packet. Mrs. Rock said the

Appearance Guidelines are available at the Building Inspection Office.

SECOND READING ORDINANCE 2015-13 “COMPREHENSIVE

PLAN UPDATE

Mr. Garland said the Comprehensive Plan Update includes new housing and

census information from the 2010 Census. It gave us an idea of where

population will be 10, 20, 30 years from now. He said the Planning

Commission has approved and State Law requires this update.

Mr. Chapman made a motion for Second Reading to adopt ordinance

2015-13 “Comprehensive Plan”. Mrs. Hines seconded the motion. All

approved the motion.

BOARD AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS

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Mayor Watkins said the City Manager is responsible for getting potential

members to serve on City Boards. He must sign off and state that he has

reviewed their application and feels they should be recommended for

membership on the Board. At that point a nomination is made by a Council

member and a second given. The following recommendations were made by

Mr. Garland for the Historic Landmarks Commission: Mr. Adam Houle,

Mr. Christin Von Jones and Dr. Keith Taylor all live in the City of

Darlington and are qualified to serve. Mrs. Cohen made a motion to

nominate Mr. Adam Houle, Mr. Christian Von Jones and Dr. Keith

Taylor to the Historic Landmarks Commission. Mr. Cooper seconded

the motion. All approved.

BID APPROVAL – USDA HOUSING PRESERVATION GRANT

Mr. Garland said this is a grant that the City of Darlington received last

December for $40,000 from USDA and the City committed $20,000 to this

grant. Mr. Garland said the City received only one bid and it was from

Wilson Construction Company and recommends that they be accepted to do

repairs for the following properties: 304 First Street, 308 D Avenue, 310

Hickory Street, 101 G Avenue, 305 Allen Street, 161 short Coker Street and

520 Second Street. The total cost for repairs of all the houses is $56,111.25.

Upon motion of Mr. Chapman, seconded by Mr. Segars to accept bid of

$56,111.25 from Wilson Construction Company for repairs to the above

listed properties, which was unanimously approved.

RIA GRANT APPLICATION APPROVAL – CHALMERS STREET

SEWER/STORM WATER UPGRADE

Mr. Garland said first, the City will do a sewer upgrade which will total

$490,000 on the following streets: Short Street, Coker Street, Anhow Street,

Cannon Drive, Chalmers Street, and Bonaparte Street. He said the storm

water portion, which is approximately $150,000 has to be bid out separately

because Rural Infrastructure Authority does not encourage storm water

applications. Mr. Garland said the storm water part which will take care of

the ditch issue will be on Short Street, Coker Street, Anhow and Chalmers

Streets. He said he needs permission from Council tonight for the Rural

Infrastructure Authority (sewer upgrade in the amount of $490,000) part of

the grant. He said the application is due in Columbia, SC by September 15,

2015. Upon motion of Mrs. Hines, seconded by Mr. Cannon, to give Mr.

Garland permission to apply for RIA (sewer upgrade in the amount of

$490,000), which unanimously carried.

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CITY MANAGER UPDATE 1) MASC Regional Advocacy Meeting on Thursday at Lawton Park in

Hartsville, SC and in Manning, SC on September 14, 2015; 2) Mr. Garland

read the list of names of persons that filed for Mayor and Council positions.

3) Mr. Garland said the County Transportation Committee has gotten $4

Million from the State of South Carolina for paving in Darlington County.

Mr. Garland told Council if they know of anything in their neighborhood

that needs to be paved, let him know and they will take it to the next CTC

meeting. He said CTC meets the last Wednesday of each month. 4) The

Hartsville Chamber and the S. C. Chamber of Commerce will have a

regional meeting at Darlington Raceway on October 15, 2015; 5) Mr.

Garland said the City of Darlington has become involved in a segment

coming on SCETV this coming Monday evening called “A Seat at the

Table” – Pathways to Racial Reconciliation from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM; 6)

Mr. Garland said the contractors have finally started work on the

Courtroom/Council Chambers; 7) General Fund Balance - $28,426.47; Fund

Balance Account - $1,108,407.33; W&S General Fund - $127,929.70; W&S

Fund Balance - $10,472.08; W&S Capital Fund - $1,017,748.63.

Mayor Watkins said Council has a need to go into Executive Session to

discuss a legal and personnel issue.

Mr. Chapman announced that he will not be seeking reelection for City

Council.

REMINDERS

Saturday, September 5th: Marketplace on the Square from 9:00 AM – 1:00

PM; Mayo High Alumni Parade – 9:30 AM; Help A Hero 200 mile race at

Darlington Raceway – 3:30 PM; Southern 500 Parade at 7:00 PM;

Sunday, September 6th – Bojangles Southern 500 @ 7:00 PM;

Saturday, September 12th, Williamson Park Road Race @ 9:00 AM, Public

Square; Tuesday, October 6, 2015 Regular City Council Meeting at 7:00 PM

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Upon motion of Mrs. Hines, seconded by Mr. Cooper, to go into

executive session at 7:55 PM.

Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Cohen, executive session

ended at 8:50 PM.

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Mayor Watkins said it was discussed in executive session to enter into an

agreement with City Manager, Mr. Howard Garland that will begin October

1, 2015 concerning his salary. Mr. Garland is asking for $80,000 a year

salary plus any raises, bonuses and benefits for a period of two years.

Mayor Watkins said the terms and conditions of Mr. Garland’s contract

include: his salary equal to $80,000 a year plus any pay raises and other

benefits, he will continue to have use of the City vehicle for business use, he

gets a small amount for use of his personal cell phone, hospital insurance,

retirement, vacation, and other insurances, etc. Mayor Watkins said he can

be dismissed for a serious breach of behavior or misappropriation of funds,

etc. Mayor Watkins said at the end of the two year period, the City Manager

can ask for a new contract or not. He said the Manager may leave the

employment of the City with proper notice, which is 90 days. Mayor

Watkins said the City can terminate the Manager with or without cause. If

he is terminated with cause, he receives no additional compensation. If he is

terminated without cause, the City would be required to pay him six months

salary. Mrs. Hines said she needed more time for clarity. Mr. Segars made

a motion to accept Mr. Garland’s contract beginning October 1, 2015

concerning his salary of $80,000 a year, plus any pay raises, bonuses

and benefits. Mr. Cooper said the contract looks good but he wants to see if

we can get something written into the contract that the City Manager will

work through the budget process if he decides to leave the City at any time.

Mayor Watkins asked the City Attorney if we can modify the contract to

include this and he said, “Yes”. Mr. Cooper made a motion to rephrase

or change language of contract to state specifically that Mr. Garland

would not leave within a number of months of the completion of the

budget process. Mr. Cannon seconded the motion. All voted for the

amended motion except Mrs. Hines. Mr. Cooper asked if Council would

get a copy of the amended contract before the next meeting and the City

Attorney said, “Yes”. (Back to the main motion – All voted for the main

motion except Mrs. Hines.

ADJOURNMENT

Upon motion of Mr. Segars, seconded by Mrs. Hines, the meeting adjourned

at 9:15 PM.

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Mayor

ATTEST:

Clerk & Treasurer