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 Edgefield County Hosts Intergovernmental Meeting Monday Night web posted January 31, 2012 EDGEFIELD – The Edgefield County Council hosted their annual intergovernmental meeting Monday night at the Edgefield Masonic Lodge with food catered by Chef Bob's Café in Edgefield. Edgefield County Council Chairman Dean Campbell welcomed the local dignitaries, Mayors, and the State Legislative Delegation to the meeting. Chairman Campbell pointed out his fellow county council members in attendance, Vice-chair Genia Blackwell, councilman Rodney Ashcraft, and Willie Bright, who he thanked for working together to make the great strides the county made last year. Councilman Dorn did not attend. Among the list of things accomplished was the new animal shelter that will be built by this summer which will save the county tens of thousands of dollars a year and hopefully reduce the number of dogs and cats that end up being put down. Other "big ticket" accomplishments were the replacement of aging patrol cars and ambulances (with more cars to be purchased this year and next year) and the complete replacement of E911 dispatch and control center with state of the art equipment. "And no tax increase, so we're all real happy about that," Campbell said. Campbell also noted that the county continues to make things more transparent by adding all the county financials on the county website, "so you can see how we spend tax money." Sam Crouch, Chairman of the County Transportation Committee (CTC), stated that they are charged with overseeing C-Funds (gas tax money collected by the state and a portion returned to the county) and they are required to spend 25% on maintaining state roads in the county. In the past a majority of the money had been used on state projects. Last year that changed after County Administrator Roger LeDuc did a study with Guy Mueller, which gave the committee much needed guidance and as a result the 75% is being spent on county projects. Among them were re-engineering some dirt roads with very real safety issues and repaving county roads. Several of those projects are already underway in Merriwether. Edgefield Mayor Ken Durham said that like all small towns Edgefield is struggling during the economic downturn by they were financially solid. He thanked the staff and employees for their hard work keeping the town clean and appealing to visitors and the merchants for welcoming visitors openly when tours come to town. Mayor Durham said that he was excited about working with the county on expanding the rails to trails and envisioned a bike trail that would run from Edgefield, to Trenton, then to Merriwether eventually connecting to the North Augusta Greenway. He touched on the town's continued effort to bring tour groups to the town. Johnston Mayor Andy Livingston stated that Johnston was doing, "about as good as a small town without a federal prison can do," poking fun at Edgefield Mayor Durham. He said the town was in good financial shape and, barring any unexpected large expenditure, would continue to make progress. The Farmer's Market did well and attracted countless people to the town each week. Mayor Livingston also complemented the cooperation the town receives from the Sheriff's Office, EMS, and local fire departments and how well they work together. "Whenever we need them they are always there," Livingston said. He also stated the town will be looking at adding a person or possible persons, to the town mural which has not been updated in many years. He gave credit to councilman Tommy Burton for coming up with the idea. Town Administrator Al Harvey spoke on behalf of Trenton Mayor Helen Summers who was ill. He too said the town is struggling during the current economic situation and thanked the County and Administrator LeDuc for helping to collect long overdue taxes from a industrial landowner in the town. Mr. Harvey said to some it may seem like a small amount, but to the town it represented on third of the taxes collected by the town. Mr. Harvey also said he had bad news in that the First Citizens Bank would be closing its Trenton branch and relocating to Edgefield. Next up was the State Legislative Delegation made up of House Members Bill Clybrun and Bill Hixon and Sen. Shane Massey. Rep. Clyburn spoke first stating how proud he was of the elected officials in Edgefield County for their hard work in moving the county in the right direction whether it was in the towns, the School District, or the county as a whole. He pointed out the county council especially for their progress recently. Rep. Clyburn said that the legislature is working hard to downsize state government to save money and streamline state functions. He stated that there would be no cuts in educational spending on the per student funding currently, though it would not be going up this year. Sen. Massey started off by saying that two of the delegation members live in Edgefield County and that Rep. Clyburn "basically" lives in the county because he spends as much time here as he does in Aiken. "I don't think any other rural delegation can make that claim, and that’s big for Edgefield County." One of the biggest changes that is currently being undertaken is removing the Budget and Control Board and placing it under the Governor as an administrative function. Sen. Massey said doing so would streamline government and would be the biggest change to the state since the current constitution was adopted. He also noted that revenues for the state were up and that was mainly from more people working and sales tax revenues were also on the rise giving the state a surplus this year. Rep. Bill Hixon spoke very briefly covering all the commissions and boards the delegation appoints in the county and stated that they were 99% up to date, with only one position needing to be filled. School Board Chairman Brad Covar stated that the school district had a very difficult time last year dealing with a number of issues, but they were looking forward to greater things this year that would be more promising. He said the district employs around 55 people including teachers and staff with a student population of around 3,900. The board controls a $26 million budget, $9 million of which is local tax dollars. Current bond debt is $11 million that is due to be paid off in 2018, with $5 million in borrowing power against the bond. Chairman Covar stated the school board is currently working on a 5-year plan of upgrading school across the county. He also noted they are currently working on the redistricting map for school board seats. Will Williams spoke on behalf of the Economic Development Partnership with the good news that Edgefield County has one of the lowest unemployment figures in the state. He said that the county has a solid industrial base, which is where 85% of all new jobs are generally created in a county. He complimented the county council for taking the county in a new direction and there was a "positive vibe" because of their leadership. "That goes a long way when trying to attract industry to the county," he said. Because of that, the interest from industries looking to relocate have shown a greater interest in Edgefield County. Others that spoke at the meeting were Larry Bowe of the Senior Citizens Council, Fab Burt, Chairman of the Edgefield County Planning Commission, Donna Livingston who gave a rundown of upcoming festivals and events, James Kennamer of the Edgefield County Water and Sewer Authority, and Edgefield County Hospital CEO Pat Robinson. © Copyright 2012 All material is property of
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