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13th Annual Intergovernmental meeting held in Johnston web posted January 30, 2009 Below: State Sen. Shane Massey  JOHNSTON – The
thirteenth annual
Intergovernmental Meeting hosted by the Edgefield County Council was
held Thursday evening with representatives from local government
bodies, councils, committees, and the state legislative delegation. The
meeting provides an opportunity for local dignitaries to share what is
going on in their respective area with the rest. During the meeting
Edgefield County Council Chairman Monroe Kneece recognized the two
newest members to the council, Rodney Ashcraft and Genia Blackwell, and
vice –chairman Willie Bright. “Mr. (Norman) Dorn isn’t here tonight.
He’s probably out campaigning,” Mr. Kneece joked.Edgefield Mayor Ken Durham spoke first saying, “As far as Edgefield everything is positive and in good shape.” He commended a great staff and department heads as well as the members of the town council. “They all do a great job.” Durham said he was proud of the ECDA (Edgefield Community Development Association) and the many functions they provide and reminded everyone of the upcoming Oyster Roast by the Edgefield Regional Arts to raise funds for the Theatre Project. Mayor Durham also took a moment to say that with all the positive things going on a lot of what he is reading is negative comments from people and he felt that it was up the leaders in the communities and towns to change that. “We’re in the position to recognize those people working to make whatever organization that we’re a part a better place and Edgefield better.” Mayor Durham asked those in attendance to recognize those who are doing good things by writing letters in the local media. “We’ve got a lot of positive; we just don’t hear enough of it.” Mayor Willie Campbell spoke next saying things in Johnston were also looking up and lead off with the town’s ISO rating has gone from a 6 to a five, which will reduce insurance rates for homeowners. Campbell noted that the Police Department has “stabilized” and in full force in the public. Among the progress being made is the recent rehabbing of lower income homes and the sidewalk project. Mayor Campbell said is people would learn to embrace one another the people of Edgefield County could help make Edgefield County a place other people would want to come to live. “Though the economy is trying to get us down, we know who still holds the future.” Trenton Mayor Helen Summer spoke briefly and touched on some of the progress the town is making in spite of the tough economic times. Mayor Summer said the Town of Trenton was different because they operate their fiscal year on the calendar year. “I’m happy to report that 2008 was a very good year for the Town of Trenton,” Summer said. Though there were no major project there were improvements made. The town received a $30,000 grant to new bunker gear and radios for the fire department. They purchased new aluminum bleachers for the ball field, a new police car, the parking area and road in front of the gym were repaved, and funds have been set aside in the 2009 budget to purchase a new pumper truck for the fire department. The most “exciting news”, Mayor Summer said, was the start of construction of the new Dollar General store. The new store is expected to be a great benefit to the residents of the town. State Rep. Don Smith spoke and said the state would not be handing out any bailouts; money is too tight at the state level. The challenge they face is the upcoming budget and he looked for that to be a much debated topic. A bill that is currently on its way through the process is one on Payday loans and lenders. “It’s not as strict as some would like,” Smith said, but he hoped that instituting a plan to make sure a person could get only one loan at a time would help reduce the problems.  Rep. Bill Clyburn
(Left) also addressed the Payday lending as “predatory”
loans and was not sure he would support the current bill because it did
not provide caps on the amount of interest the companies could charge.
Transparency was another issue he agreed with, “this is nothing new to
us,” he said, but he would like to see it go beyond having to make each
member have their vote recorded for the public to see. Rep. Clyburn
said he hoped to see a change made that if a member of congress voted
for a bill or matter that involved a group that each voting member
should have to reveal if they received campaign contributions from that
group or entity and how much.Rep. Clyburn also said he supported the massive $850 billion spending bill the US House passed on Wednesday because it would possibly prove $900 million to the state to wipe out the deficit in the state. He also said the local legislative delegation was working hard on obtaining money to provide water for the area north of Edgefield and the Westside. Sen. Shane Massey said he felt that things on the Senate side this year were going to be dominated by the budget. “I don’t see any way around that,” he said. Education funding will have to be at the top of the formula that is used because it is a priority. Though the schools (K-12) have had a difficult time dealing with the budget cute, Sen. Massey said they were not as hard hit as other areas. Sen. Massey said over the past few years the state has pushed limits on counties, school boards, and municipalities on how much they can spend, “Well, we’re finally getting somewhere on putting the same limitations on ourselves.” Sen. Massey said the Senate will probably pass a Constitutional amendment that will limit how much could be spent and any additional revenue received will go into an account that would be available for a rainy day. This would help stabilize revenues. “If we had done this ten years ago we would probably wouldn’t be having the deep budget cuts we’re having now,” Massey said. Among the other dignitaries that spoke at the meeting were Pat Robinson, Edgefield County Hospital Administrator; Dr. Mary Crenshaw, Superintendent of schools; Fred Humes, Economic Development; Jim Griffith, Senior Citizens Council; Fab Burt, Chairman Edgefield County Planning Commission; Pat Altman, Edgefield County Chamber of Commerce; Ray Johnson, vice-chair EC Water and Sewer Authority, Transportation Committee chairman Sam Crouch, and Edgefield County Administrator John Pettigrew. © Copyright 2009
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