Newberry City Council passed an emergency ordinance Tuesday to temporarily suspend operating procedures applicable to council meetings. Councilman Edwin Wicker made a motion, seconded by Councilman David Dubose to adopt the ordinance, which will expire in 61 days.

Mayor Foster Senn said the ordinance allowed the Mayor and council members to remotely participate in voting and operational procedures by telephone or other means of electronic communication provided that council complied with the provisions of the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act. The ordinance was enacted due to the circumstances in combating the spread of COVID-19. This temporary emergency ordinance only takes one reading and shall be terminated by the issuance of another ordinance expressly stating that it is terminated or extended, or it shall automatically expire on the 61st day after enactment of this ordinance, whichever date is earlier.

Following the ordinance, City Manager Matt DeWitt provided council and the public an update on the city’s operating procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 16, the city released information that they would be closing their building to the public, moving many of their processes to an online format. Additional information was released on March 30 complying with the latest executive order from the governor, DeWitt said. City Hall’s drive-thru is now closed, allowing customer service representatives to disinfect payments left in the overnight deposit box. The city is still accepting all forms of payment. The Newberry Opera House is currently closed.

DeWitt said essential operations including police, fire public works and utilities would continue to serve residents in their normal capacity with altered operations. DeWitt said he thought the city’s efforts had been prudent in keeping both residents and city staff safe in an effort to flatten the curve.

Mayor Foster Senn said we were currently living through history and he thanked Newberry citizens for their patience as they would all get through this together.
As an update for council, DeWitt gave an update on the fiber rollout within the city limits on behalf of Assistant Utility Director David Eldridge. DeWitt said that Zone 3 was complete with Zone 4 at approximately 50 percent. The city was at approximately 85 percent completion of the total project, DeWitt said.

While some contractors had pulled off jobs due to the pandemic, DeWitt said staff were told fiber contractors were still on track to complete the project at the end of April.

Senn announced Tuesday that the city was proud to have been recognized as a 2019 Tree City USA recipient by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management.

Newberry achieved this recognition by meeting the program’s four requirements: a tree board, a tree care ordinance, an annual community forestry budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation. Newberry is one of more than 3,600 Tree City USA communities, with a combined population of 155 million.

“We hope this is something we get every year,” Senn said. “We will continue to encourage citizens to plant trees and I look for the city to plant trees every year as well.”

Under old business, council approved second reading of an ordinance #2020-1003 to authorize the city to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with Newberry County for recreational purposes. DeWitt said that Newberry County collected taxes in order to defray the cost of providing recreational opportunities within the county as a whole.

These taxes were supposed to be remitted to the city after collection. In the past, the county informally helped pay for umpires and basic equipment for city leagues, but no formal agreement was in place. This agreement now formalizes the remittance of the tax from the county to the city and does not create a new tax whatsoever. The agreement will need to be renewed or adjusted in ten years. Motion was made by Councilman Lemont Glasgow and seconded by Councilman Zebbie Goudelock.

With a motion made by Goudelock and seconded by Councilman David DuBose, council approved the recommendations of the Accommodations Tax Committee (ATAC) for the applications submitted for possible funding in 2020. ATAC met on March 3 to consider applications submitted, Mayor Foster Senn said. Total funds available for distribution were calculated at $79,148.91.

After a presentation and discussion of each project, the committee recommended the following funding amounts to council:
• Newberry Community Players: $5,000.00
• Newberry Opera House: $15,000.00
• Newberry Oktoberfest: $7,500.00
• Parks, Recreation and Tourism: $10,000.00
• Newberry Downtown Development Association (Marketing): $12,670.00
• Newberry Downtown Development Association (Ritz Marquee): $15,478.91
• Newberry College (Visitors Guide): $5,500.00
• Newberry College (Digital Billboard): $8,000.00

With a motion made by Councilman Edwin Wicker and seconded by Councilman David Force, a proclamation designating the month of April as Fair Housing Month was also passed Tuesday. Senn said passing this assisted the city in continuing to apply for Community Development Block Grants.

Also under new business, Councilman Glasgow made a motion that was seconded by Councilman Goudelock to approve a proclamation designating the month of May as Building Safety Month. Building Safety Month is sponsored by the International Code Council to remind the public about the critical role of building code officials that assure safe, efficient and livable buildings, Senn said.

Senn encouraged residents Tuesday to complete the 2020 Census as it was important to the community. At the time of the meeting, Newberry was at a response rate of 40 percent. Senn said Amir Cromer, of the Newberry County Complete Count Committee would be hosting a virtual Census party on the group’s Facebook page Wednesday, April 15 from 6-8 p.m. and that he hoped people would fill out their Census form and join the party.