Following is information from last week’s City Council meeting, much of which has already been released on WKDK late last week. Mayor Foster Senn visited with us during The Coffee Hour last Wednesday morning and discussed this information in more detail.

City Council and staff honored the life of the late Councilman Thomas Louis Boyd at Tuesday night’s regular council meeting. The meeting was held at Newberry College’s Center for Teacher Education.

Boyd, 77, passed away earlier this week and to honor his memory, council placed a black drape over his council chair along with a flower arrangement.

“He was a pleasure for each of us to work with and friend to everyone on the council,” Mayor Foster Senn said of Boyd.

Senn said Boyd led many initiatives to help make Newberry better with special emphasis in park improvements for the community and that he would be missed by many.

With Boyd’s passing, there will be a special election for his seat on City Council for District 5, Senn said. Shanna Proctor, with the Newberry County Election Commission, said the filing for Boyd’s seat will take place March 6-20 and a special election will be held on May 5.

Recognized by council Tuesday was Matt DeWitt for his 10 years of service to the city. DeWitt joined the city on February 1, 2010 and currently holds the title of City Manager.
“Many good things have happened under Matt’s leadership,” Senn said. “We appreciate your excellent work and look forward to many more continued years.”

A group of Newberry College seniors were also recognized Tuesday for their community support. Each student was presented with a proclamation honoring their specific accomplishments.

Those recognized included ShaQuana Bracey, Jonathan Elicier, Luke Gibson, Terence Goodwin, Brandarius Jones, Marshall Lange, Tarek Malz, Kelsey McDermott, Ashley Stout, Lillian Tague and Malik Whitfield. Pictured above: Front row (from left to right): Malik Whitfield, Lillian Tague, Ashley Stout, ShaQuana Bracey, Councilman Edwin Wicker, Mayor Pro Tem Zebbie Goudelock. Back row (from left to right): Terence Goodwin, Kelsey McDermott, Brandarius Jones, Marshall Lange, Luke Gibson and Tarek Malz.

Senn said the students recognized had been nominated by their professors and others within the community for their contributions.

“You all do a lot of volunteer work in our community, giving back to all ages and we just want to thank you for all you do,” he said.

Updates
As an update for council, Assistant Utility Director David Eldridge spoke on the fiber rollout within the city limits saying that Zone 3, which included the West End community of Newberry was approximately two weeks from being complete. Extra install crews have helped accelerate the progress, Eldridge said, however due to weather they are currently a couple of weeks behind schedule to the final completion date.
While only 75 percent of the project is complete at this time, Eldridge told council that there were 427 completed orders and 174 pending, giving the city a 14 percent take-rate on the fiber installation.

DeWitt presented council with updates being completed to Wise Street Park. While most of the project is scheduled for the next fiscal year, several improvements were already in the works to include restrooms. DeWitt said they received a low bid for all of the supplies for the restrooms from Hamm’s Hardware in Prosperity and that construction would begin on those within the next few weeks.

General maintenance has been completed to the park’s basketball courts, however those are scheduled to be replaced in the next fiscal year.

Moving into that next year, DeWitt said city staff were applying for a PARD grant in hopes of completing a walking trail at the park.

Under old business, council passed second reading of an ordinance to amend ordinance #2020-1001 so as to provide for amendments to the revenue and expenditure appropriations in the fiscal year 2019-2020 budget. Motion was made by Councilman Lemont Glasgow and seconded by Councilman David DuBose.

The budget needed amending due to various unknown factors when submitting the original budget requests. These factors include public restrooms needed at Marion Davis and Wise Street parks, demolition of houses in the West End area, recreation complex items budgeted for last fiscal year that carried over until this year, completing the fiber project in the current fiscal year rather than fiscal year 2021, water and sewer line replacements on King, Queen and Devine Streets, completion of substation ties down Wilson Road, adding a public restroom to City Hall, purchasing right of way equipment and legal fees associated with the City of Newberry vs. Rock Hill case.

New Business
Under new business, motion was made by Councilman Zebbie Goudelock and seconded by Councilman David Force to allow alcohol in the event areas of Irish Fling on Friday, March 13. Patrons can carry alcoholic beverages in the pre-approved plastic cups by those wearing an over-21 wrist band between 4 p.m. and midnight.

The event area for Irish Fling includes Main Street from Nance to Holman Street, Boyce Street from Nance to Lindsay Street, McKibben from Boyce to Main Street, Caldwell from Boyce to Main Street, College from Boyce to Main Street, Lindsay from Martin to Main Street, and Martin Street from Lindsay to Graham Street.

Also under new business, Glasgow made a motion that was seconded by Councilman Edwin Wicker for first reading of ordinance #2020-1002 to authorize lease purchase of a rear-load packer truck. DeWitt said the purchase would be financed by BB&T at 2.17% interest rate to a term not exceeding three years.

Following a motion from DuBose and second by Glasgow, council returned from executive session. Michael Cruickshanks was appointed to the city’s Construction Board and Brunell Gray and Charles Sims were reappointed to the Planning Commission.

Lisa Senn, Cile Hursey and Bob Montgomery were each reappointed to another term on the city’s Architectural Review Board and Tamra Tootle and Margaret Bracket were each reappointed to the Miss Newberry Scholarship Board.

Additional information:
• Elyssa Haven was announced as the acting city clerk while the former clerk is on medical leave, Senn said.
• The City of Newberry Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee (ATAC) will be accepting applications for funding from non-profit community organizations engaged in “Tourism Related Activities” benefitting the City of Newberry. Requests for funding will be considered by the ATAC at its Tuesday, March 3, 2020 meeting. Senn said organizations interested in requesting funding should download the application from the City’s website www.cityofnewberry.com. All application packages must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 28, 2020.
• Miss Newberry 2020, Peyton Worley and Miss South Carolina USA, Hannah Curray, both students at Newberry College updated council on their platforms.
• Newberry College’s Student Body President, Akio Brown provided council with an update on behalf of the college’s Student Government Association.
• Motion was made by DuBose and seconded by Wicker to approve a resolution adding Assistant Finance Director Taylor Jackson for signature authority in the absence of the city clerk.