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Last month when I addressed council and the town, I told you what the problem areas are. Now I feel that I will tell you what I plan to do about each one of them.

I have decided not to go into each one of them blindly, but with careful consideration. My decisions will not always be popular, but as you can tell we have some serious problems, and as I said they will not go away.

1. Revenues – I will look into several areas here. Local option sales tax, Property tax reinstatement and the attraction of new business. I will be discussing this further at each meeting. We cannot burden the police dept. on any quotas. This hampers the way they conduct business and will never remove the ‘Speed Trap’ name that the town has. Even though the chief is concerned with his budget, I am ultimately responsible for the town’s finances.
2. Assessments – I am still working on the best settlement with the state. Our attorney’s will advise us on that solution.
3. Zoning – I will have a rough draft to send back to the zoning committee after the New Year. I want to advise you that it will be a starting point and once in place may require changes. Bottom line is that the town must have zoning.
4. The Old School – The council gave me permission to sign the lease. I will do this sometime between now and January. My plans are to hold town meetings and court in the old cafeteria to start out with. The reason is that it will give us time to figure out where we want to take the facility and to get the traffic for court off the main road. I will ask council for permission to obtain bids for the painting, the purchase of seating, and construction of council desks for this area.
5. Water Sampling – I will contact DHEC to find out what the current status is. I will be contacting Art Schrader and asking him to notify us when any further work is done in the town.
6. Even though it is a hard and thankless job, Terri will continue to work on grants. As I said last month, it is hard to get grants when you have the debt level that we have. Recently Shane completed a grant for litter control. Terri has received some small grants for bullet-proof vests and anything is a help. We will be working on grants for this coming spring.
7. Judge Butterfield held his first court this month. His no-nonsense approach to the law is welcomed. I was very impressed by his fairness and honesty to all parties. I can only say that I hope it continues, and if I ever have to approach his bench, I can be assured that I will be treated fairly and within the law.

I want to close by saying that a lot of work has to be done in the town. It is time to decide to support the town, get involved with the town, or be quiet and get out of the way.

I will continue to support anyone who wants to bring something positive to the town. The question may be, “Is this ethical”. Well I think paying our bills is very ethical, and if it means trying to attract business to do that, well, I’m guilty as charged.

The bottom line is this… I have the best interest of the town at heart. The people who work for me can tell you of my commitment to the town. I will not stand by and let a few determine the course of this town. I want to pay our bills and move forward this coming year. The question is, what kind of town do you want to turn over to your children? I do not intend to leave anything for people to clean up, like it was left to me.

I wish each and everyone here tonight a joyous Christmas season. May your families be blessed this coming year.

The Christmas parade is Saturday 13th, a lot of people have put in work to make this event a success. My wish to you is that you put your feelings aside and come out and enjoy the day. Terri’s husband Steve has worked hard to bring the military here. He is planning on having several units here along with the band. Last year was the first year that we had the military band. If you didn’t see them last year come out this year. If you see Steve on the street, thank him for his involvement. Thank the soldiers you see, because they may be the very ones being deployed next. Steve was also instrumental in getting the decorations ready to be installed.

Cottageville can be a great place to live. But with all things it needs work to grow. Please consider helping and volunteer. We may have our differences, but we are neighbors and I’m sure you want to see Cottageville be the best it can possibly be.

Thank You.
George M. White
Mayor of Cottageville