www.cottageville.net

Good Evening,

Before I get started I want to clear something up that I said in the February minutes. I have upset a few people about my comment about the town missing out on the Chinese restaurant and I said that was ok we already had one restaurant. I was not complaining about the one restaurant, it was my way of stating without water and sewer it will be very hard to have additional restaurants in our town. Not only additional restaurants, but any business that has a water and sewer demand. Businesses not only provide jobs to our citizens, they provide tax revenue to our town. This to me is very important to keep our town viable. This is why I wanted water and sewer. Another reason was because with water and sewer comes storm drainage. I have pictures of how bad our drainage is in town. Mr. Card has suffered long enough through three administrations with no relief. I have had an engineer working on a plan to address this problem. This plan will be something that a construction firm can bid on to clean up this problem.  People will have to act as neighbors and help the town with access to their property. This is something that must be done. I’m not trying to scare anyone but look at the pictures I have, this lake resides on the top of Mr. Cards drain field. I don’t think I need to say anymore. The scdot will help with some of the problem but they can’t do it all. The time estimate they gave me was four to six weeks.  Highway 17-A had two lanes that were just about impassable last Thursday.

Along the water lines the ground water report is back. Anyone that would like to read it can come to town hall and do so. It is not available to copy because the report is very large. From what I understand by briefly reading the report, there is still testing and assessments to be made. The line of the plume currently extends past Salley Ackerman road.

The new town hall complex first phase is nearing completion with the next council meeting to be held there. This building will provide safety to our citizens with ample parking and being off the main street. There is plenty of room for court. Security will be easier to handle. The room is large and comfortable. We have had to do more work than what was estimated. The roof leaked, the plumbing was bad, electrical was inadequate, and the ceiling had water damage. We still have a way to go. We have all worked extremely hard to get this facility to the point it is now. We have received donated items such as carpet and labor. Employees have worked on week-ends. This has been an effort on everyone’s part that has been involved. If you see the doors open and people working, come in and take a look, it is your facility.

I attended a meeting in Kingstree on the President’s stimulus package. Senator Clyburn spoke. I do want to say there are a lot of programs at this time for the town to apply for. Business owners need to look closely at the programs for small business. The town has applied for some of the infrastructure programs and will continue to do so. I want to say that this will be Cottageville’s best shot at infrastructure money.

I attended the LCOG meeting. There was talk about the stimulus package and also the employment figures for the county.

I will be introducing a prescription drug plan through the NLC. This card will provide up to a twenty per cent savings at the local pharmacies. It not an insurance plan, but it is a discount plan through NLC. We have submitted our application and will have more info in May. This card is of no cost and it may not benefit everyone, but it may help someone that really needs it. This will be offered to everyone in the town.

We have had a busy month; I want to thank our employees for their efforts.