By Stan Welch
As the deadline for producing a budget approaches, the West Pelzer Town Council occupied itself with other matters Monday night. The Council authorized the expenditure of $1200 from the recreation fund, which is funded by hospitality tax revenues. The money will be spent on mulch for Chapman Park, and will hopefully be installed in time for this weekend’s inaugural public event at the park.
The Council also instructed the town’s clerk of court to gather information about the town’s victim assistance fund, and the steps necessary cede it to the County for use in its victim advocacy program. The funds are withheld as a portion of court costs, and are intended for use in assisting victims such as battered wives.
The regulations and restrictions on the use of the funds, which currently total $45,000, are so strict that the town has only used the funds twice in the last five years. Nevertheless, they are required to account for the funds and their use. To release the funds to the county victim advocate’s office would remove that responsibility, as well as make the funds more readily available to the victims.
The Council also voted to move the time of their meetings back a half hour to accommodate Councilman Donnie Jeanes, whose business doesn’t close until the usual meeting time of six p.m.
A protracted and scattered discussion of several aspects of the town’s contract with its garbage collection company took place as well. The issues centered around an annual town cleanup even at which the collector is expected to make an additional Saturday morning run to pick up essentially anything that is put on the curb.
Former Pelzer mayor Kenneth Davis, whose waste collection company holds the current contract, has questioned his obligations concerning the cleanup day collection He had asked to be on the agenda to discuss the matter, as well as some others, but he did not appear.
