Area towns to receive county paving funds – Council District 7

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By Stan Welch
At the last county council meeting, District Seven Representative Cindy Wilson allocated varying sums of money from her paving fund to the municipalities in her district.
Mayor Roger Scott told The Journal that Pelzer has no specific plans yet for the seventeen thousand dollars they will receive. “We haven’t met since Ms. Wilson called to let me know she had given the money to Pelzer; but I’m sure we can find something to do with it. We certainly appreciate it,” said Scott.
West Pelzer received twenty five thousand dollars. Mayor Blake Sanders said that the typical use of such funds is as a match for C fund projects. “We did some paving on Spring Street during the last budget year, and this year we have projects planned for Margeurite and James Streets. We will also confer with the fire department to see if there is anything they need help with, like sealing and filling cracks in their parking lot. They can’t really apply for county funds, but we recognize their value to the community, and will help in whatever way we can.”
Williamston received fifty two thousand dollars, for which Mayor Mack Durham was effusively grateful. “We have seen a tremendous improvement in our relationship with the county and especially the roads and bridges division. They are currently charging only for the materials used in projects, and not the labor. I think the yardstick is that as long as they don’t have to add a position that situation will continue. That makes a tremendous difference, and we are certainly grateful for that. We are indeed grateful to our Councilwoman, Ms. Wilson, for her contributions to the towns in her district, including Williamston.”
The only fly in the ointment was the timing of the allocations. They came after the window for the towns to apply for ACTC funds. None of the three towns applied for any projects since the funds weren’t available to be used as matching funds.