By Stan Welch
During their meeting Tuesday, Anderson County Council approved a resolution asking the SCDOT to investigate the possibility of increasing the speed limit on Highway 153 in the Powdersville area, from the intersection with I-85 to the Anderson / Greenville county line. The speed limit is currently thirty five miles an hour. The resolution seeks an increase to forty five miles an hour.
Council also approved a resolution presented by Councilwoman Cindy Wilson recognizing the Palmetto High School Junior Air Force ROTC unit for outstanding achievement.
Councilmembers delayed action on a proposed ordinance designed to address the issue of puppy farms being operated in the county.
The ordinance, sponsored by District Three Councilman Eddie Moore, in whose district such an operation was discovered recently, was slated for first reading approval, but was tabled instead after several glaring weaknesses in the language were revealed.
District Two Councilwoman Gracie Floyd was the most vociferous opponent of the proposed ordinance, as is often the case when Moore proposes legislation. She challenged the means of enforcement of the ordinance, which would require proof that any cat or dog offered for sale within the county has been treated for intestinal worms and has received all the necessary shots before the sale can occur.
“How many animal control officers do we have?” asked Floyd. “Will we have to amend our budget to put on extra people?” Floyd said that the best approach would be to require every dog and cat owner to license their pets. “These little things you want to do here, this bandaid you want to put on, won’t accomplish anything. When we passed a tethering law earlier this year, people simply untied their dogs. Now we have packs of dogs running around the county.”
Councilman Tommy Dunn agreed, saying that approaching the issue piecemeal was not the way to go. Council Chair Frances Crowder moved to table the ordinance until the recently appointed ad hoc animal welfare committee could further explore the possible options. That motion to table passed, with Floyd and Moore abstaining.
The Council also gave final approval to a fee in lieu of taxes agreement with Fraenkische Industrial Pipe, which recently announced yet another expansion of their facility just off of Highway 81 near I-85. This expansion, the second one since the company located in Anderson in 2003, will involve a capital investment of five million dollars and will create 54 additional jobs at an average wage of $16 an hour.
(See a separate article on this expansion elsewhere in The Journal.)
