Covered in town handbook
By Stan Welch
Pelzer Town Council met last week and adopted the new employee’s handbook for the town. There were no changes made before the final approval. The adoption of the policies was moved up a bit in anticipation of possible hires before the end of the year. Brad West reported that while there was a significant amount of cleaning up to do, the final sewer construction is finished.
Town clerk Heather Holcombe reported that some concerns about some paving issues had been raised with Dunn & Associates, and she recommended using any left over project funds to address those concerns. She also announced that a walk through inspection of the project will be conducted before final approval.
Councilwoman Kimberly Wilson reported on a luncheon meeting she and Brad West attended with ReWa officials. “The purpose of the meeting was to explore means of sustaining our relationship with them, and I was pleasantly surprised. They were very welcoming and offered a number of excellent suggestions about attracting additional business and industry to the area, in order to attract more customers. They went so far as to offer to help Brad obtain certain certifications that he will need to have in the future. It was a very friendly, productive meeting.”
Mayor Steve McGregor addressed the issue of public input at the meetings. No provision for citizen comment or input was on the agenda for last week’s meeting. Past meetings have occasionally become loud and unruly as citizens got out of hand with their comments.
“We have discussed this matter and we are likely to return to the practice of receiving public input at certain meetings. That does not mean that we will have interactive exchanges between the audience and the Council. The council cannot get done the work we need to get done if every meeting and every issue turns into a debate. We would ask that everyone, citizen or council member, be shown due respect. We are looking at the first of the year to reinstate that agenda item.”
Pelzer Heritage Commission (PHC) Vice-president Larry Coker gave a progress report on the clean up efforts at the lower mill site, stating that several efforts are underway.
A $250,000 grant for cleanup at the site has been obtained through DHEC, with an additional fifty thousand dollars for the grinding and disposal of the pallets stacked there. Those funds come from the revolving loan fund. DHEC has also provided $60,000 to cleanup asbestos based paint at the lower mill.
