Beautification Committee gets "Tree City" award

For the 13th year, the City of Mullins was awarded the Tree City USA award from Pee Dee Forester Lois Edwards.

This past week, the award, part of a tree planting and care program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation, was presented. Prior to the Mullins City Council meeting, Edwards met with members of the beautification committee. Those members are citizens Bartlene McMillan, Ann Nye, Annie Laurie Cooper, Irene Page and Margret Carroll, and council members Wayne Collins, Jo Sanders, and Terry Davis. Members said they are looking to come up with a name for the new Wine Street Park near City Hall.

Carroll said plans for a forestry grant would include new plants and trees at the recreation center and that the city will remove pine trees at the facility near the football field.

“It’s still a work in progress,” she said. In addition to the project, city workers are pruning trees and mulching, along with planting new trees during the fall season, she said. Carroll added that thanks to a transportation enhancement grant award from the SCDOT, beautification plans along U.S. Highway 76 are underway, in the planting of trees and plant beds from Pee Dee Manor into the city.
Edwards said she is excited about the plans. A joke was made that the tree board members get elected for four years but stay on for 20, applauding their commitment.

“Mullins does a really great job, getting a high return for their money,” Edwards said. “It’s a really beautiful town.”

In other business, council members announced the proclamation of Mark Gerald Day, honoring the longtime Mullins varsity boys’ basketball coach. Council member Sanders reported that the Golden Leaf Festival welcomed a number of visitors, 456 of whom visited the South Carolina Tobacco Museum.

Assistant City Administrator Kenny Johnson added that the city’s recreation department is on par with last year’s participation levels for the football and soccer season. He said participants love the new uniforms and improvements made to the facility are ongoing, with scoreboard refurbishing.

Mayor Kenneth McDonald said more citizens are involved with the recreation department than with any other, and Johnson asked council members to relay any concerns directly to him.
Johnson also said county council members voted 6-1 to cease the condemnation of houses in the county because of legal issues, adding that liability may have been too extreme. McDonald said negotiations are still ongoing to figure out a plan to tear down houses that property owners permitted to be torn down.

Council member Pat Phillips said all is going smoothly with the street-sanitation department, adding equipment items are back online. McDonald thanked the City of Marion for the use the city’s street sweeper and operator, especially during the preparation for the festival.

Council members discussed business license refunds that are in the process of going out six weeks at the earliest, city clerk Debbie Floyd said. In an update, Floyd said personnel and rate changes and the renewal of ordinances has led to a slow process. Asking for patience, she said it’ll take some time, as each license has to be reviewed individually. The refunds go to applicants who have paid their fees prior to a programmer reassessing each license and the city is in the process of finding out who overpaid. Floyd the said the number of applicants range between 200 and 400.