Hartsville City Council tabled final approval of an ordinance that will change the city’s tree ordinance Tuesday.
The measure, which was up for a vote on second reading, eliminates the tree committee and changes regulations for the removal of trees.
Mayor Michael Holt said he had received a number of requests from people concerned about the possible implications of the ordinance to hold off on a final vote until October.
“I think that we’re just getting mixed signals on this, and we just need to clear it up before we go forward,” councilman Johnny Andrews said.
“This is just cleaning up the code of ordinances,” City Manager Jim Pennington said.
The tree committee no longer exists and has not operated in at least seven years, Pennington said, and its former duties are now handled internally by a full-time arborist on the city staff.
Pennington said citizens who may want to address council on the ordinance will be given the opportunity to do so.
He said the amendment is aimed at reflecting changes in S.C. Department of Transportation regulations and current requirements from the city’s insurance carrier.
The change does not affect the Crees for Tomorrow program.
In other business, council gave final approval to an ordinance amending the utility fund budget to include an additional $95,000 in unanticipated expenses payable by the city to Progress Energy. The additional cost resulted from a fault in the meter used to gauge the amount of electricity used to operate the city’s wastewater treatment plant, according to Pennington.
The funding will cover about $67,000 the utility company is allowed under state law to back charge the city for 12 months as well as the projected increase in the monthly charge for electricity in the future, Pennington said.
Council members also got an update from Carolyn Lett, executive director of the Hartsville Housing Authority. Lett, in the agency’s annual report to council, said the authority’s staff is working to improve physical appearances at the housing facilities it operates. “What we are trying to do is a lot of work on curb appeal,” she said.
“We want them to look attractive. Our goal is to make their (tenants) places to live a home and not just a house,” said Lett, who became executive director of the agency in March.
The authority, which provides federally subsidized public housing for qualified individuals, operates the Southpark and Eastpark housing facilities in Hartsville.
Council also got its first look at an artist’s rendering of the planned Veterans Memorial sculpture that will be erected in Burry Park.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement