Council preps for next tri-county meeting

By: Naeem Mcfadden | SCNow
Published: February 18, 2009

Marion County Council members are preparing for another tri-county council meeting with Dillon and Marlboro County.
Council members open the new round of quarterly meetings in Dillon at 6 p.m. Tuesday night, county administrator Tim Harper said.
During the Tuesday morning meeting, council members approved a resolution recognizing Francis Marion Memorial Day, which will be celebrated for the first time in Marion on Feb. 27.
Main Street Marion Director Chuck Wiegert, along with reenactor Denley Caughman, dressed as member of Gen. Francis Marion’s Giles Regiment, Britton’s Neck Militia, presented information regarding plans for the annual celebration to honor the Revolutionary War icon.
In other business, county attorney Charles McClain told council members of a wrongful death suit against the county.
McClain said he’s trying to figure out how the complaint can allege the county had any responsibility and that the suit is in response to a fatal automobile accident in Mullins.
Council approved adoption of a vision and mission statement, the first of it’s kind for the county.
The vision statement adopted reads: Marion County is a vibrant community where people want to live, work and raise a family due to quality educational, employment, housing, and diverse opportunities that are available to all.”
The county’s mission statement is: “The mission of Marion County government is to provide quality public services while creating an environment that is conductive to enhancing the quality of life and job creation for all citizens.”
Council member Milton Troy II requested a resolution be prepared in honor of Henry Smith, a native of Marion County who was killed during the 1968 Orangeburg Massacre.
According to the Web site commemorating the event, the shootings occurred on Feb.8, 1968, three nights after a protest by black college students who were attempting to bowl in the city’s only bowling alley.
The owner refused, causing tensions and violence to erupt. S.C. Highway Patrolmen fired on the crowd, wounding 27 students and killing three.
Troy also requested that council present a proclamation recognizing black history month.
In response to a county council committee meeting with fire officials that discussed fires and the dispatching of fire departments, Marion County E-911 Communications director Chris McKenzie sent a memo to fire chiefs in the area.
“Our job as leaders and protectors of life and property is to make sure everyone receives the same service no matter where they live,” he said. According to the memo, effective Jan. 16, the department dispatches the primary fire department and the next closest volunteer department on all reported structure fires.
In the event of a reported life hazard, the closest municipal department will be dispatched along with the primary department and the mutual aid department.
McKenzie said the measures will be taken every time and that cancelling dispatched departments will come through personnel reports on a scene.

Council preps for next tri-county meeting

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