Florence City Council defers Rosewood Village vote
FLORENCE — Florence City Council deferred until Monday a request from the Housing Authority of Florence to provide a letter of support for $1.1 million to $1.2 million in-kind contributions to Rosewood Village to be located along Oakland Street.
The in-kind contributions would be for such things as sidewalks, water and sewer improvements, demolition and landfill costs.
The action came during a special city council meeting Wednesday. Although council members expressed unanimous support for the housing project, several wanted more information before committing to anything.
“I think it’s a great project, but I’m not ready to give it my vote until City Manager David Williams, the public works director and others have a chance to review it,” said Councilman Buddy Brand. “It’s up to us to be prudent with the taxpayers’ dollars and to at least look at the ramifications.”
Councilwoman Octavia Williams-Blake took issue with Brand.
“You’re saying stuff that sounds good in the paper,” she said. “All they’re asking for is a letter of support.”
But Brand likened a letter of support to a bank’s letter of credit. He said it is a commitment and “we should have gotten facts and figures on this project before this meeting.”
Councilman Billy D. Williams motioned to approve the letter of support.
“This is nothing new, we do this kind of stuff all the time,” he said. “There’s a time frame here and a lot of competition for these federal funds. They (Housing Authority) need to get their application in. If we’re not in the pot, we’re not going to get anything out of the pot. We’ve got to get it out of the box.”
Councilman Ed Robinson said he’s been saying for years that “we need to build up the community, not tear it down.” He said this (Housing Authority request) is a priority and “we need to go ahead and get this done.”
“This will have a direct impact on one of the poorest communities in Florence,” Williams emphasized. “This is a $1.1 million to $1.2 million commitment to bring this community back to life. Yet, we sit here today and say we need more time. A letter of support is all they want.”
The pitch for Rosewood Village was made by Reggie Barner, head of the Barner Group in Aiken.
He said the application needed to be submitted by Wednesday and what he was requesting from city council was a letter of support for in-kind contributions.
“The quicker we get the application in, the better it will be,” he said.
But Barner said, when questioned by Councilman Bill Bradham, that deferring action until Monday wouldn’t affect the application.
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Reader Reactions
It does seem evident that the letter of support obligates the city to expend funds and resources for this project. Then it clearly merits scrutiny, and should not be rushed through. Don’t things like this require three readings, and open debate in a public meeting? Let things be done in the right way. If there’s nothing to worry about here, the openness won’t hurt.
The article makes it pretty clear, FPorlock:
“The in-kind contributions would be for such things as sidewalks, water and sewer improvements, demolition and landfill costs.“
These things are the kinds of things the city would be doing anyway to upgrade or maintain existing infrastructure. It just comes as part of a project to enhance the neighborhoods on the other side of the tracks north of McLeod hospital. While I haven’t read the plan, it sounds like stimulus money at work to me. People need jobs, and this part of town could use the improvements.
“Florence City Council deferred until Monday a request from the Housing Authority of Florence to provide a letter of support for $1.1 million to $1.2 million in-kind contributions to Rosewood Village to be located along Oakland Street.“
“Nick ... do you understand the Letter of Support as obligating the City to expend money/resources?“
I am not Nick, but that is my understanding.
The city of Florence is obligated ‘in kind’.
My only wish is that the recipricants of such projects would respect and value it enough to keep the property up as far as personal care and these new buildings don’t become havens for further crime and criminals and in a few short years become another embarrassment for our city.
Why would this not have been presented in plenty of time to act on it rather than waiting to the last minute to present it to counsel?
Perhaps a few should learn that there is an order to business and the ‘old ways’ did not work well.
“This is nothing new, we do this kind of stuff all the time,” he said > BILLY D). “There’s a time frame here and a lot of competition for these federal funds. They (Housing Authority) need to get their application in. If we’re not in the pot, we’re not going to get anything out of the pot. We’ve got to get it out of the box.”
Billy D and ED, why try to slip it in and through at the last minute?
If the “letter of support” is nothing more than City Council indicating their general support for the project, I see no problem. If, as I suspect, it binds/obligates the city to lay out expenditures, then it should be carefully scrutinized and not rushed through. Nick ... do you understand the Letter of Support as obligating the City to expend money/resources?
If Robinson is in support of it, maybe it would be best for us NOT to support it… after all, he doesn’t have the best judgement.
Why did they wait so late to make the request for this? Maybe “This is nothing new, we do this kind of stuff all the time,” has been one of the problems. How long before Robinson starts yelling “racist” or did he do it already and it was left out of the article!
It’s taking until Monday because of the Independence Day Holiday being observed by the city on Friday. Nevertheless, Octavia is correct. Many on council speak of doing right by the taxpayer when it’s politically expedient, and never otherwise. Oakland Avenue and the community surrounding it could definetly benefit from this. It’s a quality of life issue for the residents, and I feel certain the city manager & his directors will agree with it upon review. It’s pretty much “main street” for that corner of our city if anyone reading this has never been on it.
Buddy?
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