Chairman says city making progress on plan

Despite a lessened emphasis in recent months on implementation of the Hartsville 2020 Comprehensive Plan, city planning officials are still making progress in key planning areas, the chairman of the Hartsville Planning Commission told Hartsville City Council.

Chairman Vern Myers presented his periodic progress report on the 2020 plan during council’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday.

Those areas, he said, include housing, community facilities, cultural and recreational resources, economic development and land use.

But, he added, the pending change of leadership in the city that will result from the Nov. 3 municipal election will likely slow any movement on any new activity until after the first of the year.

“Keep in mind, this is an initiative that is driven by local citizens,” Myers said. “There are an awful lot of talented people in this town, and that’s a valuable resource. Let’s reach out, and let’s grab it.”

Myers said that council will hold a work session soon after a new mayor and council take office to review the 2020 plan and set priorities for 2010.

He also said he would like to see another joint work session with council and the planning commission as soon after that as possible.

Myers said annexation needs to be a top priority for the city, and he pointed to efforts to develop an annexation plan. He said the commission will provide the new mayor and council members with its recommended annexation priorities.

On the issue of economic development, he said the planning commission believes that a proposal for a broadband initiative that could make Hartsville a fiber optic city is important and must be a top priority for council.

Council has scheduled a special called meeting for 4:30 p.m. Monday to discuss the proposed initiative and consider a resolution authorizing a $50,000 feasibility study for such a project.

Mel Pennington, vice chairman of the planning commission and a candidate for mayor of Hartsville in the upcoming election, presented the proposal to council last week during a work session.

At that session, Pennington asked council to move quickly on the proposal, which could bring a fiber optic communications network to the city that he said can create a new revenue stream for the city and change the way the city does business.

He said quick action is needed if the city is to obtain a portion of the $7 billion in federal stimulus funding set aside to bring broadband capability to rural areas of the country.

He said potential funding sources for a feasibility study have been identified but are looking for a commitment from council to make such a project a top priority.

In his management update, City Manager Dr. Jim Pennington said city officials are still looking for as much as $100,000 to install a new foundation to support the planned Veterans Memorial in Burry Park but so far has found no funding. Officials say a new foundation is necessary to support the weight of the memorial.
Council also received updates from the city’s Museum Commission, Design Review Board and the Hartsville Downtown Development Association.

Dr. Mac Chapman, chairman of the Hartsville Museum Commission, said the museum drew 5,000 visitors so far this year and is one of the most visited sites in the area.

Ruth Iseman of the Design Review Board said the panel signed off on several new projects this year, including Louchi’s Restaurant and the expansion of the Hartsville Museum on North Fifth Street across the street from the main building.

Judi Elvington said the recent Jazz Carolina event was one of the most successful ever. She said her organization received a grant that helped pay for advertising of the festival in advance on the Internet and outside of the Hartsville area, particularly in and around Florence, and that attendance was up.

Council gave first-reading approval to an ordinance to annex about 2.3 acres of property on Heatley Drive into the city limits.

Darlington County Habitat for Humanity recently acquired the property and plans to subdivide it and build 10 single-family homes on it, according to City Manager Dr. Jim Pennington.

In other business, council gave final approval to an ordinance amending the city code on cemeteries to prohibit the burial of human remains on private property not already designated as a cemetery. The city manager said the ordinance “cleaned up” the language of the existing ordinance to prevent situations like one that occurred in Darlington several years ago when a man whose wife had died had her buried in an above ground mausoleum he had built in his back yard inside the city limits.