4/19/07

New Downtown?
S’ton CDBG grant poised for reality
By Brian Jarvis

BRIAN JARVIS/Manning Times

Councilmember and Mayor Pro-Tem Ken Wells presided over Summerton’s latest town council meeting.

Hoping to realize a dream nearly three years in the making, the Summerton town council approved a bid for a community development block grant (CDBG) with the potential to revitalize downtown.

“I’m very excited,” said town administrator Rebecca Rhodes, joking that she would throw a party the night construction began. “I’ve been working on it the entire time I’ve been in Summerton.”

Totaling $654,000 from the South Carolina Department of Commerce (SCDOC) and the South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), the grant would pay for new sidewalks, benches, trashcans, trees, lighting and landscaping.

According to Rhodes, the town will contribute $87,000 in matching funds in addition to $110,000 to move several power lines for aesthetic purposes, secured by a downtown improvement fund established in 2004.

“By improving the appearance of downtown, we hope to attract more businesses and more people to shop there,” Rhodes said. “If the town and the public body invest in the downtown infrastructure, then private investors will feel more comfortable investing in private buildings and enterprise.”

Pending approval of the contract by the SCDOC, renovations could begin as early mid-May. The bidder was International Public Works of Mt. Pleasant.

“It’s never easy,” said Rhodes, who is cautiously optimistic the project will move forward. “The hardest part is jumping through all the hoops, because there are steps you have to take and you have to do everything they tell you. There is no free money.”

In other business, the council:

• Gave second reading approval to an ordinance establishing a code of professional conduct.
• Tabled an ordinance to re-zone property located at 6 Dukes St. in order to further examine legal issues.
• Gave second reading approval to an ordinance consolidating the Summerton Fire Department with the Clarendon County Fire Department.
• Considered a proposal from Jane Ours to establish a “Tree Board” to insure that removing limbs and branches to enhance services from Progress Energy does not ruin the appearance of neighborhood streets.