Bishopville City Council approved a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funding resolution at their April 2 meeting. The city is requesting a grant of up to $1 million that will be used to replace existing outdated electrical and control systems at the Wastewater Treatment Plant to include relocation of the electrical and control systems equipment and to provide automatic transfer of emergency power and updated Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) equipment for remote monitoring of alarms and control process equipment.

The city will hold a public hearing on Monday, April 8, at 6 p.m. in the Colclough Building to receive public input on the CDBG application.

Mayor Luke Giddings read the resolution into the record during Council’s April 2 meeting, saying, in part, that the city has determined that “the electrical and control equipment has reached the end of its useful life and needs to be upgraded. It has been determined that these problems directly impact the city’s ability to provide a reliable treatment system for the entire wastewater treatment plant…The completion of the project will improve the overall quality and reliability of the utility service for the entire area. It will greatly benefit the quality of life and the safety of utility customers.”

The CDBG grant requires a commitment from the city of $311,000 in cash or in-kind services. The project, if funded, will be carried out with federal funds provided through the Community Development Block Grant Program, made available through the South Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Community Grant Program.

The April 8 public hearing and the matters to be discussed are subject to the provisions of the City Bishopville’s Citizen Participation Plan developed in anticipation of participating in the State of South Carolina’s Community Development Block Grant Program, which provides for the participation of citizens in the planning and implementation of community and economic development projects that involve CDBG funds. The Citizen Participation Plan and the application are available for review at Bishopville City Hall between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Persons with questions or comments concerning the public h  earing or the Citizen Participation Plan may contact Gregg McCutchen, City Administrator, at (803) 484-5948.

The city will hold a second public hearing on April 8, beginning at 6:30 p.m. to review program performance and accomplishments in connection with CDBG Project #4-CI-22-002, WWTP Sewer Line Upgrade – Phase III.

The project replaced 2,594 linear feet of existing 18” gravity sewer line with new 24” gravity sewer line, ten (10) 5’ diameter manholes and associated appurtenances. The project serves approximately 3,462 individuals, including an estimated 1,855 low-to-moderate individuals, which is 53 percent of the total service area. The project was funded with $1 million in CDBG funds and $307,593 in local match funds.

In other business at the April 2 meeting, Council:

• approved a Fair Housing resolution, recognizing April as Fair Housing Month;
• approved an events and activities permit for the Friends of the Lizard Man Committee, which is hosting the Lizard Man Stomp on Saturday, June 29 in downtown Bishopville from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Main Street will be closed during that time for a parade, food vendors, entertainment and other activities;
• heard the monthly police report from Bishopville Police Chief J.D. Dellinger, who told council his department responded to 377 calls for service in March, with 96 of those calls generating incident reports. Officers conducted 53 traffic stops and made eight custodial arrests. In addition, officers participated in four safety checkpoints over the past month. Chief Dellinger also said he recently completed an application for a body-worn camera grant. If approved, the state would “reimburse us for our body-worn cameras,” he said. “All of our officers wear body cameras when they’re interacting with citizens; it helps in reviewing complaints and reducing liability. We should hear sometime in the fall if we’ve been approved for that grant.”

Chief Dellinger said his department is currently short on officers due to a recent “separation of three officers…But we’ll all pull together and make sure the shifts are covered until we get some more people here;”

• received the administrator’s report from City Administrator Gregg McCutchen, who updated council on a number of items. McCutchen told council he attended the closeout meeting on the Harlem Blue Pond demolition project, met with the architect working with the city on renovating the Main Street building that will house the new health and wellness center that will be operated by the YMCA of the Upper Pee Dee, and attended a Downtown Master Plan meeting, among other things.

“I also sat in on a meeting about the online payment of water bills,” McCutchen told council. “We are coming along with (the system) and it looks like it will be the end of May when we’re ready.”

In addition, the city was audited by the S.C. Municipal Insurance Reserve Trust Fund last month. “They were checking on our procedures, how we handle safety regulations and if we’ve had any accidents and if so, how we’ve responded,” McCutchen said.

Finally, McCutchen said he would like for council to begin holding budget workshops for the 2024-25 Fiscal Year in the next two weeks;

• entered into executive session to discuss a contractual matter involving purchasing generators from Kelley Electrical for the city, possible revision of the city’s logo, an economic development project and approved the 2024 Downtown Master Plan prepared by Boudreaux, Thomas & Hutton and Fred Delk.

Bishopville City Council meets the first Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Colclough Building, 109 East Council Street. Meetings are open to the public.