Dateline: August 18, 2005

Clarendon aldermen move to hike trash fees

By Roger  Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Clarendon Aldermen unanimously voted to increase sanitation rates during their regular meeting last Tuesday.

City officials say the trash service is losing money and is facing higher fuel costs. The city has also been out an estimated $12,000 in maintenance costs for one of its trash trucks.

Sanitation rates would increase $1 per month per each active account. If an account has more than one trash bin, the increase would be $1 per trash bin per month. The rate for hauling trash for Greenbelt Water Authority would increase $410 to a total fee of $2,500 per month.

The board also voted 3-1 to increase deposits for water service. The city currently requires a $50 deposit on a new account, and aldermen approved raising that to $125, noting that most past due accounts that get closed are over $100. Alderman Tommy Hill opposed the measure, saying he felt setting the deposit at $100 would be sufficient.

The aldermen must still vote on the sanitation charges and water deposit fees again. If approved, the new rates would go into effect October 1, 2005.

Water service tap fees were also on the board’s agenda, but aldermen decided to leave those rates unchanged.

In other city business, Judy Burlin addressed the board on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce regarding funds the chamber receives from the Motel Bed Tax.

Twenty-five percent of the money raised by that tax is directed to the chamber.

Burlin outlined upcoming chamber activities and said her board is reviewing the guidelines for spending Motel Bed Tax funds.

The chamber has set up a separate account so that tax funds are not co-mingled with other chamber funds, and Burlin said she would give a quarterly report to the city to keep aldermen up to date on how the money is being used. Alderman Michael Tibbets also encouraged the chamber to conduct surveys during events sponsored with Motel Bed Tax funds.

The board discussed closing the Burton Memorial Library on Saturdays. Librarian Jerri Shields suggested the measure as a way to cut utility expenses and noted that traffic was not very high on Saturday. The board voted in favor of the measure, which will take effect September 1.

The city’s ad valorem tax rate was discussed. No action was taken as the board is waiting to find out what the city’s insurance rates will be.

The board approved an engagement letter from Doshier, Pickens, & Francis to conduct the 2004-2005 audit.

Aldermen discussed the city’s random drug testing policy and voted to test five employees at random every quarter. The policy previously called for testing three employees per quarter.

The topic of paying the salary of city employees while they attend training for the volunteer fire department was discussed.

Aldermen Hill and Janice Knorpp opposed this policy saying that this was something that should be done on the employee’s own time and money, but Aldermen Tibbets and Bobbie Kidd were unwilling to change the policy. Alderman Mark White was absent.

Hill and Knorpp voted to stop the policy. Tibbets and Kidd voted no, and Mayor Tex Selvidge would not break the tie, saying he wanted more information.