“We have a beginning balance of $86,000...” read Carroll from the monthly budget update at Monday’s town council meeting, before catching himself.
But in light of a tough budget year, a $85,000 padding sounded humorous.
“You wish,” called out Chrystal Harsha who laughed with Carroll and other council members.
Carroll then stated the correct, more modest, number—$86.63—and the budget report continued.
But while Whitmire isn’t cushioned with multiple thousands in its public works balance, its not sapped dry either, and there’s good news for town water customers: no new rate increase is on the horizon.
Having lost its biggest water customer with sock manufacturer Renfro’s closing in January 2009, Whitmire raised customer water rates to stay in business.
“We did go up in December on the rates,” said Carroll. “The revenue it looks like now coming in is going to be sufficient and I don’t see where we’ll have to go up anymore.”
“Thank the Lord,” said Council member Annette McCaskill.
OTHER GOOD NEWS...
The “thread building” beside the old armory on Highway 121 was empty for at least a decade, so when the OTR Wheel Engineering manufacturers came to look at the building, Carroll estimated the sewer lines hadn’t been used in 12 years.
“And we were real scared that it would be frozen up and everything else,” said Carroll.
But all the system needed was a $1.25 fuse to run fine, Carroll said.
“And the good Lord was looking out for us and Jimmy (Jimmy Dunaway, public works director) went down there and started it up,” he said.
OTR representatives found the Whitmire building on the Internet, Carroll said.
OTR Wheel Engineering makes and distributes wheel parts for “off the road” equipment for the Newberry Komatsu plant.
The company expects to be fully operational in the 16,000-square foot building by the first of March.
“And they’re hoping that the economy will pick up and business will expand here,” says Carroll.
“We hope so too,” says McCaskill.
Unfortunately though, the OTR company is outside of the Whitmire town limits, and the soon-to-be OTR building is owned by someone in New Jersey, said Carroll.
So the town of Whitmire doesn’t profit from rent or tax from the new business. They will become water customers, but town officials estimate usage may be in the range of a regular household’s.
“We don’t get anything out of it,” said Carroll.
However, Carroll said OTR hopes the economy picks up and that it can one day expand in Whitmire.
“All we can do is try to show a lot of hospitality when they come here, and treat them right and hopefully they’ll like Whitmire and stay,” he said, adding that he heard the man coming to run the Whitmire side of OTR is looking to buy a house in the town.
The new business brings hope to the town, even though startup for OTR will require only three to five employees.
“Hopefully it’ll bring more business to the restaurants, even though it’s just a few employees,” said council member Cassie Fowler.
“And also,” said Carroll, “if one supplier moves in here, maybe another supplier will start looking at this area and move in here.”
RENFRO
As far as the still-empty Renfro building, Carroll said companies have been interested, but report that the ceilings are too low.
“They’ve had four or five companies to look at the building and if the ceiling was four feet taller, we would have already had somebody in there,” says Carroll.
The 1962 Renfro building has ceilings between 13.08 and 14.25 feet tall, with rear warehouse ceilings at 22.66 feet, according to the state commerce Web site.
Carroll says Renfro’s ceiling met standards back in the 1960s when it was built, but that the standard has changed over time as equipment got taller.
Most companies now want ceilings that are 20-22 foot high, he said.
ROLLING YOUR WAY...
Town employees will be out this week—today or tomorrow—depending on the weather, to deliver new large-size trash carts to citizens. Residents will also get notes and rules for using the carts.
The carts are free, courtesy of a grant the town received last year. But if abused, carts must be paid for, says Carroll.
Carts cost $90 if someone needs a replacement or an extra, said Carroll.
The 90-gallon carts are double what many residents now have and will allow trash pickup in half the time.
The bigger carts allow the town to roll out the garbage truck only two days a week. Currently, the town picks up trash on four days.
The town discussed picking up on Mondays and Thursdays or on Fridays and Saturdays. The new pickup schedule will begin around the first of March, said Carroll.
Whitmire wish list
Council continued meeting after its regular business Monday to go over its list of projects to sponsor to the Capital Project Sales Tax Commission for funding through the upcoming referendum in November.
Among the items for Whitmire were:
— Turning the old Whitmire town clinic, last used around 40 years ago, into a suitable place for council meetings and court sessions. Currently, those in a wheelchair can’t reach upstairs in Town Hall where court and council meet.
The former Community Center site where council meetings were held last year was handicapped accessible, but using the space conflicted with those who rented the center for parties, said Carroll.
— Installing a water line sprinkler system at the Whitmire Golf Course.
— Building a skate park for youth, who are limited in where they can skate around town.
Making the cut
It’s not that more people are writing bad checks, said Carroll, but to save time and money on water cutoff efforts, the town does have a “cut-off list” that limits who can write checks.
Those who pay overdue water bills with bad checks go on the list, and then must pay another way to have their water cut back on.
“Another policy we’ve talked about is that if you are on the cutoff list it’s cash, money order, cashier’s check, a bank check or money order or bank card,” said Carroll. “We won’t take a personal check if you’re on the cutoff list.”
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