POMARIA — The mayors of Newberry County recently attended a meeting involving the Capital Project Sales Tax, which is up for renewal.
Mayor Darryl Hentz was present for the meeting, and would like Pomaria to be prepared with ideas.
“On October 30 we will meet again to put our projects down. I think the number one project for us is the school building (town hall),” he said. “Another project that has been kicked around is a higher capacity at the sewer plant.”
Hentz is also considering throwing in a project involving the baseball field in Pomaria. However, he did add that the town needed to be conservative with what they choose, and only focus on what the town needs.
Although the projects for the CPST are due by Oct. 30, the estimated costs for the project are not due until February 2016. When it comes to establishing the cost for the CPST Pomaria must leave no stone unturned and include any cost.
“Last time, Ervin West came and walked around the building with me and discussed pricing,” Councilman Jimmy Wilson said.
Pomaria will once again try and utilize West’s services for the numbers this year.
“When we come back for our Oct. 5 meeting I would like us to further look at this, and have submissions ready,” Hentz said.
In other business, Pomaria resident Jeff Freeman came to council to ask about renting the auditorium (of the town hall building) for his daughter’s birthday.
“We are looking to hold the party the Saturday before her birthday, which is on May 17, and it will be a Cinderella themed party. We are looking at the auditorium, looking to have a band and the auditorium be the ball room,” he said. “We would really like to keep this in the community.”
Hentz said that they do not typically rent the auditorium because council feels it is currently unsatisfactory. This means that there is not a set rate for people to rent the auditorium.
“Now we can talk about a rate as a council. Since the party is not until May, we can talk about it and discuss a fee,” he said. “We can go ahead and put your name on the calendar and we can set the rate later.”
Wilson added that the building may be more satisfactory by May, and may even have air conditioning by then.
On another rental issue, Hentz said that council will need to revisit the rental policy of the town hall building.
“We will probably have to have a healthy deposit for a renter we do not know,” he said. “The last rental we had was not a satisfactory experience. So we will need to look at that and think about knocking things up.”
Other business
• Highlights from the financial report include $550 to Kathie Leitzsey Catering (for the governmental association meeting), $850 to Newberry Lawncare and $63.54 to South Carolina Retirement. The town also received a reimbursement from AT&T for $95.57.