WHITMIRE — Whitmire Mayor Billy Hollingsworth said the town really needs to know what to do with the old Whitmire High School building since is has been in the town’s possession for several months.
“We need to make a decision as a council on how to market that,” Hollingsworth said.
Hollingsworth said they had $200,000 worth of insurance on the building in case something happens to it and that he thought they either needed to get a marketing group to look at the building or a Realtor.
Councilwoman Cassie Fowler asked if they could talk with the Newberry city manager for recommendations on someone who understands the marketing aspect.
“It’s just time we get it into someone’s hands,” Hollingsworth said. “We don’t need to let it sit there. The sooner we can do something with it, the better we’ll all be.”
Fowler said she would get to work on it.
Under recreation, the Town of Whitmire’s Ozone major baseball team and recreation softball team were recognized by council.
Councilwoman Chrystal Harsha, who is on the town’s recreation committee, said the Ozone team had a record of 8-1 this year and the softball team went 6-0 on its season.
“That’s an awesome record,” Harsha said of both teams.
The boys that played for the Ozone team included Gabriel Sturkey, Matthew Prather, Dawson Davis, Dalton Gambrell, Gordon Alexander, Jessy Burbage, Peyton Crumpton, Austin Stanley, Andrew Whitman, Zack Duncan, Chandler Crumley, Oscar Brewer, Addison Hardy and Wyatt Crase. The team was coached by Scott Crumpton and assistant coaches Charlie Crumley and Brandon Sturkey.
Peyton Crumpton was named MVP for the Ozone team and the Best All Around was given to Dawson Davis.
Members of the softball team included Dakota Bodie, Julianne Whisenant, Montasia Vanlue, Lexie Conner, Brooklyn Gagnon, Janiyah Epps, Ameliah Bruyere, Alexus Sanders, Leanna Eison, Kandence Guinn, Hanna Wagner, Olivia Martin, Barrett Martin, Keri Lawson, Brynn Taylor, Samantha Hood, Kimberly Kendrick and Nyla Hill. The team was coached by Chris Martin and assistant coaches Adam Bruyere, Sabrina Martin and Ron Harsha.
In other news, Christianna Gilliam reminded council that the annual Party in the Pines event starts at 6 p.m. Thursday with local gospel groups starting at 11 p.m.
Last year’s carnival “ride all night” wristbands were $15, Gilliam said, but they will not know until the carnival arrives if that will be the same pricing for this year.
Several bands also will perform Friday night. The parade is at 4 p.m. Saturday with different groups coming from as far as Blacksburg to be in the parade, Gilliam said.
“I’m super excited,” Gilliam said of the parade.
The parade lineup begins at 3 p.m. on Broad Street. Gilliam said they started doing applications for the parade to try to get better organized. Everything else, carnival rides and vendors will kick off right after the parade.
“It probably will be live by 4:30,” Gilliam said.
Mayor’s Report
Hollingsworth told council that the trees in the cemetery had roots growing out and pushing up some headstones.
“It is an issue and is only going to get worse,” Hollingsworth said. “I don’t want to do any damage to anyone’s headstone in any shape or fashion.”
Council said they would look into getting a tree surgeon to come in to look at the problem.
Hollingsworth said in good news, Sea Pro closed on the Renfro building in Whitmire on May 30 and were planning to have a job fair in early July.
“There will be an opening ceremony at some point, but it has not been set yet,” Hollingsworth said.
Other updates:
• Harsha said she’s gotten a couple of calls about covering the playground equipment, especially during the summer. Because equipment gets so hot during the day, the Mayor said they would look into seeing how much it would cost to cover the equipment.
• Fowler sent council an example of an ordinance in Chicago that would fine owners for not selling or renting an abandoned building within a certain amount of time. Hollingsworth said he was concerned that with no one renting or using these buildings that they would sooner or later go down. Council agreed to show the ordinance to the town attorney.
• For the month of May, the Whitmire Police Department filed 89 incidents and made 117 citations for the month. Some of the department’s calls included burglary, larceny, possession of marijuana, criminal domestic violence, breach of trust, public intoxication, disorderly conduct and open container. There were no traffic collisions.
• The town of Whitmire had a beginning balance of $28,458.57 for the month of May, with deposits totaling $37,044.87. With expenditures equalling $45,726.63, the ending balance for the month was $19,776.81. Hollingsworth said the town will hold their final budget meeting and public hearing on June 22 at 6 p.m., but that right now, the town was balanced at $640,282, both with projected revenue and expenditures. That is a 9.62 percent increase from last year, Hollingsworth said.