NEWBERRY – In his report to City Council on Tuesday, City Manager Jason Taylor shared that recently, several city staff had traveled to Washington, D.C. meeting with Senator Graham’s Office, Senator Scott’s Office, Congresswoman Sherri Biggs, The US Department of Justice and the US Department of Transportation.
“We received a positive response from all of the entities that we met with,” Taylor said.
The reason for the meetings, Taylor said was to seek funding for projects needed in Newberry to include a public safety complex, bridge upgrades and anything else they may have to offer that the city could take advantage of.
Taylor then introduced Ben Dukes to City Council and those in attendance as the city’s new code enforcement officer. Dukes is a familiar face, Taylor said, as he previously worked for the Newberry Fire Department.
“We think he’ll do a great job with code enforcement,” he said. “We’re glad to have him back on board.”
Retail Strategies, which Taylor said the city had a great relationship with throughout the years, helping the city bring in, especially franchise operations.
“We will be renewing that contract and continuing that relationship, and hopefully it will be productive in the future as it has been in the past,” he said.
As another update for council, Taylor said the city would soon be power washing downtown sidewalks. The project is out for bid, he said and they anticipated doing that shortly.
The amphitheater, another Capital Project Sales Tax (CPST) project, Taylor said, the city had gone back and forth with the county on, and it was anticipated that the project be bid out in March.
The construction at the Newberry Recreation Complex continues. Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director Collin Shealy shared that they connected the existing nature trail around to the first parking lot (behind fields one and two). The paved trail, he said that goes around field three had been completed.
Demolition of a few of the elements in front of the splash park has begun, which will lead into the expansion of the current splash park. Shealy said they were meeting continually with EdCon to finalize the portion about the miracle league field, as well as getting things in place for the relocation for the pickleball courts on site.
Lastly, Taylor shared that the Newberry Arts Center had classes beginning at their new location on Main Street. However, their grand opening was going to be pushed back until the spring to make sure everything was in place.
Shealy said staff had been working very hard as a part of this move and that they wanted to make sure everything was done well as a part of the grand opening.