Pictured are two police cars parked at the police station in Blackville.

Blackville re-instates the take home policy for police cars.
At the regular Jan. 16 meeting, Mayor Michael Beasley asked the Blackville Town Council if there were any objections to the car take home policy. Hearing none, he moved on to other business. No vote was taken.
The town has had a take home policy since 2006; however, it was suspended in 2011 for various reasons, including the additional fuel costs.
“The policy was already in place.” said Town Administrator Ian Kaiser. “It was not necessary to take a vote for a procedural change. No (objections) was all that was required.”
“It’s the same policy that we have had,” but officers must now live within 15 miles of the city limits, instead of 25 miles, to be able to take their police vehicle home, said Blackville Police Chief John Holston.
Mayor Beasley said the policy would provide a “quicker response time” and “cut down on vandalism” as a police vehicle was spray painted during the recent holidays while parked at the police station.
“I will support it, but I do have some reservations,” said Councilman Russ Reed, who had previously expressed concerns about the risk, additional mileage and the “wear and tear” of the vehicles during the regular Dec. 19 meeting.
The officers will be signing sworn statements as to the use and policy of taking the cars home, Kaiser said.
In other business:
-The town of Blackville received a Community Development Block Grant for $24,750 Jan. 3 to develop a plan to clean up and beautify a section of the town from Lartigue Road to Hampton Avenue, said Kaiser.
“We received money to do the planning grant,” he said. “We’re in partnership with the (Lower Savannah) Council of Government for that.”
-The town of Blackville is pursuing an additional grant from the Department of Justice for $98,000 to build crime prevention programs such as after school, sports, arts and mentorship programs.
-Wanda Charping, the certified public accountant for Blackville, presented the financial report, and Mayor Beasley said, “We’re currently waiting on our year-end audit report.”
-During public comments, Marjada Thompson of Blackville offered a number of ideas and said, “we have so many young ones (who) have nothing to do.”
“That’s the whole idea of the prevention camp,” Kaiser said of the grant being pursued from the Justice Department.