Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
At the Allendale Town Council’s August 8 meeting, multiple decisions were made regarding the council’s presiding officer, town renovations, and the town’s water system.
Dawan “Pookie” Smith will continue to serve as presiding officer of the Allendale Town Council for another year after the council unanimously voted to keep his position at its August 8 meeting.
Additionally, the Allendale Town Council also authorized new renovations for the town, voted to use $380,000 of ARPA funding for the town’s water system and announced the removal of lead pipes.
Presiding officer election
At the beginning of the August 8 meeting, Mayor James Cohen was in attendance. However, the council quickly went into executive session for over an hour, during which Cohen left. Cohen was elected mayor in 2020 to serve a four-year term, however, the town council took power away from Cohen and elected Smith as presiding officer following criticisms of the mayor’s conduct during meetings.
After being reappointed as presiding officer, Smith thanked the council and praised its recent performance.
“I’d like to thank y’all for having confidence in me to continue to preside,” Smith said. “Hopefully we can continue to have these meetings where everybody’s opinion is appreciated. We’re going to continue forward and I thank you again.”
Water system changes
The Town of Allendale’s water system is undergoing upgrades that, although costly, are in response to multiple recent violations. At the August 8 meeting, all five town council members voted unanimously in favor of new projects and ordinances to rebuild the town’s water infrastructure.
Under new regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency, towns and municipalities must begin making inventories of lead pipes that carry drinking water, which cause grave health effects for residents who ingest lead. At the meeting, council member Hattie Jackson said the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) is helping the Town of Allendale with getting started with the project. DHEC’s ultimate goal is to replace all lead pipes within the county, however, Jackson said “ultimately this work will be the town’s responsibility.”
Additionally, the town council voted unanimously in favor of the first reading of an ordinance that would use $380,000 in funds received through the ARPA to match a grant from the South Carolina Infrastructure Investment Plan (SCIIP). SCIIP is a program run by the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority that uses ARPA money to distribute grants to rural utilities across the state in need of upgrades.
Other council decisions
The council unanimously approved a contract with Brighter Side Roofing — a roofing company in Augusta — to repair the roof of the Town of Allendale’s police department, which has been using a tarp to prevent leaks.
“I’m glad to see that we’ve gotten to this point where we’re going to make this happen,” Smith said. “This is something that has been kicked down the road for a while.”
The town council also approved the first reading of an ordinance to change the town’s credit card policy so that the sole public employee using the card is Lee Harley-Fitts, chair of the finance committee. Additionally, the ordinance also caps the credit card transaction limit at $1,000. The reasoning, Smith said, was to prevent misunderstanding about who can use the card.
“For clarity, citizens, we’ve had some issues where [the town] credit card was used, and we need to put something in place to limit who can use the credit card and who could authorize the use of the credit card,” Smith said. “It’s good practice to narrow it down to one person.”
Following the meeting, The People-Sentinel sent the Town of Allendale a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for receipts from the town’s credit card use, as well as communications between town council members regarding concerns of credit card use. The People-Sentinel’s FOIA request was submitted on August 9. Under FOIA law, the Town of Allendale has until August 30 to respond to the request.
The town council tabled multiple readings of ordinances, including an ordinance for a new procurement code, as well as an ordinance for a new employee handbook.
