NEWBERRY – A street inside the Newberry Recreation Complex will be named after the late former councilor and Mayor Pro Tem Zebbie Goudelock.
Mayor Foster Senn said last Tuesday that the council had asked the city’s Planning Commission to name the street leading to the football fields inside the complex in honor of the former councilor.
Upon entering the circle of the recreation complex, Senn said that the road, Zebbie Goudelock Way, would be the first road on the right.
Senn said the council hopes to invite the Goudelock family to a small ceremony in the coming months, when the sign is placed on the complex.
Also in the scope of new business, the board approved a decree to temporarily suspend normal operating procedures and provide for emergency procedures applicable to public meetings during the continuation of such emergencies.
Originally approved last year, this ordinance was once again extended, allowing the mayor, Newberry City Council and Newberry City Councils and Commissions to remotely participate in voting procedures and operations over the phone or other electronic means of communication, provided they comply with the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act.
Enacted due to the circumstances that the city faces in combating the spread of COVID-19, the ordinance will expire in 61 days, unless it is extended. The motion was made by councilor David DuBose and supported by councilor Lemont Glasgow.
The Council adopted a resolution last week designating April as the fair housing month in the city of Newberry. Senn read the resolution to the council and viewers. The motion was made for approval by DuBose and supported by Councilman Jackie Holmes.
A request for external water for a property located at 2647 Wilson Road was approved by the council with a motion from Glasgow, supported by DuBose. The owner of the property has agreed to execute an attachment contract indicating the willingness to attach if the property becomes adjacent to the city limits and the council determines that it is in the city’s interest to attach the property.
The property is located next to an existing waterline and no bore is required. However, there will be a $ 1,400 fee for external taps.
Glasgow asked if an owner buys a property with an attachment agreement, as they would know, to which City Secretary Jeff Wicker said the records were filed with Newberry County Court as soon as they were approved by the council.
City updates:
As an update to the board, Parks, Recreation and Tourism Director Scott Sawyer said that tremendous progress has been made that concessions for the recreation complex, the bathroom and the marker tower would be completed next week.
“I reported earlier that May is when we were told it would be completed, so this is much earlier than anticipated,” said Sawyer.
Sawyer said he contacted contractors to pour the rest of the concrete that connects the sidewalks to the building. Most of the concession’s equipment has already been received, he said he will transfer it as soon as everything is ready.
The bleachers for the fields, Sawyer said, would be ready and the installation would begin as soon as they could do that.
“The scores and mounds of the pitchers are in order,” he said. “We will be ready to play as soon as we put the sidewalks and the grass is established.”
As an update on Wise Street Park, Sawyer said they were about three-quarters of the way digging where the trail would be and that he predicted it would be completed soon. After the rock is dumped, it will be compacted and asphalt will be dumped to complete the trail.
Also under announcements, Senn said that due to the pandemic, they did not recognize the city officials who reached the job milestones, as well as the retirees and he hoped to do so during the April City Council meeting.
To maintain social distance, the council will start its ordinary meeting on April 13, abroad at 4 pm, at the Memorial Park for recognitions, after a break until the normal meeting at 7 pm, to be held online.
After reopening the meeting after the executive session, councilor Carlton Kinard made a motion to nominate Janet Long for the Newberry Housing Authority Board. Councilman Edwin Wicker supported the motion.
Elyssa Haven is a public relations coordinator in the city of Newberry.