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By Leon G. Russ
HOMETOWN NEWS
During the Spartanburg County Council meeting on Monday a heated discussion emerged between Councilman David Britt and Councilman O’Neal Mintz over the contract, or lack thereof, with the Spartanburg Humane Society.
Mintz, never one to shy away from lopping money from the budget, suggested Council reduce the funding for the Spartanburg Humane Society from $56,000 per month to $49,617 a month.
Britt warned the reduction could force the Humane Society to walk away from taking in animals and leave the County holding the bag and having to build its own animal shelter.
Mintz replied, “So be it.”
Britt, with wonder in his voice, said, “I’m just going to put the cards on the table. Be careful what you wish for.”
Mintz’ motion was to reduce the yearly amount to the Humane Society to $595,000 per year down from the $675,000 budgeted in both 2008 and 2009.
Britt stated, “If you think $675,000 is a high number wait ‘til we have to do it ourselves. It will cost us half a million to build our own building.
“They do a service for us – we pay far less than Greenville, Charleston, or Lexington. They are close to telling us to take our money and go do your own thing. I don’t want to build a facility. I don’t want a building. I don’t want to hire a staff. It will cost us far more than we’re paying now.”
Britt warned it would cost the county upwards of $1 million if it had to build a shelter and provide funding for staff.
Before a vote was taken Britt said, “I would implore four of us to vote against this, unless you want to roll the dice. You’re playing Russian Roulette over $76,000.”
Councilwoman Jane Hall noted she had been meeting and would meet again with Darwin Simpson of the Humane Society.
Hall stated, “I believe in the next month or so we’ll have the contract everyone has been looking for and will be pleased with it.”
When council finally voted on Mintz’ measure to reduce funding for the Humane Society the vote was 4-3 against.
County Council Chairman Jeff Horton and council members Britt, Tom Foster and Michael Brown voted against, Mintz, Hall and Dale Culbreth voted to reduce the funding.
Mintz then introduced a motion to reduce funding to the Spartanburg Arts Partnership by $27,000 a month. His motion died when there was no second.
Prior to his motion Hall had asked council to do a study to see how the Arts Partnership benefits the county. She said, “It’s so important because it brings economic development to the area.”
This small disagreement between Britt and Mintz was the only one noted at the meeting. The expected disagreement on Parks and Rec issues never arose.
The Parks and Rec Budget will remain at the same amount as last year, which is $250,293 less than what was recommended earlier this year.
Jeff Caton, Director of Parks and Recreation, gave a presentation on the 138 acre Spartanburg Westside Park that he expects to open in late summer 2011.
The cost of the park ranges from a low of $12 million to a high of $16 million for Phase I of the project. Caton expects bids to go out in August and ground to be broken in November.
Caton stated he doesn’t know how many phases will be needed to complete construction of the park. “It depends on the money we get from Council. We’ll build to the extent Council will provide money.”
He noted Parks and Rec will not build unless it also has money for maintenance of the facilities.
The actual park will be located off Reidville Road about a mile and a half past Route 296.
During Caton’s presentation to council he noted the park “has a lot of athletic fields for youth and to attract tournaments so we get a return on the investment.”
Some of the items included in the park’s Phase I construction include 12 ball fields - four 220 foot fields with press boxes and eight 260 foot fields with press boxes.
Also included in Phase I are the park’s creative play area; a sun play area with a large sundial, reflective ball and solar panels; a water play area with an interactive fountain, boardwalk and rain garden; and a wind play area with talk tubes, tunnels and mounds, wind turbines, and wind chimes.
Caton touted the areas as being both educational and playful.
The areas are needed, he said, because “when people come here they are looking for other things to do besides watch the game. (The areas) will keep people on site between games and get them to eat on site.”
He noted the theme of the park is a “nature - based facility rather than a sterile Wal-Mart rec-like facility so many places have, so we can stand out from other communities.”
The main park building will feature the park office, conference room, hospitality room, concessions, and rest rooms.
Caton told council, “A park like this gives us an opportunity to involve the corporate community; they’ll get a lot of exposure for their sponsorship dollar.”
Mintz asked Caton if the park would be available for daily public use.
Caton replied, “The facility, during league play, will be open. The only time it’s closed off is when it’s totally blocked off by the tournament. All other times it will be open to the public.”
He noted there will be a “tremendous amount of trails” for walkers, runners and bikers in addition to the play areas and ball fields.
Other projects Parks and Rec is looking at include building a new restroom facility and score tower at north Spartanburg and acquiring waterway land components for future trail locations and establishing locations for those trails.
Councilman Tom Foster stated, “This is exciting for Spartanburg County. I’m committed to Parks and Rec.”
During Monday’s meeting council also passed a resolution recognizing and welcoming World War II Veterans of the USS Cowpens to the Mighty Moo Festival and Reunion and proclaiming the week of June 15-19, 2009, as “Mighty Moo Week” in Spartanburg County.
Four former crewmembers of the USS Cowpens were on hand and received a standing ovation from those in attendance. Jack Daniel and James Makus of Dallas were joined by Joe Walker of Brooklyn and Cecil Brosard of Mobile, Alabama, who was back for his 26th consecutive year at the festival.
lruss@hometown-news.com
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