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ROSE HILL — Now that the new Rose Hill Fire Department is operational, town officials are beginning to discuss what should be done with the old fire department, which sits next to the Town Hall.
Town Administrator Angela Smith brought up the item as part of new business at the town board meeting on Aug. 13. “What are the board’s wishes?” Smith asked. “I can tell you, I’ve talked to [Police] Chief [Michael] Tyndall and we’d like to maybe get the police department moved over there. We would have a lot more storage. The police department would have their own building.”
Mayor Davy Buckner said since the old lunchroom building in the Town Square was demolished to make way for the new fire department, perhaps the old fire department could be used as a venue for events and functions. However, Chief Tyndall said he wasn’t sure that would be a good idea if the police department moved in to the administrative side of the old fire station.
“I don’t think we need to be in the venue business anymore,” said Commissioner Gary Boney, who’s also the town fire chief.
Commissioner Ross Powell added that there would be issues if the old fire department became a venue. “It’s not a perfect venue for sure,” he said. “There’s no place to park.”
Boney also pointed out that when it rains, the floors of the bay can be dangerous. “There’s not a slicker floor in this town than the bay when it’s raining,” he said.
After some discussion, the board agreed that a decision doesn’t need to be made right now, and decided to table the discussion for a future meeting. “I would love to have community input,” the mayor said.
In other business, Buckner said he wanted to bring up a “pet peeve” and see if the town could put an ordinance in place to keep mowers from littering the town’s streets with cut grass.
“I’m talking as a citizen now,” he said. “Going around in the summertime, and there’s grass all in the streets. People are kicking their grass out there.”
Smith said the town does not have an ordinance addressing the matter, but said she had posted on the town’s website and Facebook page to ask citizens to be mindful of letting cut grass cover the street and roadway.
“It makes me mad as fire,” Buckner said. “The other thing is, if it’s on there and it gets a little wet, and a motorcycle comes by, he could have an accident. For safety reasons, we need to be thinking about it, if that’s something we want to pursue or whatever. Whoever does that needs to show the town and its citizens some courtesy and not do it.”
In other business at the Aug. 13 meeting, the board approved:
- A resolution to authorize the upset bid process for a parcel of land on Fourth Street, which previously held a house that the town had demolished.
- A resolution of acceptance for the drinking water state revolving fund lead service line replacement loan. The lead line replacement project is funded with $120,000. Originally, it was $200,000, but the town decided to decline the additional $80,000 zero-interest loan and handle the administration in-house.
- An amended capital project ordinance for $425,800 for a stormwater project at Walnut and Charity.
- An amendment to the town of Rose Hill personnel policy incentivize additional education or certification in one’s field.
- A travel policy for town employees.
- The implementation for the fifth year of the resurfacing program, awarding the project to Legion Asphalt, who had bid $247,588.12. Because that number is $78,000 less than what was budgeted, Smith said Public Works Director Blake Parker would get with Legion and see if two more streets could be added to the resurfacing list.
- A resolution authorizing the repair of Lift Station #1 (First Street). The amount was $7,812 plus any taxes and fees, awarded to AC Schultes.
In her report, Smith also thanked the police and fire departments, public works and other town employees for their preparation and hard work during Tropical Storm Debby. There were no major issues during the storm, thanks to the town’s preparation.
