The City of Clinton now has the go-ahead to negotiate with Laurens County and the Department of Social Services on the lease of space in the M.S. Bailey Municipal Center, for offices to replace and expand the DSS presence at 93 Human Services Road, in the Professional Park between Laurens and Clinton.
A $1.5 Million state grant secured through he Laurens County Legislative Delegation is facilitating the move.
“We want to thank the delegation for coming up with the funds,” City Manager Tom Brooks said at last Monday’s Clinton City Council meeting. “This will allow us to remodel the other half of the building to house DSS.”
Mayor Randy Randall said, “This is a really good thing for us to get rent and get people downtown.”
County Administrator Thomas Higgs said at the Nov. 13 County Council meeting, with State Rep. Stewart Jones in attendance, “In last year’s state budget, our delegation worked diligently to secure funding to provide $1.5 Million to renovate a facility in Clinton to house the future growth in DSS. If it weren’t for the tremendous help of our delegation, Mr, Jones is sitting here right now, we wouldn’t be able to have this, so what I need is the council’s approval of the grant so that me and the county attorney can start work with DSS (on design).”
Higgs, Brooks, and DSS officials are expected the sign a MOU (memorandum of understanding) to allow renovations and the project to move forward.
There was no word at the county council meeting on what will become of the current DSS building, which has two large wings. County Council conducted a called meeting Dec. 5 to discuss “county facilities” but there was no agenda packet to list the facilities up for discussion (video of the meeting is not on the county website). DSS currently and DHEC formerly occupy the Human Services Complex in the Professional Park; right now, the DHEC side lobby is used to store DSS’s Christmas for Kids bikes and other items - a sign on the door re-routes people to DHEC’s Catherine Street location.
It’s another move related to state agencies in Laurens County.
On Sept. 8, local DHEC moved into the former County Administration building at 3 Catherine Street in Laurens. The County abandoned that building when it moved administration to the Hillcrest Judicial, Services and Administrative Center, on the Hwy 76 by-pass in Laurens.
Also, related to DSS, The South Carolina Department of Social Services announced Dr. Shabby Neely Aiken as the new Laurens County DSS Director, effective August 17. She began her career in social services in 1985 with the Laurens County DSS office. She also worked with the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and with Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth from Ohio. Dr. Aiken has worked in various capacities as an economic services worker, child protective services worker, adoptions specialist, clinical director, and administrative divisional director. In addition to her role as a social worker, she has served as a social work professor in higher education for more than 20 years in Virginia at Norfolk State University, Arkansas at Arkansas State University, in South Carolina with Winthrop University, South Carolina State University, and Presbyterian College.
She is a published author of various topics of social work training and field experiences for future social workers. Prior to her current role at DSS, she returned to her hometown of Laurens, SC where she served as the Director of the Jacobs Scholars Program at Presbyterian College. Dr. Aiken created this inaugural program to assist foster care and homeless students to achieve a college degree. This program is the first of its kind in South Carolina.
Space in the M.S. Bailey Municipal Center (a former bank) opened this year as the School District 56 offices moved to a former church building near Eastside Elementary School, on the Springdale Drive by-pass.
Part of the Bailey Center space is used by the Police Department, as the city does a complete renovation of the Police-Fire Building (the former city hall) on North Broad Street. Fire headquarters will move to the nearby Community Building, across the street from the rear of Broad Street United Methodist Church.
Brooks said in advance of the school district’s move that he would contact with state agencies and others to market a large amount of office space. The Laurens County Foundation and Habitat for Humanity also are in what the equivalent of Clinton’s “city hall.” The front lawn and lobby were used Nov. 30 for the city’s Christmas Tree-lighting program, which council members hailed as a huge success.
The building’s first floor also houses the Clinton Textile Heritage Museum.
In other business at its Dec. 4 regular monthly meeting, the Clinton City Council saw a presentation to winners of the Clinton Storm Drain Mural contest which attracted more than 90 entries in conjunction with the Clinton High School art department and Palmetto Pride, heard a report on demolition of 27 abandoned houses and trailers this year, approved recommended funding for projects from the Accommodations Tax: $50,000 for the City, $3,650 for Laurens County Trails, and $2,000 for Clinton Canopy, in a tourism-encouragement funding source; authorized a City workforce holidays schedule and gave another 6-month approval to the suspension of restrictions on Sunday sales (known as the “blue laws”) for businesses, if they choose to open; approved the delivery of electrical breakers at the Gary Street substation replacing breakers that are old; and, following a closed session, agreed to a settlement document related to on-going legal actions of the electric city-members of the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (which also includes Laurens CPW, Newberry, and Union).
