A Clinton City Council member on Monday expressed concerns that the city might get stuck with expenses of repairing streets in several subdivisions going up within the City.
Council Member Gary Kuykendall made the observation during the council comments portion of the City Council’s regular monthly meeting. He said he counts 5 developments underway right now, as well as a proposed travel baseball / subdivision complex proposed for former Whitten Center property.
“As these housing developments grow into a final process, how are we measuring the quality of the development, specifically the roads?” he asked. Asphalt is “buckling” in some of these under-construction developments, he said, opening the City potentially to “years in the future of having to do a lot of patchwork.”
City Manager Joey Meadors said, since the City does not an engineer, subdivision developers are required to submit a certified engineer’s report verifying the stability of streets before they can be accepted in the City’s maintenance system. He said the Planning Commission also is coming up with an ordinance change related to streets (agendaed for their Feb. 10 meeting).
Subdivision streets have to meet SC Department of Transportation specs, he said, and the City keeps a money bond on hand for 3 years “in case there are problems.”
“There is a large DOT specs book and the engineer will have one (also) to hold the developers to the specs,” Meadors said. The City Department of Public Works has the responsibility for monitoring compliance.
“That sounds more positive than what I was thinking” it might, Kuykendall said.
Council Member Anita Williams asked Meadors about codes enforcement looking at two houses at the corner of Centennial and Livingston streets.
“They were condemned, now I see for rent signs,” she said. “Was an inspection done? Very little work was done, and now there are signs ‘For Rent’,” she said.
Meadors said one of the house has been inspected and is found to be inhabitable. The second house will be inspected when someone applies for City utilities, he said.
Williams said she still has concerns about the inspections, specifically the windows, and said she would talk more about it with Meadors.
She also asked that the City install a No Trucks - weekends and evenings sign on South Livingston Street, because 18-wheelers are having to back-out of the street when making a delivery at a time when a business there is not open.
“The plant closes at 4 pm and it is dangerous for the trucks to have to back up all the way to Carolina Avenue. Could we install a sign? I mentioned that before your term (as city manager) but nothing was done,” she said.
Meadors said City staff will look at the situation.
Meadors also reported that the Clinton Recreation Center (Hwy 56 past the Clinton Presbyterian Community) is nearing completion with turf installed and, pending the weather, fencing and paving left to do.The asphalt plant has to have several jobs lined up before it can fire up the paving material, he said, when it is a small job. That’s the hold-up on repaving for Elm Street, also, he said.
Williams said the renovations of the Fuller Fire Substation are “really nicely done” — “the Fuller family, the citizens and the firemen are pleased with the station; it is a wonderful job now that it is completed” —and she asked about the main Fire/Police Station on North Broad Street (in the former City Hall).
“Overall, it’s ready to go,” Meadors said of extensive renovations there, “and we will have a ceremony in the near future.”
