As always, The Town Council of Blacksburg encourages everyone that wishes to do so, attend the Town Council Meetings at 7:00PM on the second Tuesday of each month, or watch available livestreams. This month’s meeting was moved to the Monday preceding the second Tuesday this time, due to other scheduling demands.

The Council was introduced to the Town Attorney who said a few words about how excited he is to work with our town. The Attorney practices with Spencer and Spencer Law based in Rock Hill, SC. They have been representing municipalities for nearly 100 years.

The Town of Blacksburg, SC now has a comprehensive infrastructure assessment map that designates water lines, roads, sewer lines, eyesores, etc. This tool will allow our Town Administrator and others to make repairs and updates to our aging town infrastructure and aesthetic.

Community member, Thomas Dover presented a Town Safety Concern regarding the difficulty night-shift police officers face in completing bookings. Due to recent staffing issues, there is often too few officers working at night to undertake the full hour long process of booking arrestees at the County Jail for small offenses. They can’t risk being unavailable if a more serious call comes through while they are tied up with a smaller trespassing/vagrancy booking. Our officers have done a great job with what resources they have available to them regardless. Council Member, Darren Janesky pointed out their recent successes in intercepting narcotics shipments and bagging a large drug trafficker using a License Check process. I know that all of Blacksburg is very grateful for their tireless work in apprehending these pushers and keeping their illicit products from circulating through our town, but the customers of that market need to be dealt with too.

The Council was very enthusiastic about finding a solution. Among the suggestions presented were a plan to operate temporary holding cells in Blacksburg, open a secondary jail closer to us than the current one, and/or utilize County Police resources to transport the vagrants into holding for us so that Blacksburg Police can be left free to continue doing their much-needed work in Blacksburg. Mayor Mike Patterson said that he would call County Sheriff Mueller to discuss the county transportation idea.

The Lime Street Park process is progressing faster and faster. Construction is scheduled to begin on July 26th under the supervision of Sossamon Construction, and it is scheduled to conclude around December 23rd. I believe they said that it would be open to the public no later than March of 2022, and there may be cameras on the grounds for the purpose of deterring property crimes such as vagrancy and vandalism.

The Iron City Community Garden is coming back. The charitable volunteer gardening program is being revived by the younger sister of the original founder. The garden’s young administrator asks for any and all support that Blacksburg can spare, including volunteers. The produce plucked from the garden will be donated to Iron City Ministries Food programs for the needy and food-insecure in the Blacksburg area.

Blacksburg area civic clubs have asked for decorative sign medallions to be affixed to the larger town signs. These clubs include The Blacksburg Rotary Club, Scout Troops, etc. Councilwoman Christy Gibson is presiding over the process of getting them up.

There was discussion about how to solve the Lime Street Trailer Park issue. The park is out of code and operating without a business license. It is also an eyesore, and fits the definition of inadequate housing for citizens of Blacksburg, SC, who as Councilman Janesky stated, “deserve better”.

There was talk of policy change in the payment of BPW water bills, the cost of Juvenile Justice programs, SCDOT permits approved for the Peach Festival Parade, DHEC processes regarding the Bioremediation program at BPW, Annexation and Downtown Revitalization, etc.

Thank you for reading. If you’re interested in the conversations and decisions that occur at Blacksburg’s Council Meetings, please feel welcome to attend them at the Blacksburg Museum building on N. Shelby Street at 7:00PM on the second Tuesday of the month.