By: Jeremy Handel, Staff Writer
jeremy@thewoodrufftimes.com
The Woodruff City Council approved the first reading on an item to amend the city’s budget to account for the addition of three new employees in a building department. They also approved the first reading on an item to adopt a wastewater pretreatment program for any new industrial building coming to the city.
The new building department is being added to bring the city’s building inspection operations back in-house. The move required revising the current fiscal year budget to account for the new employees. The budget has been revised to reflect the addition of a $4 million grant the City received. The grant was for constructing a sewer line on Highway 101 for new development in the area.
City Manager Lee Bailey told the Council that with all of the new development coming to the area, bringing the inspections in-house made more sense financially. The City previously had in-house inspections, but they were outsourced years ago when activity didn’t justify the cost. When the outside vendor’s contract ends, the new employees will start in March and begin inspection operations on April 1.
The Council also approved a measure to implement a wastewater pretreatment ordinance that will require new industrial businesses to pretreat wastewater coming from their operations before discharging it to the sewer system. Bailey said the city previously had such an ordinance when the mills were operating in the city. With new industrial projects being built, it is time to reinstate that ordinance and make it meet current standards.
The Woodruff Police Department will also update several policies approved by the Council. Chief Greg Ryan told the Council that the department’s regular audit of policies and new standards issued by the state made the changes necessary. The department updated 22 different policies to meet the standards, including policies regarding search and seizure, termination of employees, media relations, records management, and more.
In other action, the Council approved the second reading of rezoning a .59-acre parcel at 161 W. Griffith St. from R-2A to R-2 to allow for smaller setbacks for constructing additional homes on the site. They also approved the second reading of an ordinance to allow for the automatic adoption of any changes made to the International Building Code by the state.
In new business, the Council:
●Approved a resolution to finance new vehicles for the building department through Truist Bank. The financing will be for three vehicles at the cost of $85,000.
●Approved the acceptance of a petition for annexation for 36.38 acres at 5590 Highway 101.
●Approved the first reading of an ordinance to adopt the property at 5590 Highway 101.
●Approved the first reading to zone the property at Highway 101 to I-2 heavy industrial for the proposed development of industrial flex space.
●Approved the first reading of an ordinance to rezone 97.18 acres at Fountain Inn Road and Old Orchard Road from interim R-3 to permanent. The interim zoning was provided when the property was annexed, and the building decided they wanted to continue with the R-3 zoning to construct a multi-family development.
In department updates, Bailey told the Council that work on the BMW site has started with clearing trees and preparing the site for construction. He said the company expects grading to begin in mid-May and expects to have approximately 500 workers on site regularly during the project.
City Council meetings take place on the last Tuesday of every month at City Hall. The meetings are open to the public and the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, March 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Author: Tracy Sanders
