By Betsy Finklea
The vacant Main Street lots, also referred to as the Dilmar property which was donated to the city, were a topic at the Dillon City Council’s October meeting.
Mayor Todd Davis said the fence looks good, and the rye grass is coming up. Davis said they need to come up with ideas of what to do with the property. Davis said one idea is maybe in the spring or summer to have some type of market there. Davis said someone suggested putting a splash pad there, but he didn’t think that this was the appropriate place. Davis said he would like to put a question in the newspaper seeking outstanding ideas of what the city can creatively do with the property and make it useful while they have it.
City Manager Glen Wagner said that they were going to put a “for sale” sign on the property which is approximately 170’ x 150’, and they needed to come up with a price. Councilman Phil Wallace said he would like to recoup some of the $110,000 the city spent on demolition.
Councilman John Braddy said he would like RFPs (Requests For Proposal) to be a part of the process so they could have some control over it. He said what the proposal was for the property may determine the price. Braddy said he thought they should say the property is available.
Wagner said a dollar figure ties their hands. Street Superintendent Burt Rogers said if they put up a “for sale” sign then people were going to want to know what they want for it.
Revitalization Coordinator Maggie Riales said the sign will not say “for sale.” It will say: “This space isn’t empty. It’s full of opportunity.” It will also include a phone number. This came from the marketing study that the city had done some time ago.
The demolition of the buildings has been a subject of debate. At the council’s March 12th meeting, a local developer made a plea to save the buildings, but it seemed to fall on deaf ears. On March 13th, the city began demolition of the buildings, but this was halted by DHEC shortly  thereafter because it was determined that the building contained asbestos and the city had failed to get a permit from DHEC. The city hired Applied Abatement Demolition to complete the demolition as a cost of $108,000. Recently, a fence was erected and rye grass was planted at an approximate cost of $2,000.