By Betsy Finklea
The city parks in Dillon were a topic at recent meetings of the Dillon City Council. There are four city parks in Dillon – Elizabeth Lane, Eighth Avenue, Maple, and West Calhoun.
The following is taken from the Dillon City Council minutes regarding the discussion at the May meeting:
“The Mayor, Todd Davis, asked what we were going to do about the city parks. He said we may need to cut down on the number of parks if the cost is too high to upgrade them. He said the Elizabeth Lane Park was hardly ever used and it had a big ditch that ran beside it. Councilman Johnny Eller added that the park was used but just needed some equipment upgrades.”
“The City Manager, Glen Wagner, began his report by continuing with the discussion o the city parks. He said we could try to do some things in house. Wagner said he and Councilwoman Connie Manning had looked at some equipment. He said we were looking to apply for a PARD grant in which we may spend $30,000 and get back $25,000. Councilman Eller asked if we could use 2% Hospitality Tax funds to do the park upgrades like we did for the golf course. Wagner said that we had to show it as tourism related in order to use the hospitality tax funds. Councilman Eller asked when the $143,000 for the Wellness Center would be taken from the 2% Hospitality Tax account. Janet Bethea, Finance Director, said it would be taken out before June 30th plus another $105,000 from the previous year. Councilman Eller commented that that would be almost $250,000 taken out for the Wellness Center. He said the Wellness Center needs to be managed better.”
At the June meeting, the parks were brought up again. Mayor Davis said they need to decide where they are going to go moving forward. He said they were studying closing Elizabeth Lane Park.
Councilman Eller said over the last two years the Wellness Center ran a deficit of $228,000. He said they would have had a surplus from the Hospitality Tax, but $80,000 or more was used to sustain the golf course.
Wagner said he and Street Department Head, Burt Rogers, met with a playground inspector, and it was not as bad as they thought. He said most of the equipment was not in bad shape. The oldest equipment is at Elizabeth Lane. He said overall the parks were in “pretty good shape.” Safety surfaces are needed around the equipment. They have applied for PARD money. It will be further discussed at the July meeting.
At the end of the June meeting, Councilman Phil Wallace said they had a $5.1 million investment at the Wellness Center, and they would spend what they needed to spend to keep it open. He said the hot meals tax can’t be used anywhere else. He said it was not costing the citizens of Dillon one penny.
Wallace also commented on the golf course. He said one recent Sunday afternoon there were about 40-50 cars in the parking lot, kids in the pool, and people playing golf, some of who he had not seen before.
Wallace said they may need to make it more efficient, but it gives “great quality of life.”