By Betsy Finklea
Mayor Pro-Tem Phil Wallace gave an update on COVID-19, Perdue, during the mayor pro-tem’s report at the Dillon City Council meeting on Monday night.
Wallace said that the COVID-19 vaccine is now available in South Carolina for people ages 65 and older. He said this is a move in the right direction. He said he didn’t know why South Carolina was so far behind North Carolina because they have been doing it for about a month.
Wallace said the number of cases is down. He said there had been a number of deaths in Dillon County.
He said there are a number of people vaccinating, If one has COVID, he said one should wait about three months to get vaccinated because they have the antibodies.
Wallace said he got a call from Randy Brown at Perdue who has moved up to a regional person. Brown has been at Perdue as the chief person in Dillon for about 12 years. He said he is a “great guy who is always answering the call” when they ask for things. Someone will take over his position in Dillon. Wallace said Perdue is closing the grain bin in Hamer. He said only about four or five people work there. He said this is by no means a show of a sign of weakness by Perdue. He said Perdue was only buying about three percent of their grain from their own people. He said it became not very profitable. Wallace said Perdue is using about 1.9 million gallons of sewer a day. Wallace mentioned to Brown the city’s long-term sewage treatment plans.
Wallace said that he noticed the drug arrests in the newspaper, and he thought that was “awesome.” He said he didn’t know what the city’s part is, whether it is the county or city. He said he thought the people in Dillon know there are drugs out there; they know these people; and they are frustrated when they don’t see arrests. “I hope we’re helping in that,” Wallace said. “They need to see arrests. It’s on the front page.” He said we need to do what we can.
Wallace said he talked with County Administrator Clay Young about Wyman-Gordon. He said they have had a tremendous capital investment at their location.
The golf course is doing well, Wallace said. It is making more money. They had a tremendous show at their golf tournament over the weekend. He said Robert Johnson announced that he was going to give the golf course to the city in some fashion. “That’s tremendous,” said Wallace. He said it will allow the city to be able to apply for grants and will save the city about $3,000 a month on lease payments. He said he knew City Manager Glen Wagner was going to propose a property purchase on the other side of the river and would make it so they had both sides of the river and possibly make it possible to put a path from the Wellness Center to the golf course. He said there were many good things happening at a time it could be worse. He then concluded his report.