Central leaders reflect on state of town, community

CENTRAL — Community, civic, education and political leaders gathered this week to hear assessments regarding the town of Central.

The Clemson Area Chamber of Commerce and the Central Area Business Council sponsored the first Central State of the Community meeting Thursday at Southern Wesleyan University. A total of about 100 including representatives from the town of Central, the School District of Pickens County, Southern Wesleyan, the chamber and the business council were in attendance.

Mac Martin, newly re-elected mayor of Central, spoke about the assets of the town.

“Central’s people have a strong sense of community and volunteerism, and we are grateful for that,” he said.

Soon after his first term in office began in 2005, Martin said he realized that the town had serious problems.

“Central had not increased the millage rate in sometime. This prevented the town from acquiring much- needed matching revenue funds from the state,” he said.

“Also, the sewer and water lines were 50 years old and in need of replacement. We had to find new ways to do this work, because we were out of money,” he said, holding up broken pieces of sewer line. “By working together in conjunction with our local, state and county leaders, we are now proud to say we are on the right track. Phase II of the sewer line is complete, and the north (sewer) line project is set to begin soon.”

Jim Shelton, chairman of the Pickens County school board, said Pickens County would soon have seven new schools. Plans call for some of the campuses to start serving students in 2011 and others to open in 2012.

“We have outgrown our capacity to house students,” he said. “The district was educating some of our students in 21 portables that accounted for 15,000 square feet of classroom. That meant that one out of every nine students in the district was taking classes in a portable.

“By building these new schools and renovating others, we can assure that not only (D.W.) Daniel High School and Central Elementary will have needed space, but all of the district’s schools.”

David Spittal, president of Southern Wesleyan, said the university was continuing its growth and had recently completed the purchase of 350 acres in the south campus that would be used for the school’s future.

Spittal told those gathered that the school feels that it is a part of the Central community.

“When we call the fire department or police, our friends and neighbors respond. They are the ones driving the fire trucks and police cars,” he said.

Of the $14.5 million payroll paid to university employees, $7.5 million was spent in the town of Central, Spittal said.

“I think that reflects our employee’s commitment to this community,” he said.