The Clinton City Council officially approved two future city events and voted to apply for two different grants Tuesday evening.
The council first decided on the dates for the 2027 Spring and Fall Clean-up weeks. Next year’s Spring event will take place April 12-16; the Fall Clean-up Week in 2027 will occur Oct. 18-22.
Councilman Neal Strickland made the motion, which was seconded by Councilman Holden DuBose and approved unanimously.
“Basically, if you can get it to the street, we’ll haul it away,” Mayor Lew Starling clarified about the two weeks of clean-up.
Starling remarked that it’s a good opportunity for spring and fall cleaning.
“If we don’t do that, then stuff will wind up in the ditches, the streams, and the woods, so we suspend our rules and let people bring about anything to the street that they want to … we’ll haul hundreds and hundreds of pounds of stuff that wouldn’t normally be taken to the landfill,” the mayor remarked.
The mayor reiterated, “We have hauled thousands of pounds away during those periods.”
Tyler Wise, Main Street manager for Planning and Development, then came before the council seeking permission for road closures downtown Saturday, Oct. 31, for the city’s now annual Halloween on the Square event.
A motion was made by DuBose, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Marcus Becton and approved unanimously.
“That’s always a big event,” Starling commented. “We encourage people to come to planned events for Halloween for safety. We have our police and fire departments down there for safety, and we encourage people to do that rather than the door-to-door trick-or-treating.”
The mayor noted that while door-to-door trick-or-treating is legal and allowed, organized events downtown “seem to work a little better” for safety concerns.
Starling encouraged everyone to come out for the Halloween gathering, which will last from 2-9 p.m.
Grants
The City Council voted to apply for a grant to assist with the Wastewater Collection System Rehabilitation and Replacement Project. DuBose made the motion, which was seconded by Strickland and approved unanimously.
“The state’s telling us that it’s up to $1 million; but again, we don’t know how much we’re going to apply for yet,” Clinton City Manager James Duncan specified.
The wastewater project began in 2020. The project has multiple objectives, including testing for and replacing any water or sewer lines containing copper or lead.
“After the COVID crisis,” Starling explained, “this is one of the requirements of things that (cities) have to do for their (water) system.”
The council also voted to apply for a grant toward the restoration of the Sampson Community Theatre’s roof. The roof damage is due to years of natural wear and tear, Duncan noted.
Strickland made the motion to apply for the grant, which was seconded by Becton and approved unanimously.
Duncan said work will begin “as soon as the state allows us to start. … I’m hoping they’ll give us a go-ahead somewhere in the next couple of weeks, but the answer’s not up to us.”
Baker Roofing has been contracted to restore the theater’s roof. Duncan pointed out that everything has been put in place.
“It’s just a matter of getting (the state) to tell us we have the funding, then we’ll tell the contractor to go ahead and order all of the materials,” the city manager surmised. “These grant projects basically come as a trickle.”
With the multiple grants now approved, Duncan said he hopes the ball can get rolling on the city projects.