The Town of Hampton voted to purchase the L & L Trailer Park lot on Holly Street Extension for $16,925.58 during a town hall meeting Nov. 15. The town will also pay to clear the lot before solar company Sothern Solar leases the lot for a period of 10 years.
The town was able to purchase the dilapidated lot through the Forfeited Land Commission. Council member Pete Hagood motioned to accept the motion. The motion passed unanimously to purchase the lot. The motion to lease the land to Sothern Solar also passed with a unanimous vote.
A portion of the electricity produced by the solar farm will be sold to the Lowcountry Regional Water System’s treatment plant. No information was given as to how much money the town will lease the property to Southern Solar for.
Company2
Quincy Jones of Company2, in Varnville, approached town council seeking support regarding his bid to gain access to the Hampton County Airport for the testing of his airport firefighting trucks. Jones was recently asked by the Hampton County Airport Commission to cease his usage of the airport runway adjacent to his business.
Jones told council he recently lost a $4.1 million dollar contract to supply his trucks. He and several of his employees attended the meeting. One employee stated “I like my job here and I want it to continue.”
“They are contributing something and the airport is contributing nothing,” said Councilman Pete Mixson. “I think we should support them [Company2].”
“It’s not a safe landing place,” said council member Anna Sue Rivers. “It scares me just to ride out there she said.” She went on to describe what she believed to be unsafe runway conditions due to debris at the Hampton County Airport.
HPD officer resigns
Town of Hampton Police Chief Perry McAlhaney offered kind words of support on behalf of HPD officer Rhett Long. Long will be leaving Hampton to begin employment at the Savannah River Site in the coming weeks.
“That man is worth his weight in gold,” said Hagood. Long is one of the top two traffic enforcement officers at HPD. Long’s resignation was accepted by a unanimous vote.
In other Hampton Town Council news:
- Town council voted unanimously to purchase a $295 advertisement in the upcoming Hampton County Chamber of Commerce map.