BPW benefits City of Bamberg

Nancy C. Hiers, Contributing Writer

The Bamberg Board of Public Works has donated $192,200 in cash and in kind services to the City of Bamberg this calendar year so far according to BPW Manager Bruce Ellis. Ellis explained in the September 28th BPW meeting that this amount includes cash and other valuable services, such as building demolition and billing services.

This is in addition to their regular duties providing water, sewer, gas, and electric service to customers in a reliable manner and at some of the lowest prices available.

Banking services for the BPW were discussed with a proposal to move from the current bank used by the BPW to another local bank that would potentially save $4,000 per year in costs to the BPW.

The decision to share costs with the Bamberg Schools and the City of Bamberg in the resurfacing of the Robert E. Foster Tennis Courts was also discussed with an agreement reached to pay one third of the $20,000 cost.

New OSHA regulations for BPW workers including fire retardant clothing requirements were discussed and an example of the required clothing was demonstrated by a BPW employee present at the meeting.

New certifications for employees that would require attending classes were also discussed.

BPW Commissioners and Manager entered and Executive session to discuss negotiation regarding a contractual agreement. After announcements and questions from the audience, the meeting was adjourned.

Doc is my hero…

Joyce M. Searson, Publisher

It seemed just like any other normal workday as usual for Paul Clayton on September 15. Clayton, who lives in the Colston Community, owns and operates Busy Bee Farms Crop Pollination. He was working in a watermelon field that day near Denmark, when he noticed two men walking towards him, one pointing some type of automatic weapon at him.

Both had on masks and one yelled, “Get your hands up, give me your wallet and get on the ground!”

Clayton said at that point, his knees hit the ground and his dog, Doc, came from under his truck barking and that is when one of the men shot his dog.

“I feel sure they meant to kill me, but when Doc came out barking, they shot him instead and because no shell casing could be found, it is possible the gun jammed after that. Doc is my hero… a wonder dog.”

Doc is an Australian Cattle dog that has been with Clayton since he was a puppy and he feels if had it not been but for the ‘Grace of God’ and Doc, he probably would not be here today.

Both Clayton and Doc are fine and he thanks everyone for all the help, support and their concern.

SRS Matches

Jerry E. Halmon, Staff Writer

A team of customer service representatives from the Savannah River Nuclear Solutions and the Orangeburg One Stop came to Bamberg last Wednesday in an effort to match people with jobs.

“We’re trying to present opportunities to rural communities and economically depressed areas in South Carolina and Georgia,” Jeff Baumgartner, Communication Specialist for the Savannah River Site (SRS) said. “We brought our customer service representatives to help people build resumes, access jobs on the internet and apply on-line, working with the local One Stop, which is part of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)”.

Baumgartner said the (WIA) program was started at the (SRS) site with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). He stated to date because of the stimulus funds 2,052 jobs have been provided at SRS.