ELLOREE – An empty chair stood in silent memory of the late District 2 Elloree Town Councilman Barry Pauling at the council’s August meeting. Pauling died in June.

Town Clerk Chasity Canaday announced a special election to fill the remainder of Pauling’s term will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 7 at Elloree Town Hall.

Canaday said there are no candidate filing requirements for the write-in election. Orangeburg County Voter Services will assist with running the election, which will use machines again instead of paper ballots, she said.

In other business, the council voted, on the recommendation of Town Administrator John Singh, to approve an easement request from Ralph Crim, whose property is adjacent to Joe Miller Park in Elloree.

The 33-foot easement is non-exclusive and provides access to Crim’s property, along with two other properties.

Also during the meeting, Singh reported that the town’s new electronic sign, which is located in front of the Elloree Community Building, is fully operational and can be easily updated with news and events of the town. The former sign was destroyed when it was struck by a motorist on Hwy. 6.

Elloree Water System General Manager Larry McDowell reported the water system completed 43 work orders and billed 641 customers in July, including 353 customers on behalf of the town for household garbage service.

McDowell noted that in line with state Department of Health and Environmental Control requirements, the water system will be testing fire hydrants and flushing them during the next month.

The next meeting of the Water Commission will be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 12 at the Elloree Water System building.

Also during the meeting, Police Chief Preston Avinger reported there were 26 requests for service, 65 traffic stops, 49 uniform traffic tickets and nine arrests during the month of July.

Avinger also announced the Elloree Police Department has joined the Lt. Governor’s Task Force on Senior Fraud and will be holding a Senior Forum with representatives from the Lt. Governor’s Office on Aging.

In addition, he said the police department has become a member of Operation Intercept, which is organized by the U.S. Marshals Service. Avinger, Investigator Lin Shirer and Officer Shawn Murphree will be deputized by the U.S. Marshals Service, and their swearing in ceremony will be held in Columbia on Aug. 18.

T&D Correspondent Danielle Sanders can be reached by e-mail at crazyd_308@hotmail.com.

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