With a slip of the tongue, Whitmire Mayor Tim Carroll misstated how much money sat in Whitmire's commission of public work's bank by a hefty amount.

"We have a beginning balance of $86,000..." read Carroll from the monthly budget update at Monday's town council meeting before catching himself.

But in light of a tough budget year, an $85,000 padding sounded humorous.

"You wish," called out town council member Chrystal Harsha who laughed with Carroll and other council members.

Carroll then stated the correct, more modest number — $86.63 — and the budget report continued.

But while Whitmire isn't cushioned with multiple thousands in it's public works balance, it's not sapped dry either and there's good news for town water customers — no new rate increase is on the horizon.

Having lost its biggest water customer with sock manufacturer Renfro's closing last January, Whitmire raised customer water rates to stay in business.

"We did go up in December on the rates," Carroll said. "The revenue it looks like now coming in is going to be sufficient and I don't see where we'll have to go up anymore."

"Thank the Lord," said council member Annette McCaskill.

In other good news, the "thread building" beside the old armory on SC Highway 121 was empty for at least a decade, so when the OTR Wheel Engineering manufactures came to look at the building, Carroll estimates the sewer lines hadn't been used in 12 years.

"And we were real scared that it would be frozen up and everything else," said Carroll.

But all the system needed was a $1.25 fuse to run fine, Carroll said.

"And the good Lord was looking out for us and Jimmy went down there and started it up," he said.

OTR representatives found the Whitmire building on the Internet, Carroll said.

OTR Wheel Engineering makes and distributes wheel parts for "off the road" equipment for the Newberry Komatsu plant. The company expects to be fully operational in the 16,000-square foot building by the first of March.

"And they're hoping that the economy will pick up and business will expand here," Carroll said.

"We hope so too," McCaskill added.

Unfortunately, the OTR company is outside Whitmire town limits, and the soon-to-be OTR building is owned by someone in New Jersey, Carroll explained.

So the town of Whitmire doesn't profit from rent or tax from the new business.

"We don't get anything out of it," Carroll said.

However, the mayor added OTR hopes the economy picks up and wants business to one day expand in Whitmire.

"All we can do is try to show a lot of hospitality when they come here and treat them right and hopefully they'll like Whitmire and stay," he said, adding he heard the man to run the Whitmire side of OTR will buy a house in Whitmire.

The town is hopeful even though start up for OTR only requires three to five employees.

"Hopefully it'll bring more business to the restaurants, even though it's just a few employees," said council member Cassie Fowler.

"And also," Carroll said, "if one supplier moves in here, maybe another supplier will start looking at this area and move in here."

As far at the still-empty Renfro building, Carroll said companies have been interested, but report the ceilings are too low.

"They've had four or five companies to look at the building and if the ceiling was four feet taller, we would have already had somebody in there," he said.

The 1962 Renfro building has ceilings between 13.08 and 14.25 feet tall, with rear warehouse ceilings at 22.66 feet, according to the state commerce Web site.

Carroll says Renfro's ceiling met standards back in the 1960s when it was built, but standards have changed over time as equipment got taller. Most companies now want ceilings between 20-22 foot high.

Rolling your way

Town employees will be out this week — starting Wednesday, depending on the weather — to deliver new large-size trash carts to citizens. Residents will also get notes and rules for using the carts.

The carts are free, courtesy of a grant the town received last year. But if abused, Carroll said carts must be paid for. Carts cost $90 if someone needs to purchase another.

The 90-gallon carts are double what many have as 45-gallon carts and will pick up Whitmire citizen's trash in half the time.

The bigger carts allow the town to pick up only two days a week. Now, the town picks up trash four days.

The town discussed picking up on Mondays and Thursdays or on Fridays and Saturdays and the new pickup schedule will begin around the first of March.

Whitmire wish list

Council met after Monday's meeting to list projects for funding by the 1 cent sales tax, which Carroll said will be voted on in November.

Among the items on Whitmire’s wish list are:

• Turning the old Whitmire town clinic, last used around 40 years ago, into a suitable place for council meetings and court sessions. Currently, those in a wheelchair cannot reach upstairs in Town Hall where court and council meet.

Carroll said the former Community Center site where council meetings were held last year was handicapped accessible, but using the space conflicted with those who rented the Center for parties.

• Installing a water line sprinkler system at the Whitmire Golf Course.

• Building a skate park for the youth who are limited in where they can skate around town.

Making the cut

It's not that more people are writing bad checks, said Carroll, but to save time and money on water-cut-off efforts, the town does have a "cut off list" that limits who can write checks.

Those who pay overdue water bills with bad checks go on the list and then must pay another way to have their water turned back on.

"Another policy we've talked about is that if you are on the cut off list it's cash, money order, cashier's check, a bank check or money order or bank card," Carroll said. "We won't take a personal check if you're on the cut off list."

Scrapped

The town scrapped an old rule that allowed the mayor to hand write a note saying who could shoot fireworks or shoot firearms within town limits.

The old law also discussed horn, whistle and bell usage.

But Whitmire already has policies that limit noise, nuisance and firearm use, Carroll said, "so we didn't need this ordinance."

Yippie ta-hoe

One of the town's two Chevy Tahoe police vehicles granted from federal funds awaits "striping" decor and police equipment.

The other already has a SLED seal that Whitmire may add to, but not remove, said Police Chief Jeremiah Sinclair.

For the Tahoe that Whitmire has the freedom to decorate, McCaskill wants an American flag on it and asked that the town "make it stand out.”

Decision Day

Bids for the town's raw water pump station and north side sewer lift station close March 2 and March 9, respectively — both days at 2 p.m. The town and an engineering corporation will choose the lowest bids.