Serving Barnwell County and it's neighbors since 1852
A packed crowd filled the Allendale municipal building on July 9, when the Allendale Town Council introduced its new town administrator and discussed multiple other topics of public importance.
Falling crime rates
During council Allendale Police Chief Lawrence Wiggins announced that the town’s crime rate has fallen by 50%. Wiggins and the council said they are working towards building out security cameras throughout the Town of Allendale.
Wiggins noted that recent events, such as the April 27 shootings and a recent shooting at Oakland Apartments, may give the perception that crime is rising. However, Wiggins said, crime has fallen since 2022, a particularly violent year for the community.
“Our violent crime is down over 50% in the first seven months of the year compared to last year,” Wiggins said. “All in all, I believe crime is trending in the right direction in this community. You'll never completely get rid of crime, but you can mitigate it.”
New town administrator
The council also introduced the community to the town’s new administrator, Kathryn Harrison, who started in the role on July 8.
“We brought her here to handle the day-to-day operations, and we as council cannot involve ourselves in the day-to-day operations,” mayor pro tem Pookie Smith said. “So let’s give her a chance, and we’ve got to support her in doing her job.”
The Town of Allendale has been searching for a town administrator for nearly one year, and underwent an extensive hiring search to fill the position.
“The people sitting in this room have such a high respect for the citizens of this community because I was put through the wringer; months of telephone calls, interviews, conversations, tough questions,” Harrison said. “I have an open door policy, so if anyone wants to discuss anything further, please come see me.”
For more about Harrison and her appointment to the town administrator position, read our Q&A with her.
Vegetation growth at sewer plant
Since February, the Town of Allendale’s public works department has been dealing with a tide of vegetation growth in the two lagoons at the town’s sewer treatment plant. Approximately 50-80% of the lagoons were covered with vegetation, and the town worked with water system servicing company Water Systems Inc., to address the issue. The vegetation growth has been attributed to higher winter temperatures; global climate change made last winter the hottest in human history.
Hattie Jackson, chair of the Town of Allendale’s water and sewer committee, said the town is considering training public works employees on aquatic treatment.
“There’s nothing wrong with contracting work, but we want to be able to equip them to be able to do this work, that way we can stay on top of things,” said Hattie Jackson, chair of the water and sewer committee. “We don't want to continually see ourselves get in a place where that overgrowth is continually occurring.”
Elijah de Castro is a Report for America corps member who writes about rural communities like Allendale and Barnwell counties for The People-Sentinel. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep Elijah writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today.
