Fairfax Town Council to relocate city hall to municipal building

At its August 19 regular meeting, the Fairfax Town Council voted to relocate the town hall, spoke about recent flooding at Fairfax Garden Apartments 1, and discussed budgeting for repairs to the town’s mini mall.

Relocation of Town Hall

The council voted to relocate the Fairfax City Hall from 537 Allendale-Fairfax Highway to the Town of Fairfax Municipal Building, located on the corner of Union Avenue and 4th Street.

In the meeting, Sauls said the relocation was due to the growth of mold in City Hall; in May, The People-Sentinel reported that the Fairfax City Hall’s roof had been repaired after a previous construction job left the building’s roof leaking. Sauls noted that persistent mold can become a health issue for employees working in the building.

“We’ve had mold issues in that building even from the previous administration,” Sauls said. “We’ve tried to get it addressed through two different companies. The mold is so bad … that we just about have to take the whole roof out.”

Sauls said the estimates he has gotten on removing the mold from City Hall were for $22,000 and $56,000. “We’ve ordered air purifiers and that’s still not fixing the problem. We can’t keep putting off and extending the problem.”

The council budgeted the relocation to the municipality “at a cost of no more than $20,000.” Council members noted that air conditioning at the municipal building needs to be fixed; during the meeting, air conditioning was not functioning.

Fairfax Garden Apartments 1 Flooding

Flooding has been a persistent problem at the Fairfax Garden Apartments 1 parking lot, which has a natural depression. 

During the rains that Tropical Storm Debby brought to Fairfax Garden Apartments 1, Allendale County Fire and Rescue began pumping water out of the parking lot as a result of blockage in storm drains. The Fairfax Police Department, as well as several council members, arrived at the scene of the flooding.

At the meeting, Smart praised the response of first responders to the flooding.

“The water has gotten high in Gardens [Apartments], but never that high,” Smart said. “You had snakes fall in the water. … We want to thank everyone who came out to help, that’s what unity looks like.”

Mini mall repairs

The council tabled action on repairing the mini mall located along Allendale-Fairfax Highway. The buildings are leased by the town to small businesses, and have begun leaking, Sauls said.

“We do have leaks in all three spaces,” council member Carl Love said. “We’re gonna have to repair that. We’ve got a couple ideas of how we are going to get the money.”

Sauls said the town received bids for repairing the mini mall when it was repairing the city hall roof. However, at the time, Sauls said, the town couldn’t afford the mini mall's repairs: “that’s why we’re trying to move forward with that now.”

Other items

• Smart said the town has applied for a $180,000 grant through SLED to upgrade cyber security.
• The town’s gazebo, located at the Fairfax Town Park, has been destroyed for construction purposes. Council member Tiffine Forester, who is the head of the town’s beautification committee, said pouring of cement has begun for the construction on a new gazebo.
• Sauls said the town is looking into using funds raised through its penny sales tax to purchase a mini excavator; the town’s public works department has had a shortage of supplies.

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.