By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Effingham Herald
Kevin Exley was sworn in and promptly took his seat on the Rincon City Council at its regular meeting Sept. 25.
Exley won the special election Sept. 19 to finish the two years left on Damon Rahn’s term through 2025. Rahn resigned in June.
Kevin Exley, 53, received 372 votes (70%), while Eric Hills received 157 votes (29.6%).
Exley previously served on the council and also lost to Mayor Ken Lee in 2021 by 17 votes; Hills had served on the city’s Planning and Zoning Board for the past year.
“We have completed Phase 1, and now we’ve got Phase 2 so that we can go in and do the right thing for the city,” he said via phone on Sept. 19 after the vote tally was made official.
“I think we are in a position now to be for the city, the voice of the citizens,” Exley continued. “Term limits – I’m going to put it on the table immediately on the 25th. We’re also going to work on our ordinances.”
Lou Reed was officially sworn in as Rincon’s Fire Chief by Mayor Ken Lee. Reed had been the interim fire chief since December 2021.
There’s a tradition among first responders that the spouse participates in the pinning ceremony.
“The family is an integral part of becoming what you are (as a first responder),” said Reed. “She holds the family together.”
Council deals with vandalism
Two items on the city council agenda dealt with recurring vandalism on city properties – notably park restrooms and the Rincon Golf Course.
The city council approved a bid for $12,100 to Coastal Contracting, LLC, of Rincon, to repair the restrooms at Giles Park. But it wasn’t without some discussion.
“We need to repair. We need to protect, but we need to take some steps to do whatever we can to prevent this from continuing to happen,” said Mayor Lee. “I know we’ve talked about locking them, but that’s not an ideal situation.”
Installation of cameras is being discussed, but the parks are in areas without good wi-fi capabilities.
Councilmember Michelle Taylor asked if the cameras were working there. City Manager Jonathan Lynn said he didn’t have an answer for her.
“Well, then maybe we should put a sign up there that says, ‘If you damage this bathroom, you will be prosecuted,’” said Taylor. “I’m tired. I don’t care if it’s kids or adults. I want them to be prosecuted. I’m tired of it. We constantly redo this, redo this. It’s ridiculous.”
“We have vandalism every night,” said Bryan Bessinger, general manager of the Rincon Golf Course.
“We have to take the flag sticks out every night,” Bessinger said. He added that the flag sticks cost $50 to replace. Other types of vandalism on the course include tire marks where the vandals drive over the fairways and greens and leave tire ruts.
“We got a lot of guests (and) groups that are coming in and so we want to just keep the golf course as good as we can for what we can do until we can really put some money into it.” Bessinger added that most of the vandalism occurs at the holes that are far out where there aren’t any houses.
The council discussed the possibility of adding cameras to the golf course, but again, a good wi-fi signal is the hold up.
Councilmember Patrick Kirkland added, “It looked like from your email (report) that we’re (the golf course is) operating in the black, which is really great. So I have to attribute that to you and how you and your staff have been working to get people in and get members in.
“I heard some great compliments on Sunday about the tournaments you ran on Saturday,” Kirkland continued. “They were very pleased with how the tournament was run and I just wanted to make sure that you were aware you are doing a good job.”
Taylor added that her beautification projects are continuing at the course. The clubhouse has been cleaned up. “We have rented this property out quite a bit,” Taylor added. “It’s very popular,” she added, showing pictures of a graduation party held at the site.
“Go check it out,” Taylor added. “We’re still working on it, but it’s all good.”
