Batesburg-Leesville, SC (Paul Kirby) – Officials with the Batesburg-Leesville’s Poultry Festival announced that they had made the difficult decision to cancel the popular festival this year. It was scheduled for the weekend of May 7th thru 9th. Although this is more than a month away, the steering committee felt there was too much uncertainty about the status of the COVID-19 coronavirus to take any chances. The 2021 Poultry Festival will be held on the weekend of May 6th thru 8th.
Another popular event, the annual Easter Egg Hunt, has been cancelled as well. Additionally, the Great American Clean Up Event that was to be held on Saturday, April 18th, has been postponed until the coronavirus situation has stabilized. At that point, a new date for the event will be scheduled and publicized.
Town Manager Ted Luckadoo recently said in a release to the media, “This is a difficult time that is leading to difficult decisions about how we lower the risk of coronavirus transmission. While we strive to provide convenient service, we also have a duty and obligation to ensure we don’t place people in positions where risk is increased. These measures are being made to ensure our staff is presented with less risk so they can continue to serve our citizens and to ensure we are not putting citizens at increased risk. We ask everyone to be patient with us as we evaluate the best ways to provide service during this unusual time we are faced with.”
In response to recommendations by the CDC and DHEC, the Town is modifying its operations to reduce and minimize human-to-human contact in public spaces and facilities. Those modifications include:
Town-owned rental facilities are all closed through March 31 or until such time that the COVID-19 coronavirus situation has stabilized. Anyone who had already reserved one of these rental facilities can either receive a full refund or reschedule their rentals once these have reopened. This includes the cafeteria and Haynes Auditorium at Leesville’s College Park and the Train Depot at the Wilson Street Park.
All outdoor portions of Wilson Street Park and Leesville College Park will remain open for public leisure use; however, we discourage use of the parks until such time as the coronavirus situation has stabilized. Remember that gatherings of ten or more people at any time during this pandemic are strongly discouraged.
To ensure the safety of Town employees, customers, and the public during this State of Emergency, multiple Town facilities will remain closed to the public until the situation has stabilized, been modified, amended, extended, or rescinded. They include:
The lobby of Town Hall will be closed to the public indefinitely. This will help minimize exposure risks to the Town’s staff and any utility customers wanting to pay their monthly bill. The Town Hall staff will continue to work and can be reached by telephone at 803-532-4601 or by email at townhall@batesburg-leesville.org.
Both Batesburg-Leesville Fire Stations are closed to the public.
The Batesburg-Leesville Police Department will continue to accept walk-in traffic in the main lobby area. Unauthorized personnel will not be allowed past that point into any other portion of the facility.
Municipal Court has been suspended until further notice. Anyone who had a scheduled court date will be notified when it will be rescheduled.
Utility Bill Payment
At the request of Governor Henry McMaster, the Town will not disconnect water customers who are behind in their bill so far that they have reached the point of being disconnected. This does not mean that those customers will not have to make payments to satisfy their balance.
The Town encourages customers to pay their current payments as normal to prevent increasing balances owed. Once the governor has lifted his request, customers will have to satisfy balances to avoid being disconnected. The following methods can be used to pay utility bills:
Payments can be placed in the dropbox in the parking lot outside the Town Hall by check, money order, or cash. If paying with cash, please have exact change or any overages will be applied to your account.
Pay online at www.batesburg-leesville.org by clicking the “Pay Your Water Bill Now” tab on the homepage. Have your account number handy and know the phone number associated with account to pay this way.
You can also pay by telephone at (844) 267-9325. Again, have your account number in hand and know the phone number associated with your account.
The Town of Batesburg-Leesville’s staff is still working during this time unless they fall ill. Someone will be available should you have any additional questions concerning other Town operations. Call the Town Hall during normal business hours at (803) 532- 4601.
