Dear Editor,

As everyone who pays the least attention to the local news knows, both the town of Varnville and Hampton and also Hampton County are experiencing hard financial times. The county is presently passing fees on to the towns, who cannot afford them. Ultimately we, the taxpayers, will have to should these burdens through higher taxes and fees.

We need out leaders to explore new ways to raise revenue rather than continuously raising water bills and fees and taxes. Obviously, one of the best solutions would be to attract business to our area that would not only expand our tax base but also provide badly needed jobs. But let's take a look at our record on that front over the past few years.

Once upon a time we had a very nice golf course here, which included on its ground a pool and a nice clubhouse. It could have become a public course, even a county recreational facility like Orangeburg operates. If you look at how Penny Branch has developed into a good attraction in the Furman area-it shows what can be done. I would bet that a look at their registration book would show people coming from easily a 100 radius to play the course there. And there is not a restaurant or motel within 20 miles of the club house! But, rather than develop our course, we allowed it to be plowed under. The club house torn down and the pool filled in. As far as I know, it is now a vacant field useful to no one. I do not know how many people are employed at Penny Branch-I would imagine at least 20 or 25. And we could have had just that many jobs here at the Hampton Course and a good source revenue.

I hate to even dredge up this next disaster: it raises too many bad feelings. Let me just briefly mention us allowing a major development like Wal-Mart to slip through our fingers. Each time I drive to Walterboro and see the Wal-Mart parking lot it makes me think of what could have been. And all the businesses that follow Wal-Mart have rapidly developed in their parking along the highway and it continues to grow. Just think for a moment the impact of all those jobs and taxes would have had on our community.

Recently a man who owns a recycling business in Monks Corner tried to open a site here on the land where the incinerator once stood. This land is already zoned commercial and I was told he did not ask for any tax concessions of any kind. He requested that Town Council members come to Monks Corner to see how he operated his business. I believe he said it was fenced in and materials were not allowed to accumulate-it was shipped out as soon as a load was full. If anyone went to Monks Corner, I never heard about it and the man was refused a business license because "We don't want that type of business in our town." I see many loads pulled through Varnville and Hampton going to the recycling center in Allendale. Not only did we lose jobs and the taxes this plant would have created but our restaurants and businesses have lost the possible gain in business all the drivers might have brought to us.

The town of Hampton is presently the only town I know of that refuses to allow peddlers to sell items along side the road. In Yemassee a peddler is required to buy an annual business license. Walterboro, Beaufort, Summerville and every other town that I am aware of, sells a three day permit for anywhere from $40 to $65. The reason I have been given in Hampton is that a peddler is an "outsider" who hurts local businessmen then takes his money back out of town. My experience with peddlers is the exact opposite. It can be the elephant ear man, a jewelry salesman, ice cream-it does not matter. When I had my store in Varnville, anything which attracted cars to my parking lot was nothing but a benefit for me. While the kids ordered and ate, moms cam in the store to browse around. This reluctance to allow "outsiders" to skim our money, hurt our businessmen, and leave town does not seem to apply when the Watermelon Festival is here. Then it seems the "outsiders" are given prime spots and local businessmen are given second choice. I do not know why but I have heard this from two local business owners.

It appears we are trying our best to follow the Allendale model for business development. We have buildings on main streets in both Hampton and Varnville, which are not habitable. We have many empty buildings throughout both towns. Ulmer Feed and Seed-Dale was once named the hardest working man in Hampton County-struggles in a barely suitable location and can get no assistance. His is a long-term, viable, local business and exactly the type of business our town and county ought to do whatever possible to assist.

A man who has spent years in economic development told me he had never in all his years of experience found any other place as hard to get anything positive accomplished as right here in Hampton County. We have to change our mindset and become a welcoming place for business people whether they be locals or "out of towners." We have already evolved down to a point low enough that graduates from WHHS who attend college of tech school or join the military never return to this area. There is simply nothing here for them. I hope it is not too late to turn it around, but we sure need to get off our rears and start moving in a better direction.

Bill Fleetwood