RIDGEWAY – Business license rates will be increasing by 50 percent for out of town owners of in-town Ridgeway businesses, according to a newly revised business license ordinance that was adopted by the Ridgeway Town Council last week.
Applicants for business licenses will now be required to submit copies of portions of their state and federal income tax returns reflecting gross receipts and gross revenue figures. Cookendorfer said these tax copies will be used for calculating the amount of the license fee and are not saved with the license file. They will be shredded, he explained.
Mayor Heath Cookendorfer said the revised Ordinance 2-092023 is in line with the Business License Standardization Act (2020 Act No. 176}. According to Cookendorfer, the Town worked with the S.C. Municipal Association to create the revised ordinance.
After a public hearing Thursday night, the Ridgeway Town Council passed an amendment to Ordinance 5-1006 (Observance of Truck Routes) that imposes a fine of $232.50 on anyone driving an 18-wheeler on certain streets in violation of the ordinance. The ordinance specifies certain side roads like Dogwood Avenue and Third Street that are not open to 18-wheelers. According to Cookendorfer, an ordinance that made it unlawful has been in place for several years – with signs marking those streets – but the ordinance did not provide for fines. The newly amended ordinance does provide for fines.
In other business, council voted unanimously to appoint Judge Adrian Wilkes as the new magistrate for the Town of Ridgeway Traffic Court. According to Wilke’s submitted resume, he previously worked as a municipal judge for the Town of Ridgeway from February through August of 2018. He then became the municipal judge for the Town of Great Falls, S.C. He will continue to work for both Great Falls and Ridgeway. Wilkes will hold court at the Ridgeway Town Hall at 5:30 p.m., on the second Tuesday of every month beginning in May. The Town Hall is located at 170 South Dogwood Avenue.
According to Councilman Rick Johnson, who is in charge of the Town’s police department, the new department is “really working.”
“We’ve seen a noticeable change in the traffic slowing down in the school zone,” he said. Ridgeway Police Chief R.W. Skrabak said that, “98% of the tickets issued were speeding tickets.” There were 47 tickets issued in January 2023, 36 in February 2023 and 53 in March of 2023 in the town. Skrabak’s office number is 803-337-4149, and there is an answering machine if he is not immediately available, the email address is ridgewaypd1@truvista.net.
The Department is located behind the Olde Town Hall Restaurant facing the Cotton Yard.
Council also passed a resolution adopting the All-Natural Hazards Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan for the Central Midlands Region of South Carolina. This Hazard Mitigation Plan is designed to be a general emergency management and planning document to aid decision makers and the general public on several issues including devising an action plan for prioritizing, implementing, and administering recommended mitigation actions and projects.
The next regularly scheduled Town Council meeting is planned for 6:30 p.m., April 14, 2023, at the Ridgeway Town Hall.