The Sentinel is proud to recognize the elected City Council members and Mayors of Fountain Inn, Simpsonville and Mauldin.

We will profile the Simpsonville officials in April and Fountain Inn elect-eds in May.

Councilman Taft Matney, Seat 1
Chair, Economic Planning and Development Committee

Growth isn’t coming, Councilman Matney reports, it is here. Development of Mauldin’s City Center village includes work on Jenkins Court, Jenkins Street, and the construction of Maverick Yards.

SCDOT’s widening and rebuilding of East Butler Road will include a multi-use path from the City Center to Mauldin High School for pedestrians and cyclists. The path will continue past the High School to the bridge over I-385 to BridgeWay Station. Eventually, from BridgeWay Station the path will connect to Simpsonville.

Issues facing Council include the handling of stormwater, says Mr. Matney, and the Council is “taking an almost unprecedented step to address how to handle it.”

Councilman Matney states that “It’s an honor to work with this Council and represent our friends and neighbors in Mauldin.”

Councilwoman Carol King, Seat 2
Chair, Public Safety Committee

ing notes that in her first term, there was a heavy focus on city policies, including developing a comprehensive employee handbook, and a vehicle handbook. Those and many other policies were updated, and the Council put into place a number of new policies as well. She also notes that playgrounds in City parks were updated with modern equipment.

Currently in her second term, she believes the most important work has been on an economic master plan and development of the City Center. As Chair for Public Safety, she has worked to obtain increased pay for police and fire personnel; keeping good talent working in Mauldin is crucial. New tasers and body cameras, she reports, not only provide both greater safety and better accountability, but also help in recruiting new policemen.

Mauldin’s growing population brings new challenges. With anticipated growth of 10-15,000 people over the next 10 years, increased police, fire, and other services are required to maintain the City’s quality of life for its residents and visitors.

Councilman Jason Kraeling, Seat 3
Chair, Public Works Committee

As Chair of the Public Works Committee, Councilman Kraeling is happy to see the progress so far on stormwater. “When we started,” he says, “there was nothing.” Work is underway to develop a stormwater strategy. Working with specialists, the Council has identified the major issues, received estimates on the costs to remedy stormwater problems, and is working on plans to achieve better stormwater management. But the project is not a simple one, and will take years.

However, Councilman Kraeling is pleased to note, Council members work well together and treat each other with respect.

Councilman Michael Reynolds, Seat 4
Chair, Finance and Policy Committee

Councilman Reynolds is very pleased with the development of formal plans for much of the City’s responsibilities, replacing the predominant tendency to be in a continual reaction mode.

That has included putting road repair and improvement on a schedule and plan costing three million dollars annually, the replacement of all police cars over the last three years, and a Master Plan study regarding City Recreation and Parks. That includes how to provide parks and green space for a new demographic the new developments.

He also reports that the City has increased employee pay, making it competitive with other cities; that helps to attract and keep best employees, he says.

Also noteworthy is the building of the bridge over I-385, and what that means for the trail system. He notes that its new name helps to put the structure into context: the “Mauldin Gateway Bridge”.

Services in Mauldin, Reynolds believes, are better than those of most cities in the Upstate. That includes Mauldin’s police, fire – especially including the new Fire Department headquarters building, trash collection, sewer, parks, Cultural Center, Senior Center, and stormwater planning.

He is also concerned about the City’s trail system: what do we want it to be? He is intent on creating a trail system that is connected.

Councilman Frank Allgood, Seat 5
Chair, Recreation and Parks Committee

Councilman Allgood is pleased that the City is finally making good progress with the handling of stormwater. He is excited about the City’s economic development, and especially the City Center and BridgeWay Station. Going forward, he believes that discussions about the City’s growth are needed to decide what smart growth should look like. That will culminate in the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Strategic Plan. As the Councilman puts it, “How we are going to tell Mauldin’s story?”

Just after Mr. Allgood took office, the City hired a new City Administrator and Economic Development Director. He is pleased with choices made to fill those two positions; in his judgement the City is going in the right direction.

With all the growth over the last several years, he asks, “What do we want the City to be?” Whatever the answer, he says, we need the proper infrastructure to support it. Thus we must think about growth strategically, rather than just reacting to it.

Councilman Mark Steenback, Seat 6
Chair, Building Codes Committee

Mark Steenback joined the Council in November. With barely two months’ experience to date as Mauldin’s newest Council member, Councilman Steenback feels his biggest task is learning how the Council works, and the complexity of how the City works.

As Chair of Council’s Building Codes Committee, he will be at the center of the many activities of City development for the next several years.

Mayor Terry Merritt

Mayor Terry Merritt feels that it is his responsibility to be Mauldin’s biggest cheerleader.

If the City is going to be successful at drawing people to Mauldin, they must have a reason to come to Mauldin. That can include the Arts, such as the many Cultural Center musical and theater attractions.

Standout attractions in Mauldin include Maverick Center, Maverick Station, and the Mauldin Gateway Bridge, and BridgeWay Station – which, Mayor Merritt notes, will hold its grand opening on April 27th, from 3:00pm to 7:00pm.

Other scheduled events, the Mayor pointed out, include the pending “Hose-coupling” ceremony at the new Mauldin Fire Department Headquarters Building.

The Mayor sees the future development of Mauldin as following a strategic plan, to be developed by June, as well as a long-range Comprehensive Plan and Ten-Year Plan. The focus on the City Center and BridgeWay Station will remain a solid component for the foreseeable future.

Pending developments of note include the changes to have Jenkins Street cross the railroad tracks at Hyde Circle, the new townhomes on Green Street off Murray Drive, and the 4500 homes being constructed near the junction of Ashmore Bridge and Fork Shoals roads: of those 4500, he notes, 2200 will be within Mauldin City limits; the other 2300 homes will be built according to the less-stringent Greenville County zoning requirements.