EASLEY — Easley Fire Chief Butch Womack has been honored as the state fire chief of the year by the S.C. State Fire Chiefs Association.

Longtime Easley Fire Chief Butch Womack was recently honored by the S.C. State Fire Chiefs Association as the state fire chief of the year.

Council members continually bragged on Womack during Monday night’s meeting of Easley City Council.

At the end of the meeting, Easley mayor Larry Bagwell presented Womack with a plaque, joking that he had heard Womack liked to have things to put up on the walls of his office.

“We had a check for $10,000 ready for you, but this plaque fit what you wanted more,” Bagwell said with a laugh.

Womack became a firefighter in Easley in 1985, earning firefighter of the year honors in 1991 before being promoted to chief in 1993.

He is also a former president of the S.C. State Firefighters Association and S.C. State Fire Chiefs Association.

In other business at Monday’s meeting, local resident James Cochran complained about a neighbor who has an estimated 25-40 dogs. Cochran said he was worried the neighbor may be operating a puppy mill from his residence.

Cochran’s wife, Jackie, also told council a puppy mill at the location could pose danger to the general public, as the property is uphill from a public waterway.

City codes do not set a limit on the number of dogs a resident can have, however.

Another local resident, Bonnie Kay, addressed council with complaints about a scrap company that has taken control of the former Alice Mill location. She said the heavy trucks the company uses are doing damage to the roads in the area and suggested the city should annex the property into city limits.

David Lewis further testified that the company’s presence in the community helped to raise the crime rate. As a resident of the area for 34 years, Lewis promised to continue fighting.

“This is our mill hill, and we love it,” Lewis said. “We’re going to fight and not let it go.”