Cherokee County Chamber of Commerce officials met with the S.C. Peach Festival Board of Governors on Tuesday evening to clear the air following a Chamber letter claiming the festival owes it $4,000.

"I was down at the city and the mayor (Henry Jolly) came up to me and said, point blank, the Peach Festival needs to pay its bill," board member Bobby Beattie said. "I told him as far as I know there has never been an agreement."

Chamber finance chairman Hank Jolly told the Peach Festival board that he was aware of a gentleman's agreement between the Peach Festival and former Chamber director Jim Cook that the Peach Festival pay the Chamber $2,000 a year for use of the facilities. Currently the Peach Festival holds meetings at the Chamber headquarters on Limestone Street and also sells tickets from the location. Jolly said there has been no compensation made for the past two years.

Peach Festival Board Chairman Merv Bishop said in years past the Peach Festival had donated money based on how much money was in the bank account. Because of debt during the past two years, the festival has been unable to make any donation to the Chamber.

Past festival chairman Dennis Fowler said the festival has never voted to enter into any financial agreement with the Chamber.

He also showed the Chamber finance committee members who were present - Jolly, Jan Moss and Gayle White - the charter for the Peach Festival which was signed June 28, 1977, by Chamber members.

"The festival was born to help promote the Chamber," Fowler said. "It was born here 30 years ago."

White said the Chamber is also struggling financially.

"We want to have a good relationship," White said. "We want this to be a success. This is our community and we love it."

Moss said the Chamber is also hoping to carpet, paint and hang drapes in a room currently being used to sell tickets to the festival. The room would be made available to the community with Wi-Fiaccess.

"We're looking to take the room (where the festival sells tickets) and clean it out," she said, adding that there was both festival and Chamber items being stored there. "We want to enhance the Chamber's appearance. We want to keep y'all here, we just want to change things here."

Fowler asked if the Chamber had a place to secure the festival's tickets overnight, which was part of the reason for having the designated room to sell tickets.

"It is our place and our room and we want it to be fair to us, too," Jolly said.

No decision will be made until after the 2007 Peach Festival.