WINNSBORO – About 50 residents from the Zion Hill and
Fortune Springs communities gathered at the former Fairfield High School
building on Jan. 30 to learn how a new $487,568 Community Development Block
Grant (CDBG) will be used to implement projects in their communities.
It was the third community meeting about the revitalization
process. At this meeting, project partners Fairfield County Community
Development and Planning Director Chris Clausen and Gregory Sprouse, Director
of Research, Planning and Development for Central Midlands Council of
Governments (CMCOG) reviewed the details of the grant and answered questions.
The first phase of grant work will include the demolition
and clearance of approximately 40 dilapidated and vacant structures, according
to Sprouse, but he said there is still preliminary work to be done before
demolition can proceed.
“There are a lot of things we need to do before we’ll
actually see anything being constructed,” Sprouse said. “That includes the
environmental review process – which we’re working on now – and putting it out
for public comment, contacting relevant agencies, and other grant requirements.
We cannot spend any grant money until the properties are environmentally
cleared by the Department of Commerce,” he said. “That’s a big thing. I would
say that’s not going to be done before mid-April or May. If all goes well,
maybe by fall we can have some demolition underway.”
Besides the demolition, Sprouse said the County will be
using some of the grant money for the beautification of the Zion neighborhood
park – additional lighting, traffic calming signs in the area, adding security
cameras and other improvements.
Sprouse, Clausen and planner John Newman spent the better
part of the summer analyzing the needs of the Zion Hill and Fortune Springs
Park neighborhoods. They walked the neighborhood visiting with residents and
finding out what can be done to help bring the neighborhood back to its glory
days.
While they found the needs to be many, Sprouse said the
initial focus will be on the demolition and cleanup of the 40 structures.
Sprouse said he hopes the county can get the project
underway by the spring.
WINNSBORO – After 20 years, a new water agreement is being
finalized between the towns of Winnsboro and Blythewood.
The Winnsboro town council voted Tuesday evening to pass
first reading on a new water service agreement with Blythewood. The second and
final vote and public hearing on the agreement will be held at the Feb. 18
meeting.
Blythewood council will take the first of its two votes on
the agreement Feb. 24.
The initial agreement between the two towns, finalized July
31, 2000, was set to expire July 31, 2020. The continuation of the agreement is
an affirmation of a longstanding relationship between the two towns. It was
primarily Winnsboro’s water that jumpstarted economic development in Blythewood.
Until 2000, Blythewood had no public water service. It was
that year that the Ballow administration sought to bring economic development
to Blythewood with a hotel – the Comfort Inn. To do that, the town needed
water. Lots of water. Ballew turned to Columbia but was unable to negotiate an
agreement for the city to supply water to Blythewood.
Winnsboro was the only water supplier at the time who would
agree to extend service to Blythewood. With cooperation from Fairfield Electric
Cooperative in building a water tower, Winnsboro water made possible the
eventual construction of three hotels that currently contribute between
$400,000 and $500,000 in hospitality tax revenue annually to the town’s
coffers.
But during 2014, the Blythewood town government soured on
Winnsboro water and abruptly gave Winnsboro notice of termination [of the water
agreement].
“Something different
is going to have to be developed between now and July of 2020. A new plan for
how we relate to Winnsboro or Columbia with regard to potable water supply and
storage is important and emerging – like
tomorrow. It’s an issue for the town and council, Blythewood town attorney Jim
Meggs said.
Then-Mayor J. Michael Ross said at a town council retreat
that he recommended, “that our next agreement [with Winnsboro] not last for 20
years.”
Blythewood council signed that notice of termination in
April of 2014, effective July of 2016, but the termination never came to
fruition since the agreement didn’t actually end until 2020.
The issue in 2014 was two-fold. A severe state-wide drought
two years earlier had drained Winnsboro’s reservoirs until there was not enough
water to meet Blythewood’s needs. As a result, Winnsboro Town Manager Don Wood
signed an agreement with the City of Columbia to temporarily supplement the
Blythewood area’s water supply.
In addition, Ross said at that time that Blythewood had
gotten wind that a private company had offered to purchase the Blythewood arm
of the water system from Winnsboro. Winnsboro council members said they never
entertained such an offer.
The resolution was a shock to Winnsboro council members who
said it came with no warning.
Ross told The Voice shortly afterwards that council feared
that they could potentially be at the mercy of private industry and its water
rates.
Termination of the agreement, however, automatically
triggers the sale of the system at fair market value, and it was at
Blythewood’s behest that Columbia made a $1.4 million offer on Nov. 19, 2014 to
purchase Blythewood’s system from Winnsboro.
But the water contract also mandates arbitration in the
event of a dispute between the two parties. While Winnsboro hired a mediator to
make their case, Blythewood did not, and the deadline to do so passed.
Winnsboro, meanwhile, initiated steps in September, 2014 to
construct a $12 million pipeline that would allow the town to draw as much as
10 million gallons of water per day from the Broad River. Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said the Broad
River project would make all of Blythewood’s concerns disappear, rendering
Blythewood’s move to wriggle out of the agreement moot.
“Those pumps are now permitted to provide 10 million gallons
per day,” Gas, Water and Sewer Director Trip Peake said. Much of that water is
earmarked for Fairfield county’s future industrial development.
“Right now reservoirs are full and over flowing. And if the
reservoirs drop in the summer, if there’s no rain, we will still have plenty of
water” Peake said.
In the end, there were few changes to the new contract
provided by Winnsboro last month, Blythewood Mayor Bryan Franklin gave the
document his blessing.
“I am confident it will be adopted [by council] on my
recommendation,” Franklin wrote to Winnsboro Town Manager Don Wood on Jan. 3.
The new water contract, agreed to by both Winnsboro and
Blythewood, is again a 20-year contract with extensions provided in five year
increments.
The main changes to the agreement are that Winnsboro will
pay a higher franchise fee to Blythewood (up from three percent to five
percent), Blythewood (in-town and out-of-town) will receive more favorable
rates that are in line with Winnsboro’s in-town and out-of town rates, and if the
franchise is ended, the Town of Winnsboro is to be paid fair market value.
Other features of the contract call for Blythewood to pay for water hydrants
that it orders, Winnsboro to pay for hyrants it orders and developers to pay
for hydrants they order.
BLYTHEWOOD – What promised to be an informative though less than riveting review Monday evening of the purposes, responsibilities and processes of the town’s boards and commissions by Town Administrator Brian Cook, ended with a disgruntled former coffee vendor verbally holding the council and planning commission hostage for close to half an hour.
The evening began with boxed meals brought in for
councilmen, commissioners and town hall staff prior to a 6 p.m. joint meeting
of council members and planning commissioners.
Beyer
It was not until the public comment segment at the end of
the public meeting that the fireworks began. That’s when Matt Beyer, owner of
Grace Coffee, a former coffee vendor in the town, stepped up to the podium.
While assuring the panel right off that what he was about to
say was not a threat, some at the dias and in the audience, said afterward it
appeared to be so.
“As my dad often said, we can do this the easy way or the
hard way – and this is not a threat – but there’s a short version and a long
version. I’m prepared to do both,” Beyer told council firmly.
In an almost 25-minute soliloquy, Beyer tried to convince
the panel to reinstate his coffee trailer’s previous grandfathered status in
the town. He explained that he is leaving his Lexington location, and the new
owners of the former Bits and Pieces business at 208 Main Street would like to
have Grace Coffee come back to that location. The owners, according to Town
Hall, are Theresa McKenrick and her husband Rich McKenrick who is also a member
of the town’s planning commission.
Beyer initially launched into what he described as the short version of his request, detailing his side of a complex story that was reported in The Voice off and on over two and a half years. The last story printed in February, 2019 after Beyer moved from the grandfathered location in the parking lot of Bits and Pieces at 208 Main Street to a new location on Wilson Blvd. (See Grace Coffee FB post stirs up community and Grace Coffee opens outside town from Nov. 2018. )
In telling his version of the story, Beyer quoted the town
administrator, the Voice, the former and current mayors, planning
commissioners, town council members and others to make his case that while he
left his grandfathered location, he should be allowed by the town to return to
it and continue doing business there.
But, according to Town Hall, Beyer’s move from the location
nullified the grandfather clause. Beyer, however, said his status still stands
and he only needs confirmation of that from council.
“I’m not here today to debate what has already been debated
for two years. I’m here seeking affirmation of what has already been determined
by the planning commission, the board of architectural review and the former
mayor himself,” Beyer said. “I’ve got written documentation of this that I am
willing to share if we need to, but for the sake of time – again, easy way,
hard way – if council would like to make a motion, a simple memo or a motion to
affirm the decision already made to allow us to operate as we once did for two
years, we can move on, get home much earlier tonight.”
Jumping in at one point as Beyer caught his breath, Mayor
Brian Franklin tried unsuccessfully to end Beyer’s presentation.
“You make a good point, but we cannot take action tonight.
It’s not on the agenda,” Franklin said. “But we heard what you said.”
Beyer was undaunted in his quest and continued.
“Okay, well if there’s no action, then I’m just going to
continue,” Beyer said as he proceeded.
“Uh, you’re pretty much…” Franklin broke in. “We get the
point. Is there anything…” Beyer interrupted and forged on.
“Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely, and I’ll be brief,” Beyer
said as he continued for another 15 minutes to recount events from two years
ago as well as his multiple unsuccessful attempts to convince town hall to
confirm his side of the issue.
Eighteen minutes into his speech, Beyer insisted that he was
not trying to be difficult.
“I’ve chosen to keep this issue private for a week, ‘cause I
don’t want to do this.” He added after he got no response, “If you want to go
to town council we can do this and then all of a sudden, the whole community
will know. So I’m here tonight to try to resolve this one last time before it
goes public. And I’m just saying there’s a lot of people around here that love
our coffee.”
Asked by The Voice if he is considering a lawsuit against
the town on the issue, Beyer said, “no comment.”
After more than 24 minutes, Beyers ended his plea with, “I’m
asking one time that you just affirm. I just need a memo.”
WINNSBORO – The commission of the Fairfield Joint Water and
Sewer Authority will conduct a public hearing to receive public comment regarding
the construction of a wastewater treatment plant with a planned discharge of
treated effluent into Big Cedar Creek located in southern Fairfield County.
The Fairfield Joint Authority will provide an update to the
public on the status of the plant and its proposed location.
All interested persons will be given an opportunity to be
heard and express their views at the hearing. The hearing will be held on
Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m., in county council chambers at 350 Columbia Road in
Winnsboro.
For additional information, email Clerk to Council Patti
Davis at patti.davis@fairfield.sc.gov
Four students from Ridge View High School are facing charges for their involvement in two separate assaults.
One incident happened after school on Tuesday, Jan. 28. Three students, two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old, held the victim down on the floor while a fourth student (15-years-old) committed a criminal sexual act against a 15-year-old male victim, according to a Richland County Sheriff’s incident report.
The 15-year-old who committed the assault is charged with criminal sexual conduct 1st degree. He was transported to the juvenile wing of Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.
The two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old are each charged with assault & battery by a mob.
During the investigation, a similar incident was brought to the attention of investigators that had not previously been reported. That incident occurred after school on Monday, Jan. 27.
In that incident, two 15-year-olds and a 14-year-old assaulted a 14-year-old student. The student facing the criminal sexual conduct charge is also facing assault & battery 2nd degree for the Monday incident; the other two are each charged with one count of assault & battery by a mob.
District and school administrators have been cooperative throughout investigation, deputies say.
WINNSBORO – The issue of the county’s proposed wastewater
treatment plant was not on Monday night’s agenda, but it was a topic of
conversation during the second public comment session and again during council
time
Gary Coats, who lives near Cedar Creek in Richland County,
and Ruchelle Gee, a resident of the Center Creek Community, in Fairfield County
addressed council, both opposing the plant and the discharge into Cedar Creek.
Gee said 1,550 names had been signed on a petition opposing the plant.
While County Administrator Jason Taylor said the county was
continuing to look at alternative sites for the wastewater treatment plant, he
said the effluent would still have to be discharged into Cedar Creek, no matter
the site, unless the county could come up with the money to take it to the
Broad River.
Chairman Neil Robinson noted that negative publicity about
the Syrup Mill site and the proposed discharge into Cedar Creek that Creek that
resulted from comments made during the Jan. 13 council meeting may have caused
the landowner of a desirable alternative site to raise the price of that
location the next day, putting it out of reach of the county’s purse.
“That happened the day after that meeting,” Robinson said.
In addition, Taylor said the county is looking at space the
county already owns in the Commerce Center on Peach Road, but engineers will
not have results of its suitability until the end of February, Taylor said. He
said the county is also weighing the pros and cons of other sites.
“But some of those sites have other issues associated with
getting easements and/or purchasing additional properties for us to get a line
to Cedar Creek,” Taylor said. “And, again, Cedar Creek is the option DHEC
[Department of Health & Environmental Control] has given us that we can
afford. With some of the other properties we’d have to purchase a much larger
piece of property that would cost more.”
Coucilman Mikel Trapp warned Center Creek residents from the
dias, however, that the county is not looking for other sites.
“That’s not going to happen,” Trapp said. “That’s just a
stall tactic. No one’s looking for other property. They’re just going to tell
you that to try to wait you out. But it’s not going to happen. And I sympathize
with you. When council says they are looking at alternative properties, that’s
a bunch of crap. I apologize for council,” he said.
Councilman Bell weighed in on the side of the Cedar Creek
citizens, portraying them as lacking resources that are available to the more
affluent communities to fight the battle.
“People with a lot of resources get a lot of attention,” Bell
said.
County Administrator Jason Taylor said the county is also
looking at grant sources.
“We’ve gone to Washington and talked to Congressman Norman,
specifically, about this,” Taylor said. “There’s a large grant bill [$1.7
trillion] coming up, for infrastructure, but with everything that’s going on
right now, it will be a long time coming. Even to do what we’re doing, the
state is giving us a huge infusion of money,” he said.
“As much as we’d love the state to cover the $80 million [to
take the discharge to the Broad River], getting $30 million is a stretch. COG
[the Central Midlands Council of Governments]
and the S.C. Department of
Commerce are working with us to make it viable at all,” Taylor said.
BLYTHEWOOD – A 17-year-old student at Westwood High School has
been accused of punching her teacher in the face and has been charged with
assault and battery, according to a Richland County Sheriff’s department
incident report.
At approximately 12:30 p.m., a school resource officer was
contacted by a Westwood High School administrator for an assault that had just
occurred. It was reported that the
student punched her teacher in the face with a closed fist, causing redness and
swelling to the eye and jaw area. The incident occurred after the teacher
escorted the student into the hallway to have a conversation about her (the
student) cursing at her (the teacher) in the classroom. During their discussion
is when the student punched the teacher. The teacher’s injuries were treated by
the school nurse.
The student was removed from the classroom and charged with
assault and battery. She has been released into the custody of her parents.
CEDAR CREEK – About a hundred residents of the northeast
section of Blythewood 29016 and the southern part of Fairfield County, many of
whom live along Cedar Creek, met in the Cedar Creek Community Center Sunday
afternoon to discuss a wastewater treatment plant Fairfield County Council has
proposed to locate on a 50-acre property on Syrup Mill and Broom Mill
Roads. The wastewater from that plant is
proposed to be discharged into Cedar Creek.
Fairfield County officials, Administrator Jason Taylor,
Planning Director Chris Clausen and Economic Development Director Ty Davenport
fielded questions.
Fairfield County officials answer questions from Cedar Creek Community residents. | Barbara Ball
The first sore spot brought up by meeting organizers as well
as some in the audience was the feeling that information about the proposed
site had been kept secret by the county and not made public.
“I didn’t know about this until about a week ago.” Shawn
Goff, one of the organizers, told the audience on Jan. 19. “I had no idea this
is coming,” Goff said.
“You understand why we feel blindsided about this,” Cedar
Creek resident Jim Young added. “I didn’t hear about it until a week ago.”
An unidentified woman spoke up to say Fairfield County
residents also didn’t know about the proposed site.
The information about the site location was made public
during a council committee meeting two months earlier on Nov. 11, 2019.
The Voice reported the proposed location on Syrup Mill Road in a front page story on Dec. 5, titled ‘Water Authority Moving Forward.’ The story read, in part, “At an Administrative and Finance committee meeting, also held Nov. 11, county officials said the property being targeted is located off Syrup Mill Road near Big Cedar Creek.”
“We rarely disclose these things until we’re well into the
process with an economic development project,” Taylor said. “We usually give a
code name [until a contract is signed].”
“We found a property, but we weren’t going to announce, ‘Hey
we’re looking at property along Cedar Creek’, because if we do that, the costs
will go up,” Fairfield County Economic Director Ty Davenport said. “Once we put
the property under contract, it was announced at a public meeting.”
Another concern of many at the meeting was whether the
wastewater that would be discharged into the creek would contaminate it.
Both Goff and the county officials disclosed that the creek
is already receiving wastewater from the Ridgeway wastewater plant that is
currently in violation for discharging contaminants into the creek.
Taylor said the Ridgeway plant cannot be modernized. He said
if the county builds a wastewater plant, it could take on the Ridgeway
discharge, effectively cleaning up the creek instead of contaminating it.
John Culbreth, with Thomas and Hutton engineering
consultants, said at the Jan. 13 council meeting that the wastewater discharged
from the Syrup Mill Road facility would be processed by a state-of-the-art
treatment system – a membrane bioreactor (MBR) system – that would not
contaminate the creek. He said it is an advanced level of treatment that would
discharge water of near drinking water quality. He said that discharge is used
to irrigate golf courses and crops and for other uses.
Taylor reiterated Sunday that the discharge would not
pollute the creek. Asked if he would let his children swim in it, he said he
would.
Goff, who lives on Cedar Creek and opposes the discharge
into the creek, agreed that the MBR technology, from his research, is the best
of the best.
“If you have to have one, this is the one you want,” Goff
said. “I can’t tell you that it’s the devil, because it’s the most advanced
wastewater treatment facility that’s available. There are no open pools. It’s
all contained and it has a small footprint, about seven acres. Anyone can
Google and do the research. I was trying my darndest to find some piece of bad
press or something that has happened at one of these plants, and I can’t,” Goff
said. “They say the creek will be cleaner than it is now.”
“Membrane technology is a very clean technology, but it is
highly intensive from a maintenance standpoint,” an unidentified man from the
audience said. “And you’re turning over a very complex treatment facility to
who? To Fairfield County?”
The audience laughed.
Taylor said the county would manage the treatment facility.
Asked if the county had anyone who had experience managing wastewater treatment
plants, Taylor said it does, that he had successfully operated one in Jasper
County for 13 years.
Center Creek resident David Valentine, a civil engineer,
asked why the county is rushing the wastewater treatment facility through and
would the county be willing to put the project on hold for a period of time so
citizens could do the due diligence.
“We are open to looking at other options without question,”
Taylor said. “But I will say it’s not been rushed from our side. I’ve been
working on it for three years and the county’s been working on it since 1997,”
he said. “We have been losing population and jobs. We need to plan for jobs and
to reverse population.”
Taylor said hooking into Columbia is too costly and that
Columbia would then control Fairfield’s future. “Columbia could control whether
we get an industry or not by not making sewer available,” he said. “And going
with Columbia would pull a whole huge amount of money out of Fairfield County and
send it to Columbia to develop their infrastructure. We can build our own
infrastructure in house and control it much cheaper and then keep all the
revenue here.”
Retired Blythewood attorney Stuart Andrews explained to the
residents their legal options to stop Fairfield County from discharging
wastewater into Cedar Creek. He said it could cost millions to mount a legal
campaign against the county but offered that it would be possible to slow the
process down to the point of effectively dismantling the county’s efforts.
Someone in the audience suggested bringing pressure on the
county by boycotting the merchants in Fairfield County.
By the end of the hour and a half meeting, many in the
audience remained convinced that the system would or could, somehow,
contaminate the creek and ruin their water wells.
According to South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) there is no conclusive evidence that water wells have been contaminated by treated wastewater discharges. Still, members of the audience insisted they want options for the discharged water other than Cedar Creek. Those other options, however, for one reason or another, are not a fit for the county (see ‘What Are The Options?’ below).
Longtime Cedar Creek resident Lynn Robertson is not
convinced. She said that while she wishes Fairfield well in its endeavor to
bring infrastructure and jobs to the county, she is not convinced that the
proposed wastewater treatment plant would not contaminate Cedar Creek.
“There are some other options and I just feel like, I hope and pray that they will look at other options for this rather than dumping it in Cedar Creek,” Robertson said. “I do not want Cedar Creek to be the wastewater pipeline through Richland County to the Broad River. No matter what they say, errors can occur.”
What are the Options?
contributed by the Richland County Conservation Committee
Fairfield County is setting up a new service area to provide
wastewater treatment to Winnsboro, Ridgeway, the Fairfield County Industrial
megasite and for existing and future development along the 1-77 corridor inside
Fairfield County.
This service area would be managed through a joint use
partnership agreement (the new Joint Water Authority) and a management entity
which is currently under development for the new area. This new service area
would require an amendment of the existing 208 (Wastewater) Water Quality
Management Plan for the area as well as a new National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) Permit which has not been applied for at this point.
More public meetings and informational sessions are being
planned by the County for the proposed site.
The Site
The final site for the wastewater treatment plant has not
been selected, although Fairfield County Council has approved the purchase of a
certain size and price of property. The County has an option agreement on a
50-acre site on Syrup Mill Road at Broom Mill Road.
If this site is selected the new discharge point will be
into Big Cedar Creek.
The plant will need approximately 7 to 10 acres, and will be
designed for an initial capacity of 2 million gallons per day (mgd) and a
maximum with additions of 4 mgd. Twenty-five percent of the waste to be treated
at the new site is projected to come from the megasite with the rest coming
from the Winnsboro and Ridgeway facilities as well as existing and future
development along the 1-77 corridor.
The Winnsboro and Ridgeway treatment facilities have been in
service for a very long time and are very near their flow capacities. The
Winnsboro facility currently discharges to Jackson Creek, and the Ridgeway
facility discharges to Big Cedar Creek upstream of where the new discharge is
currently proposed. Big Cedar Creek flows from Fairfield County into Richland
County and eventually into the Broad River.
The Options
Other alternatives to the proposed plant were discussed at
the Jan. 15 Environmental Planning Advisory Committee (EPAC) meeting. Those
options included revamping the existing Ridgeway or Winnsboro discharge,
providing onsite treatment at the megasite, piping to the Broad River, or land
application.
Revamping the Ridgeway site would be cost prohibitive and
undesirable because of the additional piping needed to cover the new areas
which would be serviced by the new site.
The Wateree is currently unable to accept more Ultimate
Oxygen Demanding (UOD) substances which are present in treated effluents.
Providing onsite treatment at the megasite would also negate
coverage of the new areas and again, treated effluent would end up in the
Wateree after flowing through Dutchman Creek.
Piping to the Broad River would be much more expensive than
the proposed new plant and would be cost prohibitive.
Land application would require an estimated 1,200 acres and
would also be cost prohibitive.
Cedar Creek Option
The plant proposed on Syrup Mill Road would provide tertiary
quality treatment to a re-use level discharging into Big Cedar Creek downstream
of the current Ridgeway discharge. This tertiary treatment discharge would be
of higher quality treated effluent than the existing Ridgeway discharge. In
addition, the megasite would be required to provide pretreatment of any
industrial type effluents to meet discharge standards from industrial sites
before the pre-treated effluent would go to the new plant. The county officials
are also working to find users in the area who could re-use the wastewater for
irrigation, industrial or other purposes. A preliminary engineering report is
projected to be completed for this project within 3 to 6 months.
SCDOT’s District 1 Bridge Replacement Crew work to demolish the Pine Grove Rd. bridge over Persimmon Fork, bordering Richland and Fairfield counties, on Jan. 6, 2020. (Photograph by Cody Crouch/SCDOT)
COLUMBIA – The opening of the Pine Grove Road bridge, which
has been closed for repairs since Dec. 2, is being delayed to March 9.
The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT)
issued a statement last week that work on the bridge has been delayed as a
result of the demolition process, the first step in the bridge repair, being
slowed because of how the bridge was originally constructed.
“The original deck was poured in place as a single unit, as
opposed to sectioned slabs being bolted together,” maintenance engineer Alan
Kozusko said. ”It’s a little bit longer process than our usual one, but they’ll
get it done.”
The road connects Richland and Fairfield counties. A detour
has been in place using Broom Mill Road, Syrup Mill Road, Muller Road and
Blythewood Road to navigate around the construction zone.
The repair is part of SCOT’s 10-year plan to rebuild and repair
approximately half of all structurally deficient bridges in the state at a cost
of about $3 million.
Public Can Register for County-Wide Notification Service
WINNSBORO – Fairfield County has implemented a county-wide
high-speed emergency notification service that will notify residents of
emergencies via telephone calls, text messages, emails, social media and mobile
apps.
The county’s emergency management department says its new
CodeRED system, will save lives, help locate missing children, issue timely
evacuation notices and help apprehend wanted criminals.
CodeRED was selected for its reliability and accuracy, as
well as the system’s widespread use across North America.
“CodeRED’s system will provide Fairfield County officials
with a reliable, easy-to use technology to enhance our emergency preparedness
plans,” the county’s emergency management director Phyllis Watkins said. “We
anticipate using the system to notify residents of fires, floods, drinking
water emergencies, missing children and more.”
Weather Warning System
Fairfield County has also purchased the CodeRED automated
weather warning technology that delivers phone calls, text messages and emails
to registered residents and businesses within the direct path of severe
weather. The CodeRED Weather Warning system is an opt-in service that
automatically notifies those registered of tornado, flash flood and severe
thunderstorm warnings just moments after an alert is issued by the National
Weather Service (NWS).
All residents living within Fairfield County are eligible to
enroll. To register, go to www.fairfieldsc.com and click on the CodeRED logo
located on the Emergency Management Department page.
“No one should assume they are automatically included in the
emergency contact database,” Watkins said. “To be in it, one must register.”
To learn more about CodeRED’s services and benefits go to
www.onsolve.com.
