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  • Judge OKs amended suit vs JWC

    JENKINSVILLE – Broad River Campground can amend the lawsuit it filed against the Jenkinsville Water Company to include new allegations and statements from witnesses, a judge has ruled.

    Sixth Circuit Judge Grace Gilchrest Knie also ruled in a separate order that campground lawsuits against the JWC, as well as board chairman Gregrey Ginyard and vice-chairman Joseph McBride, can be combined.

    Both lawsuits allege violations of the S.C. Unfair Trade Practices Act, or SCUTPA, according to Fairfield County court records. Orders combining and amending the suits were signed in late June.

    “The factual allegations in the SCUTPA cause of action against JWC are identical to the factual allegations against Ginyard and McBride,” the order combining the lawsuits states.

    “I find that the factual allegations the Plaintiff has asserted against JWC, Ginyard and McBride arise out of the same transaction, occurrence or series of transactions or occurrences and that there are questions of law and fact common to all defendants that will arise in the action,” the order continues.

    At issue are claims that the JWC reneged on agreements to provide additional water service to the campground, which in recent years has seen an influx of workers at the V.C. Summer nuclear site.

    The campground’s suit claims the JWC wrongfully denied water service in 2014 despite a superfluous amount of water.

    Broad River Campground states in its suit that JWC is contractually obligated to provide additional water, citing a letter from the JWC as proof that a contract existed between the parties.

    According to the letter, the JWC stated it could commit to 8,050 gallons per day. The campground has said that even with the extra water, it falls below the 8,050-gallon threshold.

    “The water company will consider increasing our commitment, but only if that can be done without negatively impacting other customers of the water system,” the letter states.

    In legal documents, Ginyard individually and the JWC as a whole deny allegations in the suit. The JWC has also claimed in its filings that the letter doesn’t constitute a contract.

    “JWC denied and continues to deny that Exhibit 1 [the letter] is a valid and legally enforceable contract,” an affidavit previously filed by Ginyard states. “However, to the extent that Exhibit 1 is a valid and legally enforceable contract, JWC never breached it.”

    JWC’s answer to the litigation also states it lacks sufficient water capacity to meet the campground’s request.

    “Defendant pleads impossibility, impracticability, unconscionability, and an Act of God as Defendant does not have available water capacity to satisfy Plaintiff’s demand,” the answer states.

    The campground’s amended complaint inserted the word “willful” in numerous causes of action. It also included an affidavit from former JWC board member Lori Smith, who restates assertions made in the campground’s suit.

    Smith further stated in her affidavit that Ginyard pressured other board members to influence their votes.

    “If Mr. Ginyard wanted a vote to go a particular way he would call Board members and try to get them to vote his way,” the document states. “He intimidated members of the Board who were supporting the campground.”

    A Dec. 3 trial date is tentatively planned.

  • This bike trip will be ‘A Ride to Remember’

    BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s Janette Robinson has been training for months for a charity bike ride she will participate in July 13 – 15. It’s called A Ride to Remember.

    “It’s a long, hard, grueling ride from Simpsonville to Charleston,” Robinson said. “But our pain and suffering will end when we cross the Ravenel Bridge. Our loved ones, for whom we are riding, their suffering won’t end until they depart this earth.”

    Donations raised by the riders will benefit Alzheimer’s Disease.

    Robinson’s mother, Alice Hollis, is one of 89,000 South Carolinians stricken with the disease. Robinson is one of 309,000 South Carolina family and friends who care for the 89,000.

     

    Janette Robinson will bike 252 miles for her mom, Alice Hollis, who suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease.

    South Carolina ranked number two in the nation for deaths due to Alzheimer’s according to the Center for Disease Control’s latest available figures from 2016. There are 5.7 million people in the US living with Alzheimer’s.  It is projected to rise to 14 million by 2050.

     

    By participating in the ride, South Carolinians like Robinson who have family and friends suffering from Alzheimer’s are fighting back.

    The three-day bike ride will ultimately take the cyclists on a scenic 252-mile journey through the state.  Cyclists can ride for one, two or all three days.  On Friday, July 13, the cyclists will ride from Simpsonville to Newberry (65 miles).  On Saturday, July 14, they will travel on to Orangeburg (89 miles). On Sunday, July 15, they will ride to Charleston (99 miles).

    Twenty-one cyclists rode in the first annual Ride to Remember fundraiser 10 years ago. They raised $15,000.  Last year, Robinson joined the 360 riders who raised over half a million dollars toward their goal.

    “It’s one of the few things I can do for my mom now,” Robinson said. “Many in the community will recall how, every July and August, my parents sold organic blueberries from their home. They would get up early and spend long hours in the heat every day during the season picking the berries and packaging them. People in the community would call their orders in and stop by to pick them up.  My Dad took great pride in his berries and my parents were delighted when customers would tell them that their blueberries were the biggest, sweetest blueberries they’d ever eaten. And they were. My dad, who is gone now, made wonderful wood crafts for friends and family. He was also a machinist who made custom parts for neighbors.  They had a wonderful life in Blythewood and I want to do what I can now to make my mom’s life and other Alzheimer’s victims’ lives as good as it can possibly be,” Robinson said.

    “This ride isn’t a race,” explained Robinson.  “Everybody in it has been affected by Alzheimer’s and it creates such a bond.  There is so much love and support knowing we are all there for the right reasons.”

    Robinson has trained hard to ride again this year.  She rides four days a week and accomplished a 100-mile trek in the Brevard, NC, mountains in June. She plans to ride all three days and has currently raised $3,100 toward her $5,000 goal.

    While the deadline for signing up to ride was July 1, the push is still on now to meet the fundraising goals.  This year the riders have currently raised $411,659.70 with a goal of $750,000 yet to be met.  To make a donation to support a specific participant, like Robinson, or for a specific team or to make a general donation toward the goal, log in to alz.org/sc.  For additional information contact AundiHunter:rides@alz.org or call 864-699-0623.

  • Town hires CPA to right its financials

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council passed final reading last week on the Town’s 2018-19 budget set at $1,565,114.

    Town administrator Brian Cook said there were only a few changes in the budget since the first reading in May. Of note, however, is a transfer of $25,000 from the contingency fund into accounting services.

    “That accounts partly for the cost of a review of our accounting records that we need moving forward,” Cook said.

    He was referencing an announcement made by Mayor J. Michael Ross at the May council meeting that the town’s accounting and financial record keeping was not in proper order and that town hall “has not even commenced the annual audit process for last year’s (2016-17) audit.”

    Ross said, however, that he believed the town’s finances to be in solid shape.

    “It appears this situation has resulted from management’s failure to properly transition to the new accounting software system which was recommended to this council by professional public administrators who then failed to attain implementation,” Ross said.

    Ross thanked Cook publicly for detecting this deficiency very early in his service to Blythewood. Cook was hired last February to replace Gary Parker who retired. Assistant administrator Chris Keefer left her position last month.

    “Mr. Cook and the town’s staff are working diligently to correct this issue, and we hope to have the books ready for external independent audit within the next 45-60 days,” Ross said at the May meeting.

    In an interview with The Voice on Monday, Cook reported that Love Bailey, an auditor hired by the Town, has completed the audit for 2016 and that he expects it to be presented at the July town council meeting. Cook said Love Bailey is also organizing the Town’s books for the 2017-18 audit which he said he expects to be presented on schedule in the late fall.

    Budget Highlights

    The proposed 2018-19 budget reflects $202,111 in building permits and fees, an increase of $17,111 over last year. Council also sees business licenses inside the town increasing from $94,871 to $113,351 and business license outside the town increasing from $80,188 to $92,491.

    Town Hall salaries include a three percent cost of living and a three percent merit based pot. A sum of $9,250 is set aside in the budget for boardwalk security cameras in the park and $3,500 for supplies for the amphitheater.

    Cook said that due to pending development projects under consideration, it is anticipated to have an increase in state accommodation tax and hospitality tax of $6,513 and $6,255 respectively.

    The annual economic development grant for the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce will increase from $15,000 to $17,500, and is funded out of the general fund.  Council continued to fund the visitor center at $18,500 even though it voted to only fund it for 6 months at $9,250. It increased the Historical Society’s funding from $20,500 to $21,500.

    Council also proposes to fund $10,000 of accommodation tax revenue for The Big Grab in September, an increase of $1,250 over last year, but it has not been determined whether that funding will be allocated for the Chamber this year. The Chamber has received the funding the last two years.

  • County leases facility for RW library

    The old Ridgeway Post Office is being renovated for the temporary library.

    RIDGEWAY – During a special meeting last week, county council voted unanimously to execute a two-year lease on the old Ridgeway post office property at Palmer and Jones streets for a temporary library site in the town.

    The deal includes an option to renew for another two years and possibly purchase the property. Rent would cost $850 a month the first year and $892 a month in year two.

    Fairfield County Administrator Jason Taylor said at its previous location, the library had already been paying $600 a month out of its millage for operations. The county would pick up the difference, he said.

    “[The property owner] wanted to go up in the other two years, and we pushed back on that,” Taylor said. “We looked at a number of locations and did determine this was the best. Others would need a lot more upfitting, or had no parking or would be much more expensive.”

    When the time comes to build a permanent site, the county will consider pursuing a Community Development Block Grant, or CDBG, to help pay for it.

    Eric Robinson, director of the Fairfield County Library has told Council that the library board wants the permanent site to be in the town.

    Ridgeway resident Moses Bell, who has announced he is running for the Ridgeway District 1 seat on county council, voiced concerns at the June 25 council meeting that the proposed temporary site is near what Bell said is a liquor store.

    Bell told council members he was contacted by a woman who called him, hysterical about the temporary site at Palmer and Jones street.

    “She had stated that in many municipalities, they have ordinances stating that liquor stores and bars cannot be located next to a public building,” he said. Bell did not identify those municipalities or the ordinances.

    Bell said he wants a library built outside the town next to the county waste and recycle center.

    Councilman Dan Ruff, who represents District 1 on county council, said the Palmer and Jones site is only temporary, noting the long-term plan is to build a permanent library elsewhere.

    “We’ve looked and looked. I’ve been looking for months for a good location,” Ruff said. “This one became available.”

    “We’ve been without a library for a year now,” Ruff continued. “We don’t want to wait two to four years until we can get another permanent site.”

    As for the library’s surroundings, Ruff didn’t see any issues.

    “Actually there’s a road and a cyclone fence before you get to the convenience store (City Gas) which has a liquor store attached,” Ruff said. “There’s also a church behind the liquor store, directly behind it. We have not had any issues with the store and I just don’t think that would be an issue.”

    County administrator Jason Taylor said the county will take over the leased property on July 1, and that renovations should be completed before the start of the school year in August.

    The Ridgeway branch of the Fairfield County Library closed in September 2017. It shut down after the building experienced leaks and mold issues.

    On June 15, the Ridgeway Town Council considered five proposed sites for the permanent library location.

    “[The county] asked us as a council to review some options that have been floating around for a while,” Ridgeway Mayor Heath Cookendorfer said.

    Those sites included:

    • Old Fire Department, Palmer Street
    • Teacherage, Means Street
    • First Citizens Bank property, Palmer and East Church streets
    • Charm Parking Lot, Means and Church streets
    • Fork of U.S. 21 and S.C. 34.

    Ridgeway Council members identified the Teacherage location as the preferred site, with the Charm Parking lot location as the runner-up.

    The Town of Ridgeway owns the Teacherage site. Fairfield County would have to purchase the Charm Parking lot site, though Cookendorfer said that when the county leaves a location, the property typically reverts back to the town.

  • It took a village

    Bunting, left and Peak with the rescued cat. | Photos: James Sims

    WINNSBORO – An evening phone call from a concerned CVS customer about hearing a cat down the parking lot storm drain turned into a four-hour, multi-department rescue effort.  Fairfield  County fireman Jay Joyner lowered the truck’s ladder into the storm drain for Trip Peak, Town of Winnsboro Director of Gas, Water and Sewer, and Mikey Bunting, Gas, Water and Sewer Foreman. The two crawled approximately 150 feet through the storm drains before locating the trapped kitten, which is now at the Fairfield County Animal Shelter awaiting adoption.

  • Kennedy files for District 41

    WINNSBORO – Fred Kennedy, 65, of Winnsboro has filed to run for the House of Representatives, District 41, the seat currently held by MaryGail Douglas.

    A member of the United Citizens Party, Kennedy said his platform for the office is aimed at building up the Fairfield community, to improve housing and help people get jobs. He said that is also his goal in his work through his church, Man Up Ministries.

    “One of the problems is there is not a father leader in many of our families here in Fairfield. I believe if we can get to the man of the house, we can save the family,” Kennedy said.

    “There are some crucial issues that must be addressed in this community,” Kennedy said. “And you have to be a part of the community, to really know what people need, if you are going to help them. I grew up in this community. I live here, and I believe I can help my fellow community members.”

    A retired truck driver, Kennedy works for a construction company under the South Carolina Housing Authority that provides home maintenance and equipment (new roofs, floor repairs, heating and air conditioning units, etc.) for homeowners who make less than $20,000 annually and who can’t otherwise afford them.

    “We help provide those things,” Kennedy said. “That’s what I want to do for the people of Fairfield County who need a helping hand. Help them get what they need.” He said he wants to see the county and its people prosper.

    Kennedy is the father of two adult children. His daughter Chrishonda Baker is a computer science teacher at Fairfield Central High School. His son, Kenard, is a truck driver.

    Kennedy is running against Annie McDaniel who won the Democratic primary last month over Douglas.

  • Fire battled in Blythewood

    Photo: David Kocsis

    BLYTHEWOOD – Approximately 30 firefighters responded to a call around 4:30 p.m. Monday for this Crescent Lake home on Winding Wood Court. Parts of the roof collapsed on the home, but no injuries have been reported. The home was formerly a stop on the Parade of Homes.

  • Blythewood restaurant owner killed

    Gaugenbaugh

    BLYTHEWOOD – After popular Blythewood restaurateur, Lawrence James ‘Po’ Gaugenbaugh, was found dead in an abandoned home in the 1000 block of Wilson Boulevard on Tuesday, June 18, the employees of his Carolina Wings and Rib House are doing what they say he would have wanted – keeping the restaurant open and busy until they know what will happen with it.

    A Michigan man and his girlfriend have been charged in connection with Gaugenbaugh’s death.

    Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott held a press conference on Thursday, June 21, where he announced the arrest of Erick Young, 36, for the strangulation death of Gaugenbaugh. Young’s girlfriend Stacie Lynn Rose, 36, is facing charges in connection with moving Gaugenbaugh’s body after his death.

    Lott said Gaugenbaugh had been reported missing by his employees on June 13, and that it was those employees who helped bring closure to the case.

    Erick Young

    They told authorities that Gaugenbaugh had been allowing a woman he had known in Michigan to stay in his apartment until she got a job and got settled, according to Lott. It was also reported that Rose was letting Young sneak into Gaugenbaugh’s apartment every day without Gaugenbaugh’s knowledge.

    On the same day Gaugenbaugh was reported missing, Rose was arrested on trespassing charges at the apartments where Gaugenbaugh lived. Young was with her, but escaped from deputies. At that time, Lott said, deputies were not aware the pair was connected to Gaugenbaugh’s disappearance.

    Stacie Rose

    Young was arrested when he returned to the property a week later and some of Gaugenbaugh’s belongings were discovered in Young’s vehicle.

    “I think helping someone out took his life,” Lott said about Gaugenbaugh.

    Young was also charged with trespassing and possession of narcotics. Rose was charged with trespassing and accessory after the fact. Both are being held in the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Columbia.

    Gaugenbaugh was previously part owner of Caps Pizza restaurant that was located where Papa Johns is now in the McNulty Shopping Center.

    “He always told us he had a plan for the restaurant in case anything ever happened to him. It’s in his will,” said Sandy Hare, who has worked at the restaurant for more than 10 years. The contents of the will have not been disclosed yet.

    “He wasn’t just our boss, he was a great guy. He worked hard and everybody here loved him,” Hare told The Voice. “We were like family.”

    Hare said employees and friends plan to hold a celebration of life for Po sometime in August.

    “We’ll be letting everyone know as soon as things get settled,” Hare said.

  • Garvin takes House 77 seat runoff

    Garvin

    COLUMBIA – Political newcomer Kambrell Garvin with 2112 (69.22%) votes won the House District 77 seat in Tuesday’s runoff election over incumbent Joe McEachern who had 939 (30.78%) votes.

    Garvin, a third year law student at the University of South Carolina, took every precinct in the district except the Keels 2 precinct on the southern tip of the district where McEachern edged Garvin by a little over 2 percentage points.

    McEachern served 9 years in the House, 11 years on County Council where he also served as Chairman and he served 13 years as a Richland County Deputy.

     

  • Blythewood Town Council increases Chamber funding

    BLYTHEWOOD – After months of threatening to withhold funds from the chamber of commerce and visitor center until the chamber’s executive director Mike Switzer produced the two organizations’ complete financials by June 12, council did just the opposite on Monday night.

    After being presented financials that one former council member described as little more than a difficult-to-follow profit and loss statement that took more than a month to produce, Council increased funding for the chamber Monday evening from $15,000 to $17,500 for the 2018-19 fiscal year and continued full funding for the visitor center at $18,500 annually, with $9,250 awarded up front along with the promise that it will pull the plug on the visitor center at the end of six months, on Dec. 31, 2018.

    Council also raised the allocation in the budget for accommodation tax funding for the Big Grab (which has been given to the chamber for the last two years) from $8,500 to $10,000 for fiscal year 2018-19.

    Council asked in return only that the chamber give it a premier sponsorship valued at $2,500. The sponsorship is given at no cost to the chamber, and for council to have a voting member on the chamber board. That member will be Ed Parler, the town’s economic development director and council’s current liaison to the chamber.

    Mayor pro tem Eddie Baughman, who led the discussion and the fight to keep the visitor center funded until the end of the year, expressed concern several times about the council being fair to the chamber.  Council offered no criticism of the chamber’s financials which, chamber member Phil Frye characterized Monday night as “an abomination.”

    “The [chamber’s] profit and loss statements were difficult to understand,” Ed Parler, council’s liaison to the chamber said Monday evening. Council had no questions about the chamber/visitor center’s past financial inconsistencies and while some council members suggested the chamber got off track because there of a lack of expectations from both sides, council offered no specific stipulations or expectations regarding the chamber and visitor center financials going forward. No reference was made to the chamber’s lack of financial disclosure, reporting and questionable distribution of funds as reported in The Voice.

    The vote to fund was unanimous with Mayor J. Michael Ross not voting, but not recusing himself either. Ross remained at the table, participating in the discussion of the funding and, when both Councilmen Malcolm Gordge and Larry Griffin suggested pulling the plug immediately on the visitor center, Ross intervened to encourage chamber members in the audience to come forward to present the chamber’s side.

    Ross announced on Monday night that his decision to no longer vote on chamber or visitor center funding is due to his several-year business relationship with the chamber, which rents office space in McNulty Plaza that is owned by Ross and a business partner. Ross did recuse himself from a vote last year on $7,000 that council awarded to the chamber to renovate the McNulty office space. Ross has not recused himself on other votes providing funding that was used to pay rent.

    During a budget workshop on April 24, Switzer requested a $4,000 increase in funding – $2,500 for the chamber, which was approved by Council Monday night, and $2,000 for the visitor center, which was not approved.

    “The $4,500 increase that you have in the budget for us will cover one-fourth of our rent increase of $6,000,” Switzer told council. That increase goes into effect on July 1, Ross told The Voice.

    “My partner and I basically gave the building to the chamber the first year they were there,” Ross said. “But you can only do that for so long if you’re in business. So we charge them $1,500 a month. That’s 45 percent less than what other people pay in our building. We’re just trying to help the chamber.”

    According to Chamber documents acquired by The Voice, annual rent for the chamber/visitor center space increased over $23,000 annually over three years. It was $600 in 2015-16, increased to $12,000 for 2016-17 and to $18,000 for 2017-18. The $6,000 increase in July will bring the chamber’s annual rental fee to $24,000 or $2,000 per month. A third of that amount is charged to the visitor center which is housed in the Chamber office space.

    The usefulness of the visitor center to the town was also questioned in relation to the $18,500 annual funding. During a meeting at the chamber offices recently, Baughman said he viewed only 67 names on the visitor’s register since the first of the year and that half of them were from Blythewood, not visitors to the town.

    “That’s expensive for 30 people,” audience member Tom Greer of Cobblestone commented during the meeting.

    Rich McKendrick, a town planning commissioner and resident of Ashley Oaks, expressed criticism of how the chamber is run and questioned why the town funds a visitor center that opened a gift shop that poses competition to small businesses in town.

    “We’re members of the chamber, but a couple of curve balls have been thrown at us by the chamber which relate to the visitor center which is in direct competition with what my wife sells in her shop. She pushes hard to offer local venders, local crafts, honey, eggs, needlepoint – those are drivers in our business. Then the chamber, which is funded by the town, pops up with the visitor’s center. We are trying to see how that visitor center works on behalf of the local businesses since it’s not open on weekends,” McKendrick said. “Then the gift shop pops up. If you’re a chamber, you’re a chamber. Then you open a gift shop. What if you open a coffee shop next? I cannot connect these dots.

    “Then they come to council and ask for money which helps the gift shop,” McKendrick said. “The chamber doesn’t do anything for us for free. We pay a membership, then when the Big Grab came along, they asked us to pay a sponsorship, then they spell our name wrong and then they make excuses. And it was the same thing with the Eclipse event. We have to pay again for what the town is already paying them for. And then they open a gift shop. It’s mind-numbing when you’re on the outside looking in. I’m telling you from a business owner’s standpoint, this plan makes no sense. We are a business here. But the chamber places itself in control of events that we have to pay extra for,” McKendrick said.

    McKendrick suggested the town pull the plug on the visitor center and use the money to otherwise help the merchants.

    “The chamber was already paying the rent [for its office space] before there was a visitor’s center,” McKendrick said.

    “According to a presentation [to council] by Mr. Switzer, the chamber’s expenses have not changed because of the visitor’s center. It [the funding for the visitor center] is just an additional revenue stream to what you are already giving the chamber,” McKendrick told council. “You’re supplementing a chamber that has not had any increase in expenses due to the visitor center. “

    “That makes sense,” Baughman said, “but we’re trying to do the fair thing for the chamber, to keep it [the visitor center] going for six months, then pull the plug. I’m trying to be fair.”

    In the end, there was no suggestion from council that the town should or would look into the chamber and visitor center financials, or hold them accountable for a number of financial discrepancies in the past that make it difficult to track funding.

    An examination of the chamber’s financial documents obtained by The Voice show amounts differed from report to report and there was little breakdown of revenue and expenses to know if the numbers shown on the profit and loss statement were accurate. In one instance, Switzer submitted a final report to the A-tax committee for The Big Grab listing chamber expenses as $12,114.23 but the chamber’s profit and loss statement for July 1, 2017 – June 22, 2017 lists total expenses for The Big Grab as $7,402.12. There is no explanation for the $4,712.11 discrepancy. This and other questions were emailed to Ross with only one response at this time. In that response, Ross only said that he did not approve of the chamber staff receiving payment for working on events funded by the town.

    Mayor pro tem Eddie Baughman led the fight to fund the chamber and visitor center until Dec. 31, 2018, in order to “be fair” to the chamber. But while some effort was made to set down expectations for what council wanted to see accomplished by the chamber and, particularly, the visitor center in exchange for the funding, no consensus was ever reached and no expectations were identified.