Category: Business

BLYTHEWOOD (July 21, 2016) – The Board of Architectural Review granted a Certificate of Appropriateness Monday evening for a new sign at the Kellie Ballentine Allstate Insurance office at 162 Langford Road in downtown Blythewood. It also voted unanimously to grant Ballentine a variance because her new sign did not conform to the sign ordinance because of what Ballentine called a ‘hiccup’ in the ordinance.

It was during a review of Ballentine’s application for a new sign that Town Hall staff discovered that the Town’s current sign ordinance, Section 155.544 (C) (1), restricts the height of a sign in front of an historic structure to three feet. Ballentine, whose office is on the historic register, was requesting to replace her six-foot tall sign with a new sign of the same height. It was noted by the Board that other historic buildings in the town had been routinely granted the six-foot height.

“It’s amazing that the three-foot (height) limitation has been in the ordinance all this time and none of us noticed it,” Board Chairman Gale Coston said. “We’ve always approved the six-foot height (for historic sites) so that ‘hiccup’ surprised us, too.”

To remedy the oversight, the Board voted to recommend amending the wording in the sign ordinance to allow for signs in front of historic homes to be six feet in height. The ordinance will now go to Town Council, which will have two readings and a public hearing before the amended ordinance becomes effective.

Role of Advisor

According to the agenda, the Board had planned to discuss the role of their architectural advisor. But as the discussion began, it was decided to postpone the agenda item and move it into executive session at the August meeting. The Town’s Planning Consultant suggested the Chairman seek the advice of Town Administrator Gary Parker as to under which provision (of the Freedom of Information Act) that issue could be discussed in executive session.

Election of Officers

Because of the resignation of Chairman Michael Langston from the Board, members elected Gale Coston Chairman and Jim McLean Vice Chairman. Those seats will be effective until the end of the year when regularly scheduled elections are held for the Board.

 

WINNSBORO (July 7, 2016) – After a brief executive session Tuesday evening, County Council voted unanimously to pass first reading of an ordinance authorizing the execution of an agreement between Fairfield County and the S.C. Department of Commerce that authorizes the County to purchase property located in Fairfield County. Earlier, the Administration and Finance Committee spent almost an hour in executive session discussing the issue before voting to move it to Council for a vote.

“We are negotiating in partnership with the state to purchase a tract of land for a possible industrial site,” Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) told The Voice following the meeting. She added that Council’s goal is to bring good paying jobs to Fairfield County.

While the vote was unanimous on Tuesday evening, Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) didn’t appeared to be in agreement about the project at last month’s intergovernmental meeting. At that meeting, Marcharia said the County might be better served if Council could focus as much on small businesses as it does on big, long-range industrial projects.

Robinson, however, later told The Voice that Marcharia had spoken out of turn, specifically in his mention of the County’s prospective I-77 project.

A better idea (than the I-77 project), Marcharia said, is supporting the expansion of water and sewer infrastructure by the local municipalities, which in turn, he said, would spur the growth of small businesses and improve opportunities for adequate housing.

“I think if you had that (expanded water and sewer), small businesses would come, housing would come,” Marcharia said, “rather than waiting for 10 years for one major project on I-77.”

Marcharia identified the I-77 project as a long-range vision to construct a major industrial park somewhere along the interstate in the northern portion of the country. Robinson, meanwhile, would not speak in detail about the project.

“I am not at liberty to discuss it,” she said. “We (members of County Council) are under a confidentiality agreement. Mr. Marcharia was out of line (talking about it).”

 

WINNSBORO (June 30, 2016) – When County Council introduced Jason Taylor as their new County Administrator earlier this month, they also filled another long-vacant position by announcing the hire of Ty Davenport as the County’s new Economic Development Director.

Davenport, 52, took office on June 6. The County has been without an Economic Development Director since July 2, 2015, when Tiffany Harrison resigned to take the Executive Director position with the Midlands Education Business Alliance in Columbia. Harrison had been the County’s economic point person since 2006.

Davenport holds a Master’s degree in economic development from the University of Southern Mississippi. He earned an undergraduate degree in business administration from Presbyterian College in Clinton.

Prior to coming to Fairfield County, Davenport spent the last eight years as the owner of Charles T. Davenport Investments, LLC, a commercial real estate company. For 10 years before going out on his own, Davenport was the national accounts manager for Nucor Corp. in Columbia, where he was responsible for promotion and sales of Nucor Building Systems products. He spent 1996-1998 as the Economic Development Representative for the SCANA Corporation, and began his career as the Senior Project Manager with the Central Carolina Economic Development Alliance.

It was while he was with the Alliance that he first became acquainted with Fairfield County, when he helped recruit both Isola and Lang Mekra to the Walter Brown 2 Industrial Park.

“While working for the Central Carolina Alliance, I had some success in Fairfield County with some projects I worked on,” Davenport said. “The people here were great, they wanted to grow and they had the right attitude.”

So when the opportunity to come back to Fairfield County arose, he said, he jumped at it.

“It’s kind of like coming home,” Davenport said.

Nearly 20 years later, Fairfield County is in a great position to grow further, he said.

“There’s tremendous opportunity here,” Davenport said. “The new Commerce Park is up and there’s infrastructure in the ground, which is huge. It makes it really attractive to industry. It’s a great county from an economic development standpoint; where it is located, between Columbia and Charlotte. It’s tough to find property. We have property here.”

Davenport’s job is not without its challenges, however; water being at the top of the list.

“We’ve got infrastructure requirements,” he said. “We need more water and sewer in the ground, but that will come. We have adequate services for moderate users, but if you have a major mega-water user, we’re off the list. Typically, they’re the big investments. That’s an opportunity we don’t want to miss.”

Davenport said since coming to work he’s already had his first visit with an interested company, and there are four or five others, he said, that appear “viable.”

As Harrison said in her final days with Fairfield County last year, “The county is in great position for growth and success. We have the building blocks in place so the next person coming in will be able to continue that success.”

Davenport, it appears, is wasting no time in fitting some of those building blocks together.

 

BLYTHEWOOD (June 16, 2016) – Rick McMackin’s Landplan Group South has been selected by Town Council as the architect for the design of the proposed amphitheater in Doko Park. Because McMackin was the landscape architect for the original design work on the park, he was selected without issuing a Request for Proposal

McMackin will be responsible for site prep/demolition, grading, stage retaining walls, concrete stage pad, dance pad, electrical, sound, lighting, landscaping and oversight of the construction of the band shell. McMackin’s contract is for $383,820.

According to Town Administrator Gary Parker, the project is expected to be completed by mid-summer of 2017. Revenues for McMackin’s contract will come from the Town’s Hospitality and Accommodations Tax fund balances.

Town Council gave its approval last month to an agreement with Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union for the naming rights for the amphitheater, naming it the Palmetto Citizen’s Amphitheater. The nearly $400,000 band shell is being funded with a grant and pledges from across the community, including $125,000 from the credit union for naming rights.

 

BLYTHEWOOD (June 16, 2016) – During a four-hour budget work session on Tuesday morning, Town Council considered a request by the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce to more than double the Chamber’s funding from $9,500 to $20,000.

Councilman Tom Utroska suggested only a 5 percent increase to $10,000, while on the high end, Councilman Malcolm Gordge, siding with the Chamber, suggested an increase in funding to $14,500. Councilmen Eddie Baughman and Larry Griffin favored a middle ground between $12,500 and $14,500. Mayor J. Michael Ross suggested instead a 25 percent increase to $12,000, which was approved unanimously by Council.

But the vote came after a lengthy discussion of what the proposed increase would be used for and an airing of whether the Chamber was serving the smaller businesses in the town.

“We’ve talked for three years now about the Town paying the salary of Mike Switzer, the Chamber’s Executive Director,” Utroska said. “Originally, it was presented to us by Mr. Switzer that other Town’s paid their directors. Then it was corrected that other towns do not, in fact, pay their (Chamber) directors’ salaries.”

In an email to The Voice following the meeting, Switzer wrote that the requested increase in funding was needed to pay for office space for the Chamber, which now uses space in McNulty Plaza. That space is loaned to the Chamber by the building’s owner free of charge. The Chamber pays the cost of the office’s utilities, which comes to about $600 per year according to the Chamber’s published budget. But the office is for lease, so the Chamber might have to eventually move out, Switzer said.

When asked by The Voice to explain a proposed $9,000 increase in the Chamber’s payroll budget from $21,000 in FY 2015-2016 to $30,000 in FY 2016-2017, Switzer said the increase would go to salary increases for him and the Chamber’s other employee Kitty Kelly, explaining that with increased membership, they were working more hours.

With the proposed increase from Council, the Chamber’s overall budget would have increased from $41,000 to $71,500. Switzer told Council in April that besides a small monthly salary he receives 10 percent of the Chamber’s revenue.

Griffin asked if the Chamber was doing “what we think it should be doing. If they are accomplishing what we want them to accomplish, that’s positive?”

Later referring to Griffin’s suggestion that the Chamber should follow Council’s directions, Ed Parler, a Chamber Board member, told Council the Chamber functions independently of Council with a mission to serve its members.

“The wishes of the Chamber members may not be consistent with the policies of the Town Council. We function as independent bodies,” Parler said.

Ross suggested that the Chamber is doing a good job, that at the Chamber breakfast that morning, Switzer was talking about the big Kroger coming to Killian Road.

“But it’s (Kroger) not in the town of Blythewood,” Ross said. “It’s on the outskirts.”

As a member of the Chamber himself, Ross said the Chamber is in a better place than it’s ever been.

“But I still think it does not seem to provide for the businesses in our Town Center District. Do those (Town Center) businesses get what they need from the Chamber? Is there a value for them in being a member of the Chamber?” Ross asked. “We can reach out to the (big stores), but they are not really in the town. Our Town Center businesses are Rimer’s Hardware, Blythewood Pharmacy, Pam’s Fashions, Papa John’s. These are our businesses. I think all of a sudden we’ve gone to a cloud above all that.”

Ross said he did not feel comfortable increasing the Chamber’s funds to more than $12,500.

“You’re moving forward,” he said to Parler, “and this ($12,500) is not going to buy you a building. But we don’t give funding to other organizations, not even Bravo Blythewood. They only get money from the Hospitality Tax funds for sponsoring events.”

Utroska agreed with Ross that the Chamber had gone to a cloud that’s beyond the town of Blythewood.

“Bringing businesses in from out of town is important, but I’d just like to focus on the local businesses too,” Utroska said. “The Chamber must show local businesses that it is of value (to them).”

Ross said he and Town Administrator Gary Parker meet with Switzer, Parler and other Chamber Board members every two months.

“We work closely with the Chamber and recently purchased way-finding signs for the town at the Chamber’s request,” Ross said. “I think the Chamber knows what we would like and that’s for even more to be done for small businesses, mom-and-pop businesses, that make up Blythewood. But we want all of them (businesses).”

Before he finished, Ross said he was a little disappointed that the Chamber has abandoned the sponsorship of the town’s Christmas Parade.

“I just think that was a perfect way to promote the Chamber,” Ross said.

In an email to The Voice, Switzer said he was disappointed that Council did not approve the full funding request.

“We are disappointed,” Switzer said, “and will make every effort to convince Town Council of the necessity and justification for our original request between now and final reading for the Town’s budget.

Council passed first reading of the Town’s budget at the workshop and will take the final vote on Tuesday, June 28 at The Manor.

 

JENKINSVILLE (June 9, 2016) – South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G), primary owner of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station, has filed a petition with the Public Service Commission of S.C. seeking an order approving an updated completion and cost schedule for two new nuclear reactors currently under construction at the Jenkinsville plant.

The requested rescheduling would push the completion date for Unit 2 back to Aug. 31, 2019 and would push Unit 3 back to Aug. 31, 2020. It would also add approximately $807 million to SCE&G’s cost for the project, taking the estimated total cost for SCE&G up to $6.8 billion in 2007 dollars and $7.7 billion with escalation.

When initially approved by the Commission in March 2009, SCE&G’s total estimated cost was expected to be $4.5 billion in 2007 dollars and $6.3 billion with escalation.

SCE&G is a 55 percent owner of the project, with Santee Cooper owning the other 45 percent. Overall estimated cost for the project now stands at around $14 billion.

According to SCE&G’s notice of filing, the new cost schedules “reflect additional costs associated with the Amendment and with certain change orders outside the Amendments. It also reflects additional Owner’s costs principally associated with the Amendment and the change in the guaranteed substantial completion dates, and additional costs to upgrade certain project-based transmission equipment.”

A public hearing on the amendments has been scheduled for Oct. 5-7 at 10:30 a.m. at 101 Executive Center Drive, Saluda Building, Columbia, 29210.

“The request for a cost of overrun of this magnitude will hit consumers hard and the PSC should for once side with residential and business customers and require for SCE&G and its shareholders to bear a major portion of the cost increase as it is in large part due to poor project management,” said Tom Clements, director of Savannah River Site Watch. “The law under which the project is being pursued is not a blank check for endless cost overruns and schedule delays and the company must be held accountable by the PSC for the costly problems and mistakes with the project.”

Clements said SCE&G has also informed the Commission that it would be filing for its annual nuclear cost rate increase, as allowed by the Baseload Review Act. If approved, it would be the ninth such rate increase since the project was approved.

SCE&G customers are already paying 15.5 percent of the bill for advance payment of financing costs for the project, Clements said.

In October 2015, SCE&G signed an Amendment to the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Agreement for the project, which, among other things, granted SCE&G a “fixed price option for the remaining work required under the construction contract,” according to the company’s notice of filing.

“The claim that the cost is fixed is very misleading as it’s clear that there can be future cost increases, all of which would be passed on to the consumer if allowed by the PSC,” Clements said. “The cost of the project is not capped and unless the PSC acts responsibly to curb the cost the sky’s the limit on future cost overruns, so customers should be braced for yet more negative rate impacts.”

Phone calls to SCE&G spokespersons for comment were not returned at press time.

Anyone wishing to testify and present evidence at the hearing should, by July 15, notify, in writing, the Commission at the Office of Regulatory Staff, 1401 Main St., Suite 900, Columbia, S.C. 29201; or K. Chad Burgess, Director and Deputy Counsel, SCANA Corp., 220 Operations Way, Mail Code C222, Cayce, S.C. 29033. Refer to Docket No. 2016-223-E.