Category: Government

Arch Plans Progress, Cotton Yard Lease OK’d

RIDGEWAY – Town Council, during their May 14 meeting, received a proposal from TruVista Communications for turning downtown into a Wi-Fi hotspot. The service would potentially cost the Town a little more than $498 a month, but would provide a free internet connection to users in the downtown area.

Brannon Hough, a TruVista Business Solutions Specialist, told Council her company would be willing to waive any installation costs for the 5-meg Ethernet service, “providing that we are able to put up a Council-approved sign somewhere in the town that says it’s provided by TruVista.”

Hough said TruVista was proposing three access points within the town – one at the Century House and two on Main Street – that “will create a wireless network in downtown Ridgeway that can be used by anyone.”

Creating a downtown hotspot was part of Ridgeway’s initial long-range strategic planning talks led by Scott Slayton of the S.C. Municipal Association last September. During a follow-up planning session last November, however, free Wi-Fi failed to make the final cut of priorities; although Mayor Charlene Herring did indicate that Council would explore the possibility of doing so.

Randy Allen, a TruVista sales engineer, told Council during the May 14 presentation that the proposed wireless network could accommodate up to 15 network names with up to 100 users per network. The network also comes with a feature that would allow the Town and businesses to track the number of visitors to Ridgeway, whether they log onto a network or not..

“If a smart phone passes through the area, they talk to the wireless network,” Allen said. “That’s just the nature of smart phones and tablets. So these devises will actually give you a report of how many people pass through your town. It reports on how long they stay. And it reports repeat visitors.”

Allen said the proposed five-year lease of the equipment was guaranteed and the equipment was forward compatible for advancing technology.

Ridgeway School Arch

Councilman Heath Cookendorfer, reporting on findings from his committee to stabilize and restore the last remaining vestiges of the old Ridgeway School – the arch on Church and Means streets – said the first order of business was to keep the structure from tumbling down.

Cookendorfer said the committee reached out to several local brick masons, but only one – King D. Murphy Qualls – came out to have a look at the patient. Cookendorfer said Qualls and the architect, Meredith Drakeford, agreed that the concrete base of the arch must be repaired and a 12-inch concrete footing installed to keep the arch standing. Afterwards, Cookendorfer said, the brick can be repaired and replaced.

Cookendorfer said Ridgeway resident David Waters, who purchased the old bricks when the school building was demolished, was willing to sell back to the Town as many as needed to repair the arch.

Ridgeway was awarded a $500 Community Enhancement Grant last fall for the initial phase of arch restoration, but Herring said two more quotes were required on the work. Council gave Cookendorfer the green light to proceed with the repairs, provided two more bids were secured.

Sewage Plant Upgrades

Council also gave the OK for a $201,700 bid from J.L. Construction of Piedmont for upgrades to the Town’s wastewater treatment plant. Ridgeway received a $220,000 grant several months ago from the Rural Infrastructure Authority for the project. Work is expected to begin next month.

Cotton Yard Lease

After three months of haggling and postponements, Council finally agreed to a $300 a year lease with Norfolk Southern Railway for the Cotton Yard property in the center of town. Council also agreed to a $752.60 liability insurance policy through Insurance of Fairfield.

 

COG Taps T.Y. Linn for Task

WINNSBORO – With the May 5 announcement by the Central Midlands Council of Governments (COG) that it had selected a primary provider for Fairfield County’s long-range strategic plan, the County is one step closer to sorting out what to do with the massive influx of cash expected after 2019 from two new reactors under construction at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville.

It is, however, a small step, as a dollar figure has yet to be negotiated in the deal and the contract must then come back to County Council for a final OK. And the kind of comprehensive long-term plan the County is seeking could take at least a year to complete, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope told The Voice last week.

The COG’s website announced it intended to award the contract to T.Y. Linn International, a multi-disciplinary engineering services firm with offices across the U.S. and Asia. IBI Group, Inc., Strategic Planning Group, Inc. and Comprehensive Business Consulting, LLC are listed as sub-providers to be contracted by Linn.

The COG would not talk extensively about their procurement process, but did tell The Voice that it was a competitive process that went before its evaluation committee.

“That’s the firm that came out on top,” Gregory Sprouse, with the COG’s Planning Department, said.

Boudreaux Group, Inc. was listed on the COG’s website as “shortlisted,” which Sprouse said meant they were a finalist for the contract.

The announcement raised questions at Council’s May 11 meeting, however, when Ridgeway resident Randy Bright, addressing Council during the first public comment segment of the meeting, said the plan was “already off to a bumpy start.”

“We all remember when we heard the words ‘Let the COG do the next plan. They have all the talent. They have all the means, they have all the resources to do our next strategic plan’,” Bright said. “Well now we discover that the all-knowing COG has farmed out our plan to four high-priced consulting companies. Obvious clarification is needed from our government on this.”

Bright said the County still had plenty of time before the reactors come on line to “formulate the standards of the next strategic plan before the consultants begin.”

Councilman Walter Larry Stewart (District 3) later asked Pope why the County was “using four outfits” for the plan, but Pope said that assessment was not accurate.

“What was published (was) the companies that submitted solicitations,” Pope told Stewart.

Pope told The Voice late last week that the sub-providers submitted solicitations to T.Y. Linn and Linn submitted a solicitation to the COG. The County, Pope said, would have a contract with only the primary provider – T.Y. Linn.

And, Chairman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said, that had been the plan all along.

Former District 7 Councilman David Brown set things in motion nearly a year ago with his motion to utilize the COG for the next big County plan. Part of that motion, according to the official minutes and according to a story published in The Voice on May 30, 2014, also allowed for the COG to contract out for additional resources as necessary.

“That was (the COG’s) responsibility all along,” Robinson said last week, “to define a scope of work and put an RFP (Request for Proposals) together.”

The economic development portion of the plan will be coordinated through the I-77 Alliance, Pope said, since the Alliance is currently working on a larger plan of its own for all of its member counties, including Fairfield.

The County’s long-range plan will also incorporate a community master plan, which will inventory and analyze community assets and needs; and a financial plan, which will provide a capital improvement program.

The plan will rely on input from the public as well as the County’s other governing bodies, Pope said.

Pope said the contract should be ready for Council’s review next month.

 

Budget Gets 1st Reading, H-Tax Sails Through

RIDGEWAY – Water and sewer customers served by the Ridgeway system are facing another rate increase as part of the Town’s 2015-2016 budget, as Town Council passed first reading of an ordinance during their May 14 meeting to pass along a rate hike from their supplier, the Town of Winnsboro.

During Council’s April 9 meeting, Councilman Doug Porter said Winnsboro’s rates were going up 98 cents per 1,000 gallons across the board. Last week’s first reading upped that to an even $1.

Residential water customers inside the Town limits will see their rate for the first 1,000 gallons go up to $16, and will pay $6.07 for each additional 1,000 gallons. Residential customers outside the Town limits will be paying $21 for the first 1,000 gallons and $7.32 for each additional 1,000 gallons.

Commercial water rates inside the Town limits are going up to $19 for the first 1,000 gallons and $6.07 for each additional 1,000. Those rates outside the Town limits will be $24 for the first 1,000 gallons and $7.32 for each additional 1,000 gallons.

Residential sewer rates for customers inside the Town limits will increase to $13 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.42 for each additional 1,000 gallons. Outside the Town limits, those rates are going up to $14 for the first 1,000 gallons and $6.57 for each additional 1,000 gallons. The flat rate for residential sewer customers will now be $26.

Commercial sewer rates inside the Town limits are increasing to $17 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.57 for each additional 1,000 gallons. Outside the Town limits, those rates are going to $20 and $6.57, respectively.

Hospitality Tax

Ridgeway’s proposed hospitality tax cleared its final reading during the May 14 meeting without opposition. The tax will be levied at 2 percent, the legal maximum, “on the gross proceeds of the sale of prepared meals and beverages in establishments within the Town of Ridgeway,” the ordinance (4-1007) states.

Effective Aug. 1, the tax will be due the Town by the 20th of each month. Taxes not paid on time will be subject to a late fee of 5 percent of the sum owed. Failure to pay will be considered a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or 30 days in jail, or both.

During Council’s discussion of the tax in March, Councilman Russ Brown said the revenue could go toward tourism-related, cultural, recreational or historic facilities, as well as highways, roads, streets or bridges providing access to tourist destinations. The revenue could also go toward advertising and promotion of tourism development, and to water and sewer infrastructure serving tourism-related facilities. The funds could go toward preserving the arch on the old school property, and for promoting Pig on the Ridge, Arts on the Ridge and other Town events.

Budget

Council also passed first reading of a $222,840 general fund budget and a $364,636 water and sewer fund budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Salaries take up the lion’s share of expenses at $75,600, while the entire police department’s share of the budget weighs in at $71,240.

The general fund is up slightly from last year’s $217,550, with the water and sewer fund up from $359,355 last year.

During last month’s budget discussions, Mayor Charlene Herring suggested a review of the Town’s business license fee, which she said had not been raised since 1987. Last week’s first reading, however, included no increase in the fees, with the line item showing $5,040 in income.

 

Board Snubs Master Plan

BLYTHEWOOD – When the Liolio Architectural firm of Charleston brought plans for the expansion of the Blythewood Library to the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) last April for discussion, the plans for the proposed 2,765-square-foot addition were Master-Plan compliant with the new addition situated in front of the current library building. The addition was closer to the street with a front facade height of between 16 and 24 feet as required by the Town’s Master Plan.

But the BAR rejected the schematic, telling Liolio representatives they felt the Master Plan standards were not right for the early 1990s suburban style building and suggested several changes, including moving the new addition from the front of the existing building to the east side, landscaping the current space between the building and the street with grass and plants, leaving the building set back from the street as it is now and lowering the roof height to as low as 15 feet so it will complement the existing building’s roof.

In addition, the BAR would have to approve variances for the setback, the roof height and the removal of trees in the new footprint since the proposals by the BAR are not compliant with the Master Plan. At their meeting on Tuesday night, the Board approved the variances.

At that meeting, Steve Sullivan, Director of Facilities for the Richland County Library system, told the BAR that while the Library Board was happy to have new plans drawn up to accommodate the Board’s stipulations, it had already invested time and money into architectural drawings compliant with the Master Plan, and the job was at a standstill until he could meet with the Library Board to ask them to approve new architectural drawings to reflect the BAR’s suggestions. Sullivan also requested written confirmation from the BAR (to take back to his Library Board) that the new plans are in compliance with the BAR’s suggestions. BAR Chairman Michael Langston told Sullivan he would provide him with a letter of intent.

Proposed plans for the new addition, according to Roberta Phillips, plan project manager, are designed to meet three primary objectives: education and growth, a place for teens to hang out to do schoolwork and play video games and a place for readers.

The new addition will also include an area for crafts, computers and other creative endeavors.

An outdoor urban style sidewalk café area with tables is also planned so library patrons can enjoy coffee and a good book. There would also be a sunroom and a covered area for viewing the ball fields behind the library.

Sullivan said he expects to have new plans back to the BAR for approval of a certificate of appropriateness by July.

 

WINNSBORO – County Council’s Administration and Finance Committee recommended more than $67,000 in software upgrades on May 11 to make the County compliant with state security standards for the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS).

“Local governments across the state of S.C. are usually not compliant with the regulations SLED (the State Law Enforcement Division) requires,” Interim Administrator Milton Pope told the Committee, “and it usually comes down to cost.”

The $67,644 is in the upcoming 2015-2016 budget, Pope said, and will cover the hardware, software, networking, licensing and installation at three County buildings.

The Committee also recommended awarding the bid for pest control services to Terminix Services, Inc.

“We attempt every way that we can to do business with local business,” Pope told the Committee. “However, in this particular case you see the cost there, and the lowest and most responsive request is considerably less than the others.”

The Terminix bid came in at $17,604. Orkin Pest Control offered the next lowest bid at $18,600, followed by Cleggs Termite and Pest at $20,340 and Fairfield Pest Control at $53,340.

The Committee’s recommendations will go before the full Council at their May 26 meeting.

 

Southeastern Volunteer Cries Foul

WINNSBORO – As County Council heads toward the finish line in wrapping up the 2015-2016 budget, at least one volunteer firefighter is feeling like his station got the short end of the stick in fund allocations.

Southeastern Fire Department member Moses Bell, appealing to Council for additional equipment during the first public comment segment of Monday night’s Council meeting, said his station was getting passed over in favor of other stations and placed the blame for the slight at the feet of the County’s Fire Marshal, Tony Hill.

“The budget allows for other stations to have their service truck and brush truck to be replaced, while Southeastern does not have a brush truck at all,” Bell said, “and the service truck is an old ambulance that was discarded many many years ago by another emergency agency.”

Bell said he could not understand why Southeastern was getting passed over, until he was told recently that Hill’s position was, “if he had anything to do with it, Southeastern would not have gotten the truck they got many years ago.”

Bell asked Council if Hill’s alleged position represented a “bias” against Southeastern and urged Council to investigate.

Hill told The Voice Tuesday that Bell was mistaken and at no time did he ever do anything to prevent Southeastern from getting any equipment. Hill said Southeastern had received a new truck, the truck to which Bell was referring, only three of four years ago.

“I didn’t have control over who got trucks back then,” Hill said. “I didn’t do anything to keep anybody from getting a truck.”

Furthermore, Hill said, Southeastern is not short on firefighting gear.

“They’ve got every piece of equipment they need to do the job they need to do,” Hill said. “He (Bell) is the only one who ever complains out there. I never hear anything from the chief (Dwayne Bell), and I meet with him once a month. He doesn’t ever say anything to me.”

The Fire Board requested five new brush trucks at $29,081 each and four new service trucks at $49,567 each in the 2015-2016 budget. Interim County Administrator Milton Pope has recommended two of each in the budget that Monday night passed the second of its three readings. Pope said the County plans to purchase the remaining equipment in the next fiscal year.

During a May 7 work session, Pope told Council that the Feasterville station also wanted a new truck. Pope also said Council may want to revisit the County’s policy on how new equipment is distributed.

“I think the policy that we have, I think it’s a good one,” Pope told Council, “but I think we need to take a re-look at it, because sometimes with the fire stations they feel as though it’s just their turn. They don’t really care about the fire calls; they just want a new truck.”

And fire call volume, Pope told The Voice Tuesday, forms the basis of the County’s policy for allocating funds for new equipment.

Over a two-year period between 2013 and 2014, Southeastern ranked ninth out of 11 fire stations in average number of calls, responding to 32 in 2014 and just 17 in 2013. Feasterville ranked eighth, with 37 calls in 2014 and 19 calls in 2013. Topping the list is the Community Fire Department, which answered a total of 319 calls over the two-year period, followed by Ridgeway, which answered 256 in two years.

“I have not observed any intentional ‘slight’ to the (Southeastern) Station or certainly not to the citizens of the area,” Pope said. “You have a base line for suitable equipment for all stations and then you strategically replace equipment where the needs are greatest using the data from call volume as one of the major factors.”

Attempts to reach Southeastern Fire Chief Dwayne Bell for comment were not successful at press time.

 

WINNSBORO – While County Council continues to pore over what they are billing as a ‘no tax-increase’ budget, an item to emerge during last week’s discussions has put that definition to the test.

“There is actually a statutory difference between a ‘fee’ and a ‘tax’,” Interim Administrator Milton Pope told The Voice after Monday’s County Council meeting.

A ‘tax,’ Pope said, goes into the general fund of a governing entity, to be comingled with other funds and used at the discretion of that entity. A ‘fee,’ he said, is assigned to the specific use for which it was adopted by ordinance.

The fee in question is the proposed road maintenance fee and will be part of the County’s 2015-2016 budget ordinance, which cleared second reading Monday night. Council is considering a $5 fee on personal vehicles and a $10 fee on commercial vehicles, to be tacked onto Fairfield County car tax bills. Pope said he estimates $125,000 a year can be raised by the fees, which will be used for maintenance and dust treatment of the County’s dirt roads as well as maintenance of the County’s smaller paved roads.

“When we met with the CTC (County Transportation Committee), they mentioned to us we needed to look at providing maintenance dollars for County improved roads – not County resurfaced roads – because they are not to DOT (Department of Transportation) standards,” Pope told Council during a May 7 budget work session. “The other portion of what those fees would be used for would be those things that are associated with maintenance on roads – not only patching and that type stuff – but treatments for dust control and those types of things on our dirt roads.”

Council Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said during the May 7 work session that dust treatment work had backed up over the years, with at least one project shelved last year for lack of money. And while the budget ordinance, which includes the new fee, has sailed through the first two of its three readings, it is unclear if the fee aspect has the full support of the entire Council.

Although voting with his colleagues to pass the first two readings, Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) called the proposed fee a game of semantics.

“You can call it a ‘fee’ if you want to,” Marcharia told The Voice Tuesday, “but it’s still a tax.”

Councilman Billy Smith (District 7), also voting to pass the first two readings of the budget ordinance, has indicated that he was still on the fence regarding the proposed roads maintenance fee.

“I would feel more comfortable before we take a sense of Council on the road fee to get some other questions answered and see if any other Council members have any other recommendations for cuts in other areas,” Smith said during the May 7 work session. “I would be more comfortable voting for such a fee if we could offset the cost in other areas.”

Budget Notes

Council upped the ante on Pope’s recommendation of $4,000 for the Chameleon Inspirations Learning Center, bumping the allocation up to $5,250. The non-profit that provides tutoring services and after-school and summer programs for children in kindergarten through grade six had requested $6,500 in County funds for the 2015-2016 fiscal year.

“Anything for children at that tender age, if we could help them get their character together,” Marcharia said, “something like that we should support.”

Robinson said such allocations should require at least a semi-annual report from the beneficiary, and on the suggestion of Councilman Marion Robinson (District 5), Council agreed to require quarterly reports.

Council approved Pope’s recommendation of $5,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of the Midlands, which serves Fairfield County with after-school and summer programs. The allocation had raised questions from Council when Council learned the School District was charging the club rent for use of District facilities.

Dr. J.R. Green, Superintendent of Schools, told The Voice this week that he had contacted the Boys and Girls Club and that the rent fees were standard for all facilities the club utilizes. Rent was not required by the District, Green said, but was instead an incentive proposed by the club at all locations.

Council also debated during the May 7 work session a cost of living increase for non-Council elected officials and their staff.

“We have to have those offices,” Chairwoman Robinson said. “The state does supplement the treasurer and the auditor, but it’s a pittance. I know it’s been at least four or more years since any employees have had a cost of living increase. To me that justifies a cost of living increase.”

Pope recommended the pay increase, and suggested Council could implement an annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) increase.

But Smith balked at a pay raise for elected offices, although he said he supported a raise for their staff.

“For the elected officials, regardless of the Consumer Price Index, they knew what the salary was when they ran and they don’t have to run again,” Smith said.

Four of the seven Council members, including Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6), agreed. However, during Monday night’s brief continuation of the May 7 work session, Kinley asked Council to hold off on a final decision until the administration could present a comparison with other counties.

“We need to keep a good relationship with our elected officials,” Kinley said Monday. “I’d like to see what other counties, neighboring counties and counties our size, do first.”

Smith also suggested Council forgo reimbursement for home internet service and cell phones. Currently, Council members can be reimbursed up to $175 a month for those costs. The notion died, however, when the majority agreed with Kinley to leave to each individual Council member the decision on whether or not to seek reimbursement for those expenses.

Council’s next budget work session is scheduled for May 28 at 6 p.m.

 

BLYTHEWOOD – As the first part of developing a comprehensive plan for goals and objectives, the Planning Commission on May 4 hashed out a Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis on local economic and commercial development. A similar analysis will follow for land use, according to Commission Chairman Malcolm Gordge, and both SWOTs will then be compiled in a report for recommendations to Town Council.

With Weaknesses and Threats outweighing Strengths and Opportunities by about 12-10, the seven-member Commission compiled the following list:

Strengths

• Zero Property Taxes. “Which is great for business,” Gordge said, “not so good for the Town.”

• Doko Meadow and the Manor. “It certainly should be considered under the umbrella of economic and commercial development,” Gordge said, “because that’s what we want it to be, we want it to be a revenue generator.”

• Quality of Blythewood Schools.

Weaknesses

• Present Number of Rooftops to Support Commercial Activities. “We need more rooftops,” Gordge said. “The more people there are, the greater the market, the greater the business potential.”

• Code enforcement; hospitality fees on businesses; lack of an aggressive plan for economic development; no boutique hotel; poor signage; and no ‘town look’ rounded out the list of weaknesses.

Opportunities

• Available Land. According to Gordge, the Blythewood area has just under 1,000 acres of land available for economic development. “That’s a pretty sizable chunk of land that’s waiting for someone to do something with,” he said.

• Maximize and Expand Festivals. “That sounds small, but it’s not,” Commissioner Don Sanders said. “This past weekend, Fort Mill had their Strawberry Festival, had 65,000 people. Every year it grows and grows. It’s a huge revenue generator.”

Also included among the Opportunities were potential grant dollars for economic development and the Town’s long-term Town Center plan. The quality of the local schools also made its second appearance on the SWOT under Opportunities, and Commission Michael Switzer later added the exploration of bond money to accelerate local street improvements to which Richland County is now committed.

Threats

• Insufficient Funds. “That’s crucial,” Gordge said. “We can’t do anything if we don’t have any form of revenue stream that we rely on more and more to expand.”

Switzer noted that the Town was, however, in a strong financial position with more than $1 million in its reserves, but Town Administrator Gary Parker pointed out that the Town did not know how long that would last.

“Because we don’t know what the General Assembly might do next year (in regards to the local revenue fund),” Parker said.

“A lot of our money comes from the hospitality tax and other kinds of things,” Commissioner Ernestine Rogers said, “and then they (General Assembly) decide we’re not going to let this little small town have control over that money, we’re going to move that to our control. So we don’t have – I hate to use that four-letter word – a tax base.”

• Nonchalant Council. “I wasn’t saying we have one,” Switzer said, “I’m just saying if we did it would be bad to have Council people who didn’t care, who weren’t really motivated or paying attention. We have, I think, three people up for election this November, so that’s something that should be on everybody’s radar.”

• Completion of Plans to Revitalize Roads. “For what it’s worth I can confirm that all of the improvements we wanted in the Town Center District are now formally on the Richland County project plan,” Gordge said. Those include Creech, McNulty and Blythewood roads, Gordge said, as well as Wilson Blvd.

• Perception of Developers that Blythewood is Hard to Deal With. “I can give you specifics, but it doesn’t have any value, because perception is reality,” Sanders said. “It’s across the board that nobody wants growth up here.”

Also included on the list of Threats was lack of economic development.

As the session wound down, Switzer extrapolated on why he had included poor signage and the lack of a boutique hotel among his contributions. Switzer said the Manor would be an ideal place for corporate retreats, but Blythewood did not offer any “corporate-type hotels.”

As for signage, Switzer said beyond the signs posted at the I-77 off-ramp, there were no further signs within the town to direct visitors to the park or other attractions.

“We do now have a Visitor’s Center sign, sometimes blocked by a State Farm sign, but there is no direction to go to the park,” Switzer said, “except what’s at the interstate. How long are they going to drive around before they find it?”

Parker said the Town had two signs on order, one to be placed at the intersection of Blythewood Road and Main Street and the other near the off-ramp at I-77 and Blythewood Road, both directing visitors to the park.

 

BLYTHEWOOD – In yet another twist in the Rimer Pond Road commercial zoning saga, the Richland County planning staff has now called for a 30-day deferral of a County Council Public Hearing for the proposed rezoning of a 5.23-acre parcel on the road.

The rezoning request for Rural Commercial (RC) zoning on the property was made by Patrick Palmer, the Chairman of Richland County Planning Commission and broker for the sale of the 5.23 acres. The residents in the area, which has no commercial zoning, have rallied against the proposed zoning. It is the second 30-day deferral of the public hearing for the rezoning request in as many months. The two deferrals are in addition to a 30-day deferral at the Planning Commission level earlier this month in a related matter in connection with the proposed rezoning.

Residents along the road who oppose commercial zoning on their otherwise rural road say they feel the delays are tactics that favor the applicant (Palmer), giving him more time to secure votes on County Council for his rezoning request.

“It’s not right to put the residents through maneuvers that favor the applicant. If he (Palmer) had wanted to meet with us he could have,” said Trey Hair who has been a spokesperson for the residents. “If he has the votes on Council, why does he keep delaying the vote another 30 days?”

Palmer requested the rezoning of the property from Medium Density Residential (RS-MD) to Rural Commercial (RC) at the April 6 meeting of the Richland County Planning Commission. The County’s planning staff (employees) recommended the rezoning be approved by the Planning Commission. But Commission members found fault with the request as it related to provisions of the zoning ordinance and voted 4-1 to recommend denial of the request to County Council.

A public hearing and first vote was scheduled for the April 27 County Council meeting. Without allowing the residents to speak at the hearing, County Council Chairman Torrey Rush moved to defer the request until May 26 to allow the applicant to meet with residents who opposed the commercial zoning. Rush said he also wanted to find out why the Planning Commission voted against the staff’s recommendation for commercial zoning for the property. He told the large crowd of residents attending the meeting that they would be allowed to address the issue at the May 26 meeting.

But when the agenda for the May 26 County Council meeting was made available to the public on May 11, the Rimer Pond Road zoning item was no longer on the agenda. When contacted by The Voice, Richland County Boards & Committees Coordinator Suzi Haynes said the meeting had been deferred by staff until the June Council meeting.

The Voice left a message for County’s Deputy Planning Director/Zoning Administrator Geonard Price who did not return the phone call but responded through Haynes with the message that the applicant (Palmer) had asked the staff to defer the public hearing so that he could meet with the residents. Haynes said that since Palmer’s request was made 15 days before the May 26 public hearing as required, that staff decided to administratively defer the hearing.

While Palmer has told The Voice that he is not one of the principals of Sycamore Development, Inc. which owns the property, he will not say who the principals are. His father, Hugh A. Palmer, is listed as the registered agent for Sycamore Development, Inc. A flyer sent by Palmer to prospective buyers of the 5.23 acres lists the sales price at $350,000 per acre.