Blythewood Online 691

Category: Government

  • Council decides against refinancing 2010 $5.5 million BFC bond

    BLYTHEWOOD – After suggesting last month that the Town of Blythewood might want to consider taking advantage of advance refunding to refinance its $5.5 million bond issued in 2010 by the Blythewood Facilities Corporation (BFC), attorney Ray Jones of Parker Poe, returned to a Council workshop last week to advise the Town to hold off on the refinancing for now.

    To take advantage of the refinancing, Council would have to pass an ordinance with two readings and a public hearing.

    “To the extent that the market is not with us today, and it appears it will not be with us through the rest of the year, we will have to hit pause because we would not then be able to refinance this debt until June 1, 2018, at the earliest,” Jones said at the workshop.

    Town Administrator Gary Parker explained last month how advance refunding works.

    “It’s a financing technique that allows an issuer to obtain the benefit of lower interest rates when the outstanding bonds are not currently callable. The 2010 bonds are callable at the Town’s option on Sept. 1, 2018, or at any time within 90 days before that date,” Parker said.

    Jones told Council last month that because Congress is considering dropping advance refunding as part of their tax reform law proposal, and because interest rates were lower than they may be  in the summer of 2018 when the 2010 bonds are callable, they might want to act right away.

    “Originally, we were looking at a total savings of about $318,000 to do the advance refunding last month,” Jones said. “The rate estimate at that time was three percent. We certainly thought that was worth coming to talk to you about.”

    While Jones said Whitney Bank now offers two rates – 1) 3.05 percent with a catch; the bank would hold that rate if there are no changes in the tax law and 2) 3.75 percent, a rate the bank would automatically adjust if the tax reform passed. Jones said the 3.75 percent is a more realistic rate.

    “With that rate, however, the Town’s savings from refinancing would shrink by $60,000,” Jones said.

    “By going ahead and passing the refinancing ordinance now,” Jones advised Council, “we’ll be in a position to move when the market is there again.”

    Council will vote on the ordinance at the next council meeting.

  • County passes on 14 acres; reconsiders 2-acre Presbyterian Church property

    WINNSBORO – During the public comment period of County Council’s meeting Monday evening, a Winnsboro resident questioned Council’s wisdom in purchasing 14 acres for a fire station when the County Assessor told her the average acreage for a fire station in Fairfield County is two acres.

    “What will the other two acres be used for?” Yvette Howard asked.

    Before that question was answered, Councilman Dan Ruff had some questions of his own about the purchase.

    “What happened to the two acres that was supposed to be donated to the County by the Presbyterian Church several months ago (LW Presbyterian gives land for county facility, July 6, 2017 issue of The Voice),” Ruff asked.

    “They (the church) have not donated the land as of this date, but we will probably revisit that,” County Administrator Jason Taylor said.

    “I have a meeting on Jan. 6 with a lady who is going to donate it to the County,” Jimmy Ray Douglas chimed in. “We’ll accept the property for a fire station there.”

    “I don’t understand why we jumped ahead from the donated two acres to pursuing the 14 acres,” Ruff said. “I don’t understand why we went that route when we had enough land to build it if we had just waited,” Ruff said.

    Douglas said the church voted to donate the land but the Presbytery took more than two months to get back to the church.

    “I was looking for a place to put the fire station if this particular property wouldn’t be gifted to us. I found the 14 acres, but Crescent had put in the deeds that nothing could be built except residential uses,” Douglas said.

    “So that just about killed the 14 acres. Crescent offered to give the 14 acres for the roll back taxes they owed on the property. It would have been a wash – free, more or less. On Jan. 6 I’ll have a discussion with the woman who wants to give us the two acres. I’ll have a discussion with her and talk with Mr. Taylor,” Douglas said.

    “I just think we need to be patient on this a little bit,” Ruff said.

  • Council looking to buy 14-acres

    WINNSBORO – The Fairfield County Council pushed forward with plans to purchase 14 acres for $60,000, after unanimously passing the proposed ordinance through its second reading. The 14 acres, located on Rockbridge Road, is proposed for a new fire-station if the ordinance passes third reading.

    According to Council Chairman Billy Smith, the current owner of the property owed $60,000 in back-taxes, for an issue the owner said he was unaware of that caused him to owe rollback taxes. Instead of fighting the tax bill in court the owner decided to sell the land to the County for the amount owed in rollback taxes.

    “Instead of going to court and fighting the county for the rollback taxes, the owner probably could have gone to court and won but they would have had to spend maybe $30,000 to an attorney to do it,” Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas said. So the property owner decided to go with the county and give the 14 acres to rollback taxes.”

    A new fire station in the Rockbridge Road area will drop the Insurance Service Office rating from ten to six according to Douglas. But Chairman Smith questioned whether there would be a net positive or negative effect on ISO ratings in the Dutchman Creek area if that area lost volunteers to the Rockbridge Road station.

    “Obviously volunteers are always a problematic situation,” County Administrator Jason Taylor said. “We need to have more volunteers but if we dilute the volunteers it could have that negative impact that you’re saying that we want to avoid. So we’re trying to recruit new volunteers, as well as fill that position in there now with the Fire Marshall. We want to make sure we have volunteers to man all of our stations,” Taylor said.

    The motion passed unanimously, 7-0, but the ordinance still has to pass a third and final reading.

  • Horton cottages fail PC rezoning criteria, Brock elected PC Chair

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Planning Commission members unanimously elected Donald Brock to chair the Commission Monday evening. Brock replaces Brian Franklin who was elected to Town Council last month. Brock is a resident of Oakhurst neighborhood.

    Brock

    Developer D. R. Horton was back on the Commission’s doorstep Monday evening requesting the rezoning of 4.76 acres near the Cobblestone Clubhouse from Planned Development/ R-3 (PDD, R-3), single family attached townhomes to Planned Development/R-2 (PDD, R-2, single family detached residential).

    A Horton representative said Horton plans to build 12 to 13 cottage-style homes on the parcel.

    In October, the Commission recommended that same rezoning request based on several residents’ expressed desires to have cottages over townhomes.

    However, when the issue came before Council, the residents switched gears, telling Council they were afraid the cottages were not going to come up to neighborhood standards and asked Council to turn Horton’s request down.  Council obliged.

    When Horton came back to the Commission Monday night asking for a re-do of the October vote, the Commissioners weren’t as eager to comply.

    New chair Brock cited a memo from Town Attorney Jim Meggs stating that generally the same rezoning can’t be resubmitted for a year unless the Commission determines either: 1) there has been a substantial change in the character of the area or 2) factors exist which were not considered in the previous deliberations which might substantially alter the basis for the Commission’s recommendation.

    Brock said neither was the case, and the Commission voted unanimously against recommending the rezoning.

  • County owes $9,600 for unregulated airport tanks

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County administration discovered, during the recent reorganization of the County’s airport management, that the airport’s gas tanks had never been properly regulated by the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).

    In September, the Administration and Finance Committee approved the restructuring of the airport’s management from an independent fixed based operator (FBO) to a director who answers to the County Administrator.

    County Administrator Jason Taylor told Council Monday night that the County is now faced with the $9,600 bill for all past permitting fees that were not paid under the management of the former FBO.

    “Is there any way we can charge that to the previous fixed based operator?” Council Chairman Billy Smith asked.

    “I don’t know that’s the case that we can do that,” Taylor said.

    “I think we need to find out,” Smith said.

    According to Taylor, due to lack of proper inspection, the current tanks are going to be removed and have to be replaced.

    “We’ll find a temporary solution and, hopefully, we’ll have that resolved by Wednesday so there will be almost no interruption for gas services at the airport,” Taylor said.

    The FBO was previously responsible for airport management, collecting gas fees and fees for hangar rentals. An operational assessment conducted in June found the airport to be below average in safety levels and professionalism.

  • Blythewood Town Council

    BLYTHEWOOD – Stepping down after four years helping guide the Town, Councilman Tom Utroska was bid farewell by the Mayor, his fellow Council members and many friends who attended the meeting. Next, Blythewood Magistrate Josef Robinson swore in Councilman Larry Griffin for a second term, assisted by his wife Leanora and their grandson, Jordan Frazier. At right, Judge Robinson administered the oath of office to new Councilman Brian Franklin, assisted by his wife Dusty, right, and five of their eight children.

    Utroska and Mayor Ross
    Griffin
    Franklin

  • Town selling Doko shell building to developer

    Doko Depot

    BLYTHEWOOD – Failing after a year and a half to sell the Doko Depot shell building across from Town Hall as a restaurant, Council passed first reading Monday evening to authorize the sale of the building to a developer, Wheeler and Wheeler, LLC of Columbia for $325,000.

    About five years ago, Town Council borrowed $900,000 from Santee Cooper Electric and received a $456,881 grant (free) from Fairfield Electric that had to be spent on economic development or returned.

    The original intent of that Council was to build a restaurant on park property in front of Town Hall (for approximately $1.4 million) and lease it to an established restaurant operator. The loan was to have been repaid from the proceeds of lease payments.

    In the interim, the proposed lessor was unable to obtain a performance guarantee to cover the Town’s expense and the lease was never finalized. As a result, the Town returned $900,000 to Santee Cooper, and a new council voted to construct a smaller, less expensive building with the $325,916 remaining from the $456,881 Fairfield Electric grant.

    But the building could only be used for “economic development” such as an office building, start-up company or restaurant.

    The Town budgeted $410,000 for the new building.

    The winning base bid to build the shell building was $379,850 submitted by Lyn-Rich Contracting Co., Inc. of West Columbia. With options, which Council voted to accept, the bid came to $388,100. Those options included walkways and special fire protection equipment.

    Town Administrator Gary Parker suggested that any costs over the $325,916 could probably be taken from Hospitality Tax revenue.  He said the intent was to recover that revenue with the sale of the shell building.

    When the Town broke ground on construction of the building in September, 2016, The Town’s economic development consultant, Ed Parler, said he expected to begin marketing the building in November and that he expected to have a buyer shortly after the first of 2017.

    While Parler has had several prospects for a restaurant, none have materialized.

    “We’ve been dealing with this for a long time,” Mayor J. Michael Ross told Council, “and we finally have a contract.”

    “Since this company (Wheeler) is a developer, we still don’t know how this property is going to be used. Is that correct?” Councilman Malcolm Gordge asked.

    “As part of the contract, the property is in the Town Center District (TCD) and there are certain activities in the TCD that would not be appropriate for use on that property,” Parler said. “The excluded uses and allowed uses are defined in the contract.

    “Mr. Wheeler has indicated that the clients he is working with seem to be very conforming to the nature of the property’s intended use,” Parler said.

    “If we decide not to go through with this on second reading, can we void the contract?” Councilman Larry Griffin asked.

    “No,” Parler answered.

    But Town Attorney Jim Meggs said that if the ordinance doesn’t get enacted on the second reading, the deal is off.”

    Council voted 5-0 to authorize the mayor to sign the contract.

  • Parker Poe suggests refinancing $5.5 M bond

    BLYTHEWOOD – Attorney Ray Jones of Parker Poe, the Town’s bond consultant for the $5.5 million bond issued by the Blythewood Facilities Corporation in 2010, told Council Monday evening that it might want to take advantage of an opportunity to refinance that bond under advance refunding which, he said, is a financing technique that allows an issuer to obtain the benefit of lower interest rates at a time when the outstanding bonds are not currently callable.

    Jones told Council that because Congress is considering dropping advance refunding as part of their tax reform law proposal, and because interest rates are lower than they may be in the summer of 2018 when the 2010 bonds are callable, they might want to act right away.

    Jones said that under current law, the Town may do an advance refunding now when interest rates are low and possibly lower than in summer of 2018. Projections are, he said, that the Town could save several hundred thousand dollars by doing so.

    Jones said that if the Town does not act now to refinance the bonds, and Congress passes the legislation, the Town would not be able to do an advance refunding until the normal call date time frame, which would be within the 90 days of the Sept. 1 call date.

    “We felt it wise to put the question before Council and are doing so with a first reading of the proposed ordinance on this refinancing,” Town Administrator Gary Park told Council. “If Council agrees, there will be a public hearing and second reading.

    Council voted to pass first reading and has scheduled a special called meeting on Dec. 8 to meet the bond issuance schedule.

    Parker said Jones would be at the meeting to answer questions.

  • County pursuing 336-acres on I-77

    WINNSBORO – County Council approved second reading Monday night of Ordinance 683 to purchase 336 acres east of I-77 between exits 41 and 46 for $1.8 million, a price that is subject to change based on future grants.

    “I applaud this group for several things with this ordinance,” Randy Bright said during open citizen comment. “Number one, the investment in jobs and the economy. It’s what we need. We’re in the top 10 or so in the worst unemployment rates in the state. We’ve got a long way to go, so I applaud this Investment.”

    The ordinance has been amended since the first reading from 508 acres to 336 acres. That dropped the original price of $2.7 million down to $2.153 million.

    “The reason the price and acreage is being amended is because there is one parcel that we are not going to be purchasing,” County Economic Development Director Ty Davenport told Council. “It’s more economical not to buy it.”

    A $300,000 grant from the Department of Commerce lowered the price tag further, and the County is awaiting word on another grant that could reduce the cost to around $775,000.

    “The amount is up to the grantor, so we don’t know what it will end up being. It could be significant, or it might be nothing,” Davenport said.

    Included in the sale are three parcels. There is a Parcel M at the entrance of the property that is owned by a third party and is not included in the sale. Because the 336-acre property does not offer a good entrance area, Council wanted assurances that the owner of Parcel M would allow the County enough right of way on Parcel M to allow for an access road into the 336 acres.

    Council Chairman Billy Smith said he understood that the landowner has given assurances to allow the access road.

    “But I want to know if we not only have assurance that we’ll be able to have a right of way for a road in there for access but that we’ll also be able to do any staging work necessary there,” Smith said. “Lighting, landscaping, things of that nature.”

    Smith also requested a fixed-priced agreement on the property to prevent Parcel M’s owner from inflating the cost if the County were to find someone to purchase it.

    “He would give right of way to part of that property and he would keep the rest and, later, if someone wanted to put industry there he would sell it to them,” Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas said.

    County Administrator Jason Taylor and Davenport had meetings with the Parcel M landowner in an effort to forge an agreement in writing before third reading.

    “I’m not down on the deal. I think it’s a good deal,” Smith said. “We’ve got the number down to potentially around $775,000. I think it’ll be fantastic if we can work that out. I just think there are some other details we need to take care of in the process.”

    According to Smith, the County can delay the third reading until another date, to give County Officials more time to get a fully lawyered agreement in place.

    “But I will not vote for it on third reading if that’s not done. I’m telling you today,” Smith said.

  • RW Council dips into savings

    RIDGEWAY – One of Mayor Charlene Herring’s agenda items at last week’s Ridgeway Town Council meeting brought attention to Council’s new habit of earmarking or spending money (more than $113,000 since June) from a capital improvements fund that does not exist. Another such expenditure popped up last week.

    Ridgeway, SC

    “When we made our capital improvements list this year, Mr. Porter reminded us that the exterior of the teacherage needs painting,” Herring told Council members. But she said the painter said repairs must be made before he could paint.

    The only bid for repair work on two porches came in at $5,675 which would include repairing and replacing the beadboard ceilings, repair doors, windows and trim and replace screen and lattice on both porches.

    “We have the funds in capital Improvements…or whatever,” Herring assured Council, dismissing the fact that the town has no capital improvement fund. “So do we have a motion to approve this?”

    “We talked last summer about holding back on expenses until we get our water system right,” Councilman Don Prioleau said. “Let’s get our finances in order, then think about something like this.”

    “If you look at our budget, we have money for this,” Herring insisted.

    As Prioleau tried to make his point, both the mayor and Councilman Doug Porter interrupted.

    “We have the funds,” Herring insisted, “based on the (bank) account and on the consultant we brought in. We have more money than we thought we had.”

    Councilman Heath Cookendorfer agreed with Prioleau.

    “You’re talking about spending money on something that’s cosmetic,” Cookendorfer said, questioning whether the Town should fix up the exterior of the building without knowing how much it would cost to restore the interior.

    “It’s like putting lipstick on a pig,” Cookendorfer said. He then guesstimated at the cost of the restoration.

    “Ten years ago, we were told it would only cost $35,000 to restore the inside,” Porter said.

    “Do you have a report saying that?” Cookendorfer asked.

    “That’s what I’ve been told,”

    Porter said.

    At Prioleau’s suggestion, Council voted to table the item until more information could be gathered.

    The current spending spree stems from the June, 2017 Council meeting when Herring brought in Larry Finney with Greenwood, Finney & Horton Certified Public Accountants to prepare the Town’s budget for fiscal year 2017-18. Finney OK’d taking the $400,000 that Ridgeway received from an insurance settlement and another $200,000 in savings from other sources and transferring $175,000 of the roughly $600,000 into the general fund and $200,000 of it into the utility fund for a rainy day. The slated projection, he said, would be $185,000 left in unrestricted funds. With $60,000 budgeted for Pig on the Ridge and the Arts Festival, that $185,000 would be trimmed down to $125,000 along with $104,000 in the utility fund. The total, $229,000 is what Finney said the Town would have available to spend, but he stipulated that those funds should be spent on one-time purchases.

    While Finney conceded that would cause the Town to be in a much tighter financial condition, he suggested the Town could rebuild its savings by raising water and sewer rates as well as business license fees and millage rates. Those rates and fees were subsequently raised.

    Since June, the Town’s financial reports document that, of the $229,000, Council has made more than $113,000 in purchases/earmarks, leaving a balance of $116,000 available to spend.

    The purchases/earmarks since June include Town Hall painting ($4,700), Town Hall shutters ($3,150), railroad purchase/survey/legal fees ($40,000), legal services associated with removing Town Clerk’s dog from town hall  ($6,022.91), security cameras ($6,900), maintenance building ($30,000), welcome center air and desk from H-Tax funds ($4,000), Christmas events from H-Tax funds ($2,000), Town Hall deck maintenance ($450) and part-time administrator David Hudspeth ($16,000 for 30 days of work).

    “There are some things you’ve approved since you did the budget that were not included in the budget,” Hudspeth reminded Herring in addressing the above list. During the Nov. 9 Council meeting, Hudspeth suggested Council would need to amend the budget at the December meeting to reflect this spending.