Category: Government

WINNSBORO (Dec. 22, 2016) – Last week, during its final regular meeting of the year, County Council unanimously selected the architectural firm of Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood to design the County’s pending Courthouse project. Four days later, Council members received a letter from the Fairfield County Bar Association requesting that its members be allowed to offer their collective input into any discussions and decisions being made concerning the Courthouse prior to moving forward with any renovation/construction of the project.

“We travel across the state and are familiar with numerous historical Courthouses, as well as newly constructed ones. We are an integral part of the legal system and wish to be involved,” the letter stated.

Former State Senator and attorney Creighton Coleman said he and others in the Fairfield County legal community do not want to see the County build a new Courthouse.

“I would like to see the courtroom, after the renovation of the Courthouse, come back to our current Courthouse,” Coleman told The Voice.

“Ours is, by far, the best Courthouse in the state of South Carolina when you consider the practical nature of the courtroom, the comfort it affords the litigants, the great acoustics and the historical significance of the Courthouse, itself, which was designed by Robert Mills. Some things could be improved a little, but it should not be scuttled. It’s a wonderful courtroom and Courthouse,” Coleman said, “and we should keep it as our Courthouse.”

County Councilman Billy Smith (District 7) said the selection of the firm is just the beginning of the process and that nothing has been decided so far as how to go forward with the project.

“After we come back from the holidays, we will be meeting to lay out the foundation as to what we want the Courthouse project to be,” Smith said. “We will certainly be bringing in and listening to the County’s judges, lawyers and others in the legal community so we can learn their wants, needs and suggestions.”

County Administrator Jason Taylor said he, too, welcomes and wants the Fairfield County Bar Association’s input for the project.

“A project like this is of such importance that we need to spend a great deal of time in the planning of it, gathering as much information from as many sources as we can, so that we get this right,” Taylor said.

Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, of Greenville, is one of three firms who responded to the County’s Request for Qualifications for the Courthouse project. The other two were Alliance and Mead & Hunt.

“This is a firm with a lot of experience with historic projects like this one,” Smith said.

Utroska Rebuts ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Comment

BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 22, 2016) – Town Council Monday night gave the final OK to an ordinance approving use of the Doko Meadows athletic fields by the YMCA, as well as to an ordinance designating the interiors of the Blythewood Academy gym and auditorium as historic sites.

While the former sailed through with only minor technical changes, the latter was a somewhat different matter.

“I’ll reiterate what I said last time: I think we’re setting a dangerous precedent,” Councilman Tom Utroska said before Council voted on the historical designations. “I don’t understand what’s so historical about the interiors of these buildings. Did something happen? Did Martin Luther King give a speech here inside of this gym? I’m not being facetious. I really don’t know, other than somebody went to school there and wants to save the interior, I guess.”

Mayor J. Michael Ross said the Blythewood Historical Society and the Board of Architectural Review had both been actively pursuing the designation for the interior of the buildings, while the Richland 2 School District also gave its blessing to the move.

“If Richland School District 2 would have come up and said they did not want this, then I would not be supporting this,” Ross said. “But if they’re OK with it and they will work with our Historical Society and BAR, then I do not see a problem.”

Councilman Malcolm Gordge pointed out that the Society intends to use the buildings, “so it’s another resource for the Town,” he said.

The measure passed 4-1 with Utroska casting the lone dissenting vote.

The ordinance also changes the classifications of both buildings from Class II to Class I structures.

The ordinance granting a license to the YMCA for the use of the Doko Meadows athletic fields passed unanimously, but with a few minor changes from its first reading.

Town attorney Jim Meggs said the Town had added a $15 an hour charge for excessive use, had made the rest room facilities inside the Manor off limits and had designated specific parking areas for field use.

Town Administrator Gary Parker said the YMCA intends to use the fields on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m., and on Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

A Rebuttal

Monday’s meeting opened with a lengthy statement from Utroska in response, he said, to comments during Council’s Nov. 28 meeting made by Cobblestone Park residents angry with developer D.R. Horton’s plans to drop 143 new homes on what was promised to be perpetual green space.

“Some of the residents took exception to the fact that then-councilman Mangone and I lived in Cobblestone Park and did not recuse ourselves from the decision-making process, even though we sought and received an opinion to the contrary from the S.C. Ethics Commission,” Utroska said, reading from a prepared statement. “Speaking for myself, I think the complaints are totally off base. Had we recused ourselves without due cause, the same citizens would no doubt be complaining that we failed to perform our public duties.”

Utroska specifically addressed comments from Joe Lupia, who asked during the Nov. 28 meeting what the Town of Blythewood had received in return for the additional homes.

“I have no earthly idea how or why anyone would make such a statement as this, especially as it has no basis in fact,” Utroska said. “None. None whatsoever. As far as I know, his accusation is utter nonsense and completely false. I can only surmise it was spoken in the heat of the moment due to frustration and due to lack of facts.”

Dog Complaints Spark Ordinance Review

WINNSBORO (Dec. 22, 2016) – Town Council Tuesday night began deliberations over how to strengthen the Town’s animal control ordinance – and what the current ordinance does and does not allow – following complaints about barking dogs at a home in the 500 block of N. Zion Street.

Lt. Mike Carrol with the Department of Public Safety told Council that the homeowner has eight full-grown pit bulls, which he said were all healthy, and which he said he suspected were being used for breeding purposes. But Carrol said the homeowner was at first compliant and agreed to remove some of his dogs.

However, Carrol returned to the home a few weeks later after complaints continued and was greeted by an entirely different attitude, he said.

The homeowner, Carrol said, provided evidence that he himself was surrounded by neighbors with barking dogs.

“That kind of put me in the position of ‘how can I just charge him and he’s got video of his other neighbors’ dogs barking’,” Carrol said.

Furthermore, the homeowner said he would just pay the $100 fine outlined in the ordinance and keep the dogs.

“He also informed me the ordinance says if he pays $25 he can have a kennel inside the city jurisdiction,” Carrol said. “I looked up the ordinance and it does say if he pays an annual license fee of $25 he can operate a kennel inside the city.”

But Councilman Jackie Wilkes noted that kennels are not allowed in districts zoned R-1 (residential). And, Wilkes added, the $100 fine was not a one-time deal.

“He can pay it,” Wilkes said, “but if they have another complaint it’s $100 a day for every day they get a complaint. It’s not that he can pay a $100 fine and be Scot free for another year.”

Carrol told Council that within two or three houses surrounding the N. Zion Street home there were nearly 15 dogs. A revised ordinance, he suggested, should specify exactly how many dogs an individual could keep. Furthermore, Carrol said, while the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) can come in and inspect kennels, the ordinance had to be enforced by an animal control officer.

“We need an animal control officer,” Major John Seibles, acting WDPS Chief, agreed. “We need one that’s trained. In town now we have more pit bulls tied up around here. And it’s not very realistic for us to send our officers who don’t have the proper equipment and don’t have the training to go deal with pit bulls. We need somebody that’s qualified to operate a dart gun. There are many restriction through DHEC. We need somebody who’s qualified to do that.”

Seibles said his department gets numerous animal control calls, which require a dedicated animal control officer.

“We also need to have that officer look at the treatment of animals,” Don Wood, Town Manager, said. “We see a lot of abuse of animals all over town.”

“The first thing we need to do is change our ordinance,” Councilman Clyde Sanders said. “I like the way Columbia’s ordinance reads. I think it gives us better control over what we can do with animals than what we’ve got in our current ordinance. I would like to look at putting something together from Columbia that we can adopt for Winnsboro to use.”

Mayor Roger Gaddy, self-professed owner of four dogs, said he moved back to Winnsboro specifically to be able to own multiple dogs after running into a bureaucratic nightmare with the City of Columbia in the late 1970s. But, he said, he understood the need for tightening the rules.

“What we’re trying to do is reel in some of these outliers that are causing nuisances in their neighborhood and probably to some degree are not giving the animals the best care they ought to have,” Gaddy said. “I think we need to do something. If you live in a municipality, in a municipality there’s got to be some kind of rules, there’s got to be some regulations, and I certainly understand that.”

At the same time, Gaddy added, “If I’m taking care of my animals and they stay inside, I don’t want the regulations to be so obtrusive that I have to go to a big expense (to build a kennel). If you’re living in town I don’t think you need to be having a kennel where you have a litter of puppies every three months and they’re causing a nuisance. And this (existing ordinance) doesn’t say you can’t have six dogs, but if you have six dogs there’s some hoops you have to jump through, and I don’t have a big problem with that.”

“We’ve got no hoops,” Sanders chimed in.

At Councilman Danny Miller’s suggestion, Council said it would schedule a work session for January to hash out a tougher ordinance and the hiring of a dedicated animal control officer. In the meantime, Miller said that since an official complaint had been filed against the N. Zion Street homeowner, that complaint should be followed up on and enforced.

“I think we have to enforce the complaint and let it go to the Magistrate’s judge,” Miller said.

If the N. Zion Street homeowner then wanted to file a complaint against his neighbors for barking dogs, Miller said, then that complaint should also be followed in order.

Seibles affirmed that his department would enforce the complaints.

RIDGEWAY (Dec. 15, 2016) – An ordinance that would have committed the Town of Ridgeway to renting portable toilets for town events failed to make it through first reading during Town Council’s Dec. 8 meeting.

“Our merchants want some kind of assurance,” Councilwoman Angela Harrison said, arguing for the ordinance, “and we need to stand behind them and do what we say we’re going to do.”

But Councilmen Heath Cookendorfer and Donald Prioleau were reluctant to tie the Town’s hands with a legal document.

“We don’t want to put it in an ordinance, because if we don’t have the funds then we will have to find them,” Prioleau said.

The ordinance called for the rental of portable facilities to be paid for either from event funds, budgeted funds or the hospitality tax.

“I think any event that’s a money maker, that should pay for it,” Mayor Charlene Herring said.

But while Prioleau expressed concern about committing funds from the Town’s meager general fund budget, Cookendorfer said he was concerned about keeping the hospitality tax fund solvent.

“You can’t ever overspend the hospitality tax,” Harrison said.

Prioleau suggested that a notation in Council’s minutes that the Town would provide portable facilities for events would be adequate, while Herring suggested modifying the ordinance to say that the money for the rentals would not come from the general fund budget.

Harrison, in her motion to accept first reading, accepted Herring’s suggestion, but the motion ended in a 2-2 tie and thus failed to carry.

Herring recused herself from the vote because of a conflict of interest, she said.

Harrison and Doug Porter, who seconded the motion, voted in favor of the ordinance, while Prioleau and Cookendorfer voted against.

“If there’s an event, I think we need to supply portable rest rooms,” Cookendorfer said, “but I don’t think we need an ordinance telling us to.”

The estimated cost of a portable rest room rental is $350, Council said.

Playground Bids

Council gave unanimous approval to a bid of $42,669.75 from Playground Packages for phase one of Ridgeway’s plans to construct a playground near the old school arch.

Playground Packages was the lowest of three bids, submitted by Game Time ($63,651.95) and List Products ($94,234.24).

The total cost for phase one of the project is $44,672.99. The Town recently received approval from the state for a Parks and Recreation Development (PARD) grant for $35,738.39 for the first phase. That amount will be reimbursed to the Town.

Ridgeway’s matching funds, totaling $8,934.60, is being provided by Fairfield County, Herring said, in the form of in-kind labor.

Phase two of the project is not expected to begin for two years. The total cost for the second phase is $35,576.40, with the PARD grant reimbursing $28,461 to the Town. The County has also agreed to cover the $7,115.40 match for the final phase, Herring said.

Last Minute Move Fails to Gain Traction

WINNSBORO (Dec. 15, 2016) – Two outgoing members of County Council, Kamau Marcharia (District 4) and Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6), called for the Public Services and Development Committee, of which Marcharia is chairman, to name two Fairfield County facilities after individuals in their respective Council districts – one by Sunday and the other within the next two weeks.

Both Marcharia and Kinley will be leaving office Dec. 31.

Committee member Billy Smith (District 7) reminded Marcharia of Council’s decision about six months ago, after the library was named, to not go forward with any future namings until it had put a policy in place regarding such namings.

That did not sit well with Marcharia who said he wants the new Jenkinsville fire station named after the late Rev. Thomas Feaster this Sunday, Dec. 18, during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the fire station. That ceremony was scheduled only a week or so earlier and announced to the media only hours before the Monday afternoon Committee meeting and did not include a naming or dedication. Council would have had to call a special meeting before Sunday to initiate the naming.

When County Administrator Jason Taylor announced the Sunday afternoon ribbon cutting later that evening at the full Council meeting, Marcharia asked to comment on the ceremony and accused Councilman Dan Ruff (District 1) of being “spiteful” for supporting Council’s agreement last spring to set in motion a policy for naming facilities before initiating new namings.

Ruff said his decision in no way reflected negatively on the Rev. Feaster who, Ruff said, he greatly respected for the 40 plus years Feaster had served on the fire board.

“Roy Hudson was a good friend of mine and served the Ridgeway fire station until he was 90 years old, over 60 years, but if it came up to name the Ridgeway fire station after him, I wouldn’t offer his name up until we put in place a policy for naming buildings,” Ruff said.

Marcharia said he wants to honor all the exiting first responders at the Jenkinsville station by installing plaques and photographs on the wall inside the station.

Ruff said he supported Marcharia’s suggestion to honor the first responders but said he thought the fire station should handle that not Council.

Smith asked if the recommendations for honoring the first responders came from the Fire Chief’s Association.

“I didn’t know anything about the pictures on the wall until we had our meeting (last week) and Mr. Marcharia told me this would happen during the ribbon cutting on Sunday,” Fire Marshall Tony Hill told the Committee.

Smith suggested letting the Fire Chief’s Association or the people at the station who represent the community make the decision on how to honor the first responders. He said the County could then cover the expenses.

Marcharia insisted, however, on naming the fire station after the Rev. Feaster and said he had surveyed church members in the community about the issue.

“Have you talked to people in the community and in the churches and told them what we’re planning?” Marcharia asked Hill.

“No,” Hill said. “You said you were going to get in touch with people in the community and I was to talk to Tommy Sawyer, the (Jenkinsville) Fire Chief. He (Sawyer) had surgery on Friday. When I met with the Fire Chief’s Association on Thursday we talked about dedicating (the station) to people, not naming it after someone.”

Marcharia was also unhappy that Sawyer had offered the names of both the Rev. Feaster and the late John White Sr. to be honored.

“Mr. White was a charter member also,” Hill told the Committee. “He took Rev. Feaster’s place on the Fire Board back in the ’80s. John was on the Fire Board at least 15 years or longer. I can’t say one did more than the other. Both were pillars of that community and made that fire station what it is today. I think that’s why Tommy mentioned both. He didn’t think it would be fair to pick one over the other. That was Tommy’s recommendation to the Fire Chiefs’ Association.”

“What I’m hearing from the community, rather than a dedication, I heard naming the fire station. My recommendation is to name it after Rev. Feaster. But you have the power of the vote,” Marcharia said, addressing both Smith and Ruff, “so I’ll let the Feaster family know what the deal is.”

Because the Committee meeting ran long, it was decided to recess and continue following the Council meeting.

During the Council meeting, Marcharia again insisted that the fire station should be named after the Rev. Feaster and that it should happen at the ribbon cutting Sunday.

“The last time we named anything, it was the library named for Ms. McMaster. When it came up everyone was in agreement. And we named it. Now we want to name the fire station and rec center, then all of a sudden this Council says we can’t name anything until we have a policy. Well, we never put a policy in place. The meeting is this Sunday and I want it to be named after Rev. Feaster,” Marcharia said.

Smith put the responsibility for initiating a policy for naming back on Marcharia.

“It was up to this committee to develop a policy for naming County facilities after people,” Smith said. “This policy was an item for this committee to bring up and develop. Mr. Marcharia is the chair and sets the Committee’s agenda and says when the Committee meets. But between April and now that has not been done until 30 minutes before this Council meeting began.”

Following the Council meeting, the Committee reconvened and passed unanimously a motion to delay sending any naming forward to Council, including one put forth by Councilwoman Kinley to name Drawdy Park for the Raley brothers, until Council puts a policy in place regarding naming facilities in the County.

“At this point, it’s a matter of timing. This is an inopportune time to come in at the last minute to (name a building after someone),” Smith said. “Mr. Ruff and I will be on Council next year and I will commit to immediately bringing these items back before Council. I promise that. I just think we need a policy in place before bringing that up. If we want to honor these people prior to having a policy, we could pass a resolution or something like that or place a plaque or marker.”

Both Marcharia and Kinley said they were in agreement with that.

JENKINSVILLE (Dec. 15, 2016) – The Jenkinsville Water Company was hit with yet another lawsuit this month, one this time focusing on the Board of Trustees’ relationship with the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.

The suit, filed in the Sixth Judicial Circuit on Dec. 5 by Winnsboro attorney Glenn E. Bowens on behalf of Donald Melton, alleges that the company does not provide public notice of its board meetings, as required by S.C. Code 30-4-80, and that the Board conducts its annual election of officers in secret, a violation of S.C. Code 30-4-70.

The lawsuit also alleges that the Board conducts business in executive session in violation of S.C. Code 30-4-70, and that JWC president and presiding officer of the Board Gregrey Ginyard fails to announce the specific purpose of executive sessions prior to the Board meeting behind closed doors. The Board also amends the company’s bylaws without notice or a vote by the company’s membership, the lawsuit alleges.

According to the lawsuit, minutes from the company’s board meetings are not being made available to the public, as required by S.C. Code 30-4-30(d)(1).

“Before last month’s meeting, Mr. Melton went to the water company office during normal operation hours and asked for minutes from several past meeting,” Bowens said, “and he was told he would have to put his request in writing. The FOIA says they have to give them to you upon request. They can charge a copying fee, but they have to provide them.”

According to the lawsuit, Ginyard has stated that the water company is not subject to the S.C. FOIA, something Bowens said he hopes a judge will clarify once and for all.

Bowens said he is also hopeful the legal proceedings will force the water company to answer pending and future FOIA requests.

Ginyard declined to comment on the lawsuit, but did say that the water company has “answered all the FOIAs that have been requested.”

Bowens said that is not exactly true, that the JWC’s “answers” consistently consist of an acknowledgement that an FOIA request had been received and then nothing more.

“They do not ever answer FOIA requests,” Bowens said. “When he (Ginyard) says they’ve answered them, they say they got it. This lawsuit is to try to get them to answer FOIA requests, other than just saying ‘we got your request and we’re working on it,’ because that’s what they do.”

The lawsuit also claims that the company allows members to cast votes for Trustees based on the number of water meters/water taps the voting member owns, which the suit alleges is a violation of company bylaws. The suit is seeking an injunction to prevent his practice in the future.

The JWC also allows commercial customers to vote for Trustees during the annual meeting, the lawsuit states. However, the company has no procedure by which to verify that the person voting is actually authorized to attend the meeting and vote on behalf of the commercial customer. The suit is also seeking an injunction to prevent this practice as well.

The suit is also seeking a declaratory judgment to determine if Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) regulations require the inclusion of water loss and unaccounted for water in determining water capacity. Currently, the suit claims, the JWC includes both in determining whether its water capacity complies with DHEC regulations.

Additionally, the suit claims the company does not keep track of water loss and is seeking a declaratory judgment to determine if it is required by DHEC to do so.

The lawsuit also seeks declaratory judgments to determine if the JWC is subject to the S.C. FOIA; to determine the rights of parties with respect to the company’s bylaws and the election of Board members; to declare whether the Board’s January 2016 annual meeting was lawful; to determine whether the company’s bylaws may be amended without notice or vote by membership; and whether the Board chairman may break a tie vote of the Board.

The suit also seeks injunctive relief from denying the copies of minutes; from conducting business in executive session; from entering into executive session without stating the specific purpose; from taking action in executive session; from electing Board members in secret; from holding meetings without public notice; from holding the January 2017 annual meeting without public notice; and from amending bylaws without notice and without a vote of the company membership.

At press time, a hearing had not yet been scheduled for the non-jury trial.

WINNSBORO (Dec. 8, 2016) – County Council’s Administration and Finance Committee gave their approval Nov. 28 to several new vehicles and equipment for County departments, while a manpower study is being sent back out for qualifications.

The Committee agreed unanimously to forward to the full Council a 30,000-pound vehicle lift for the Vehicle Maintenance Department for $32,948. The lift came in just under the $35,000 Council had budgeted for the item.

A new Ford Police Interceptor SUV for the Sheriff’s Office also came in under budget at $48,937. Council had originally earmarked $63,391 for a K-9 vehicle for the Sheriff’s Office; however, Sheriff Will Montgomery told the Committee his office was instead converting a 2015 Tahoe from the Warrant Division into a K-9 unit. The Interceptor will replace the Tahoe.

A 2016 Ford F-150 for the Sheriff’s Office, meanwhile, came in slightly over budget at $72,309. Council had budgeted $66,093 for the truck. The $6,260 difference, County Administrator Jason Taylor said, was more than made up for by the $14,454 saved on the SUV.

The County also saved a few bucks on a new ambulance for the EMS Department, with the Committee approving $186,719 for a new Dodge. Council had budgeted $220,000 for the vehicle.

The Committee OK’d a pair of Sunset conversion vans for the Transportation Department for $105,614, which was $672 over budget.

The Committee also approved $25,370 for engineering and design services for the County’s fire alarm system. Council has budgeted $100,000 for a total upgrade of the system, Taylor said. After the engineering and design, Taylor said, the complete construction of the system will be put out for bid.

The single bid for the County’s manpower efficiency study came in at nearly double its budget, prompting Taylor to withhold a recommendation. Council had budgeted $36,000 for the study, but Taylor said the only bid on the project came in at $60,000.

“We are recommending this not move forward to Council,” Taylor told the Committee. “It bothers me that we only got one bid and it’s much higher than we had budgeted. And in looking at the qualifications, they’ve only done two other studies. We would probably like to put this out for qualifications yet again.”

The other recommendations will be passed along to Council at their Dec. 12 meeting.

Raises for Public Safety Departments Force Town’s Hand

WINNSBORO (Dec. 8, 2016) – Just two months ago, Fairfield County was facing a critical personnel shortage in its emergency services departments, with paramedics, deputies, detention officers and 9-1-1 staff chasing better pay in neighboring counties.

But a salary increase passed by County Council on Nov. 14 has stopped the bleeding, Deputy County Administrator Davis Anderson said this week, and staffing in the County’s safety sensitive departments is reaching normal operative levels.

The County’s move has put the Town of Winnsboro in a tough spot as their Public Safety officers, who have both police and fire certification, yet have a starting salary of just $24,000, look for greener pastures in their own community.

Tuesday night, Town Council took their first steps toward addressing the pay gap, voting unanimously to up Public Safety salaries $3,000 across the board.

“People have to provide for their families, and if they can make more money and they can still stay in the community, then we think it’s incumbent upon us to try to make our salaries as competitive as we can,” Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said. “At budget time we will look at an increase in salaries to look at bringing them up to closer to what our competition is.”

Town Manager Don Wood said the Town will try to fund the raises “through our normal operation and maintenance account.”

“But if push comes to shove,” Wood added, “we would have to look into our savings.”

The County, meanwhile, is rapidly filling open slots thanks to its recent pay hike.

“It’s making a difference,” Anderson said. “Immediately after we gave the pay raise, three EMS employees rescinded their resignations, and we’ve had two part-time employees request to go to full-time. And we interviewed five more for positions last week.”

The Detention Center, Anderson said, has added two new officers since the November pay increase, although they still have two more slots to fill. The Sheriff’s Office, meanwhile, is interviewing for its three remaining positions, Anderson said, and they have a healthy pool of applicants from which to choose.

It has been a drastic turnaround from a mere two months ago.

In October, County Council’s Administrative and Finance Committee learned that the County had lost 30 percent of its paramedic staff in the month of September alone. That left the department with 11 full-time and 15 part-time openings, and put the County at risk of losing its Advanced Life Saving (ALS) license. Had that come to pass, Director of Fairfield County EMS Mike Tanner told the Committee, the County’s paramedics would be reduced to giving nothing more than basic care, which would exclude even administering medication.

During their Nov. 14 meeting, Council gave the OK to Anderson’s proposal to increase the entry level pay for paramedics from $31,000 a year to $34,000, topping out at $61,000 a year. Entry level salaries at the Sheriff’s Office went from $30,625 to $34,000, with an additional $1,000 upon completion of the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy (SCCJA). Council also approved an additional $3,000 for all current certified deputies and a 1.025 percent increase for current deputies with five years of service.

Entry level salaries for Detention Center officers went from $31,000 to $32,000 upon completion of the SCCJA, with a $300 per year experience factor. Entry level salaries for 9-1-1 Services went from $29,184 to $30,184 upon completion of SCCJA and a $300 increase per year of experience. Emergency Medical Telecommunicators will receive $1,000 for certification to be qualified to give medical instructions over the phone.

The cost to the County for the pay raises is just over $495,559 a year, which County Administrator Jason Taylor told Council on Nov. 14 would come from the County’s fund balance.

BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 8, 2016) – During opening comments at last week’s Town Council meeting, Councilman Eddie Baughman told Council members and the audience that the Blythewood community is in dire need of better fire protection. He said that need is based on the lack of paid firefighters manning the station in downtown Blythewood on a daily basis.

“Right now we have only two paid firefighters on duty any day of the week,” Baughman said. “We need four on duty 24/7, 365 days of the year. To have that, we need six additional personnel for our station – three captains and three firefighters. That would give us two additional personnel in the station each day, around the clock. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have fire protection for our community as good as the fire protection in Wildwood, Woodcreek and other communities, which have fully staffed stations.”

But adequate paid fire protection has been slow coming to Blythewood.

Baughman, a former firefighter and retired battalion chief with a 26-year career as a fireman, said he and Councilman Tom Utroska took their concerns to Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey Jenkins last summer to determine how much it would cost the County to provide six more personnel in the station in Blythewood. A unifying contract for fire protection between the City of Columbia and Richland County gives management of the fire side of the contract to Jenkins, Baughman said. But it is the County that pays the cost of fire protection for the City and the County. That cost, Baughman said, is about $23 million annually.

The cost for the additional six personnel, Jenkins reportedly told Baughman and Utroska, would be about $425,000 annually in addition to the current cost of $400,000 for a total of $825,000.

In October, Baughman and Mayor J. Michael Ross took their request for the additional personnel to their Richland County Council representative Joyce Dickerson who put them in touch with the Assistant County Administrator Kevin Brunson. Now Baughman is waiting to hear back from Brunson.

For years, Blythewood’s fire station was manned by volunteers only, long a revered group in the community. The station was still manned primarily by volunteers until the early 2000s. While the station is approved for up to 20 volunteers, there are only about 8-10 active volunteers now, Baughman said. But he told The Voice following the meeting that a lack of paid personnel is putting residents at risk.

“While the six more paid firefighters will not necessarily make the response time any faster, there are laws that limit what firefighting crews are allowed to do if they lack adequate personnel on the scene,” Baughman said. “For instance, the ‘two-in/two-out’ rule is a state law that prohibits firefighters from going into a burning building if there are not the same number of firefighters on the outside of the building. An exception, of course, is when someone is trapped inside the burning building. But having only two paid firefighters severely limits our citizens’ fire protection.”

While volunteers are a great source of help and can be numbered in the ‘two-in/two-out’ rule, volunteers are many times at work and not available when the fire starts, Baughman said.

“We have the lowest ISO ratings we’ve ever had and we have some of the best equipment,” Baughman said. “All of our trucks are brand new. We got a new engine last summer and two weeks ago we got a new tanker and a new brush truck. We’ve got about $1 million of the finest equipment sitting in our fire station.

“But while we have great ISO ratings and great firefighting equipment, we don’t have enough manpower,” Baughman added. “And that’s crucial. It’s going to take some doing to get them. It’s something the people in the community should know about and be concerned about. Everyone in the community is going to have to be concerned and push for it if we’re going to get it.”

Baughman said he was not sure when he would hear back from Richland County concerning his and Mayor Ross’ request.