Blythewood Online 691

Category: Government

  • Roads Top To-Do List

    BLYTHEWOOD – With Blythewood now seating its full complement of members on Town Council after the re-election last month of Eddie Baughman and Mayor J. Michael Ross and the election of freshmen Larry Griffin and Malcolm Gordge, at least one local resident is ready for Council to talk about S.I.N.

    Ken Baldwin, 89, originated the idea for S.I.N. – Street Improvements Now – because, he said, he is sick and tired of pot-hole laden McNulty Road and other local streets, often full of water during rainy weather and a bumpy ride when dry. He pointed out that Blythewood has its fine new park and Doko Manor on the east side of town and the promising landscaped I-77 interchange at Blythewood Road on the west that are significant achievements, but in between are streets badly in need of improvement.

    “Some buildings do not have sidewalk access,” Baldwin said after a recent Council meeting. He said this was particularly important for the elderly and for out-of-town visitors staying overnight.

    Baldwin, a former member of the town’s Architectural Review Board, said it was important to develop a plan early in the administration of the new Council so that citizens will know they have hope.

    “We have been neglected too long,” he said.

    Ross told The Voice this week that S.I.N. was indeed at the top of Council’s priority list for the coming year and that he planned to assign Gordge the task of spearheading that challenge. Before his election to Council last month, Gordge had been Blythewood’s representative on the Richland County Penny Tax Committee, Ross said. With street improvement part of the Penny Tax plan, Ross said he hopes Gordge’s experience on the committee will help Council’s position when jockeying for funding.

    And funding is the main obstacle, Ross said.

    “I think he (Gordge) will run with it,” Ross said. “But how you run with that in a municipality that doesn’t have the money that other towns have is another question.”

    The suggestion that his idea might be dismissed on the premise that funds aren’t available or difficult to find is not the answer at this point, Baldwin said.

    “What we need now is a commitment to fix the problem and a plan that will accomplish it,” he said.

    Even, Baldwin added, if that means levying some form of local tax.

    “That (a tax) is certainly a possibility,” Baldwin said, “but I think most folks understand that not all public improvements are free. I am confident that members of Council are always going to do their best to keep taxes at the bare minimum.”

    Baldwin pointed out that landscaping the I-77 intersection was made possible by a federal grant. Money is often available from other governmental entities for public improvement projects, he said.

    Ross also said it may be possible to utilize hospitality tax dollars to help mend some of Blythewood’s roads.

    “I think we can use the hospitality tax, since the roads are keeping people from coming here,” Ross said. “It’s a tourism issue.”

    Ross said that with Doko Manor and the park now somewhat under control, roads will be the primary issue for the new administration in the coming year. Patching McNulty beyond just the band-aid quick fixes that have been administered in the past – fixes that last for only a month or two before traffic once again exposes their Third World condition – and straightening Blythewood Road are at the top of the list, he said.

    Ross said Blythewood had three of the top 12 penny tax projects on Richland County’s list – widening Blythewood Road, extending Creech Road and the repair and streetscaping of McNulty Road.

    And, Ross said that according to the S.C. Department of Transportation (DOT), by the middle of December Rimer Pond Road will be opened back up to traffic, alleviating congestion downtown in the early mornings and afternoons.

    “Once you open Rimer Pond Road up again,” Ross said, “20 to 30 percent of those cars downtown will disappear.”

     

  • Foundry Targets Blythewood

    BLYTHEWOOD – Approximately 150 acres off I-77 near Westwood High School may soon be the new home of an aluminum foundry, several media outlets reported last week, with Toronto-based Linamar Inc. having narrowed down its search for a new location to the North Point Industrial Park or a site in Asheville, N.C.

    The plant could create as many as 300 jobs, according to reports, with a final decision expected by Christmas. Details of the move, however, were still officially under wraps as Richland County and Asheville continue their negotiations with the factory.

    “You may have heard of an announcement a few days ago of an (economic development) win right here in your own back yard,” Richland County Council Chairman Torrey Rush told the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce at a breakfast meeting Tuesday. “I can’t speak to that right now because we’re still under a confidentiality agreement. Actually, that information wasn’t supposed to be out yet. Companies like these are saying this city, Blythewood, is a place we want to be.”

    The foundry would potentially be located just outside the Blythewood town limits and owned jointly by GF Automotive, a Swiss automobile industry supplier. Linamar would also reportedly acquire the existing Pure Power Technologies plant in Richland County as part of the plan, according to reports.

    Pure Power Technologies manufactures fuel injectors for automobiles and employs more than 200 people. Reports stated Pure Power could be used as a finishing plant for automobile components manufactured at the new Linamar-GF foundry.

    Linamar and GF Automotive announced last summer their intentions to locate a plant in the southeast for a metal die-casting operation. And even though reports describe the plant as a “foundry,” Ed Parler, Blythewood’s Economic Development Consultant, said it would be unlikely if it would fit into one’s traditional image of a foundry.

    “It may be a foundry,” Parler, who was not involved in the recruitment of Linamar, said, “but I wouldn’t think there would be any smelting done there; no obnoxious odors, no smokestacks. It may just be a stamping operation.”

    And, Parler said, pollution-belching smokestacks are prohibited in the North Point Industrial Park.

    Nevertheless, Linamar will require an air permit from the S.C. Department of health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to discharge pollution; although company representatives reportedly told media outlets last week that Linamar was committed to operating the plant cleanly.

    Linamar Inc. was founded in 1966 and employs 19,500 people in 48 plants around the world. GF Automotive is a division of the 200-year-old Georg Fischer Corp., and is one of the leading automotive suppliers in the world. Pure Power Technologies has made a name for itself for its efforts to simultaneously provide jobs and protect the environment.

     

  • Water Talks Held in Secret

    Closed Session May Have Violated State Law

    WINNSBORO – Testing the limits of the executive session provision of the S.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Town Council Monday night hid behind closed doors to discuss their water commitments with developers of a pair of Blythewood subdivisions.

    The item was not on Monday’s agenda as an executive session discussion, but instead was listed as a public presentation by Bucky Drake, developer of the Red Gate and Cambridge Point subdivisions. Council, on the suggestion of and advice from the Town’s utilities attorney, John Fantry, amended the agenda when the presentation came up, moving it into secret session.

    Fantry made the suggestion, “for pertinent elements of discussion tonight that we are going to be dealing with – water deeds, time table for draw down, possible capacity letters, timing for those,” he said, and “so that none of the architectural design and developments . . . that are not yet ready for the public would be released.”

    When Mayor Roger Gaddy asked Fantry if state law allowed for the discussion to be held out of view of the public, Fantry said, “It would go under the same classification as we have (a) contractual nature.”

    “I would note under the FOIA there’s an exclusion for economic development,” Fantry added, “and the commercial development and resident development that’s being proposed tonight would fall into that category also.”

    The FOIA does contain an exemption for contract negotiations; however, defining a water commitment as a “contract” stretches the definition beyond what is reasonable. Water commitments have consistently been discussed in open session by Town Council.

    The exemption for economic development is quite specific, and involves a government attempting to attract industry – not negotiate water agreements with real estate developers. Moreover, any perceived “economic development” associated with Red Gate or Cambridge Point would be on the behalf of the developers – not the Town of Winnsboro.

    Nevertheless, Councilman Clyde Sanders made the motion and Stan Klaus offered the second to accept Fantry’s train of thought. Council voted unanimously to hold the Red Gate/Cambridge Point water talks in an illegal secret session.

    Winnsboro already has a commitment of water for 100 lots at Red Gate. However, sources said, that is not the property developers want to build on first. Instead, developers are looking to break ground on Cambridge Point on Boney Road by next summer. That subdivision could need between 89 and 100 taps, for which developers would need a willingness to serve letter from the Town. A commercial aspect to Cambridge Point, which may require even more taps, is still slated as tentative.

    Red Gate, sources said, is running at least a year behind Cambridge Point, and in addition to the already approved 100 taps may need 240 more if developers opt for an apartment complex in the subdivision.

    By then, Winnsboro’s Broad River water line is expected to be complete, bringing an estimated 1 million gallons a day into the Town’s reservoir. Last month, Winnsboro was approved for a $14 million loan from the S.C. State Revolving Fund, at 1.88 percent interest, to finance the project.

    N. Firetower Road

    Council in open session Monday night accepted a bid from Site Concepts, Inc., of Lugoff, to construct a water line from North Firetower Road to Blythewood Road to bring additional water to the Fairfield Commerce Park.

    Site submitted the low bid of $242,455 for the project, beating out an offer of $307,339 by LAD Corporation of West Columbia and TNT, Inc.’s bid of $347,096. Four other companies also bid on the project, with the highest figure – $617,270 – coming from Lake Murray Utility Co. Inc.

     

  • Resolution Aimed at Developer

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council continued on Monday evening to keep Cobblestone developer DR Horton’s feet to the fire in an effort to hold the company responsible for implementing traffic improvements in certain areas in and around Cobblestone Park should a future traffic study warrant such improvements.

    During a year-long controversy between members of Town Council and Horton over the types and location of homes Horton planned to build in the upscale, gated community, Horton ended up reducing from 1,666 dwelling units that were allowed under Cobblestone’s then current zoning to 1,155 dwelling units. Horton representative Tom Margle said the reduction in dwelling units should also reduce traffic counts.

    But Council wanted Horton to initiate a traffic impact study/traffic signal warrant study to evaluate the effects of increased daily traffic flows into and out of the Cobblestone subdivision at the intersection of Syrup Mill and Blythewood roads where they feared traffic could increase as new dwellings are constructed and occupied, Town Administrator Gary Parker explained during a Sept. 15 Council workshop.

    Parker noted that Horton agreed to the studies and, in early 2015, implemented the traffic impact study. An ordinance amending the Cobblestone Park Planned Development District dated April 27 stipulated that Horton could continue to build up to 100 single family homes while any required traffic improvements required by the study were being implemented. Last summer, however, in a letter to Parker, the S.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) expressed satisfaction that no traffic improvements were needed as a result of the study. The DOT also agreed with Horton’s traffic engineering firm’s findings that no traffic signal was warranted. But the DOT did recommended a future traffic/signal review.

    On Monday evening, the Town’s attorney, Jim Meggs, presented a formal resolution intended as guidance for the Town’s Zoning Administrator in implementing the April 17 ordinance amendment. While that amendment became moot following the outcome of the original traffic study, the resolution states that Horton has agreed to implement a second study at a future date, between July 23, 2015 and July 23, 2018, and after the Town has issued Horton building permits for the construction of up to 200 single family homes in the Primrose section of Cobblestone.

    Should the second traffic study call for Horton to make traffic improvements, the Town agrees in the resolution to allow the Zoning Administrator to issue up to 100 additional building permits above the already-allowed 100 building permits that would continue to be issued during the study and while any recommendations from the second study are being implemented.

    Council approved the resolution unanimously. Mayor J. Michael Ross, who lives in the Primrose section of Cobblestone, has recused himself from all discussions and votes on the issue. Two other Council members, Tom Utroska and Bob Mangone, who also reside in Cobblestone Park but not in the Primrose section, were cleared by the S.C. Ethics Commission to discuss and vote on the issue.

     

  • Rimer Pond Road Fends Off Commercial Rezoning

    Heins Road Meets Different Fate

    COLUMBIA – It was the Eve of the Thanksgiving holiday, but already the residents of Rimer Pond Road, LongCreek Plantation, Eagles Glenn and other nearby neighborhoods had a little something extra to be thankful for.

    At a Richland County public hearing on the night of Nov. 24, a little more than a day before Thanksgiving morning, a vote by County Council landed in the corner of a group of Blythewood residents who, for almost a year, have fought a request by Hugh Palmer to rezone 5.23 acres on Rimer Pond Road from Residential Medium Density (RSMD) to Rural Commercial (RC). Had the rezoning, on property across from Blythewood Middle School, been approved, it would have been the first commercial zoning on the road.

    Thirty or so of the residents protesting the Rimer Pond Road request addressed Council for more than two hours at the public hearing with many more in attendance. More than 100 residents signed a petition that was presented to Council objecting to the rezoning.

    Palmer, representing his family’s business, Sycamore Development LLC, which owns the 5.23-acre parcel, said he was requesting commercial zoning because the property is unusable as residential property for which it is zoned.

    “It has a traffic signal at the intersection, a cell tower on the property and an access easement to the tower,” Palmer said. “No one wants to live with these things in their yard.”

    But Adams Road resident Michael Watts reminded Council that the cell tower was on the property when Palmer purchased it in 2007 and had it rezoned for residential use in 2008.

    “The fact that lots on the 5.23 acres are no longer deemed acceptable for residential development is the cost of doing business,” Rimer Pond Road resident and commercial realtor Ken Queen told Council.

    Noting that Palmer had already sold an adjacent 28 acres with 100 lots zoned for residential use, Queen added, “If you capture 100 lots out of a 28-acre parcel, and you don’t get to develop that 5 acres, I’m sorry as I can be, but you got your money out of the 28 acres and 100 lots. I do it. I know what the numbers are.”

    Palmer’s son, Patrick Palmer, a commercial realtor with NIA Avant and longtime Chairman of the Richland County Planning Commission, represents the sale of the property and previously told residents that his family asked for commercial zoning to be able to bring needed conveniences to the residents on Rimer Pond Road and Long Creek Plantation neighborhoods.

    One after another, the residents countered, saying they did not desire nor did they need any more conveniences than they already have. And most told of such horrendous traffic congestion near the proposed rezoning site now that it sometimes takes them 30 minutes to drive half a block.

    “(They) are trying to force-fit commercial on an area where there is no demand. No one living in this area wants commercial conveniences at this intersection,” LongCreek Plantation resident Jerry Rega told Council. “We have 13 gas stations, seven pizza places and more than a dozen convenience stores within a few minutes. We do not desire or need more conveniences. The retail space is already saturated here.”

    Eileen Rega added, “You can see here, tonight, that the citizens are against the destruction of our community and our quality of life just so a developer can pocket $350,000 per acre and move on. This is our rural community. It is where we live and raise our children.”

    Geroge Burley told the Council that when he and his wife moved to the area they knew where they were.

    “We can get whatever we need in 3-5 minutes. We want to keep it rural,” Burley said.

    “The first commercial zoning can cause a tumbler effect, bringing other commercial zoning on the road, eventually destroying our rural way of life,” said Rimer Pond resident David Whitner.

    Another of the road’s residents, Benjamin Montgomery, agreed with Whitner.

    “My wife and I were insulted when this person said he was doing us a favor to bring conveniences to us. We know where the stores are. In 5 to 6 minutes we can get what we need,” Montgomery said.

    “What makes this parcel unsuitable for residential all of a sudden is not really due to the cell tower,” said LongCreek Plantation resident Walter Johnson. “It’s due to the $350,000 per acre that he’s trying to sell it for.”

    Linda Galson, president of and speaking for the LongCreek Plantation property owners association, added that LongCreek Plantation residents are opposed to Palmer’s proposed commercial zoning.

    The theme of most speakers, including Liz Mull, was that they only wanted to keep what they had.

    “I can stand in my back yard and hear cows moo,” Mull said. “I can stand in my front yard and hear I-77. We have it all, and it’s fabulous. Please don’t change it.”

    Rep. Joseph McEachern (Dist. 77), who previously represented part of Blythewood on County Council, spoke for the residents.

    “They have been fighting commercial on their road for years. I admire their tenacity to continue the fight to maintain their quality of life in this community,” McEachern said. “You’ve heard their voice. Now, by raising your hand, you are their voice. Now is not the time for commercial zoning (here). The residents are anxious and you can give them comfort.”

    With that, Chairman Torrey Rush called for a motion, a second and a vote. There was no discussion. The vote was not unanimous. It was not even lopsided. It was a 5-5 tie. The room fell silent as County Attorney Amelia Lender was called forward by the Chairman to clarify the tie vote.

    Then Rush announced, “The request for rezoning is denied.”

    After a split second of stunned silence and disbelief, cheers and applause erupted from the audience. After eight months and five meetings, the residents had won. After about 10 seconds of celebration, the residents exited Council chambers, hugging and thanking each other, Rep. McEachern and Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross, who had stood with the residents.

    It was not an easy win, and it is probably not over. The Palmers can request rezoning again on the 5.23-acre parcel after a year. Hugh Palmer could not be reached for comment. His son, Patrick Palmer, had not returned a phone call from The Voice at press time.

    Heins Road

    The Rimer Pond Road rezoning request, along with a residential rezoning request that allows more than 500 homes on 202 acres just a few miles north on Heins Road, were both on Council’s agenda that evening. Without any discussion, Council voted unanimously and with the support of the Heins Road residents’ representative, Joyce Dickerson, to approve the rezoning request in the otherwise wooded, rural area. Both rezonings had been opposed by hundreds of the area’s residents and were the focus of several front page stories in The State newspaper and covered by two Columbia television stations.

    Dickerson said she told the Heins Road residents that the property was going to be developed anyway and that she felt she would have more control over it with the rezoning. Many residents expressed frustration that Dickerson had not held a second community meeting that she had promised before the public hearing. Dickerson approved up to 375 homes on the 202 acres, but did not specify in the meeting how the builder would be held to that number.

     

  • Chamber Staff Will Pocket Lion’s Share of A-Tax Parade Funds

    IMG_1190 copyBLYTHEWOOD – Prior to approving the Accommodation Tax Committee’s recommendations to award $20,000 to three organizations for tourism related events, Town Council questioned why $1,845 of the $5,000 requested by the Greater Blythewood Chamber of Commerce for the Blythewood Christmas parade was being designated for the Chamber’s staff.

    Mike Switzer, the Chamber’s Executive Director, told members of the A-Tax Committee earlier this month that the staff consisted of himself and the Chamber’s office manager, Kitty Kelly.

    “This gives me heartburn,” Councilman Eddie Baughman said. “The Chamber staff is getting 37 percent of the money the Chamber is requesting for the parade. Looking at last year’s parade request, there was no mention of paying or reimbursing Chamber staff for their work on the parade.”

    Baughman further questioned whether anyone had been paid to run the Christmas parade in past years.

    After learning that Switzer was not present to answer questions, Mayor J. Michael Ross asked Ed Parler, a member of the Chamber Board as well as a member of the parade committee, to explain why the money was being requested to pay the Chamber staff this year. Parler bowed out of the controversy, saying he had not been part of that discussion. Asked by The Voice following the meeting if the Chamber Board had voted for the staff to be paid $1,845 for their parade services, Parler said it had not.

    Asked if he was aware that Switzer had included payment for staff in the Chamber’s request for parade funding, Ed Garrison, president of the Chamber, said he was not aware the staff would be receiving payment for their work.

    “I thought the funds we were requesting were being used for our actual costs to put on the parade,” Garrison said.

    While Council was not able to discern during the meeting exactly how the $1,845 was to be accounted for, Baughman and Councilman Tom Utroska said they would like to see a breakdown of how the payout is going to be spent.

    “If we’re paying them salaries for this,” Utroska said, “then I’d just like to know what it’s spent on.”

    Ross defended the payment as reasonable.

    “A person once approached the Town about managing our parade, and that person said the cost would have been $10,000 – $15,000,” Ross said.

    A phone survey by The Voice of municipalities in the surrounding towns of Winnsboro, Ridgeway and the City of Columbia revealed that those parades are run by volunteer committees and that no one gets paid for their services.

    In its Request for Funding form, the Chamber noted that 10,000 people are expected to attend the parade and that approximately 5,000 of those would be tourists. Besides the salaries paid to the Chamber staff, other expenses are specified in the award request as: equipment rental, $1,305 (26 percent); marketing and printing, $785 (16 percent); volunteer supplies, $665 (13 percent) and Manor rental, $400 (8 percent).

    Phone calls to Switzer were not returned at press time.

    Other A-Tax Awards

    The Blythewood Historical Society requested $10,000 for a Memorial Day event in coordination with and support of the Town’s display and activities surrounding the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall that will be on display in Doko Park for several days next May. The Society requested $5,000 for a videographer to record various aspects of the event. The remaining $5,000 is designated for preservation and storage of the video and certain equipment, advertising, signage, rental tables and seating and refreshments.

    The Blythewood Lions Club requested $3,945 for a full-day bluegrass festival featuring local and statewide musicians and local food vendors in Doko Park, but the A-Tax committee suggested the award should be increased to $5,000 as a buffer for the as yet undetermined cost of bands. The event, which is also a fundraiser for the charitable work of the Lion’s Club, is scheduled for April 30, 2016.

    Council voted unanimously to approve all three awards as recommended by the A-Tax Committee.

     

  • ‘Will of the People’ Sparks Lawsuit

    BLYTHEWOOD – Following the Planning Commission’s 3-2 vote on Nov. 9 to reject a site plan for Prestwick Development’s low-income housing project, The Pointe, on Main Street in downtown Blythewood, Prestwick CEO Jody Tucker told The Voice that he had no interest in seeking legal remedy.

    But just 14 days later, on Nov. 23, Prestwick’s attorneys filed a legal action in the 5th Circuit Court against the Town and the Planning Commission asking the Court to reverse the Commission’s decision , to mandate its members to approve the development plan and to require the Town to pay attorney’s fees, court costs and such other relief as the court deems just.

    On Nov. 30, Prestwick’s attorneys, Eppes & Plumblee, of Greenville, filed an amended complaint similar to the original complaint but with stronger language.

    Planning Commissioner Don Sanders cited “the will of the people” as the reason for not approving the plan. But Prestwick said in its complaint that the Commission’s rejection of the development plan based upon “the will of the people” serves as grounds for the appeal. Prestwick asked the Court to find that the Planning Commission is exceeding its authority and acting in contravention of the law by basing its rejection on the “will of the people.”

    “Notwithstanding the fact that the plan submitted by Plaintiff complied with all requirements of all state and local laws, regulations and ordinances, including but not limited to all building code requirements, traffic requirements and all storm-water management requirements and the City’s Comprehensive Plan,” the complaint states, “the Commission, by a three-to-two vote, refused to approve the plan.”

    “When Prestwick’s representative asked the Commission why the plan was being rejected,” the complaint continues, “the members of the Commission voting to reject the plan said that it was the ‘will of the people.’ No other reason was given for rejecting the plan.”

    Following the Nov. 9 meeting, Prestwick CEO Jody Tucker told The Voice he wanted the Town of Blythewood to follow its ordinances and vote based on (zoning) they’ve already approved for the site.

    “The City of Blythewood needs to let us know if that was a valid vote. If it wasn’t, then we’ll be back at the December Planning Commission meeting for another vote under the terms of what the law allows versus the will of the people,” Tucker said.

    But a Town official, who was not authorized to talk about the lawsuit and asked to remain anonymous, said the Planning Commission will now probably not convene for its regular December meeting while the lawsuit runs its course.

    In addition to having its site plan approved by the Planning Commission, Prestwick Development will still have to submit its plans to the Town’s Board of Architectural Review for approval of 13 variances and for a certificate of appropriateness, The Town’s Planning Consultant Michael Criss said.

    “The BAR has complete authority over the building’s appearance,” Criss told The Voice. “But that can’t happen until the site plan has been approved by the Planning Commission.”

    Town Attorney Jim Meggs and Town Council discussed the lawsuit in executive session during Council’s meeting on Monday evening, but Ross said the meeting was informational only and that no vote was taken when Council came out of the closed meeting.

    The Town has 30 days to respond to the lawsuit.

    None of the Town officials contacted by The Voice would comment on the record about the lawsuit, and no one at Prestwick Development’s Atlanta office had returned The Voice’s phone calls at press time.

     

  • County Grants Spark Questions

    WINNSBORO (Nov. 27, 2015) – With members Marion Robinson (District 5) and Dan Ruff (District 1) both absent Monday night, County Council postponed the announcement of the recipients of this year’s community enhancement grants.

    The delay gave Council, as well as members of the public, an opportunity to question how those grants were awarded.

    Ridgeway resident Randy Bright encouraged Council to focus on real needs, not just mere wants, while District 2 resident Elizabeth Jenkins added that Council should use caution when treading the line between ‘church and state.’ Jenkins also said she hoped Council was not considering expanding the grants.

    “I think we would all support anyone who lost anything in the floods, people who need to eat, power, things like that,” Jenkins said, addressing Council during the first public comment portion of the meeting. “We need to be very careful not to set a precedent and enhance the communities any more than they are already enhanced by the County.”

    District 3 Councilman Walter Larry Stewart said he was concerned about accountability associated with the grants.

    “I know some of these organizations that we’re giving these grants to use them properly,” Stewart said, “but I’m concerned that there is no follow-up, or nothing that closes the loop that says what they spent the money for. We need to take a look at this a little closer.”

    Milton Pope, Interim County Administrator, however, said County staff does, in fact, have a system of accountability in place.

    “The staff has to accumulate all of the receipts from those items that are expended, so we have the receipting for those things,” Pope said. “If the Council has questions about the program or it wants to ratchet up the regulatory process of that, we clearly can do that; but we clearly have criteria that we judge these by to make those recommendations (to Council).”

    Billy Smith (District 7) said there had been issues in the past where County staff had difficulty obtaining receipts from organizations that received grants and suggested that the County may want to consider moving toward a reimbursement system.

    “I think it might be a good idea to tie into this that, to get the money, maybe the organizations have to hand in the receipt first then they’ll be reimbursed,” Smith said. “That’s the way we do a lot of other things. I think that might be a little bit better way of doing it.”

    Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) said it should be up to individual Council members to police their own districts.

    “I looked at my particular district,” Marcharia said. “I kind of know it well, and I looked at another district and I saw requests on other districts that I had never seen before. But I’m going to leave that up to the individual Councilperson in his district to observe that and bring it into check if they see something that is out of balance.”

    After the meeting, Smith said Council had received some recommendations from staff this year that could stretch the invisible line between church and state.

    “In the past there was a lot of talk about back-to-school supplies, food drives and things of that nature going through churches, and I don’t mind that. They’re a facilitator,” Smith said. “There are some things in there (this year) that are more (for the church), and I think we need to take a closer look at those.”

    Council will take the grants up again during their Dec. 15 meeting.

     

  • Board Spars Over Budgets

    WINNSBORO (Nov. 27, 2015) – The Nov. 17 Fairfield County School Board meeting was a 3-hour marathon as the Board received the 2015 results of student testing, voted to award teacher/employee incentives and briefly reignited the issue of out-of-state and overnight field trips for students.

    Dr. J.R. Green, Superintendent, also hinted that the 2015 graduation rate would be higher than the statewide graduation rate of 80.3 percent once report card data was released by the S.C. Department of Education (DOE). According the report cards, released this week by the DOE, the District’s graduation rate soared to 90.7 percent in 2015, with a dropout rate of 0.1 percent. The District’s graduation rate in 2014 was 76.3 percent.

    Green raised the issue of the out-of-state field trip for students, stating that he wanted to provide clarification that, with the exception of four trips – those to the Bahamas, Orlando, New York and Puerto Rico – all other trips will be funded from the school budgets that were already approved. Also, Green announced that the trip to Puerto Rico (at a cost of approximately $28,000) that was questioned at the Oct. 20 Board meeting had been cancelled.

    He said the cost of the other three trips (totaling $87,000) would be funded in one of three ways: students will raise all the money needed; they will raise only part of the money and the principals of the schools involved will fund the balance from their budgets; or the students will raise only part of the money and the Board will be asked to fund the balance from the general fund.

    Addressing the field trip issue earlier in the meeting, Board member Paula Hartman noted that significant statements made by herself and Board member William Frick from the October meeting were omitted from the minutes.

    “Mr. Frick asked to have the total cost (of field trips) consistently show. I asked if we could have both the total costs and the amount the Board would pay (shown),” Hartman said. Board Chair Beth Reid agreed to have Hartman’s statement added to the record.

    Green asked the board to approve $100 gift cards as an incentive for all full-time District employees as well as full- and part-time bus drivers, for a total cost of approximately $70,000. He suggested taking that money from the District’s legal fees budget. While this was approved by the Board, it generated a lengthy discussion.

    “Why wasn’t this in the budget?” Hartman asked, noting that the board approved the same incentive last year and it should have been anticipated.

    “It should be,” Reid agreed, stating that she would include the cost of employee incentives in next year’s discussion of the budget.

    “But why wasn’t it included?” asked McDaniel. “The superintendent does the budget.”

    Green stated he didn’t think to put it in the budget.

    “It seems like we are using the legal fees as a slush fund to take whatever we want out of it,” Hartman stated. “We have budgeted it (legal fees) way too high and have done this in the past.”

    Green replied that the reason for the over-budgeting for legal fees is that previously, in 2011 and 2012, the district spent about $300,000 in legal fees, but this has decreased and now the district is in its third year of reduced legal fees.

    “I think it is a reasonable recommendation to reduce the budget for legal fees,” he said.

    The Board approved the expenditure 5-1, with Hartman voting no.

    Also on the agenda was a request by Green to move $50,000 from the general fund to the District’s arts program. Questioned why this expense was not established by the budget at the beginning of the year, Green said there was no opportunity to talk to the fine arts teachers to come up with a detailed spending plan before the budget was set. The transfer of $50,000 was approved by four members of the board with Hartman voting no and McDaniel abstaining.

    “When we are talking about transferring money from one account to another,” McDaniel said, “we need more information than this.”

     

  • Stewart, Chair at Odds Over Rec Plan

    WINNSBORO (Nov. 27, 2015) – Proponents of a Mitford recreation facility were thrown a curveball Monday night when District 3 Councilman Walter Larry Stewart, who had advocated for the Mitford location at County Council’s Nov. 9 meeting, suggested placing it instead on Camp Welfare Road near Carolina Adventure World.

    Mitford resident Carol Turner, who gave a full-blown presentation at Council’s Nov. 9 meeting, reiterated Monday night the desire of the far-flung Fairfield community to have the center in their neck of the woods, straddling the line between the two voting districts.

    “Within that location of the old Mitford Community Club schoolhouse that burned just a few years ago, there are 2,000 residents who live within a 5-mile radius,” Turner said. “It is ideally located, it is centrally located, it will be used.

    “To be perfectly honest, the folks in Mitford don’t feel connected to Fairfield County, because quite often we don’t get any consideration except at tax time and election time,” Turner added. “This will be an opportunity for the County to demonstrate in an overwhelming way that Mitford is not an appendage of Chester County or an extension of Great Falls, but it does belong to Fairfield County.”

    But Stewart, who asked Council to postpone a final decision on the location until Council’s Dec. 15 meeting, said Monday that there were arguments against the Mitford location. Those arguments, he said, were that the site was not the preferred 5 acres, and that it was not located close enough to the middle of that quadrant of the county.

    “I have located 6.46 acres that is a quarter of a mile from Carolina Adventure World,” Stewart said. “It’s one, possibly one and one quarter miles, off Wateree Road. It’s on Camp Welfare Road.”

    Stewart said Carolina Adventure World currently uses the property as an auxiliary parking lot, charging $5 per vehicle. That revenue could go to the County, he said, were a facility to be built there. But while Carolina Adventure World uses the property, the property is actually owned by Stewart’s CMC Foundation.

    “I purchased that property and gave it to the CMC Foundation and we will let the County have it for whatever the fair appraised value (is),” Stewart said.

    After the meeting, Stewart said he only proposed the Camp Welfare Road property as an alternative to satisfy the Chairwoman.

    “Carolyn Robinson (District 2) doesn’t want it where it’s going to be, on that county (district) line,” Stewart said. “So I just threw that out there as an alternative. I’d rather have it in Mitford. She’s trying to say it’s not in the middle of the quadrant. Well, I gave her something that’s in the middle of the quadrant. I’m not running for re-election. She is.”

    Robinson after the meeting said she would prefer building the facility closer to the bulk of her constituents on Lake Wateree.

    “There may be 2,000 (in the Mitford area), but there’s 3,000 here (near Lake Wateree),” Robinson said. “We don’t have enough money to put one in each community. I’ve been looking on Wateree Road.”

    Robinson said she hoped to iron out the dispute before the next meeting.

    “It’s a matter of us sitting and talking,” she said. “We’re going to sit down and talk. There will be a resolution.”