COLUMBIA – The rezoning request for a residential development that could bring as many as 500 homes to the Heins Road area in Blythewood has been deferred until November, according to Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson.
The request was recommended for approval to Richland County Council by the County’s Planning Commission on Sept. 8. A public hearing was scheduled Sept. 22, but when a large crowd showed up to protest the rezoning, Dickerson called for the hearing to be deferred until October to give time for representatives of the developer, Drapac, Inc., to meet with residents who live near the area to be rezoned. That community meeting took place Oct. 1.
After the developer could not answer some of the questions posed by residents at that meeting, including how many homes were to be built in the development, Dickerson said she would schedule another meeting before the next County Council meeting on Oct. 27.
But in an email to The Voice on Oct. 14, Dickerson said that “because of the problematic flooding in the area . . . please be advised that the applicant (Drapac, Inc.) has made a request to defer this item until November. Therefore there will not be any action on this item as previously presented.”
Dickerson told The Voice that she would let the community know when another community meeting would be scheduled, and that it would be held before the County Council’s Nov. 23 public hearing.
Larry Sharpe’s BP sign will soon conform to new rules. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
BLYTHEWOOD – The big signs are coming down. In response to a town ordinance passed in 2009 to require all signs in the town to conform to new standards by the year 2016 (high-rise interstate signs by 2020), Larry Sharpe Jr. presented plans to the Board of Architecture Review (BAR) Monday night for replacing nonconforming signs at his family’s businesses – the 25-foot BP sign at the Doko Express service station on Main Street and the 15-foot sign at the Exxon service station at Blythewood Road and the McNulty Road extension, across from the Waffle House.
Sharpe told the BAR members that the signs would be replaced with 8-foot conforming monument style signs. Because each sign advertises for two businesses on the respective sites, Sharpe is allowed 64 square inches of signage space per side for each sign instead of the 32 inches allowed for one business.
“We want to go ahead and get this out of the way,” Sharpe told members of the Board. “We’re ready to bring the sign down and conform with the ordinance.”
Robert Tobias, who owns the building where Blythewood Consignment is located, voluntarily removed a 25-foot sign from in front of that shop earlier this year.
The new ordinance goes into effect in January, at which time businesses whose signs do not conformed will be notified by Town Hall that they are in violation of the Town’s zoning code.
Last December, Mayor J. Michael Ross had expressed concern that the 2009 ordinance was too restrictive and might need to be tweaked to exempt existing nonconforming signs. Letters were sent out to businesses notifying them of the pending compliance requirement. The majority on Council, however, led by Councilman Bob Massa who has since retired from his Council seat, quashed the movement to relax the sign ordinance. There were no ensuing objections to the 2009 ordinance from business owners and only two churches sent representatives to the Town Council meeting with objections.
Michael Criss, the Town’s Planning Consultant, told The Voice that while many of the town’s signs are nonconforming, most are minor nonconformities. Among the most egregious offenders of the new ordinance are the large signs at Wendy’s, Waffle House, IGA, Pope Tire Company and the two signs Sharpe is replacing.
Because the BAR did not have a quorum on Monday, Sharpe’s sign application was discussed by those BAR members present but will not be voted on until Thursday when a special called meeting was scheduled.
BLYTHEWOOD – A rezoning request for a 4.56 acre parcel on McLean Road that stirred controversy at the September Planning Commission meeting sailed through the Commission’s Oct. 12 meeting with an unopposed, unanimous recommendation for approval.
The owners of the Rural (RU) zoned parcel, Wright and Gray Partnership, initially applied for Town Center (TC) zoning which is the second highest of the Town’s six commercial zoning districts. Owners of an adjoining property spoke out against having commercial zoning next door. During that meeting, the neighbors suggested they might be interested in purchasing the 4.56 acres. At Monday’s meeting, NIA Avant realtor Tombo Milliken, who is representing the Partnership, told the Commission that he had sent a letter to the neighbors offering the land for sale, but had received no response and was, therefore, proceeding with the rezoning request.
No one signed up to speak in opposition to the rezoning.
Milliken also told Commissioners that the applicant had decided to request Multi-neighborhood Commercial (MC) zoning for the 4.56 acres instead of TC zoning. That zoning is one step less intensive than TC zoning.
Milliken added that 1.3 acres of the property are wetlands, making only 2.7 acres usable for development since .5 acres is separated from the usable 2.7 acres by the wetlands. He also pointed out that the 2.7 acres was on the opposite side of the property from the neighbor’s property line creating a considerable distance between the usable property and the neighbor’s property.
“Because of the required 50-foot set-back required around wetlands,” Milliken said, “any structure built on the rezoned property would likely be at least 300 feet from the home on the neighbor’s property.”
Asked by the commission what might be built on the property, Milliken said, “We don’t know. We do not have a site plan because we don’t have a user.”
But he speculated that a professional building would be suitable for the property.
The Commission voted unanimously to recommend the MC rezoning to Town Council, which will meet on Oct. 26.
RIDGEWAY – Town Council’s scheme to move Ridgeway’s Police Department from 160 S. Palmer St. and into the Century House at 170 S. Dogwood Ave. took a leap forward last week as Councilman Russ Brown put the question to a vote.
Council fist took the matter up at a Sept. 22 work session when Brown said the Town could save $500 a month in utility costs at the station and net as much as an additional $600 in rent. A move to the Century House would also give the Police Department access to internet, something lacking at the current station.
Half of any rent collected by leasing the police station, however, would have to go to Norfolk Southern Railway, which owns the property on which the station sits, plus the Town would be on the hook for a one-time fee of $750 for subleasing any of the buildings that currently stand on the railroad’s property.
During Council’s Oct. 8 meeting, Mayor Charlene Herring urged Council to wait another month to find out if the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office would be interested in leasing the station for use as a substation. Councilman Donald Prioleau said Sheriff Will Montgomery was ready to make such a commitment, pending funding from County Council.
Brown then put the motion on the floor to relocate the Department to the Century House and make the station available for lease if the Sheriff’s Office was not interested in putting in a substation. Councilman Heath Cookendorfer seconded the motion.
Countering Herring’s argument touting the value of a police presence on Ridgeway’s main street, Cookendorfer said, “A building is not presence. An active police officer on duty is presence.”
“And it’s a building we can rent out for additional revenue, instead of it costing us money,” Cookendorfer added. “I would like to turn a profit instead of losing money.”
Herring cast the lone vote against the proposed move, a vote she moved to change after Cookendorfer made it clear “We’re not making any move until we hear from the County (Sheriff).”
Sheriff Montgomery, meanwhile, told The Voice Monday that his office has no interest at this time in locating a substation inside the Ridgeway police station. There is very little, he said, that deputies can do inside a static location that they cannot do in their patrol cars, and he would prefer to have officers out on the beat. Deputies already patrol Ridgeway and surrounding areas, he said.
As of press time, Ridgeway remains without a police officer. Two candidates were interviewed during executive session on Oct. 8. Herring said this week that the Town had offered the position to one of the candidates, but had not received a response when The Voice went to press.
Regarding the fee and the 50 percent of rent the Town would have to pay the railroad, as stipulated in a lease agreement Ridgeway signed with Norfolk Southern earlier this year, Brown suggested hiring an attorney to review the deal and perhaps encourage the railroad to make concessions.
“I noticed one or two things with the contract,” Brown said. “There’s a specific date in there that I was under the impression would be changed. That’s troublesome. There are some things we need to pay someone to look at.”
WINNSBORO – Following an extensive executive session Monday night, County Council cut a swath through their $3.5 million recreation plan, shrinking a plan that has been, since its debut last year, more than $627,000 over budget down to more than $1.78 million under budget.
With a unanimous vote, Council eradicated recreation projects in districts 1, 5 and 7, while trimming the District 6 plan to the installation of a walking trail and football field lights at Drawdy Park. Districts 2 and 3 have had their plans combined into a plan that will be limited to the construction of a community center, contingent upon the acquisition of property.
The only district to remain intact is District 4, which will finally see the construction of its long-awaited community center, as well as a walking trail and outdoor basketball court. That plan originally came in at an estimated $641,660.
The recreation plan, which under its original estimate came in at a staggering $4,127,346, has now been slashed to $1,719,954.
The public safety components of the plan – a fire/EMS station in Jenkinsville and a fire station in Ridgeway – will proceed as planned, at a cost of $2,196,722.
The town of Ridgeway, which turned itself inside out earlier this year debating the merits of moving its proposed community center from near a County recycling center on Highway 21 at Smallwood Road to the vacant lot where the old Ridgeway School once stood at the corner of Church and Means streets, will not have to worry about those merits again for some time.
Efforts to locate the facility in town failed on a 2-3 vote last March after much heated debate. Under the revised plan, Ridgeway will see a new fire station, but recreation will have to wait.
“They do want something, and I want them to have something,” District 1 Councilman Dan Ruff said, adding that location of the facility had nothing to do with the choices Council had to make. “No matter what I would have done, it wouldn’t have passed right now. It’s still going to happen, just not right now. There are several huge expenses standing in the way.”
Relocating the Courthouse temporarily to the HON Building, renovating the Courthouse, then moving back in from the HON Building, as well as repairing the Detention Center roof are just two of those huge expenses, Ruff said. Bridging the gap between the $1.1 million in bond money and the nearly $2.2 million estimated for the fire and EMS stations is another, District 7 Councilman Billy Smith said.
“Some of that $3.5 million (recreation budget) is going to have to be redirected to the fire and EMS portion of the plan,” Smith said. “Our priority was on the public safety projects.”
Ruff said that while the County was waiting on recreation to come back around on their to-do list, the School District has agreed to make available facilities at Geiger Elementary School for some County recreation activities.
District 1 had originally planned on a community center near Ridgeway, as well as an outdoor basketball court, for a total of $617,017. District 2, a community center and a combination EMS/recycling facility for $573,333. District 3, four playgrounds, equipment and a basketball court for $499,337. District 5, four playgrounds and equipment, three picnic shelters, two walking trails and a basketball court for $641,660. District 6, conversion of former County maintenance facility into a fitness center, lighting for fields, walking trails and a picnic shelter for $509,629. District 7, improvements to the genealogy building, basketball court, baseball/softball field, picnic shelter and restroom facilities for $644,440.
With the project debuting last September at $627,346 over budget, paring down the individual wish lists was also a real possibility in the original plan.
“This is not the end of the discussion about recreation in Fairfield County,” Smith said. “We were going to have to compromise. Maybe we can fund one or two (projects) now, determine how they’re going to work out, how successful they’re going to be, before we spend the whole pot of money on it. It was the best thing we could do at the time, all things considered.”
As a 30-year resident of Blythewood, I am incredibly passionate about our community and am grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to serve you on Town Council, to be your voice in government. My life’s calling has been to public service, and I take it seriously.
U. S. Navy veteran
I served as a petty officer assigned to a fighter squadron, trained pilots and air crewmen, served on the USS Nimitz, USS John F Kennedy, USS Forrestal, USS America, USS Independence and the USS Saratoga. Today I am active in our veteran community through post-sponsored activities and continuing education for veterans. I hold senior leadership positions in both Lake Wateree VFW post 8346 and Lake Wateree AMVETS post 33.
Fire Service Career
As a 26-year member of the Columbia Richland fire service, I have 17 years command experience, serving as Captain on both engines and ladder trucks and as Battalion Chief in the largest battalion of Richland County. I was responsible for command and control of nine fire stations and 60 personnel. I served as Department Coordinator of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s “Fill the Boot,” helping to raise over a million dollars to find a cure for neuromuscular disease. In my retirement, I serve as an officer in the International Association of Fire Fighters local 793.
Church Service
As a member of Sandy Level Baptist Church I’ve served in many areas of church life, children’s Sunday School teacher, usher, trustee and as chairman of the deacon board.
Community Service
As a Town Councilman and as a citizen, I am incredibly focused on the controlled growth of our town. My wife, Donna, and I raised our two children here and my goal was always to put my best efforts into maintaining the beauty and appeal that brought each of us to Blythewood.
If re-elected to Council I vow to continue to work diligently with area government agencies to improve our town’s infrastructure. I will continue to support our local businesses and to seek improvements to attract new local and family oriented establishments. I will seek to safe guard our residents and town from unnecessary debt and continue to be a good steward of the town’s resources. I am absolutely dedicated to protecting our town’s citizens’ right to good governance. I believe our government is more open and accessible now than ever before. I attribute that to an administration and Council who want it to be so.
If re-elected to Blythewood Town Council, my promise to you the citizens of Blythewood is that I will work with you to promote the harmony and diversity Blythewood is known for so that our community can continue to be a shining example to all of Richland County.
Much has been accomplished these last four years, but we have much more work to do. Blythewood is our home.
BLYTHEWOOD – An $8 million low-income apartment complex proposed in downtown Blythewood hit a snag at the Planning Commission meeting Monday evening when Commissioners expressed concern about increased traffic from the project and the developer’s lack of a fleshed-out plan to manage storm-water runoff.
The proposed project, named The Pointe at Blythewood, is planned for Main Street behind the Langford-Nord house and across from Blythewood Consignments in the Town Center District. The developer is Prestwick Companies of Atlanta. Devin Blankenship, Senior Development Manager, told The Voice last month that while the apartments are considered affordable housing they are not Section 8 housing.
Clayton Ingram, a spokesperson for the S.C. Housing Finance Authority told The Voice that the developer will receive a federal tax credit of $699,052 each year over a 10-year period to construct the apartments. He said residents are required to have an income between 50 and 60 percent of the mean income for the area where the apartments are located.
“The property is zoned Rural (RU) and meets multi-family zoning requirements,” the Town’s Planning Consultant Michael Criss told the Commission. “The developer is only required to come before the Planning Commission for site plan approval.”
Prestwick Companies was represented at the meeting by Robert Byington Jr., an architect with Studio 8 Architecture Design, and Mark Binsz, Vice President of Engineering with Site Design, Inc. of Greenville.
Before the project’s traffic and storm water plans were met with questions from some of the Commissioners, the development was pummeled during the public comment segment by several of the 25 residents who showed up in opposition to the apartments.
“My sister and I own 2 acres next to that property,” Harold Boney told the Commissioners. “I’m not against the project. I’d like to see it come to Blythewood. But I don’t like the location.”
Cindy Shull voiced concerns about increased traffic.
“The amount of traffic already in this area is only going to get worse,” she said.
Referring to a copy of the Town’s Master Plan, Shull said, “The Master Plan was developed to accommodate new density in a way that preserves quality of life.”
She said this development does not do that.
Irene Shepard said she felt the development would take away from Blythewood’s country lifestyle.
“What you’re bringing in is low-income housing,” Shepard said. “Bringing in 56 of these apartments is bringing in crime and trouble.”
Shepard’s daughter, Danielle Andes, agreed with her mother.
“This is not what this town needs,” Andes said. “People who sit on this board have not lived here for 40-plus years. They are people from the outside who have moved here, have come with a little bit of money and ruined what we had.”
Kathy Johnson had not yet arrived at the meeting when her name was called to speak, but a man who said he was her husband, spoke on her behalf saying he “grew up in the inner city, so I’ve seen this type of housing. I want to keep Blythewood like it is. If you want big city problems, start with low-income housing and you’ll have big city problems.”
Criss said, however, that multi-family housing is not only allowed in the Town Center District, but welcomed.
“There is not an explicit density limit for multi-family housing,” Criss said, “other than what will fit on the lot with adequate landscaping, parking, buffering and up to four stories in building height.”
The proposed apartments are two-stories tall with a pitched roof. They will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom units.
Commissioner Ernestine Middleton asked if affordable housing was welcomed because of the need to add affordable housing in the community.
“Yes,” Criss answered, “and to also bring people downtown, to bring vitality and business customers to the Town Center District.”
After making a short presentation to the Commission, Binsz was asked by Commission Chairman Malcolm Gordge how the developer proposed to mitigate the effects of increased traffic on Main Street and at the intersection of McNulty Road and Main Street.
“We will get DOT’s (S.C. Department of Transportation) input on any final design plans,” Binsz said.
“What about construction traffic?” Gordge asked, “Can you mitigate that?”
Binsz said that would be the contractor’s responsibility.
When asked what the company had done to determine the amount of storm water they would be able to dispose of, Binsz answered that while the company didn’t have a final design, their initial estimates would not require a runoff pond.
“Let me speak from my own personal point of view,” Gordge concluded. “There are still significant uncertainties regarding traffic mitigation and we don’t have the recommendations from SCDOT on what they would require when faced by traffic during construction. We also don’t have the full details on the management of storm water, so I don’t feel as though we can recommend or deny approval based on what we have.”
Commissioner Buddy Price agreed.
“I like the concept, the idea that we have a project such as this, and I understand the foot traffic and bringing folks into our businesses and those kinds of things,” Price said. “My concern is that it’s in the wrong place. I’m mostly concerned about the traffic. Right now the traffic is extraordinary because of the re-routing due to the flooding, but even under normal circumstances it backs up.”
“We will comply with what SCDOT requires,” Binsz said. “They will dictate what we can and cannot do.”
In an email to the Town’s Administrator Gary Parker last week regarding whether SCDOT would require a traffic study of the developer, SCDOT Engineer Tyler Clark told Parker, “At this time we don’t have plans to require a TIS (Traffic Impact Study); however, this does not mean we will not require mitigations along US-21 as needed. We will know more after we meet with the engineer/developer.”
Gordge called for a deferral of the matter until the next meeting on Nov. 2. The vote was 3-1 with Commissioner Don Sanders voting for approval of the site plan. Commissioner Marcus Taylor was absent.
BLYTHEWOOD – On Monday evening the Planning Commission will discuss a site plan for The Pointe at Blythewood, a 56-unit apartment complex proposed on Main Street in the Town Center District (TCD); decide whether to recommend TCD zoning for a 4.56-acre parcel at 121 McLean Road and address proposed height limits and flat roofs on buildings in the TCD.
Affordable Housing
The Commission will consider whether to approve a site plan for the development of a 56-unit apartment complex on Main Street. The tenants will be low- and moderate-income residents, Town Administrator Gary Parker said.
“This will address the goal in the Town’s Comprehensive Plan of attracting affordable house to the community,” Parker said.
He said the core commercial area is the appropriate for multi-family housing. The developer, Prestwick Companies of Atlanta, has received financing approval from the S.C. State Housing Finance and Development Authority.
Rezoning is not required for the apartments according to the Town’s Planning Consultant Michael Criss.
Rezoning Request for TCD
After the owners of a 4.56-acre parcel on McLean Road requested the property be rezoned from Rural (RU) to Town Center District (TCD) at the September Planning Commission meeting, the property’s neighbors who were protesting the rezoning for commercial use agreed to talk with the realtor representing the property owners about purchasing it. With that, Commission deferred a recommendation on the request, suggesting the principals of the parcel meet with the neighbors and try to come to terms – either for the neighbors to purchase the property or for the applicant to bring the rezoning proposal back to the Commission at a later date. That matter will be heard Monday evening.
Building Heights; Flat Roofs
Mayor J. Michael Ross has proposed an amendment to the Town’s zoning ordinance that would repeal the requirement that new structures must be two stories and, instead, allow single-story structures in the TCD. One other proposed amendment of the zoning ordinance to be taken up by the Commission would prohibit flat roofs on single story buildings in the TCD while allowing them on multi-story buildings. Additionally, corner buildings at six specified intersections shall have a storefront treatment along each corresponding street. Town Council considered this proposed amendment at their Sept. 28 meeting and has forwarded it to the Planning Commission for a recommendation.
The Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m., Monday at The Manor.
At a community meeting last week at The Manor, Heins Road resident Laurie Rossdentsher discusses with neighbors a map of a proposed residential development that they fear could adversely affect the tranquility of their rural properties. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
BLYTHEWOOD – About 75 Blythewood rural property owners attended a community meeting Oct. 1 at The Manor in Blythewood to get answers to their questions about a mega housing development proposed on 202 acres off Heins Road near their homes.
Even though the developer’s team was there to answer their questions, the property owners left two hours later without the primary piece of information they came for – specifically, how many homes the developer planned for the development.
The meeting was hosted by Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross and facilitated by the area’s representative on Richland County Council, Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson. House Rep. Joseph McEachern, who represents the area, also attended.
Near the end of Thursday night’s meeting, McEachern weighed in on the side of the audience, telling them at one point, “This is just a proposed plan they (the developers) have. They don’t have to do this (re-zoning). If (Council) gives them this zoning, their proposal could change. Is that right?” McEachern asked, turning to Columbia attorney Robert Fuller who is representing the developer, Drapac, Inc., an Australian based real estate investment and development company.
“That’s right,” Fuller answered.
“I think you’re being short changed,” McEachern told the audience, “to be asked to support something you don’t have the numbers for. I would be adamant against supporting this (project) without this question being answered. I’m not sure I ever came to a meeting to discuss zoning when the (developer) didn’t have the numbers,” said McEachern who served as the County Council representative for the area before being elected to the House.
Drapac, Inc. has the 202 acres under contract contingent upon the rezoning of the property. The company has applied to Richland County to have the parcel rezoned from Rural (RU) zoning that would ordinarily permit about 267 homes on lots no smaller than .75-acres to Residential Estate (RS-E) zoning that could allow as many as 529 homes on lots as small as .30- or .25-acres (see box.)
“I don’t see where I am going to raise my hand to approve 500 homes,” Dickerson assured the crowd in her opening comments, referring to how she might vote on the matter. “However,” she continued, “I will be willing for you all to come together and find a compromise and see what we can do and work together to get the most out of the property for the community and for the developer.”
Joel Tew, a spokesperson for Michael Drapac, who owns the company and opened a U. S. headquarters in Atlanta three years ago, told the audience, “We aren’t trying to change the zoning because we want to build more houses. We want to change it so we can build something special. That’s the only reason we want to change the zoning.”
Asked by members of the audience if Drapac, who remained in Melbourne, Australia on business, would be content with 250 homes on the property, Tew answered, “No. Based on our preliminary analysis, we do not believe the project is economically feasible at 250 homes.”
Fuller further told the audience, “What you may not like to hear is that under the current RU zoning, by utilizing the land development regulations and the open space design standards now allowed by the County, the developer could build 334 homes right now without asking for a zoning change.”
Asked if the developer would be content with building that number (334) of homes, Fuller answered, “No.” Asked about holding the number of homes to 350, the answer was still, “No.”
“Drapac is looking for something between 334 and 500 homes that the community can live with, the County can approve and that we can make work financially,” Tew explained. But, he added, “We don’t have that silver number yet. Michael’s philosophy is that everyone in business has to have a reasonable return on their investment. That’s the rules, and there’s nothing wrong with that. He doesn’t apologize for being in business, for making a profit and a fair return for his investors,” Tew told the audience.
Fuller told the residents, “The (Richland County planning) staff has already agreed that RS-E zoning would be the appropriate way to develop the property to get the most planning into the development and maximize the opportunities for the Beha family (who owns the property) and the community as a whole.”
He also pointed out that the Planning Commission recommended the requested RS-E zoning to County Council with a 6-3 vote and that RS-E zoning complies with the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (adopted by the County Council last year) for the area.
There was criticism from the audience that the Planning Commission vote and recommendation took place during the middle of a work day when most of the people who live in the area of the proposed development had to be at work.
“You say you want to build a better community,” one unidentified resident said. “You’re talking to homeowners, not home buyers. We feel we have that community here in Blythewood already.”
After an extended applause of support for the speaker, Tew countered, “Before you were a homeowner, you, too, were a home buyer.”
“But we didn’t ask for a zoning change when we moved out here,” the speaker answered.
Residents also had questions about the effect of additional traffic the proposed development would produce. Resident Carol Ward questioned the traffic study on record for Heins Road. Planning Commissioners, at their Sept. 8 meeting, referenced a County staff report, based on a 2009 traffic study, stating that Heins Road operates at a low level of traffic, only 600 cars per day. Ward said Commissioners were asked if the traffic study could be extended further out to reflect current traffic on Langford Road that bottlenecks as it travels into Blythewood during heavy traffic hours.
“(The Planning Commissioners) said they are only required to look at the traffic on Heins Road and that Heins Road could accommodate the increased traffic,” Ward said.
Tew answered that the traffic study would, indeed, include more than Heins Road and that Drapac would adhere to the requirements of any such traffic study. But Dickerson pointed out that a traffic study for the area would not be done until the rezoning request is finalized.
McEachern told residents that they had a legitimate concern about the traffic on Langford Road.
“I can’t give you much comfort about roads,” McEachern said regarding improvements to be paid for by the state. “We haven’t even been able to get Blythewood Road taken care of.”
Lorraine Abell, who lives not far from the proposed development, addressed other areas she said would be adversely affected by that development and others it might spawn in the area – the need for more schools, which would bring higher taxes, the need for more law enforcement and an increase in the crime rate.
“These weren’t even discussed,” Abell said. “We wouldn’t have even been here tonight if we had been given more information before we got to this point.” She also pointed out the irony of a slogan written on the wall in the Council chambers – Uniquely Rural. “I think we’re losing that.”
Early in the meeting, Fuller told the audience, “We are here tonight to tell you that, at the end of the day, we will tell you what we do intend to do.”
But it was not to be at the end of that day.
Before adjourning the meeting, Dickerson told the developer’s team that she wanted them to get back to her with a final number of homes very soon so she could schedule another meeting with the residents and relay that information to them before Oct. 27, when the public hearing and the first of three votes by County Council would take place in Council’s chambers.
That meeting will be the only time residents will be allowed to address County Council about their concerns over the rezoning.
WINNSBORO – County Council’s Administration and Finance Committee recommended more than $400,000 in capital expenditures Monday afternoon, nearly all of which were part of the 2015-2016 budget. The greatest exception was a more than $10,000 overage in a request by the County’s Fire Service, which forced the County Fire Marshal to make adjustments within his operational budget.
After the Committee, chaired by Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) and comprising Marion Robinson (District 5) and Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6), gave the OK for the purchase of a 2015 Dodge ambulance for the EMS Department at a cost of $180,364 (which was nearly $10,000 less than what Council had budgeted last spring), the trio then took up the purchase of two brush trucks and two service trucks for Fire Service.
Fire Marshal Tony Hill told the Committee that his initial request when making out the budget several months ago had been for 2015 model trucks; however, now at the end of September, he said, only 2016 models were available, sending the price up. To make up for the $10,266 overage, Hill said he was moving money from his equipment account.
“It’s nothing we can’t do without for another year,” Hill said. “(The departments) are just going to have to wait, because these trucks are more important.”
One brush truck and one service truck are slated for the Greenbrier department, Hill said, with another service truck earmarked for Ridgeway and another brush truck for Lebanon.
“I’m not a big proponent of moving money from operations to capital,” Marion Robinson said, “but if it’s not life-saving stuff, I can go along with it this one time. But I don’t want it to be a habit.”
The Committee also approved the purchase of a backhoe for the Public Works Department for a cost of $68,706 – less than the $80,000 budgeted for the item.
A request from the Tax Assessor’s Office to purchase a Chevrolet Colorado four-wheel drive pickup truck to replace a Ford Taurus station wagon also exceeded its $26,000 budget, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope said, but only by $126.
The recommendations will be taken up by full Council at their Oct. 12 meeting.
