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  • Cobblestone residents sue D.R. Horton, Town of Blythewood

    Image result for cobblestone, blythewood sc signBLYTHEWOOD – Four Cobblestone Park residents have filed a lawsuit against a builder in their neighborhood, D. R. Horton, Inc., and the Town of Blythewood.

    In the complaint filed July 25 in the Court of Common Pleas in Columbia, James and Lenore Zedosky and Douglas and Sally Shea say that when they purchased their respective properties, then known as The University Club, restrictive covenants were in place assuring that their properties would be adjacent either to a deeded nine-hole golf course or would remain a perpetual green way pursuant to the terms of the Greenway Covenant.

    The rights of the University Club were subsequently acquired by Ginn-LA University Club Ltd. The suit states that in September, 2005, Ginn amended the covenants for Cobblestone Park.

    The suit states that Ginn provided that the Cobblestone Park covenants could only be amended upon written consent of the majority of the existing owners whose rights are materially affected by such amendment.

    According to the suit, Ginn assigned its rights as Declarant under the Cobblestone Park covenants to D. R. Horton in December, 2012. The property conveyed, the suit says, included the property subject to the Greenway Covenant. The plaintiffs say in the suit that Horton intends to further sub divide the property subject to the Greenway Covenant into residential lots and at least six additional roads for the purpose of constructing and selling residences in violation of the Greenway Covenant.

    The Zedoskys and Sheas say the construction will have a material adverse effect on their rights under the Greenway Covenant including, but not limited to, a devaluation of the value of their properties and a significant disruption of their quiet enjoyment of their property that would result from the loss of the property as green space or as a golf course.

    The suit claims that Horton has made application to the Town of Blythewood for permission to subdivide the property that was set aside for a golf course or green space.

    “Horton has failed to obtain the written consent of the majority of owners affected by Horton’s intended change in the use of the property which is subject to the Greenway Covenant,” the suit states.

    The Zedoskys and Sheas are asking for an order from the Court temporarily and permanently enjoining the Town from taking any action to permit or otherwise approve any requested subdivision of the proposed Golf Course/Greenway property in a manner inconsistent with the terms of the Greenway Covenant.

  • TC tables Town Center zoning amendment

    Due to a technicality, Council did not take the second and final vote on a hot button rezoning that would, if passed, dismantle key zoning ordinances put in place by a previous administration to create a more attractive streets cape in the Town Center District.

    If adopted, Ordinance 2017.010 will relax the Town Center zoning district building placement and driveway regulations on properties fronting Blythewood Road east of I-77.

    The current ordinance calls for new buildings to sit near the road with parking in the back. Drive through windows are not allowed in the front of fast food restaurants along with other restrictions designed to make the town more attractive.

    Mayor J. Michael Ross and the Town’s economic development consultant, Ed Parler, have argued for the last several months that economic development is not coming to the town because of these restrictions.

    Because the ordinance not only changes the zoning text map but the Comprehensive Plan as well, there was some question as to whether sufficient public notice had been given prior to the final vote. Council, therefore, postponed the vote until the September 25 meeting.

    Still the fur flew during the public hearing on the issue when former Councilman Paul Moscati objected to the changes and later when Ross responded.

    Moscati gave a hats off to Council and Town Administrator Gary Parker for innovatively pursuing sources of revenue for the Town to operate on.

    “That being said, I do not believe in lowering our standards in an effort to lure a developer into Town to open a business on his terms. That’s not how this is supposed to work,” Moscati said. “These guidelines resulted during the development of the Master Plan a few years ago. Support was exhibited and Council put them in place.

    “But the decision to pursue these changes being  voted on tonight came from the top down, not the bottom up as typical government by the people works,” Moscati said. “There was no groundswell movement to make these changes.”

    After first reading by Council, the proposed amendment was sent to the Planning Commission where it was not recommended to move forward.

    “The developer has apparently pushed enough and offered the Town enough to now pit Council against the citizens of the Town who supported these guidelines and the Planning Commission who is made up of citizens volunteering their time to do their best to make sure Blythewood remains special,” Moscati said.

    “Your words are exactly on,” Ross responded. “This came from the top. This is something that I have been frustrated with and I have heard other community members say and also my economic development person that brings economic development to us. It just gets stalled and stalled and nothing comes, so we have nothing . Hopefully people have confidence in me and this council that we’ll either decide that that’s what’ll be best as to look at this little area that’s already developed as it is, that would just compliment it and it would be some of the same things, or it won’t, but thank you.”

    Town Council will meet on Sept. 25.

  • RW raises water and sewer rates

    RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway residents can now ready themselves for higher sewer and water rates after council passed second reading of an amendment to ordinance 3-1001, the water and sewer ordinance of Ridgeway. Historically, the town has not raised rates, but passed along Winnsboro’s rate increases.

    Water rates for residential customers within Ridgeway’s town limits will now be $16.25 for the first thousand gallons, and $5.57 for each additional thousand gallons. Sewer rates are now $13.25 for the first thousand gallons and $5.04 for every additional thousand.

    Commercial businesses inside the town limits, and residential customers outside of the town limits, now share the same water rate of $21.50 per first thousand gallons and sewer rate of $14.50. Both, are also now required to pay $6.89 for each additional thousand gallons of water and $6.10 for sewage overage.

    Businesses outside of the town limits now have to cough up $24.91 for the first thousand gallons and $6.89 for each subsequent thousand gallons. Sewer rates climbed $20.41 for the first thousand gallons and $6.10 for every thousand gallons used past that.

    The catalyst for these rate hikes was a budget recommendation from Certified Public Accountant Larry Finney, but according to Councilwoman Angela Harrison, the rate increase is a long time coming.

    “This is not a new thing, cause I’m hearing from citizens this is new,” Harrison said. “If you want to go back to the audits from 2007, it clearly stated in every audit that the water rates need to be adjusted to keep our town healthy and water system viable.”

    Second reading passed 3-1. Councilman Heath Cookendorfer voted against the rate increase.

    Capital Improvements

    Next, Council moved to vote on a series of items that were not   included on the agenda.

    In June, Council allocated funds for a series of designated capital improvements, and during Thursday’s meeting, it approved a bid of $30,000 in capital improvements that were not on the agenda.

    “At a previous meeting, council designated and approved capital improvements in our budget regarding the following items: security cameras, utility building at the waste/water plant and painting the shutters for Town Hall,” Mayor Charlene Herring said.

    Council approved a $22,456 bid from Turner Building Systems for a 30 x 36 foot maintenance building for the town’s water facility. That bid came in well under the $30,000 allocated. Other bids for the building were $26,554 and $23,400.

    Half of the funds to pay for the building come from the capital improvements budget, and the other half comes from the utility budget.

    The town also voted to spend $4,700 for Grant Whaley, who has done work for Ridgeway in the past, to paint both the interior walls downstairs and exterior trim of Town Hall.

    Council also approved a bid of $3,032 from Palmetto Blinds to install six inside shutters to town hall – four sets of shutters in the council room and two upstairs to protect the art in the town’s museum from sunlight.

    “I’d like to remind you that in the past, Arts on the Ridge has furnished shutters for the town and Pig on the Ridge has furnished shutters for the town,” Herring said.

    Patrol Car

    Mayor Herring initiated a vote (which was also not on the agenda) to have the Ford Crown Victoria Police Cruiser repainted at the Fairfield County Career and Technology Center. At the technology center, Herring said, labor costs would have been excluded, and the town would only be charged the price of paint.

    After both Cookendorfer and Harrison expressed concerns about the value of the car and the cost of the work, the item, which was not on the agenda, was tabled until Council could gather more information.

    “Should we wait until we find out what the paint costs? We’re agreeing to do something kind of without knowledge,” Cookendorfer said. “I say we table until we get some additional information.”

    “My question is what kind of shape is that car in to begin with, that we’re repainting it. I’d like to know that before we make any decision,” Harrison said.

    Victim’s Assistance

    Council agreed to return $5,000 to the town’s Victim Assistance fund after Fairfield County turned down the donation. Originally, Council slated $15,000 to go to the Fairfield County Victim’s Assistance and $35,000 to SisterCare, but that split was changed in order for the town of Ridgeway to focus on a marketing campaign with SisterCare.

    “Leave it there. That’s what I would like to see, until we find something else worthy of our time,” Harrison said. “And I have more bids to get for the marketing campaign we talked about in our previous meetings.”

  • Blythewood Chamber recalls 5,000 glasses

    Five thousand pairs of solar eclipse glasses distributed by the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce last week have been recalled.

    The glasses, purchased from China by the Chamber through Eye Love Cares Clinic of Camden,  a Chamber member, were not manufactured by one of the five NASA certified companies. NASA has named: American Paper Optics, Rainbow Symphony, Thousand Oaks Optical and TSE 17 as reputable sources of eclipse glasses whose products can be trusted.

    Astro-Solar Silver/Gold lensed glasses by Baader Planetarium are also authorized.

    Mike Switzer, Executive Director of the Chamber, told The Voice that the ISO number on the unauthorized glasses “is one number below the ISO number recommended by NASA for 2017”. However, there is no ISO number on the glasses. The only number on the Chamber’s glasses is the phone number of Eye Concepts, a company listed as a Blythewood Chamber sponsor who advertised on the glasses.

    Eye Love Cares Clinic of Camden, the company that ordered the $2,700 worth of glasses, was the Chamber’s choice for Blythewood Small Business of the year last year.

    Jenna Zigler of Eye Love Cares  Clinic told The Voice that the clinic was authorized by the Chamber to order the glasses. She also said certified replacement glasses have been ordered, but she did not say how many were ordered.

    Switzer said he hoped the replacements would arrive Wednesday prior to the weekend events and that he hoped there would be as many as 700 to give out at each of the park events on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

    Most of the 5,000 unauthorized pairs distributed through the Blythewood Chamber  were given out by 15 businesses who paid a $250 eclipse sponsorship to the Chamber. At least one of those sponsors told The Voice they thought their own logo was to be on the glasses they received to give out.

    Switzer had previously received the following funds from the Town’s Accommodation Tax funds for eclipse events the Chamber is sponsoring in the park: $4,000 in May, $1,750 in June and another $7,000 in July. Switzer told Council that half of the $4,000 would go to advertising, including 5,000 bags emblazoned with the Blythewood logo and special eclipse viewing glasses and brochures while the other 50 percent would go into additional marketing items such as social media campaigns. The bags were delivered to sponsors instead and were emblazoned with the Chamber of Comerce logo instead of the Town’s. The brochures were printed in China with incorrect information.

    Of the $7,000, Switzer told Council that $1,900 would be spent on social media advertising, banners, flyers and other marketing items to draw in an eclipse crowd of 3,000 to the park.

  • Mt.Zion Institute possibly finds new life

    WINNSBORO – After years of squabbling between the Town of Winnsboro and the Friends of Mt. Zion Institute (FOMZI) over what to do with the expensive, crumbling, loved and hated relic referred to as Mt. Zion, a solution and a new life may be in the offing for the Institute.

    Following County Council’s meeting Monday evening, Chairman Billy Smith unveiled a rendition of a renovated Mt. Zion, and suggested that the County is working toward a useful plan for the several buildings.

    “What we’re looking to do,” Smith said before Council went into executive session with representatives of the Town of Winnsboro and 1st & Main Development, a private development firm, “is incorporate a new County Administration building into Mt. Zion.”

    He said the County and Town would be discussing a potential Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that he said is a statement of intentions, not a contract.

    “The County will try to secure the property from the Town of Winnsboro, and the developer will have 180 days to pursue working on a purchase and development agreement to submit to the County,” Smith said.

    “Any project we pursue, I understand, would fit in with the Town’s current zoning in the neighborhood, so there would be no less protection than there is now” Smith said.

    “If we go forward with the project, 1st & Main can take advantage of historical tax credits since it is a private company, and would procure the property and do the work at their cost. Then the County would purchase the property through a lease-purchase agreement over a period of years,” Smith said.

    But Smith stressed that before the County moves forward with any plans, Council wants to hear from the public and have discussion with those who live in the Mt. Zion neighborhood.

    “We will meet again Aug. 14, and I would hope to hear from folks then,” Smith said. “We want to do what’s best for the residents and for the Town and the County.”

  • Amphitheater slated for Oct.26 Grand Opening

    BLYTHEWOOD – The brand new Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union Amphitheater in Doko Meadows Park is one step closer to its slated Thursday, Oct.26 grand opening.

    On Monday night, Council voted unanimously to allocate up to $30,000 from the Town’s Accommodation and Hospitality Tax funds to cover the costs of the event. The Grand Opening Committee, of which Councilmen Malcolm Gordge, Larry Griffin and Town Administrator Gary Parker are members, have been working in conjunction with MusicFarm of Columbia to secure musical acts for the opening event.

    “We’ve got a pretty good guesstimate budget of $30,000,” Gordge said. “We do have an item by item listing but that’s still very much an estimate and depends very much on more detail, research and planning.”

    MusicFarm will handle the lion’s share of the responsibility in setting up the performances and providing security services, while the Town of Blythewood would be responsible for additional man power to keep everything organized, Gordge said. Based on current estimates, Parker said MusicFarm will receive a $5,000 fee out of the $30,000.

    The Root Doctors are the current front-runners for the big-name band on opening night, and the Committee’s hope is that they will be joined by two to three locals bands, Committee Chairman Buddy Price said. The mayor and some council members mentioned bigger musical acts such as Jimmy Buffett and ZZ Top, but costs proved to be too much of a factor.

    “The headliner would be the root doctors, and we’re looking at bringing in some local folks to give kind of a local flavor to it,” Price said. “We did look at some of the big names, in fact we went after a couple you referenced, but they’re talking $150,000. It’s crazy amounts of money.”

    Ross said Bravo Blythewood, which Price is a member of, was originally working with MusicFarm for an Eclipse event with a budget of $34,000, but Council asked that they switch their attentions to the grand opening ceremony. Price said MusicFarm had already presented Bravo Blythewood a budget, and based on MusicFarm’s experience with these type of events, the grand opening committee decided to retain them for the grand opening event rather than put the event management out for bid, Price said.

    “Did we talk to anybody besides MusicFarm, and how did we come up with them,” Councilman Tom Utroska asked.

    “As we stated before, based on interactions we already had, and they were already probably going to do the Bravo thing on eclipse night,” Councilman Larry Griffin said. “We just switched over because they were already there, they were already in house.”

    During the park foundation’s last meeting, the thought was that the opening would be held on Friday, Oct. 20, Price said. But due to the Root Doctor’s availability or lack thereof, the committee was forced to move the event back six days. Parker said the Committee also shied away from Fridays and Saturdays, in fear of coinciding with the high school and college football games.

    “That’s the only thing that bothers me. I know you got to do it with the band,” Ross said. “We looked at different nights with high school football that would interfere on the 20th, but it seems like this big of a thing would be on a Friday.”

    The final motion allocated only up to $30,000 for the amphitheater’s grand opening ceremonies, but the particular band or organizer is not set in stone. The committee is still free to replace both the Root Doctors and MusicFarm if they wish to do so, Ross said, and encouraged them to look into other bands and management.

    “Think outside the box if there’s still a chance,” Ross said. “I like the Root Doctors, but I think about what we spent for the DB Bryant band that just opened for Hank Williams JR, in Charleston, and it’s incredibly lower than what we would be paying for the Root Doctors.”

  • Ridgeway man arrested for Moonshine

    RIDGEWAY – Curtis Perry, 49, of Bellfield Rd. in the Ridgeway area of Fairfield County was arrested by Fairfield County Sheriff’s officers for the unlawful possession of moonshine. This investigation followed  numerous complaints about “bootlegging” at Mr. Perry’s residence, the officers report.

    At the time of the arrest, officers also seized large quantities of alcohol and moonshine, nine firearms, and over $15,000 US currency. This investigation was conducted by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit, assisted by Chester County’s and Union County’s narcotics units.

  • FC to purchase 508 acres

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Council passed first reading Monday evening to purchase and develop approximately 508 acres of property on the east side of I-77 between Exits 46 and 48.

    The property, owned by the Caughman family, would be used by the County for economic development projects according to Council Chairman Billy Smith.

    “The property has a lot of potential for good things. It’s right off of I-77, the topography is good, and it spans from one interchange almost completely to another, there are already water and sewer lines right there, and the price is manageable right now,” Smith told The Voice following the vote.

    “On the other hand, the County is currently sitting on a good bit of open land, and I think our priority right now should be on water and sewer infrastructure. At the end of the day, what we see next out of SCANA and the Public Service Commission could play a big role in determining the vote on this. We’re certainly hoping and praying for the best on that,” Smith said.

    After seeing the proposed purchase on the agenda Monday evening, Ridgeway resident Randy Bright addressed Council during the public comment segment of the meeting questioning whether another large land purchase should be a priority for the County right now.

    “Do we really need this right now? I realize it’s part of our long term plan, but is it an urgent need? We own plenty of land in Fairfield County already. Is this a prudent purchase at this time?” Bright asked Council.

    During County Council time, Councilman Jimmy Ray Douglas, who favors the purchase of the 508 acres, answered Bright.

    “As you go away from Richburg in Chester County toward Winnsboro, all those mills up there are coming this way. We need this property to get industry in to Fairfield County,” Douglas said.

    While the property has access to water from Chester, sewer is available but would have to be negotiated, Douglas told The Voice.

  • Blythewood Chamber receives $7,000 for Total Eclipse of the Park Weekend

    BLYTHEWOOD – After the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Mike Switzer received $1,750 in A-Tax funds to cover the costs of organizing a ‘Moondoggle’ Battle of the Bands in Doko Park Aug. 21 to celebrate the eclipse, Switzer was back Monday night asking Council for an additional $7,000 that he said the Chamber will use to fund a three-night Total Eclipse of the Park event on Aug. 18, 19, and 20 that the Chamber will charge an entry fee for.

    The three events will happen the weekend prior to the eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21.

    Switzer told Council the weekend would include the Blythewood Jazz Orchestra on Friday evening, eclipse-related movies and food vendors on Saturday evening and more movies and the Lion’s Club Night for Sight on Sunday evening. He said the Moondoggle Battle of the Bands, which is free to the public, will wrap things up Monday.

    “Our idea is to present the whole weekend as a Total Eclipse of the Park,” Switzer said. “We’re only asking for enough from the Town to cover the costs, to get the bands, to get the screens, the projectors, the movie rights, and some promotional activities and that’s it,” Switzer said.

    Bravo Blythewood was originally slated for an event in the park on Friday Aug. 18, but Mayor J. Michael Ross told Council that Bravo Blythewood ditched those plans after he asked them to assist the town with the amphitheater grand opening.

    “We just feel like with this facility available, up and running, and we have the event of a lifetime,” Switzer said. Normally, these matters would be presented to the A-Tax Committee before coming to Council, but due to the short time frame for organizing the events it was decided that Council would skip that phase of approval.

    “We like it to go through our A-Tax committee for every event, but this one coming up we told them to go ahead and put this on our agenda and let us deal directly with it,” Ross said.

    Switzer said the Chamber has also decided to charge for the three weekend events, charging maybe a couple of dollars per person for entry to the park on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. He said the Chamber would then donate all the proceeds to a different organization each night. He said proceeds will be disbursed to the Park Foundation for Friday Night’s event, The Farmer’s Market for Saturday night and the Lion’s Club for Sunday night.

    Switzer said the Chamber will spend $1,900 of the $7,000 on social media advertising, banners, flyers and other marketing items to draw in what the Chamber estimates to be 3,000 potential attendees.

    Councilman Tom Utroska questioned the effectiveness of the money the Chamber says it is spending on advertising.

    “I spoke to two of the hotels today and identified myself and asked them how their bookings looked for the weekend of the eclipse. They were unaware that the town was hosting the Moondoggle event. That’s not very good advertising. We approved $1,750 a month ago out of the A-Tax fund for that and it eludes me as to how as small a town as this is, both of the major hotels don’t know enough to tell people this,” he said.

    “If we can’t get it out to local people I don’t know how we’re going to get 3,000 other folks to come in for three days,” Utroska said.

    Aside from the advertising costs, Switzer said the fees for movie projector, screen and sound would run $2,800. The rights to broadcast the films would cost the town another $800.

    Those numbers did not set well with Utroska either.

    “In talking to the people up in Winnsboro, they pay $800 a night for their movie nights, unless it’s a premium movie, then they pay $1,000 and they use Swank Movie Productions or Funflix out of Cacey,” Utroska said,“ Theirs is up to $2,000 for two nights and yours is $2800 plus $800 for rights.”

    Ross said the Chamber is looking into getting sponsorships from AT&T and Chick-Fil-A, and that if those come to fruition, the Chamber would refund to the Town whatever portion of the $7,000 that the sponsorships were to cover. ‘If the sponsorships would come through and they would give you a thousand, then you would refund what you had asked for that you thought would be an expense for y’all,” Ross said.

    Council will withhold 20 percent of the funds until a final even report is submitted by the Chamber and reviewed by the Town.

    Council voted 4-1 to award $7,000 to the Chamber with Utroska voting against.

  • SCANA briefing delayed

    COLUMBIA – The much-anticipated ex parte briefing by SCANA to the Public Service Commission scheduled for Friday, July 28, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 1, from 10 to 11:30 a.m.

    The meeting will be the first time SCANA has updated the commission and the public since April on its findings regarding whether to continue to build the two nuclear reactors currently under construction at the VC Summer Nuclear Facility in Jenkinsville, finish just one and abandon the other or abandon them both.

    -Ron Aiken

    QuorumColumbia.com

    Sources tell Quorum a reason for the move could be that rather than give an update, SCANA is prepared to announce its final decision on the project’s future and needs the extra time to finalize its data.