Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • Council Seats New Members

    img_4142-copyWINNSBORO (Jan. 12, 2017) – Amid pomp, refreshments and almost no business, County Council seated three new members Monday evening after a swearing in ceremony conducted by Fairfield County Clerk of Court Judy Bonds. Jimmy Ray Douglas (District 2), Bertha Goins (District 4) and Neil Robinson (District 6), whose 5-year old son called out from the audience, “That’s my Daddy!” took their seats along with new Councilman Mikel Trapp (District 3) who was seated last month following his election to fill the seat of former Councilman Walter Larry Stewart who resigned last summer for health reasons.

    After the swearing in ceremony, Council elected Billy Smith (District 7) chairman and Bertha Goins as vice chairwoman.

    “This means a lot to me and I’m committed to doing the best I can in this position,” Smith said after thanking his fellow Council members for electing him chairman. “I don’t plan on disappointing anyone, but I can’t promise that there won’t be times when I come up short. In those cases, I ask that you keep me in line and point out whatever the issue may be. Not only do I need your help, but I want your help. I hope to be guiding our meetings by a sense of fairness and respect as a top priority to my fellow Council members and to the citizens. I hope this will be a welcome approach and change to this position.”

    Smith said he looked forward to working with Council and the citizens of Fairfield County, “doing our best to improve the lives of the citizens of our county and moving our county forward.”

    Trapp, Robinson and Dan Ruff (District 1) congratulated Smith and Goins and all the newly elected members, thanked their districts and wished everyone a happy new year.

    Goins told the Council and audience that she thanked God for being able to serve the County and that she did not take her service lightly. She said she was thankful to be working with a County Council team that, she pointed out, includes the whole county as well as her district. She also recognized County Administrator Jason Taylor and the new Clerk of Court, Patti Locklair, and thanked them for their service to the County.

    “That’s how I’m going to look at everything,” Goins said. “All of us are a team. County Council may be the first string, but we are all in the game together to make it fair and just.”

    She referenced her campaign slogan, “Fairfield for All,” and said she is “looking forward to us working together to move Fairfield forward.”

    Speaking last, Douglas said he was reminded of what one of his supporters advised him after he won the election.

    “I want to let everyone know that this is not about me,” he said. “It’s about you.”

    Annual Retreat

    After Council approved the annual meeting calendar (soon available online), Taylor reminded members of the annual retreat tentatively set for Saturday, Jan. 21, from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. He said it will be held in the County this year at the Midlands Tech Campus, 1674 U.S. 321 Business. An attorney from the S.C. Association of Counties will conduct the meeting, which will focus on a review of the County’s operating bylaws, Roberts Rules of Order, the Home Rule Act and will touch on budgeting and a few of the projects the County is working on. The public is invited to attend.

    Public Comment

    Ridgeway resident Tommy Richards addressed a rezoning request recently forwarded by the Planning Commission to County Council with a recommendation of denial. Ronnie and Rose Murphy are requesting the rezoning for a property they own on Longleaf Road in Ridgeway from its current R-1 zoning to R-2 zoning that would allow for mobile homes. R-1 prohibits mobile homes. The property was downzoned from R-2 to R-1 by the County in 2012 during a rezoning sweep approved by Council at that time.

    “The motion for rezoning of the property by Murphy will be coming before you, so I wanted to touch base with you,” Richards said. “The rezoning is vehemently opposed to by the neighbors. It’s detrimental (to the neighboring homes) to bring in housing that’s not up to the standards of Longleaf Road. Please go look at the property. It is not kept up.”

    Smith told The Voice that the Council has not yet received the rezoning request.

     

  • Thriller Tops Community Reading Event

    Fiona Smith, Library Associate at the Blythewood Library, holds a copy of ‘Grant Park,’ a thirller about racial tensions and the subject of the community’s second Blythewood Reads event to be held in February. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
    Fiona Smith, Library Associate at the Blythewood Library, holds a copy of ‘Grant Park,’ a thirller about racial tensions and the subject of the community’s second Blythewood Reads event to be held in February. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    BLYTHEWOOD (Jan. 12, 2017) – It’s time again for the next chapter of Blythewood Reads, the popular community reading event organized by the Blythewood Library in collaboration with the Blythewood Historical Society.

    Library Associate Fiona Smith said the program has been a success in bringing readers together for interesting discussions about books that not only entertain, but that also reflect important issues.

    The next gathering will be held at the Langford-Nord House on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m., to discuss “Grant Park,” a novel by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Leonard Pitts Jr.

    “It’s a fast-paced thriller,” Smith said, “about the history of race relations in America over the last few decades. Everyone who’s brought it back has been raving about it. It’s really been a hit!”

    Smith said that the event is scheduled for early in the month because Pitts will be speaking in Columbia in mid-February as part of the city’s One Book, One Community reading program, and she thought that Blythewood readers may be interested in going to see him after reading and discussing the novel.

    “It’s been great to see how Blythewood Reads has brought together different factions of the community,” she said. “Last time we had over 70 people participate in reading the book, and there were 36 people at the event. Everyone really enjoys the occasion. We have cookies and drinks and lots of great conversation!”

    February’s gathering will again consist of several small groups led by facilitators, and she added that the library hopes to develop the program into a regular monthly book club.

    You can reserve your copy of “Grant Park” through the Richland County Public Library website at richlandlibrary.com, or by calling the Blythewood branch at 803-691-9806.

    “The library system as a whole has plenty of copies,” Smith said, “so the chances of getting one are pretty good. You can also download an e-copy from the website or listen to an audio version.”

     

  • Coaches’ Teaching Credentials Questioned

    WINNSBORO (Jan. 12, 2017) – During public comment time at the December School Board meeting, parent Thomas Armstrong raised the question of how many head coaches in the Fairfield County School District are not certified. While he suggested to the Board that none are certified, he later backed off that assessment in a follow-up interview with The Voice, saying there may be as many as five who are not certified and that at least two head coaches are not college graduates.

    “It’s a sad day when we can’t hire certified coaches in Fairfield County with the money we are paying,” Armstrong said. He challenged the Board to be sure they are doing their due diligence; to be sure they are getting the best their money can pay for.

    “I’m told that in the old days we had certified coaches. We’ve got to raise the bar when it comes to our kids. They’re all we’ve got,” he said.

    Armstrong said he had “praise for the accomplishments we’ve made with Dr. Green . . . and I, too, want to see us continue to grow. But when we employ people,” Armstrong said, “I want the best for our kids. We need to educate the whole child. And when it comes to sports, we can’t cheat our kids.”

    Armstrong also addressed the Board on several issues of coaches’ accountability and brought up what he said is an unwritten policy in the District to close (sports) practice sessions to parents.

    “Now, parents can go into the classroom in Fairfield County, but we close our practices to parents. What’s going on in practices that parents can’t see?” Armstrong asked.

    With that, Board Chairman Beth Reid (District 7) rapped her gavel, and Armstrong sat down.

    Asked later about Armstrong’s assertions, Superintendent Dr. J. R. Green confirmed that several coaches are not certified and that some are not college graduates.

    “The varsity boys’ baseball coach, boys’ track coach, girls’ track coach, wrestling and cross country coaches are all certified,” Green wrote in an email to The Voice. “I can confirm that, to my knowledge, we do have some that have not completed their degree requirements. As a district, we continue to support our classified staff members that are interested in eventually becoming certified, and (we are) proud to celebrate those that achieve that milestone.”

    Evaluation of Superintendent

    During Board business that followed, Reid said she handed out forms to Board members during an executive session prior to the public meeting that members were to complete for the purpose of the annual evaluation of the Superintendent.

    “We went over the five components of the evaluation – engagement, achievement, leadership, learning environment and fiscal management,” Reid said. Green presented his own validation of his achievements in the five areas in executive session, she said. Reid asked Board members to complete their evaluation forms during the public meeting and return them to her at the end of the evening for compilation. Reid said she would announce the results of the evaluation at a later date.

    Beta Club Trip

    The Board approved unanimously a trip for the High School Beta Club to Myrtle Beach on Feb. 10 for a workshop. Green said the Middle School Beta Club would not be going to Myrtle Beach this year, but to Berry Island. When asked by Paula Hartman (District 2) if the Middle School students would be involved in a Beta Club competition at Berry Island as they had been the previous year at Myrtle Beach, Green said he was not sure.

    Green noted that the students are required to pay a $50 non-refundable trip deposit as an incentive not to back out at the last minute. Annie McDaniel (District 4) amended the motion to provide for the $50 deposits to be refunded to those students who actually take the trip. The motion passed unanimously.

    Employee Incentive

    Green recommended a $100 Christmas incentive for all fulltime and permanent part-time employees, for a total cost to the District of $65,000 which, he said, had been budgeted for the 2016-17 school year.

    Board member Sylvia Harrison (District 1) suggested doubling that amount to $200 for a total of $130,000.

    Board member Rev. Carl Jackson (District 5) had some advice for his fellow Board members in this regard.

    “As long as we don’t set a precedent that will be expected in the future,” Jackson said. “This is a one-time deal for this particular year. We don’t have a windfall every year. If they expect $200 next year and we don’t give it, they may be a little disgruntled.”

    The $200 Christmas incentive passed 6-1. Hartman was the lone dissenter, saying the extra amount had not been budgeted.

    Reid said the Board will meet at the District Office in January and will, at that time, set a date for the annual Board retreat.

     

  • Vigil of Freedom, Faith

    Serving Communion during the Night Watch are Deacons Clifton Hendrix, Clarence Lyles, Lawrence Coleman, John Peoples, Thomas Coleman and the Rev. Eric Bell. (Photo/Clifton Hendrix)
    Serving Communion during the Night Watch are Deacons Clifton Hendrix, Clarence Lyles, Lawrence Coleman, John Peoples, Thomas Coleman and the Rev. Eric Bell. (Photo/Clifton Hendrix)

    WINNSBORO (Jan. 5, 2017) – The members of Gethsemane Baptist Church in Blair gathered on New Year’s Eve for their church’s annual Night Watch service. Visiting Minister Whitney Bell gave the history of Watch Night and her husband, the Rev. Eric Bell, was the speaker for the evening. The service has been a tradition in many African-American congregations since New Year’s Eve 1862 and is still observed by many churches in Fairfield County.

    The Watch Night service can be traced back to gatherings also known as Freedom’s Eve, which began Dec. 31, 1862. On that night, black slaves and free blacks came together in churches and private homes all across the nation awaiting news that the Emancipation Proclamation actually had become law.

    At the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, 1863, all slaves in the Confederate States were declared legally free. When the news was received, there were prayers, shouts and songs of joy as many people fell to their knees and thanked God.

    Blacks have gathered in churches annually on New Year’s Eve ever since, praising God for bringing us safely through another year. It’s been over a century since the first Freedom’s Eve, and tradition still brings us together at this time every year to celebrate ‘how we got over.’ This celebration takes many African American descendants of slaves into a new year with praise and worship.

    The service usually begins anywhere from 7 to 10 p.m. and ends at midnight with the entrance of the New Year. Some people come to church first, before going out to celebrate. For others, the Night Watch service is the only New Year’s Eve event they celebrate.

    Source: The African American Desk Reference. Schomburg Center for research in Black Culture. ©1999 The Stonesong Press Inc. and The New York Public Library, John Wiley U Sons, Inc. Pub. ISBN 0-471-23924.

     

  • Shining the Light: Local Journalist Exposes Corruption

    Local journalist Ron Aiken outside the Blythewood offices of the Richland County Recreation Commission. Aiken broke the news last year of Commission corruption. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
    Blythewood journalist Ron Aiken outside the Richland County Recreation Commission’s park in Blythewood. Aiken broke the news last year of Commission corruption. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    BLYTHEWOOD (Jan. 5, 2017) – It may not have been entirely the work of a single man that last year brought down the Richland County Recreation Commission Board. But it was the work of one man that tipped over the first domino.

    Writing for the news website The Nerve, local journalist Ron Aiken broke the story of sexual harassment, nepotism, the bullying of employees, abuse of power and cash payoffs to Commission board members by the board’s director in exchange for protection. Aiken would later follow up on that lurid tale on his own website, quorumcolumbia.com, as larger news outlets picked up on his trail. Largely as a result of Aiken’s investigation, the Commission director was indicted last October on charges of misconduct in office and retired, and Gov. Nikki Haley removed all but one of the Commission’s seven board members.

    Aiken also broke other Richland County stories – about hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of engineering contracts let to someone with no engineering education or experience; about a business partner of a Richland county councilman given over a quarter-million dollars in Hospitality Tax money; about the practice of each council member giving away $165,000 annually any way they please with no oversight or accountability. . . . And the lists goes on.

    These and other investigation stories by Aiken have resulted in the FBI, SLED, Attorney General’s office and the S.C. Secretary of State all having open investigations.

    Not bad work for a journalist working solo.

    “It’s exciting to me to reveal wrongdoing, possible fraud, corruption, lack of transparency where there should be transparency,” Aiken recently told The Voice. “At The Nerve, it was getting a stagnant 3,000 views per month. I was able to get those numbers up to over 100,000 views per month. Starting from nothing, I had the Quorum up to 50,000 views the first month.”

    Aiken lives in Blythewood with his wife and three stepchildren. He previously worked for The State newspaper, beginning in 1999, for three or four years as a sports reporter. Not satisfied covering just sports, Aiken got the job as senior editor for the Columbia Business Monthly.

    “There I caught the news bug and went to work in Wyoming for a small-town newspaper,” Aiken said. “I learned the techniques of covering all sorts of news – car wrecks, sports, school board meetings, court cases, town councils, etc.”

    Aiken eventually worked his way back to Columbia and a gig with Gamecock Central for three years. Not conducive to family life, the away time required by Gamecock Central soon had Aiken looking elsewhere. Local CBS affiliate WLTX reached out to him at the right time, needing someone to cover high school sports. After a year at WLTX, Aiken finally got the chance to work as an investigative journalist at The Nerve, an investigative news website that watchdogs state and local government. Although Aiken was finally doing what he really wanted to do, changes in the direction The Nerve was headed led to some dissatisfaction on Aiken’s part. This led Aiken to create Quorum where he has been busy digging up the dirt.

    The sort of work that’s being done at the Quorum would sometimes naturally get on the bad side of some influential people. Aiken takes precautions, but has not had, nor does he expect, any direct threat.

    “I believe in the work,” Aiken said. “If I am reporting everything correctly, I don’t worry about it (personal safety). One of the overall purposes of my work is to make everybody’s life better.”

    As a one-man show at quorumcolumbia, Aiken does all the research for his articles. Sometimes this involves pouring through stacks of  paperwork, contracts, etc.

    “I don’t have a team of lawyers behind me,” Aiken said. “The onus is on me to make sure my information is accurate and air tight. I have to know that before I print anything. I have to have 100 percent confidence of its accuracy.”

    And that means vetting his sources carefully – sources he said are surprisingly not hard to find.

    “The right people will find you,” Aiken said. “They contact me. I won’t report after a source comes to me unless I know the story is true. I normally won’t report information from a one-time source. I have to develop a relationship with the source and corroborate their information five ways unless they are people I have known for a long time, and there’s already trust built up.”

    Catching the attention of the larger daily newspapers has prompted Aiken and The State to consider some sort of working relationship.

    “Their publishing process and mine differ,” Aiken said. “I serve my business first, and if I can get exposure from them (The State), all the better. There is a way to do it, but we haven’t nailed it down quite yet.”

    Aiken’s work recently earned him second place in the Society of Professional Journalists’ Larry Peterson Memorial Awards for Investigative Journalism. He placed between two major Pulitzer Award winning newspapers, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (first place) and the Charleston Post & Courier (third place).

    So what does the future hold for Quorum? In the short term, Aiken said his goal is to maintain the website. Currently, there are enough subscribers to keep it running, but he said the big money hasn’t started rolling in yet. Once the value of the Quorum is fully appreciated, Aiken is hoping the amount of subscribers will increase to the point that more reporters are needed.

    Long term, the possibilities are almost endless. Aiken said he is interested in expanding his coverage to Lexington County or State Government. Who knows, maybe Quorum Greenville or Quorum Charleston?

    For $10 per month, subscribers can follow Aiken’s investigations at quorumcolumbia.com.

     

  • Electric Vehicle Chargers at a Crossroads

    BLYTHEWOOD (Jan. 5, 2017) – The Electric Vehicle Revolution in Blythewood has hit something of a snag, leaving Town Council with a few options to ponder.

    Michael Criss, the Town’s Consultant, told Council during their Dec. 19 meeting that the large, direct-current quick-charger located at the Exxon station on Blythewood Road is no longer charging. The device began having communication troubles with vehicles late last year and it has since been taken off-line completely. That leaves the town with only its four slower, Level 2 chargers – two each at the Comfort Inn and the Holiday Inn.

    All five chargers have been available at no cost to electric vehicle drivers.

    Criss said the first option is to simply repair the large quick-charger, if it is affordable to do so.

    “We won’t know that until we get a diagnosis on the quick-charger; that’s the big one, the most expensive one,” Criss said. “We got it for $25,000, and that was half price. That and the four Level 2 chargers have useful life, but only if repairs are affordable.”

    The rub, however, is that Eaton, the manufacturer of the chargers, has discontinued their line of electric vehicle juicers and will no longer be servicing or repairing the devices.

    “Another alternative is turn over all sites to a third party like EVgo and let them replace our equipment with their equipment,” Criss said. “They’ll charge for use. It’s a for-profit charging system.”

    EVgo, out of Houston, Texas, has recently made inroads into the East, Criss said, installing chargers at Spinx gas station chains in Spartanburg. They have expressed interest, Criss said, in taking over the Blythewood sites.

    Volkswagen’s scandal last year, in which the car company installed software on some of its diesel vehicles that allowed them to circumvent the Clean Air Act, may present a third option, Criss said.

    Volkswagen’s settlement of an ensuing lawsuit by the Environmental Protection Agency put South Carolina in line for $20 million over the next 10 years, Criss said.

    “Some of that money may be used for electric vehicle charging stations,” Criss said. “I’ve already talked to the Bureau of Air Quality to get us in line for any potential grants that we might be able to use to replace our aging equipment.”

    Criss said finding anyone qualified to work on devices like the large quick-charger was difficult; however, he added, Mike Switzer, Director of the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce and an electric vehicle owner himself, has given Criss a few leads.

    “I suggest we do what we can to keep our four slow chargers working at the hotels, leaving our big charger off line and hope for a diagnostician to see if it’s worth repairing,” Criss concluded. “If it’s just a plug and cable, you’re probably looking at $1,500 for a $25,000 unit. It still boots up, it powers up, it tries to talk to cars when you plug it in, and then – ‘communication error.’ My guess is we have worn out the plug. But I don’t know that. Until we do, it’s hard to predict the best course of action.”

     

  • More Funds Emerge for Sewer Line Project

    WINNSBORO (Jan. 5, 2017) – Town Council Tuesday night took another step toward getting the long-awaited McCulley Creek sewer line project under way, giving the OK to apply for additional funding from the S.C. Department of Commerce (DOC).

    Last September, Council authorized John Fantry, the Town’s utilities attorney, to begin the process of obtaining rights of way for the project, which will replace sewer lines near the water treatment plant. The old 8- to 10-inch lines have on several occasions in the past overflowed and spilled sewage, leading to at least two violations and a consent order from the Department of Health and Environmental Control. In October, only one right of way holdout remained: Virginia resident Donald Swygert, who was seeking reimbursement for the timber value of his forest land for the temporary easement. Council cleared that hurdle several weeks later.

    The project is being funded in part through a $534,103 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the DOC and has been planned out in three phases.

    Tuesday night, Cyndi Gawronski, CDBG Manager for the Central Midlands Council of Governments, told Council that recently opened bids produced a winning low bid of $1,092,902. With the grant and the Town’s portion, adequate funds only existed to cover two of the three phases of the project. But Gawronski told Council that the DOC had offered to up their contribution to the maximum $750,000 allowed for community infrastructure projects. They are willing to give the Town another $185,589, provided the Town comes up with a 10 percent match.

    Also, Gawronski said, because the DOC money would now be at its maximum, any change orders that arose during the project would have to be covered by the Town.

    “And that’s a complete unknown until we start,” she said. “Now generally it’s only a pretty straightforward replacement of the pipes. Nobody expects anything catastrophic or anything crazy to happen. But until you’re down in the ground, you don’t know. So if a change order should come up because they need more space or they find something underground that they weren’t aware of and it has to be addressed, there’s no more money from Commerce because we’re already at the max.”

    Town Manager Don Wood said since the project is running new, larger lines parallel to existing lines, the chances for extreme change orders were minimized. Mayor Roger Gaddy asked Wood just how much cost the Town could absorb should any big change orders come up.

    “I don’t have a dollar amount,” Wood answered. “I think we could go into our savings, as long as it wasn’t a catastrophic amount to cover.”

    Gaddy said he felt the Council should commit itself to the additional funds.

    “Let’s move on this thing,” Gaddy said. “I think we’ve gotten rid of all our Virginia obstacles that we’ve had.”

    Council voted 3-0 to request the extra funding. Councilman Clyde Sanders was absent, and Councilman Stan Klaus was still hospitalized, where he is battling illness.

    Mayoral Candidate

    Gaddy’s decision to not seek another term as mayor in April’s municipal elections has opened the door for a new mayor in 2017. In attendance at Tuesday night’s meeting was Mid-County Water Director Herb Rentz. After the meeting, Rentz told The Voice that he plans to throw his hat into the ring for Gaddy’s seat. Rentz said he has not yet officially filed and is in the process of collecting signatures on his petition to run.

     

  • Attorney Moves to Stop Annual JWC Meeting

    JENKINSVILLE (Jan. 5, 2017) – An attorney representing Jenkinsville Water Company member Donald Melton and his Broad River Campground, LLC has asked the Fairfield County Court of Common Pleas to issue a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction prohibiting the water company from holding its annual meeting, scheduled for Jan. 11.

    In the motion filed Tuesday, Winnsboro attorney Glenn Bowens asked the Court to stop the meeting until the water company complies with specific aspects of the S.C. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

    According to an Aug. 8, 2011 written opinion from S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson, the JWC is a public body and therefore subject to the FOIA. However, according to Bowens’ motion, “The Defendant (JWC) claims the Attorney General’s opinion is just the opinion of a lawyer and is not binding on the Defendant.”

    The FOIA requires that public bodies post, in a publicly accessible place, written notices and agendas of all meetings at least 24 hours in advance. Public bodies must also, at the beginning of each calendar year, post written notice of all scheduled meetings for the upcoming year.

    But the water company, according to the motion, failed to provide such notice. Not only did the JWC not post notice for its upcoming Jan. 11 annual meeting, the motion states, it did not do so for last year’s annual meeting.

    Board members are elected by company members (customers) during the annual meeting. According to the company’s bylaws, the motion states, each member is allowed a single vote. However, according to the motion, some members have been allowed to cast multiple votes based on the number of water meters or taps they have. The company has also allowed people claiming to represent commercial customers to cast votes at the annual meeting without verifying that they do, in fact, represent a commercial customer.

    Officers are also elected by the board at the annual meeting, but in closed-door sessions that are out of view of the public, which is also a violation of the FOIA.

    The motion asks the Court to prohibit the annual meeting until proper notification has been given;  the water company has in place a procedure by which to verify that voters claiming to represent commercial customers actually do so, and until the water company can ensure that the one-member, one-vote rule of the bylaws is being followed.

    Until a judge issues a ruling on the motion, however, the meeting is still slated for 7 p.m. at the former fire station next door to the JWC offices at the intersection highways 213 and 215.

     

  • Co-Op Enters Solar Age

    An overhead view of the Fairfield Electrical Cooperative’s new solar array. (Photo/Walter Allread)
    An overhead view of the Fairfield Electrical Cooperative’s new solar array. (Photo/Walter Allread)

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 29, 2016) – The Fairfield Electric Cooperative is letting a little sun shine into its power production with the introduction this month of a modest solar farm built on a little less than an acre of land at the Co-Op’s Winnsboro office on Highway 321 North.

    Construction on the array of solar panels began just over a month ago, and on Dec. 9 work crews officially flipped the switch and tied the panels into the company’s grid.

    “It’s producing electricity,” Doug Payne, Vice President of Member and Strategic Services said. “We’ve begun selling subscriptions and we’ll roll it out in January in our Co-Op magazine. We’ve gotten a lot of interest in it. We’re getting inquiries daily.”

    This “community” solar service is an ideal fit, Payne said, for Co-Op members who have always had a desire to go solar – either in part or entirely – but who don’t have the space or the optimal sun exposure for a solar array on their own property. It also allows customers to get in on solar without having to make the huge investment in installing panels on or around their own homes.

    Installing solar on one’s own home can cost tens of thousands of dollars, even with federal tax credits. With such big upfront costs, recouping that investment can take many years. But with the Co-Op’s community solar service, customers can see a return in five to six years, Payne said. And the upfront cost is significantly less.

    The Co-Op is selling blocks, which consist of approximately four solar panels, for an upfront cost of $140 plus a one-time administrative fee of $35. After that, customers pay $14 per month per block. Customers can buy up to four blocks and the overall subscription term is for 20 years.

    Each block generates 1 kilowatt, or approximately 160 kilowatt hours per month on average. With the average home using approximately 1,200 kilowatt hours per month, four blocks could generate nearly half of a home’s electricity each month. The output of the block will be credited back to the member at 10 cents per kilowatt hour.

    “This is the right project at the right time for Fairfield Electric,” Fairfield Electric CEO Bill Hart said. “Community solar is a terrific option for many of our members. It’s affordable. It’s safe. And we’ll make sure it’s reliable.”

    The Winnsboro solar farm is the first of its kind for Fairfield Electric, Payne said, and came as a response to a recent customer survey.

    “We’ve got a lot of members who said they were interested in solar,” Payne said, “who said they would participate in community solar, and we decided it was something we should do for people who couldn’t do it themselves.”

    And although it is the first, it very well may not be the last community solar farm for Fairfield Electric.

    “Once we sell all 60 units (in Winnsboro),” Payne said, “we’ll look into selling more. We have some other areas at some of our substations, on land that we already own.”

     

  • Three Nabbed in Diner Stickup

    BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 29, 2016) – Three men were arrested Monday night following an armed robbery of the Waffle House at 216 Blythewood Road.

    The Richland County Sheriff’s Department said Jeffery Briddell, 31; Dennis Bell, 28; and Scottrell West, 28 have been charged with armed robbery. Bell and West also face additional charges of kidnapping and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

    Bell and West, both wearing masks, reportedly entered the Waffle House at approximately 11 p.m. Monday, presented handguns and demanded cash from an employee. Deputies on patrol in the area reportedly located the getaway vehicle, as well as the suspects, a short time later at Farrow and Parklane roads. All three men were arrested and transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center.

    The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to The Voice’s request for additional details of the robbery or the suspects at press time.