Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • Committee Approves Park Infrastructure

    WINNSBORO (July 21, 2016) – While County Council appears to be one vote away from purchasing, in conjunction with the state, hundreds of acres of land along I-77 for economic development, the County’s Administrative and Finance Committee voted last week to move forward with a planned road extension and an expansion of water and sewer infrastructure for Phase II of the Commerce Center on Peach Road.

    A plat map distributed during the July 11 meeting to Committee members by County Economic Development Director Ty Davenport showed that, currently, the entrance road into the Center ends at the BOMAG plant. Plans are to extend it through the park to connect with Cook Road, Davenport said. Cost of the road expansion is estimated to be more than $4 million.

    Davenport also shared the engineering designs for expanding water and sewer capacity within the park. County Administrator Jason Taylor said all the engineering has been done, and he asked the Committee to bring a recommendation to the full Council that Phase II of the project be put out to bid. Taylor also said that he is hoping that once the County bids this project, the cost will come in lower than the total estimated cost of $5,970,000, which is more than the $5,494,000 dedicated for this project from the $24 million bond issued by the Fairfield Facilities Corporation in 2013. If not, Taylor said he would bring it back to the committee.

    More Office Space

    The Committee also voted to forward Taylor’s request to put out for bid the engineering and design work necessary to add two more offices to a County owned building in the Commerce Center.

    EMS Substation Replacement

    The Committee also voted to request that Council replace a 1980 single-wide EMS substation at Rufus Belton Park in Longtown with a new modular home. Taylor noted that the County had difficulty getting bids on the substation replacement and only received one bid for a cost of $54,997. However, this was well within the amount of $100,000 that had been previously budgeted for the new EMS substation. The remaining funds, said Davis Anderson, Deputy County Administrator, can be used to create a cover for the parked ambulances.

    More Sheriff’s Cars

    The Committee recommended the purchase of three fully equipped Chevrolet Caprice cars for the Sheriff’s Office at a cost of $111,099. This purchase is likewise within the budgeted amount of $115,000 and will be made under an existing contract with a State provider.

    Manpower Study

    After explaining that the 2016-17 budget included funding of $36,000 for a manpower study, Taylor recommended putting this out to get qualifications from the businesses that perform this type of service, and then he would bring a recommendation back to Council.

    According to Anderson, these five items should be on the agenda for the full County Council to take up at its July 26 meeting.

     

  • Richland 2 Superintendent Announces Retirement

    Debbie Hamm
    Debbie Hamm

    COLUMBIA (July 21, 2016) – Dr. Debbie Hamm, Superintendent of the Richland 2 School District, will be calling it quits at the end of the 2016-2017 school year, the Richland 2 School Board said last week. Her retirement will take effect June 30, 2017.

    Hamm took over as Interim Superintendent in June 2013 after the resignation of Katie Brochu. In November 2013, Hamm took the reins in earnest, accepting a $199,000 a year deal from the Board.

    The Board announced Hamm’s planned retirement during their July 14 meeting. At that same meeting, the Board conducted Hamm’s performance evaluation.

    “Dr. Hamm received an overall commendable evaluation based on her outstanding work in her Four Squares of focus – learning, character, community and joy,” Board Chairman James Manning said.

    As a result of the evaluation, the Board voted to give Hamm a 2.5 percent raise for the 2016-2017 school year.

    “With almost 40 years of service to Richland 2, Dr. Hamm will be sorely missed,” Manning said. “Her outstanding leadership has cultivated joy and motivation throughout the District.”

    Manning said the Board will announce in the future its process for selecting Hamm’s successor.

     

  • Arrest Made in 2014 Home Invasion

    WINNSBORO (July 21, 2016) – A year and a half ago a Ridgeway family was terrorized as armed men crashed into their home in the middle of the night. Last week, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office took one suspect into custody.

    Jerome A. Armstrong, 24, of McDuffie Lane, Winnsboro, was arrested by the Sheriff’s Office on July 11 and charged with armed robbery, first-degree burglary, assault and battery and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

    According to the official report from the original incident, a 45-year-old Ridgeway man was in his home in the 6000 block of Old 21 on the night of Dec. 21, 2014 when, just after midnight, several armed men forced their way inside. Investigators are still not exactly clear on just how many armed men broke into the home, but the initial 9-1-1 call reported four suspects had entered the home.

    One of the suspects struck the victim on the right side of his head with a rifle butt and demanded money. A second victim inside the home, a 49-year-old woman, managed to call 9-1-1.

    When a deputy arrived minutes later, he reported seeing a man armed with a shotgun coming out the front door. The suspect was carrying an assortment of random items taken from the home, but when he saw the deputy, he dropped them and ran.

    The deputy reported that he did not pursue the suspect because the 9-1-1 call indicated there were as many as four suspects involved, any of which could have still been inside the home. A team of investigators arrived a short time later and the home was cleared. No other suspects were located at the scene. A bloodhound unit was later dispatched, but its search proved fruitless.

    The male victim was treated by EMS at the scene but was later transported to Fairfield Memorial Hospital.

    Sheriff Will Montgomery said the arrest of Armstrong in no way closes the books on this case.

    “This continues to be an active and ongoing investigation,” Montgomery said, “and we are in the process of trying to identify any other individuals involved in this incident.”

     

  • CTC OK’s Road Paving Program

    WINNSBORO (July 21, 2016) – The County Transportation Committee (CTC) gave approval last week to the 2017 list of roads to be paved, but not before amending that list to include Elbow Circle in Ridgeway and to give the road top priority.

    Although there are no homes on Elbow Circle, a fact that earned the road no points in the CTC’s formula for assigning priority for paving, the road is home to Joshua’s Foundation assisted living facility (formerly Willow Springs). The owner of that facility, Errol Muir, appealed to the Committee during the CTC’s July 14 meeting at DOT headquarters on Kincaid Bridge Road.

    “The road is an unpaved road,” Muir said. “We have family members who do not want to come there at night because it is a dirt road and it is very dark. I put lights on the street, but they are still afraid of coming down the road, because most of the people that come are elderly and they are afraid of the dirt road. Nothing has been done to that road in a year or so, so now we have holes and it needs to be re-graveled.”

    The facility currently has 20 residents, Muir said, and the road gets heavy use. Recently, Muir said, an ambulance ran off the road while on its way to the facility.

    Points are assigned to roads based on population density. With no homes on Elbow Circle, the road was overlooked in the most recent survey.

    “This road is 1,900-feet long, 16-feet wide,” Bill Coleman, the CTC’s engineering consultant, told the Committee. “I did the survey. I didn’t give it any points because there are no houses on it. If there’s fault, it’s my fault, because I didn’t give it any points, because honestly I didn’t even know what it (the facility) was.”

    Muir told the Committee that the facility had been there for 20 years. Joshua’s Foundation took ownership, he said, two years ago.

    Coleman said the Committee could justify adding Elbow Circle to the 2017 list based on medical reasons. And, he said, since the CTC’s formula takes into account residents and not merely homes, the facility’s 20 residents would also qualify Elbow Circle for paving.

    Committee member Clifton Hendrix (District 3) asked Muir to consider also going before County Council to seek their help, but Council Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2), who was in the audience, said the County had already committed their road paving funds.

    “Other than working dirt roads, we don’t do anything with paving anything,” Robinson said. “The only thing we’ve done is, (with) the tax money we’ve brought in, we have agreed to re-do one of the roads (Old North Road), which is what we thought we could do with that money, is resurfacing roads. Once the logging is finished we’d do the resurfacing of the first road.”

    “I think this is your decision,” Coleman told the Committee. “Council’s fund is pretty well depleted. Old North Road is torn all to pieces.”

    “My opinion is put it at the top of the list,” Committee member Clyde Wade (District 2) said. “That’s a business down there. It brings money into the county. That sounds like Third World down there to me.”

    The Committee ultimately agreed and added Elbow Circle to the top of the priority list.

    The CTC took no action on a second plea for asphalt, delivered by Jackie Workman on behalf of Dave Cole Road, between Parr Shoals Reservoir and Lake Monticello in Blair.

    “Our road has not been paved in over 25 years,” Workman told the Committee. “We have at least 35 homes on a 2-mile road, and also we have over 75 individuals with automobiles that travel that road daily. What’s happened is, because of the low spots, high spots, rough spots, our cars are constantly out of line. When large trucks travel that road, it makes the road worse.”

    Landis Road & Old 21

    District 4 County Councilman Kamau Marcharia asked the CTC for an update on Landis Road, an approximately 14-mile stretch that runs between highways 213 and 269 in western Fairfield County. Marcharia said it was his understanding that Landis Road was scheduled to be paved in 2016.

    “Landis Road was approved by this committee with last year’s one-time money to be paved,” Coleman said. “It was put out to bid with other roads; it was over budget and we had to go back and re-bid it. It is going to be done, but it was delayed a little bit by unfortunate circumstances.”

    Coleman said Landis Road was currently under contract with Lane Construction. The projected finish date, he said, was May 30, 2017.

    Landis Road, Coleman said, had been put out for bid with Old 21, which runs between Winnsboro and Longtown Road in Ridgeway. When that bid came back over budget and was subsequently re-bid, Old 21 was dropped from the project. Coleman asked the Committee to approve taking the $721,000 of new one-time money coming in from the state plus the $481,000 the CTC has left over from last year and devoting those funds for Old 21.

    “That should be enough to do it,” Coleman said. “Let’s bid it out, see exactly where we stand; we’ll have another meeting, and we’ll come back and decide exactly how we want to switch the funds around to make it work.”

    2017 Roads

    With Elbow Circle added to the top of the 2017 list of roads to be paved, the remainder of next year’s list runs as follows (districts in parentheses):

    High Hill Lane (District 4); Deck Drive (1); Rainbow Cove Road (2); Cypress Drive (3); Bob’s Point Lane (4); Shoemaker Lane (5); Valencia Road (7); Pineneedle Lane (1); Hickory Nut Lane (2); Stoney Trace (3); High Hill Road (4); Creighton Road (5); Horse Creek Road #2 (7); Ridge Top Lane (1); Blue Bird Lane (2); Cyprus Lane (3); Vine Circle (4); S. Wisteria (5); Ridge Top Lane (1); Skylark Lane (2); Rosewood Lane (3); Holly Place (4); and Dove Lane (5).

    New List

    The CTC’s priority list of roads will be three years old in January, Coleman said. The Committee gave the OK to pony up $15,000 to match the $15,000 budgeted by the County to prepare a new list. That list will be published in January, Coleman said.

     

  • Vet Tech Takes Her Game to Rio

    Susan Knight, a vet tech at Fairfield Animal Hospital, is headed to the Olympic Games.
    Susan Knight, a vet tech at Fairfield Animal Hospital, is headed to the Olympic Games.

    WINNSBORO (July 21, 2016) – Athletes train for the better part of their lives to make it to the Olympics. And while Susan Knight has plenty of training, most of it wasn’t in a gym, on a track or in a pool. But she is going to Rio this summer, nonetheless.

    She just had to fill out the right form.

    Knight, a vet tech at Fairfield Animal Hospital, is headed south of the equator next month for the XXXI Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a volunteer. After a two-week stay, she’ll be back in Rio in September for the 2016 Paralympics.

    Knight, who trained as a phlebotomist and worked in the plasma industry in Florida, will use her skills to help monitor athletes for the use of performance-enhancing drugs – also known as “doping.” Knight said she would be involved in either drawing blood from athletes or in chaperoning urine samples to laboratories for testing. And her duties will not be limited to the human athletes competing in Rio, she said, but will also include horses competing in the equestrian events.

    “I don’t expect to see a lot of it (doping),” Knight said.

    But doping has made a lot of Olympic headlines recently. The Russian track and field team has been barred from the 2016 summer games, while the BBC reported this week that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering a blanket ban on all Russian teams in the wake of a doping scandal that emerged from the 2014 Winter Olympics and appears to stretch as far back as 2011.

    Detecting performance-enhancing drugs can be tricky, Knight said.

    “There are things in your diet that can cause false positives,” she said.

    Poppy seeds – even on bagels or muffins – can trigger a false positive for illegal drugs like heroin, Knight said, while normal everyday foods like chicken, beef or even milk can contain human growth hormones (HGH), a common performance-enhancing supplement.

    “Athletes are pretty much aware of most foods that can trigger a false positive,” Knight said, “and they know what not to eat 30 days before competition.”

    A detailed questionnaire accompanies the testing, Knight said, to help testers determine if a false positive is possible. Horses, however, can’t answer a whole lot of questions about what they’ve eaten.

    “If you get a false positive on a horse, chances are it has been given a steroid or antibiotic that could trigger that false positive,” Knight said. “Things like that don’t normally show up in horse feed.”

    For the Paralympic Games, Knight will get out of the labs and onto the fields where she will be involved with timing and scoring of events.

    The Zika Virus has probably made more headlines leading up to the games as doping, as South America has been hardest hit by the mosquito-borne illness. But Knight said she wasn’t particularly concerned with bringing a dose home.

    “I’m not worried,” she said. “It’s actually winter down there. The temperatures are in the mid-70s, so it’s not warm enough to be wearing shorts and short sleeves.”

    The trip involves a real personal commitment from Knight, as she is paying for nearly the entire affair out of her own pocket.

    “The only thing they provide is your uniform, lunch on work days and transportation to and from the events,” Knight said.

    But it won’t be all work and no play for Knight. Every two or three days, she said, she will have a day off in between. She said she looks forward to taking in some of the competition.

    “Especially the gymnastics,” she said.

     

  • BAR Finds ‘Hiccup’ in Sign Rule

    BLYTHEWOOD (July 21, 2016) – The Board of Architectural Review granted a Certificate of Appropriateness Monday evening for a new sign at the Kellie Ballentine Allstate Insurance office at 162 Langford Road in downtown Blythewood. It also voted unanimously to grant Ballentine a variance because her new sign did not conform to the sign ordinance because of what Ballentine called a ‘hiccup’ in the ordinance.

    It was during a review of Ballentine’s application for a new sign that Town Hall staff discovered that the Town’s current sign ordinance, Section 155.544 (C) (1), restricts the height of a sign in front of an historic structure to three feet. Ballentine, whose office is on the historic register, was requesting to replace her six-foot tall sign with a new sign of the same height. It was noted by the Board that other historic buildings in the town had been routinely granted the six-foot height.

    “It’s amazing that the three-foot (height) limitation has been in the ordinance all this time and none of us noticed it,” Board Chairman Gale Coston said. “We’ve always approved the six-foot height (for historic sites) so that ‘hiccup’ surprised us, too.”

    To remedy the oversight, the Board voted to recommend amending the wording in the sign ordinance to allow for signs in front of historic homes to be six feet in height. The ordinance will now go to Town Council, which will have two readings and a public hearing before the amended ordinance becomes effective.

    Role of Advisor

    According to the agenda, the Board had planned to discuss the role of their architectural advisor. But as the discussion began, it was decided to postpone the agenda item and move it into executive session at the August meeting. The Town’s Planning Consultant suggested the Chairman seek the advice of Town Administrator Gary Parker as to under which provision (of the Freedom of Information Act) that issue could be discussed in executive session.

    Election of Officers

    Because of the resignation of Chairman Michael Langston from the Board, members elected Gale Coston Chairman and Jim McLean Vice Chairman. Those seats will be effective until the end of the year when regularly scheduled elections are held for the Board.

     

  • November Ballot Finalized

    Council Chairwoman Bowing Out

    WINNSBORO (July 21, 2016) – Filing closed last week for candidates seeking office in the Nov. 8 general election with a host of hopefuls throwing their hats into the ring for five County Council seats, while only one School Board member faces a challenge this fall.

    Missing from the list of Council candidates, however, is the Chairwoman from District 2, Carolyn Robinson.

    Robinson told The Voice this week that she made the decision not to seek a third consecutive term over the Christmas holiday last December.

    “I have had a peace of mind since the first of the year about the whole thing,” Robinson said. “I have a lot of things going on in my life that no one knows about. It is time for me to put my family first. When they’re gone, they’re gone. Council will always be there.”

    Robinson declined to go into specifics about the family matters that led her to her decision. She was first elected to Council in 1995, taking over the remaining two years on Norma Branham’s term after Branham became County Treasurer. She served through 2004, then spent the next four years on the sidelines before being elected again in 2008.

    Lining up to take her District 2 spot are Jimmy Ray Douglas, of Old Chester Road; J. Renee Green, of Roller Coaster Road; and Clyde Wade, of Newberry Road.

    Kamau Marcharia faces a two-person challenge for his District 4 seat, with Bertha Goins of Jenkinsville and Quincy D. Pringle Sr., of Estes Lane, Winnsboro, vying for the office.

    District 6 incumbent Mary Lynn Kinley faces a three-person challenge from Gwen Harden, of W. Liberty Street; Cornelius Neil Robinson, of W. High Street; and Mary Anne Tolbert, of Cedar Street.

    Three candidates filed for the District 3 seat being vacated by Walter Larry Stewart, who announced his resignation for health reasons last May. Looking to replace him are Kirk Chappell, of Jackson Creek Road; Peggy D. Swearingen, of Oakview Drive; and former Councilman Mikel R. Trapp Sr., who was defeated by Stewart in March 2015 after Stewart successfully protested Trapp’s narrow November 2014 win.

    School Board

    Annie McDaniel (District 4) and William Frick (District 6) are both running unopposed for their respective School Board seats. Incumbent Paula Hartman, however, faces a challenge for her District 2 seat from Dr. Janet Mason, of White Oak Church Road.

     

  • Council Gives Second Reading to I-77 Land Deals

    Courthouse Move Clears First Legal Hurdle

    WINNSBORO (July 14, 2016) – Still divulging little about the proposed land purchase for the County’s new economic development project, County Council gave a second reading Monday night of Ordinance No. 668 authorizing the execution and delivery of an agreement between Fairfield County and the S.C. Department Of Commerce and authorizing the acquisition of certain real property located in Fairfield County.

    Jason Taylor, County Administrator, explained that the ordinance commits Fairfield County to spending $3 million, which will leverage $9 million and possibly more to purchase these properties and make improvements to encourage “large economic development” in the county.

    Councilman Dan Ruff (District 1) recused himself (though not required by the State Ethics Commission) from the meeting since the second reading would concern property that his family owns.

    According to Taylor, there were slight changes from the first reading to the second reading – the second reading differentiates between “key” properties and “option” properties and adds tax map numbers to clarify what properties the ordinance includes.

    New Hires

    A bright spot during the Council’s meeting Monday night was Taylor’s budgetary updates, which showed the County moving forward with several new positions and service expansion budgeted for this year.

    Taylor said he plans to move forward with advertising several new positions in County government, including one for another person in the Economic Development office to work with new Economic Development Director Ty Davenport; $45,000 has been approved for this position.

    Other new positions included in the budget are a food service supervisor in the detention center; a K-9 handler for the Sheriff’s Office; and temporary positions in the Recreation Department for the new parks.

    Taylor also said that the recycling center will now be open to the public on Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

    Courthouse Update

    Taylor also gave a brief update on the Courthouse replacement project. He said that the Council has now obtained the approval of the Chief Circuit Court judge and the clerk of court, and is working to obtain the approval from the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court of the plan to relocate the Courthouse to a new facility that will be built on land the county owns on S. Congress Street just down from the current Robert Mills-designed Courthouse.

    Finally, Shryll Brown, Clerk to Council, announced that the next County Council meeting would be Tuesday, July 26, and not Monday, July 25, as originally scheduled.

     

  • BZA Denies Variance for Cobblestone Home

    BLYTHEWOOD (July 14, 2016) – The Board of Zoning Appeals continued to hold the line on granting variances for residential developers who change their plans after their site plans are approved. But Board Chairwoman Sabra Mazyck said the variance denials are not personal choices of the Board members but are determined by the five criteria set forth by the state statute that Board members must follow in determining whether they can grant a variance.

    “A variance request must, by law, meet all of the criteria before we can vote to accept it,” Mazyck told The Voice.

    A variance application submitted to the Board Monday evening by developer D.R. Horton, owner of the undeveloped lot at 702 Coriander Road in Cobblestone Park, did not meet the criteria.

    Jordan Hammond, representing D.R. Horton, asked the Board to reduce the minimum building setback along Links Crossing Drive, in The Groves section, from 15 feet to 11.9 feet to accommodate a proposed new home. He said the customer would like to build a particular house that does not fit the lot as it is.

    “Would the (prospective) home buyer consider a lot other than this corner lot?” Town Zoning Consultant Michael Criss asked Hammond.

    “The customer wants a corner lot and is very emotional about this (house) plan,” Hammond said.

    “This parcel is located within the R-2 land use category of the Cobblestone Park Planned Development District (PDD),” Town Administrator Gary Parker wrote in a summary of the situation. “The corresponding minimum building setbacks are: front, 15 feet; side setback, five feet (12 feet total for both sides), and rear, 10 feet.”

    Since the lot is on a corner, the minimum front setback of 15 feet applies to both streets, Criss told the Board.

    Granting of the variance would leave only about a 12-foot setback along a part of the Links Crossing Drive street frontage. Parker said that might raise the question of whether or not that would create an offset from the neighboring home’s 15-foot setback, which would result in one house being closer to the road than the one next door.

    “The problem here is that D.R. Horton owns all three lots (the two lots next to the one requesting a variance), so I would think the others are going to come back and ask for setback variances later,” Board member Pat Littlejohn surmised.

    “If we approve this variance, than I think we can count on the others coming for variances,” Board member Sharon Pickle agreed.

    In the end, however, what mattered was that the request did not meet the first of all five required criteria: “There are exceptional and extraordinary conditions pertaining to a particular piece of property.”

    With that, the Board voted unanimously to deny the request.

     

  • Ridgeway Talks Accommodations Tax

    RIDGEWAY (July 14, 2016) – With Ridgeway’s Hospitality Tax just shy of one year old, Town Council Tuesday night batted around the idea of an Accommodations Tax (A-Tax) as a potential source of new revenue; albeit, a source that is at present not even on Ridgeway’s radar.

    Currently, there are no businesses that would fall under an A-Tax inside the town limits. Councilwoman Andrea Harrison, however, suggested that it would be best to have the tax in place before such a business – hotel, motel or inn – arrived.

    “I would hate to institute a tax (right after such a business came to town),” Harrison said. “This . . . is in case something ever does come, or we extend our town limits and incorporate more places where this could (apply). I’d hate for a business to come in and then (tax them). We already have a Hospitality Tax, so why not an Accommodations Tax?”

    While the spending of funds from the Hospitality Tax is restricted to tourism-related expenditures, one strength of the A-Tax, Harrison said, is its funds can go directly into the Town’s general fund, to be spent at Council’s discretion.

    “Ridgeway is going to eventually grow,” Councilman Heath Cookendorfer agreed. “We need places for people to stay. I think we have to look now for the future. Like Charlene (Mayor Herring) said … if we’re not planning for five years or 10 years down the road, we’re standing still. Adding it (an A-Tax), we’re not hurting anything; it’s going to be in place long before anyone has a facility that would require an Accommodations Tax.”

    Cookendorfer noted that A-Tax funds, unlike H-Tax funds, could be used to help Ridgeway’s financially beleaguered Police Department.

    Responding to questions from Herring, Harrison said the A-Tax would not apply to an individual renting out a single room in their home. It would only apply, she said, to a certain number of rooms for a certain period of time. Extended stays of three to six months, she said, would also be exempt.

    Herring asked Harrison to bring back a draft of an A-Tax ordinance to Council’s Aug. 11 meeting.

    Grass and Weeds

    Harrison was less than enthusiastic last month when lending her support to first reading of an amended ordinance on unsightly tall weeds and grass inside the town limits. Tuesday night, she voted against final reading. It was not enough, however, to keep the law off the books as Council voted 3-1 to accept the new rules.

    The ordinance will require residents to keep weeds and grass in yards mowed to less than 1-foot in height. Residents found in violation would receive a 14-day notice, after which time the Town would mow the lawn and bill the resident. Anyone failing to reimburse the Town for the mowing bill would have a lien placed on their property until the balance was paid.

    “I still think a lien is harsh,” Harrison said.

    But without the penalty phase of the ordinance, Cookendorfer said, “why even have an ordinance?”

    Police Radio

    Council received a quote of $4,218 from Motorola for a single walkie-talkie for the Police Department. Council asked Chief Christopher Culp to bring back two additional quotes, then voted to accept the lowest of the three.