Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • Committee Proposes New County Courthouse

    FF Courthouse copyWINNSBORO (June 23, 2016) – It appears that there is a new plan for what to do about Fairfield County’s beautiful but aging County Courthouse.

    An ad hoc committee of the Fairfield County Council – consisting of Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson and Council members Kamau Marcharia and Dan W. Ruff – along with county administrator Jason Taylor and Deputy Council Administrator Davis Anderson met Tuesday night to discuss options for temporarily relocating the courthouse.

    The current courthouse, designed by famous architect Robert Mills and built in 1823 – 1824, has major mechanical and environmental problems. For example, the air conditioning system in the building is 50 years old, according to Anderson.

    Robinson recited some of the history of their efforts since 2013 to find a solution. The initial thought was to renovate The Hon Building as temporary location for the courthouse while the historic courthouse could be renovated. However, the cost of retro-fitting a temporary building for the courthouse increased to the point of being “unheard-of,” Robinson said, and that option has now been tabled.

    Instead, the committee agreed, with input from Taylor and Anderson, that they would present the following plan to the full Council for approval at its next meeting on June 27. The County will propose to build a new building on 1.54 acres it already owns just down from the courthouse on S. Congress Street in Winnsboro. There are already two County buildings for the Zoning and Planning Commission and Magistrates Court at that location.

    If the full Council approves this concept, the next step would be to get the approval of the 6th Circuit Court Judge, the Clerk of Court and the Chief Justice of the S.C. Supreme Court. Robinson emphasized that the County had to obtain the buy-in of these three individuals for any plans to proceed.

    Once that is accomplished, the next steps would be to meet with the engineers and architects on building plans and designs and to determine costs.

    When the new building is finished, the functions of the courthouse could be relocated there while the County fixes up the historic courthouse. The County already has $1.6 million earmarked for these renovations.

     

  • Budget Clears First Reading

    BLYTHEWOOD (June 23, 2016) – Town Council on June 14 passed first reading on their 2016-17 general fund and accommodation and hospitality tax budgets, which are expected to increase, respectively, by $15,200 and $35,700.

    The general fund is proposed at $1,596,679 for the coming fiscal year, up from $1,341,034 last year. The accommodations tax budget for 2016-17 is set at $240,700, up from $225,500. The hospitality tax budget is expected to increase by $35,700 from $ 346,800 last year to $382,500 next year.

    While the governing body’s salaries and benefits are down slightly, from $49,807 to $48,136, the general fund budget reflects an increase of about $100,000 in town employee salaries. That increase includes a 3 percent merit increase for those employees.

    On the revenue side, the town expects to bring in $100,000 more in building permits and fees next year ($238,000) than it did last year ($139,000). Council also expects an increase in Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) from $340,000 last year to $365,000 next year. Sunday liquor licenses are going to be up from $3,750 to $7,500. And a new source of revenue for the town is $2,400 in park rental fees, to help offset park and recreation expenses. Total administrative expenses will be up from $379,857 to $504,098.

    Public Works expenses are up $42,688 from $213,375 to $256,063 due primarily to landscape contracting, maintenance and repair of Town Hall and the streets and a $300 increase in clothing allowance for public works employees.

    The costs for maintenance and repairs in the park will be down almost half, from $9,440 to $5,000 while park improvements (preschool playground addition) will cost about $16,000 more than last year, increasing from $10,300 to $26,600.

    In the category of outside agency requests, the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce was hoping to increase its financial support from Town Hall to $20,000, but that number shrunk to $12,500 when the mayor suggested at the June 14 meeting that he would like to see the Chamber concentrating more on the local mom-and-pop stores in town than the larger retailers who are not located in Blythewood. Council also decided to up donations for both Transitions and Christian Assistance Bridge from $2,500 to $5,000 and continue giving $1,000 to the Jeep Rogers YMCA. New donations include $5,000 each to Meals on Wheels and Senior Resources for a total of $33,500 for outside agencies, up from $15,500 last year.

    Council may be faced with spending $25,000 of its $75,500 capital improvement fun on the EV Quick Charger electric car station at the Exxon station on Blythewood Road if the charger cannot be repaired. The current charger became unusable some time ago. Council will also be spending $20,000 of capital improvement funds on a video security system in Doko Park.

    Of the expected $240,700 the town will bring in from accommodation tax revenue this year, 112,347 is available to the Accommodation Tax Committee for donations to events in the town that attract tourists.

     

  • Mayor: Saving Mt. Zion Would Require County Money

    Mt-Zion_IMG_3312 copyWINNSBORO (June 23, 2016) – As part of his report to fellow elected officials at Monday night’s Intergovernmental meeting at the Midlands Tech QuickJobs campus, Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy told County Council that if the Mt. Zion Institute property was going to be saved, the County would have to get into the game.

    Winnsboro retained ownership of the school property, located at 205 N. Walnut St., last March after efforts to stabilize and restore the buildings there by the Friends of Mt. Zion Institute came up short of contractual deadlines. A proposal from the Banyan Foundation to convert the school building into market-level senior living apartments has since met with strong neighborhood opposition and has to date not progressed.

    The Town has held off on demolishing the buildings on the site, Gaddy said, until the details of the County’s long-range strategic plan can be made available.

    “I think we tried a developer – that didn’t work. We tried private citizens – that didn’t work,” Gaddy said Monday. “I think we’ve kind of bent over backwards to do what we could to save some of that facility, but I think the reality is it’s extremely expensive.”

    Monday night, Gaddy told County Council members that the County’s long-ranger planners, T.Y. Lin International, had, during their early planning stages, told the Town they thought it was important to save the Mt. Zion School property.

    Gaddy said he did not agree with T.Y. Lin’s initial assessment of the property, but added that saving the auditorium, at least, might be a possibility – but not without help from the County.

    “Being a realist, we know that if there is anything that wants to be done, we would have to have input – i.e. money – from the County for that,” Gaddy said. “I put this out because I would like County Council to think about that. If they don’t have any inclination, desire or ability to help with any significant funding of anything that this study might recommend, we would appreciate them letting us know and we’ll get rid of that eyesore.”

    The final draft of the T.Y. Lin study, the County reported later during Monday night’s meeting, was due on July 11. A 30-day review period will follow, the County said, and the final document will be available by Aug. 15.

    “Winnsboro certainly does not have the funds or ability to be able to do any significant renovations,” Gaddy said. “It would be nice to maybe save a minimal part of it, but if there’s not any significant viable partnership that can be done with that, then I have no problem, neither does the rest of Town Council, with making more green out of it.”

    Water Updates

    Gaddy also reported that the Broad River water project was running “a couple of months” behind schedule. The holdup, he said, was in securing all the necessary easements to run the water line from the river and into the Town’s reservoir. Gaddy estimated that half of the easements had been acquired, but for the rest, condemnation procedures would be necessary.

    The Town is also in the process of securing a $6 million bond for utility infrastructure improvements, Gaddy said.

    “Most small towns our size, their infrastructure – water, sewer – most of the stuff under the ground has been there for quite some time,” Gaddy said. “For years we’ve been doing a lot of patchwork, so hopefully we can do larger stretches of infrastructure and get it to where it’s up to snuff and we don’t have as many problems with it.”

    Gaddy also reported that the Town’s efforts to put in a permanent pump station in Blythewood in order to supply water for the Fairfield Commerce Park had run into a snag.

    “We haven’t hit a brick wall, but we have hit some speed bumps in that that were fairly steep,” he said. “(We’ve) run into easement problems with BB&T Bank and some contractual issues, and also trying to secure some property (where we can locate the) pump station. We’ll make progress on that and we’ll get that done, but it’s been somewhat arduous at best and slower than anticipated.”

     

  • Lancaster Man Drowns in Lake Wateree

    WINNSBORO (June 22, 2016) – The body of a Lancaster man who vanished beneath the surface of Lake Wateree Monday afternoon was recovered Monday evening by the Fairfield County Dive Team.

    Fairfield County Coroner Barkley Ramsey said Keevane Anthony, 28, of 1552 Green Peach Road, Lancaster, was at Lake Wateree State Park at 743 State Park Road, Winnsboro, with a cousin and friends Monday when, just before 4 p.m., Anthony and the others dove from a dock and into 10-feet of water. Anthony, Ramsey said, could not swim, but the men thought the water was shallow enough to stand upright in.

    Ramsey said Anthony’s cousin tried to pull the victim to safety, but Anthony, fighting for his life, nearly pulled his cousin down with him. After a struggle, Anthony went under, Ramsey said, and did not resurface.

    In addition to the Fairfield County Dive Team, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Natural Resources and the Dutchman Creek Fire Department also responded to the scene. The Newberry County Dive Team also arrived just before Anthony’s body was pulled from the lake at 5:32 p.m., approximately 6-feet from the dock from which he had jumped.

    Anthony was pronounced dead at the scene.

    Ramsey said that while alcohol does not appear to have been a factor in the drowning, a toxicology test was scheduled for later this week.

     

  • Duplex Damaged in Fire

    WINNSBORO (June 16, 2016) – A duplex suffered heavy damage, but the occupants of both apartments escaped without injury, when an air conditioning unit sparked a fire on Poplar Street Monday night.

    The fire began just after 8 p.m. Monday in apartment A at 210 Poplar St., originating from a window air conditioning unit in the front bed room. The unit was plugged into a faulty extension cord, according to Deputy Fire Marshal Greg Gerber.

    The 900-square-foot apartment was 50 percent destroyed by the blaze, Gerber said, while apartment B suffered smoke damage. The occupants of both apartments were home at the time of the fire, Gerber said, and all made it out of their homes safely. Gerber estimated the damage to the overall structure at approximately $20,000.

    Community, Town of Winnsboro, Lebanon and Greenbrier fire departments responded to the fire, which was extinguished just after 11 p.m. The Fairfield County Rescue Squad and the Red Cross also responded to the scene.

     

  • County OK’s Surplus Land Sales

    Great North Road Repairs on Hold

    WINNSBORO (June 16, 2016) – County Council Monday night passed final reading on a trio of ordinances authorizing the sale of three Winnsboro lots deemed “surplus properties,” by the County.

    Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) told Council the properties had been foreclosed on and the banks had turned the properties over to the County for sale. The properties, according to Fairfield County records, are each less than 1-acre lots.

    The ordinances authorized the sale of: 4459 Jackson Creek Road, which has a total market value of $44,300, according to County records; 128 Sixth Street, with a total market value of $7,000; and 550 Fourth Street, with a total market value of $7,500.

    Great North Road

    While Council agreed during their May 23 meeting to commit $83,000 from the road maintenance fund for the repair of Great North Road near Lake Wateree, County Administrator Jason Taylor told Council Monday that repairing the road now might be an exercise in futility.

    “I understand that the road is in poor condition and Council does wish to repair the road and fix the problems with it, and previously had allocated $83,000 toward that,” Taylor said. “But it has also come to our attention that there is a lot of logging going on in that area. If you pave the road now during the logging, the road will get damaged again.”

    Interim County Administrator Milton Pope told Council on May 23 that contractors were already in the area working on other County roads. Taylor told Council Monday night that to have those workers come back to tackle the road in September and October would only cost the County an additional $2,000.

    Council agreed to put off work on Great North Road until the fall.

    From Committee

    Council also gave approval to a new radio console for the Emergency Management Department at a cost of $81,636.39, paid for with a portion of the County’s 9-1-1 money from the state.

    The Emergency Management Department also got Council’s OK for $76,430 for the VitalClick Emergency Medical Dispatch program. VitalClick, Taylor told Council, is software and hardware that helps dispatchers narrow down the medical condition of 9-1-1 callers. Eighty percent of the cost for the program will be reimbursed by the state, Taylor said, with 9-1-1 funds covering the remaining 20 percent.

    Both purchases were forwarded for approval from Council’s Administration and Finance Committee.

     

  • Council OK’s Grass Ordinance, Police Department Funds

    RIDGEWAY (June 16, 2016) – Although one local resident urged Town Council to “take a step back” from the penalty included in a weeds and grass ordinance, Council unanimously passed first reading of the new law during their June 9 meeting.

    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.

    Dee Dee Ruff, speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, told Council she felt placing a lien on someone’s property for tall grass “seems really extreme,” and she asked Council to reconsider that phase of the ordinance.

    During discussion of the ordinance, Councilwoman Angela Harrison said she empathized with Ruff’s feelings on the penalty, but then added that the Town gives residents “plenty of opportunities” to maintain their own property.

    Council will hold second reading during their July 12 meeting.

    Council also passed the final reading to an amendment to its fire hazards ordinance, upgrading the fines for the accumulation on property of debris and other material deemed by the Fire or Police chief to be a fire hazard. The existing ordinance carries a penalty of $50 or 30 days in jail. The amendment contains a $50 fine for first offense and a $100 fine or 30 days in jail for second offense.

    Police Department Funds

    Ridgeway’s police officer, Christopher Culp, reported to Council the need to include a new line item in the Town’s budget to cover the cost of travel for training sessions. Culp also told Council the $200 line item for uniforms needed to be increased to $500.

    Culp said he requires a total of 80 hours of ongoing training over the next three years in order to retain his certification with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED). Councilman Doug Porter recommended $600 for the new line item, leaving Council momentarily scrambling to find money within the 2016-2017 budget.

    Mayor Charlene Herring suggested taking the money from the utilities line item, where Council had budgeted a little more than $6,000. That figure, she said, was based on last year’s utility bills, which she said should be lower once the Town replaces the old and inefficient air conditioning unit in the police station.

    “I don’t think our utilities will be $6,000-plus a year when you get a new A/C unit in there,” Herring said. “You get that new unit in there and there’s the money right there. We could have saved money before now if it had been in there.”

    Councilman Heath Cookendorfer, whose committee has been charged with obtaining a new air conditioning/heating unit for the police station, explained earlier in the meeting that efforts to purchase the unit had thus far been thwarted by poor communication. On two occasions, he said, representatives of the Town had been told by a Columbia retailer that the unit was available for pickup, but when they arrived, the unit was not in stock.

    “We haven’t raised our millage rate since 2008,” Porter suggested. “That’s a source of income there.”

    Council agreed, however, to lift $1,000 from the utilities line item to cover training and uniforms. That would leave the utilities budget at $5,316.

    Water Rates

    Council OK’d second and final reading of an ordinance to amend water and sewer rates in advance of the 2016-2017 budget. In-town residential water rates will go from $15.10 to $15.25 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $5.17 to $5.25 for overage costs. Out of town residential rates will go from $20.10 to $20.50 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $6.42 to $6.50 for overage costs.

    In-town commercial rates will go from $18.10 to $18.50 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $5.17 to $5.25 for overage. Out of town commercial rates will go from $23.10 to $23.50 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $6.42 to $6.50 for overage.

    In-town residential sewer rates will go from $12.10 to $12.25 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $4.52 to $4.75 for overage. Out of town residential sewer rates will increase from $13.10 to $13.50 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $5.67 to $5.75 for overage.

    In-town commercial sewer rates will rise from $16.10 to $16.25 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $4.67 to $4.75 for overage. Out of town commercial sewer rates will increase from $19.10 to $19.25 for the first 1,000 gallons, and from $5.67 to $5.75 for overage.

    Tap fees for in-town and out of town water will remain at $500 for non-bore three-quarter-inch taps and $900 for out of town non-bore 1-inch taps. Bore taps come at cost plus 10 percent. Sewer taps will be provided at cost.

     

  • Council Approves Amphitheater Architect

    BLYTHEWOOD (June 16, 2016) – Rick McMackin’s Landplan Group South has been selected by Town Council as the architect for the design of the proposed amphitheater in Doko Park. Because McMackin was the landscape architect for the original design work on the park, he was selected without issuing a Request for Proposal

    McMackin will be responsible for site prep/demolition, grading, stage retaining walls, concrete stage pad, dance pad, electrical, sound, lighting, landscaping and oversight of the construction of the band shell. McMackin’s contract is for $383,820.

    According to Town Administrator Gary Parker, the project is expected to be completed by mid-summer of 2017. Revenues for McMackin’s contract will come from the Town’s Hospitality and Accommodations Tax fund balances.

    Town Council gave its approval last month to an agreement with Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union for the naming rights for the amphitheater, naming it the Palmetto Citizen’s Amphitheater. The nearly $400,000 band shell is being funded with a grant and pledges from across the community, including $125,000 from the credit union for naming rights.

     

  • Water Company Officers Added to Lawsuit

    New Claims Allege Unfair Trade Practices

    JENKINSVILLE (June 16, 2016) – A Winnsboro attorney has filed a motion to amend a lawsuit filed in 2014 against the Jenkinsville Water Company (JWC), to include both the president and vice president of the JWC and adding allegations of violations of the S.C. Unfair Trade Practices Act.

    In the original lawsuit, filed Sept. 28, 2014, Glenn E. Bowens, a Winnsboro attorney representing Broad River Campground, LLC, alleges a breach of contract by the water company, as well as a breach of contract “by a fraudulent act.” The suit also seeks a declaratory judgment to determine the rights of both parties in respect to an Oct. 28, 2009 agreement in which the water company agreed to provide up to 8,050 gallons a day of water to Phase 1 of the Broad River Campground.

    The original lawsuit further alleges that JWC President Gregrey Ginyard and other members of the company’s Board of Directors “acting in furtherance of their personal interests, have conspired, obstructed and prevented the (JWC) board from approving” the campground’s requested willingness to serve letter to DHEC for an additional 49 campsites.

    The motion to amend, filed last April, adds Ginyard and company vice president Joseph McBride as co-defendants.

    Under the 2009 contract between JWC and Broad River Campground, the daily consumption of water per camp site was estimated at 175 gallons per day (GPD), with the number of sites not to exceed 46 without written approval by the water company. In 2011, Dee Melton, owner of the campground, requested and received approval for an additional 24 sites. The daily consumption of water per site was lowered to 53 GPD after a water study and use history of the campground since 2009 revealed the sites were only using an average of 24 GPD. The 8,050 GPD limit, meanwhile, remained in place.

    In May of 2014, Melton requested an additional 50 sites (later reduced to 49 sites) and sought from the Jenkinsville Water Company a willingness to serve letter, which is required by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). Revising the 53 GPD usage back to 175 GPD, the JWC denied Melton’s request. While the lawsuit states that Melton did not request an increase of actual water beyond the 8,050 GPD limit, the water company “has unreasonably refused permission for the additional campsites.”

    The amended lawsuit claims that Ginyard, McBride and the JWC committed “unfair and deceptive acts and trade practices” in violation of the state’s Unfair Trade Practices law.

    “The Defendants’ denial of water for the Plaintiff’s 49 campsites adversely affects the public interest,” the amended lawsuit alleges, “in that it unlawfully restrains trade and commerce by preventing the Plaintiff from expanding its campground and renting its campsites and by hindering the ability of workers constructing the new nuclear reactors from obtaining housing close to the construction site.”

    The amended lawsuit also alleges that the defendants “falsely represented that DHEC required the water company to provide 175 GPD (per campsite) of potable water.”

    Ginyard said Tuesday those claims were untrue.

    “We never said DHEC told us we had to have 175 gallons per day,” Ginyard said. “Those were calculations the board had before I ever got there.”

    A DHEC spokesperson told The Voice Tuesday, “We do not set a specific number to be used to anticipate future demand. If someone is ‘mandating’ the GPD per site, it would be done by someone other than DHEC.”

    “When a project for a new system comes in, we rely on the design engineer to provide a projected demand,” the DHEC spokesperson added. “As long as it looks reasonable to us based on our analysis, we will not question the projected demand. For an existing system, we consider existing water use data as the best predictor of demand for expansion purposes.”

    Additionally, the amended lawsuit claims that the defendants “falsely, deceptively and unfairly represented there was a water shortage;” that there was “insufficient water to provide water service to customers who apply;” claimed there was “not enough water to accommodate the Plaintiff’s additional 49 campsite;” and “used a higher estimated water usage rate than the lower actual water usage rate” in making the decision to deny the request for additional campsites.

    “Based on the Defendants’ own billing and usage records the Defendants knew the Plaintiff was only using 24 GPD but still rated the campgrounds estimated usage at 175 GPD,” the amended lawsuit states. “The Defendant denied water service for the 49 campsites based on their claim that there was not sufficient water to provide the required 175 GPD,” and “unfairly refused to recalculate the estimated water usage rate based on the known water usage rate.”

    The motion to amend was heard by a Sixth Circuit Court judge on June 2 and at press time was still under consideration. The main case, meanwhile, is proceeding, Bowens said, and will go to mediation in the next few weeks. Mediation, unlike arbitration, is not binding, Bowens said, and both sides have to sign off on the mediator’s decision. Otherwise, the case will proceed to a jury trial.

     

  • Council Up’s Chamber Budget

    BLYTHEWOOD (June 16, 2016) – During a four-hour budget work session on Tuesday morning, Town Council considered a request by the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce to more than double the Chamber’s funding from $9,500 to $20,000.

    Councilman Tom Utroska suggested only a 5 percent increase to $10,000, while on the high end, Councilman Malcolm Gordge, siding with the Chamber, suggested an increase in funding to $14,500. Councilmen Eddie Baughman and Larry Griffin favored a middle ground between $12,500 and $14,500. Mayor J. Michael Ross suggested instead a 25 percent increase to $12,000, which was approved unanimously by Council.

    But the vote came after a lengthy discussion of what the proposed increase would be used for and an airing of whether the Chamber was serving the smaller businesses in the town.

    “We’ve talked for three years now about the Town paying the salary of Mike Switzer, the Chamber’s Executive Director,” Utroska said. “Originally, it was presented to us by Mr. Switzer that other Town’s paid their directors. Then it was corrected that other towns do not, in fact, pay their (Chamber) directors’ salaries.”

    In an email to The Voice following the meeting, Switzer wrote that the requested increase in funding was needed to pay for office space for the Chamber, which now uses space in McNulty Plaza. That space is loaned to the Chamber by the building’s owner free of charge. The Chamber pays the cost of the office’s utilities, which comes to about $600 per year according to the Chamber’s published budget. But the office is for lease, so the Chamber might have to eventually move out, Switzer said.

    When asked by The Voice to explain a proposed $9,000 increase in the Chamber’s payroll budget from $21,000 in FY 2015-2016 to $30,000 in FY 2016-2017, Switzer said the increase would go to salary increases for him and the Chamber’s other employee Kitty Kelly, explaining that with increased membership, they were working more hours.

    With the proposed increase from Council, the Chamber’s overall budget would have increased from $41,000 to $71,500. Switzer told Council in April that besides a small monthly salary he receives 10 percent of the Chamber’s revenue.

    Griffin asked if the Chamber was doing “what we think it should be doing. If they are accomplishing what we want them to accomplish, that’s positive?”

    Later referring to Griffin’s suggestion that the Chamber should follow Council’s directions, Ed Parler, a Chamber Board member, told Council the Chamber functions independently of Council with a mission to serve its members.

    “The wishes of the Chamber members may not be consistent with the policies of the Town Council. We function as independent bodies,” Parler said.

    Ross suggested that the Chamber is doing a good job, that at the Chamber breakfast that morning, Switzer was talking about the big Kroger coming to Killian Road.

    “But it’s (Kroger) not in the town of Blythewood,” Ross said. “It’s on the outskirts.”

    As a member of the Chamber himself, Ross said the Chamber is in a better place than it’s ever been.

    “But I still think it does not seem to provide for the businesses in our Town Center District. Do those (Town Center) businesses get what they need from the Chamber? Is there a value for them in being a member of the Chamber?” Ross asked. “We can reach out to the (big stores), but they are not really in the town. Our Town Center businesses are Rimer’s Hardware, Blythewood Pharmacy, Pam’s Fashions, Papa John’s. These are our businesses. I think all of a sudden we’ve gone to a cloud above all that.”

    Ross said he did not feel comfortable increasing the Chamber’s funds to more than $12,500.

    “You’re moving forward,” he said to Parler, “and this ($12,500) is not going to buy you a building. But we don’t give funding to other organizations, not even Bravo Blythewood. They only get money from the Hospitality Tax funds for sponsoring events.”

    Utroska agreed with Ross that the Chamber had gone to a cloud that’s beyond the town of Blythewood.

    “Bringing businesses in from out of town is important, but I’d just like to focus on the local businesses too,” Utroska said. “The Chamber must show local businesses that it is of value (to them).”

    Ross said he and Town Administrator Gary Parker meet with Switzer, Parler and other Chamber Board members every two months.

    “We work closely with the Chamber and recently purchased way-finding signs for the town at the Chamber’s request,” Ross said. “I think the Chamber knows what we would like and that’s for even more to be done for small businesses, mom-and-pop businesses, that make up Blythewood. But we want all of them (businesses).”

    Before he finished, Ross said he was a little disappointed that the Chamber has abandoned the sponsorship of the town’s Christmas Parade.

    “I just think that was a perfect way to promote the Chamber,” Ross said.

    In an email to The Voice, Switzer said he was disappointed that Council did not approve the full funding request.

    “We are disappointed,” Switzer said, “and will make every effort to convince Town Council of the necessity and justification for our original request between now and final reading for the Town’s budget.

    Council passed first reading of the Town’s budget at the workshop and will take the final vote on Tuesday, June 28 at The Manor.