Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • Water Rates May Get Do-Over

    RIDGEWAY – After passing a water rate increase more than 10 times higher than necessary to keep up with their supplier, Town Council will revisit the matter during their July 9 meeting to either correct what the Town said was an error or to let the rates stand.

    The across the board $1 per 1,000 gallons increase passed final reading during Council’s June 11 meeting and was intended to coincide with what Council perceived as a 98 cents per 1,000 gallons hike by Ridgeway’s primary supplier, the Town of Winnsboro. However, according to a March 31 letter to Ridgeway from Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy and Town Manager Don Wood, Winnsboro’s rates, effective July 1, are going up only .098 cents – less than a dime – per 1,000 gallons.

    “I don’t mind admitting there was a mistake made,” Councilman Russ Brown told The Voice this week, “and I’m for Council coming together to make that right. It was an honest mistake, and I’m not past trying to fix it. It’s only fair to be consistent with what Winnsboro does.”

    Mayor Charlene Herring said she has had discussions with individual Council members, some of whom agree with Brown and other who are leaning toward leaving the rates in place with the understanding that those rates would not have to be raised again next year. With opinions veering in different directions, Herring said she thought the matter should be aired out in public.

    “Some say leave it and some say change it,” Herring said, “so I thought it should be discussed in a meeting.”

    Should Council elect to revise the rates, Herring said, an amendment to the budget would be necessary, which would take two readings before taking effect. A change in the rates would likely alter the Town’s $364,636 water and sewer fund budget, which also passed final reading on June 11 along with a $222,840 general fund budget.

    The rates as passed last month were scheduled to take effect July 1. Should those rates stand, Residential water customers inside the Town limits will see their rate for the first 1,000 gallons go up to $16, and will pay $6.07 for each additional 1,000 gallons. Residential customers outside the Town limits will be paying $21 for the first 1,000 gallons and $7.32 for each additional 1,000 gallons.

    Commercial water rates inside the Town limits are going up to $19 for the first 1,000 gallons and $6.07 for each additional 1,000. Those rates outside the Town limits will be $24 for the first 1,000 gallons and $7.32 for each additional 1,000 gallons.

    Residential sewer rates for customers inside the Town limits will increase to $13 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.42 for each additional 1,000 gallons. Outside the Town limits, those rates are going up to $14 for the first 1,000 gallons and $6.57 for each additional 1,000 gallons. The flat rate for residential sewer customers will now be $26.

    Commercial sewer rates inside the Town limits are increasing to $17 for the first 1,000 gallons and $5.57 for each additional 1,000 gallons. Outside the Town limits, those rates are going to $20 and $6.57, respectively.

     

  • Council Bids Farewell to Massa

    At his last official meeting as a Town Councilman, Bob Massa (second from right) gives a farewell handshake to Mayor J. Michael Ross and says so-long to colleagues Eddie Baughman (left) and Bob Mangone.
    At his last official meeting as a Town Councilman, Bob Massa (second from right) gives a farewell handshake to Mayor J. Michael Ross and says so-long to colleagues Eddie Baughman (left) and Bob Mangone.

    BLYTHEWOOD – During his last meeting as a Blythewood Town Councilman, Bob Massa, who is relocating with his wife, Teresa, to Seneca this week, was wished well by his fellow Councilmen on Monday evening.

    “These presentations are usually fun for me,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said as he presented Massa a plaque recognizing his service to the Town, “but this one is not fun.”

    Ross then read the plaque, which thanked Massa for his leadership and dedication to the Town.

    Massa became active in the Town’s politics in 2010, writing columns for The Voice both criticizing what he felt were government missteps and making suggestions for improved government. He later served as Chairman on both the Planning Commission and the Board of Zoning Appeals. In 2014 Massa was elected to serve on Town Council and was tapped by his fellow Councilmen as Mayor pro tempore.

    While Massa was popular with the public, his government service was not without drama. While serving as Chairman of the Planning Commission, fellow commissioners Mike Switzer and Neal McLean, in a much publicized political move, tried unsuccessfully to unseat Massa as Chairman calling for a vote for his removal. However, Massa received a resounding vote of confidence from his fellow commissioners and continued in the position. He was easily elected to Council the next election cycle.

    As a former Finance Director of the City of Forest Acres, Massa, a CPA, brought both financial expertise and municipal government experience to the table.

    “His expertise is going to be sorely missed,” Councilman Eddie Baughman told The Voice. “He served us well.”

     

  • Town Mulls New Plan for UTC Grants

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Town was awarded two separate Utility Tax Credit grants from Fairfield Electric Cooperative in 2013 ($240,714) and 2014 ($216,167) for a total of $456,881 to construct a restaurant building in Doko Meadows across from Town Hall. Immediately following the 2012 Town Council election, the three newly seated councilmen – Bob Massa, Bob Mangone and Tom Utroska – successfully led a charge to squash the restaurant proposal, concluding that the Town didn’t need to be in the restaurant business.

    On Monday evening, the Town’s economic development consultant Ed Parler suggested that Town Council now use the remaining balance of the grant money to build a ‘shell’ office building in the spirit of attracting a private company to invest jobs in the shell.

    The shell building would be situated in a section of the park across from Town Hall in what was previously designated as Doko Business Park Phase 1 and no longer a part of the park. Parler told Council that about $106,686 of the initial proceeds had been charged to the grant and that he feels another $75,586.25 could also be charged, leaving a balance of $382,294.75 to be used for the shell.

    “The grant must be used for economic development,” Parler told Council, “and must be used within a set time frame or the Town will become liable for taxes on the monies.”

    Parler said any project pursued with the grant money must be approved by the S.C. Department of Revenue (DOR), which must issue a comfort letter, validating any project as sound and fit for purpose before it can proceed.

    Parler suggested the existing model of the railroad station previously proposed for the restaurant be replicated.

    “Once the grant funds have been expended, I propose that the Town issue a Request for Proposal for an end user to purchase the building and occupy or lease the premises,” he said.

    “As a part of the transaction,” Parler said, “the land will be leased for $1 a year for a period of 20 years with renewal options as deemed appropriate by the Town Attorney.”

    Parler said the Town should place covenants and restrictions on the use of the property to ensure compatibility and preserve the integrity of the business park and surrounding recreational areas.

    Town Attorney Jim Meggs suggested that the work for this project be taken up by the law firm of Parker Poe, which assisted the Town with the proposed restaurant project.

    “If the letter is issued and the monies spent, the shell building would,” Parler said, “be flipped and sold off to a business.” He said the proceeds from any sale would return to the Town.

    Meggs was asked to make contact with Ray Stevens with Parker Poe and then report back at the next Council meeting on July 29.

     

  • Wording May Impact Rimer Pond Road Zoning

    COLUMBIA – Although the Rimer Pond Road commercial zoning request was withdrawn from the June 23 Richland County Council public hearing, a related issue that could prompt a new, similar rezoning request for the same property before the end of the year is still pending at the County and will go before the County Planning Commission on Monday for a possible recommendation to Council.

    After mounting protests from residents against the proposed commercial rezoning on Rimer Pond Road, resounding rejection of the zoning request by the County Planning Commission and a letter from Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross to County Council in support of the residents’ opposition to the rezoning, the applicant, Patrick Palmer, withdrew the request just hours before the public hearing in which Council was to hear from citizens and take its first vote on the request. Some members of Council told residents in private that Palmer’s request for Rural Commercial (RU) did not have the votes on Council for approval.

    The main reason given by the Planning Commission for recommending against Palmer’s request at its April 6 meeting was the wording of the RU zoning ordinance. That wording serves as a guideline for how the County staff makes recommendations on zoning requests to the Planning Commission, which in turn makes recommendations on zoning requests to the County Council, the chamber where zoning requests ultimately become law or die.

    Commissioner Beverly Frierson and other commissioners said the wording of the RU ordinance, which called for RU zoning in isolated rural areas and where residents were underserved by municipalities, was outdated and not applicable to the Rimer Pond Road area.

    Now the County’s planning staff, who initially backed Palmer’s request for commercial zoning on the road, has asked the Planning Commission to review the wording of the ordinance with the option of adopting new, more applicable wording. New wording could result in the RU zoning district, which Palmer had requested, becoming more applicable to the Rimer Pond Road area. Palmer is chairman of the Planning Commission.

    The wording is on the agenda for discussion and possible action on Monday at the Richland County building in the Council chambers at the corner of Harden and Hampton streets. The meeting starts at 1 p.m. and anyone who would like to address the Commission must sign in prior to the meeting. A copy of the agenda and meeting packet can be found at richlandonline.com.

     

  • Council OK’s First Reading on Industrial Zoning

    BLYTHEWOOD – Rezoning of a 600-plus acre site nestled between Ashley Oaks subdivision, Locklear Road, Northpoint Industrial Park and I-77 passed first reading by Town Council Monday evening to allow a wide variety of industries to set up shop.

    Town Administrator Gary Parker introduced the rezoning request, which was recommended by the Town’s Planning Commission. Running along Community Road, the 638-acre property, was zoned in 2003 along with adjacent properties as the controversial Light Industrial Research Park (LIRP) and later rezoned to Development (D1).

    “The parcel of land is owned by members of the Barnett family,” Parker said.

    No discussion, opposition or questions were raised during first reading.

    The Limited Industrial Two District (LI2) allows a wider variety and greater intensity of manufacturing uses than the Town’s current Limited Industrial District (LI), such as tire manufacturing, textile industries, testing laboratories and lighter industry and commerce. The zoning allows construction of facilities up to 100 feet tall, possibly 110 feet if permission is granted on a case-by-case basis by the Board of Zoning Appeals.

    “This is something that has been recently reemphasized (by Council), something that we are asking for, more economic development,” Councilman Robert Mangone said.

    The Town’s economic development consultant Ed Parler has previously told Council that Richland County has its eye on the property for an industry it says is interested.

    “Be assured,” Parler told Council in April, “that if you establish this LI(2) zoning district, you will immediately receive a zoning request for LI(2) zoning for this 600-acre property and the applicant will be Richland County.”

    Richland County Economic Development Director Nelson Lindsay was present at Monday night’s vote. The second and final vote to finalize the zoning is expected to be taken at the July 27 meeting.

    Budget

    An ordinance to adopt the Town’s 2015-16 budget was approved unanimously, though because of last minute changes this will not be the final cut.

    “We must adopt the budgeted numbers that we published in the paper about a week ago,” Parker said. “We have now massaged those numbers, and the difference is $40,000 that has been added.”

    A $1,301,286 annual capital, operating and enterprise fund budget for the fiscal year 2015-2016 was passed Monday evening, and the full budget of $1,341,286 to include the additional $40,000 will be on the agenda at the Council’s next meeting.

    Parker said the budget “includes significant expenditures for VC3 (IT technology) and SmartFusion (accounting software) as the Town moves its operations into the ‘cloud’ and the ever-changing smart world of technological advances. There is no doubt that these expenditures improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Town’s operations and that, in turn will result in lower costs and improved services to citizens.”

    A public hearing on the content of the budget was held, but no citizens spoke.

     

  • Wi-Fi, Water Highlight Intergovernmental Meeting

    WINNSBORO – Following up on discussions at their March 25 meeting, representatives from Fairfield County’s various governing bodies were briefed during their June 15 intergovernmental meeting by TruVista Communications on the status of internet coverage in the county.

    At the March meeting, Dr. J.R. Green, Superintendent of Fairfield County Schools, updated the group on the District’s plan to partner with local churches, installing Wi-Fi internet in churches that agree to open their doors to students and allow them to access the internet there.

    Green said then that the partnership was a “good short-term solution, but I think long-term we would love to see a partnership between County Council and Jenkinsville, all of the entities, to see if we can have broadband access throughout our entire county.”

    At the June 15 meeting, held at the Midlands Tech QuickJobs Center, TruVista representatives Randy Adams and Patricia Joyner detailed the company’s current range of internet service, as well as proposed future projects. A list of four future projects entailed improving and expanding somewhat existing areas already served, leaving a huge swath of central and western Fairfield County without service.

    According to the map accompanying the presentation, east of I-77 and the northern lid of Fairfield County enjoy coverage, as does a small island area near Jenkinsville. Central Fairfield, from Adger south to the County line is covered, to include Winnsboro and several tentacles of coverage branching to the west and east from downtown. A gap exists between Winnsboro and I-77, to the north and the south of Highway 34, while from White Oak to Blair and the vast majority of western Fairfield, no coverage is yet available.

    The map also included the location of all County owned buildings in the empty western and southwestern areas, to which TruVista said access points could be attached, but these would only provide limited coverage for Wi-Fi service.

    “I see where we are,” District 4 County Councilman Kamau Marcharia said, “but where do we go from here? What do we have to do to move ahead and get the Wi-Fi?”

    The answer, illustrated from various representatives in attendance by the rubbing together of fingers, is money.

    “We’re investigating what the cost would be for us to build out to those locations,” Adams answered. “We’re also working on the pricing for the Wi-Fi hotspots at each of the locations and we’ll be getting that information back to the appropriate folks.”

    The Town of Ridgeway earlier this month tabled a similar proposal by TruVista to turn their downtown into a Wi-Fi hotspot until the company could offer some improvements to its existing internet service (see the June 19 edition of The Voice, page 4).

    Government Updates:

    Fairfield County School District

    Green reported that progress on the new Career and Technology Center had been slowed somewhat by foul weather earlier in the year. Slated for completion on Aug. 1, Green said the opening of the facility has been pushed back to Aug. 10.

    In addition to traditional programs like auto mechanics, carpentry, welding and masonry, Green said the Center will offer as new programs environmental science (and extension of the nursing program), Project Lead the Way (an engineering program), firefighting/EMT training and barbering.

    Ridgeway

    Mayor Charlene Herring reported on the passage of the Town’s new hospitality tax (2 percent on prepared meals and beverages), and the recently executed $300 a year lease from Norfolk Southern of the Cotton Yard. Herring also reported that upgrades to the town’s wastewater treatment plant were under way. Last month, Council approved a $201,700 bid from J.L. Construction of Piedmont for the project. Ridgeway received a $220,000 grant several months ago from the Rural Infrastructure Authority for the project.

    Winnsboro

    Mayor Roger Gaddy reported that the town had received its permit from the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to begin a $13+ million project to draw up to 8 million gallons of water a day from the Broad River. Land has been identified, he said, for future locations of pump stations to deliver the water to the reservoir. Gaddy also said the town was in the process of engineering on Syrup Mill Road to bring additional water to the Fairfield Commerce Park on Peach Road.

    “We’re getting closer to having the water available for the industrial park,” Gaddy said, “and we’re on schedule – a little ahead of schedule – with pulling water out of the Broad River to increase our capacity and minimize our dependence on Columbia to supply the Blythewood area and also have enough water available for future economic growth in Fairfield County.”

    Marcharia pointed out that the Jenkinsville Water Company, which buys a small portion of its supply from Winnsboro via Mid County Water, is seeking a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to build its own treatment facility and draw water from Lake Monticello.

    “They think it’s kind of absurd for Winnsboro to come all the way to the Jenkinsville area, draw water and bring it back and treat it and sell it over there, when they can get the water out of there,” Marcharia said. “That’s kind of how they see that.”

    Marcharia said the town of Jenkinsville has already begun to annex vigorously, and within the next five years, he said, could have close to 500 people inside its town limits.

    “One of my concerns would be if I were a Jenkinsville Water customer,” Gaddy said, “and they had to put a lot of money in infrastructure, new pump stations, etc., and even if there’s 500 people there, that’s not a whole lot of people to spread the costs over. They may find it cheaper to buy it from us than it is to put in a system, I don’t know. That’s their bailiwick. Whatever works for them is certainly fine.”

    County Council

    Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) reported that the County had just passed its 2015-2016 budget, to include a road maintenance fee of $5 a year on private vehicles and $10 a year on commercial vehicles. The money will be set aside to improve and maintain county roads, she said. Robinson also said work has begun on Phase 2 of Commerce Park.

    When School Board member Paula Hartman (District 2) asked for a recreation plan update, Robinson said the $3.5 million project was ready to be put out for bid. Robinson said the project was being bid out all at once, as one massive project, in an effort to secure a more competitive price.

     

  • Council OK’s Transfer of Sycamore Water Deal

    WINNSBORO – Town Council last week approved the transfer of a water agreement from the developer of a pair of Blythewood projects to a prospective buyer of one of those projects.

    Last March, Council gave the OK to up to 42,800 gallons a day for 107 residential lots on a 31.23-acre tract at 502 Rimer Pond Road in Blythewood, while also approving 25,000 gallons per day for 5 acres of commercial property adjoining the tract. That agreement put to rest a beef by Sycamore Development, LLC, which, in 2008, had planned to develop three parcels there into a 300-home subdivision. The developer received a Capacity and Willingness to Serve letter from Winnsboro for 250 residential lots with the understanding that the water taps were to be prepaid by Sycamore once the water line went in on Rimer Pond Road.

    That water line was completed and accepted by Winnsboro in July of 2009, but Sycamore never prepaid for any taps.

    The subdivision never materialized, and two of the three parcels have since been sold off. As of last March, Sycamore still held a 31.23-acre parcel at 502 Rimer Pond Road that it also wanted to unload but, according to documents obtained by The Voice last summer, could not because Winnsboro allegedly refused to enter into a Capacity and Willingness to Serve agreement with prospective buyers.

    At their June 16 meeting, Council voted unanimously to transfer Sycamore’s water agreement for the 31.23-acre tract to LandTech, Inc. of S.C.

    Capital Expenditures

    Council approved a request from the Water Department for nearly $40,000 to remove, repair, reinstall and test a blower and motor at the wastewater treatment plant. The winning bid of $39,994 for the job went to Randall Supply, Inc. Although the highest of three quotes the Town received for the job, according to documents provided by the Town, Randall Supply gave the Town its “Worst Case Scenario” price.

    A quote of $28,727 from Powerhouse Mechanical was rejected because, the documents state, “They can get the job done, but their quotation does not cover motor work, equipment to remove the blower and possibly some detail work as yet undetermined.”

    Hobgood Electric and Machinery offered a quote of $37,695, but later withdrew their bid.

    Council also approved $7,178 for a new air conditioning unit at the Old Armory, and $22,000 for a new pickup truck for the Streets and Sanitation Department.

     

  • Charleston Tragedy Hits Home

    Local Lawmakers Back Flag Relocation

    WINNSBORO – The aftershocks of last week’s mass murder at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston continue to ripple across the nation, reaching even into the small-town setting of Winnsboro.

    Daniel Simmons Sr., 74, one of nine people gunned down during worship services on June 17, was once pastor of a local church. From 1982 to 1988, Simmons served as pastor of Wayman A.M.E. Church, now known as Wayman Chapel Church, at the corner of Garden and Palmer streets in Winnsboro.

    Fairfield County Clerk to Council Shryll Brown and her husband David were members of Wayman Church during Simmons’ tenure, and Brown served as the Rev. Simmons’ personal secretary. Brown said that while Simmons was pastor, the church enjoyed many upgrades – paint job, handicapped ramp, new carpet – and Simmons initiated several new programs, such as Bible study, Laymen’s Organization and Young Adult Gospel Choir.

    Also among the dead was 41-year-old Clementa Pinckney, a Lowcountry State Senator and the senior pastor at Emanuel A.M.E. Fairfield County’s State Senator, Creighton Coleman (D-17) reflected Tuesday on the loss of his colleague.

    “He was the only one I knew of the nine,” Coleman said, “and he was an A-Number-One guy. He was a wonderful guy. Big in stature and big in heart. He’s going to be sorely missed.”

    Coleman said Pinckney was also one of the State Senate’s most gifted public speakers.

    “He gave one of the best speeches I ever heard when we were debating the body camera bill,” Coleman said.

    The other half of Fairfield County’s Legislative Delegation, MaryGail Douglas (D-41), said she did not know Pinckney as well as she would have liked, but said that during her encounters with him, found him to be “a very gentle, gracious man.”

    The Fate of the Flag

    A suspect in the killings, 21-year-old Dylan Roof, was arrested in North Carolina during a traffic stop a day after the incident. Since then, investigators have released what they say was Roof’s “manifesto,” an online screed fueled by racist anger. Photos of Roof posing online with the Confederate flag pushed the flag flying on the Statehouse grounds back to front and center, with large rallies on the grounds last Saturday and Wednesday. Monday, Gov. Nikki Haley called on lawmakers to remove the flag, and Tuesday the General Assembly took the first steps toward doing just that.

    Tuesday afternoon, Coleman, along with Kershaw County Sen. Vincent Sheheen (D-27), Charleston Sen. Marlon Kimpson (D-42) and Darlington County Sen. Gerald Malloy (D-29). Introduced into the Senate a bill to remove the flag and relocate it to the Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum, inside the State Museum at 301 Gervais St.

    “It needs to come down,” Coleman told The Voice Tuesday, after the bill had had its first reading. “I hate that it took this to do it.”

    While support for the removal of the flag is mounting, it is not yet a done deal. The bill will still go into committee, then back to the floor of both chambers for second and third readings, a process that could take up to three weeks. Second reading, Coleman said, is where the real debate will be.

    Douglas, who said she also supports the relocation of the flag, also said that the longer the process takes, the more difficult it will be to get the bill passed.

    “If it were voted on today, it would pass,” Douglas said. “But there are some who are protecting their elections and they are going to think hard and long on this – and that’s not a new thing. Some will abandon ship and go back to working to keep it there. But I don’t think they have enough votes to keep it from happening.

    “My vote will go to relocating it,” Douglas said. “It has been divisive for quite some time now. I’m all for taking care of it and getting that divisive issue out of the way.”

     

  • Council Backs Off CTC Blame

    Denials Conflict with Previous Statements

    WINNSBORO – After passing during their June 8 meeting a 2015-2016 budget that included a road maintenance fee of $5 annually for private vehicles and $10 annually for commercial vehicles, County Council Monday night backed away from statements made during their budget work session process that pinned the necessity of the fee on the County Transportation Committee (CTC).

    “The CTC did not ask the County to implement a road maintenance fee. And based on that, no one should conclude that the CTC is to blame,” Milton Pope, Interim County Administrator, told Council Monday night during his report.

    Pope said there had been “some suggestions that Council had mentioned that it went through its process of approval by the insistence of the CTC, or because they required us to do that.” Quoting from a June 5 article in The Voice (“Road Fee Stays in Budget”), Pope read, “Talk of the fee first surfaced at the May 7 budget work session and came at a suggestion of the County Transportation Committee.”

    Instead, Pope said, the CTC asked the County last winter to set aside a fund to provide maintenance for County improved roads.

    “I took the information from that particular meeting to our retreat, which was in February,” Pope said, “and it appeared as though there was consensus that that fee should be included in the recommended budget.”

    Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) drove the point home during her County Council Time comments near the close of the meeting.

    “I want it to be heard that never once did I say that the CTC told us how to put a fee together,” Robinson said. “I did say that the CTC told us that we needed to have something sitting aside, which will equate to like $123,000. . . . Never once did I say that they told us how to do this.”

    Monday’s comments back away from statements made during budget work sessions, during which Pope and Robinson make it abundantly clear that were it not for the CTC there would be no road maintenance fee.

    At a May 7 work session, when the fee was first discussed in public, Pope said, “When we met with the CTC, they mentioned to us we needed to look at providing maintenance dollars for County improved roads.” And during a May 26 work session, Pope said, “The fee was something that came about primarily after the CTC meeting we had and we were asked to invest and create some kind of fund.”

    During a June 1 work session, Robinson placed the blame for the fee squarely at the feet of the CTC and the State Legislature. Road maintenance falling on counties, she said, was another example of “unfunded mandates” passed down from the state. The CTC, she said, is appointed by the local Legislative Delegation and receives its funding through the state’s gasoline tax.

    “We’ve been told there was no more money to go back and resurface any of the roads that have already had surfacing on them in seven years,” Robinson said on June 1. “Guess who’s the closets person who’s going to hear the complaints about these resurfaced roads: County Council. And our hands are tied, there’s nothing with which to do those roads.”

    Removing all doubt about whom she felt, at least on June 1, was responsible for the necessity of the road maintenance fee, Robinson said, “Ultimately this is a state mandate to us through the CTC Director.”

     

  • Blythewood Welcomes New Businesses

    Restaurants, Retail, Medical Office Opening Doors

    BLYTHEWOOD – Business is booming in Blythewood these days with the prospect of two new pizza restaurants, a new kind of dollar store and a new medical office that will accommodate a pediatrician and an ophthalmologist (see June 22 issue of The Voice).

    Pappa John’s will open a restaurant in the space previously occupied by Palmetto Gold and Silver in the McNulty Plaza. A soft opening is tentatively slated for the first week in August according to owner Al Conyers. Johnny’s House of Pizza will open in the former Valentina’s restaurant space in the IGA Shopping Plaza on Blythewood Road this summer and Blythewood resident Jennifer Gooden plans to open a Good Dollar store in the former Curves space in the IGA Shopping Plaza in late August.

    “The Good Dollar will be part party store and part gift store where everything happens to be a dollar,” Gooden told The Voice. “We’ll offer Build-A-Basket where customers can pull together a nice gift basket with items from the store including the basket and all the trimmings.”

    Gooden said the store is not part of a chain, but is her own creation.

    “Dollar Store Services will come in and help set everything up, then I’m on my own. And I’m really looking forward to having a business in Blythewood,” she said. A Blythewood resident since March, 2014, Gooden is retired from the military where she served as a supply officer.

    “It was great training for running a store like this,” she said.

    And new residential construction is also on the rise, according to Kirk Wilson who issues building permits in Town Hall. He said the increase is being seen mostly in the Cobblestone Park, Abney Hill, Holly Bluff and BlytheCreek neighborhoods.

    “Permits have doubled since last year and I’m expecting that rate to continue for a while,” Wilson said.