WINNSBORO – The Town of Winnsboro’s Finance Committee considered a request Monday evening from Jesse Douglas, Director of Gas, Water and Sewer, for tracks for the excavator, a utility trailer, working tools, two sewer pumps, a chain saw and lab equipment for the sewer plant. During Town Council’s regular meeting, which followed, Council approved the $21,000 request.
Finance Director Kathy Belton also briefed Council on last month’s financial report. The report showed that revenues are up from last year and the Town is in a good place financially at this point, she said.
Council also agreed to waive a late fee for a Fairfield Memorial Hospital utility bill and allow them to make payments on their outstanding balance.
JENKINSVILLE – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) held an open house meeting at McCrorey-Liston Elementary April 17 to discuss the performance of the Virgil C. Summer plant in Jenkinsville and oversight of the two new reactors that are under construction. A PowerPoint presentation on findings from a 2012 Unit 1 inspection was delivered during the 6 p.m. session. The 2012 inspection produced 12 “Green,” or low safety significance, findings ranging from failure to analyze a moderate energy fluid system for leakage cracks to inadequate installation of service water piping. The 12 findings were declared very low safety issues and according to James Reece, Senior Resident Inspector at V.C. Summer for Unit 1, most of the findings have been corrected and the others are in the process of being corrected. For the duration of 2013, the NRC said it will continue to conduct baseline inspections for Unit 1, which will include initial operating license examinations and plant modifications. To review the full report from NRC, you can visit www.nrc.com.
The 7 p.m. session drew a little more of a presence from the community. This session focused on the V.C. Summer units 2 and 3, which are under construction. Michael Ernstes, Chief Branch Division of Construction Projects for the NRC’s Region II office, gave an overview of the NRC Region II inspection organization structure, an overview of the construction inspection program for V.C. Summer units 2 and 3, and discussed the NRC’s 2012 annual assessment of the unit 2 and 3 construction project.
“Most of the focus at this time is on construction reactor safety, safeguards programs and operational readiness,” Ernstes said.
After the 2012 inspection, the NRC will focus on security inspection, to include drug testing and other test to aid in safety; baseline inspections; ITAAC inspections; quality assurance program inspections, to ensure the programs are strong; and vendor inspections, which will include inspecting the sites where materials are produced before being sent to Jenkinsville. Ernstes said that in the corrective action program the NRC would like to allow SCE&G to fix their own problems. There were six Green findings for the two new units in 2012. Design and engineering had one, construction and installation had four findings and one finding was in the procurement and fabrication area.
Members of the audience had several questions regarding the design and installation of rebar in the basemat, or nuclear island, at Unit 2, which delayed the pour of concrete from December of last year until March 11. Ernstes said that the issues have been resolved and that the NRC is working to ensure that problem will not happen again. The NRC will hold a public meeting on April 30 in Atlanta, Ga., to hear SCE&G’s perspective on the rebar issues.
Workers at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville, 25 miles east-northeast of Blythewood, lower a component of the recently poured nuclear island into place at the Unit 2 construction site. Representative from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were in Jenkinsville last week to update the community on safety concerns and inspection findings.
JENKINSVILLE – The concrete is poured and construction on the Unit 2 reactor at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station moves forward, but next week representative from S.C. Electric and Gas (SCE&G) will have to confer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in Atlanta to answer questions and offer their perspective about a preliminary finding related to last year’s rebar issue.
That issue – with rebar construction on the nuclear island that will house the reactor deviating from the original design – was discovered last December and required a licensing amendment request from SCE&G that eventually got the green light from the NRC this year. The concrete pour officially got under way March 11, but now the NRC wants to hear from SCE&G about related safety conditions and the first finding to rise above the “Green” level of insignificant to “White,” or low to moderate safety significance.
The NRC completed an inspection of the site on Feb. 12, after the rebar issue had been detected. According to the NRC’s report (available online at http://pbadupws.nrc.gov/docs/ML1308/ML13085A058.pdf): “This finding did not present an immediate safety concern because the project is still in construction. Nonetheless, this nonconformance would likely have led to a latent construction defect that could have had safety consequences after transitioning to operation of the facility . . .”
Roger Hannah, with the NRC’s Region II office in Atlanta, said his office wants to ensure the project is moving forward appropriately. A re-pour of the basemat, he said, would likely not be necessary.
“The way it’s installed now is OK,” Hannah said. “We want to understand how they got there. Either they made structural changes or they met another part of the code, or some combination of both.”
The basis for the “White” level findings, according to the report, were that “without adequate spacing and anchorage of the headed reinforcement (in the rebar), the structural components that rely upon this system may be subject to brittle failure at a demand less than that required by the design basis loads.” The NRC said that information provided to them by SCE&G in December “appears to be insufficient for predicting behavior of the system, and as a result, may yield non-conservative results.”
In other words, the rebar supporting the nuclear island, as well as storage tank walls and walls on two auxiliary buildings, may not have been able to stand up to an earthquake or other terrain shifting.
Rhonda O’Banion, a spokesperson for SCE&G, said the issues were resolved prior to the March 11 pour, and her company will present that to the NRC Tuesday.
“This finding is a technical, design and licensing issue,” O’Banion said. “SCE&G continues to work with Westinghouse to take appropriate actions to ensure conformance with applicable license, design and regulatory requirements. We expect that there will be issues, whether self-identified or identified by the regulator, which will need to be addressed over the course of the project. This is a normal part of the nuclear construction process, and it is in keeping with our meticulous oversight as well as the rigorous oversight by the NRC.”
O’Banion said the project was still on schedule for Unit 2 to go online in 2017, followed by Unit 3 in 2018.
Ready for a challenging day trip that’s 180 miles one way by land before heading out to sea? Visit Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge offshore from Awendaw, S.C. Trailer your boat or make plans to ferry over to Bulls Island for a truly wild and awe-inspiring adventure.
Bulls Island is big. At 5,000 acres, it’s the largest barrier island in the refuge. Take your camera. You’ll want to photograph Boneyard Beach where toppled trees litter the beach for a 3-mile stretch at the island’s northeast end. The Atlantic’s tides undercut the trees’ roots and down they go. Trees with sun-bleached limbs white as marble lie about. The sea-ravaged maritime forest leaves you breathless.
Another strong draw is wildlife. Beautiful creatures ennoble the refuge. Orange-billed oystercatchers and white egrets stand out against green spartina. Bird watching is good year-round. Birds are busy come summer raising young on the beaches and in the maritime forest. Deer, alligators, raccoons and black fox squirrels live here, but the island’s bird life is famous worldwide. More than 293 species of birds have been recorded on the refuge with most being found on or near Bulls Island. The cup of life overflows here.
History has laid its hand on the island. Sewee Indians lived here before settlers arrived. Pirates, it is said, hid out in Bulls Bay and the creeks behind Bulls Island. From these hideouts they attacked ships along the coast. The remains of an “old fort” are believed to have been a lookout tower built in the early 1700s. During the Revolutionary War, British warships used the island to replenish supplies. Confederate blockade-runners hid in creeks here. The island is history rich, for sure.
At Bulls Island you can surf, fish, watch wildlife, picnic, hike and bike. And when you get back to the mainland, visit the Sewee Visitor & Environmental Center at 5821 Highway 17 North in Awendaw. Jointly operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service, the Sewee Center will teach you about the ecosystems of Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and the Francis Marion National Forest. And be sure to see the center’s endangered red wolves.
If You Go …
• Take I-26 East to exit 212 and go east on I-526 for 12 miles. Exit onto US 17 North; go northeast on US 17 for 10.8 miles. Turn right onto Sewee Road; go northeast 3.4 miles, then turn right onto Bulls Island Road. Follow this road to Garris Landing. Depart by boat from Garris Landing. Bulls Island lies 3 miles off the mainland. The island has a public dock where you can take personal watercraft during daylight hours. You’ll find restrooms, a covered shelter and picnic area.
• Coastal Expeditions, the refuge concessionaire, operates a ferry that provides regularly scheduled trips March 1 – Nov. 30, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday only. Adults $40. Children 12 and under $20. Reservations not required but recommended. Call Coastal Expeditions, 843.881.4582, or visit www.coastalexpeditions.com.
• Learn more about the refuge at http://www.fws.gov/caperomain/bullsisland.html
• Sewee Center operates Tuesday – Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., 843.928.3368
Learn more about Tom Poland, a southern writer at www.tompoland.net. Email day-trip ideas at tompol@earthlink.net.
Doko Manor, one of several facilities available for events in Blythewood.
The Blythewood Community Center, under new ownership but still available for events.
BLYTHEWOOD – Even though the Blythewood Community Center and its surrounding 5 acres of land has been sold for development, it’s still available for rent for parties, reunions, receptions, whatever . . . just as it has been in the past. And at the same price – $200 per event, but with no deposit, according to Larry Sharpe, who purchased the Center and property from the Town in January.
“I hadn’t thought about renting it out,” Sharpe said of the property that was, for years, the hub of social activity in Blythewood. Sharpe purchased the property with plans to develop it for upscale shopping and business. “Then I started getting inquiries from people here in town who had rented it in the past and who were looking for a reasonably priced facility in Blythewood for their functions. Being right here on the interstate makes it a convenient place for folks who come from out of town for reunions and family gatherings. I do plan to develop the property, but until that happens, the Community Center and property are available for rent.”
While Sharpe doesn’t charge a deposit, he does ask that those renting it leave it in the same condition in which they found it. The building is air conditioned, has restrooms, a large kitchen with a pass through to the main room and was recently painted inside and out by members of several churches. The 4,000-square-foot building can accommodate up to 300 people for a dining event. Tables and chairs are included with the rental price as well as the 5 acres surrounding the building.
“It’s not fancy,” Sharpe said, “but it’s casual, comfortable and meets the needs of large groups that include children dripping ice cream cones and even pets. And the grounds are ideal for outdoor activities and games.”
The Building is located at 311 Blythewood Road, at Exit 27, off I-77, and across the road from the Food Lion and Groucho’s. For information call 206-8400.
The Farm
On the other side of town, on Highway 21 going toward Ridgeway, Sharpe offers another event facility he calls The Farm. The 130-acre property includes a 6,000-square-foot renovated barn that can accommodate approximately 300-400 people for any kind of event from blue jeans to diamonds. Outdoors, there are four ponds, a fire pit with seating, a rock garden and several fenced horse paddocks on the property.
The entire facility and grounds rents for $500 (no deposit) for a week day, $1,000 for one day on a weekend or $1,500 for a two-day weekend. The ‘day,’ Sharpe said, is the whole day. The barn includes a full kitchen, large restrooms with granite counter tops and tile floors, dressing areas for weddings, a banquet area, smaller meeting areas and a covered back porch for dining with a sweeping view of the outlying paddocks and treed skyline. Sharpe converted the barn’s wash stalls into an oyster roast facility with stainless steel tables. Dining tables and chairs are included with the rental price. A separate storage facility is included to accommodate equipment and preparation items for weddings and other large events.
Sharpe said he has plans to add more entertainment features to the property, including a sporting clay area. He said the bookings keep him hopping these days with some as far out as 2014, including a Frisbee tournament and a number of corporate meetings and church retreats. For information, call 206-8400.
Doko Manor
Back in downtown Blythewood, in the Town park, is yet another rental facility, The Doko Manor, that offers a formal setting that can accommodate up to 375 people in a 3,240-square-foot area for 12 hours on a weekend for $1,025 (for non-29016 residents) or for $770 (for 29016 residents.) This area, which overlooks a pond and patio, can also be rented for six hours for $338. Two smaller meeting rooms, measuring 27 x 29-feet each, can each accommodate up to 75 people for prices ranging from $150 for six hours on a weekday for 29016 residents to $450 for 12 hours on a weekend for non-29016 residents.
Booth Chilcutt, the Town’s new fulltime Accommodations Manager for the Manor, said the Town will try to allow Blythewood clubs and organizations free use of an 18 x 22-foot meeting room under some circumstances. An outdoor patio, called the passenger platform, is available for rent for outside picnics. Rental prices for the patio, which overlooks the pond, range from $150 for six hours on a weekday to $500 for 12 hours on a weekend day. Varying deposits are required along with a signed lease agreement.
The fully carpeted facility is equipped with automatic window shades and built in telecommunications equipment, restrooms and a warming kitchen. Chilcutt, who is both knowledgeable about the facilities and helpful to parties leasing it, is in charge of setting up the rooms to accommodate the various groups and is present at all events. Martha Jones is the Town’s fulltime Events and Conference Center Director and handles marketing for the Manor. Chilcutt, as the former Director of the Sumter County Cultural Commission, brings not only a background of experience in the cultural arts, but a long list of contacts whose events he hopes to bring to the Manor. One of those is the State Arts Commission, which is booked for next fall.
“It’s a beautiful facility,” Chilcutt said, “and we’re very excited about it.”
Chilcutt, who moved to Cobblestone from Sumter two years ago, said the Manor will have an exclusive catering contract (for events at the Manor) with the new restaurant that the Town of Blythewood plans to build in the park later this year. A catering exemption fee will be charged for events that use other catering services.
Chilcutt said the facility has already been rented for several events and that he expects the pace of leasing will pick up as the public learns about it and has occasion to use it. However, he said, he expects much of the business for the Manor to come from out of the area. For information, call 754-0501.
RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway Town Council voted 4-0 last week to take $13,677 out of their contingency fund to help pay for the conversion of treatment of the town’s water supply from chlorine to a chloramine-based method. Mayor Charlene Herring reported during Council’s April 11 meeting that the ammonia tank has been purchased and expects the conversion to be completed in the next two weeks. The total cost for the project was $172,220, with the Town of Winnsboro picking up $158,543 of the tab. Herring said notices will be sent out to water customers once the changeover is complete in the event they notice a change in the taste of their drinking water.
Herring also suggested that Council consider taking bids on a fence to be placed around the heating and air conditioning unit outside the Century House. The Mayor said that a new business next door to the building Ridgeway uses for Town Hall has increased traffic of large trucks through the shared driveway. The unit has suffered damage in the past after being clipped by a truck using the narrow driveway. Councilman Russ Brown suggested roping the area off as a cheaper alternative.
Council also voted to accept the recommendation of the Ridgeway Planning Commission to adopt two changes to the Town’s zoning ordinance. The first amendment changes the definition of “Residential Detached” to “A single dwelling unit in a single structure which is surrounded by yards or other open areas.” The Planning Commission’s report to Council said the change is to clear up “ambiguity regarding the types of structures permitted on a lot that is zoned R-1.” The change will limit construction to one “Dwelling Unit” per lot under R-1.
The second change will put manufactured homes on a case-by-case basis on land zoned R-2. Construction of manufactured homes will still be allowed, the Planning Commission’s report states, but will have to be approved on an individual basis after a hearing by the Board of Zoning Appeals as a special exception.
“This change will give the Town greater discretion in approving proposed construction of homes of this type,” the report states.
Both zoning changes will still have to go through the public hearing process, which has not yet been scheduled.
WINNSBORO – The Town of Winnsboro met for their first work session on the 2013-2014 budget April 11. Council is working with an estimated general fund of $3,182,843, down $794,255 from last year. During this first session, Council only reviewed the general fund budget and will review the utilities fund during the next budget session.
Town Manager Don Wood said this is the first look at the budget, which was developed from looking back five years and taking into consideration the information from the auditors. The biggest line item in the general fund is the Department of Public Safety, which is looking for $1,587,536 for 2013-2014, an increase of $136,985. Public Safety along with most other departments is seeing an increase in medical rates. The next budget work session is scheduled for April 25.
WINNSBORO – A routine traffic violation earlier this month led to the discovery of a marijuana growing operation and the arrest of a Winnsboro man.
Michael Eugene Davison, 34, of 73 Railroad Ave., was arrested April 5 by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office and charged with failure to stop for a blue light, no S.C. driver’s license and manufacturing marijuana. The Sheriff’s Office said deputies on patrol near the intersection of Highway 34 and 321 Bypass witnessed a 1996 Buick, traveling north on the Bypass, disregard a yield sign while bearing right onto Columbia Road. When deputies attempted to pull the Buick over, the driver accelerated, leading officers on a chase that eventually came to a halt on Fagan Road.
The driver, Davison, was taken into custody for failure to stop and for not having a driver’s license. A search of the Buick’s truck revealed a single marijuana plant growing in a flower pot. Deputies and Narcotics Investigators later acquired a search warrant for Davison’s Railroad Ave. home, which turned up 65 marijuana plants flourishing in what investigators called an “elaborate growing operation.”
Investigators said that the plants seized from the home were in a relatively early stage of development, and therefore their value was not known. At full maturity, however, the plants would be worth approximately $2,000 each, or $130,000 total.
The Sheriff’s Office said Davison has a lengthy criminal history and was only just recently released from prison on a 2005 conviction on strong-armed robbery and grand larceny in Berkeley County.
FAIRFIELD – County Council passed the third and final reading on an ordinance to issue $24.06 million in bonds at a special called meeting Monday night, but not without considerable discussion and suggestions by one Council member that the issue might have been rushed through and critical decisions made in secret.
Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said the issue had moved through Council very quickly, without Council having had the opportunity to truly sit down and discuss it. Robinson questioned the amount of money designated for recreation in the economic development plan funded by the bonds, and how that $500,000 per district would be spent.
“We saw the wish list in 2009,” Robinson said. “We saw it again in 2011, and the next presentation we have is by Tiffany Harrison (Fairfield Economic Development Director) and it’s already what we want and we vote on it. It’s voted on back there to go forward with it. There are too many things in this bond issue that we have never discussed. We’re talking about $3.5 million for recreation.”
Robinson also questioned the $100,000 slated for upgrades to fire departments in each district.
“Who’s going to make that decision?” Robinson asked. “Is council never going to have any input in anything anymore? Because in the last several months Council has had input in very few things and it is time that Council starts taking their responsibility for which they were elected, and doing this rather having than things dictated to us by two or three people.”
Chairman David Ferguson (District 5) took issue with what he perceived as Robinson’s characterization of votes taking place behind closed doors.
“I want to clarify, there’s never been a vote ‘back there’ as long as Mr. Ferguson has been on Council,” Ferguson said. “You guys with pencils, I want to be real clear. There’s never been a vote taken outside this room. It is kind of disturbing to this Chair that someone on this Council feels that they have not been informed and the other six of us evidently have been informed, because we’ve all been at the same meetings.”
Vice Chairman Dwayne Perry (District 1) also took issue, this time with Robinson’s charge that Council was being led around by the nose.
“Last I checked, we get to vote on this,” Perry said. “I’m not the type of person where I’m going to have anything dictated to me. Sure, we’ve been talking about this (recreation) . . . I don’t think it’s a matter of where we’re going to put them (parks), we’re just talking about the funding to put them, and to improve fire protection. No one is making us vote a particular way.”
Robinson later backed away from her suggestion that votes were taken in executive session, but stood firm on her assertion that Council was being kept out of the loop on important matters.
“I misspoke about voting ‘back there.’ Consensus is back there, not votes,” she said. “I’m very disturbed about things that are coming down that I feel are dictated to us without an actual workshop we were supposed to have for lots of things so we all have an opportunity to try to work things out and talk about them. Knowing that I’ve been in the process a long time, this is typical legislation. You come up with brilliant ideas, then when it’s time to put pencil to paper, there is no exact system in working it out.”
“This (bond issue) is more than just about recreation,” Perry added. “We’ve had plenty of opportunity to discuss all these items.”
Mikel Trapp (District 3) said he was also concerned with the recreation aspect of the bond, although he supported the bond issue as a whole. In District 3, he said, there are 14 communities and a single regional park would be of little use to them. The district already has several mini-parks, he said, and a few more similar facilities would better benefit the area.
“My opinion would be that once we pass this, we sit down and give each district the option to decide what’s best for their district,” Trapp said. “If we could get a couple more (mini-parks) in the areas that do not have anything, I think that would suit the citizens fine.”
“I don’t think Council would turn a deaf ear to that,” Ferguson replied.
The bond issue passed final reading on a 4-1 vote, with Robinson the lone dissenter. Councilmen David Brown (District 7) and Kamau Marcharia (District 4) were not present at Monday night’s meeting. Council will hold their next regular meeting April 22 at 6 p.m.
WINNSBORO – The winter rains have come and gone, the reservoir is on the mend and Winnsboro Town Council, at their April 16 meeting, officially lifted draught restrictions for all of its water customers. But with a projected dry summer on the doorstep, there is no guarantee of how long it will be before customers are once more faced with brown lawns, dirty cars and empty swimming pools.
Fairfield County, meanwhile, is looking for a source of water to supply two new industrial parks in the hopes of attracting industry, but unless a new agreement between Winnsboro and the City of Columbia can be resurrected, the chances for that are quickly diminishing.
Town Council announced at their April 16 meeting that they would not be signing the proposed contract with Columbia, an agreement that would have upped the number of gallons already flowing north from the Capital City from 400,000 a day to 1 million. Unless something dramatic happens in the coming weeks, that contract is dead in the water.
“The terms of the contract were so arduous we refused to sign it,” John Fantry, special counsel to the Town of Winnsboro, said. “The document was sent to us as ‘This is all we can do. This is what we give everyone else.’ And it was non-negotiable.”
Fantry said the contract contained language that would allow Columbia to alter the volume at any time, shut the water off at any time and raise the rates at any time – all without notice. Columbia also would not guarantee the quality of water, nor would they accept responsibility for the lines on the Fairfield County side of border if an accident or error occurred on their end that resulted in damage to the Winnsboro lines.
“There were a lot of things in this contract that were in the original 400,000-gallon contract that, after a year and a half of negotiations, got hammered out,” Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said. “All we wanted to do was change the amount from 400,000 gallons to 1 million gallons, and those same things were put back in this contract. We went through all these issues before and we corrected it, and here they are again.”
Calls to the City of Columbia were not returned at press time, but the Town of Winnsboro has given no indication that they are willing to bend to Columbia’s demands. Still smarting, and perhaps exhausted, from the 18-month process to bring the 400,000 gallons a day to Blythewood customers, Winnsboro appears to be looking to pass the baton.
“Winnsboro has done all the legwork, paid the attorneys, and we’re tired of doing the dance,” Fantry said. “If the County can come up with a contract that’s amenable, we’ll sign it, but we’re tired of running back and forth to Columbia. We’re tired of everybody pulling our strings and we’re prepared to stay with the 400,000 gallons and if the water runs out, it runs out.”
Right now, Fantry said, he was bracing himself for the task of telling prospective water customers in Blythewood that they couldn’t hook onto the line.
A meeting between Winnsboro and the County was scheduled for Wednesday (April 17) to discuss water negotiations. For a full report on that meeting, see next week’s edition of The Voice.
