Blythewood Online 691

Category: News

  • DOT Begins Work on Rimer Pond Road

    The proposed widening and straightening of Rimer Pond Road (in red), set to begin in June.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Construction is expected to begin in June to straighten and widen some of the curve on Rimer Pond Road. The half-mile long project is federally funded as part of the S.C. Department of Transportation’s Safety Improvement Program.

    When a statistical comparison was made with other one-half mile sections of roads around the state with high crash incidents, the locally notorious curve on Rimer Pond Road easily met the qualifications for improvement – 29 crashes in four years with 12 of those being injury crashes, according to Joey Riddle, Safety Program Engineer with SCDOT.

    Riddle said the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

    The correction will begin between the entrance to Eagles Glen and the new Perfecting Faith Church and continue toward Round Top Elementary School.

    “To make the road safer, we’ll be widening the two existing 10-foot lanes at the curve to 12-foot lanes with 2-foot paved shoulders beyond the white line on the edges of the road,” Riddle said. “This will make the road about 28-feet wide, from edge to edge.”

    Rumble strips will also be added to the road’s edges to warn drivers when they are departing from the road. Riddle said that while rumble strips are expensive to install, a study of the road’s accidents showed that 23 of the 29 crashes were lane departures.

    Riddle said that in order to eliminate some of the curve, the road will actually be moved as much as 8 feet in some places.

    A guard rail will be installed on both sides of the road at the low point of the curve where there are a couple of creeks alongside the road across from the pond dam.

    SCDOT surveyed the road last February when Richland School District 2 was considering locating a bus barn near Round Top Elementary School not far from the curve.

    Riddle said the road corrections should make the curve safer.

  • Council at Odds with Town Statute

    BLYTHEWOOD – Twice this year, Blythewood Town Council has made appointments to the Planning Commission without publicly soliciting applicants for the open seats at least 30 days prior to the appointment as required by the Town’s statute, Title XV, Chapter 150.02.

    Last night, at a Special Called meeting, Council was poised to make it a hat trick. The Voice went to press several hours before the scheduled meeting and is therefore unable to report the results at this time.

    The latest incident of side stepping the Town’s law was initiated Monday evening at the Planning Commission meeting when Town Administrator John Perry announced to the panel that Commissioner Jack Davis was ill and would be undergoing treatment for an extended period of time.

    Perry then introduced Ashley Oaks resident Malcolm Gorge, who Perry said had agreed to substitute for Davis during his absence from the Commission.

    According to the town’s statute there is no provision in the Town’s book of ordinances for the appointment of substitute Planning Commissioners.

    When asked about the appointment’s noncompliance with the Town’s statute, John Perry shrugged and said he was doing it as a favor to Davis who was from the same neighborhood as Gorge.

    The next day, Tuesday, Town Hall issued notice that the appointment would be voted on the next evening (Wednesday) during a Special Called Town Council Meeting.

    Section (D) of the Town’s statute states, “A vacancy may be filled at any Council meeting providing that open solicitation began no less than 30 days prior to the Council meeting during which an appointment or appointments are to be made.”

    Mayor J. Michael Ross said he agreed with Perry that it was permissible to make an exception to the law in these appointments, but that he would discuss it with Council prior to the vote on Wednesday.

  • Village Church Opens Another New Sanctuary

    Youth members of the church make up the Christian rock band that calls the congregation to worship Sunday mornings.

    In 2002, Wendell Estep, pastor of the First Baptist Church on Forrest Drive in Columbia, sent out five church seeds around the Midlands to be planted. His son, Pastor Erik Estep and his wife Emily and their three young children Hank, Glyn and Janie were to plant one of those seeds in Blythewood. That seed was called The Village Church.

    “We started off as a home Bible study with only our family and a few others,” Erik Estep recalls. “We moved into Bethel-Hanberry Elementary School in March 2002, averaging about 70 members each Sunday. That fall, we moved to Lake Carolina.” All the while the seed was growing.

    In August 2009, the church built its first sanctuary on Rimer Pond Road. That building seated 400. Last week, less than four years later, the church welcomed the community into its second sanctuary, built to seat 900. And all those seats were full of people ready to worship.

    As the congregation arrived, they milled and visited, enjoying coffee and donuts. Then a Christian rock band, made up of the church’s youth, called them to worship. As the music filled the sanctuary, changing colored lights filled the stage. Three large video screens flashed messages and the words to the music.

    The first four Sundays in the new building have themes. This particular Sunday was “camo day” and as Estep looked out over the audience dressed in green and brown camouflage clothing, he quipped in his natural turn of humor, “Maybe this was a mistake. I can’t see you.” The congregation laughed.

    During the service, Estep introduced several community leaders and school principals in attendance, including U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson.

    The front rows were filled with children and older youth. The outgrown sanctuary will be the new Student/Children’s Ministry facility where the youth will normally worship.

    The church’s history may be short, but it has nonetheless made its mark on the community, particularly in the schools.

    The church has a pastor of students, Matthew Phillips, who serves as chaplain for both the BHS and WHS football teams. And the Church sponsors a Post Game get together at the high schools after every Friday night home game. Post Game is intended to provide a safe atmosphere for students and football players to relax and have fun after the game.

    “This is a wonderful community,” Estep said, “and we are so happy to be a part of it.

    Indeed, the seed has grown and it has blossomed.

  • How Art School Can Transform Downtown Winnsboro

    This painting of photo-like quality is the essence of Dru Blair’s work.

    The face of downtown Winnsboro is on the cusp of a new era, an era of growth and revitalization that stands to spill over into the entire county and surrounding areas. Riding the first wave of that change is the proposed Blair College of Art, the offspring of Dru Blair’s Blair School of Art currently nestled in Fairfield County’s Blair community.

    Blair, an internationally known artist, best known for his photorealistic paintings and portraits, began his career as a commercial illustrator in 1987 producing work for clients such as Budweiser, Continental Airlines, United Airlines and many others. In 1988 he won the National Airbrush Excellence Award, and in 1989 he produced his first aviation painting, “Power,” which remains the number one selling aviation print in the world. Other prints followed after the start of a publishing company, Blair Art Studios. In 1997 his skills with the airbrush and creating photorealistic paintings led him to open the Blair School of Art in his ancestral home of Blair. The school is dedicated to the advancement of realism in art and has trained thousands of artists from all over the world. In addition to teaching workshops at the Blair School of Art, Blair travels to teach in other countries, including Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Holland and the U.K., and has been featured in U.S and Japanese television shows.

    Most recently Blair has joined with the Fairfield County Strategic Planning Committee for the Arts. In addition, Blair and his staff are actively working to found a private, not-for-profit, four-year-degree granting International Art College in Winnsboro. The Blair College of Art will be the only art college in the world dedicated to teach Photorealism and Classical Realism. Although Blair’s vision is to impact the entire art world, establishing an art college can have a great influence on a local and regional level. One of the missions of the Blair College of Art is to serve as a catalyst to help restore and revitalize Fairfield County by bringing 1,500 students from all corners of the world to downtown Winnsboro. Combining this with educators, staff and visitors will have a tremendous impact on development and prosperity of the region. Indeed, the College of Art could very well set off an avalanche of downtown development, as businesses designed to serve the art students and staff settle in along Congress Street.

    As the project progresses, look in upcoming editions of The Voice as we continue to preview the coming Blair College of Art and its role in revitalizing Winnsboro and Fairfield County. Blair, meanwhile, will be speaking at the Blythewood Artists Guild at 100 McNulty St. in Blythewood on Feb. 11 at 6:30 p.m.

  • Ordinance Paves Way for New Health Clinic

    FAIRFIELD – Fairfield County Council passed first reading of three rezoning ordinances Monday night, one of which represents the first step in bringing a permanent, state-of-the-art medical facility to Western Fairfield County.

    Ordinance 613, to rezone 3.76 acres in the 8000 block of Highway 215 S. from RD-1 (Rural Residential) to B-1 (Limited Business), passed first reading in a unanimous 7-0 vote during Council’s regular meeting. The land is currently owned by trustees for the Praise and Deliverance Temple, but the rezoning request was applied for by Dr. Stuart Hamilton, whose Eau Claire Medical Group has designs on the property for a new medical clinic. The land is located between one-quarter and one-half mile from the entrance to the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville.

    “If this passes all three readings, this will lead to the establishment of a new healthcare facility in the Jenkinsville/Monticello area,” Council Chairman David Ferguson said prior to Monday night’s vote. “This is something that stands to be real profitable for the County and the citizens of that area.”

    Ferguson said he put the zoning change on the fast track after speaking with Dr. Hamilton, who ensured him that Eau Claire had secured adequate federal grant and loan funds to break ground on the new facility. Additionally, Ferguson said, SCANA had agreed to help equip the clinic.

    Eau Claire currently operates a small clinic in the area, housed in a mobile home and staffed by a Nurse Practitioner. The new brick-and-mortar facility will replace the existing clinic and will include a physician on its staff, on site several days a week. Ferguson said it is hoped that the clinic will help take some of the pressure off Fairfield Memorial Hospital’s emergency room, which many in Fairfield County use as their source of primary care. A physician at the new clinic will also be able to refer patients to the hospital for tests and other necessary treatments, boosting Fairfield Memorial’s bottom line.

    Council will hold a public hearing on the rezoning Feb. 18. Two other ordinances passed on first reading Monday night will also get a public hearing Feb. 18. The first, ordinance 611, rezones 1 acre of land owned by George H. Poland and located at 177 and 179 Meadowlake Road in Blair, from B-2 (General Business) to RD-1 (Rural Residential). Ordinance 612 rezones 1 acre at 394 Hungry Hollow Road in Winnsboro, owned by George D. Robinson, also from B-2 to RD-1.

  • With Mill Village Shaping Up, Council Sets Sights on Next Target

    This map of the South Winnsboro area shows the progress, in green and yellow pins, made by Code Enforcement Officers in recent months. Red pins indicate remaining violations.

    FAIRFIELD – Fairfield County is nearing the end of the first phase of enforcing their new property maintenance codes, which concentrated efforts on the South Winnsboro area, and as code enforcement officers gear up to target a second area of the county, Council Monday night received an update on the progress made thus far.

    Standing before a map dotted with color-coded push pins, Dan Vismor, the consultant who helped the County put together the new rules, told Council that only 4 percent of the properties in the neighborhood remain in violation of the County’s new, tougher property codes. Twenty percent of the properties have corrected violations, while 9 percent are in the process of coming up to code.

    Rental properties are the top violators of the maintenance codes, Vismor said, with investment properties accounting for 17 violations during the first months of enforcement. Vismor said the County will hold a public meeting this month to inform property owners of what they’ll need to do to keep their properties up to code as the department prepares to shift its focus to a new area, just outside of the Town of Ridgeway.

    “We want to make sure that folks who have rental properties are invited to that meeting,” Council Chairman David Ferguson said. “In South Winnsboro, there’s a lot of that rental stuff – some of them in the houses aren’t taking care of them, but some of them, the houses aren’t being taken care of either. We want to make sure those folks are invited to that meeting and told what the expectations are. When you start looking down that list and you see investment properties and rental properties and that kind of stuff, they need to clean their act up. If they rent to folks, they need to do what they need to do.”

    Vismor said that prior to the adoption of the tighter codes and the addition of enforcement officers, the County operated solely on a complaint basis. Now, officers are on patrol in targeted neighborhoods, armed with a revised checklist to simplify their search for violations. Officers are certified to issue citations — $25 for a first offense, $50 for a second, $100 for a third. A fourth offense will put the offender into the court system. Ferguson said in many cases it has been found to be cheaper and more expedient for the County to provide a dumpster to properties, allow the homeowner or resident to fill it up, then haul it away.

    “The code enforcement group has done a wonderful job,” Ferguson said. “You see the things that they’re cleaning up, but that’s just scratching the surface over our whole county. There are a lot of things that have been abused and misused and left to make this county look like nobody cares about it.”

    Dwayne Perry, Vice Chairman, said the State Department of Commerce told Council that the appearance of a county plays a significant role in economic development.

    “You never know sometimes, but when perspective companies are looking to move to your county, one of the things they do is ride around and look at the county and abandoned homes and see how much pride potential prospective employees take in their county,” Perry said, “because it comes through in your work as well. It means a lot that we are following through with getting this county cleaned up and showing that we take pride in this county.”

    LaShonda Holmes, one of the County’s code enforcement officers, said Monday night that many of the County’s repeat offenders are located along Columbia Road, an area of particular interest to Ferguson.

    “Columbia Road was one of my pet peeves,” Ferguson said. “That’s the main thoroughfare into the county. You go by and look at that, it certainly doesn’t give us a good picture. They need to pay if they don’t play.”

  • Water Deal on Target for February

    WINNSBORO – A revised water deal between the Town of Winnsboro and the City of Columbia did not make it before Columbia City Council in January as had been expected.

    Steve Gantt, Columbia’s City Manager, said in early January that he would be presenting City Council with a revised contract in January. Last week, however, Gantt said the contract was still under review by the City’s Legal Department.

    “We will review it over the next few weeks and then present it to Columbia City Council for their review and approval,” Gantt said. “After that it will be sent to the town of Winnsboro for signature and approval. We hope to complete the review and approval process during the month of February.”

    Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said in December that Winnsboro was looking for a “long-term” relationship with Columbia for the provision of water. Last summer, Winnsboro and Columbia completed an agreement to bring up to 400,000 gallons of water a day to Blythewood customers. It was hoped that that agreement would take pressure off Winnsboro’s strained reservoir, which has been hit hard by persistent drought conditions. But the reservoir has not recovered as Winnsboro had anticipated, and the hoped-for new arrangement could bring between 600,000 to 1 million gallons of water into the town’s supply.

    At an intergovernmental meeting in December, Winnsboro Town Manager Don Wood said the deal was imperative to Winnsboro’s water system, and that if water wasn’t pumping into Winnsboro by the spring, the situation could be grim for Winnsboro customers.

    Jesse Douglas, Director of Winnsboro’s Water Department, said this week that December’s wet weather was kind to the Town’s reservoir, although it still remains some 2 ½ feet below full. Water usage, he said, has also remained stable, allowing the Town’s stores to replenish.

    “It’s not quite as tight as it was,” Douglas said, “but we’re still going to be conservative.”

    Winnsboro also has backup sources of water that are not being tapped, Douglas said, giving the Town room – and time – to negotiate with Columbia.

    Any new water deal will require some infrastructure improvements, the Town reported in December, including pumping equipment to bring the water from Columbia and into the water tower near Ben Arnold on Highway 34. Fairfield County has agreed to purchase the necessary equipment, a t a cost of approximately $400,000.

  • Community Cuts Ribbon on Westwood High School

    Students, parents and the community gathered in the Westwood High School gym for the school’s dedication last Friday.

    BLYTHEWOOD – Redhawk feathers were everywhere at Westwood High School last Friday. And so was the media. The JROTC was on hand at every door, spit and polished, to welcome guests. It was the dedication of Blythewood’s Westwood High School and no one could have been prouder than it’s principal, Ralph Schmidt.

    Schmidt extolled the school’s virtues throughout the morning – first to the media, then to the full house audience and to anyone else in earshot.

    Prior to the dedication ceremony in the school’s gymnasium, guests were given tours of the school and enjoyed refreshments in the lobby.

    The event opened with a prelude performed by the school’s orchestra. Then there were various introductions, presentations, pledges, recognitions and remarks.

    The Westwood chorus performed “For the Beauty of the Earth,” and there were more dedications, pledges and plaque presentations.

    The Soaring High Dance Company, under the direction of Dr. Anne Richardson, performed a colorful dance titled “Defying Gravity.”

    Class photos, school symbols and other items were assembled by the classes and teachers for a time capsule to be sealed at a later date.

    After the Westwood Band gave the premier performance of the Westwood Alma Mater, Principal Schmidt, the school board, student leaders and other dignitaries cut the red and black ribbons, thus officially dedicating the school.

    The Band then closed the ceremony by playing the school’s fight song. And Westwood High School was dedicated.

  • Council Swaps Liability Carriers

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council voted Monday night to drop its liability insurance policy with the S.C. Insurance Reserve Fund. The policy, which provides general tort liability coverage for attorney fees, carries a statutory limit of $300,000 per person and $600,000 in aggregate. The Town is currently being defended under the tort policy against a $10 million lawsuit filed by South Capital Group, LLC.

    Council passed a resolution to apply for participation in the S.C. Municipal Insurance and Risk Financing Fund, effective May 1.

    Town administrator John Perry told Council that while the new fund does not cover tort claims, it covers other insurance needs of the Town, such as event coverage, which is a big expense to the Town.

    “Every time we have an event,” Perry said, “even if it’s just an afternoon event, we have to pay out $500 for special event insurance.”

    Perry said the insurance bill for three weekend farmers’ markets came to $900. He said the new policy would also cover liability for Doko Manor and other venues in the Town.

    Mayor J. Michael Ross said he felt the Town would save thousands of dollars under the new policy.

    In other business, Council voted to appoint Bill Wiseman as the Town’s representative to the Richland County Transportation Penny Tax oversight committee. Wiseman was recommended to Council last week by a Council-appointed sub-committee.

    Wiseman is expected to be seated on the oversight committee by Richland County Council during the first weeks of February.

    Councilman Paul Moscati narrated a visual presentation giving his fellow Council members an update on the progress of the Doko Manor and Park construction. He said the Doko Manor should be finished by about the first week in February.

    In his administrative report, Perry told Council the I-77 landscaping and signage will be finished by spring. The water wells are ready and irrigation is being completed. He said the design will include 390 crepe myrtles and more than 200 live oaks.

    Moscati told Council that it was Perry’s five-year anniversary as Town Administrator, and Moscati said he felt indebted to Perry for all he’s done for the Town.

    “All these things wouldn’t have been done without him,” Moscati said. Mayor Ross also praised Perry for making changes in the Town, and Council applauded Perry.

    Perry added that traffic has increased so much in the town that a traffic study has been done that calls for reducing the speed limit on Blythewood Road, between I-77 and Highway 21, to 30 miles per hour. He did not say when the new speed limit will go into effect.

    Bob Mangone, chairman of the athletic fields committee, reported that the County Recreation Commission had recently completed the infield for a softball field behind the Blythewood Community Center. He said volunteers would be called on to help construct a backstop for the temporary field. Mangone said he now hopes to get an estimate of the cost for the Recreation Commission to build four new fields on property behind Bethel-Hanberry Elementary School. The Town is currently negotiating the purchase of that property from the School District.

    “The Recreation Commission has allocated $500,000 [from a bond passed three years ago] for the four-field complex,” Mangone said. “We need to find out if that’s going to pay for everything we need for the fields.”

    In his remarks, Mayor Ross read a letter from Westwood and Blythewood high schools praising him and Martha Jones for assisting at a recent exchange student event. He also said the Council would be taking a field trip soon to Baxter [near Charlotte] and Davidson, N.C., “to see planned communities the way we’re going to look one day.”

  • Four Arrested in Rimer Pond Burglaries

    BLYTHEWOOD – Four Columbia men were arrested by Richland County deputies last week following a series of break-ins along Rimer Pond Road in Blythewood.

    Deputies responded to a burglar alarm call at 269 Rimer Pond Road just after 1 p.m. Jan. 24 and found the front door of the home had been forced open. Almost immediately, deputies in the area received a call of a suspicious vehicle cruising Miles Oak Lane. Deputies on patrol spotted the car, described by the Sheriff’s Department as a silver Chevrolet, speeding down Grover Wilson Road and onto Langford Road, where deputies were able to initiate a traffic stop.

    Inside the car, deputies discovered a cache of electronics, stolen from 269 Rimer Pond Road, 321 Rimer Pond Road and 1125 NE Miles Road, the Sheriff’s Department said. Items included a 40-inch flat screen television, a 21-inch television, computer equipment and a video game system.

    Arrested were Andre Cornelius, 40; James Montgomery, 44; Rolland Graves, 40; and Larry Alston, 18. Cornelius is charged with two counts of larceny, two counts of burglary and driving under suspension. Montgomery is charged with two counts each of larceny and burglary. Graves is charged with receiving stolen goods, larceny and two counts of burglary. Alston is charged with two counts each of larceny and burglary. All four were transported to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. The Sheriff’s Department said additional charges may be forthcoming against all four men as they are suspected of an additional string of burglaries.