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RIDGEWAY- While discussing capital improvements during the Town’s second reading of the budget for the 2017-18 FY, Councilman Heath Cookendorfer rolled out his proposal for the town’s former station. He requested that $25,000 be earmarked to help secure an economic development grant to transition the old fire station into three separate retail spaces.

“We’re not using it if we cannot find the right grant or whatever,” Cookendorfer said. “But money that would help us to get a grant to turn three of those stalls into actual businesses where we would be selling water, we’ll be getting rent and we’ll be getting business license (fees). Three locations that can generate revenue for the town.”

Councilwoman Angela Harrison and Councilman Donald Prioleau, however, countered with their own plans, along with assistance from Fairfield County, for the space. Their proposal would include tearing down and replacing the current library.

“We’re talking about…tearing that thing [current library] down and [replacing it with] a depot with an anchor tower to match Olde Town [Hall Restaurant’s] tower,” Harrison said. “And, again, the police department, a library, indoor/outdoor bathrooms, retail space and a platform for Pig on the Ridge, or events and things like that. That firestation is cement block, it doesn’t match the character of our downtown I mean it totally is an eyesore along with our old police station.”

“It sounded very promising,” Prioleau said.

Harrison said it was not the role of the town to be property managers, but Cookendorfer countered that the town is purchasing the Cotton Yard Property and already operating businesses.

“And, technically, the town shouldn’t be property managers anyway, that’s not the purpose of the town to buy and sell property or be property managers,” Harrison said.

“Then we shouldn’t be buying the Cotton Yard. We shouldn’t be operating businesses,” Cookendorfer said. “We should be in the business of building revenues.”

Harrison said Fairfield County is currently assisting her and Prioleau in the search for grants to possibly help fund the proposal. Since the designs would add a platform for Pig on the Ridge, and other festivals, Pig on the Ridge would assist in funding.

“It’ll be an L-shaped building with retail space, library, police station and a platform for Pig on the Ridge or things like that,” Harrison said. “So Pig on the Ridge is willing to pay money for it, and the county’s looking into getting grants for it.”

The designer’s plans will be presented as soon as they are completed and the designer’s fees will be covered in the Fairfield County budget, but Fairfield County cannot take any action until their new budget year begins in July.

Cookendorfer agreed to table his proposal until Council gets an opportunity to review Harrison’s and Prioleau’s designs. “I would like to see a drawing,” Cookendorfer said.

 

BLYTHEWOOD- Richland County officials have offered a limited bus service to the Town of Blythewood on a trial basis.

“Out of the blue, the Interim Executive Director of the Comet Board, Ann August, called Town Hall to say Richland County wants to establish a park and ride service between Blythewood and Columbia,” Town Councilman Malcolm Gordge told The Voice.

The proposed service would operate out of Doko Meadows (the town park) where it would pick up passengers at a scheduled place and time and drop them of at various points in downtown Columbia. It would bring them back to the park at the end of the business day.

In May, Samuel Scheib, Director of Richland County Planning and Development, forwarded to Town Hall an email he received from August concerning the proposal.

“Due to the ideal location of the Town of Blythewood and recognizing the town’s participation in regional transportation planning efforts, staff proposes to operate the agency’s first express route piolot to Blythewood,” August wrote.

The Blythewood pilot route is expected to begin in September.

“Both Ms. August and Mr. Sheib have come and and met with the Mayor and myself, and we showed them the park,” Gordge said. “Now what the Town Hall is looking for is a response from the community. Do they want it? Will they use it?”

The first week of rides on the 18-seat mini Comet will be free of charge. After that, riders will pay the standard city bus fees, Gordge said.

Gordge said the Town will have no financial responsibility for the project except to post signs directing riders to the pick-up and drop-off points.

“If shelters are needed, then Comet will be responsible for that,” Gordge said.

“I plan to try it out,” he said. “I’ll be on the first bus to Columbia.”

 

BLYTHEWOOD – Addressing recent actions by Town Council to dismantle key zoning ordinances put in place by a previous administration to create a more walkable, attractive Town Center District, former Councilman Paul Moscati told Council Monday evening that he was disappointed they were not taking more time to make their decision on the amending the zoning ordinances.

“Why are you trying to do this so quickly? I was at a workshop last week when this was brought up,” Moscati told Council.

At that workshop, the Town’s Economic Development Consultant Ed Parler told Council that the regulations for a more walkable community were a hindrance to the economic growth of the town. Ross agreed saying that in the six years of his administration, only one new building had come to Blythewood Road. Town Planner Michael Criss added that the ordinances designed to promote walkability and aesthetics caused the current buldings to become out of compliance so that if the non-conforming buildings were more than 51 percent destroyed, they would have to be rebuilt to the ‘walkability’ set back and other specifications which could cause a hardship on them.

“When this plan (to create a more walkable community) was passed, we didn’t expect any current businesses to comply with the ordinance. It was passed for the new businesses coming to the town. You asked how you are going to afford to do this, but it was never that the town would pay for it. It was the developers coming in who would pay for it. We were just asking them to make changes in how they built, to start making this town look like something special,” Moscati said.

At issue are zoning stipulations envisioned and guide by Town Administrator John Perry, and put in place by a Town Council that included Moscati, to have new builds pulled closer to the street with parking in the rear of the buildings and mandatory second stories on new builds in certain areas. The current administration abolished the two-story requirement last year and passed first reading Monday evening to do away with the requirement to pull new builds closer to the front of the lot.

“We’ve always heard, ‘Blythewood is just a truck stop town.’ If you care about Blythewood, that should affect you. I hate hearing that. One of the reasons we came up with the Master Plan and guidelines was to try to make the town look special. Something that came through to us loud and clear then was, ‘We don’t want to look like Two Notch and Killian Road,’” Moscati told Council.

“If you decide to go ahead and make changes on this, I would ask that, at the very least, you involve the public. Make sure they understand what you’re trying to change. As a former Councilman who was for this [walkability ordinances], I think it is incumbent on me to help lead that change to let people understand. And if what you’re doing is what the people want, then, by golly, they’re the ones who should have the final say so. As we become more and more disengaged, we’re going to look back and say, ‘How did we get to where we are?’ The answer is – a little bit at a time.”

“Your point is well taken,” Councilman Tom Utroska told Moscati, “but as you well know, getting people to get involved is hard to do.”

“We knew that if we ever pulled that first building forward it would look like a snaggled tooth. But there’s got to be a first time,” Moscati said.

Ross defended Council’s move to amend Perry’s plans, saying that many businesses have not come to the town because of the walkability ordinances.

“It wasn’t all because of our zoning, but it had a lot to do with it,” Ross said. “We are what we are. But as far as economic development, we’re letting the town down. We need to be sure what the people want.

“This is first reading and because we are making changes, it will have to go to the Planning Commission, a public hearing and a second reading,” Ross said.

First reading passed 4-0. Councilman Larry Griffin was out of town.

Council also held a public hearing and first reading to downsize select parcels from R-5, R-8 and R-12 to Development District (D-1).

Town Administrator Gary Parker said this procedure would help reduce the residential density in Blythewood while maintaining the current zoning of existing or vested developments. The recommendations passed first reading unanimously.

Council also voted on the Accommodation Tax Committee’s recommendations, approving $10,000 for the BHS Tournament of Bands and $1,750 for the Chamber’s Battle of the Bands Eclipse event Bravo Blythewood withdrew its request for $34,000 for a concert in the park.

 

BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council unanimously passed final reading of a budget that, at $1.533,360, is slightly less than last year’s $1,596,679 budget.

This budget comes with a 3 percent cost of living allowance for employees. However, Town Administrator Gary Parker said the actual COLA for the Town’s employees will weigh in at 1.7 percent this year.

Parker pointed out that Accommodations Tax and Hospitality Tax revenues to date continue to be good which, he said, allows the town to transfer some of those funds to the Enterprise Fund (Manor), which he said is justifiable due to the increased patronage of Blythewood restaurants resulting from Manor events.

“Even with this transfer of $82,244 of the Hospitality-Tax to the Manor, we still have funding for Town events like the S.C. Diamond Invitational baseball tournament, the Christmas Parade and other events,” Parker said.

“Funding for community events amounts to over $166,000. If all of that funding isn’t needed, the unused amounts can roll over to next year’s fund balances,” Parker said.

The budget also includes funding for a major Town and Midlands Council of Government (COG) project.

“We are including matching funds of $50,000 for the study of how to improve traffic at Blythewood Road, Langford Road and Main Street,” Parker said. “That study possibly will be completed the first half of 2018.”

The budget includes a Capital Project Budget for the construction of the amphitheater in the park which will be funded by donations that include a $125,000 contribution from Palmetto Citizens Federal Credit Union, a $75,000 grant from Central Midlands Community Foundation and Hospitality Tax funds. This construction project will go into FY 2018 and funds have been budgeted for that portion of the cost that hasn’t yet arisen Parker said.

 

WINNSBORO – Council came out of executive session Monday evening with good news for its two employees, County Administrator Jason Taylor and Clerk to Council Patti Locklair.

Council members voted to give Taylor a 4.16 percent raise in salary which amounts to $5,000 per year. They also extended Taylor’s contract three more years for a total of five years.

“Mr. Taylor has done a fantastic job in his one year with us,” Council Chairman Billy Smith told The Voice following the meeting. “With his wealth of knowledge and positive leadership, he’s helped us begin to get our County on the right track again, from implementing Council directives to helping us rebuild long-strained relationships and everything in between. The County and Town are now striving to work together and Mr. Taylor has played a huge role in that effort. Mr. Taylor has proven very valuable to Fairfield County, and I hope we can keep him long enough to accomplish the great things I know we can.”

Council also rewarded Locklair for what Smith said was an extraordinary capability to do the job.

“She really had no experience with this kind of job, and she’s just jumped in here and learned it very quickly. I think everyone

on Council has expressed their appreciation for the job she’s done since we hired her six months ago,” Smith said.’

For that, Locklair will receive a $1,000 salary increase effective in her next paycheck.

Several other Council members spoke up to praise both Taylor’s and Locklair’s work with Council and the county employees.

“I’m definitely pleased with the direction Council is going in right now,” Councilman Neal Robinson said. “Mr. Taylor was a great find and Ms. Locklair is 110 percent. I’m definitely enjoying this Council and our work. These two are a great help to us in making it all happen, and I want the community to know that.”

Water Lines to Phase II

In other business, Council approved a $610,753 bid from the LAD Corporation of West Columbia to continue with Phase II on-site water improvement to serve the Fairfield Commerce Center. The water portion of Phase II had to be bid separately from road and wastewater since the water portion was not funded by grants.

Phase II improvements will include 7,060 feet of 12-inch water main and 14 fire hydrants. Wiley Easton of Lexington bid $618,900 and Stutz and Williams of Lexington bid $631,100.

Radio Purchase

Council also approved a $486,117.80 bid from Carolina Fleet Talk-Rock Communications out of Fort Mill, to provide 46 mobile radios, 345 portables and 14 base stations, to improve Interoperability between departments that will provide the most complete coverage for Fairfield County. Radio Communications of Sumter bid $661,895.21 and Motorolla’s bid was $986,120. Fleet-Talk was on the only company who could provide coverage for 90 percent of the county.

“With the discrepancy in bids from $486,117 to $986,120, we did investigate fully to make sure that their bid was good , when you have a bid that much lower sometimes it raises red flags,” County Administrator Jason Taylor said. “We checked with a number of people, checked with the State, everything came back positive on Fleet Talk-Rock Communications.”

County To Grade Its Own

Upon recommendation of the Administration and Finance Committee, Council approved a plan to implement a site readiness program, in which the County would purchase land clearing equipment and use it to clear trees from its industrial sites in three harvests (2017, 2019 and 2022). According to Taylor, the three harvests will net the town $363,900.

“By grading our own sites, the County can reduce costs over time and offer more attractive product to market to prospective industries,” Taylor old Council.

“I’d just like to say, I don’t know who came up with this idea out of the administration and economic development departments, but I think it’s a fantastic way for us to save money and make use of resources we already have,” Council Chairman Billy Smith said.

Sediment Study Initiated

After a request from the Lake Wateree Homeowner’s Association, Council agreed to pay $3,000 of a $4,000 hydrology study to determine the inflow of sediment to the lake. The County will get a final report after the study is concluded.

 

RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway residents can expect to see increases in their water/sewage and millage rates, after Council agreed to raise both during the final budget reading on June 22.

The uptick in the rates comes on the heels of a series of recommendations made by Larry Finney of Green, Finney and Horton Certified Public Accountants and Consultant.

Council agreed, based on the Councilman Doug Porter’s recommendation, to raise water rates six percent, after the Town of Winnsboro levied a four percent rate increase for Ridgeway. In the past, the Town passed along the same rate Winnsboro charged without an increase for Ridgeway customers. This, Finney said, hindered Ridgeway’s ability to build reserves.

“I talked with the town of Bethune and they didn’t raise rates for six years and then had to jump up and that’s a hard adjustment,” Porter said. “Our major source of revenue is our water and sewer revenue, so that’s my recommendation to go up 6 percent on our rates.”

Council is allowed by law to retroactively raise the millage rate for the last three years. Councilwoman Angela Harrison was unsure of the overall effects raising the millage rate to that extent would have.

“I understand why we need to did this, but I’m just trying to figure out what its cause and effect is going to be,” Harrison said. “Because, if we can change our millage and it’s not going to do anything to our citizens and we’re still going to get that tax credit,then why not change it?”

Mayor Charlene Herring recommended Council raise the Millage the allotted 1.26 percent this year and see the effects before increasing it further.

“Would it be safer to just do the 1.26 until we know how that would affect us this one year, cause you can still catch up next year,” Herring said.

During the budget reading Council re-visited the distribution of the Victim’s Assistance Fund. The town had already agreed to earmark $50,000 of its $60,000 VAF fund, to SisterCare and The Fairfield County VAF, but had not decided how to split the funds up.

After much discussion, Cookendorfer recommended $30,000 to SisterCare, $5,000 to the Fairfield County VAF and keep $20,000 in the Ridgeway VAF, with $10,000 earmarked for victim’s assistance literature.

The recommendation passed 4-1 with Councilwoman Harrison voted against.

Council also voted to designate a series of capital improvements out of their unrestricted funds for the upcoming fiscal year.

“We want to put the Railroad property in there,” Mayor Herring said. “Because again the purchase of the property would be $35,000, surveying will be $2,000 and legals fees will be $3,000. That comes to a total of $40,000, so I’d like that to be under designated capital improvements.”

Next, Council designated $4,700 to paint town hall and $3,150 for six shutters in Town Hall, including upstairs in the Museum to protect the integrity of the artwork.

Councilman Donald Prioleau recommended $6,000 for new security cameras around town, and council approved the motion unanimously. Then, on the recommendation of Councilman Porter, Council allotted $15,000 each from the capital improvements budget and the utility budget to pay for a 30 foot x 36 foot maintenance building for the water company.

Another $7,000 was designated out of the town’s tourism and hospitality funds to purchase the following for the Welcome Center: a $3,600 ventless heat and air system, a $400 desk and a $1000 Photo Booth system. The last $2,000 will be geared towards lights and carriage rides for the Holidays on the Ridge.