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Ridgeway attorney Robert Hartman proposed to Council last week that it adopt a ‘burn’ ordinance. The first part of Hartman’s ordinance would prohibit any burning in the downtown area of Ridgeway. The second part would restrict burning anywhere in the town within 350 feet of homes unless permission to burn had been granted from the non-burning parties, with the exception of cooking fires, and cooking during Pig on the Ridge.

Hartman said he became concerned about the lack of a burning prohibition last week when a neighbor proceeded with a rubbish burn within 20 feet of his office, despite winds that he said were over 20 miles per hour.

“My neighbor who was doing the burning told me, ‘I burn every day, and I ain’t going to stop.’ And I’m like, ok…well, what can I do about it? I can’t do anything about it, but ya’ll can do something about it. All I can do about it is sue my neighbor when my house burns down,” Hartman said.

“Normally, the Forest Commission requires residents who are going to burn to attain a burn permit, but that does not apply to municipalities like Ridgeway,” Hartman said.

Winnsboro has banned burning within the town, and in Richland County yard burns are only permitted if the resident lives in a rural zoning district, and is at least 75 feet from any structure, road or property line.

Hartman said he is concerned about the age of the buildings in downtown Ridgeway, some of which date back to the 1800s, and particularly the heart pine material used in the construction of many of the buildings.

“That stuff is like gasoline. It doesn’t take much of an ignition to set it off,” Hartman said. “We have such a high density of buildings in the downtown area and all it takes is an ember to catch and that thing will burn so fast and so quick there’s no putting it out. Literally, those houses can burn within minutes. San Francisco burned to the ground. Chicago burned to the ground. Columbia has burned to the ground several times. It can happen.”

In other Council business, Belva Bush was named as a replacement for Croom Hunter, on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Hunter’s seat became vacant after he recently moved from Ridgeway. Bush, a former Town Councilwoman, was serving as a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals. Council will now have to appointment for someone to fill her seat.

According to Mayor Charlene Herring, the Town of Ridgeway is waiting to receive a resolution from the Fairfield County School Board that will grant the land behind Geiger Elementary School to the Town for the new water tower. “The water tower, we’re working on our agreements with our lawyer. Thats in progress, and we’ll just wait to hear when it’s time to sign,” Herring said. “I think the school board is the one that will have to do a resolution at their board meeting this month about the land being given to town of Ridgeway.”

Herring also related that, for the first time, Fairfield County will be allocating funds for the budget year to the Town of Ridgeway for use at the Town’s discretion. The sum of those funds is yet to be determined.

“We know that Fairfield County will be allocating some money to our town to help us as we move forward and thats another first too,” Herring said. “You know, in the past, they afforded grants for water hookups and fire hydrants but this year they are giving us a sum of money to use on whatever. We don’t know exactly what that sum is yet.”

BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council held its second of three workshops last week to discuss the Town government’s FY 2017-18 budget which, at $1,498,360, weighs in at $98,219 less than last year’s budget of $1,596,679.

The proposed budget includes a 2.5 percent cost of living increase for town government employees and a 3 percent pot of money from which to award employee merit increases of up to 5 percent. While Council salaries show an increase of $3,000 to reflect six months of the annual salary that will be paid if Councilman Tom Utroska does not run for re-election and another person wins the seat in the November election. Utroska has never taken his salary which is $6,000 for the full year.

“If someone else is in that seat next term,” Administrator Gary Parker said, “then we have to allot revenue for the annual salary for that seat.”

The projected budget includes funding for a major project between the Town and Midlands Council of Governments (MCOG).

“We are including matching funds of $50,000 for the study of alternatives for improving the traffic problem in the area where Blythewood Road, Langford Road and Main Street come together.” Parker noted in a memo to Council. “That study will possibly be completed in the first half of calendar year 2018.”

Revenue from Accommodations Tax and Hospitality Tax continue to be a bright spot in the budget with H-Tax revenues projected to be $390,189, up about $10,000, and Local A-Tax revenue projected at $127,139 and State A-Tax revenues at $101,940.

Even though $116,000 of HTax funds were transferred to the Manor’s Enterprise Fund, the H-Tax dollars available to fund Town events like the S.C. Diamond invitational baseball tournament, Christmas Parade and other events have not decreased.

“In fact,” Parker told Council, “available funding for community events increases in the projected budget over last year. If all of that available funding isn’t needed for events in the coming year, the unused amounts can roll-over to next year’s fund balances.”

The budget includes significant expenditures from the H-Tax for the bond payment on the Park and Manor bond issue, but Doko Meadows park, the Manor, the Depot and the soonto-be-constructed amphitheater are positive community attractions and facilities that also will produce revenue for the Town over future years, Parker told Council.

“Both the park and the Manor are seeing more and more use and, in the case of the Manor in particular, are producing increased revenue to fund their maintenance and operation. This revenue is only projected to grow,” Parker said.

Two other big revenue sources besides Hospitality Tax are the state insurance tax collection program and the local option sales tax. With all the home construction in Blythewood, the next largest revenue source has been from building permits and fees.

While these are dependable revenue sources for now, Parker said, they may not always be.

“The only potentially big and flexible revenue source that we could control,” Parker said, “is a property tax, if the Town were able to establish one.”

The budget also includes a Capital Project Budget for the construction of the amphitheater that 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 as well as funds from Hospitality Tax. This construction project may go into FY 208 and, therefore, has budgeted funds for that portion of the cost that hasn’t yet arisen, Parker said.

The third and final budget workshop is set for Thursday, May 25, at 9 a.m. at the Manor. Council allow the public to sign up to make comment about the budget at the workshops. The Blythewood Chamber is expected to ask the Town at the next workshop to increase it allotment from $12,500 it received this year.

The County’s budget for FY 2017 passed third and final reading without comment Monday evening.

The $38,852,148 budget is up $5,574,807 over last year’s budget of $33,277,807.

The new budget allows for a two percent one-time bonus for county employees, and it does so without a tax increase. With more revenue than was budgeted for last year, the county’s fund balance grew by over $5 million this year.

One of the biggest capital outlays in this year’s budget is $500,000 for Fairfield County Behavioral Health that will go toward construction of a new facility. Chairman Billy Smith asked to have contingencies on the request so that if the building were sold within the next 20 years, the $500,000 would be paid back to the County.

Other larger expenses reflected increases in salaries to the County’s emergency departments. Among the biggest increases in the budget were the Sheriff’s Department ($307,201), the Detention Center ($224,524) Emergency Management ($206,976) and EMS ($276,301). A $162,962 increase in the Animal Control Department was due to increased services and personnel and facility upgrades.

Revenue Up
On the revenue side, Property Taxes are expected to bring in an additional $875,482, with the Multi-County Industrial Park accounting for $650,000 of that amount. Revenues from the State are up $573,514 and total Special Revenue Funds are up $1,037,411. Budget documents can be found on the County’s website at www.Fairfieldsc.com.