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WINNSBORO (Dec. 29, 2016) – County Council during the second public comment period of their Dec. 12 meeting heard from a group of concerned Fairfield County residents seeking to have input into strengthening animal cruelty laws for the County.

Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society Board members Kathy Faulk and Paula Spinale, both residents of the County, were among several members of their group to address Council.

Faulk expressed her appreciation to Council for allowing Hoof and Paw to work with the Animal Shelter and Adoption Center and to have input into a proposed new animal cruelty ordinance for the County. But she lamented that it had not yet come to Council for a vote. She urged the County to move forward with stricter tethering laws to prevent domestic animals from being left unsheltered and outside on chains.

“There is nothing on the books to give our animal control officers, who work so hard, anything to sink their teeth into when they go out and see these dogs in just horrible circumstances,” Faulk told Council. “So we have to get something on the books, guidelines on tethering, on housing.”

Spinale agreed.

“I drive around Fairfield County and see these dogs tied up on short chains 24/7. I hope Council (members) will find it in their hearts to want to change that,” Spinale said.

During County Council time, Councilwoman Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6) who has been an outspoken advocate for animals, thanked the Hoof and Paw members for their work with the County.

“Our ordinance is in the hands of the magistrate, from what I understand from Mr. (Davis) Anderson (Deputy County Administrator),” Kinley said. “The state law is inadequate as far as requiring housing for animals and punishment for those who mistreat animals.”

Kinley, who was defeated for her Council seat in November, said she plans to continue to stay in touch and be involved with the ordinance’s progress after she goes off Council at the end of December.

Vehicle Purchases

Council also approved a list of new vehicles and equipment that was recommended to Council in November by the Administration and Finance Committee.

Council unanimously voted to purchase a 30,000-pound vehicle lift for the Vehicle Maintenance Department for just under $35,000; a new Ford Police Interceptor SUV for the Sheriff’s Office for $48,937; a 2016 Ford F-150 for the Sheriff’s Office for $72,309; a new ambulance for the EMS Department for $186,719 and two Sunset conversion vans for the Transportation Department for $105,614.

Council also approved $25,370 for engineering and design services for the County’s fire alarm system ($100,000 is budgeted for an upgrade of the entire system).

On Taylor’s recommendation, Council did not take up a lone bid for the County’s manpower efficiency study that came in at $60,000, nearly double the $36,000 budgeted. The study had not been recommended to Council for approval by the Budget and Finance Committee.

“This company does not have a long track record doing this kind of work,” Taylor said “so we recommend Council not move forward with this (study) without putting it out for bid once again.”

BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 29, 2016) – The roundabout is on its way, Ben Lewis, Project Engineer for the Richland County Penny Sales Tax Ad Hoc Committee, reported to Town Council during their Dec. 19 meeting.

The double-lane traffic circle, to be located near the entrance to Cobblestone Park, is the key feature of the upcoming Blythewood Road project, and the executive summary of plans for the project was given the OK by Richland County Council on Dec. 13.

Lewis said the Ad Hoc Committee reviewed public comments after an Oct. 20 public meeting held at Blythewood Middle School and found seven comments in favor of the roundabout and eight against it.

“The takeaway from the public meeting, we went back to the drawing board, we looked at all the proposals, we reviewed all the comments,” Lewis said. “We developed what is called an executive summary to our concept report. This is basically our summary of recommendations to County Council, and from that we included that we were going to move forward with constructing Alternate A, which had the shared-use paths; we were going to design and construct the double-lane roundabout. Of course the roundabout was included in the Town of Blythewood’s Master Plan.”

Lewis said 80 percent of accidents on Blythewood Road occur at the entrance to the Food Lion shopping center, adjacent to the Cobblestone entrance.

“The plan there would be to make that a right-in, right-out only,” Lewis said. “That would improve the safety. People who would want to make a left to I-77 would make a right and go around the roundabout.”

The new Palmetto Citizens Bank would lose its Blythewood Road entrance with the creation of the roundabout, Lewis said, but it would retain its entrance from the shopping center drive.

Councilman Larry Griffin said he had seen traffic circles actually cause more congestion and accidents than traffic signals and expressed that concern to Lewis.

“The DOT (S.C. Department of Transportation) has done a considerable amount of study,” Lewis said. “They’re doing more roundabouts throughout the state. They’re showing around an 80 percent reduction in vehicular accidents when they install a roundabout rather than a four-lane intersection or a traffic signal.”

And, Town Administrator Gary Parker pointed out, with traffic slowing to navigate the roundabout, typical accidents would be mere fender-benders and not fatal, high-speed collisions.

“My concerns were about the aesthetics of getting into Cobblestone,” Councilman Tom Utroska said, “and with the semi’s making left turns. There needs to be some truck restrictions.”

Lewis said big-rigs traveling from Community Road onto I-77 would have a bypass lane to take them onto the interstate without having to circle the roundabout. Meanwhile, lanes within the roundabout would be designed to accommodate tractor-trailers coming from I-77 onto Community Road.

As far as how much of the existing entrance to Cobblestone Park would be consumed by the roundabout, Lewis said between 60 and 75 feet, “depending on where you locate the roundabout.”

“That’s something we’ve been looking at, too,” Lewis said, “dealing with the concerns of the public. There’s a lot of vacant land on the other side of Cobblestone. We could shift the roundabout and take that circle and move it away from the entrance.”

Lewis said plans for the project should be completed by the end of January, with construction scheduled to begin in 2019. The project, which will include lane widening to Syrup Mill Road, is estimated to take 12 to 16 months to complete, he said.

WINNSBORO (Dec. 22, 2016) – Last week, during its final regular meeting of the year, County Council unanimously selected the architectural firm of Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood to design the County’s pending Courthouse project. Four days later, Council members received a letter from the Fairfield County Bar Association requesting that its members be allowed to offer their collective input into any discussions and decisions being made concerning the Courthouse prior to moving forward with any renovation/construction of the project.

“We travel across the state and are familiar with numerous historical Courthouses, as well as newly constructed ones. We are an integral part of the legal system and wish to be involved,” the letter stated.

Former State Senator and attorney Creighton Coleman said he and others in the Fairfield County legal community do not want to see the County build a new Courthouse.

“I would like to see the courtroom, after the renovation of the Courthouse, come back to our current Courthouse,” Coleman told The Voice.

“Ours is, by far, the best Courthouse in the state of South Carolina when you consider the practical nature of the courtroom, the comfort it affords the litigants, the great acoustics and the historical significance of the Courthouse, itself, which was designed by Robert Mills. Some things could be improved a little, but it should not be scuttled. It’s a wonderful courtroom and Courthouse,” Coleman said, “and we should keep it as our Courthouse.”

County Councilman Billy Smith (District 7) said the selection of the firm is just the beginning of the process and that nothing has been decided so far as how to go forward with the project.

“After we come back from the holidays, we will be meeting to lay out the foundation as to what we want the Courthouse project to be,” Smith said. “We will certainly be bringing in and listening to the County’s judges, lawyers and others in the legal community so we can learn their wants, needs and suggestions.”

County Administrator Jason Taylor said he, too, welcomes and wants the Fairfield County Bar Association’s input for the project.

“A project like this is of such importance that we need to spend a great deal of time in the planning of it, gathering as much information from as many sources as we can, so that we get this right,” Taylor said.

Goodwyn Mills and Cawood, of Greenville, is one of three firms who responded to the County’s Request for Qualifications for the Courthouse project. The other two were Alliance and Mead & Hunt.

“This is a firm with a lot of experience with historic projects like this one,” Smith said.

Utroska Rebuts ‘Quid Pro Quo’ Comment

BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 22, 2016) – Town Council Monday night gave the final OK to an ordinance approving use of the Doko Meadows athletic fields by the YMCA, as well as to an ordinance designating the interiors of the Blythewood Academy gym and auditorium as historic sites.

While the former sailed through with only minor technical changes, the latter was a somewhat different matter.

“I’ll reiterate what I said last time: I think we’re setting a dangerous precedent,” Councilman Tom Utroska said before Council voted on the historical designations. “I don’t understand what’s so historical about the interiors of these buildings. Did something happen? Did Martin Luther King give a speech here inside of this gym? I’m not being facetious. I really don’t know, other than somebody went to school there and wants to save the interior, I guess.”

Mayor J. Michael Ross said the Blythewood Historical Society and the Board of Architectural Review had both been actively pursuing the designation for the interior of the buildings, while the Richland 2 School District also gave its blessing to the move.

“If Richland School District 2 would have come up and said they did not want this, then I would not be supporting this,” Ross said. “But if they’re OK with it and they will work with our Historical Society and BAR, then I do not see a problem.”

Councilman Malcolm Gordge pointed out that the Society intends to use the buildings, “so it’s another resource for the Town,” he said.

The measure passed 4-1 with Utroska casting the lone dissenting vote.

The ordinance also changes the classifications of both buildings from Class II to Class I structures.

The ordinance granting a license to the YMCA for the use of the Doko Meadows athletic fields passed unanimously, but with a few minor changes from its first reading.

Town attorney Jim Meggs said the Town had added a $15 an hour charge for excessive use, had made the rest room facilities inside the Manor off limits and had designated specific parking areas for field use.

Town Administrator Gary Parker said the YMCA intends to use the fields on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:30-7:30 p.m., and on Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

A Rebuttal

Monday’s meeting opened with a lengthy statement from Utroska in response, he said, to comments during Council’s Nov. 28 meeting made by Cobblestone Park residents angry with developer D.R. Horton’s plans to drop 143 new homes on what was promised to be perpetual green space.

“Some of the residents took exception to the fact that then-councilman Mangone and I lived in Cobblestone Park and did not recuse ourselves from the decision-making process, even though we sought and received an opinion to the contrary from the S.C. Ethics Commission,” Utroska said, reading from a prepared statement. “Speaking for myself, I think the complaints are totally off base. Had we recused ourselves without due cause, the same citizens would no doubt be complaining that we failed to perform our public duties.”

Utroska specifically addressed comments from Joe Lupia, who asked during the Nov. 28 meeting what the Town of Blythewood had received in return for the additional homes.

“I have no earthly idea how or why anyone would make such a statement as this, especially as it has no basis in fact,” Utroska said. “None. None whatsoever. As far as I know, his accusation is utter nonsense and completely false. I can only surmise it was spoken in the heat of the moment due to frustration and due to lack of facts.”

Dog Complaints Spark Ordinance Review

WINNSBORO (Dec. 22, 2016) – Town Council Tuesday night began deliberations over how to strengthen the Town’s animal control ordinance – and what the current ordinance does and does not allow – following complaints about barking dogs at a home in the 500 block of N. Zion Street.

Lt. Mike Carrol with the Department of Public Safety told Council that the homeowner has eight full-grown pit bulls, which he said were all healthy, and which he said he suspected were being used for breeding purposes. But Carrol said the homeowner was at first compliant and agreed to remove some of his dogs.

However, Carrol returned to the home a few weeks later after complaints continued and was greeted by an entirely different attitude, he said.

The homeowner, Carrol said, provided evidence that he himself was surrounded by neighbors with barking dogs.

“That kind of put me in the position of ‘how can I just charge him and he’s got video of his other neighbors’ dogs barking’,” Carrol said.

Furthermore, the homeowner said he would just pay the $100 fine outlined in the ordinance and keep the dogs.

“He also informed me the ordinance says if he pays $25 he can have a kennel inside the city jurisdiction,” Carrol said. “I looked up the ordinance and it does say if he pays an annual license fee of $25 he can operate a kennel inside the city.”

But Councilman Jackie Wilkes noted that kennels are not allowed in districts zoned R-1 (residential). And, Wilkes added, the $100 fine was not a one-time deal.

“He can pay it,” Wilkes said, “but if they have another complaint it’s $100 a day for every day they get a complaint. It’s not that he can pay a $100 fine and be Scot free for another year.”

Carrol told Council that within two or three houses surrounding the N. Zion Street home there were nearly 15 dogs. A revised ordinance, he suggested, should specify exactly how many dogs an individual could keep. Furthermore, Carrol said, while the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) can come in and inspect kennels, the ordinance had to be enforced by an animal control officer.

“We need an animal control officer,” Major John Seibles, acting WDPS Chief, agreed. “We need one that’s trained. In town now we have more pit bulls tied up around here. And it’s not very realistic for us to send our officers who don’t have the proper equipment and don’t have the training to go deal with pit bulls. We need somebody that’s qualified to operate a dart gun. There are many restriction through DHEC. We need somebody who’s qualified to do that.”

Seibles said his department gets numerous animal control calls, which require a dedicated animal control officer.

“We also need to have that officer look at the treatment of animals,” Don Wood, Town Manager, said. “We see a lot of abuse of animals all over town.”

“The first thing we need to do is change our ordinance,” Councilman Clyde Sanders said. “I like the way Columbia’s ordinance reads. I think it gives us better control over what we can do with animals than what we’ve got in our current ordinance. I would like to look at putting something together from Columbia that we can adopt for Winnsboro to use.”

Mayor Roger Gaddy, self-professed owner of four dogs, said he moved back to Winnsboro specifically to be able to own multiple dogs after running into a bureaucratic nightmare with the City of Columbia in the late 1970s. But, he said, he understood the need for tightening the rules.

“What we’re trying to do is reel in some of these outliers that are causing nuisances in their neighborhood and probably to some degree are not giving the animals the best care they ought to have,” Gaddy said. “I think we need to do something. If you live in a municipality, in a municipality there’s got to be some kind of rules, there’s got to be some regulations, and I certainly understand that.”

At the same time, Gaddy added, “If I’m taking care of my animals and they stay inside, I don’t want the regulations to be so obtrusive that I have to go to a big expense (to build a kennel). If you’re living in town I don’t think you need to be having a kennel where you have a litter of puppies every three months and they’re causing a nuisance. And this (existing ordinance) doesn’t say you can’t have six dogs, but if you have six dogs there’s some hoops you have to jump through, and I don’t have a big problem with that.”

“We’ve got no hoops,” Sanders chimed in.

At Councilman Danny Miller’s suggestion, Council said it would schedule a work session for January to hash out a tougher ordinance and the hiring of a dedicated animal control officer. In the meantime, Miller said that since an official complaint had been filed against the N. Zion Street homeowner, that complaint should be followed up on and enforced.

“I think we have to enforce the complaint and let it go to the Magistrate’s judge,” Miller said.

If the N. Zion Street homeowner then wanted to file a complaint against his neighbors for barking dogs, Miller said, then that complaint should also be followed in order.

Seibles affirmed that his department would enforce the complaints.