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  • Band Tourney Risks Losing A-Tax Funds

    BLYTHEWOOD (July 14, 2016) – The Accommodations Tax Committee took a dim view of donating $10,000 to the Town of Blythewood Tournament of Bands at last week’s committee meeting, noting that the Tournament was projecting a profit of $31,000 for this year’s Oct. 15 event and had a similar profit last year.

    James Barnes, Blythewood High School Director of Bands, said during the July 6 meeting that the event is a joint venture with Ridge View High School and that the two programs share the profits from the Tournament.

    Scanning the application, Committee member Carol Coston asked, “But if you have revenues of $62,100 and expenses of $31,000, that leaves a profit of $31,100. Congratulations on all that profit. So, why are you asking the Committee for $10,000?”

    “Because, if we weren’t getting that $10,000 (from A-Tax), we would only be taking home $10,000 in profits, which are split with Ridge View,” Barnes said. “We need the (A-Tax) money for startup costs.”

    “We’re interested in helping out events that need help,” Coston said, “and this is a worthy event. But I can’t be concerned with how many splits there are. It comes down to, if we did not give you the $10,000, the profit for the two schools would be $10,000 each (instead of $15,000 each).”

    “Yes, and that’s a lot of money for us. This is a major fund raiser,” Barnes said.

    “So, we are providing the profit?” Coston asked. “Is that what we’re doing?”

    “If we need money up front, it has to be taken from somewhere. It will have to come out of our pockets if you don’t provide $10,000 up front,” Barnes said.

    “Where’s the $31,000 from last year?” Committee member Ken Shettles asked.

    “The profit is not there now because we don’t have to cover the startup money. If we did have to cover it, then that’s less money we’d have on the back end.” Barnes said.

    Committee Chairman Davis Garren asked Barnes how much money the Tournament had in the bank now.

    “We’ve got $2,000,” Barnes said.

    When Shettles asked what happened to the rest of the profit from last year, Barnes said it had been used in the school’s band program. Asked specifically how the profit was spent, Barnes said it was spent for such things as purchasing music, paying for private lessons for the band students, travel, etc.

    “The profit is put into our band budget and we operate on it the rest of the year,” Barnes said.

    After Barnes’ presentation, the Committee, in discussing the donation, agreed that the Committee had, basically, been making a donation to the band program.

    “We can’t do that with other programs like baseball, drama club, etc.,” Shettles said.

    The Committee also questioned why they would be giving Town of Blythewood A-Tax funds to schools (RVHS) that are not Blythewood schools. They also concluded that $31,000 is too much profit for the A-Tax Committee to be giving a donation.

    “The profit line (for this applicant) is growing from year to year. Why are we giving so much money to something that’s already profitable?” Garren asked. “Our purpose is to provide seed money or to keep an event going.”

    The Committee voted to table the Band Tournament for the second consecutive meeting until it could look more closely at the Tournament’s budget numbers.

    The Committee recommended the following distributions of A-Tax funds:

    • $2,000 for the Blythewood Chamber of Commerce to help organize the Big Grab, the 85-mile yard sale that will happen Sept. 9-10, but did not recommend $3,000 for salaries for the Chamber’s Executive Director Mike Switzer and his assistant Kitty Kelly for the event;
    • $1,000 for the Redhawk Invitational, a marching band exhibition, to be held on Sept. 24;
    • $2,000 for the All-Star Tournament that was hosted by the Blythewood Baseball League on June 25-30.

    Steve Hasterok, Events and Conference Center Director for the Town, told the Committee that funding is available in the 2017 budget for tourism related events for the Town of Blythewood in the amount of $112,347 (A-Tax) and $79,390 (H-Tax) for a total of $191,737. The recommendations for funding will now go to Town Council to be voted on at the July 25 meeting at The Manor.

     

  • ‘A Horrible Thing’

    Judge Ups Ante in Dog Abuse Plea Deal

    Huskey Gets Probation, Restitution; Banned from Dog Ownership

    Billy Ray Huskey (second from left) and his defense attorney Robert Bruce stand before Judge Brian Gibbons Monday with Kathy Faulk of Hoof & Paw and prosecutor Melissa Heimbaugh. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
    Billy Ray Huskey (second from left) and his defense attorney Robert Bruce stand before Judge Brian Gibbons Monday with Kathy Faulk of Hoof & Paw and prosecutor Melissa Heimbaugh. (Photo/Barbara Ball)

    WINNSBORO (July 14, 2016) – The 9-month old dog who was severely injured as the result of being dragged for more than a mile behind a pickup truck by his owner last Dec. 13 had his day in court Monday.

    Charged with a felony for ill treatment to animals when he was arrested on Jan. 30, the dog’s former owner, Billy Ray Huskey, 48, pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, a misdemeanor of ill treatment to animals, which was agreed to by Assistant Sixth Circuit Solicitor Melissa Heimbaugh. Heimbaugh told the Court she felt the state would not win the felony case against Huskey with the available evidence.

    As part of Huskey’s plea agreement, Heimbaugh recommended a sentence of up to 90 days suspended jail time, a two-year probation, $2,000 in restitution to Fairfield Animal Hospital where the dog was treated for its injuries and 30 hours of community service to be served at the Fairfield Animal Shelter in Winnsboro.

    But Sixth Circuit Judge Brian Gibbons overrode that recommendation with a stiffer sentence for what he called “a horrible thing.”

    In addition to Heimbaugh’s recommendations, Gibbons also imposed three years of probation instead of two, instructed Huskey, as a condition of his probation and to take the one dog he still owned to the veterinarian to be spayed and for a wellness checkup, all at Huskey’s expense.

    Gibbons then told Huskey, “And you can never own a dog again.”

    Before imposing the sentence, Judge Gibbons told Huskey, “The State (solicitor) is right, they would have had a high burden to prove your guilt. We have no evidence of intent, so I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt, which I have to do under the law. I know you would probably take this back if you could, and you have no prior (criminal history), so I’d be inclined to go along with the state’s recommendation, except for two things: One, I want to sentence you to the maximum jail time that I can under the guidelines; and two, I’m going to give you not two years of probation but three.”

    “I’m disappointed that Mr. Huskey got so little punishment for his egregious actions,” said Laura Collins, one of the four horseback riders who rescued the injured dog and who was also one of the dog’s 50 or so supporters in the courtroom. But like others in attendance on Monday, Collins championed Gibbons for handing down a stiffer sentence than Heimbaugh had agreed to.

    Heimbaugh handed the judge two graphic photos of the dog’s injuries, on behalf of the Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society, before she described the injuries to the court:

    “. . . the dog’s bone and muscle tissue were exposed on multiple legs and on the dog’s trunk, back and feet. There were lacerations on both knees, with torn muscles and tendons. He was malnourished and dehydrated. His treatments were also extensive: surgeries on both back legs, treatment of open wounds for months and treatment for malnourishment and parasites.”

    In addition to dragging and dumping the almost lifeless dog in the woods, Heimbaugh said Huskey also left two more of his dogs, both of which were “severely malnourished and diseased to the point that they were emaciated, and one of them died of starvation the next day.”

    “You know, I see a lot of bad things in this job, holding court all over the state,” Gibbons said, addressing both the defendant and the courtroom and referencing one of his recent cases in which a mother shot her two young children. “I think I’ve seen it all, and then I walk in to this.”

    After the horseback riders rescued the dragged dog and brought him to the Fairfield Animal Hospital, veterinarian Dr. Robert Knight described the dog’s injuries as only a few hours old and indicative of having been dragged behind a vehicle. The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office initially told The Voice that there was no evidence that a crime had been committed. In the meantime, the Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society and a number of citizens in the Fairfield and Blythewood communities took up the dog’s cause and began collecting donations for its medical bills. They also raised more than $1,500 in reward money for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person who might have dragged the dog. They also began distributing reward flyers.

    In late January, those flyers bore fruit as several witnesses came forward and identified Huskey as their neighbor and as the man they saw dragging the dog behind his white pickup truck about six weeks earlier.

    According to witness accounts, Huskey was seen dragging the dog behind his pickup truck beginning on the street where he lives, Forest Lake Circle in Mitford, and continuing to Miles Road, more than a mile away.

    Upon his Jan. 30 arrest, Huskey gave the following written statement of the dragging, which occurred on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015.

    “. . . I put the dog on a lead and put him in the back of my truck. I was going to take the dog to the pound. I was driving down the road and my neighbor came up behind me flashing his lights and I stopped. He told me the dog jumped out and I was dragging it. I got out of the truck and picked the dog up and the dog was not moving and it did not look like it was breathing. I laid it back in the truck and took it over to some land across from Carolina Adventure World. I placed the dog in a hole and covered it with leaves and sticks. I also left two other dogs out on the property. I then drove back home.”

    “When we found the dog,” Collins told The Voice, “he was just lying there, kind of hidden under a small scrub bush, motionless, bloody and hardly able to raise his head. He was not in a hole and was not covered with sticks and leaves. And he could not have moved because he had no pads on his paws, his feet were raw and bloody, his toe nails were torn off and at least one of his legs appeared to be broken. There are so many unanswered questions. What ‘pound’ was Mr. Huskey taking the dogs to on a Sunday? Why were no charges brought for dumping those poor sick dogs? Isn’t that against the law? Why, when the judge asked the solicitor and the defense attorney where in the truck were the dogs tethered, both said they did not know?”

    Huskey’s attorney, Robert Bruce, defended Huskey’s actions in court, saying that the dogs were not starved but had worms and that twice Huskey had bought medicine but that it did not resolve the worm problem so he was taking them to the pound. However, no documentation was presented in this regard.

    After hearing from Heimbaugh and Huskey’s attorney, Judge Gibbons recognized Kathy Faulk, the Community Outreach Liaison for Hoof and Paw, and allowed her to make a statement on the dogs’ behalf (see sidebar). He also asked the group to stand and thanked them for their concern and dedication to the cause of animal welfare.

    After months of surgeries, treatment and rehabilitation at Fairfield Animal Hospital, the dragged dog has been adopted and, according to vet tech Susan Knight, is living the good life on a farm in Fairfield County. The other surviving dog is still under the care of the animal hospital and has several prospects for adoption.

    The Voice obtained information for this story from the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office through a Freedom of Information Act. More information and documentation is expected from the County Animal Shelter.

     

  • BHS Grad Killed on Hardscrabble

    COLUMBIA (July 13, 2016) – A former Blythewood High School student was killed earlier this month after he was struck by an SUV while crossing Hardscrabble Road.

    Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said Ty-Shon Townsend, 17, of Wilkinson Drive, Columbia, was attempting to cross Hardscrabble Road near Dolly Street just after 9 a.m. on July 2 when he was struck by a 2003 Chevrolet SUV that was traveling south on Hardscrabble. Townsend was transported by ambulance to Palmetto Health Richland Memorial Hospital, Watts said, where he was pronounced dead at 10:31 a.m. Watts said an autopsy conducted July 3 revealed Townsend died from blunt force trauma.

    Townsend, a recent graduate of Blythewood High School, was laid to rest at Fort Jackson National Cemetery on July 10. Family members have set up a Go Fund Me account to help raise money to cover funeral expenses. Those wishing to donate can go to www.gofundme.com/2chz5w4.

     

  • Dog dragging case to be heard Monday

    WINNSBORO (July 7, 2016) – The Fairfield County man who was arrested in January on a felony charge of Ill Treatment of Animals in the Dec. 13, 2015 dragging incident that left a 9-month old dog severely injured, is scheduled to appear in the Court of General Sessions in Fairfield County on Monday, July 11 at 9 a.m., Assistant Sixth Circuit Solicitor Melissa Heimbaugh said on Tuesday.

    Billy Ray Huskey, the man witnesses have said dragged a dog behind his Dodge Ram pickup truck on Sunday morning, Dec. 13, 2015 was arrested on Jan. 30.

    The court appearance for Huskey was moved from Fairfield County to Lancaster on May 9, but moved back to Fairfield County after a public outcry over the move.

    Heimbaugh said that while the appearance is set for 9 a.m., it could be called up anytime during the morning session.

  • County Moves Forward on I-77 Project

    WINNSBORO (July 7, 2016) – After a brief executive session Tuesday evening, County Council voted unanimously to pass first reading of an ordinance authorizing the execution of an agreement between Fairfield County and the S.C. Department of Commerce that authorizes the County to purchase property located in Fairfield County. Earlier, the Administration and Finance Committee spent almost an hour in executive session discussing the issue before voting to move it to Council for a vote.

    “We are negotiating in partnership with the state to purchase a tract of land for a possible industrial site,” Councilwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) told The Voice following the meeting. She added that Council’s goal is to bring good paying jobs to Fairfield County.

    While the vote was unanimous on Tuesday evening, Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) didn’t appeared to be in agreement about the project at last month’s intergovernmental meeting. At that meeting, Marcharia said the County might be better served if Council could focus as much on small businesses as it does on big, long-range industrial projects.

    Robinson, however, later told The Voice that Marcharia had spoken out of turn, specifically in his mention of the County’s prospective I-77 project.

    A better idea (than the I-77 project), Marcharia said, is supporting the expansion of water and sewer infrastructure by the local municipalities, which in turn, he said, would spur the growth of small businesses and improve opportunities for adequate housing.

    “I think if you had that (expanded water and sewer), small businesses would come, housing would come,” Marcharia said, “rather than waiting for 10 years for one major project on I-77.”

    Marcharia identified the I-77 project as a long-range vision to construct a major industrial park somewhere along the interstate in the northern portion of the country. Robinson, meanwhile, would not speak in detail about the project.

    “I am not at liberty to discuss it,” she said. “We (members of County Council) are under a confidentiality agreement. Mr. Marcharia was out of line (talking about it).”

     

  • Quarry Opponents Put County Council on Notice

    WINNSBORO (July 7, 2016) – Members of “Citizens Against the Quarry” came out to the June 27 Fairfield County Council meeting to make sure that the Council was aware of its responsibilities for regulating the proposed Winnsboro Crushed Stone quarry operation.

    In a public presentation to the Council, Citizens Against the Quarry member Lisa Brandenburg said that while the group had won six concessions from the S.C. Mining Council pertaining to their concerns about Winnsboro Crushed Stone and the proposed quarry operation, Council should be aware that many issues remain unresolved – issues that are beyond the jurisdiction of the Mining Council but that are under the privy of the Fairfield County Council.

    These issues include:

    • Safety and economic concerns related to heavy quarry trucks on Highway 34 that will impact traffic congestion, road conditions, the railroad crossing, school buses interaction with quarry trucks, and emergency response time;

    • That the ownership of Winnsboro Crushed Stone be identified and made public, with any changes in ownership be re-permitted through the County and citizens informed;

    • That Town of Winnsboro water access be required to be brought under the railroad track prior to any construction;

    • A public hearing should be held prior to any mining expansion in the Middlesex Future Reserve ;

    • A requirement that Winnsboro Crushed Stone provide all monitoring reports to the County Council for publication on the county website;

    • Two additional monitoring stations on Lake Wateree and signage to prevent trucks on the citizen’s portion of Rockton Thruway.

    The group also wanted to know how the County application process addressed air quality, noise concerns, hours of operation and the displacement of 934 acres of wildlife.

    “These remaining issues clearly rest with County Council,” Brandenburg said in the prepared statement. “We look forward to being informed of how these last critical issues will be resolved prior to allowing Winnsboro Crushed Stone to operate.”

    Courthouse

    In other business, Council also approved a motion put forward by Vice-Chairman Kamau Marcharia (District 4), that it accept the recommendation of the Ad Hoc Courthouse Committee for the proposed site for the Courthouse, and to authorize the County Administrator to get a proposal from Meade and Hunt to modify the plans they had previously drawn up for the Hon Building.

    Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said the site, which is on 1.5 half acres owned by the County, was on S. Congress Street next to the First Citizen’s Bank in Winnsboro.

    But, she said, this is just the first step if Council approves.

    “We can’t do anything on our own,” Robinson said. “The Courthouse is controlled by the clerk (of Court), Chief Judge and the Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court. We have to get the blessings of those three individuals before we can go any further.”

     

  • Spec Bids Stun Budget

    BLYTHEWOOD (July 7, 2016) – Architect Ralph Walden told members of Town Council last week that when he opened the first bid for construction of the Depot shell building on June 15, he knew the project was in trouble.

    “We received six bids, all of which ranged from $524,000 (Solid Structures) to $761,455 (W Construction, Inc.), all well over the anticipated amount,” Walden said, suggesting that Council reject all the bids and bring the project’s specs in line with the targeted budget of about $410,000 before putting the project out for bid again.

    “We had the specs beyond a shell,” Walden said, “and that proved to be the wrong direction. We had wiring, 800 amps for a kitchen, HVAC and a slab. The plan was to give the end user a little more for his money. Now we’re going to take about $80,000 out of it. These were not necessities. We’re going to go with rough plumbing, no HVAC, no wiring and go with an elevated foundation instead of a slab.”

    “I expected a lot better numbers,” Councilman Tom Utroska said. “But if we go too far right, it’s too expensive, and too far left, it’s too cheap. So if we build a $200,000 building is that all we’ll get for it?”

    “No,” Walden answered. “We’ll have a very nice shell, but the interior will have minimum wall construction.”

    The project got off the ground in October 2015 when the Town’s Economic Development Consultant Ed Parler encouraged Council to contract with Walden to design the shell, prepare construction drawings and bid out the construction all at a cost of $18,900. That cost did not include construction oversight. The shell was to be built on the Town Hall grounds with grant money the previous Council was awarded five years ago by Fairfield Electric Cooperative to construct a high-end restaurant in the same location.

    The current Council later voted to abandon those plans, but $342,490 of the original $456,881 grant remained for the Town’s use. The money had to be spent on an economic development project, so Council decided to use it to construct the shell building. Parler estimated the Town would have to float about $133,000 for about 90 days to make up the difference between the grant money and the cost of construction, and then pay itself back from the proceeds of the sale of the shell.

    Bid documents were originally to be ready by the end of October 2015 in anticipation of awarding a construction contract at the November meeting. In December 2015, the timetable called for the Town to send out a Request for Proposal and Parler said at the time that he hoped the Town would consummate a sale by February 2016.

    With bidding now back to square one, a new request for bids appears in the classified section of this issue of The Voice.

     

  • Beckwith Delivers the Goods

    Blythewood’s Andrew Beckwith and the national championship trophy he helped Coastal Carolina’s baseball squad bring home last week from Omaha.
    Blythewood’s Andrew Beckwith and the national championship trophy he helped Coastal Carolina’s baseball squad bring home last week from Omaha.

    BLYTHEWOOD (July 7, 2016) – Three years ago, he was on the short end of a two games to one disappointment. This year, they are using words like “Legend.”

    And that word is being batted around on a much larger stage than the 2103 Class 4A state baseball championship series.

    Andrew Beckwith, the former Blythewood High School Bengal who was tagged for the 4-0 loss to the Lexington Wildcats in the deciding game of the 2013 state title series, went nationwide last week when he delivered a remarkable performance in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The Coastal Carolina junior right-hander hurled two complete-game victories in late June, then sealed the deal last Thursday with the championship victory, going 5 2/3 innings in the 4-3 win over a different breed of Wildcats – from the University of Arizona.

    Beckwith’s performance – overall, he went 22 2/3 innings, allowing just four runs (only two of which were earned) on 19 hits and four walks with 14 strikeouts – lifted the Chanticleers to their first national title and earned him the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament award.

    “This whole experience has been unbelievable,” Beckwith told The Voice this week. “Winning the national title is by far better (than a state title), but you learn a lot from losing. You learn more from losing than winning.”

    Although now basking in the glow of a national crown, Beckwith clearly still carries the scars of 2013.

    “That was a tough day,” he said of the 2103 finale against the Wildcats he could not tame. “We didn’t play our best ball. We made a lot of errors. And Reagan (Lexington’s Josh Reagan, who went 11-0 in 2013) is a good pitcher.”

    Beckwith said he wasn’t the only member of the Chanticleer staff still carrying the weight of a previous letdown.

    “A.C. (Alex Cunningham) and I both lost state title games,” Beckwith said. “A.C. lost three in a row (for Byrnes High School). I can’t imagine his relief (now). When I lost one, I was devastated. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to lose three in a row. Both of us have been vindicated.”

    Vindicated in a big way, and on the same stage.

    Cunningham closed out the Chanticleers’ championship last week, striking out Ryan Haug swinging on a 3-2 pitch that stranded Wildcat runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth. Arizona had already scored once in the inning to close the gap to a single run.

    There is also a little irony in Beckwith’s tale.

    Although he had thrown two complete-game one-run wins in the tournament, his June 24 win over TCU saw him rack up 137 pitches. The win ran his record to 14-1 (a Coastal Carolina single season best), but also meant that, at best, he would only be available for an inning or two out of the bullpen on June 29.

    But then the Baseball Gods delivered an additional day of rest for the sidewinder, pouring rain down on TD Ameritrade Park and postponing the deciding game to the following afternoon.

    “I was in the pen Wednesday,” Beckwith said. “Cunningham was going to start. Then we had the rainout and I had an extra day of rest going into Thursday. The coaches were like, ‘just get us to where we need to be’ (for the bullpen to take over).”

    Beckwith held Arizona scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when the Wildcats scraped together two unearned runs on a two-out, two-run single by Jared Oliva.

    With two runners still on, Coastal brought Bobby Holmes in from the bullpen. Holmes, who had a remarkable tournament of his own (he allowed just four earned runs in 18 2/3 innings), struck out Louis Boyd to end the inning.

    Adding to the irony and the legend, Beckwith was passed over by all 30 Major League teams in this year’s player draft. But Beckwith took that in its stride as well.

    “I completely understand,” he said. “It’s all about projectability. Obviously, the scouts saw something that I could improve on and I’ve just got to figure out what that is in my senior year. I won’t mind coming back my senior year and playing for coach (Gary) Gilmore. Everything happens for a reason. This year just wasn’t my year.”

    If only we could all have such an ‘off year.’

    And on top of everything else, Beckwith was not even a starter for the Chanticleers for the majority of the season. He got most of his work out of the pen as a middle reliever – the role he was ultimately supposed to have played in game three.

    On June 19, he got the ball against Florida – the number one team in the country. Butterflies, anyone?

    “It felt like any other baseball game,” Beckwith said. “All it is is a whole lot more people watching. You just stick with your process, stick with what you do.”

    And a lot of what he does, what he did, began in Blythewood.

    Former head baseball coach Barry Mizzell and his staff, Beckwith said, instilled the fundamentals – physically and mentally – that translated to Omaha.

    “I learned a lot of the mental game at Blythewood,” Beckwith said. “They all (Mizzell and staff) ingrained discipline, having good character and having a positive outlook on life. It has really helped me become a leader, on and off the field.”

    After spending a few days in Blythewood last week, Beckwith was back in Conway Tuesday for an instructional youth baseball camp on campus. When that wraps up, the psychology major said he’ll be spending the rest of the summer in Washington, D.C., for an internship. Meanwhile, he is still coping with celebrity.

    Beckwith said he and a few teammates stopped in the Eggs Up Grill in Myrtle Beach recently for breakfast.

    “We got a standing ovation,” he said. “It was really cool, but you’ve got to stay humble and not let it get to your head.”

     

  • Council Makes Emergency Rehab Fire Truck Purchase

    WINNSBORO (June 30, 2016) – Councilman Billy Smith (District 7), pushed for a last minute addition to the agenda during the Fairfield County Council meeting Monday night, to make way for County firefighters and other first responders to get a much needed rehab truck.

    A “rehab” (rehabilitation) truck is used to resuscitate firefighters and other emergency response staff on-site at a fire by providing an air-conditioned space (or a heated space in winter) for rest, rehydration and treatment for smoke inhalation, which in turn prevents life-threatening conditions such as a heat stroke or a heart attack.

    Immediately upon convening the regular June 27 meeting, Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) asked for a motion to amend the agenda in order to add an item “C” under new business, which would allow the County Council to consider whether to purchase the rehab vehicle. This motion passed, 5-1, with Council Vice-Chairman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) opposed.

    Before the meeting, Smith had gathered information to create a timeline on the need for a rehab truck, which was shared with Council members. Smith stated that previously the County had a rehab truck but it was involved in an accident last fall and was no longer in use. The only replacement was a rescue squad truck that did not even have air conditioning.

    The Council had been requested to fund a new rehab truck in the 2016-2017 budget, but that request never made it to Council because the County Administrator at that time (J. Milton Pope) decided that the need could be met with an existing transit vehicle.

    However, according to Smith, none of the transit trucks owned by the County would have been appropriate due to various factors, such as the age and mileage on some of the vehicles and the fact that some had been purchased with state and federal funds which would not allow the vehicles to be re-purposed.

    Smith said he didn’t find out about this situation until last Friday, and at that time contacted administrative staff to discuss options, which would have been to fund the truck in the next year’s budget or to purchase it under the current budget cycle, which ends June 30. Since there was money left over in the current budget that could be used for the rehab truck, Smith felt that was the better option.

    Meanwhile, the county has had three fires in the past week, Smith said. In one fire, the firefighters were battling a blaze that reached up to 900 degrees, and had nowhere to cool off in the temperatures outside, which were 105 degrees according to the heat-index.

    When the Council came to the “new business” section of the agenda, Councilwoman Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6) made a motion to allow the County Administrator to move the funds needed to purchase the rehab vehicle into the appropriate budget line.

    These funds will come from unspent money in two existing budget lines: $19,267.04 from the budget line item for “Firefighter Supplies and Equipment” and $13,032.96 from an insurance claim on the former rehab vehicle, for a total of $32,300.

    This time Marcharia along with the rest of the Council voted to approve the purchase. Marcharia explained that his previous “no” vote on amending the agenda was based on his concern that this could set a precedent.

    “I do understand the nature of this situation,” Marcharia said, “but I am concerned that when issues like this come up we get less than 24 hours’ notification about spending thousands and thousands of dollars in taxpayer money. But the proper procedure for this is to bring it to the finance committee like we always do.”

    “I understand what Mr. Marcharia is saying and to a point certainly agree,” Smith said, “but this was the only opportunity to do this in the current budget. This is such a safety sensitive item.”

    Reached after the meeting, Smith said the request was justified as an emergency purchase under the procurement code given the extreme conditions that the firefighters, who are mostly volunteers, often have to operate under and the serious safety hazards they face.

    “The sooner we get these guys a rehab truck, the better,” Smith said.

    He also said this would benefit all emergency responders in the County.

    The County Purchasing Manual allows for emergency purchases, and states that an “emergency shall be deemed to exist when it creates a threat to public health, welfare, or safety, as may arise by reason of floods, epidemics, riots, equipment failures, fire loss, or any other reason as proclaimed by the County Administrator or his designee. The occurrence of emergency conditions must create an immediate and serious need for supplies, equipment, and services which cannot be met through normal procurement methods and the lack of which would seriously threaten … the health or safety of any person. … Purchases in excess of $25,000 must be approved by County Council.”

     

  • Board Questions Student Trips

    WINNSBORO (June 30, 2016) – Field trips and senior trips were once again on the Fairfield County School Board’s agenda earlier this month with some Board members arguing against the District sponsoring the trips.

    Dr. Claudia Edwards, Deputy Superintendent of Academics, first asked the Board to approve a field trip to England in 2017 for the high school’s Early College Academy, so the students could experience real-life applications of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) concepts. Edwards said the trip would cost $3,635 per student.

    According to Edwards, a payment plan will be offered for both students and adults who take the trip.

    “Does that (the payment plan) mean the students will be paying for this trip, the entire trip?” Board member William Frick (District 6) asked.

    Edwards said the students are planning to have fundraisers to help offset the cost of the trip. District Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green added that the Board is only being asked to approve the trip so that students can begin fundraising and collecting money.

    “No one is requesting any funding of the Board,” Green said. “We are simply approving the trip, which gives the students the opportunity to begin fundraising and making payments on the trip. So if there is a question about whether the Board will be accepting (financial) responsibility for sending these students abroad, the answer to that is no.”

    The trip was approved 6-0, with Board member Annie McDaniel (District 4) abstaining.

    Similarly, the Board was asked to approve two senior trip options for the 2017 graduating class of Fairfield Central High School – a cruise to the Bahamas and a Grad Bash in Orlando, Fla.

    Again, it was made clear to the Board that only Board approval for the trip was being requested; the students would be responsible for coming up with the money.

    “We have been discussing this for a couple of years . . . about getting away from sponsoring this,” Frick said. “When we attach our name to it we assume responsibility – why are we still doing this?”

    Green said he had some conversations with the senior class members several years ago, and the consensus was that if the school didn’t sponsor it, it wouldn’t happen. The students felt they could not get enough support to organize the trip on their own

    Board Vice-Chair Carl Jackson Jr. (District 5) and Board member Henry Miller (District 3) also expressed concern about the school being involved and liable for the students’ welfare. Despite these misgivings, the trip was approved 5-1-1, with Board Charwoman Beth Reid (District 7) voting no because she also believed that “we should get out of the student trip business.”

    New Grading Policy

    The Board approved the second and final reading for the new grading policy required by state rules.

    The new grading policy, adopted by the State Board of Education in April, implements a 10-point grading scale for students in grades one through 12, effective for the 2016-17 school year. For example, students entering ninth grade will start on the 10-point grading scale; at that point a “90” will be considered an “A.” Previously, under the seven-point grading scale, a student had to score a 93 in order to receive an “A” grade.