Mayor J. Michael Ross presented a check during the Monday evening Council meeting for $1,000 to Blythewood’s Jeep Rogers YMCA for its annual fundraising campaign. Accepting the donation are representatives of the YMCA, from left, Tiffani Moore, Brad Lewis (manager of the Blythewood office of Mid Carolina Credit Union) and Katie Litton.
BLYTHEWOOD (May 5, 2016) – A proposed increase in Columbia water and sewer rates could impact as many as 800 residential and commercial customers in the Blythewood area.
Columbia City Council is currently considering a 4.3 percent increase in rates, which would take effect July 1. The rate hike could add between $2.26 and $12.77 to monthly bills of Blythewood customers. Although Blythewood is served by the Town of Winnsboro, the water passing through Winnsboro’s meters in Blythewood is purchased by Winnsboro from Columbia.
“Whatever cost we incur (from Columbia) would have to be passed on to Blythewood customers,” Lorraine Abel, Winnsboro’s Assistant Town Manager, said Tuesday.
But with the first vote on the proposed budget, which includes the rate increases, not scheduled until June 7, Abel added that it was too early to say specifically what those costs would be. Two votes are needed to pass the budget.
If the 4.3 percent increase is approved, residential water customers outside Columbia’s city limits would pay an average of $3.80 more per month, or a little more than $93 per monthly.
Commercial customers outside Columbia’s city limits would see an increase of $12.77 per month, which would send their monthly bill to just over $313.
Customers inside the city limits would feel somewhat less pain, with residential customers paying an average of $2.26 more per month and commercial customers paying an average of $7.49 more per month. The average residential bill inside the city limits would increase to about $54.75 per month, while the average commercial bill would be about $184 per month.
The 4.3 percent increase could generate more than $5 million in additional revenue for the City, all of which would go toward improvements to the water and sewer systems. The additional revenue would also reduce the amount the City will have to borrow in order to invest a planned $140 million into upkeep of and upgrades to the systems.
City Council will meet again on May 10 to discuss the proposed rate increases. A public hearing is slated for June 7, prior to the first vote on the budget.
RIDGEWAY (May 5, 2016) — Putting the finishing touches on art displays in The Century House Tuesday evening for this weekend’s Arts on the Ridge festival are Virginia Lacy, President of the Fairfield County Council on Art, and Phyllis Guttierrez, Chairwoman of Arts on the Ridge. The Festival is set for Friday (6 – 8 p.m.) and Saturday (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.). For more information see page 9.
WINNSBORO (April 29, 2016) – Fairfield County Council’s Administration and Finance Committee voted Monday evening to recommend to full Council the winning bid for the repair of drainage lines at Drawdy Park. The Committee also recommended the outsourcing of printing duties to a private vendor.
The Committee, chaired by Carolyn Robinson (District 2) and consisting of Marion Robinson (District 5) and District 6 Councilwoman Mary Lynn Kinley (who made it to the meeting after the voting was done), gave the OK to a bid of $27,000 from Martin & Son Contracting, Inc. for the Drawdy Park work.
Martin & Son, of Spartanburg, beat out bids of $28,000 by the Ridgeway firm M.C. Rowe Construction Company, Inc., and $36,771 from J.P. Smith Builders, LLC, of Camden.
The project will consist of digging an existing ditch to a depth where it can tie in with an 18-inch crossline pipe; replacing existing crossline pipe with 18-inch CPP tie-in to the catch basin; removing all existing concrete pipe and replacing it with 18-inch corrugated plastic pipe; removing the fence and filling in the existing catch basin; installing 18-inch plastic pipe on the baseball field side to tie in with existing concrete pipe; running an 18-inch plastic pipe to catch basin 2 and an 18-inch plastic pipe from the basin to the woods; and installing two junction boxes on the back side of the baseball field. In all, approximately 800-feet of pipe will be installed.
Printing
The Committee agreed to recommend to Council the outsourcing of printing and printer needs to Sharp Business Systems of Columbia, removing those duties from the County’s IT Department.
According to Interim County Administrator Milton Pope’s recommendation documents, the outsourcing will save the County a little more than $17,629 a year.
“We are currently not paying the least amount for daily printing and not properly utilizing the power of IT by way of in-house management of ink/toner stock,” Pope’s recommendation states. “I’m recommending a change that will reduce the IT budget by (more than) 7 percent and will also save Fairfield County over $1,700 annually. Further, IT will be better able to serve the County’s technical issues quicker.”
Both recommendations will go before full Council on May 9.
WINNSBORO (April 29, 2016) – Prior to second reading Monday night of an ordinance to establish the 2016-2017 budget, County Council voted to adopt a block of changes that shifted money between departments, while also effectively killing the County’s Workforce Liaison Department.
The recommended changes, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope said before the vote, came from Council’s instructions to administration during the April 12 budget work session.
“Except for the last item in the total changes in revenue, the last item there with the Workforce Liaison Department, all of the others we have accomplished . . . within the recommended budget as presented by the County Administrator,” Pope told Council. “In short, what I am saying is, it did not change the budget dollars. Depending on what action, or if you take an action on the last item, then that would be a further reduction to the numbers that you have.”
Council voted to adopt all the changes as a whole, which included cutting $57,996 from the Workforce Liaison Department. If that change holds on third and final reading, that department will disappear.
The position of Liaison is currently held by Jackie Workman. The department has been responsible for disseminating employment and employment training opportunities to Fairfield County residents.
The changes also include reducing by $30,000 funding for the Clemson Extension, as well as removing $6,000 from the Tax Assessor’s software maintenance agreement, and moving both figures into Administration to fund a performance audit. Landscaping for the Walter Brown Industrial Park, for $26,400, was moved into the Economic Development Department.
The changes also take into account an expected $20,000 windfall in recyclable revenues, which will go to help fund the $26,785 necessary to open recycling centers on Wednesdays.
Council adopted the changes 6-0. Councilman Kamau Marcharia (District 4) was absent from Monday’s meeting.
Council will hold its next work session on the budget on May 3. Third and final reading of the budget ordinance is slated for May 9.
WINNSBORO (April 29, 2016) – Although the case against a candidate for the District 17 seat in the State Senate was dismissed earlier this month in Fairfield County Magistrates Court, the Fairfield County Sheriff said last week that the “investigation is still considered active” and may yet go to the Grand Jury.
Morgan Bruce Reeves, 57, was arrested on Jan. 15 and charged with pointing and presenting a firearm during an altercation with a neighbor outside his Cedar Creek Court home. Reeves is in a three-way race with incumbent Creighton Coleman and fellow challenger Michael Fanning for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat. The primary is June 14.
Deputies responding to the call pulled the 2003 Mercedes Benz Reeves was driving over on the Highway 321 Bypass at approximately 8:30 a.m. after receiving the 9-1-1 call. Reeves exited the car and told deputies he had a concealed weapons permit and a handgun under the driver’s seat. Deputies retrieved the 9MM handgun, which, according to the report, Reeves said was for protection from his neighbor’s pit bull.
Reeves was also found to be driving with a suspended driver’s license during the traffic stop.
Reeves reportedly told deputies he had been in his front yard earlier that morning when his “neighbor came by to sick her dog on me.” Reeves told deputies he pulled out his gun to protect himself.
According to the report, Reeves said he then left for work and his neighbor followed him in her Kia along Highway 213, where she “tried to run him off the road three times.”
The victim, meanwhile, 32-year-old Shandah Silvia, reportedly told deputies she was returning home from taking her children to school when she saw her dog in the road. Silvia told deputies that she had gotten out of her car and was trying to retrieve her dog when Reeves pulled up beside her in his Mercedes and began cursing at her, taking photographs of her and made an obscene gesture toward her.
Silvia reportedly said she had gotten back into her car and was at the entrance to Sand Creek Hills subdivision when Reeves pulled up beside her again and pointed a “black in color handgun at her.”
A Magistrates Court judge tossed the case during a preliminary hearing on April 6. However, Sheriff Will Montgomery said last week that his office will be meeting with the Sixth Circuit Solicitor’s Office to determine if the case will still be presented to the Grand Jury.
Reeves declined to comment for this article.
WINNSBORO (April 29, 2016) – Three months after a Mitford man, Billy Ray Huskey, 48, was arrested on a felony charge of Ill Treatment of Animals for a Dec. 13, 2015 dog dragging incident, Assistant Solicitor Riley Maxwell of the Sixth Circuit Solicitor’s Fairfield County office said Huskey is expected to plead guilty in exchange for a misdemeanor charge.
Huskey’s case is expected to come before Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge Bryan Gibbons on Monday, May 9 in Lancaster. The case is being handled by Assistant Solicitor Melissa Heimbaugh who referred The Voice to Maxwell for information, saying she did not feel comfortable talking to the press about the case.
Huskey is being represented by Rock Hill Attorney Robert Bruce.
Lt. Lee Haney, Animal Control Officer for the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, told The Voice in early February that additional charges could be brought against Huskey in connection with the injured dog as well as two other diseased and emaciated dogs that Huskey reportedly owned and abandoned along with the dragged dog, but those charges never materialized.
According to sources in both the Sheriff’s office and the Solicitor’s office, the dog was dragged behind a pickup truck, then all three dogs were dumped in a nearby woods near Carolina Adventure World about noon on Dec. 13. They were discovered two to three hours later by four women riding horses along trails in Carolina Adventure World. The women took the dog that had been dragged to the Fairfield Animal Hospital for treatment.
Although the veterinarian at the animal hospital, Dr. Robert Knight, said the dog’s injuries were consistent with being dragging behind a vehicle, officials with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s department initially told The Voice that there was no reason to think a crime had been committed. A week later, the Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society posted a $1,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person(s) responsible for the dog’s injuries, and witnesses came forward in January, identifying Huskey of Forest Lake Circle near Mitford as the man they believed responsible for the dog being dragged.
The dragged dog, still undergoing treatment at the Fairfield Animal Hospital, is making remarkable progress in his recovery after a number of surgeries, vet tech Susan Knight said recently.
The two dogs found on the horse trail with the dragged dog were picked up the following day and brought to the animal hospital by Fairfield County’s Animal Control Officer David Brown. Knight and Brown said the two dogs had severe mange and appeared to be in a starved condition. One of the two dogs died a few days later, Knight said. The other dog survived and is still recovering under the care of the animal hospital. The Sheriff’s office has not brought charges against Huskey for those dogs’ conditions, Sheriff Will Montgomery said.
Huskey’s plea sentencing is expected to take place sometime after 9 a.m. at the Lancaster County Court House, 104 N. Main St. in Lancaster, Monday, May 9. The courtroom proceedings are open to the public.
BLYTHEWOOD (April 28, 2016) – Your ancestors might have headed west by covered wagon, seeking greener pastures, a new life or perhaps a few flakes of gold from the American River near Sutter’s Mill. It was an arduous journey, often through hostile territory, difficult terrain and unforgiving climates.
And it took a long time.
Next month, Blythewood resident and Voice photographer Kristy Kimball Massey will be following in the opposite direction some of those same trails blazed by 19th century pioneers; but not by covered wagon. Massey and her high school pal Donita Walters, of Kokomo, Ind., will be making the trek by bicycle.
“I did my first bike tour when I was 16,” the 46-year-old Massey said. “It was a two-week ride through Vermont and New Hampshire, and I fell in love with the idea of traveling through states on a bike. Traveling through small towns, going to small restaurants, you really see America; and not from the interstate.”
While the cross-country voyage is a personal challenge for the duo, they are also hoping to raise funds along the way for Homes for our Troops – a 501(c)(3) non-profit committed to building specially adapted homes for service members nationwide who have returned home from duty with life-altering injuries. They have christened their journey “The Wandering Project: Two Girls, two bikes, one cause.”
“We looked into several charities when we were planning the trip,” Massey said. “As soon as I saw Homes for our Troops, I decided it was what I needed to do.”
Both Massey and Walters have military in their families – Massey’s husband Scott, as well as her father, brother and uncle and are all former military, while her son Derek, 21, is a rising senior at The Citadel and will be heading for the Army after graduation. Walters, meanwhile, has a father-in-law and a son-in-law who are both veterans.
Homes for our Troops assists some of the most severely injured veterans who have returned home from places like Afghanistan and Iraq with missing limbs, varying degrees of paralysis, blindness or traumatic brain injury. The charity provides the homes mortgage-free.
The goal is to raise $1 per mile, Massey said, or about $3,800 total. They will hand out cards along their route, collecting as they go. Walters is looking for corporate sponsorship as well, Massey said, for the charity and to help fund the trip.
“We’d also love to have some local business support as well,” Massey added.
America on Two Wheels
Massey and Walters, who will dip their tires in the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco on May 29 before heading east, will see plenty of states on this trip. The duo will travel through 10 states along the 3,744-mile journey, climbing to heights of more than 11,000 feet as they cross the Monarch Pass in Colorado before leveling out along the Great Plains as they make their way to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. There, approximately 67 days later, they will dip their tires in the Atlantic Ocean and call it a summer.
The first week, Massey said, would be the toughest, with navigating urban terrain more challenging than the 124 miles of nothing they will traverse in Utah in week three. They plan to travel light, she said, but for the dessert crossing in Utah they will have to pack 15 pounds of just water. The Utah crossing will also be the only anticipated camping they will have to do along the way, and Massey said they will include a pair of small tents among their gear. Once they are through the wilds, she said, they will mail the tents home to lighten their load.
Right now, Massey said, they plan to go it alone; however, there is the possibility of a family member following along by car for at least a portion of the trip.
Reunion Tour
Like so many high school friends, Massey and Walters lost touch after graduating from Lewis Cass High School in Indiana in 1988. But thanks to the magic of Facebook, they found each other again just a few years ago.
In 2014, when Massey embarked on a 520-mile ride from Nags Head, N.C. to Hilton Head, Walters followed her progress on Facebook. Walters had done some mountain tours in Colorado, and the two of them decided to take a riding trip together.
“We discussed riding with each other, and then realized we both wanted to do a cross-country ride,” Walters recently told The Kokomo Herald.
After Massey completed her Head-to-Head ride in November of 2014, the two began making their plans.
“She got a bike right away,” Massey said. “I crashed my bike in Hilton Head 2 miles from the finishing point. Cracked the frame. I ordered a new bike in May (2015), and it just arrived in November. So I’ve gone a whole year without riding.”
Last weekend, the two got together for some training along the Blue Ridge Parkway, climbing Mt. Mitchell to work the kinks out.
For their cross-country ride, Massey said she hopes to average around 85 miles a day on the straightaways, 30-60 miles a day in the mountains.
“I like the challenge,” Massey said. “I like the adventure and pushing myself to the limits. I like to experience new places and meet new people.”
The adventure begins May 29.
Massey and Walters will chronicle their ride with journal entries on CrazyGuyOnABike.com and will post photos along the way on their Instagram site, Wanderingproject. Their website, www.wanderingproject.com, will also detail their journey.
Anyone wishing to donate to Homes for our Troops can go to http://fundraise.hfotusa.org/kristymassey.
BLYTHEWOOD (April 28, 2016) – While Council appointed new members Monday evening to the Town’s Planning Commission and Board of Architecture Review, they broke new ground in how they selected and appointed the Planning Commission member.
Mayor J. Michael Ross told Council that prior to the meeting he and Councilman Tom Utroska had jointly interviewed two applicants for the Commission. Those candidates turned out to be Cynthia Schull of Oakhurst subdivision and Michelle Kiedrowski of Cobblestone Park. Neither Ross nor Utroska named Schull. Ross said he and Utroska had made the decision to present only Kiedrowski to Council for appointment Monday evening.
After introducing Kiedrowski, Ross and Utroska commented on her qualifications, both noting that she had run for Town Council last year.
Utroska also commented that Kiedrowski, who moved to Blythewood about a year ago, “wanted to be part of this community and wanted to give back to this community. I like the fact that she has a willingness to give back to the community and that’s what we’re looking for.”
After both Utroska and Ross praised the other candidate as well, still without naming her, Ross invited Council members to ask questions of Kiedrowski. In response, Council members welcomed and praised her for seeking the volunteer position and voted unanimously to appoint her to the Planning Commission. Schull was not voted on.
Traditionally, applicants for the Town’s boards and commissions each appear before the whole Council at the public meeting, explain their qualifications and answer Council members’ questions followed by the vote.
When asked about the new appointment procedure following the meeting, Utroska defended it, saying he saw nothing wrong with it.
Council next voted unanimously to appoint longtime Blythewood resident John Miles, an engineer, to the Board of Architectural Review.
Both Kiedrowski and Miles were appointed to fill partial terms.
WINNSBORO (April 22, 2016) – When the director of a new alternative school for troubled teens presented County Council with his plans during Council’s March 28 meeting, one Councilman encouraged the director to make a similar presentation to the community before opening for business.
Cameron Tea, director of Cambio Academy, told Council his Utah-based company was already renovating a building at 1403 Greenbrier Mossydale Road in Winnsboro, and hopes to have the facility open by August.
Cambio is a high-end, private academy, Tea said, that has partnered with S.C. Whitmore, a virtual charter school headquartered in Chapin. Cambio offers wilderness therapy, equine therapy and experiential learning therapy in a group-care environment.
“A lot of these kids come from very affluent families (and they) need to kind of grow up a little bit and realize the world isn’t just handed to you; you have to work for it,” Tea told Council. “They’ve never pulled weeds from a garden, they’ve never had to be responsible to take care of an animal.”
Some of them, Tea said, may even have to learn something as basic as “how to clean their room every single morning.”
The academy recruits clients from across the U.S. as well as internationally, Tea said, and they typically come recommended by private education consultants. He estimated that Cambio would house between 48 and 72 teens who would stay at the academy for a period of eight to 14 months. The academy will have a staff to student ratio of 1:6, he said, with supervision provided around the clock.
Following Tea’s presentation, District 4 Councilman Kamau Marcharia urged Tea to hold a meeting in the Greenbrier community to make sure citizens there felt safe about having at-risk teens housed close by. Marcharia asked Tea if some of the teens in the academy might be potentially be suffering from mental health issues, which could be cause for concern in the community.
“A lot of these kids do have some psychological issues,” Tea replied, adding that some of them may be taking prescribed medications for those issues. “We are clinically intensive and have a therapist on staff. We do not take kids that are super high risk. We’re not a lock-down facility. We do not take kids who are coming off drugs. We take kids who are coming off their short-term rehab centers for a boot camp experience.”
Marcharia also asked Tea if there was a history of any of these troubled teens breaking out of the facility, something that also might be of concern to the surrounding community.
In his 10 years on the job, Tea replied, there have been two cases of teens running away from a facility.
“That’s less than 1 percent,” Tea said. “It’s always a potential factor, but a very limited factor. There are alarms on doors and windows, but sometimes they figure out ways; but for the most part they want to graduate, grow and get back to their home life.”
While Tea agreed to hold a community meeting before opening the doors to Cambio Academy, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope told Council that the property at 1403 Greenbrier Mossydale Road was already properly zoned to accommodate Tea’s venture.
“There was no way we could prevent them from offering their business and that particular location,” Pope said.
Tea had come to administration with his proposal more than a year ago, Pope said, and had coordinated the development of the site with the County’s Planning and Zoning office.
“They have followed through with everything they said they would,” Pope said.