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  • Community Seeks Answers After Dog Dragging Incident

    Emmanuel, a 9-month-old shepherd mix, recovers from his injuries. (Photo/Barbara Ball)
    Emmanuel, a 9-month-old shepherd mix, recovers from his injuries. (Photo/Courtesy of Fairfield Animal Hospital)

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – A young dog found in the woods by four women riding horses through Carolina Adventure World near White Oak in northeast Fairfield County on Sunday, Dec. 13,  is recuperating at Fairfield Animal Hospital from horrific injuries that Winnsboro veterinarian Robert Knight says are consistent with the dog being dragged behind a vehicle.

    The dog, a 9-month-old shepherd mix named Emmanuel by his caregivers, was brought to the hospital by the riders about 4 p.m. that Sunday.  According to Susan Knight, a vet tech and the wife and spokesperson for Dr. Knight, the dog’s injuries were only a few hours old when he was brought in.

    “Emmanuel was missing all his toenails and nail beds and all of the skin and some tissue on the top sides of every paw,” Knight said. “He was missing the hard soles on his paw pads and had multiple deep abrasions on his chest (underneath and on both sides).”

    She said all of the skin and tissue on the dog’s knees, down to the bones, was gone. The skin on his left leg was slit open up to his side, and the dragging scraped a three-to-four-inch diameter hole through the skin on his right side.

    After seven surgeries, another surgery by a specialist to repair a torn off kneecap and torn ligaments is still to come. The wounds are so severe, Knight said, that the dog must be sedated for bandage changes.

    Knight said she and her husband feel certain the dog was dragged behind a vehicle, and she said she doesn’t think it was an accident.

    Laura Collins, the rider who first found the dog, said he was lying near a bush at the edge of a horse trail about 200 feet from Camp Welfare Road, a paved road that runs alongside Carolina Adventure World. The Voice visited the site with Collins who pointed out a makeshift, little-used access trail where vehicles or ATV’s occasionally come off Camp Welfare Road into the wooded area. The makeshift trail connects with a riding trail that runs next to the bush where the dog was found.

    “We’re sure the dog was dragged on pavement, not dirt,” Knight said. “There was no significant dirt in the wounds. But we don’t know how he came to be in the woods.

    “His injuries were so severe he wouldn’t have been able to walk on his injured paws,” Knight said.

    Collins told The Voice that when she found the dog, he could barely raise his head and made no effort to get up or walk.

    But the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, while looking into the incident, does not think there is anything at this time to indicate a criminal act took place. Asked by The Voice on Tuesday if there was an incident report on the dog’s injuries, Lt. Lee Haney said there was not and that the injuries to the dog are not being investigated as the result of a crime at this time. Haney said he was just starting to gather information, including a written statement from Dr. Knight, but emphasized that no official investigation was under way and referred all questions about the dog to the Sheriff.

    Knight told The Voice that the wounds are not consistent with being hit by a vehicle.

    “There are no injuries or marks on his shoulders or head,” Knight said. “This is something we’ve seen before. It’s the pattern of being dragged behind a vehicle. The animal loses his paw pads as he tries to run and stay on his feet. Then when he falls and is dragged, the tops of his feet, stomach and sides are injured as his upper body is suspended by a rope or tie. It would appear he was dragged for quite a long way.”

    The dog’s story has been broadcast by WLTX-TV and has gone viral on the internet. Well-wishers have sent donations toward the cost of his surgeries and care which, Knight said, could last many weeks.

    Reward

    The Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society is raising money for a reward fund for information leading to the arrest and conviction of any person(s) who might have dragged the dog purposely.

    “We don’t know what happened to the dog,” said Minge Wiseman, vice president of the Hoof and Paw Society, “but we see his injuries and so far no one has been able to explain to us how the dog could have sustained those injuries by accident. If a crime was committed and if this dog was dragged behind a vehicle knowingly, someone knows what happened. We hope the reward money will be what it takes to obtain the information necessary to bring the person(s) responsible to justice.”

    To donate to the reward fund, contact the Hoof & Paw Benevolent Society at 803-429-3509. The Hoof and Paw Benevolent Society is a 501(c)3 and all donations are tax deductible.

    For more photos and information about the dog’s condition, go to the Fairfield Animal Hospital’s Facebook page or the Fairfield County Animal Adoption Center’s Facebook page.

     

  • School District Gets Clean Audit

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – A representative from the Fairfield County School District’s accounting firm, McAbee, Schwartz, Halliday & Co., presented the highlights of the District’s 2015 audit during the board’s regular meeting on Nov. 17.

    In a communication letter to the board, the auditors stated that they found the board’s financial records to be free of material misstatement and gave the Fairfield County School District an unqualified opinion.

    However, when Board member Annie McDaniel (District 4) asked the audit firm’s representative whether there was a management letter, he replied that one was not needed since any adjustments to the financial records were minimal and were corrected during the audit.

    The highlights of the 2015 financial statement include:

    • An increase in the general fund balance of $2.5 million (reflected after the board transferred $2.25 million into capital projects last month), compared to an increase of about $800,000 the previous year, with a resulting general fund balance of $9,260,000.

    • A 9.2 percent increase in government revenues, for a total of $51.8 million.

    • An increase of 30.37 percent in expenditures from government funds, for a total of $57.1 million, fueled by $12.3 million in capital projects and $0.7 million in expenditures of EIA revenue.

    • Overall, the total liabilities and deferred inflows of the school district exceeded its assets and deferred outflows by approximately $4.4 million. Likewise, the district’s net position decreased by about $36.1 million in FY 2015. This was primarily due to an increase in bond liabilities ($12.5 million) and net pension liability ($43.7 million), which were offset by increases in funds due from the County Treasurer and capital assets.

    As explained by the auditor, this change in the district’s net position was due to the imposition of new accounting rules, which require the school district to report its share of the net pension liability for the entire State government.

    The auditor also commended the district for its strong general fund balance of $9.26 million, saying there are several advantages to maintaining this, such as improved cash flows, less impact from budget cuts and better bond rating.

    The savings in the food service account that was discussed during the October board meeting was clarified by the audit. One reason given in October for a positive general fund balance was that $300,000 did not have to be transferred from the general fund into the food services program as had been anticipated, due to positive operations in the food service program.

    According to the audit, those positive operations resulted primarily from the District’s food program receiving almost $400,000 more in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for school lunches in FY 2015. With the $400,000 increased federal revenue and a reduction in food service expenditures of $7,000, there was an overall $122,000 surplus, which allowed the District to retain the $300,000 within the general fund balance.

     

  • Compromise Reached in County Rec Center Feud

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – District 3 County Councilman Walter Larry Stewart, who has been locked in a standoff with Council Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) over the location of a shared recreational facility, announced at the close of Council’s Dec. 15 meeting that the two had reached a compromise.

    The recreation facility, Stewart said, would be built in Mitford.

    Mitford resident Carol Turner, during Council’s Nov. 9 meeting, made a pitch to Council for erecting the facility just off Highway 200 on the site of the old Mitford Community School. The school has been owned by the Mitford Community Club, of which Turner is a member, since 1950. The Club converted the school into a community center shortly after purchasing it from the County, and leases portions of the property back to the County for the Mitford Volunteer Fire Department and a County mini park, each for $1 a year. The property sits on the boundary between districts 2 and 3.

    Under the County’s revised recreation plan, approved on Oct. 12, the two districts agreed to share a facility. The location of the shared facility, however, was still a matter for debate.

    “We have over 2,100 citizens living within a 5-mile radius of this point (the old school),” Turner told Council during their Nov. 9 meeting. “If it is possible to build a community center at this location to serve all of these citizens of Mitford, the Community Club, which still owns the property, potentially could make it very economically feasible in a lease agreement to build.”

    But shortly after the Nov. 9 meeting, Stewart said the plan to build in Mitford was in jeopardy.

    “She (Chairwoman Robinson) originally came up with the proposal to put it (a community center) in Mitford,” Stewart said. “Then for some reason at the last minute she wants to move it 8-9 miles down the road toward Lake Wateree.”

    Stewart himself appeared to toss a monkey wrench into the works when, two weeks later, he proposed erecting the facility on Camp Welfare Road near Carolina Adventure World. During Council’s Nov. 23 meeting, Stewart said the old school site in Mitford may, in fact, be lacking, in that it was not the preferred 5 acres and it was not located close enough to the middle of that quadrant of the county.

    “I have located 6.46 acres that is a quarter of a mile from Carolina Adventure World,” Stewart said on Nov. 23. “It’s one, possibly one and one quarter miles, off Wateree Road. It’s on Camp Welfare Road.”

    The alternate property, Stewart disclosed, belongs to his CMC Foundation. If the County wanted to build on it, he said, the Foundation would sell it to the County for the appraised value of the property.

    After the Nov. 23 meeting, Stewart said he only proposed the Camp Welfare Road property as an alternative to satisfy the Chairwoman.

    “Carolyn Robinson doesn’t want it where it’s going to be, on that county (district) line,” Stewart said. “So I just threw that out there as an alternative. I’d rather have it in Mitford. She’s trying to say it’s not in the middle of the quadrant. Well, I gave her something that’s in the middle of the quadrant. I’m not running for re-election. She is.”

    Robinson after the Nov. 23 meeting said she would prefer building the facility closer to the bulk of her constituents on Lake Wateree.

    “There may be 2,000 (in the Mitford area), but there’s 3,000 here (near Lake Wateree),” Robinson said. “We don’t have enough money to put one in each community. I’ve been looking on Wateree Road.”

    Robinson said she hoped to iron out the dispute before the next meeting.

    “It’s a matter of us sitting and talking,” she said. “We’re going to sit down and talk. There will be a resolution.”

    That resolution, according to Stewart, came in time for Council’s last meeting before the holidays.

     

  • Board Extends Superintendent’s Contract

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – In its last regularly scheduled meeting for the year on Dec. 15, the Fairfield County School District Board of Trustees voted to extend Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green’s contract for another year. This rolled forward the ending date of Green’s six-year contract to June 30, 2022, and was seen as a vote of confidence in Green, although not all board members were in agreement.

    Shortly before the public meeting began, the board members completed individual written evaluations of Green. The board used an evaluation instrument that provides three possible rankings (Exemplary, Proficient or Needs Improvement) for each of five performance criteria – Community Engagement, Student Achievement, Leadership, Learning Environment and Fiscal Management. According to Board Chairwoman Beth Reid (District 7), this evaluation instrument has been used each year since Green first came to the district.

    Board member Annie McDaniel (District 4) raised the issue that the evaluation instrument does not include any goals or objectives for the superintendent and is not what the School Board Association recommends for superintendent evaluations.

    “There should be more specific goals listed under each of the different categories,” McDaniel said, noting that the board “did not receive any information in advance about Dr. Green’s accomplishments and what goals Dr. Green would have set for himself, which would have helped if we could have received that in advance and had the opportunity to review it so we could ask educated questions tonight.”

    Reid moved the proposal forward, and the Rev. Carl Jackson Jr., Board Vice Chair (District 5), recommended extending Green’s five-year contract for another year.

    When board member Paula Hartman (District 2) asked to see Green’s contract, Reid responded, “I can get you a copy, but not tonight. The contract is not being presented, just the amendment to extend the contract to 2022, making it a six-year contract.”

    Hartman said that in her experience, the average length of a school district superintendent’s contract is three years and asked, “If he (Green) leaves the district, what is the amount that the board would have to pay out?”

    Green responded that, if he left voluntarily, “the district is not obligated to pay me anything.”

    McDaniel also expressed concern that the board was voting on a contract amendment without a written document in front of them.

    “Was there a reason for not having an amendment drawn up so we could have an opportunity to review it before voting?” McDaniel asked.

    “The action under the agenda item is clear,” Reid said. “There is going to be a recommendation to extend the contract. In the past four years we have done the same.”

    “But last year, we had the actual amendment in front of us so we could review it,” McDaniel said.

    Board member William Frick (District 6) pointed out that last year the board also amended the superintendent’s buy-out clause, so it was not a simple contract extension.

    “We can continue to do this kind of reckless stuff on this board,” McDaniel said, “but we should have the amendment in front of us.”

    Board member Henry Miller (District 3) said that he was in favor of a contract extension.

    “Mr. Green is doing a great job,” he said.

    The amendment to extend Green’s contract to 2022 passed 4-2, with McDaniel and Hartman voting against the extension.

    There was no discussion on the results of the superintendent’s evaluation or how that tied into the contract extension.

    Reached after the meeting, Green told The Voice that his current salary stays the same under the amended contract, but with automatic annual increases built into the contract.

    In other business, the board heard from Frick on the recommendation of the board committee to study board members’ compensation.

    Frick noted that Fairfield County School Board members, under Act 191 from 1991, are prohibited from receiving compensation but do receive a $35 per diem for each board meeting they attend. After several months of analysis and review, the recommendation of the committee is for the board to ask the Fairfield county state legislative delegation to amend the law to allow the board to set its own compensation.

     

  • Pellet Plant Rezoning on Hold

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – Third and final reading to rezone two parcels of property near White Oak for the controversial AEC Pellet 1 USA wood pellet plant is officially on hold, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope said during County Council’s Dec. 15 meeting.

    But that does not mean, Pope added, that the project may not ultimately move forward.

    “The parent company, Abengoa, does have financial challenges,” Pope said during his Administrator’s report. “They’re looking at financially restructuring. The project itself is pending. The project has not been shelved.

    “As far as the rezoning request, that has been placed on hold,” Pope added. “I do not know what the final determination of the company will be on that particular matter, but I would anticipate during the first part of the year maybe having some official statement regarding that.”

    Spain-based Abengoa reportedly filed for preliminary creditor protection under Spanish Insolvency Law on Nov. 24. In early December, the company began implementing layoffs at facilities worldwide. Abengoa’s Arizona offices have been closed, according to media reports, with staff at its corporate offices in St. Louis down to a bare minimum. The entire staff, save for a handful of upper-management positions, at the company’s cellulose ethanol plant in Kansas has reportedly been put out of work and the plant has been idled since November.

    Council passed first reading on Oct. 12 of an ordinance to rezone from RD (Rural Resource District) to I-1 (Industrial District) 2.01 acres owned by Rosezenna Cason White at 137 Cason Road, and 180 acres owned by Wateree Holdings LLC c/o Forest Investment Associates, also on Cason Road.

    Second reading passed on Oct. 26, but not before 10 neighboring landowners spoke out against the plant.

    Council announced the tentative arrival of AEC Pellet 1 during their Aug. 24 meeting, when they also passed third reading on and disclosed the details of the company’s incentives package.

    Pope said during the Aug. 24 meeting that the terms of the Fee-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (FILOT) agreement included a $125 million investment by the company, as well as the creation of 75 new full-time jobs. AEC Pellet will be assessed at a ratio of 6 percent, Pope said, and will pay a fixed millage rate of 423.3 mills for their first 30 years. They will also receive a special source revenue credit of 60 percent per year for the first 10 years.

    But in 10 years, there may be no market for what the plant produces, according to Emily Zucchino, a campaign organizer with the Asheville, N.C. environmental advocacy firm Dogwood Alliance.

    “This market is based on European policies, which we know with working with policy makers in Europe will change in the next 10 years,” Zucchino told Council before the Oct. 26 second reading. “The wood pellet industry is an extractive export market to feed power plants in Europe, and is in a transitional market until these power plants switch to wind and solar. So my question for you is what happens to Winnsboro in 10 years when there are no longer subsidies in the market for these wood pellet facilities?”

    Pollution is also a concern with wood pelleting plants, Zucchino said, with facilities generating fine particulate matter into the atmosphere. In N.C., she said, communities living near similar facilities have seen increases in respiratory illnesses, bronchitis and asthma.

    According to DHEC documents, and as first reported in The Voice on Aug. 29, emissions generated by the facility would include particulate matter (less than 10 micrometers in diameter and less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter), nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAP). The notice states, “a federally enforceable facility-wide limit of less than 250 tons per year” of the particulate matters, the carbon monoxide and VOC “would be established, thereby enabling the facility to be below Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) major source thresholds.”

    Federally enforceable limits of 10 tons per year would also be established “of any single HAP, or less than 25 (tons per year) of total HAPs,” the documents state.

    An air quality permit (permit number 1000-0039-CA) was issued to AEC Pellet on March 16, DHEC said.

    White Oak resident Carrie Matthews presented Council during the Dec. 15 meeting with a petition she said was signed by 294 residents of the community opposing the plant.

    “We’re not happy for the Abengoa plant company, that they are in such dire financial straits,” Matthews told Council, “but do hope that because of that situation the AEC Pellet company will be dropping plans altogether to locate in the White Oak community.”

     

  • Cambridge Point Gets Water Deal

    WINNSBORO (Dec. 25, 2015) – Town Council during their Dec. 15 meeting gave the green light for water for a Blythewood subdivision on which developers plan to break ground in the spring.

    Council voted unanimously to approve 3,000 gallons of water per day in a willingness to serve letter for 100 planned homes in the Cambridge Point subdivision on Boney Road. The vote comes just two weeks after Council met in secret with developer Bucky Drake to discuss the project. A commercial aspect to Cambridge Point, which may require even more taps, is still slated as tentative.

    Cambridge Point is taking precedence over Drake’s other development, Red Gate, to which Winnsboro has already committed water for 100 lots. Red Gate, sources told The Voice, is running at least a year behind Cambridge Point, and in addition to the already approved 100 taps may need 240 more if developers opt for an apartment complex in the subdivision.

    Other Business

    Council also gave the OK to a 1-year contract with Coral Springs Aquatic Management, at $200 per month, for the maintenance of the pond at Fortune Springs Park. The company has recently restored the pond for the Town.

    “I’ve ridden by there and the pond looks about as good as it’s ever looked,” Mayor Roger Gaddy said.

    Accepting the recommendation from the Finance Committee, Council OK’d $103,761 for a boom truck as well as $21,000 for a meter-reader truck for the Electrical Department.

    Gaddy said the Town’s current meter-reader truck is only valued at $3,800 but needs more than $7,000 of repair work, making the purchase of a new truck a better option. Town Manager Don Wood said the cost would be shared between the gas, electric, water and sewer departments.

    Councilman Clyde Sanders pointed out that the meter-reader truck was not a budgeted expense. However, he said, Council had budgeted $120,000 for the boom truck, making the unbudgeted financial impact $4,761.

     

  • Offices Get Conditional OK

    The proposed medical office building, slated for Blythewood Road.
    The proposed medical office building, slated for Blythewood Road.

    BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 24, 2015) – The Board of Architectural Review (BAR) gave conditional approval for a certificate of occupancy (COP) Monday evening for construction of a 6,500-square-foot medical building on Blythewood Road across from Companion Animal Hospital.

    The approval is conditional on plans for lighting, landscape and signage being presented and approved at the BAR’s Jan. 19 meeting.

    The building is being constructed by Cohn Construction Services for pediatrician Dr. Frank Dorn and optometrist Jim Eddis, who will be the only two occupants.

    Matt Davis, architectural consultant to the project and to the Town, said he expects construction to begin as soon as the owners receive the final approval for a COP.

    “The building looks fine,” Town Planning Consultant Michael Criss told the Board. “It meets codes and there appears to be no need for any variances.”

    “I would expect construction should be completed by the end of the summer,” Davis told The Voice.

     

  • Rimer Pond Road Back in Business

    BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 24, 2015) – Rimer Pond Road was reopened Dec. 11 for the second time in two years. Closed for half of 2013 while its notoriously dangerous curve underwent straightening and widening, the road was closed again on Oct. 5 after a large section of the newly replaced curve was washed out by torrential flooding that devastated much of Richland County.

    The washout happened when the nearby Rimer Pond dam breached, flooding the roadway with more water than could be accommodated by the 4-foot diameter culvert that had been installed under the roadway during the straightening process a year earlier.

    S.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) Chief Engineer for Operations Andy Lephart said that of the 541 closings that occurred on Oct. 5, 133 of them were in Richland County, the hardest hit county in the state.

    “We prioritized the repairs based on whether the road was an interstate, a primary or a secondary road,” Lephart said. “But after getting the interstates open, we looked at other things such as connectivity, affected services, schools, things like that which moved Rimer Pond Road up the list.”

    The closing of Rimer Pond Road diverted cut-through traffic from Lake Carolina and Hardscrabble Road to Langford Road and into downtown Blythewood, virtually shutting down traffic flow in the town during school drop-off and pick-up hours and during rush hours.

    “With the road open again, I have had reports that our traffic congestion here in downtown Blythewood has decreased by a third,” Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross told The Voice. “Thank the Lord it’s open! As soon as we heard the good news from SCDOT that it was going to reopen, we immediately got word out to the Blythewood schools to send those buses down Rimer Pond Road again. We are very appreciative of SCDOT getting it back open so soon.”

    While the road has been repaired, the breached dam that caused the flooding has not been repaired.

    “We only repair the road,” Lephart told The Voice. “It’s the responsibility of the dam’s owner to repair the dam. Reconstruction of the dam, Lephart said, must be overseen and certified by the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). It can’t be rebuilt without DHEC’s certification process.”

    Lephart said it was determined that the road could safely be repaired without regard for the dam’s condition. To that end, Lephart’s crew replaced the 48-inch culvert under the curve with a 54-inch culvert.

    “Based on hydrology and what’s there now, we knew we could go in there and, without a final determination of what the dam owner will do, still handle the water coming through there. The 54-inch culvert will take care of it,” Lephart said. “Our design will handle a 25-year flood.”

    Lephart said that with the opening of Rimer Pond Road, the County has 53 roads statewide still closed.

    “Twenty-six of those are associated with dams that we can’t do anything about. We just have to wait for the owners of those dams to decide what they’re going to do,” Lephart said.

     

  • B.A.R. Silences Critics

    BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 24, 2015) – In a move to stem citizen dissent over The Pointe, a low-income apartment complex proposed for downtown Blythewood, Michael Langston, Chairman of the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) opened Tuesday night’s meeting with the announcement that citizen testimony that evening would not be allowed on agenda items slated for discussion.

    “Tonight, when we get to citizens’ testimony,” Langston told the audience, “citizen testimony can only be raised concerning action items.”

    The action items listed on the agenda were for Certificates of Occupancy for expansion of The Manor and a new medical building proposed on Blythewood Road. The Pointe was on the agenda for discussion only, eliminating it from the possibility of being addressed by the citizens in attendance.

    Looking in the direction of two of those citizens, Langston said firmly, “I just want you to be aware of the structure and procedure, and we’ll go from there.”

    The announcement was a departure from how the BAR had conducted meetings in the past when no specific limitations had been placed on citizens who wished to address issues before the Board. Following the meeting, The Voice asked Langston about the new rule.

    “We’re coming into alignment with exactly what the procedures (BAR bylaws) say and how the procedures give us direction. And so, yes, we’re tightening up,” Langston said.

    Explaining why the procedure was not evoked until now, Langston said, “We’ve never had anything as contentious as this particular project.”

    Earlier this month Prestwick Development, LLC successfully sued the Town after the Planning Commission voted not to grant approval of the site plan for the Pointe. On Dec. 11, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Prestwick, ordering the Town’s administrator to issue a letter of approval to Prestwick so that the project could proceed.

    Once that was settled, some neighbors of the development turned their concerns from potential traffic congestion that could be caused by the development to the appearance of the project, asking why the developer was being allowed variances to avoid meeting the Town’s building codes. At the October BAR meeting, the developer had come before the Board asking for 13 variances to avoid having to meet some of Blythewood’s ordinance requirements for new construction.

    Following the conclusion of the lawsuit and in response to concern about the design of the building’s façade, which proposed little elevation, no porches and minimal door and window treatment, all of which leaned toward a more basic look rather than a higher end design, Langston told The Voice that he had been in negotiations with the developer about these concerns.

    “I asked the developer why the building design of the Blythewood project was different (more basic) than the same type of housing project the developer had built in Greenville,” Langston told The Voice.

    That project had been highly praised by the developer as an example of what Prestwick would bring to the Blythewood community. Some in the community had visited the Greenville site, bringing back to Council glowing reports of the Greenville project. Both sites are built from the same basic design, Langston said, but Greenville’s development has more detail, giving it a more upscale appearance than the one proposed in Blythewood.

    “We wanted the developer to upgrade the building to be more than what was proposed,” Langston said. “I’ve been on the phone to them the last couple of weeks to get them (Prestwick) to come up to our codes instead of us giving them variances so they would not have to meet our standards. They have met us about halfway.”

    To that end, Prestwick came to the meeting prepared to add some upgrades including:

    • Raising the elevation of the building so that it does not set flat on the ground;

    • Upgrading architectural details on the building façade, windows and doors;

    • Camouflaging several unsightly drainage areas with plants and other decorative landscape materials; and

    • Changing fencing (that will be installed on the sides and back of the property) from chain link to wrought iron or other suitable fencing material approved by the Board.

    “When the item is on the agenda for a vote for approval of a Certificate of Occupancy,” Town Administrator Gary Parker said after the meeting, “then citizens will be able to address the architectural design issues at that time.”

    That vote is expected to be on the agenda at the Jan. 19 BAR meeting when Prestwick will present final architectural proposals and renderings to the Board.

     

  • Christmas Eve in the Fields

    Emma McIntyre lets her little light shine warmly during a chilly Christmas Eve in the Fields.
    Emma McIntyre lets her little light shine warmly during a chilly Christmas Eve in the Fields.

    BLYTHEWOOD (Dec. 20, 2015) – “During the last several years, Blythewood Presbyterian Church has been creating traditions as we seek to serve the surrounding community,” said the church’s pastor, Rhett Sanders.

    Six years ago, Christmas Eve in the Fields was created as a meaningful worship experience for anybody who wanted to join. Large crowds of families gather around bonfires in the church’s field on Rimer Pond Road to sing Silent Night, sip hot cocoa and reflect on the true meaning of the Christmas season. Despite one year of rain, which forced the festivities inside, Christmas Eve in the Fields continues to be a favorite event of many in the community.

    This year Blythewood Presbyterian will continue its non-traditional Christmas Eve in the Fields service at the church’s permanent ministry site, 441 Rimer Pond Road (next to Round Top Elementary School). It is open to the public and will begin at 5:30 p.m., Dec. 24. Dress for the weather and bring a lawn chair. For more information or a weather update, visit the church’s website at www.blythewoodpres.com

    Blythewood Presbyterian also participates in the Seasons of Bounty, a joint effort among local churches to help families affected by the October flooding. Household items, furniture and clothing will be collected for specific families in Lexington.

    “Through this project, the members of Blythewood Presbyterian hope to spread the love of Christ to others who are in great need,” Sanders said. “It’s traditions like this service project and our Christmas Eve in the Fields that have created a celebratory atmosphere during the advent season. We invite the entire community to join us for this wonderful Christmas Eve event.”