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WINNSBORO – More than a year after County Council voted to commission a review of construction projects performed by S2 Engineering, the final report, obtained by The Voice through a Freedom of Information Act request, varies only slightly from the draft report, released last October.

As in the draft report, the final document, dated Dec. 4, 2014 and prepared by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood (GMC), inspectors were unable to determine framing adequacy for required code loadings because “building supplier information was not available,” the report states, for the County Coroner’s Building, the Probation Building and the Public Works Building, all of which were constructed from the ground up by S2 Engineering. The final report also notes that, for the same three buildings, “foundation information was not available . . . therefore, it was not possible to determine foundation adequacy.”

Milton Pope, County Administrator, said the missing documentation simply does not exist under the method by which the County previously did business. Pope said he was unsure if that sort of information was required under contract because the various contracts for specific site work also do not exist. Instead, Pope said, the County operated under a general agreement with contractors like S2, assigning specific work as it came up.

“Some of it you would think that (S2) would have, but a lot of it was not (available),” Pope said. “We don’t operate that way anymore. I could care less about the permit fees. But there needs to be a drawing someplace where you can go back to it.”

The report also states that GMC engineers “requested design information on each of the following buildings from the original designer of record, but were not able to obtain any data concerning soil investigation, foundation design or pre-engineered metal building reactions.”

The final report notes that “no footers are present” under the Coroner’s Building, nor could inspectors confirm slab thickness, reinforcement or depth of turn down at slab edge. Instead, the report bases its findings on assumptions.

“Based on the construction photographs it is our assumption that the foundation for this (Coroner’s) building consists of a slab on grade with a perimeter turn down slab 1-foot deep x 1-foot 6-inches wide,” the report states. “We additionally assumed that the anchor bolts provided have been constructed in accordance with the pre-engineered metal building information and have adequate embedment depths. The building reactions can be resisted by our assumed perimeter turn-down size and are adequate, provided they have enough reinforcement to transfer these loads.

“Based on our assumptions above, our opinion is that these foundations are structurally adequate to resist the loads applied.”

The report made the same assumptions for the Probation Building after inspectors were also unable to confirm slab thickness and other details. Inspectors did run “calculations” based on those estimates, however, and determined it could stand up to vertical forces. Resistance to horizontal forces, on the other hand, “will require additional foundation modifications at the footings on grid lines,” the report states.

“Our recommended modifications include constructing a pile cap connecting to footing locations . . . in order to resist outward forces,” inspectors noted.

Inspectors also determined the Public Works Building was structurally adequate based on the same assumptions as the Coroner’s Building. Additionally, inspectors noted in the draft and in the final report that an “incorrect purlin rollover bracing is present in interior back room” at the location.

The report noted that the Voter Registration Building was an existing structure modified by S2 and that “there are no anticipated structural issues with this structure.” Similarly, the HON Industries Building was not inspected at all.

“Some of the stuff S2 did, they in essence did renovations on,” Pope said. “They can’t tell you about the footer on the building because they didn’t do that. But on the Public Work’s Building and the Coroner’s Building, those were total buildings that S2 totally built and they have to stand behind that.”

Pope said it had not yet been determined if the County was going to ask S2 to complete the modifications to the Probation Building recommended by GMC.

The centerpiece of the County’s new industrial park, the Fairfield Commerce Center was constructed in 2011 of a pre-engineered metal frame with slab on grade foundation. S2 was not involved in the design or original construction, but did perform modifications to the building. According to the draft document and final report, “visual inspection cannot confirm slab thickness, reinforcement, depth of turn down at slab edge or presence and sizes of footers.”

“Based on construction photographs observed during inspection and exposure of free-formed concrete on exterior perimeter foundations, it appears that there are no spread footers present,” the report says of the Commerce Center. “Lack of foundations may render the structural stability inadequate per IBC (International Building Code) wind loading requirements. Further investigation is needed to confirm the presence of foundations.”

Building supplier information was also not available for this building.

The Dutchman Creek Fire Hall, constructed by ICE, PLLC of Columbia in 2010, was also inspected by GMC engineers. Unable to confirm slab thickness, reinforcement or depth of turn down at slab edge, the report also noted “lack of confirmation of post embedment depth,” and that “truss framing appears to be inadequate for wind loadings specified by the IBC code for this building location.”

In spite of the missing information, Pope said he was satisfied with the inspections and with the safety of the buildings in question.

“Were those safe buildings? That’s what it really boils down to,” Pope said. “The structural engineers did not report anything to us like that where there was any concern about any issue like that that S2 may have caused.”

 

Cotton Yard Lease On Hold, Again

RIDGEWAY – Although discussed and discarded by Town Council more than a year ago, the town “Where History Still Lives” may finally be ready to put a price on its hospitality.

Council voted unanimously during its March 12 meeting to draft an ordinance instating a hospitality tax, placing first reading of the ordinance on their April 9 agenda. Councilman Russ Brown, who has long been a proponent of the tax but has seen his proposals for it rebuffed by Council on previous occasions, said the revenue could relieve some of the strain on the Town’s budget.

“I don’t see it generating a ton of money,” Brown said, “but in a little town every little bit helps and it would go to a lot of different things.”

Brown said the tax could not exceed 2 percent and could only be applied to prepared meals and beverages in an establishment or under an establishment’s license. The revenue could go toward tourism-related, cultural, recreational or historic facilities, as well as highways, roads, streets or bridges providing access to tourist destinations. The revenue could also go toward advertising and promotion of tourism development, and to water and sewer infrastructure serving tourism-related facilities. The funds could go toward preserving the arch on the old school property, and for promoting Pig on the Ridge, Arts on the Ridge and other Town events.

However, Brown said the Town should exercise caution when committing revenue generated by a hospitality tax.

“I think the town should be very careful on how it is spent and we may find it beneficial to build some of that up and have a kitty,” Brown said. “The thing that worries me is that if you use that money as a payment for a bond. Let’s say you get a bond and you’re using that money to help pay for that, and let’s say all those restaurants close down one day, then we’re hanging out to dry having to come up with that money.”

Council voted 5-0 to have the ordinance prepared and on their April agenda.

Railroad Lease

For the second meeting in a row, Council delayed a vote on the second and final reading of an ordinance to approve a lease by the Town on the Norfolk Southern Railroad property, commonly known as the Cotton Yard, in the center of town.

The $300 a year lease demanded by the railroad company would also require the Town to purchase liability insurance for the property at $1,000 a year. Mayor Charlene Herring told Council in December that the railroad company is reviewing leases and properties all across the state, forcing municipalities to either lease the lots and accept liability or see the lots fenced off. In Ridgeway’s case, at least two buildings stand on the property – the police station and the fire station – and the railroad would demand their removal unless the Town agreed to a lease.

Last month’s delay hinged on a question of responsibility for a County owned building sitting on the property, as well as a suggestion by Councilman Heath Cookendorfer that Ridgeway press the railroad for a lower price.

Last week, Council retreated into executive session to discuss the lease, emerging to vote 5-0 to table the final reading while declining to offer any specifics on the new delay.

In his motion to table, Cookendorfer said the decision was “due to consideration of some information we have received and we will be contacting Norfolk Southern to have some questions answered.”

“It’s a simple question, but we have to have an answer,” Brown said after the vote. “We can’t sign until we have an answer.”

 

Councilman’s Flip-Flop Dooms Proposal

RIDGEWAY – Efforts to petition County Council to locate a new recreation facility inside the town limits died in a 2-3 vote during Town Council’s March 12 meeting, with one key supporter of the move, Councilman Heath Cookendorfer, changing course just before the vote.

“From day one I have been an advocate of this. I personally think it’s a good thing,” Cookendorfer said after Councilman Donald Prioleau placed the motion on the floor. “As much as I am an advocate of it, I have to understand that the town came and spoke. They do not want it, and I have to actually follow that.”

A clear majority of citizens, as well as people living outside the town limits, spoke out against the proposal during a public forum last month, with 13 weighing in against and seven speaking in favor. Council also received a petition of approximately 55 names that were opposed to asking the County to consider changing the location of the site from Highway 21 at Smallwood Road to the property at Church and Means street where the old Ridgeway School once stood.

A petition of 78 names in favor of the move, presented by Prioleau before last week’s final vote, received little consideration from Council.

“We had 55 (signatures) opposed (to bringing the recreation center into the Town),” Prioleau said. “We have 78 that approve of that being down there.”

And all of the proponents on this petition, Prioleau said, live inside the town limits, unlike many of the opponents.

“We still have to listen to our people,” Cookendorfer said, apparently ignoring Prioleau’s petition. “If I had people who came in here and said they were actually for it, I would weigh that as well.”

Councilman Russ Brown, who first brought the matter to Council in December and who seconded Prioleau’s motion, said the location inside the town limits made the most sense.

“You’ve got someone willing to invest in a nice facility that can be rendered the way we want it,” Brown said, “within our guidelines in the town where the population density is the highest and has ease of access, is visible and you have police protection from the Town and the County.”

Brown also said the Town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan and Strategic Plan, both of which have been cited by opponents to block the move, call for recreation facilities inside the town limits.

“One thing that jumps out to me is the Comprehensive Land Use plan that was based on the 2000 census, and it says there are no public park facilities within the town limits, and a lack of park and recreation facilities is a concern,” Brown said. “Long-term goals the community wanted were recreation and a town park, community center and recreation facility. It says in 5 – 10 years there needs to be recreational facilities and a town park, and that was in 2000, so we’re past that.”

Nevertheless, Cookendorfer’s flip-flop doomed the proposal, which failed 2-3. Only Brown and Prioleau voted in favor of the motion. Cookendorfer, Councilman Doug Porter and Mayor Charlene Herring voted against.

“No one is going to win from this,” Cookendorfer said. “No one has won. I’ve seen the town turn on each other in the last couple of months. It’s very discouraging.”

 

Parler: Are We Going to Grow or Not Grow?

BLYTHEWOOD – As the last presenter at Town Council’s annual retreat on March 7, Ed Parler, the Town’s economic development consultant, was charged with closing the deal on the town’s need for economic development. He pressed Council to answer the question, “Are we going to grow or not grow?”

Parler addressed two areas of commerce in the town: 1) the need for more businesses in the downtown area, with more intense commerce along Blythewood Road all the way to Muller Road, and 2) a commercial industrial growth corridor between Community Road and Ashley Oaks.

To bring more commerce into the downtown area, Parler had several suggestions, including relaxing the Master Plan standards for building height, creating a grid street system in the Town Center between the interstate and Wilson Boulevard (Main Street) and extending Creech Road (which runs from Hardee’s back to the Holiday Inn Express) to run parallel to I-77 behind Blythewood High School and connect with North Fire Tower Road. Extending the road, Parler said, would open up a large area for commerce. He also saw Blythewood Road (down to Muller Road) as having more intense commercial businesses in the future such as grocery stores.

For what he called the long term health of the area, Parler asked Council to consider putting zoning in place that would accommodate industrial growth.

“A $100 million plant,” he said, “could be paying as much as $1 million in taxes over a 30-year period. The average manufacturing job pays $38,000 a year.”

Parler specifically spoke to a plan that Richland County has to bring manufacturing to a 600-acre property within the town limits between I-77 and Ashley Oaks. In 2003, that area was zoned for a Light Industrial Research Park (LIRP) by the Ballow administration, but due in large part to community resistance, the large wooded acreage was later down-zoned to Development (D-1), a zoning designation akin to Rural (RU). In response to a request from Nelson Lindsay, Richland County’s Director of Economic Development, the Blythewood Planning Commission recently approved a Light Industrial Zoning II (LI[2]) zoning classification for what it termed light industrial use and has recommended it to Council for passage.

“If you create that zoning district (LI[2]), you will immediately have Richland County coming to ask for it to be applied to this property,” Parler said. “At that point, the County will option the property and do extensive work to make it a certified site.”

Parler said the property has been on the County’s radar for some time.

While Parler assured Council that the LI(2) did not include industries involved in such things as foundry work, petroleum products, rubber products or industries that produce noise and odor, he also said there would be no distribution centers. However, when the zoning amendment was presented to the Planning Commission on Jan. 5, it was tabled for further study after Commissioner Mike Switzer pointed out that some of the listed permitted industries, such as tire manufacturing and textile mills, might be considered heavy rather than limited manufacturing. The Commission did subsequently recommend the zoning to Council, which has not yet passed it.

Parler said he would like to see the same zoning standards adopted for the 600 acres that were previously applied to the LIRP in 2003, but with some changes, including changing the height limitations for the industrial facilities. He would like to see them raised from the 40 feet permitted in the LIRP up to 100 feet in the LI(2) zoning district.

“There is no residential in the area,” Parler said. “When you see a property of this magnitude, there is the opportunity for one or two very large investments. Prepare yourself. Are we going to accommodate these larger manufacturing facilities and are they welcome?”

Parler said the Town should consider industrial zoning because of its potential to yield a higher revenue and better use than residential property.

“We have some very positive things occurring,” Parler concluded.

 

Gordge: The Manor Failed

BLYTHEWOOD – With the unrelenting drain on the Town’s finances by the park and Manor, much of Town Council’s recent day-long annual retreat was spent looking at ways they might bring additional revenue to the town. Last week The Voice reported on Council members’ various proposals for and angst over levying a property tax in the not too distant future. They also looked at other revenue sources such as economic development.

But before they got to that discussion, Planning Commission Chairman Malcolm Gordge made, at the request of Mayor J. Michael Ross, a presentation to Council outlining ways he felt the Town’s Comprehensive Plan (Comp Plan) and Master Plan stand in the way of economic development.

“While the Master Plan is a grand overview of where the town is going,” Gordge told The Voice, “the Comp Plan is the more detailed document that the Town is legally obliged to provide and update every five years. It provides guidelines for planning and zoning.”

While the Planning Commission has input into the Comp Plan, it has largely been updated over the last 10 to 15 years by Wayne Schuller with the Central Council of Governments (COG). Following the adoption of the Master Plan in 2009, the general plan going forward was to then update the Comp Plan to accommodate the Master Plan and make it happen.

With the five-year update due this year, Gordge was critical of the proposed amendments suggested by the COG, saying the goals and focus, which are in keeping with the goals and focus of the Master Plan, are heavily biased toward residential growth and environmental amenities and provide almost nothing to encourage and accommodate commerce and industry within the town. With diagrams and charts, he illustrated what he saw as the Comp Plan’s shortcomings, showing in percentages (below) how the Plan’s priorities for planning and zoning were detriments to the Town being able to attract industry and commerce.

• Environment – 35 percent

• Transportation – 27 percent

• Land Use – 13 percent

• Architecture – 13 percent

• Infrastructure – 7 percent

• Economic Development – 7 percent

“If you look at that, the environment is our most pressing need. Is that so?” Gordge asked, then answered, “I don’t think so.”

Gordge told Council he was “as much for green space as anyone,” but said he was not sure how practical it was to focus so much on ordinances that protect the environment. He advised Council members that, “The Town is bureaucratic by nature. It’s very complex with ordinances and regulations that are difficult to change.”

While Councilman Bob Massa agreed that economic development should be a top priority for the town, he also defended the importance of ordinances that protect the town’s environment.

“Those ordinances that are there to protect the environment do make it very bureaucratic. But there’s a reason why they are there to protect the environment –” Massa managed to get out before being interrupted by Gordge.

“But if we see that as an impediment to the progress we want to make,” Gordge said, “then we have to find a way to relax those ordinances to allow growth. Insufficient working capital is a reference to the fact that we don’t have any property tax millage, where we’re always struggling to find money for new projects.”

In his power point presentation, Gordge criticized the Comp Plan’s current vision statement, which emphasizes sustainable development. He was also critical of the proposed amendments to the Plan that focused on such things as requiring a ‘community focus’ to development, pedestrian sheds in strategic locations, open spaces, public spaces available 24/7, protected green spaces, preservation of local nature, conservation of resources and efficient water management.

Gordge proposed his own vision statement for both the Master Plan and Comp Plan, recommending “a modern infrastructure to accommodate visitors, commerce and a variety of industries with minimal impact upon the natural environment . . .”

After an exercise in which Gordge asked each Councilman to list what they saw as the town’s strengths (people, location, good demographic groups, etc.), weaknesses (Manor, lack of recreation, lack of tax base, etc.), opportunities (improve town’s appearance, recruit health care, improve website, plan for commercial growth and development, etc.), and threats (running out of money, large 18-wheelers continue to use our exit, businesses moving out of the area, etc.), Gordge summed up his own visions of these categories, lamenting what he saw as currently the Town’s greatest weakness, what was to be the crown jewel of the Master Plan – The Doko Manor and Park.

“We needed a success to stir commitment,” Gordge said. “Doko failed. That’s a strong statement.”

At the end of the day, Gordge asked Council members to each give their own prioritization to the goals of the Comp Plan. Councilmen Eddie Baughman, Bob Mangone and Massa ranked economic development as the top priority. Councilman Tom Utroska and Mayor Ross ranked it as second in importance. Utroska ranked land use as the top priority and Mayor J. Michael Ross saw infrastructure as the top priority.

 

WINNSBORO – County Council’s Administration and Finance Committee, chaired by Council Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson and filled out by Marion Robinson (District 5) and Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6), gave approval Monday evening to a laundry list of expenditures to be recommended to full Council at their March 23 meeting.

The Committee gave the OK for the recommendation to purchase a new grader for $153,799, replacing a 12-year-old grader used in maintaining County roads, as well as two replacement dump trucks for the Public Works Department, at a cost of $149,992. A pair of zero-turn lawn mowers, at a cost of $16,050, eight new roll-off containers for $34,463 and a new track hoe for $121,189 were also recommended for purchase for the Solid Waste Department.

The Planning, Building and Zoning Department, if approved by the full Council, will be replacing its 2001 Ford Crown Victoria, 2003 Chevrolet Blazer and 2008 Jeep Liberty with two new Chevrolet Colorado pickup trucks and a full-sized Chevrolet Silverado four-wheel drive. Total cost for the new vehicles, which are slated to be purchased from the state’s system, will run the County $69,238. However, County Administrator Milton Pope said Winnsboro’s local Chevrolet dealer will have the opportunity to match or beat the state’s price.

The Committee also recommended a new contract for landscaping maintenance on several County properties, approving a bid that came in so low as to raise the eyebrows of one Committee member.

“When I look at some of these bids, somebody must have been smoking dope,” Marion Robinson said. “It just blows my mind somebody comes in this far from everybody else.”

The bid in question, which beat out other contenders, was submitted by Asbury Landscaping of Laurens and came in at $34,500 for the year, well under the County’s budgeted $56,136. Robinson confirmed that Pope and his staff had spoken with Asbury’s other clients to confirm their quality of work, yet still was taken aback.

“We met with them, and I believe it was a father and son,” Pope said. “They don’t necessarily just manage (employees); they work. And they’re hungry. Other companies didn’t have any problems with them. Keep in mind, if they don’t perform we can always cancel the contract.”

Asbury will take on landscaping duties at the County Government Complex, the Courthouse, the Midlands Technical College campus, both phases of the Walter Brown Industrial Park and at the spec building at the Fairfield Commerce Center. Pope said that while County employees handle much of the rest of the County’s landscaping tasks, it was more cost effective to privatize that portion of it.

The County Detention Center is also in need of attention, Pope told the Committee, particularly to its 15-year-old roof that is beginning to fail. Pope said leaks have appeared in the building that are having an impact on the jail’s operations. While there are plans to replace the roof in the 2015-2016 budget, an assessment on the roof needs to be done in advance of that work. The project was put out for bid, Pope said, and he recommended (and the Committee approved) Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood, Inc. for the job.

The company, which recently completed a review of projects performed for the County by S2 Engineering, was recommended over two other firms – Davis & Floyd and Mead & Hunt.

“All of them were qualified,” Pope said. “We liked them a little bit better on how they had laid out what they would do, and their pricing on the assessment was less, or in the middle.

“Some of the other companies, the County has done a considerable amount of work with,” Pope added, “and we’re looking to involve some new people.”

Quarry Foes Question Road Paving

WINNSBORO – One week after the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) issued an air quality permit to Winnsboro Crushed Stone, LLC, the company dedicated to breaking ground on a rock quarry on several hundred acres off Rockton Thruway, property owners in the neighborhood made yet another appeal to County Council during the first public comment portion of Council’s Monday night meeting.

“We need ya’ll to stop them,” Clarence Pauling said. “Ya’ll are our last hope. Ya’ll belong to us. Ya’ll don’t belong to the rock quarry; ya’ll belong to us. Ya’ll were assigned to us to protect us from the outsiders that we don’t need to have here.”

Pauling said that while it would be nice to have another industry in Fairfield County, surely the County could attract “an industry that people can actually agree on, that’s not going to kill us in the end.”

The appeals came from as far away as Augusta, Ga., bringing Wayne Mixon to the podium to ask for Council’s help. Mixon said his family owns property near the proposed quarry site and they want some assurances that they and other property owners nearby will be compensated by the company if their properties suffer damage from the mining operations.

Lisa Brandenburg, a local leading opponent of the quarry, said DHEC’s air permit essentially gives the OK to dump dangerous pollution into the surrounding atmosphere.

“One third of every pound of dust is carcinogens,” she said. “They are cancer causing. It is stated in the air permit that has been issued that fugitive dust must be suppressed by water, yet the quarry has not followed up with the Town of Winnsboro to receive water.”

Brandenburg asked Council to inform quarry opponents “of the procedures that will be used should DHEC grant the second permit needed by the quarry to operate.”

Milton Pope, County Administrator, said during his report that even if the company gets all of its necessary permits from DHEC, “they still would have to submit documentation to the County with the land development permit and all other things. Then from a local zoning matter, the County would have to approve several things in order for any operation to occur.”

Brandenburg also told Council that Rockton Thruway, a largely gravel road, had mysteriously shot up the priority list of roads waiting to be paved the County Transportation Commission (CTC).

“Nothing has changed with the land owners in wanting that road paved,” she said. “We haven’t made any requests or anything. And regardless of the reason, it won’t change the definition that it’s still a minor road.”

The CTC, Pope said later, was appointed by the local legislative delegation and manages state funds dedicated to paving county roads. The County, through ordinance, set the criteria by which roads are ranked and scheduled to be paved.

“There have been absolutely no special meetings or discussions about Rockton Thruway,” Pope said, “so where it is on the list is where it is on the list based upon that evaluation. There has been absolutely no communication with us about that.”

Councilman Billy Smith, who represents District 7 in which the proposed quarry would lie, said he recently received a copy of the CTC’s road paving list, which gave Rockton Thruway a lower priority.

“If anybody has any information other than that,” Smith told the quarry opponents, “let me see that and I will contact them and see why there might have been a change or if I received old information.”

 

Councilman Moves to Silence Critics of Other Governments

WINNSBORO – County Council approved several technical changes in its bylaws Monday night, with the lone dissenting vote on two of the items coming from District 7’s Billy Smith, who said that, given a little more time, Council could have come up with a better solution.

The two changes that failed to get a unanimous 6-0 vote (outgoing Councilman Mikel Trapp, who was defeated in the new election for District 3, was absent) involved calling to order and chairing the first meeting of the new year following an election, and the election of officers during the first meeting of the new year.

The previous edition of the bylaws left those duties exclusively in the hands of the chairperson, without regard to the end of his or her term. Chairwoman Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said that the chairmanship officially ends each year at midnight on Dec. 31. Calling the first meeting of the year to order, she said, must then fall to the County Administrator. But Smith found the idea unappealing.

“I’m not in favor of any County Administrator or someone who is employed by the Council to run a public meeting of the Council,” Smith said. “I think that it should be a public official who handles that. I would prefer we do this a different way and not be so hasty in doing this, and we certainly have a little bit of time before we have to do it again.”

Smith said he was under the impression that the Council turned those duties over to its senior member when the new Council was seated just two months ago, but Robinson said it was indeed the Administrator who had performed the task.

Smith voted against the change, as well as the change for the organizational election of the chair and vice chair during the first meeting of the year.

“There again, you do not have an officer who is in a position with the Council to run the meeting and it spells out how we go about electing chair and vice chair,” Robinson said. “As soon as that chair and vice chair are elected then that chair takes over and runs the meeting. This is just a formality in order to have someone who can handle that.”

Smith later reiterated his conviction that only public officials should run public meetings, adding that he thought “there are ways and mechanism by which we could ensure that could be made possible.”

“Would you care to explain what they are?” Councilman Kamau Marcharia asked. “If there’s another way, what are those ways?”

Smith said the proposed bylaws changes had only been in his hands since Friday, which he said was not enough time to explore alternatives. But, he said, he had been told it was done differently elsewhere.

“In other places they do it whereby the old Council would do that first meeting where the new ones would get inaugurated and maybe the senior member that’s left over would preside over the meeting in which the new chairman and vice chairman is elected,” Smith said. “I think we should have taken a little bit more time on that and looked at some other possibilities.”

“I would be interested in learning more about that as you research that,” Marcharia said.

Smith voted with the majority in accepting a policy of signing an official conflict of interest statement before Council members recused themselves from County business in which they may have a conflict, as well as on adopting the formal names of Council’s two new committees (Public Affairs and Policy; and Public Services and Development).

As Council amended their bylaws to add the I-77 Alliance to the list of intergovernmental boards and commissions to which they appoint delegates (the list includes the Central Midlands Council of Governments and the Central S.C. Alliance), Robinson asked Council to further amend the item to allow the chairperson to appoint the public sector delegates. As she placed the motion on the floor herself, Smith went a step further and amended her motion to strike “appoint” and replace it with “serve as.”

Council agreed, 6-0. Private sector delegates will still be appointed by the chairperson.

Items for Committee

Marcharia asked Council to consider closing the floor to public comment that strayed from the County’s turf, or that deviated into unsubstantiated and personal verbal attacks against elected officials serving on other public bodies.

“We have had individuals come before Council, getting exposed to the newspaper and the TV, attacking other elected officials and implying that they are criminals and crooks and that they have stolen money, and this is all not within our purview,” Marcharia said. “If they have an issue with them and we have no jurisdiction over these bodies, I think they should take it to their boards and people who have the right to make a decision about what their complaints are. But to come here and degrade other elected officials and make accusations that are never substantiated and make all kinds of legal accusations, that’s something we should not tolerate.”

Marcharia later told The Voice that he was thinking specifically of the recent request made to Council by Gregrey Ginyard, Mayor of Jenkinsville, for $50,000 in matching grant funds for the completion of a sidewalk in the Western Fairfield town. Marcharia noted that public opposition to Ginyard’s request was accompanied by verbal attacks against Ginyard in his role as president of the Jenkinsville Water Company, with those attacks insinuating that Ginyard had mishandled or misappropriated water company funds.

“I don’t think we should allow people to come in here and degrade people, particularly when they can’t validate what they’re saying,” Marcharia said, who then put his request into a motion.

Councilwoman Mary Lynn Kinley (District 6) seconded the motion, but persuaded Marcharia to reconsider until it could go through committee.

Council also sent to committee a proposed noise ordinance for consideration.

 

BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council at Saturday’s annual retreat, held at The Langford-Nord House in Blythewood, voted on three items that involved expenditures and that were not placed on the agenda for action prior to the meeting.

Council gave the OK to $3,500 from Hospitality funds for a Small Business Forum on April 22; $3,000 for a barbecue dinner for 48 French exchange students and $1,200 for the S.C. Council of Governments to update the Town’s employee handbook.

No Answer on Storm Water

Town Administrator Gary Parker informed Council that the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) had not yet responded to the Town’s request for a waiver on the designation of Blythewood as an MS4 (municipal separate small sewer system.)

“We hope to work with the County on managing that program, which, if Blythewood had to manage its own storm water program, would cost the Town about $50,000 annually,” Parker said.

If the Town can work under the County’s program, the County will staff it and enforce the program’s mandates. Parker said that if the Town has to pay the storm water management program, the Town will pass the cost to the citizens in the form of a 4 mills property tax.

New Budget Format

In preparing for the upcoming budget, Parker said he is changing the budget format to specifically reflect the Town’s needs and to make the budget easier to read and understand. The new format will arrange expenditures by departments (administration, legal and professional, public works, inspections and code enforcement and parks and recreations).

Parker said this would “aid in monitoring the costs of the various Town services” and that he will present a proposed budget at the April Council meeting. The new format will be a precursor, he said, to new municipal accounting and budgeting software he will be asking the Council to purchase.

New Accounting Software

“The Town is currently operating off QuickBooks,” Parker told Council, “which has not been satisfactory for Town staff because the data cannot be accessed in a timely fashion. A municipal operation should be able to access all financial data from staff’s own computers.”

Parker said the new software will facilitate decision making.

“Right now we have to rely on monthly financial reports with weeks-old data for our decision making,” he said.

“(The software) will allow us to prepare an annual budget more quickly and more accurately,” Parker said. “We (will be able to) do account inquiries that help us immediately decide if we should make an expenditure or not.”

Parker said the new software will allow the Town staff to do the payroll and most of the accounting operations, saving the Town possibly tens of thousands of dollars annually. Proposals from software technology companies will be presented to Council at the March 30 meeting.

The next regular Town Council meeting will be March 30, at The Manor.