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RIDGEWAY – A local campground looking to expand their number of units will be able to get water from the Town of Ridgeway, Mayor Charlene Herring reported during Town Council’s March 13 meeting; however, Herring added, she found no available grant dollars to help offset the cost of installing the water lines.

During Council’s Feb. 21 meeting, Chris Curtiss, owner of the Little Cedar Creek Campground on East Peach Road in Ridgeway, asked the Town to provide a 6-inch, 1,250-foot waterline to the campground. Curtiss said he plans to expand his 30-acre campground from 28 units to 58 units and that the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control requires expanded water capacity for the additional 30 units. He said the residents of his campground shop in Ridgeway and that the expansion of the campground could bring considerable economic development to the town.

Last week, Councilman Russ Brown said Curtiss was not asking the Town to pay for the installation of the water lines, but only asking if the Town had the capacity to serve the expanded campground and if the Town could assist in locating grant funds.

“We have the water available,” Herring said. “I could not find any grants, since these are not really permanent homes and not low- to moderate-income people.”

Herring said Curtiss was also looking to add two fire hydrants to the grounds, for which she would have to contact Interim County Administrator Milton Pope.

Softball Season

Will Prioleau, President of the Ridgeway Co-Ed Church Softball League, reported to Council that the league was getting ready to enter its fifth year of play. What began with just four teams has grown to an 11-team league, with games played every Saturday between April and October. Games are played at Rufus Belton Park in Longtown and at the downtown Ridgeway field, on alternating Saturdays.

County Councilman Dwayne Perry (District 1) was on hand at last week’s meeting and told Prioleau and Council that they could count on his support at the County level for the league, in spite of recent criticism levied against Council for how they spend their annual discretionary funds of $3,500 each.

“We’ve kind of been under attack these last couple of months – and for some things rightfully so,” Perry said. “It was put out there that Council members were trying to ‘buy votes’ by supporting different organizations, but I will continue to support the Town of Ridgeway. The softball league is one of the things I really try to support and always have since its inception and I will continue to support that.”

WINNSBORO – Although election season may be a few months from heating up to a full head of steam, this week a candidate emerged to challenge County Council Chairman David Ferguson in District 5. Making his announcement Monday night at the Fairfield County Democratic Convention at the County Courthouse, Eugene Holmes threw his hat into the ring of Fairfield County politics.

Holmes, 79, was born and raised in Washington, D.C., where he worked for the Department of Labor for 27 years before retiring with his wife, Fairfield native Margaret Pauling Holmes, to their Fairfield County home on Charming Circle, where they have lived for the last four years. They have two children and three grandchildren, all in the D.C. area. In addition to working for the federal government, Holmes said he was also a substitute teacher in Maryland and substitutes here in Fairfield County now as well. He also serves as third vice chair of the Fairfield County Democratic Party and is a volunteer worker with the Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

What drew Holmes into the political arena?

“I wasn’t satisfied with the dictatorship-type system we have here with our County Council,” Holmes said. “Citizens don’t have any say at all at County Council meetings. And I’m not happy with the amount of money that isn’t accounted for. There is also a lack of transparency. I want a transparent government, not a dictatorship.”

Holmes said he was also concerned about what he sees as an excessive rate of taxation in Fairfield County.

“If I had realized how high the taxes were in Fairfield County when we were looking to buy a home, we wouldn’t have bought in Fairfield County,” Holmes said.

With the filing deadline not until July, Holmes said he has only just begun to collect signatures on his petition to be included on the November ballot. Potential candidates must collect signatures from at least 5 percent of the registered voters in their respective districts to qualify.

BLYTHEWOOD – Members of Town Council spent the better part of a four-hour work session last week trying to put a fine point on how much the Town has paid for constructing and furnishing the new town park and Doko Manor. It also suggested setting up a reserve fund for repairs and maintenance expenses of the Manor.

According to a report prepared by the Town’s financial consultant, CPA Kem Smith, and presented to the Council by Interim Town Administrator Jim Meggs, the direct costs, so far, to construct the Doko Park and Doko Manor add up to roughly $7.2 million, not the $5.5 million originally planned. And 30 years of interest payments will eventually add another $3 million to the total cost of the park. Additional funding over the $5.5 million came from the $1.5 million sale of the community center.

Smith’s report shows a balance of $100,000 left in the park fund. But the projects that are completed and not yet paid for (rest rooms, sod for the athletic field, irrigation and dumpster enclosures) add up to about $230,000 according to information Meggs said he received from former Town Councilman Paul Moscati who oversaw the work on the park for the Town for the last two years.

“That’s going to leave the Town in the hole about $130,000,” Councilman Bob Mangone said.

Councilman Tom Utroska summed Council’s predicament up by saying, “There is no money left to build any of the other structures initially planned for the park including the amphitheater, spray ground, farmer’s market, activity center/soccer complex, skate park, clock tower, an additional playground area, the final layer of asphalt on the park roads and other amenities.”

Construction of some of these features were dependent on an additional general obligation bond Council initially passed for the park in the summer of 2010, but which was later rescinded by Council after the voters presented a petition calling for a referendum on the bond.

Of the $600,000 paid to Rick McMakin’s Land Plan Group, Inc. for design fees for the park, $130,611.22 was spent for designs for a soccer/recreational complex that never materialized. Smith’s listing of direct costs for the park also included $489,508 for bond issuance costs and legal fees.

Meggs told Council that, beginning in 2013, the Town began making direct transfers that totaled $1,398,100 from the Town’s general fund to the project fund to pay for park features.

“Basically, what we were doing,” Meggs said, “was taking general fund monies and fattening the project fund that would otherwise have drawn its money out of the bond proceeds.”

Massa noted that it was an unusual situation to issue a revenue bond, then set the debt service up with general fund money.

As conversation around the table turned to the over-budget costs of the Manor, Massa, a CPA, lost his cool.

“Oh that’s good!” he said. “We overran a project by 30 percent and lied to the people of Blythewood about it. The original project was promised to cost $5.5 million, then we put in another $1.5 million from the sale of the community center that we thought was going to be used to pay off bonds and do other things.”

Mayor J. Michael Ross, during whose term the manor was constructed (though it was approved by the former Council just weeks before Ross and Councilmen Jeff Branham and Roger Hovis took office), defended the project saying, “However many people come and tell you they are upset that we’ve spent this much, they come to me and say they love the Manor. The people ahead of us built a Manor that turned in to our community center. The park was only $5.5 million from the beginning. The Manor added $2.1 million. If we are over budget, it was that we had a $1.5 million sale of the community center and a $2.1 million Manor was built. If you look at the park alone, how much are we off from the bond and the money we got?”

“We should not have commingled the money (bond and community center sale,)” Massa argued.

Utroska agreed, saying, “It was commingled because the prior group decided they were going to build a $2.1 million building and they only had $1.5 million. Many of the original (structures) planned for the park weren’t built because we used some of that money on the Manor. I argued four years ago against spending $5.5 million on a park. If you look back at documents from 2001, the idea for a nice park in Blythewood was picnic tables and swings. When it’s all said and done, we have the park and Manor and we can’t undo that. Now I’m concerned about the maintenance and operating expenses.”

Massa agreed, saying, “To the people who say (the Manor) is beautiful and lovely, it’s going to be beautiful and lovely for about five years if we don’t have the money to repair and maintain it.”

Mangone accused the former Council of diverting funds to build the Manor and said he thought someone should be held accountable.

“But I’m not ready to throw anybody in jail. We could spend more on legal fees to hold people accountable,” he said, backing down from his threat. “But I think everyone should know (what happened.)” He added, “It was touted, ‘Oh, everything is great,’ and it really wasn’t.”

“The only conclusion we can finally draw until we have the final numbers is that we don’t have any money left (for the park) and will have to take money from somewhere else to finally pay for all this,” Massa lamented.

Utroska added, “And if you add what the Manor is costing us in addition to this, it gets plum scary.”

Massa suggested passing a resolution in the upcoming budget meeting to set aside a percentage of the Town’s Hospitality Tax funds for a reserve for repairs and maintenance.

“Then, right off the top, that (Hospitality Tax) money goes away,” Massa said.

Massa said that means those in the community who traditionally request ‘x’ amount of hospitality funds for events “may get something less than ‘x.’ next time.”

In other business, Council discussed the need to set goals for 2014-15 and the status of filling employment vacancies in the Town Hall. While Council discussed in executive session the hiring of a new town clerk, they did not vote to fill the vacancy. Mangone announced that nine people have applied for the town administrator’s position, but Council continued to be unsure exactly what they are looking for in the position – whether they want someone with both administrative and zoning/planning experience or two separate employees. Mangone asked Council to consider the possibility of helping bring social service and mental health programs to the town. Council members agreed that would be a good idea. The mayor asked Massa to work with the Town’s CPA to come up with a preliminary budget for the next workshop to be held on Tuesday, April 15, starting at 9 a.m.

Blythewood – Town Council and the Mayor’s Park Committee met separately last week to look at ways to cut operating and maintenance costs for the park and Manor. For its part, Council has already raised rental fees for the Manor and is looking to initiate a minimum-use fee of about $35 per hour to cover overhead expenses like heat, air conditioning, electricity, an attendant and other costs to the Town. Any group using table cloths, napkins and other equipment would pay standard charges, and ‘free’ use of the facility would be very limited and would be charged the minimum-use hourly fee.

Councilman Tom Utroska said he has been working closely with the new Director of the Manor, Booth Chilcutt, and that they agree the Town must charge for minimum use of the facility.

“We have costs associated with use,” Utroska said. “It’s not fair that the Town is covering the overhead costs for some groups to use it at no charge.”

According to a list of expenses and revenues provided by former Director Martha Jones last fall, the Town was not only allowing the Richland 2 School District and others to use the Manor for free, but was also sometimes laundering tablecloths and napkins for the groups without recouping the costs. At a recent Town Council meeting, Councilman Bob Massa questioned why Bravo Blythewood was allowed to use the Manor free of charge for 24 play rehearsals when the play was being performed at Westwood High School.

While the District sometimes paid token fees, it has used the Manor free more than other groups and he suggested that, in the future, the District be limited to free use only when that use involves students in certain charitable or educational endeavors and that they pay the minimum-use rate to cover overhead expenses plus the cost of any equipment used. He suggested all other administrative uses by the District, whether during the day or in the evening be paid uses. In all fairness to the District, though, a town official quoted a District official as saying, “We have other places to meet, and we were actually surprised that you’re not charging us to use the Manor.”

“The minimum-use fee will only cover our basic costs, not wear and tear,” Utroska told Council.

Mayor J. Michael Ross said he has asked all Town boards, committees and commissions to begin meeting in the Town Hall planning room instead of the Manor unless they need to accommodate a large audience.

Utroska said the Town is still operating the Manor at a loss and that it has to contribute, on average, about $2,000 per month right now to cover the Manor’s monthly expenses. Massa suggested that Council pass a resolution at the upcoming budget meeting to allocate funds from the Town’s Hospitality tax to fund a reserve.

Jim McLean, chairman of the Mayor’s Park Committee, said the Committee is also considering ways to economize in the park, primarily through energy savings by cutting off every other street light in the park and turning off all walking trail lights after midnight.

“Fairfield Electric has indicated that this is a possibility with a modest investment of about $25 per light to add a cell at the top of the light poles,” McLean said.

The Park Committee’s primary goal, however, is not to find ways to economize in the park, but to prioritize features to be built. While there is no more money in the park’s coffers according to Council, the Park Committee is still hoping to find economical ways to add features that were originally planned.

“We’re looking for better pricing on all the remaining park features,” McLean said. “Plus we’re looking to reduce the size and scope of some features to make them less costly and more attractive to individuals who might want to donate funds to build them.”

Both the Park Committee and Town Council will meet separately again on Tuesday, April 15 at the Town Hall. The Park Committee will meet at 6 p.m. and Council’s meeting is set for 9 a.m. until noon or so. The public is invited to attend both meetings. Call 754-0501 for more information.

WINNSBORO – A plot of land on River Road near Lake Wateree that fell through the County’s rezoning cracks back in 2011 took its first tentative steps toward being returned to its intended use Monday night when County Council passed first reading on an ordinance to reclassify the property to B-1 (limited business district).

The 2.37 acres at 4361 River Road had been rezoned from R-1 (single-family residential) to B-1 in 2004, Interim County Administrator Milton Pope said, and was purchased in August of 2011 by Harry M. Parker Jr. Shortly thereafter, Council began rezoning property across the county as part of its new land management ordinance. When Council approved the new land management ordinance in December of 2011, Parker’s property was reverted back to its original R-1 designation.

“I don’t think the county intended for that to happen,” Pope said. “There were no improvements on the property, so it was looked at as undeveloped and it got picked up with other zoning overlays to restrict commercial zoning development around the lake.”

Winnsboro attorney John Fantry, who represents Parker in the rezoning matter, said he was encouraged to see Council willing to correct an obvious oversight.

“(This ordinance) indicates to me that when a mistake is made, and one that is not intentional, our County government will proceed to move forward with means to correct it,” Fantry said. “I applaud you and I hope we would do that for anyone who finds himself in a similar situation.”

Councilman David Brown (District 7) asked if there were not some safety mechanism that the County could put in place to allow staff or administration to correct similar errors, thereby alleviating the necessity of an aggrieved party having to go through the rezoning process.

“The Planning Commission or either the Planning Department could approve it and let somebody start using it, instead of us slowing an individual down 90 days going through the process,” Brown suggested.

But Pope said that even if a zoning classification is made in error, the County was legally bound to go through the required readings and public hearing process, allowing the public the right to comment on any proposed changes. However, Pope added, any fees associated with applying for rezoning in the event of such an error would be refunded by the County.

Council also gave the OK to replace six vehicles for the Sheriff’s Office, at a cost of $188,511.88. While Pope said that the funds had been budgeted by Council, he noted that the Finance Committee, which had made the recommendation to purchase the vehicles, had also recommended adjusting the budget by $8,511.15 to fill the order. The vehicles were state contract vehicles, Pope said, and were procured through the bidding process.

The purchase of a new control panel for the Detention Center was put on hold, Pope said, after all the bids for the item came back over the $200,000 approved by Council. The panel will have to be re-bid and come back to Council through committee, Pope said.

Pope also informed Council that the architectural/engineering firm of Godwin, Mills & Caywood had been retained to begin inspections on Drawdy Park, where a 50-foot section of retaining wall, constructed by Four Brothers Construction under the supervision of S2 Engineering, collapsed in January. Pope said the firm will inspect other buildings and projects completed by S2 in the county as well. The County will also begin procurement on a scope of work to address safety issues at the Dutchman Creek pedestrian bridge, Pope said.

The County’s $3.5 million recreation plans will officially have some shepherding, as Pope announced the County had retained the services of Kenneth Simmons & Associates (KSA) to act as consultants. KSA will review Council’s master plan of proposed recreation projects to determine costs, maintenance and staffing. Estimates will then be reviewed by Council and plans will be trimmed accordingly, Pope said.