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  • Good News for Winnsboro Landmark

    WINNSBORO – Town Council got some encouraging news Tuesday night regarding the fate and future of a beloved Winnsboro landmark.

    Winnsboro attorney Mike Kelly gave Council an update on the renovation of Thespian Hall, former home of The News and Herald Tavern that was destroyed by fire nearly three years ago. Kelly, who now owns the building at 114 E. Washington St., said that he had taken on the purchase and renovation of the Hall with his heart, not his head.

    “I love Winnsboro,” Kelly said, “and I want to try to give back to the community by renovating the Hall.”

    Kelly said that in the last three years he’s spent more than $65,000 on cleanup and repairs and is close to being awarded a Certificate of Occupancy for the Tavern. He said his next step is to renovate the apartment to bring in some revenue. He is also looking into grants through the recently passed Abandoned Buildings Revitalization Act so that he will be able to receive a tax credit for restoring the property.

    Kelly said restoration of the Tavern to its previous elegance should be completed this year. He said as part of the renovation, he would like to turn the Charleston Room into a meeting place for the residents of the community.

    “Other than the clock,” Kelly said, “the Tavern is about the most treasured property in the town.”

    Farmer’s Market

    The Fairfield County Farmer’s Market got a double boost at Tuesday’s Council meeting. First, Council passed final reading on an ordinance to reduce the cost of the annual business license for the market’s vendors from $50 to $15. Second, Mike Mills, representing the Fairfield County Farm Bureau, offered to pay that annual business license fee for up to 35 vendors. Mills said that if the number of vendors increases to more than 35, the Bureau would cover their costs as well. In addition, Mills asked that the Council allow the Bureau:

    • to post a sign at the Market advertising the Bureau a sponsor;

    • place a notice in the newspaper that would advertise the Bureau as a Market sponsor and let potential vendors know the Bureau would pay for their vendor permits; and

    • allow the Bureau to provide informational literature about the Bureau to be given to vendors when they obtain their vendor permits.

    Mills explained that the Farm Bureau’s interest in supporting the market is to serve the agricultural community, both the farmers who sell the produce and those who purchase it. He said the Bureau represents all South Carolina farmers and farm land owners and that the Bureau’s mission is to promote agricultural interests in South Carolina. At the end of the meeting, Council voted to accept the Bureau’s offer.

    Council proposes to amend zoning

    Council also voted to go forward with a zoning amendment that would provide for zoning for the Farmer’s Market within the Town. There is currently no zoning designation for a farmers’ market in the Town limits. The market currently operates on a vacant lot next to the NAPA store, which is not zoned for market use. Town Manager Don Wood explained that the current location is temporary until zoning can be designated for a permanent location for the market.

  • Chemical Leak Cuases Scare at Water Treatment Plant

    WINNSBORO – A chlorine leak Monday afternoon triggered an evacuation at the Town of Winnsboro’s Jackson Creek wastewater treatment plant while a Hazardous Materials (hazmat) team was called in to lock down and clean up the site.

    A spokesperson with the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) said plant personnel were changing out a 1-ton chlorine cylinder tank Monday at the facility, located just off the Highway 321 Bypass North, when the crew noticed that the tank’s valve had sprung a slow leak. The chlorine in the cylinder is in a liquid state, DHEC said, but upon release becomes a gas. No one was reported injured in the incident, which DHEC said was reported to their department at approximately 12:45.

    A hazmat team from Chester was called to the plant, DHEC said, to secure the leak and clear the plant. The Columbia Fire Department also responded to the scene, DHEC said, and members tightened the valve on the leaking tank. Control of the plant was then turned back over to the Town of Winnsboro, DHEC said.

    The Town of Winnsboro said the area was contained quickly and at no point was the public in any danger. DHEC said they were unsure of exactly how much Chlorine was leaked, but called the leak minimal.

  • Electronics Manufacturer to Bring 500 Jobs to Fairfield

    The Perry Ellis building in Winnsboro, future home of Element Electronics.

    WINNSBORO – Element Electronics announced plans Aug. 22 to locate its new flat-screen television production facility in Winnsboro. An overflow crowd spilled out of the County Council chambers Thursday afternoon to hear the news, and they were not disappointed, as the company proclaimed their new venture would bring 500 new jobs to Fairfield County over the next five years. The announcement was made via Internet teleconference from a Wal-Mart economic development conference in Orlando, Fla. by Vlad Kazhdan, vice president of product for Element, and S.C. Governor Nikki Haley. Element, a Minnesota-based company, is a main supplier of electronics to Wal-Mart, as well as Target and QVC.

    Element will locate their production facility at 392 Highway 321 Bypass N., former home of Perry Ellis Menswear. The building has been vacant since 2008. The move represents a shift in Element’s manufacturing from China back to the United States. Kazhdan said Element plans to have the Winnsboro plant up and running in October of this year and in full production in nine months. The move represents a $7.5 million investment for the company.

    Tiffany Harrison, Director of Economic Development for Fairfield County, said typical jobs at Element would pay about $12.50 an hour, on average. Element plans to bring in workers in shifts of 25 beginning in October, Harrison said, with 250 jobs expected in the initial phase of start-up. An additional 250 jobs will be added over the course of five years.

    Some upgrades would be required at the facility, Harrison said, and sources with knowledge of the site told The Voice that the sprinkler system would likely need to be replaced and also noted that there was no air conditioning inside the plant.

    “The building is in good shape, structurally,” Harrison said. “I’m not sure what Element’s needs are, as far as environmental control, but they’ve been through the building with their various contractors, so they know what they need.”

    According to Fairfield County tax records, the building is currently owned by Winnsboro DC, LLC, a Miami, Fla. subsidiary of Perry Ellis with offices in Columbia. Harrison said Element would not own the building initially. Details of when and if Element – or someone else – would acquire the property outright were part of the County’s incentive package, which Harrison said has not yet been finalized. But the deal to get Element into Fairfield County was driven by the presence of a facility that was ready for production.

    “The deal really was building-driven,” Harrison said. “Element was on a fast track. They were actually on track with another state when Gov. Haley invited them to come to South Carolina. The Perry Ellis building was on the list of buildings that would work.”

    The County’s commitment to having facilities ready for companies to move into, Harrison said, was key in bringing Element to Fairfield, and is key for further economic development in the future.

    “County Council has had the vision to do what is necessary, as far as building product,” Harrison said. “Element needed a building and needed to be up and running in a short time frame. Companies have short time frames now and they need to get their product to market as quickly as possible.

    “This is so much more than 500 jobs,” Harrison added. “This opens the door and shows other companies a pathway to being successful. We believe it could have a huge domino effect on economic development in Fairfield County.”

    Terry Vickers, President of the Fairfield County Chamber of Commerce, said the entire county could benefit from the new plant.

    “I think we could see more restaurants come in, more retail – who knows?” Vickers said. “I think the businesses in the county will benefit from the 500 jobs.”

    And, Vickers said, the location of Element in Fairfield makes a much-needed positive statement about future growth.

    “It shows our governor and other state agencies that we do want growth in Fairfield County and we’re able to do what it takes to get development here,” she said. “The partnerships and the people who came together with the County and State to make this happen, that’s what business development is all about.”

    County Councilman David Brown (District 7) said after last week’s announcement that people were already “coming out of the woodwork” to apply for positions with Element, and Harrison said many of the skillsets required for Element are similar to those utilized by former employees of Perry Ellis.

    “With specific training from Element, folks from Fairfield County could be able to move into these jobs,” Harrison said.

    The company will begin hiring for the new positions in the fourth quarter of this year. Anyone interested in job opportunities with the company should visit www.sctechjobs.com at that time.

  • Bland’s Lovely Mistake

    Swan Lake-Iris Gardens in Sumter – there are worse accidents to have.

    It’s not far to Sumter. Just 66 miles, and it’ll only take about 90 minutes. Head toward Camden and make your way to Highway 378 E/US 76 E then make your way on to Sumter. Soon you’ll see the city give way to an accidental delight: Swan Lake-Iris Gardens.

    The accidental garden, referred to by Southern Living as a “lovely mistake,” developed into one of the finest botanical gardens in the United States. It came about as an accident sure enough. In 1927, Hamilton Carr Bland, a local businessman, was developing 30 acres of swamp and landscaping his home with Japanese irises. But the irises just wouldn’t cooperate. After consulting horticulturists, Bland told his gardener to dig up the bulbs and throw them in the swamp. The next spring, the irises exploded into bloom. This “lovely mistake” developed into one of the country’s finest botanical gardens. It’s also the country’s only public park that features all species of swan.

    You’ll see a lot of wildlife here. Black water studded by cypress knees hosts various waterfowl. The only public park in the United States to feature all eight swan species, Swan Lake-Iris Gardens is also home to some of the nation’s most intensive plantings of Japanese iris, which bloom yearly in mid to late May and last until the beginning of June. The garden also boasts many other floral attractions, including colorful camellias, azaleas, day lilies and Japanese magnolias. A Braille Trail enables the sight-impaired to enjoy the scents and sensations of the gardens.

    Here too you’ll find a butterfly garden and a striking sculpture, Grainger McKoy’s “Recovery Wing.” McKoy’s dramatic 18-foot sculpture of stainless steel represents the wing of a pintail duck in flight. According to McKoy, “This wing position is considered the weakest in bird flight, yet in the artist’s eye is the position with the most beauty and grace. All of us are in recovery somewhere in our lives, as is our environment, of which Swan Lake is a unique part.”

    You can walk trails and a boardwalk through the gardens. When you do, keep an eye out for alligators. You’ll see plenty of swans and birds, but remember that feeding them is not permitted.

    A curiosity is the chocolate garden. Established in 2009, it makes for a whimsical addition. Warn the kids that these plants are not really chocolate. No sampling allowed! Edible plants, such as chocolate cherry tomatoes, chocolate corn and chocolate mini bell peppers, all have a chocolate look but alas the kids will be sad to know they still taste like vegetables. The Chocolate Garden also grows flowers with chocolate-colored leaves, or stems, or centers of flowers, as well as chocolate-looking grasses and a chocolate Mimosa tree.

    More than 250,000 people visit the Swan Lake-Iris Gardens each year. Many come from afar. You, though, are close by and you’ll be glad you made the 66-mile drive to this accidental garden. Perhaps you’ve read about the gardens in Southern Living and Better Homes & Gardens. Why not see it up close and personal? It’s less than a day away.

    If You Go …

    • Swan Lake-Iris Gardens,

    Free Admission

    822 West Liberty Street

    Sumter, S.C. 29151

    800-688-4748

    Open daily

    (except holidays)

    7:30 a.m. to dusk

    www.sumtersc.gov/

    swan-lake-iris-gardens.aspx

    Learn more about Tom Poland, a Southern writer, and his work at www.tompoland.net. Email day-trip ideas to him at tompol@earthlink.net.

  • Gospel Event to Aid Lions

    BLYTHEWOOD — Back in 1925, Helen Keller challenged the Lions Clubs to aid the blind and hearing impaired, and they’ve been doing that ever since.

    Sunday, Aug. 25, you have a chance to help the Blythewood Lions Club in that mission by attending the annual Night for Sight and Hearing, from 4-6 p.m. at Doko Manor in Blythewood.

    The evening will feature a good old Gospel sing with three different Gospel groups.

    Leading off will be Rhythm of Praise, led by Donnie Humphries who is a past district governor for the Lions Clubs.

    Candi Cameron of Chester will perform with her singing partner Ron Wyatt, and the evening’s music will be capped off with the appearance of Doug Hudson, a Gospel singer and sax player who just happens to be blind.

    “He’s amazing,” said Barbara Beckham, Blythewood Lions Club secretary and a past district governor of the Lions Club. “The first time I heard Doug, I was at a Christmas dinner with members of the Columbia NE Lions Club. He was singing with the braille sheet music on his lap. As he was singing, his hand was reading the sheet music.”

    “This Sight Night has been a major fundraiser for the past five years for the Lions Clubs,” said Beckham. “This is the first year that we’ve brought it up to the Blythewood area.”

    There will be food, and a silent auction featuring items contributed by local businesses.

    “Performances like Hudson’s sort of brings home the whole purpose of an event like a Night for Sight and Hearing,” Beckham said. And the Lions Clubs do amazing things with the money they raise at such events.

    “We buy glasses and provide hearing aids for people in our local community, and if there is anyone in our community who needs assistance with surgery, we can go through our state office (to help those people),” Beckham said. “Because of the ability of the Lions Club state office to work with eye doctors, surgery centers and anesthesiologists, they can barter down the costs so that every dollar we raise for those surgeries becomes five dollars’ worth of services.”

    “It’s astounding at the actual impact of the dollars,” Beckham said. “I think that’s what the community should see. For every dollar they drop in when the Lions do Candy Day or every dollar they drop in when we’re promoting some event like this, that dollar becomes four more dollars.”

    I can’t think of many other events where you can listen to great music, participate in a silent auction, enjoy great food and, for the price of a $6 ticket, save someone’s sight.

    The Blythewood, NE Columbia and Seven Oaks Lions Clubs are co-sponsoring the event. Tickets are $6 per person and are available from any local Lions Club member, or tickets can be purchased at the door of the Manor the night of the event.

  • Town OK’s Installment Plan for Restaurant

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council voted on Monday night to authorize an installment purchase plan of finance to provide funds for the construction of a restaurant facility across from the front of Town Hall, next to the railroad tracks.

    The ordinance is required by Santee Cooper, who is loaning the Town $900,000 over 10 years at 2 percent interest through its revolving loan fund. Another $500,000 is being loaned to the Town though Fairfield Electric Cooperative. The combined $1.4 million will be paid directly to the Blythewood Facilities Corporation (BFC), which will pay the construction company as the work on the facility progresses. The Town plans to rent the restaurant facility and use the rental revenue to pay back the loan. The BFC was originally established to manage the Town’s repayment of the $5+ million bonds for the park. But, according to Mayor J. Michael Ross, the restaurant account and the park account are separate.

    The ordinance passed Monday night specifies requirements for a security agreement in favor of Santee Cooper for the $900,000 loan. According to the agreement, to finalize the loan the Town has agreed to pledge the following as a source of funds for the installment payments and loan:

    • the revenues generated from a lease of the restaurant;

    • a portion of the Town’s Hospitality and Accommodations Tax revenues (this pledge, however, is subordinate to the pledge of these revenues for the $5+ million debt service the town already owes to the BFC for the park construction);

    • installment purchase revenue bonds (for the restaurant); and

    • any other revenues available to the Town.

    In addition to these stipulations, the ordinance calls for the 1.4 acres designated for the restaurant to be separated from the original park property. Santee Cooper is also requiring, as a source of additional security, that the Town execute a first priority mortgage on the 1.4 acre restaurant property in favor of Santee Cooper.

    In order to acquire the loans for the restaurant facility, the Town has identified the facility as an economic development project for the town.

    In other business, the Council re-initiated the annexation and zoning for a 11.43 acre parcel shown on the Richland County tax map as TMS# 12500-01-02, 12500-01-12 and 12500-01-20 (1232 and 1224 Blythewood Road). The owner of the property is Milton Douglas Broom Jr. The parcel is zoned Community Commercial in Richland County and recommended interim zoning is Community Commercial. This property was annexed and given final zoning during the last couple of months, but is being re-annexed and re-zoned due to wording in the initial ordinances that Town Administrator John Perry said might not be entirely correct.

    A second and final reading was given to Ordinance 2013.012 to establish a final zoning designation of R-20 Low Density Residential for 88.16 acres located on the east side of Blythewood Road and between Fulmer Road and Annie Entzeminger Court. The property is known as Holly Bluff (formerly Summers Trace) and shown on the Richland County tax map as TMS #12500-02-05.

    Council also passed a resolution to authorize the Mayor to accept a bid from Gregory Electric Company, Inc. for the installation of five Electric Vehicle Charging Stations to be provided by the Town, at three business locations in the Town: one at Sharpe Shoppe 1 Exxon, 230 Blythewood Road; two at Comfort Inn, 436 McNulty Road Extension and two at the Holiday Inn Express & Suites, 120 Creech Road.

    The installations are to be completed within 90 days. The winning bid for the three charging stations came in at $21,468.

  • Mystery Lingers Around Dam Breach

    BLYTHEWOOD – Answers to what happened to the dam that held back the now drained Dawson’s Creek Pond continue to be difficult to come by, but now a second witness has come forward claiming to have seen a work crew in the immediate area of the dam just weeks before the Aug. 6 breach.

    Randy Eisenhoward told The Voice last week that he was driving by the dam one afternoon just two weeks before the break and saw two pickup trucks, a flatbed truck and a track hoe parked near the dam. There were several men at the site, Eisenhoward said, and the track hoe was in use, digging “right where the breach occurred,” he said. The pickup trucks were white, he said, and the track hoe standard yellow, but he said he was not able to identify any markings on the vehicles and was therefore not sure whom they represented.

    Eisenhoward’s statement corroborates claims made by Dawson’s Creek resident Carol Peeples, who last week said she, too, had seen a work crew in the area prior to the breach of the dam.

    “I don’t know if it was Richland County, the Department of Transportation or Santee Cooper,” Peeples said last week at a meeting with Mayor J. Michael Ross and Town Administrator John Perry. “But we saw workers in floating machines. Somebody has been out there digging. We need to know who was out there with that large equipment.”

    A spokesperson for the S.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) told The Voice late last week that no one from their department has done any work in the area since 2012. The DOT has also not issued any permits for right-of-way, the spokesperson said, something that would have been required for anyone working in the area.

    “Some folks know they’re supposed to get a permit to work in the right-of-way,” the spokesperson said, “but others do work without getting that permit.”

    The Richland County Ombudsman’s Office confirmed that their Roads and Drainage division was responsible for maintaining the creek, but said detailed records of any work performed would have to be obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Last week The Voice submitted such a request, seeking records of any work in or around the dam performed or approved to be performed by Richland County. As of press time, Richland County had not responded to that request.

    Following the breach, Peeples submitted a request for service to the County’s Roads and Drainage division. A document detailing the County’s discussion of Peeples’ request, generated after the County had examined the remains of the dam, states that the dam had been “dug out . . . This has caused the pond to drain.” But the document also claims that the County has not done any recent work in the area and is not responsible for the disappearance of the pond.

    The 92-year-old pond drained in a matter of hours on Aug. 6 when the dam broke at approximately 9 p.m. and triggered a flash flood that blocked a portion of Highway 21 (Wilson Blvd.). The residents of the Dawson’s Creek community are now living with a view of an empty lake bed, which Peeples and other homeowners say is a health hazard. At the conclusion of last week’s meeting with the Town, Ross said that the Town would push to get the Department of Health and Environmental Control to come out and assess any potential health hazards related to the empty lake bed.

  • Injuries from Last Week’s Car Crash Claim Life of Blackstock Man

    CHESTER – A Blackstock man succumbed to his injuries Friday (Aug. 16), sustained in a one-car accident in Chester County on Aug. 11.

    According to Terry D. Tinker, Chester County Coroner, Paul Wade Stanton, 56, of 3108 Leon Drive in Blackstock, was pronounced dead at Palmetto Richland Hospital at 10:53 a.m. on Aug. 16. Tinker said Stanton died from massive head and spine trauma as a result of his Aug. 11 accident.

    The S.C. Highway Patrol said Stanton was driving a 2006 Ford west on secondary road 75/Old Winnsboro Road, just over a mile south of Great Falls, when he ran off the right side of the road at approximately 7 p.m. Stanton struck a mail box, the Highway Patrol said, then swerved back across the road and ran off the left-hand side, striking a tree. Stanton was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, the Highway Patrol said.

  • Meals on Wheels Seeks Volunteers

    FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield County Council on Aging (FCCOA) is looking for volunteers to help deliver food on their Meals on Wheels routes in the Winnsboro area and in the county.

    “An increase in demand for services means we are now serving more people in the Meals on Wheels program,” said nutrition and volunteer coordinator Brian Garner. “People right here in your community need someone to deliver the meals to them. The commitment isn’t much; it can be as little as an hour once a week.”

    Most routes take no more than one hour to complete.

    There are opportunities to deliver hot meals in the Winnsboro and Ridgeway areas, and opportunities to deliver frozen meals to the more rural areas of the county. These frozen deliveries are only once a week, Garner points out.

    He suggested a group of people in a business or a church or community group can form a driving team and rotate the volunteer delivery opportunity among themselves, meaning that they might only need to give of their time once each month, if a group consisted of at least four people.

    “The time is now and the need is great, and so is the opportunity to help people right in your own community,” Garner said. “Please call me at 803-635-3015 and let me match you up with the volunteer opportunities in the Meals on Wheels program.”

  • FCHS Jamboree Cancelled

    FAIRFIELD — Tonight’s football Jamboree at Fairfield Central High School has been cancelled because of inclement weather. There are no plans to reschedule the event.