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  • Winnsboro receives second $500K for restoration of downtown

    WINNSBORO – When Jason Taylor took the reins as Winnsboro Town Manager in mid-2021, his vision was for Winnsboro to realize its great potential through its five utility companies and restoration of its downtown.

    Over the last two years, much groundwork has been laid for that vision.

    With smart meters being installed for all water, gas and electric customers, a $440,000 grant to help renovate Fortune Springs Park, a $10M grant to improve and expand capacity of the town’s water plant, a joint project with the county to demolish and remove dilapidated and abandoned houses in the town proper as well as in the unincorporated areas of the town, and newly tightened code enforcement ordinances, the vision is unfolding.

    The Town now has options on several empty, dilapidated buildings it hopes to renovate, including the vacant service station adjacent to the post office and a former dry cleaner building across the street from the service station as well as several other vacant buildings on Congress Street. Taylor is also eyeing a site for a downtown splash pad.

    The vacant service station next to the post office. | Martha Ladd

    However, such a vision requires money. Lots of money. With the help of State Representative Annie McDaniel, that money has stated to pour in.

    Last October, McDaniel obtained a South Carolina state budget appropriation of $500,000, specifically for Winnsboro’s downtown revitalization.

    In thanking McDaniel for her work to successfully get the town funding request through the legislature, Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin said those funds would be used to jump start the town’s long-term goal of bringing a vibrant downtown back to Winnsboro.

    Last month, McDaniel secured another $500,000 appropriation from the state, and Taylor plans to apply for a $750,000 CDBG grant.

    “With $1.5 million, we can save some of these old buildings and get them to where they’re move-in ready for someone who wants to put a in restaurant or a retail shop but isn’t necessarily great at rehabbing a hundred-year-old building,” Taylor said. “They may not have the time or the resources to do that.”

    Taylor said he’s been studying examples of other small towns like Camden and Newberry that have found success. Some very small mountain towns, he said, have “caught lightning in a bottle” by attracting the right kinds of restaurants, brewpubs, and boutique venues.

    “We want to see Winnsboro as a vibrant community where people want to come live; where you can walk from your house to a wonderful shop or restaurant on Main Street; and where quality of life is improved for our citizens. We want a downtown that is vibrant, thriving and alive, and where people want to visit and want to live,” Taylor said.

    “The first $500,000 was a great start,” he said. “But a million dollars will have a real impact that people will start to notice.”

    He said about half the buildings in downtown are vacant or actually dilapidated.

    “We’ve pulled maps, looked at every building in town, talked to building owners, and we have a landscape architect  – a downtown redesigner – who’s worked a lot in Charleston, and has a previous relationship with the county. We’re getting some preliminary ideas,” he said.

    Sifting through a pile of maps of downtown on his desk, Taylor talks about how he and council can make the best impact with the money that is now flowing into the Town’s coffers.

    “Streetscapes, which are nice and necessary for a successful restoration, are for now on the back burner. Initially, we need buildings that are viable to support businesses,” Taylor said. “You can put trees and sidewalks in town – and I love doing that kind of stuff – but if the buildings behind those trees and sidewalks are falling down, you haven’t done a whole lot to accomplish your goal. So, I think we need to begin where we can get a return for our money – buildings that are rehabbed and ready to go. But streetscapes are definitely on the drawing board.”

    Taylor said many of the ideas for rehabbing the buildings in the town came out of the two town hall meetings the town government held in the spring.

    Taylor said he would also like to see the back parking lot behind the farmer’s market building rehabbed.

    “As the town improves and businesses move in we will need more parking space and the back lot is an ideal space,” he said. “It could also serve as a great space for certain events. The engineering for the lot is completed and all the building owners except one have granted easement permissions for the areas they own.”

    While Taylor and council have a clear vision of what they would like to see for the town, they want the town’s residents to have the same clear view.

    “A color rendition of how the town could look is in the works,” Taylor said. “I think when that’s completed is when it’s going to start getting exciting.”

  • Winnsboro woman dies in head-on collision

    WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro woman, Ruby Teal, 87, died when a vehicle she was traveling in was involved in a crash Monday.

    The crash occurred about 420 p.m., Monday, July 3 on Rock Bridge Road near Rattlesnake Road.

    A 2020 Lincoln SUV was traveling east on Rock Bridge Road when it crossed center and struck head on the 2002 Volvo in which Teal was a passenger. She died at the scene, according to the SC Highway Patrol.

    The driver of the SUV was transported to Prisma Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

    The driver of the Volvo was transported to an area hospital with severe injuries.

    No other information about the crash is available at press time. The crash remains under investigation by the S.C. Highway Patrol.

  • Great Falls man drowns in Lake Wateree

    WINNSBORO – Marquavious Sanders, 25, was fishing with his family Saturday on Lake Wateree in Ridgeway when he drowned. 

    According to Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill, the Great Falls man went into the lake to retrieve fishing equipment and went under water.

    Hill said Sanders’ family called 911 and bystanders began performing CPR on the man until EMS arrived at the scene. Sanders was taken to the emergency room at MUSC Fairfield Emergency Department where he died, Hill said. 

    The circumstances that led to Sander’s drowning are being investigated by the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office and the Department of Natural Resources. 

    This is the second drowning in Lake Wateree in less than three weeks. A 37-year-old man was reported to be swimming with his family in the lake when he drowned on June 18.

  • Murder on West Peach Road

    FAIRFIELD COUNTY – One man was killed and two others were injured Saturday night after shots were fired during a party on West Peach Road near U.S. Hwy 321 in the Greenbrier section of Fairfield County, according to the sheriff.

    Tyon Dremetrius Byrd, 21, of Winnsboro was taken to an area hospital where he died, Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill said Monday.

    Byrd’s death is being investigated as a murder, according to Fairfield County Sheriff Will Montgomery.

    Around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday July 1, deputies responded to a residence and open lot on West Peach Road in reference to a shooting incident.

    When deputies arrived they learned that two individuals appeared to have suffered multiple gunshot wounds and were transported to area hospitals. Deputies later learned that a third person showed up at an area hospital with what appeared to be gunshot wounds related to the West Peach Road party.

    There is no other available information on the condition of the other two shooting victims.

    An autopsy is scheduled for Byrd with Newberry Pathology on Wednesday, according to Hill.

    The shootings are being investigated by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s office, the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

    “First, our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of these victims as they deal with this tragedy,” Montgomery said. “As we are in the very early stages of this investigation, it is still very fluid and we are limited in what information we can provide at this time.”

    Montgomery asked that anyone who may have information about this incident to contact the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office at 803-635-4141.

    This story was updated on July 5, 2023 at 12:12 p.m.

  • CBS Sunday Morning: Newspapers evolve a new paradigm to survive

    The Voice was featured on CBS Sunday Morning for its work with the The Post and Courier’s Uncovered series.

    The program is moderated by former Dateline news anchor Ted Koppel who, along with a CBS producer and two camera crews, spent two days in Blythewood in March filming and interviewing.

    Watch the segment, which aired on July 2, below.

  • Richland County moving towards paving dirt roads

    COLUMBIA – For years, folks in rural Richland County who chose to live on dirt roads have continued to enjoy that lifestyle so long as 25 percent of the people who live on the road object to the road being paved, according to Chapter 21 of the County’s Dirt Road Paving Ordinance 043-14.

    Last month, however, the county’s interim transportation director, Michael Maloney, asked the County’s Transportation Ad Hoc committee to recommend that County Council amend the Dirt Road Paving ordinance by removing the section in Chapter 21 that allows 25 percent of property owners on the road to decline a road paving project.

    The amendment, Maloney said, would allow the County to proactively pursue and complete the paving of Richland County dirt roads. The amendment could affect more than a hundred dirt roads in Blythewood 29016.

    The requested amendment to the ordinance will shift the priority to the larger number of residents who might request their dirt road to be paved rather than to the lower number of residents who might resist the paving work, according to county officials.

    Kim Murphy who lives on a dirt road and frequently advocates at Richland County Council meetings rejects the county staff’s notion that the majority of people on dirt roads want their roads paved.

    “I think the majority don’t want it paved. If the county feels the majority of people who live on dirt roads want their roads paved, then the county could increase the percentage from 25% to 51% instead of deleting it all together,” Murphy said. “Then, if the majority wants a road paved, those who did not would not be able to get 51% in support of not paving it.  This is a power grab by the county.

    The committee unanimously supported Maloney’s proposed amendment, and sent it to council with a recommendation for approval.

    Committee member Don Weaver, however, questioned the county’s motivation and tactics in achieving their goal to pave the dirt roads.

    “So we take out the 25 percent clause, then what kind of feedback do we get from the owners? Do we just mail out and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to pave your road in 60 days and that’s it?’ Weaver asked. “I understand lessening the requirements for y’all,” Weaver said, “but I’m concerned about the feedback from the residents.”

    “If we’re going to pave the dirt road,” Maloney said, “it would be a lot like we do with the resurfacing. We put out notices of what we’re about to do. This is a capital improvement.”

    Under Weaver’s questioning, Maloney conceded that the department “would be okay with leaving some of that in, like the return receipt. And it does have a time limit of 30 days,” he said, “which is good. But the last sentence, for sure, we would take out that last sentence that creates the denial [of the paving by 25 percent].”

    Maloney said a dirt road is more expensive to maintain than a paved road, citing the cost of personnel and equipment, but did not include other costs associated with maintaining a paved road such as the periodic need for large amounts of materials needed to maintain paved roads.

    He told the committee that he would provide a report comparing those expenses, but did not present such a report at either the first or the second reading by County Council.

    “I can’t believe our council representatives are doing such an about-face. They must not know how valuable dirt roads are to the majority of residents living on them,” Murphy said. “Though I think the current 25 percent clause is best, if they really think the majority want it paved, increase the threshold to 51%, but don’t do away with it completely.  Otherwise, it feels like the County wants unfettered access — for whatever reason — to pave dirt roads and take land for 50 feet of right-of-way.”

    “Why would they think residents would want to trade a slow-speed country dirt road for a high-speed paved road with traffic and potholes that would facilitate the construction of dense housing subdivisions or multi-family developments?” Murphy said.

    Maloney also explained that the ordinance provides for takings of the right of way by the county. He said the county would be able to take roads for paving and “may pay the property owner for the land.”

    When first reading came up for Maloney’s proposed amendment to delete the 25% denial specification, Councilman Jason Branham tried to intervene prior to the vote.

    “I wondered if 50% would help us get more into that principle or that realm of majority rule where, unless more than 50 percent of the homeowners object to it, then the paving should be able to proceed,” Branham suggested.

    Councilman Jason Branham voted against Maloney’s proposal, but the other council members voted for it.

    Branham later asked Maloney if going from 25% to 51% would facilitate more of the projects that are on hold and Maloney said it would add some, but he did not have a number.

    “Once we get past first reading, we can talk about 51%, 75%, 80%…,”Council chair Overture Walker said.

    Not only did Walker not bring it up at second reading, but second reading for the proposal to delete the 25% clause was passed unanimously with almost no discussion. Branham was not present.

    Third and final reading on the proposed amendment is expected to be held July 18 in county council chambers, at which time the vote will be preceded by a public hearing.

    District 2
    District 2
    District 7
    District 7

  • Fairfield WWTP options report sparks call for third party review

    WINNSBORO – The long awaited Technical Analysis of Options report for the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System’s (FJWSS) wastewater treatment system was finally presented in public Tuesday evening during a meeting of the FJWSS’s technical committee.

    The report, compiled by the FJWSS’s contract engineer, Bill Bingham, owner of American Engineering, was intended to provide information that could assist the FJWSS commission in determining the best location to build and discharge a new wastewater treatment plant for Fairfield County. There are two primary options – one would discharge into Cedar Creek; the other would discharge into Broad River.

    Bingham’s report was supposed to analyze the costs and timeline for designing, planning, permitting and constructing each of the two wastewater treatment plant options.

    However, at the end of the hour-and-a-half meeting Tuesday night, there was little consensus as to the accuracy and objectivity of the findings reported in Bingham’s 150+ page tome.

    Several cost estimates over the last two years for the two options placed the Cedar Creek option at around $45 million and 2-1/2 years to construct,  and the Broad River option at anywhere from $75 – $90 million and five to six years to construct.

    Bingham’s report, however, puts the cost of a BNR system discharging into the Broad River option at about the same cost as a higher level of treatment MBR system discharging into Cedar Creek. In one scenario, Bingham said an MBR system discharging into Cedar Creek would cost $41.9 million, and a BNR system discharging into the Broad would cost about $42.3 million, a difference of only about $1 million.

    In another scenario – using larger pipe – Bingham says the Broad River option would actually save about $20 Million over expanding the plant at Big Cedar Creek.

    While the report has been prepared for almost two months, Bingham did not turn it over to the committee until just a few days before the Tuesday night meeting, causing committee members to say they had not had adequate time to study any breakdown of Bingham’s reported costs. 

    While some construction time estimates have put the completion of a wastewater treatment plant at Cedar Creek at 2-1/2 years and the Broad from five to six years, Bingham’s report has the construction time for each plant option at about four years – to be competed in 2027.

    Both Crager and Taylor reminded Bingham that time was of the essence.

    “It is critical to have the plant up and running, as soon as possible, in order to be able take advantage of potential growth, and to insure that the new plant will have the customer base needed to make it self-sufficient,” Taylor said.Committee Chair Kyle Crager, an engineer, and Taylor, both committee members, poked holes in Bingham’s cost estimates, routes for the pipelines and sources of available funding for the water system.

    Both Bingham and the committee accused the other of bias.

    “There is some cost in the connector project that favors the Broad River option,” Crager said of Bingham’s report. “But it does not appear to be reflected in your current draft [report].”

    Crager said that, in his opinion, the report was a bit biased.

    “I think everyone in this room is interested in knowing what the best option is, and we’re hoping to get there,” Crager said. “But, in my opinion, we’re not there yet.”

    Bingham, said several times during the meeting that he was not biased, but had been instructed two years ago by the previous council to build a plant that would discharge into the Broad.

    “That was my instructions,” Bingham said. “I was told to go to the Broad.”

    Taylor said engineering and facts should drive the decision of where to take the discharge, not politics.

    “Maybe we could have a third party, non-biased person, not someone looking to get future work, to just give an assessment, evaluate the facts, what’s been studied so far, with politics set aside.”

    Crager agreed that an objective, non-local should be considered. He said a qualified person shouldn’t take more than three to four weeks to review Bingham’s report.

    Asked by Crager where the committee wanted to go from here, Johnson leaned toward sticking with Bingham.

    “We’ve spent $1.8 million and here we’re saying, ‘Let’s go another route and get somebody else.’ But the county has to pay the bill,” Johnson said. “Are we doubting him [Bingham]? We don’t need to keep coming up with other avenues.”

    The committee voted 4-0 to recommend to the FJWSS board to seek out a third party to help them determine the best location to build and discharge a new wastewater treatment plant for Fairfield County, including a cost/time analysis for constructing the facility.

    The FJWSS will next meet on Tuesday, June 27, at the Midlands Tech campus in Winnsboro.

    Bingham’s complete report can be found here or downloaded below.

    FJWSS_Technical_Analysis_Final_DraftDownload

  • Winnsboro man drowns in Lake Wateree

    WINNSBORO – A Winnsboro man drowned in Lake Wateree on Sunday, June 18, around 3:15 pm, according to the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office. Coroner officials responded to the scene of the drowning that occurred in Ridgeway.

    According to Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill, 37-year-old Johnny Mack Simmons, of Winnsboro, was swimming in the lake with his family when he went under water and did not resurface. Family members called 911 and multiple Fairfield County agencies responded to attempt to locate Simmons.

    Simmons was located approximately an hour and a half later. He was transported to the Fairfield County Coroner’s Office to await an autopsy that is scheduled for this week.

    The circumstances and events that led to the accident are under investigation by Fairfield County Coroner’s Office and South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

  • Lawrence named Chief of WDPS

    Gadsen Promoted to Deputy Chief

    Winnsboro Police Chief Kevin Lawrence and Deputy Chief Oren Gadsen | Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – Two of Winnsboro’s finest have officially been named Chief and Deputy Chief of the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety.

    Kevin Lawrence was sworn in last September as Interim Chief of WDPS, and last month he was elevated to Chief. Veteran Fairfield deputy Oren Gadson was named Deputy Chief.

    Lawrence, 40, studied criminal justice at Charleston Southern University and is a 19-year veteran of law enforcement. 

    Prior to being hired by Winnsboro, Lawrence spent two years as an investigator with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department. Prior to that, he served a short time as a deputy in Aiken, where he grew up and began his law enforcement career.

    Lawrence previously worked for 12 years as a deputy with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Leon Lott in Columbia, serving in numerous law enforcement areas, including the Community Action Team, the burglary suppression team, on the narcotics team, as a public information officer, and in drug enforcement.

    From 2016 to 2018, Lawrence was a popular deputy on the cop show, LIVE PD.

    After two years on the show, Lawrence worked in the criminal investigation division of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department before coming to Fairfield County.

    “Kevin came highly recommended, and I felt his background in all levels of law enforcement made him well prepared to take on the challenges of some of Winnsboro’s crime issues, particularly the drive-by shootings our Town was experiencing at the time,” Town Manager Jason Taylor said.

    Taylor said he is pleased with the progress in the department since Lawrence took over.

    “Kevin has brought new vitality to the WDPS. He has demonstrated himself well. The department has greatly improved and has been more active in drug and traffic enforcement,” Taylor said. “I am pleased.”

    Gadsen Named Deputy Chief

    Oren Gadsen, who grew up in Fairfield County, worked 29 years in law enforcement, before being named Deputy Chief of the WDPS last month. He has served in the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department, the Chester Police Department, the Fairfield County Detention Center and the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety.

    In addition to his experience working in criminal investigation, undercover drug investigation, field training and other areas of law enforcement, Gadsen is also a certified firefighter.

    Lawrence says Gadsen completes what he calls his great team.

    “He not only has the law enforcement credentials for the job, but he grew up in Fairfield County and knows everybody,” Lawrence said. “That’s important to our work. He’s been doing this job in Fairfield County long before I came here and he provides a wealth of knowledge.”

    Lawrence said he’s proud of the team he’s put together in Winnsboro. Quickly establishing priorities for his department, Lawrence said he wants his officers to not just enforce the laws of the town but he wants them to talk to and get to know the people they meet every day.

    “One of our main jobs as officers is to brighten someone’s day,” he said.

    “As Chief, I’m only going to be as strong as my team, and I’ll put the team we now have in place up against anybody’s. I knew that to be successful in this job, I would have to have the right people around me,” he said. “We have that team.” 

  • Superintendent Green announces retirement from FCSD

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Schools Superintendent Dr. J.R. Green has announced that he will retire at some point during the next school year.

    He made the announcement Wednesday evening.

    Green

    Green has served the Fairfield County School District for 11 years. During his tenure, he guided the construction of a new career center and launched a dual enrollment for high school students that would allow them to graduate high school with an associate’s degree from Midlands Tech.

    “I’m at the point now where I have done with what I’ve been charged with doing here,” Green told WLTX-TV news.

    He said he will stay here long enough to help the district through the transition to a new superintendent. He said he is writing a book and plans to do some consulting with other districts.