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Tag: Blythewood Town Council

  • Blythewood Council tables bond extension

    BLYTHEWOOD – After approving a three-month extension in November on the Holly Bluffs surety bond at the request of developer DR Horton for storm water work, Horton came back to Council on Dec. 19 requesting an additional six-month extension so it could make additional repairs to the storm water facilities (inlet/catch basin) at the same intersection – the corner of Bumble Bee Court and Summers Trace.

    In a letter to Town Hall, Brian Hallman, Land Development Project Manager for DR Horton, stated that the developer had been on track to complete all necessary repairs within the first three-month extension but that other work is now required.

    “Since then, we have learned that Richland County wants us to redesign the intersection of Summers Trace and Bumble Bee Court,” Hallman wrote. “There is an issue with the original design that is causing the intersection to hold water during rain events. We are currently working with our engineers and the county to come up with a design solution to fix this problem.”

    Hallman told Town Hall that he didn’t believe Horton could complete the work by the end of January and asked for an additional six-month extension.

    “We certainly want to see the work completed,” Town Administrator Gary Parker told Council, “and there is no harm to us in extending the time. We will either have to grant another extension of the surety bond or collect the bond amount.”

    However, Michael Criss, the Town’s Planning Consultant, said he would favor another three months instead of six months to help press the developer to finish the project.

    As it turned out, when DR Horton came to the council meeting on Dec. 19, Council discovered that Horton’s paper work was lacking in details about the work to be performed and tabled the item until the next town council meeting which is scheduled for Jan. 22, 2018, at 7 p.m., at Doko Manor.

  • Town nets $187,597 on Doko sale

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council finalized the sale of the Doko Depot property Tuesday evening and issued information that showed the Town had a net income of $187,597 from the sale.

    “From January, 2017 until September, 2017, we were involved in serious discussions with a local restaurateur to purchase the property,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said. “Unfortunately, those negotiations did not come to pass. So we approached a Columbia developer, Wheeler and Wheeler, LLC. After much consideration, Mr. Wheeler came up with a plan as well as prospective tenants and we are in the process of accepting his contract for sale,” Ross said.

    Financial Summary

    The proposed sale price is $325,000 for the building and land underneath and included covenants and restrictions on the current and future uses of the property. While the property is in the Town Center District (TCD), all of the TCD uses are not available to this property.

    The previous Town Council and Administration approved the concept of designating a portion of the Doko Meadows Park as a business park. The first step in development was to attract an upscale restaurant which, Council hoped, would in turn stimulate other private developers to invest and construct office and/or retail in the area.

    The initial plan was to construct a 5,000 square foot building and lease the facility to Sam Kendall’s, a successful restaurant in Camden. Next, the Town approached Fairfield Electric Cooperative and requested assistance through their grant program available through the Utility Tax Credit Program. The Town would borrow the balance needed to complete the building.

    The Town’s received grants totaling $456,881.29 from annual Coop allocations in 2013 and 2014. Santee Cooper loaned the Town $900,000. That brought the project revenue to $1,356,881. While Town staff began pre-construction matters and final negotiations of the lease with Same Kendall that was to cover all costs borne to include the building, improvements and all other costs absorbed by the Town, there were other costs.

    The Town paid $47,286 for architectural and design, $32,000 in attorney fees for the loan and $25,500 for site work. A contractor was selected and was prepared to begin.

    In early 2014, newly elected Town Council members questioned the feasibility of the Town bearing the liability owning the debt and looked to the prospective buyer to do a take out at completion. Negotiations failed, and the Town elected to abandon the project as designed.

    “We repaid the Santee Cooper loan principal as well as the interest payment for the year it held funds,” Ross said. “We paid $900,000 plus the $18,000 interest payment.”

    The Utility Tax Credit assigned to the Town could not be returned without a severe penalty payment. In 2016, Council decided to use the $456,881 to build a spec shell building. A survey of the community concluded that a restaurant would be the most popular choice for the building.

    The size of the building was reduced to meet the new budget. Lyn Rich Construction began work in the early fall of 2016 and the building was completed in late spring, 2017 at a final cost of $397,550.

  • Council decides against refinancing 2010 $5.5 million BFC bond

    BLYTHEWOOD – After suggesting last month that the Town of Blythewood might want to consider taking advantage of advance refunding to refinance its $5.5 million bond issued in 2010 by the Blythewood Facilities Corporation (BFC), attorney Ray Jones of Parker Poe, returned to a Council workshop last week to advise the Town to hold off on the refinancing for now.

    To take advantage of the refinancing, Council would have to pass an ordinance with two readings and a public hearing.

    “To the extent that the market is not with us today, and it appears it will not be with us through the rest of the year, we will have to hit pause because we would not then be able to refinance this debt until June 1, 2018, at the earliest,” Jones said at the workshop.

    Town Administrator Gary Parker explained last month how advance refunding works.

    “It’s a financing technique that allows an issuer to obtain the benefit of lower interest rates when the outstanding bonds are not currently callable. The 2010 bonds are callable at the Town’s option on Sept. 1, 2018, or at any time within 90 days before that date,” Parker said.

    Jones told Council last month that because Congress is considering dropping advance refunding as part of their tax reform law proposal, and because interest rates were lower than they may be  in the summer of 2018 when the 2010 bonds are callable, they might want to act right away.

    “Originally, we were looking at a total savings of about $318,000 to do the advance refunding last month,” Jones said. “The rate estimate at that time was three percent. We certainly thought that was worth coming to talk to you about.”

    While Jones said Whitney Bank now offers two rates – 1) 3.05 percent with a catch; the bank would hold that rate if there are no changes in the tax law and 2) 3.75 percent, a rate the bank would automatically adjust if the tax reform passed. Jones said the 3.75 percent is a more realistic rate.

    “With that rate, however, the Town’s savings from refinancing would shrink by $60,000,” Jones said.

    “By going ahead and passing the refinancing ordinance now,” Jones advised Council, “we’ll be in a position to move when the market is there again.”

    Council will vote on the ordinance at the next council meeting.

  • Blythewood Town Council

    BLYTHEWOOD – Stepping down after four years helping guide the Town, Councilman Tom Utroska was bid farewell by the Mayor, his fellow Council members and many friends who attended the meeting. Next, Blythewood Magistrate Josef Robinson swore in Councilman Larry Griffin for a second term, assisted by his wife Leanora and their grandson, Jordan Frazier. At right, Judge Robinson administered the oath of office to new Councilman Brian Franklin, assisted by his wife Dusty, right, and five of their eight children.

    Utroska and Mayor Ross
    Griffin
    Franklin

  • Town selling Doko shell building to developer

    Doko Depot

    BLYTHEWOOD – Failing after a year and a half to sell the Doko Depot shell building across from Town Hall as a restaurant, Council passed first reading Monday evening to authorize the sale of the building to a developer, Wheeler and Wheeler, LLC of Columbia for $325,000.

    About five years ago, Town Council borrowed $900,000 from Santee Cooper Electric and received a $456,881 grant (free) from Fairfield Electric that had to be spent on economic development or returned.

    The original intent of that Council was to build a restaurant on park property in front of Town Hall (for approximately $1.4 million) and lease it to an established restaurant operator. The loan was to have been repaid from the proceeds of lease payments.

    In the interim, the proposed lessor was unable to obtain a performance guarantee to cover the Town’s expense and the lease was never finalized. As a result, the Town returned $900,000 to Santee Cooper, and a new council voted to construct a smaller, less expensive building with the $325,916 remaining from the $456,881 Fairfield Electric grant.

    But the building could only be used for “economic development” such as an office building, start-up company or restaurant.

    The Town budgeted $410,000 for the new building.

    The winning base bid to build the shell building was $379,850 submitted by Lyn-Rich Contracting Co., Inc. of West Columbia. With options, which Council voted to accept, the bid came to $388,100. Those options included walkways and special fire protection equipment.

    Town Administrator Gary Parker suggested that any costs over the $325,916 could probably be taken from Hospitality Tax revenue.  He said the intent was to recover that revenue with the sale of the shell building.

    When the Town broke ground on construction of the building in September, 2016, The Town’s economic development consultant, Ed Parler, said he expected to begin marketing the building in November and that he expected to have a buyer shortly after the first of 2017.

    While Parler has had several prospects for a restaurant, none have materialized.

    “We’ve been dealing with this for a long time,” Mayor J. Michael Ross told Council, “and we finally have a contract.”

    “Since this company (Wheeler) is a developer, we still don’t know how this property is going to be used. Is that correct?” Councilman Malcolm Gordge asked.

    “As part of the contract, the property is in the Town Center District (TCD) and there are certain activities in the TCD that would not be appropriate for use on that property,” Parler said. “The excluded uses and allowed uses are defined in the contract.

    “Mr. Wheeler has indicated that the clients he is working with seem to be very conforming to the nature of the property’s intended use,” Parler said.

    “If we decide not to go through with this on second reading, can we void the contract?” Councilman Larry Griffin asked.

    “No,” Parler answered.

    But Town Attorney Jim Meggs said that if the ordinance doesn’t get enacted on the second reading, the deal is off.”

    Council voted 5-0 to authorize the mayor to sign the contract.

  • Parker Poe suggests refinancing $5.5 M bond

    BLYTHEWOOD – Attorney Ray Jones of Parker Poe, the Town’s bond consultant for the $5.5 million bond issued by the Blythewood Facilities Corporation in 2010, told Council Monday evening that it might want to take advantage of an opportunity to refinance that bond under advance refunding which, he said, is a financing technique that allows an issuer to obtain the benefit of lower interest rates at a time when the outstanding bonds are not currently callable.

    Jones told Council that because Congress is considering dropping advance refunding as part of their tax reform law proposal, and because interest rates are lower than they may be in the summer of 2018 when the 2010 bonds are callable, they might want to act right away.

    Jones said that under current law, the Town may do an advance refunding now when interest rates are low and possibly lower than in summer of 2018. Projections are, he said, that the Town could save several hundred thousand dollars by doing so.

    Jones said that if the Town does not act now to refinance the bonds, and Congress passes the legislation, the Town would not be able to do an advance refunding until the normal call date time frame, which would be within the 90 days of the Sept. 1 call date.

    “We felt it wise to put the question before Council and are doing so with a first reading of the proposed ordinance on this refinancing,” Town Administrator Gary Park told Council. “If Council agrees, there will be a public hearing and second reading.

    Council voted to pass first reading and has scheduled a special called meeting on Dec. 8 to meet the bond issuance schedule.

    Parker said Jones would be at the meeting to answer questions.

  • Council Rethinks Poe Hire

    Hospital Negotiations Land in County’s Lap

    WINNSBORO (Sept. 15, 2016) – During Monday’s County Council meeting, County Administrator Jason Taylor called members’ attention to a request for action to engage the services of Parker Poe Consulting, LLC for assistance with legal matters relating to Fairfield Memorial Hospital. The issue had been sent forward to Council by the Administration and Finance Committee on Sept. 7.

    At that meeting, attended by Parker Poe attorney Ray Jones and Milton Pope who is on retainer to the County, Taylor reviewed with Committee members Marion Robinson and Carolyn Robinson (Mary Lynn Kinley was not present) the situation – that the hospital is looking to partner with someone who would come in and take over Fairfield Memorial’s services.

    “It appears that the hospital is leaning on us to work up and develop a contract with this third party partner,” Taylor said. “Initially, we had the concept that they were going to take the lead on this, but they asked us where we were in the process. In order for us to move forward, and even if we continue to work with the hospital, which obviously we have to do, I think we need to know what we expect for the millions of dollars the County may contribute toward this new plan.”

    Taylor said that since Council members are not health care experts, they might need to make sure they get this right, legally. He suggested that Council probably does need to hire someone to assist in the legal process.

    “There are things we think we know, but there are probably a lot of questions that we aren’t going to know to ask because, again, we are not experts in health care,” Taylor said.

    Turning to the County Association for guidance, Taylor said they advised looking at how this same kind of thing has unfolded in other areas – Barnwell being an example.

    “I talked to Pickens Williams in Barnwell about their situation,” Taylor said, “and I talked to several legal firms besides Parker Poe.”

    Marion Robinson (District 5) had questions.

    “I guess I’m a little confused. Why, all of a sudden, is this a County contract deal instead of a hospital contract deal,” Robinson asked.

    “I don’t know,” Carolyn Robinson (District 2) said. “It is just the perception of what came down and the information that was passed to us last week when we met. Regardless of what they’re (hospital) doing, we still have to be totally responsible for protecting the interest of the citizens and protecting their funds and going forward and doing the best we can.”

    The committee voted 2-0 to send the issue forward to Council for discussion.

    But a sticking point with some Council members is the fact that Parker Poe’s legal and consultation services will come to more than $25,000, above what is allowed to be approved by the Administrator. According to the County’s Procurement Code, any amount above $25,000 must be subject to sealed bid.

    When the item came up for discussion on Council’s agenda Monday evening, Taylor said new information had come to light. He suggested that before taking action to engage the services of Parker Poe, that Council discuss it further in executive session.

    While Council did not take a vote on the issue following executive session, Councilman Billy Smith (District 7) said after the meeting he was glad Council held off and discussed the issue further.

    “I do think we need to procure legal services in regard to the hospital and continuing to provide health care in Fairfield County,” Smith said. “And we need to go through proper procurement procedures in doing that.”

     

  • Blythewood Town Council Awards Contracts at Special Meeting

    In a special called meeting at Town Hall Monday, Blythewood Town Council voted to award bids for three contracts.

    Land Plan Group South was lowest bidder ($5,500) of three companies vying to rewrite the town’s Tree and Landscape Ordinance. The other two bidders were Sustainable Site ($9,500) and HBG Engineering ($9,700.)

    RABCO, a company owned by Richard A. Branham, the father of Councilman Jeff Branham, was the low bidder, at $25,000, for a contract to clean up the railroad right-of-way in the downtown area from McLean Road, along Highway 21, to a point that is approximately across from the entrance to Blythewood High School.

    While Councilman Branham recused himself from voting to award the bid, he did not submit a written statement at the meeting explaining his recusal nor did he leave the room during the discussion and vote on the matter as required by the state ethics commission. It was also not made clear during the meeting that the Councilman’s father was the low bidder.

    Mayor J. Michael Ross asked Town Administrator John Perry if there was a conflict. Perry and Councilman Branham both said only that the bidder was a relative of Councilman Branham’s.

    When the mayor asked Perry what RABCO stood for, Perry answered that it was the name of the company that submitted the low bid.

    Perry said there were four bidders on the railroad right-of-way clean-up project, but did not disclose who the other three were or the amount of their bids. He did say the bids ranged from $25,000 to $133,000.

    Asked by Councilman Ed Garrison how long the project would take, Perry said “a few months.” He said the goal of the project is to clean, shape and plant the right-of-way to be more attractive.

    Following the meeting, Councilman Branham was asked by The Voice to explain his recusal. Branham said RABCO was the name of his father’s company that won the bid, and that R. A. B. are the initials for his father’s name, Richard Aaron Branham.

    Councilman Branham said he knew nothing about the bid except that Perry had called him sometime during February or March to ask for his father’s phone number because he (Perry) had a project he (Richard Branham) might be interested in bidding.

    A third bid was awarded to SCE&G ($25,600) for lighting  (lamp posts) to be installed along McNulty Road with the wires to be buried underground. Perry said SCE&G was the only bidder.

    Other Council action…

    Council also approved the Park Committee’s recommendation that the fountain in the formal garden and parts of the Sprayground fountain not be built at this time to leave enough money in the initial $5.5 million to pay for two rest room facilities to be located in proximity to the sprayground and children’s park.

    In his remarks, the mayor suggested including one student from Blythewood High School and one from Westwood High School on the Park Committee.

    Following the open meeting, Council voted to go into executive session to discuss negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements. Council discussed the matter but took no action.

    The Council was also scheduled to receive legal advice in executive session relating to a pending, threatened or potential claim, but that item was postponed until a later date because Jim Meggs, the town’s attorney, said Mr. Wren could not be there.  While a specific claim was not mentioned, Michael B. Wren, with the Davidson Morrison and Lindemann law firm of Columbia, is the lead attorney representing the Town of Blythewood in a lawsuit that was brought last December by South Capital Group, Inc. against the Town, Councilman Ed Garrison, Crescent Hills Partners LLC and/or Crescent Partners SRES LLC, which the complaint alleges was formed by Garrison, either individually or with others.

    According to the lawsuit, South Capital Group, Inc. is asking for damages in excess of $10 million.

  • Blythewood Town Council adopts $1.279M budget

    The Blythewood Town Council has adopted a $1,279,000 balanced budget for FY 2012-13 that reflects a $75,000 decrease in staff salaries and benefits, an increase of $20,000 in professional services, a projected overall $98,000 in total operating costs and an increase of $26,000 for economic development.

    The Town will take $45,000 from local Accommodation Taxes and $40,000 from Hospitality Taxes for unidentified special promotions.

    Under the heading of Public Works in the Town Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the administration will take $110,000 from the General Fund to cover some expenses for the Town Park: $50,000 to furnish the Doko Manor, $30,000 to clean up the area along the railroad next to the town park and $30,000 for playground facilities. Nothing was set aside for Community Development (sidewalks, street trees, wayfinding signs, etc.) in the 2012-13 budget.

    The budget projects a $72,000 increase in expenditures for office lease and CAM and an increase of $20,000 in utilities.

    The Town’s rental income, which was $5,000 (from the Community Center) in the FY 2010-11 budget and projected to be $19,000 in the current budget, is projected to increase to $29,000 in the 2012-13 budget.

    The Town is projected to spend $142,000 during FY 2012-13 to help pay back its $5.5 million bond for the Town Park.

    Addressing Council during the Public Hearing portion of the meeting, Cobblestone resident Tom Utroska called on members of Council to reveal their revenue source for almost $2 million of future public services expenses for a fire station, town maintenance facility and Sheriff’s substation.

    “If such expenditures are included in the budget,” Utroska said, “then the proposed revenue sources – taxes, I assume – should also be reflected in the budget so that the general public fully understands your plans.

    “In the past,” Utroska continued, “when I have questioned you about expenditures that I hadn’t been aware that you planned, I was all too often told, ‘well, it was on a spreadsheet or a proposed budget years ago.’

    “Because of that,” he said, “I object to these items being listed in the Town’s budget. Just because something is on a spreadsheet doesn’t mean we’ve been told about it up front.”

    Utroska scolded Council for not posting proposed budget information on the Town’s website prior to the final vote by Council.

    Council also heard a report from the ad hoc baseball committee. Ken Branham, standing in for baseball committee chairman Bob Mangone, said Mangone had met with James Brown, chairman of the Richland County Recreation Commission, and County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson about Blythewood’s immediate and long-term needs for baseball fields. He also said the committee had established communication with the media.

    “We immediately estimate the need for one additional baseball field,” Branham said. “But according to a 2009 report, that will not be adequate to meet our needs.”

    Asked by Councilman Ed Garrison if the number of fields are adequate for the number of kids wanting to play, Councilman Jeff Branham, a member of the committee, said, “A couple of kids were turned away this past season, but there might have been more if the league had properly advertised the registration.”

    Jeff Branham added that the numbers this season were about the same as in 2009.

    Ken Branham said Mangone had visited the schools and other facilities around the town and had a couple of possibilities for new fields. He said it might be possible to build four on property behind Bethel-Hanberry Elementary School. He also suggested property adjacent to the current fields might be acquired for a field.

    The property “is currently an eyesore,” Ken Branham said. “There are some mobile homes in disarray. We’re pursuing what it would take to get that property.”

    Ken Branham also suggested the possibility of using property behind the former Ace Hardware store.

    Ken Branham asked about getting money for the fields listed in the next budget.

    Mayor J. Michael Ross said the Town should not have to fund ball fields.

    “They should be funded by the Richland County Recreation Commission,” Ross said. “All the money that’s been spent on all these other County facilities and Blythewood to still be where it is – something is wrong. That’s where I want us to go to get the money.”

    In other business, Council voted to sign a franchise agreement with Wildwood utilities for sewer services. It also passed a resolution to close Scott Ridge Road and divide the road property between the property owners on either side of the road.

    Council postponed an executive session to discuss ‘the receipt of legal advice relating to a pending, threatened or potential claim.’

    The next regular Town Council meeting will be Monday, July 30. Town Administrator John Perry told Council members that he might call a special meeting early in July to wrap up some contracts.

    Mayor Ross and all members of the Town Council will be attending the annual five-day meeting of the Municipal Association of South Carolina on Hilton Head Island, Wednesday, June 27 – Sunday, July 1.

  • Park Committee: What has $5.5 Million Done?

    The Park Review Committee met Tuesday evening at Blythewood Town hall in yet another attempt to reach a consensus on a recommendation to Town Council regarding what to do about the park construction left over by the last administration.

    During his first town council meeting after being sworn into office Jan. 30, Mayor J. Michael Ross appointed the six-member committee to come up with a recommendation for Town Council at the end of eight weeks (March 26.)

    Tom Utroska, the committee’s chair, has suggested in recent meetings that the committee has gone beyond what the mayor asked the committee to do.

    “I would suggest we do the job we were asked to do – nothing more, nothing less,” Utroska said Tuesday night.

    The agenda called for three questions to be discussed:

    1) Using only the $5.5 million in bond funding, is there a ‘smart’ alternative to the current construction plan?

    2) Are there changes to that plan that would make for a more usable, efficient Park?

    3) When the current contractual work is completed, what will the Town have as a Park?

    Town Councilman Paul Moscati, who serves as the liaison between the Town and contractors, listed at least some of the items that would and would not be included in the park if construction stopped at the $5.5 million mark.

    Included in the $5.5 million price tag, according to Moscati, would be:

    -Doko Manor completed;

    -Some site work in place ;

    -500 linear feet of sidewalk around the Doko Manor (but no other sidewalks);

    -Some landscaping around the Doko Manor;

    -Some drainage provisions for the formal gardens when they are built;

    -The first layer of asphalt on the roads;

    -2-acre lake;

    -Dock on the 2-acre lake;

    -Much of the underground work, including utilities;

    -Temporary grass; and

    -Some gutter work at the entrance.

    Moscati said the following items are not included in the $5.5 million:

    -Fountain in formal gardens;

    -A good bit of the landscaping and irrigation is not included;

    -Enclosures for dumpsters;

    -Arbor;

    -Rest rooms (could be traded for other items included in contract);

    -Ballard lighting for nature walk;

    -Clock tower;

    -Amphitheater;

    -Farmers market;

    -Gates and miscellaneous items at the entrance;

    -Second layer of asphalt on roads;

    -Permanent (competition field) grass; and

    -Sprayground;

    Moscati’s list was not final, but he told the committee that he would have more definitive information in writing at their next meeting on June 19.

    Moscati said there was some allowance money left in the construction contracts that could be combined with various trade-offs to fund such items as a concrete pad for the amphitheater or legs for the clock tower.

    “It was never intended that we stop [building the park] at $5.5 million,” Moscati told the panel. “We always planned to go forward with the park by using the proceeds from the Community Center. We knew $5.5 million would not build this park. To indicate or imply that we would have a park after spending $5.5 million is not accurate. We have a start of a park after $5.5 million.”

    Moscati said the total park had been estimated at $10.9 million and that that figure did not include the Depot or the Adventure Center.

    “We thought that the Town would not have to fund those two items,” he said. “That’s still on the table.”

    “I would like us to move forward,” Moscati told Utroska. “I don’t think we can stop after spending $5.5 million.

    Utroska said he wants to see the total of what is already included in the $5.5 million portion of the park before going forward with more spending plans.

    “We haven’t gotten the information about what we have gotten for the $5.5 million, but we keep talking about what we’re going to spend [on the park] in the future.

    The next meeting of the park committee will be at 6:30 p.m. at the Town Hall on June 19.