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Tag: Blythewood Town Council

  • Blythewood passes 1st reading on water agreement with Winnsboro

    WINNSBORO – After 20 years, a new 20-year water agreement between Winnsboro and Blythewood is in the final stages. Blythewood town council passed the first of two readings on the agreement Tuesday evening, but not easily.

    After expressing their dismay with Winnsboro water quality and customer service, Councilmen Sloan Griffin and Donald Brock suggested that the agreement, which must be signed by the end of July,  be renegotiated and undergo a major rewrite. They also didn’t like that the agreement had been negotiated by the previous council and mayor before they were elected last November.

    Sloan Griffin said he conducted a poll concerning Winnsboro water customer satisfaction, and that 70 percent of respondents disapproved of Winnsboro water. He also called for competitive water contracts to be presented from both Columbia and Winnsboro before deciding on an agreement. He also suggested that only those council members who receive Winnsboro water should be allowed to vote on the contract. He then went further to call for a referendum by the residents to settle the matter instead of a vote by council.

    After an hour’s discussion, Mayor Bryan Franklin, frustrated, had a few things to say.

    “Unless your poll is scientific, we can’t rely on it,” Franklin said. “Someone could vote 4 or 5 times. And when someone says a council member can’t vote on this or that because they don’t live in a certain neighborhood, etc., that’s ludicrous.

    “And we don’t have to call for a referendum for everything that comes before this body. If that were the case, you just need me, not the council members. I’ll lay out the agenda and let everyone in town vote on everything,” he said.

    “I understand your frustration,” Franklin said, “but that’s not how government works.”

    “And just because we elected two new council members doesn’t mean we throw out the votes and start over,” Franklin said.

    “It’s almost impossible to redo the contract before July,” Franklin said.

    The contract requires a two-year notice of termination.

    Town Attorney Jim Meggs explained that, should the contract terminate, Winnsboro would not have to provide water to Blythewood and that there would be no other place to get water except Columbia, and he said they are not interested in supplying water to Blythewood.

    First reading passed with a 4-1 vote with Sloan Griffin voting nay.

    Town Administrator Brian Cook said there are not a lot of changes from the initial agreement signed between the two towns in July 2000.

    The main changes to the agreement are that Winnsboro will pay a higher franchise fee to Blythewood (up from three percent to five percent); Blythewood (in-town and out-of-town) will receive more favorable rates that are in line with Winnsboro’s in-town and out-of-town rates; and if the franchise is ended, the Town of Winnsboro is to be paid fair market value.

    Other features of the contract call for Blythewood to pay for water hydrants that it orders, Winnsboro to pay for hydrants it orders and developers to pay for hydrants they order. The new contract includes extensions provided in five-year increments.

    The continuation of the agreement is an affirmation of a longstanding relationship between the two towns. It was primarily Winnsboro’s water that jumpstarted economic development in Blythewood in 2,000.

    Until then, Blythewood had no public water service. It was that year that the Ballow administration sought to bring economic development to Blythewood with a hotel – the Comfort Inn. To do that, the town needed water. Lots of water. Ballew turned to Columbia but was unable to negotiate an agreement with the city to supply water to Blythewood.

    Winnsboro was the only water supplier at the time who would agree to extend service to Blythewood. With cooperation from Fairfield Electric Cooperative in building a water tower, Winnsboro water made possible the eventual construction of three hotels that currently contribute between $400,000 and $500,000 in hospitality tax revenue annually to the town’s coffers.

    But in 2014, a severe state-wide drought two years earlier had drained Winnsboro’s reservoirs until there was not enough water to meet Blythewood’s needs. As a result, Winnsboro Town Manager Don Wood signed an agreement with the City of Columbia to temporarily supplement the Blythewood area’s water supply.

    In addition, Ross said at that time that Blythewood had gotten wind that a private company had offered to purchase the Blythewood arm of the water system from Winnsboro. Winnsboro council members said they never entertained such an offer.

     Ross told The Voice shortly afterwards that council feared that they could potentially be at the mercy of private industry and its water rates.

    Blythewood town government abruptly gave Winnsboro a notice of termination [of the water agreement]. Blythewood council signed that notice of termination in April of 2014, effective July of 2016, but the termination never came to fruition since the agreement didn’t actually end until 2020.

    The resolution was a shock to Winnsboro council members who said it came with no warning.

    Termination of the agreement, however, automatically triggers the sale of the system at fair market value, and it was at Blythewood’s behest that Columbia made a $1.4 million offer on Nov. 19, 2014 to purchase Blythewood’s system from Winnsboro.

    But the water contract also mandates arbitration in the event of a dispute between the two parties. While Winnsboro hired a mediator to make their case, Blythewood did not, and the deadline to do so passed.

    Winnsboro, meanwhile, initiated steps in September, 2014 to construct a $12 million pipeline that would allow the town to draw as much as 10 million gallons of water per day from the Broad River.  Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said the Broad River project would make all of Blythewood’s concerns disappear, rendering Blythewood’s move to wriggle out of the agreement moot.

  • Doko Meadows walking trails open; park, Manor, playground, restroom closed

    BLYTHEWOOD – During a two-hour zoomed town council meeting Monday night, council spent an hour discussing whether or not to re-open the park’s walking trail before voting 4-1 to open it. Councilman Larry Griffin voted against.

    At issue was the fact that the trail has been used steadily since it was officially closed by a vote of town council on March 16.

    Councilman Larry Griffin said he was not against the trail being open, but he felt opening it would be an invitation to citizens to use the entire park.

    Mayor Bryan Franklin disagreed.

    “We opened the Farmer’s Market on Wednesday afternoons until November. If we open the walking trail, and then a bunch of kids show up down at the [park’s] rugby field, now they’re violating the governor’s executive order [for social distancing] and they can be prosecuted. So, when you say if the trail’s open, the whole park’s going to be open, that’s not true,” Franklin said. “We are allowing only for the walking trail to be open. But if someone wants to get out of their truck and walk their dog, get back in their truck and go home, to me that’s common sense. They’re doing what the governor has mandated in his executive order. I trust the people to use common sense. But if a crowd gathered in the park and I found out about it, I would call Deputy Kevin Dukes and have him go over there and break the crowd up because they would be violating the law.”

    Councilman Donald Brock said he didn’t believe access could be restricted to just the walking trail.

    Franklin again said that if people are congregating in the park, a law was put in place by the governor that can be enforced to break up crowds. He said separate families have been seen picnicking in the park and people have been using the walking trail, but he doesn’t see that as a violation. But he reiterated that a bunch of people congregating is a violation of the law that is enforceable.

    “Don’t go down this road of ‘We can’t enforce it,’ Franklin said. “If someone steps off the trail, should they go to prison? That’s not what we’re saying. We’re saying, ‘Come out and walk in this public area, walk your dog, walk your kids, push a stroller, and then get in your car and go home. Don’t congregate.’ I think people are using common sense.”

    Franklin suggested the town could install signs stating that the walking trails are open, but the rest of the park, restrooms, playground, Manor and town hall remain closed to the public.

    After making several attempts to call for a vote during the almost-hour-long discussion of the trail closing, Councilman Eddie Baughman made a motion to open the trail only. Even then, there were questions from other council members about whether coronavirus germs might be lurking on areas of the amphitheater that could infect park visitors and whether or not the germs could live on concrete surfaces.

    “The bottom line,” an exasperated Franklin said, “is that many, many public areas are open now that are known as grocery stores where the public congregates. You get my point.” Baughman’s motion passed just before the clock struck 9 p.m

  • Blythewood council zooms into homes

    Now showing on computer screens near you: next meeting zooms April 27 at 7 p.m. The first public meeting is tentatively set for May 14, when the official budget workshop will be held.

    BLYTHEWOOD – In a special called virtual meeting Monday afternoon at 2 p.m., Town Council appeared online via ZOOM to discuss the disposition of ATAX and HTAX funds that Council has already dispersed to organizations for events that, because of the COVID-19 shutdown, have been cancelled.

    During a meeting earlier this year, Council voted to give $20,000 to the South Carolina Diamond Invitational baseball tournament that was to be played April 15-18. 

    “We’ve already given them $16,000 of that money. The tournament has been cancelled now, and I recommend they just keep the money and use it next year,” Mayor Bryan Franklin said.

    “But we don’t know what’s going to happen next year,” Councilman Larry Griffin said. “I suggest they send the money back to the Town [government], and we can make adjustments in the bookkeeping. Then we’ll see what’s going to happen next year. That way we’re protecting the Town’s money.”

    “That sounds reasonable,” Franklin said. “And if they’ve already spent $2,000 of that money, they can account for that on a spread sheet.”

    Rodeo

    Franklin said Buck Coggins had already received $20,000 of a $25,000 HTAX award for the rodeo that was re-scheduled from April 24-25 to November, 2020.  Because the event has been rescheduled, he is being allowed to keep the money for the November event.

    Council will consider funding for other events scheduled in July and August as the event gets closer, Franklin said. One of those events is an LPGA golf tournament arranged by Christie Coggins to be held at Cobblestone Park in August.

    “That event is expected to bring about 50,000 people to town, and she will be requesting HTAX funds for that,” Franklin said.

    Farmers Market Opens

    In other business, council voted to allow the Farmers’ Market to hold its season opening in the park on Wednesday from 4 – 7 p.m.

    Franklin said the market is an essential business just like the state farmer’s market and that the Wednesday event would observe all the governor’s COVID-19 restrictions and guidelines for social distancing – gloves worn, no food vendors and no live bands.

    “It’s no more dangerous than going to the grocery store,” Franklin said.

    Some members expressed an interest in opening up the entire park but, after a half hour discussion about what areas actually makes up the park and whether they should mark off certain areas with police tape, council members voted 5 – 0 to open only the Farmers’ Market.

    Late Fees Waved

    In another 5 – 0 vote, Council waived the late fees on business license renewals until June 1.

    There was also some discussion about waiving ATAX and HTAX payments to Town Hall, but town attorney Jim Meggs said there is a difference between a business license fee and accommodation and hospitality taxes.

    “ATAX and HTAX are actually trust monies collected by the restaurants and hoteliers from the tourists and remitted to the Town [government],”Meggs said. “That’s different from giving relief to our businesses from paying late fees for a business license they have not yet paid for.”

    Town Clerk Melissa Cowen said of the 235 businesses in the town, only a few have not renewed their business license, and that during the COVID-19 shutdown, she has not been charging late fees for late renewals.

    Budget Schedule

    Council voted 5 – 0 on a budget schedule proposed by Town Administrator Brian Cook.

    “In lieu of having our usual public council budget workshop,” Cook said, “I will have one-on-one meetings with each council member at town hall the first week in May. On May 14, we’ll have the official budget workshop where citizens can participate. Then the goal meeting is set for Tuesday, May 26 when we’ll have first reading of the draft,” Cook said. “We’ll have our regular meeting on June 22 for final reading and a public hearing.”

    ZOOM Meetings

    Finally, after an almost three-hour meeting, council voted 5 – 0 to allow the town’s subordinate boards and commissions to meet using ZOOM if they so choose.

    The next meeting will be another ZOOM meeting on Monday, April 27, at 7 p.m. To watch the ZOOM meeting, go to townofblythewoodsc.gov and click on the YouTube icon in the lower left corner of the screen.

  • Blythewood Council closes Manor, park, playground indefinitely

    PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Blythewood town council held an emergency council meeting at 1 p.m., Wednesday, March 18, at Town Hall and voted to:  1) close all town government facilities to the public indefinitely, 2)- lock the doors on town hall to the public (staff may work in office or telework, but will return phone calls and emails),  3)cancel all public government meetings indefinitely

    These changes were to take effect immediately.

    The story below appears in this week’s paper and is a review of the two special called meetings March 12 and March 16 that were held prior to the final emergency meeting on March 18 meeting.

    The Voice will follow up online and in print with more information as it becomes available.

    BLYTHEWOOD – A special town council meeting was called on March 12, to discuss how the town government should move forward with regard to public events in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Council members voted unanimously to go ahead with two events scheduled over the next two days that they said were on course to draw thousands of visitors to Doko Park, pointing out that the two Fests’ attendance numbers could swell over estimates after many other events in the area had been cancelled.

    Four days later, on March 16, after an estimated 2,000 people attended the Doko Rib Fest and Doko Film Fest, Council held a second special called meeting at the Manor and voted to close all town facilities with the exception of town hall until March 31. The park, playground and Manor (that had several scheduled weddings in March) would be closed. Town hall would be open, continuing to provide services. Walk-ins, however, would be discouraged in favor of phone calls and emails. Town hall employees would be allowed to work from home at the discretion of Town Administrator Brian Cook.

    That vote also required all town hall facilities, including the playground, to be professionally cleaned and sanitized after the closing. The playground would be cleaned and sanitized again prior to being reopened to the public.

    There was also some consideration during the March 16 meeting about the possibility of closing town meetings to the public in the future if the COVID-19 crisis worsened and providing live stream video with an option for the public to call or email/text questions to council during the meeting.

    At the prior March 12 meeting, Mayor Brian Franklin said he had some concerns about allowing the Rib Fest and Film Fest to go on in the park. Council had awarded a total of about $20,000 to both events.

    “So we thought it prudent to come together with precautionary measures, learn a little bit about this virus and how it may or may not affect Blythewood and area citizens, but more importantly to alleviate any fears we may have about gatherings,” Franklin said. He said he was following the Governor’s lead in calling on citizens to not cancel their events.

    “I agree that I don’t see the need to have a knee jerk reaction and immediately cancel events,” Councilman Donald Brock said. “I’m the least concerned with the outdoor events. It seems like common sense should prevail. If you’re sick, stay home. Let everyone make their own decisions.”

    Councilman Eddie Baughman agreed. “If you’re sick, stay at home. We’re asking people to just take care of yourself. That’s about all we can do,” Baughman said. “We’re grown adults. We know we can either go or stay at home.”

    Councilman Larry Griffin said he leaned toward erring on the side of caution – to shut the events down.

    “In the beginning I was willing to roll with it, but now I’m torn. Do we want to put ourselves in position to have a rash of COVID-19?”

    Newly elected Councilman Sloan Griffin, Emergency Manager with the Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), was given the lead by Franklin in presenting the health and safety ramifications of leaving open or shutting down the festivals.  Franklin pointed out that, as part of (Sloan) Griffin’s work, he meets with the Governor regularly for COVID-19 updates.

    “We need to follow the heartbeats of the folks around us,” (Sloan) Griffin said. Besides bringing council up to speed on the virus and the constantly changing effect it’s having on the Midlands, (Sloan) Griffin explained DHEC’s strategy in preventing the spread of the virus and encouraged council to follow suit, noting that the Governor, at that time, had encouraged communities to not cancel events.

    At the second special called meeting on March 16, however, council members leaned more quickly toward closing the town’s facilities to all gatherings, including weddings at the Manor.

    “We may turn some brides into bride-zillas,” (Sloan) Griffin said, “but I think we need to close things down for at least two weeks. We need to provide for town hall staff to work at home and take care of their families while we continue to provide their pay and benefits.”

    Council will not meet for its regular monthly meeting on March 23. There will be no town government meetings until further notice.

  • Griffin elected to finish 2-year term on council

    Newly elected town councilman Sloan Griffin, III, left, is congratulated by opponent former councilman Malcolm Gordge, right, and Mayor Bryan Franklin. | Barbara Ball

    BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood voters gave the nod to Sloan Griffin, III in Tuesday night’s special election to fill the two remaining years on the town council seat vacated by Bryan Franklin in November when he was elected mayor.

    With only a 7.06 percent turnout, possibly the lowest in the town’s history, Griffin, with 118 votes squeaked past former town councilman Malcolm Gordge with 103 votes.

    Only 222 of the town’s 3,100 registered voters turned out on an unseasonably warm day. There were 9 absentee votes and one write-in.

    Griffin told The Voice that he is excited to become the voice of the people.

    “People can come to me for anything,” Griffin said. “I just want to serve the people.”

    Griffin said he wanted to commend Gordge on his campaign and said he would welcome Gordge’s advice.

    Gordge served four years on Council and was previously appointed to the town planning commission where he later was elected Chairman. Gordge’s council term was up in November when he decided to run for mayor instead of running for another term on council. Gordge lost to Franklin in the mayoral race.

    Here’s how the precincts voted:

    Blythewood 1 (Cobblestone area) – Griffin, 53 and Gordge, 25

    Blythewood 2 (Boney Road/Lake Ashley area) – Griffin, 33 and Gordge, 28

    Blythewood 3 (Lake Ashley area) – Griffin, 24 and Gordge, 46

    LongCreek (Rimer Pond Road) – Griffin, 1 and Gordge 0

    Ridgeway – Griffin, 1 and Gordge, 1

    Absentee – Griffin, 6 and Gordge, 3

    By the Numbers

    Sloan Griffin 118
    Malcolm Gordge 103
    Write-in 1
    222

  • Council looks at annexation, security, zoning at retreat

    BLYTHEWOOD – The annual town council retreat held Saturday at The Manor focused on annexation, zoning, the farmers market, security for council meetings, the budget and more, including a presentation by Jay Bender, media attorney who represents the S. C. Press Association. Bender discussed ways governments can be more open and achieve transparency by complying with the S.C. Freedom of Information Act.

    Zoning and Land Use

    S.C. media attorney Jay Bender discussed the state’s Freedom of Information Act. | Barbara Ball

    Town administrator Brian Cook opened saying the planning commission will soon begin review the town’s comprehensive land use plan as well as the master plan. He specifically discussed zoning categories – the number of the town’s commercial zoning categories (six) and the number of zoning categories in general which he feels may be excessive for a town Blythewood’s size.

    “While larger municipalities have a need for more zoning categories, I’m not sure a small town like Blythewood needs as many as we have,” Cook told The Voice.

    He said much of the comprehensive plan is outdated and that the planning commission needs to be looking it over as they prepare to work with the Midlands Council of Government or another organization to develop a new comp plan next year for Blythewood.

    “The comp plan is a guide for future zoning,” Cook reminded council members. “We need to know how we want to grow and where we want to grow or not grow. We can be wide open for development; we can be a little more cautious with development or we can put the brakes on development altogether,” Cook said.

    Cook also suggested that the town’s master plan, which was created in March, 2019, be reviewed.

    “It’s a fluid document and we need to update our priorities on a regular basis,” he said.

    Annexation

    Annexation was high on Mayor Bryan Franklin’s campaign list when he ran for office last fall. His goal, he said at a recent town council workshop, is to annex the entire 29016 Blythewood zip code.

    To that end, town attorney Jim Meggs explained to council the three kinds of annexation methods available to the town besides volunteer agreements to annex into the town.

    “Freeholders (any person owning at least 1/10th interest in a parcel) can voluntarily sign a petition to annex into a town,” Meggs said. “A town can aggregate several tracts if those freeholders sign the petition. This can, however, leave holes of unannexed parcels circled by the town.”

    Meggs said legislation is in committee now to allow towns to annex those holes by force if they are less than 25 acres and have been circled by the town for more than five years. This is referred to as the enclave method of annexation.

    “Before annexation of any property can take place, it must be contiguous with the town and it cannot be part of another town,” Meggs said.

    Water Covenant Annexation

    “If the town cannot convince freeholders to annex voluntarily, the town can, if it offers water, use water covenants to bind the freeholder to sign an annexation petition, if present, when that property becomes contiguous with the town,” Meggs said. “That’s not to say, however, that the utility wouldn’t cut your water off [if you didn’t comply],” he added. Meggs said Fort Mill once used that tactic successfully to force annexation of a large swath of properties.

    75 Percent Annexation

    A second annexation method is the 75 percent petition method. If the town wants to annex an area, it must get signatures of freeholders who own at least 75 percent of the total assessed value of the subject properties the town is seeking to annex. With this method, the town is required to specify what services the town will provide the properties when they are annexed. The 75 percent can force the unwilling 25 percent of the properties in the subject area to annex.

    25 Percent Annexation

    If 25 percent of registered electors [not property owners] in a subject area outside of town sign an annexation petition and get certified, there would be an election conducted on the question of whether to be annexed or not, Meggs said. But if a majority of the electors vote in favor of annexing into the town, then the town can annex the territory.

    Under this method, owners of large parcels over 25 acres can opt out. This method was used unsuccessfully last year by the Fairfield County town of Jenkinsville.

    A technical feature of the 25 percent annexation method is that if the election is successful, then 5 percent of the electors of the town can present a petition denying or confirming the annexation.

    Security

    Councilman Donald Brock raised the question of whether council should have security present at all council meetings. He suggested that while there is not a hostile environment at council, he said it was the consensus of those attending a recent municipal institute session that government meetings should hire security to be present during all town meetings. It was suggested that security cover planning commission, board of zoning appeals meetings as well as other meetings.

    “So the question I propose is, does the Town of Blythewood need security at town meetings?” Brock said. “No one would have thought years ago that someone would walk into an elementary school and do what they did. But I’m not trying to instill any sort of fear or angst or nervousness.”

    “I don’t want it to look intimidatng. I don’t want it to look like a Richland County meeting where you try to speak and the police come and get you. That’s not what we do in Blythewood,” Franklin said.

    Franklin said council would further discuss the issue at the next meeting.

    Other issues

    Council also discussed the following:

    • whether to build a farmer’s market building in the park to accommodate not only the market but other events, such as the artist guild’s spring and winter events that required indoor settings.
    • whether to incorporate the use of filming/video, streaming and uploading council meetings to various online platforms,
    • what parameters should be set for determining who should receive A-tax and H-tax funds and how those awarded the funds should handle profits.

    These subjects will be discussed in more detail at future council meetings.

  • Winnsboro, Blythewood reach water agreement

    WINNSBORO – After 20 years, a new water agreement is being finalized between the towns of Winnsboro and Blythewood.

    The Winnsboro town council voted Tuesday evening to pass first reading on a new water service agreement with Blythewood. The second and final vote and public hearing on the agreement will be held at the Feb. 18 meeting.

    Blythewood council will take the first of its two votes on the agreement Feb. 24. 

    The initial agreement between the two towns, finalized July 31, 2000, was set to expire July 31, 2020. The continuation of the agreement is an affirmation of a longstanding relationship between the two towns. It was primarily Winnsboro’s water that jumpstarted economic development in Blythewood.

    Until 2000, Blythewood had no public water service. It was that year that the Ballow administration sought to bring economic development to Blythewood with a hotel – the Comfort Inn. To do that, the town needed water. Lots of water. Ballew turned to Columbia but was unable to negotiate an agreement for the city to supply water to Blythewood.

    Winnsboro was the only water supplier at the time who would agree to extend service to Blythewood. With cooperation from Fairfield Electric Cooperative in building a water tower, Winnsboro water made possible the eventual construction of three hotels that currently contribute between $400,000 and $500,000 in hospitality tax revenue annually to the town’s coffers.

    But during 2014, the Blythewood town government soured on Winnsboro water and abruptly gave Winnsboro notice of termination [of the water agreement].

     “Something different is going to have to be developed between now and July of 2020. A new plan for how we relate to Winnsboro or Columbia with regard to potable water supply and storage  is important and emerging – like tomorrow. It’s an issue for the town and council, Blythewood town attorney Jim Meggs said.

    Then-Mayor J. Michael Ross said at a town council retreat that he recommended, “that our next agreement [with Winnsboro] not last for 20 years.”

    Blythewood council signed that notice of termination in April of 2014, effective July of 2016, but the termination never came to fruition since the agreement didn’t actually end until 2020.

    The issue in 2014 was two-fold. A severe state-wide drought two years earlier had drained Winnsboro’s reservoirs until there was not enough water to meet Blythewood’s needs. As a result, Winnsboro Town Manager Don Wood signed an agreement with the City of Columbia to temporarily supplement the Blythewood area’s water supply.

    In addition, Ross said at that time that Blythewood had gotten wind that a private company had offered to purchase the Blythewood arm of the water system from Winnsboro. Winnsboro council members said they never entertained such an offer.

    The resolution was a shock to Winnsboro council members who said it came with no warning.

    Ross told The Voice shortly afterwards that council feared that they could potentially be at the mercy of private industry and its water rates.

    Termination of the agreement, however, automatically triggers the sale of the system at fair market value, and it was at Blythewood’s behest that Columbia made a $1.4 million offer on Nov. 19, 2014 to purchase Blythewood’s system from Winnsboro.

    But the water contract also mandates arbitration in the event of a dispute between the two parties. While Winnsboro hired a mediator to make their case, Blythewood did not, and the deadline to do so passed.

    Winnsboro, meanwhile, initiated steps in September, 2014 to construct a $12 million pipeline that would allow the town to draw as much as 10 million gallons of water per day from the Broad River.  Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said the Broad River project would make all of Blythewood’s concerns disappear, rendering Blythewood’s move to wriggle out of the agreement moot.

    “Those pumps are now permitted to provide 10 million gallons per day,” Gas, Water and Sewer Director Trip Peake said. Much of that water is earmarked for Fairfield county’s future industrial development.

    “Right now reservoirs are full and over flowing. And if the reservoirs drop in the summer, if there’s no rain, we will still have plenty of water” Peake said.

    In the end, there were few changes to the new contract provided by Winnsboro last month, Blythewood Mayor Bryan Franklin gave the document his blessing.

    “I am confident it will be adopted [by council] on my recommendation,” Franklin wrote to Winnsboro Town Manager Don Wood on Jan. 3.

    The new water contract, agreed to by both Winnsboro and Blythewood, is again a 20-year contract with extensions provided in five year increments.

    The main changes to the agreement are that Winnsboro will pay a higher franchise fee to Blythewood (up from three percent to five percent), Blythewood (in-town and out-of-town) will receive more favorable rates that are in line with Winnsboro’s in-town and out-of town rates, and if the franchise is ended, the Town of Winnsboro is to be paid fair market value. Other features of the contract call for Blythewood to pay for water hydrants that it orders, Winnsboro to pay for hyrants it orders and developers to pay for hydrants they order.

  • Blythewood TC/PC meeting begins with dinner, ends with coffee confrontation

    BLYTHEWOOD – What promised to be an informative though less than riveting review Monday evening of the purposes, responsibilities and processes of the town’s boards and commissions by Town Administrator Brian Cook, ended with a disgruntled former coffee vendor verbally holding the council and planning commission hostage for close to half an hour.

    The evening began with boxed meals brought in for councilmen, commissioners and town hall staff prior to a 6 p.m. joint meeting of council members and planning commissioners.

    Beyer

    It was not until the public comment segment at the end of the public meeting that the fireworks began. That’s when Matt Beyer, owner of Grace Coffee, a former coffee vendor in the town, stepped up to the podium.

    While assuring the panel right off that what he was about to say was not a threat, some at the dias and in the audience, said afterward it appeared to be so.

    “As my dad often said, we can do this the easy way or the hard way – and this is not a threat – but there’s a short version and a long version. I’m prepared to do both,” Beyer told council firmly.

    In an almost 25-minute soliloquy, Beyer tried to convince the panel to reinstate his coffee trailer’s previous grandfathered status in the town. He explained that he is leaving his Lexington location, and the new owners of the former Bits and Pieces business at 208 Main Street would like to have Grace Coffee come back to that location. The owners, according to Town Hall, are Theresa McKenrick and her husband Rich McKenrick who is also a member of the town’s planning commission.

    Beyer initially launched into what he described as the short version of his request, detailing his side of a complex story that was reported in The Voice off and on over two and a half years. The last story printed in February, 2019 after Beyer moved from the grandfathered location in the parking lot of Bits and Pieces at 208 Main Street to a new location on Wilson Blvd. (See Grace Coffee FB post stirs up community and Grace Coffee opens outside town from Nov. 2018. )

    In telling his version of the story, Beyer quoted the town administrator, the Voice, the former and current mayors, planning commissioners, town council members and others to make his case that while he left his grandfathered location, he should be allowed by the town to return to it and continue doing business there.

    But, according to Town Hall, Beyer’s move from the location nullified the grandfather clause. Beyer, however, said his status still stands and he only needs confirmation of that from council.

    “I’m not here today to debate what has already been debated for two years. I’m here seeking affirmation of what has already been determined by the planning commission, the board of architectural review and the former mayor himself,” Beyer said. “I’ve got written documentation of this that I am willing to share if we need to, but for the sake of time – again, easy way, hard way – if council would like to make a motion, a simple memo or a motion to affirm the decision already made to allow us to operate as we once did for two years, we can move on, get home much earlier tonight.”

    Jumping in at one point as Beyer caught his breath, Mayor Brian Franklin tried unsuccessfully to end Beyer’s presentation.

    “You make a good point, but we cannot take action tonight. It’s not on the agenda,” Franklin said. “But we heard what you said.”

    Beyer was undaunted in his quest and continued.

    “Okay, well if there’s no action, then I’m just going to continue,” Beyer said as he proceeded.

    “Uh, you’re pretty much…” Franklin broke in. “We get the point. Is there anything…” Beyer interrupted and forged on.

    “Yes, yes, absolutely, absolutely, and I’ll be brief,” Beyer said as he continued for another 15 minutes to recount events from two years ago as well as his multiple unsuccessful attempts to convince town hall to confirm his side of the issue.

    Eighteen minutes into his speech, Beyer insisted that he was not trying to be difficult.

    “I’ve chosen to keep this issue private for a week, ‘cause I don’t want to do this.” He added after he got no response, “If you want to go to town council we can do this and then all of a sudden, the whole community will know. So I’m here tonight to try to resolve this one last time before it goes public. And I’m just saying there’s a lot of people around here that love our coffee.”

    Asked by The Voice if he is considering a lawsuit against the town on the issue, Beyer said, “no comment.”

    After more than 24 minutes, Beyers ended his plea with, “I’m asking one time that you just affirm. I just need a memo.”

  • Gordge, Griffin announce candidacies

    Filing for Special Election Opens Dec. 6

    BLYTHEWOOD – Filing doesn’t open until noon tomorrow, Dec. 6, for a special election to fill an unexpired town council seat left vacant after Councilman Bryan Franklin was elected mayor, but two have already announced their candidacies publicly.

    Ashley Oaks resident and former councilman Malcolm Gordge and Planning Commissioner Sloan Jarvis Griffin, III, a resident of Cobblestone Park, have both publicly announced their candidacies for the seat.

    Gordge, who served four years on council, was defeated last month in his bid for mayor. Griffin, who ran for council last month, was also defeated in his bid.

    Candidates wishing to run for the two-year unexpired seat have through noon on Dec. 16 to file at Town Hall. Candidates must be qualified, registered voters within the town limits of Blythewood. The filing fee is $5.

    The election is set for Feb. 11, 2020.

    Any person wishing to vote in this election must register no later than Jan. 11, 2020.

    Voting for all precincts will be held at Blythewood Park, 126 Boney Road, between the hours of

    7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Feb. 11, 2020.

    The Town Hall is located at 171 Langford Road, Blythewood. For questions concerning filing, contact Town Clerk Melissa Cowan at 803-754-0501.

    • Gordge
    • Griffin

  • Town books recover from 2018

    BLYTHEWOOD – Gary Bailey, with Love, Bailey Auditors of Laurens, S.C., got to the point rather quickly at council’s meeting Monday night.

    “This is a financial statement audit,” Bailey said, “not an operational audit. We’re not telling you how to run the town. We’re basically just coming in and making sure that the numbers you’re presenting each month are accurate numbers and that you can make decisions based on those numbers.”

    Bailey praised the town for having good internal controls. “We had no findings,” Bailey said. 

    That was not the case last year when Bailey told council that the town’s “books were really in a mess.” This year, the town used an outsourced CPA firm as additional controls after last year’s books were, in the words of the auitor, “really in a mess,” and had to use that firm to bring the town’s books up to the level that they could be audited.

    During the May, 2018 town council meeting, Mayor J. Michael Ross announced that the town’s books were not in order and hadn’t been for some time. He said the town “has not even commenced the annual audit process for the 2016-17 audit.”

    To that end, the town hired the CPA firm of Sheheen, Hancock and Godwin of Camden to bring past year’s books up standard. That audit was presented just seven days before the July 30 deadline when, by state law, the state could begin to withhold state funds from the town.

    “It appears this situation has resulted from management’s failure to properly transition to the new accounting software system which was recommended to this council by professional public administrators who then failed to attain implementation,” Ross stated during the May, 2018 council meeting.

    Ross credited the town’s newly hired administrator, Brian Cook, for detecting the deficiency very early in his service to Blythewood. Cook was hired last February to replace Gary Parker who retired. Assistant administrator Chris Keefer left her position in June.

    Cook said at the time that the town was evaluating how it wants to reconfigure staffing to handle the town’s accounting. He said the 2016 transition from outsourcing the town’s accounting to an in-house system bogged down.

    By the July, 2018 council meeting, however, all appeared to be well.

    “[Sheheen] did an excellent job,” Bailey told council. “After they took hold of your books, we didn’t find any major issues. The town is in a very strong position.”

    Bailey gave the town a stern warning, however, going forward.

    “You can see the alternative of not having a qualified person in place [to do the town’s accounting.] Hiring someone without expertise cost you way more than just outsourcing for a fraction of the time that was needed [to get the books in order],” Bailey said.

    Bailey said Monday evening that the town now uses an outsourced CPA firm as an additional control which, he said, is really good for a small staff.

    This year, Bailey told council the town had zero journal entries which means the town has a nice clean set of books.

    Hitting the highlights of the audit, Bailey said the town’s cash balances in the general fund increased to $1.8 million on June 30, 2019 from $1.2 million the previous year. That about a $600,000 increase in cash.

    “That’s significant,” Bailey said, “because your operating budget in the general fund is about $1.3 million So you have about a 165 percent of your operating budget in reserves. That’s very strong, financially. You have a very strong balance sheet. It’s mainly cash and a little bit of debt.

    “By refinancing their bond last year, council saved the town $113,000 in interest charges in just in one year,” Bailey said.

    “On the revenue side, Bailey said, “the town’s revenue was about the same as last year, but your expenses were down $273,000, so again, $113,000 of that was reduction in interest charges.”

    The town also had a reduction of about $80,000, mainly a reduction in outside services, such as not using the COG sometimes, Bailey said.

    Overall, the general fund had a change in fund balance of about $514,000.

    “You’re revenues were higher than you budgeted and your expenses were lower than expected,” Bailey said.

    The Manor

    “While the Manor hasn’t quite turned a profit yet, the revenues continue to rise. It’s going in the right direction. We do about 30 governmental audits every year in little towns and this is the nicest facility of all,” Bailey said. “It’s a compliment to the town to pull up here.”