BLYTHEWOOD – In preparation for the upcoming Fairfield
Electric Coop’s annual meeting, the Board of Trustees met March 28 to
discussing discontinuing the health/life/dental benefit package for new Trustees
beginning with the May 20 election. The vote to do so was unanimous.
The package, valued at about $19,000, has always been free
to Trustees, except for paying the taxes for the value of the benefit. According
to a Trustee who was present at the meeting, only three Trustees currently take
the package and will be allowed to continue to do so, but most have other
insurance benefits available. That Trustee said the discontinuance of the
benefit will be a big savings for the Coop.
On April 11, the Board held a special called meeting to
discuss the disqualification of Larry Sharpe, Jr. who was nominated on March 14
for an at-large Trustee position.
Sharpe was running against Tim Hopkins of Lugoff who
currently holds the at-large seat.
According to the Board minutes, Hopkins recused himself from
the discussion and the vote which was unanimous.
At issue was the eligibility requirements for Trustees,
according to attorney Jay Bender who presented information on the issue.
Act 56 of the 2019-20 General Assembly, Bender said,
prohibits Trustees from having a business relationship with the cooperative
separate from membership in the cooperative. The Coop’s bylaws also prohibit a
“direct business relationship,” between a Trustee and the cooperative.
Bender said Sharpe, Jr. is associated with Blythewood Oil
Co., and as recently as March of this year had met with cooperative employees
to discuss fuel purchasing procedures.
Over the past 25 months, Bender said Blythewood Oil has
received payment from the Cooperative of more than $10,000 per month for
purchases. Bender added that the company has received in excess of $1 million
over the past five years.
The context of Act 56, Bender noted, is to eliminate
self-dealing between cooperatives and the trustees of the cooperatives.
Others nominated for the May 20 election of Trustees include
incumbent Keith Lewis (Dist 1); incumbent Cynthia Able and first-time nominee
Dan Ruff (Dist 2); incumbent Mitch Rabon (Dist 3); incumbent Tim Hopkins
(at-large); and new nominee Bruce Honecutt (Dist 9).
COLUMBIA – Central Electric Cooperative’s efforts to consolidate power could cause “irreparable harm” to the state’s regional co-ops that provide electricity to millions of South Carolina customers, according to a lawsuit recently filed by Fairfield Electric Cooperative, headquartered in Blythewood.
The suit alleges that Central is close to enacting a 10-year
master plan that would further bind member co-ops, including Fairfield Electric
Cooperative, to Central.
Essentially, it would further strip locally run co-ops of
local control by requiring them to align with Central’s governance structure
and policy making.
“This is an action for a declaration that Central’s
governance structure violates the basic edicts of South Carolina’s
well-established law on the duties owed by trustees or corporate offices of an
organization,” the suit states.
“The conflicts arising from Central’s governance structure
cannot be rectified with the laws of our state, and the conflicts force its
trustees or corporate officers to choose with whom their allegiance lies,” the
suit continues.
Fairfield Electric has also asked a judge for an injunction
that would prevent Central from enacting the master plan while the case is
pending.
Central had not filed an official response as of press time.
John Tiencken, general counsel for Central, said in a
statement that the cooperative does plan to respond and that it strongly
disagrees with assertions in the Fairfield Electric suit.
“For over 70 years, Central has operated on the idea that
electric cooperatives in South Carolina can work together to buy power and
build electric transmission,” Tiencken’s statement said. “This lawsuit
challenges that idea.
“Central, and organizations like it all over the country, are simply membership organizations, which do what the membership directs,” the statement continues. “On occasion a member may not agree with the direction that other members want to go, but, as in all democratic organizations, the majority decide the outcome.”
Fairfield Electric filed the suit Dec. 15 in Richland County
Circuit Court.
It’s at least the second such suit a S.C. co-op has filed
against Central. Marlboro County Co-op has sued Central in federal court,
citing similar governance issues, court documents show.
Fairfield Electric is one of 20 S.C. co-ops that belong to
Central as member-owners. Central’s board consists of two delegates from each
of the co-ops.
Co-ops, the suit notes, provide electricity to small towns
and rural residents, accounting for one-third of the state’s total population.
According to the suit, Central’s bylaws already require
trustees to discharge their duties “in a manner the Trustee reasonably believes
to be in [Central’s] best interests.” This provision poses conflict of interest
issues for trustees whose duties to their co-op may differ from Central’s, the
suit says.
“Representatives of Central have consistently reminded
Trustees that they must discharge their duties with only Central’s best
interests in mind,” the suit states. “Trustees have been told to ignore what
they believe to be in their best interest of their member cooperative and to
vote in manners consistent with what they believe to be in the best interest of
Central.”
The proposed master plan referenced in the suit goes
further. It would “restrict its member cooperatives from certain opt out
provisions regarding new power generation.”
The suit describes Central currently as a “middleman,”
serving as a wholesale generation and transmission electric cooperative that
contracts with Duke Energy, Santee Cooper and other large providers to fulfill
electricity demands of members.
Now Central is seeking to transition itself into a “fully
operational generation and transmission cooperative,” the suit states.
“Central Electric may opt out of Santee Cooper with new generation purchases by changing to a new business model that will allow them to generate or obtain power from other sources,” Fairfield Electric’s Board Chair Mitch Rabon said. “The new plan will not allow the Co-ops, including Fairfield Electric, to exercise similar options for wholesale power purchases. It will continue to restrict the Co-ops from purchasing other generation from other sources even if the cost would be lower for the members of Fairfield Electric.
The new plan will not allow Fairfield Electric to exercise similar options for lower priced wholesale power purchases.
Mitch Rabon, Fairfield Electric Cooperative Board Chair
“The Board of Fairfield
Electric is requesting governance changes at Central Electric that will
allow our members to exercise other supply options when the interest of Central
Electric do not align with the best interest of our Co-op,” Rabon said.
“Our primary responsibility to our members is to provide
safe, reliable power at a reasonable cost.” he said.
In 2019, Central generated over $1.34 billion in revenue,
according to the co-op’s most recent federal tax return.
The suit seeks a declaration that Central’s trustees should
be allowed to discharge their duties in the best interests of their respective
regional cooperative, even if doing so conflicts with Central’s best interests.
In addition, the suit seeks a declaration that Central’s
governance structure violates state law. The suit seeks legal fees and other
unspecified relief as well.
A deadline of July 13, 2022 has been set to complete
mediation.
BLYTHEWOOD – A candidate recently seeking election to a seat
on the board of trustees of Fairfield Electric Cooperative has filed a protest
with the Cooperative claiming, among other things, that Cooperative employees
interfered with the five-day election process in violation of the board’s
bylaws in an effort to unfairly benefit three of the candidates: Joe Sharpe,
Johnny Roberts and Gen Palmer.
The protest was filed on Wednesday, May 26, 2021, by
candidate Ronald Friday.
Incumbents Sharpe (District 2) and Roberts (District 1),
both longtime board members, won their seats over challengers Ronald Friday and
Eddie Branham, respectively. Palmer was defeated in District 3 by Mike Good
whose late father had held the seat for almost 70 years.
Friday filed the protest within the specified three-day
period following the annual meeting and the announcement of the new board
members.
Friday stated that all six candidates were given documents
outlining the policies and procedures for the election prior to campaigning,
including a map of where candidates were to set up tents along the path of the
drive-thru voters.
The designated area for candidates was outside a gated
fence, at least 200 feet from the polling place.
In one of four separate incidents that Friday said were
interferences by employees, he described how, upon his arrival at the campaign
area at the Cooperative’s Winnsboro office, at a 5:45 on the morning of May 20,
the gate to the voting/registration area was unlocked and open, and the
campaign tents and posted signs of both incumbents, Sharpe and Roberts, as well
as that of Palmer, were already set up inside the fence, far ahead of the other
three candidates. Friday, Branham and Good were set up in the areas designated
for candidates. Friday said Sharpe, Roberts and Palmer were set up within
200-feet of the entrance to the voting area.
Friday said he learned later that morning that the gate was
unlocked sometime in the night prior to his arrival by a high level employee of
the Cooperative to allow the three candidates, Sharpe, Roberts and Palmer to
set up their tents and post campaign signs inside the gate – all in violation
of the Cooperative’s Policy Bulletin No. 31 for board campaigns, Friday said.
Policy 31-2-D states: “A candidate for the board may not
distribute any type of campaign literature or place any political posters
within 200 feet of any entrance used by the voters to enter the polling place
on a Cooperative election date.
Policy 31-2-I states: “In the conduct of the annual election
of trustees, any member or district information provided to an incumbent
trustee for use in campaigning for the board of trustees must be provided to
all candidates for the board of trustees on the same terms and conditions.”
Friday told The Voice that did not happen, that all
candidates were not afforded the same advantages and privileges as the
incumbents and Palmer.
“The Co-op officials clearly intended to and did give
preferential treatment to Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Palmer in this and in
other ways, and in clear violation of the Cooperative’s election rules, bylaws
and instructions given in writing to the candidates,” Friday said.
A spokesperson for the Cooperative did not return a phone
call from The Voice; however, he did provide The Voice with certain requested
documents: the bylaws, information about the Cooperative’s Credentials and
Election Committee (who oversaw the election and will conduct the hearing) and
provided copies of policies and procedures for filing a protest.
According to those documents, when an election protest is
filed, the Cooperative’s Credentials and Election Committee must, within seven
days, set a date for a public hearing on the matter.
That public hearing has been set for Friday, June 18, 2021,
at 1 p.m., in the community room of the Blythewood office of Fairfield Electric
Cooperative located at 701 Blythewood Road.
Friday will be represented at the hearing by Charleston Attorney Thomas S. Tisdale. The Cooperative has also retained outside council to represent them at the hearing. The meeting will be open to the public.
Fairfield Electric Co-op Vice President Doug Payne presents grand prize winner Nathaniel Owens, Jr. of Winnsboro with the keys to a 2013 Chevrolet Impala. | Photos: Barbara Ball
Co-op CEO Bruce Bacon
BLYTHEWOOD – A record number of voters – almost 4,000 – returned two longtime trustees to their seats on the Fairfield Electric Co-op board. Mike Good of Great Falls was elected to the seat his father John Good held for more than 60 years.
The voting lasted for five days in four locations – Chester,
Lugoff, Blythewood and Winnsboro. During the drive-thru voting, members also
received folding bag chairs.
Door prizes ranging from $50 gift cards to a 2013 Chevrolet Impala were awarded through a drawing prior to the annual board meeting following the election.
Co-op Awards:
Grand Prize 2013 Chevrolet Impala; Nathaniel Owens; Winnsboro Husqvarna 42-inch Riding Lawn Mower; Vivian H. Jacobs; Great Falls $500 Credit on Electric Bill; Booker T. Rice; Blackstock $100 Visa Gift Card; Delores Rose Nelson; Elgin $200 Credit on Electric Bill; Edward H. Mills; Blackstock $100 Credit on Electric Bill; Al Crocker; Elgin $100 Visa Gift Card; Kay K. Jackson; Blythewood $50 Visa Gift Card; Bruce Neal; Blythewood $200 Credit on Electric Bill; H. Harvey; Lugoff $50 Credit on Electric Bill; John Brown, Ill.; Elgin $100 Visa Gift Card; Keenan Price; Lugoff $50 Visa Gift Card; Raymond Coad; Blair $200 Credit on Electric Bill; Jerome McFadden; Blythewood $50 Credit on Electric Bill; Edith Evans; Blythewood $100 Visa Gift Card; Kurt & Nancy Bischofberger; Elgin $100 Visa Gift Card; William L. Hart; Blythewood $100 Credit on Electric Bill; David Nesbitt, Blythewood $50 Credit on Electric Bill; Alvetta Brice; Winnsboro $100 Visa Gift Card; Daniel Timms; Winnsboro $50 Visa Gift Card; Addie W. Suber; Blair $200 Credit on Electric Bill; Joseph Bukowski; Lugoff $50 Credit on Electric Bill; Gary Cook; Elgin $100 Visa Gift Card; Crystal Jefferson; Chester $50 Visa Gift Card; Darryl Leon Twiggs; Elgin $200 Credit on Electric Bill; Thomas A. Haff; Lugoff $50 Credit on Electric Bill; Anthony Jackson; Winnsboro $100 Credit on Electric Bill; James C. Gaston; Blackstock $50 Credit on Electric Bill; Georgeann Doucette; Blythewood $100 Visa Gift Card; Mike Roberts; Lugoff $50 Visa Gift Card; Brook Grant; Lugoff Yeti Cooler; Larry E. Hyatt; Blackstock Yeti Cooler; Don Silvia; Winnsboro $50 Lowes Gift Card; Samuel A. Clowney; Rock Hill $50 Lowes Gift Card; Tenika Montau Watkins; Winnsboro $50 Lowes Gift Card; Reginald Poag; Blackstock $50 Lowes Gift Card; Jennifer B. Richardson; Lugoff
BLYTHEWOOD/WINNSBORO– For the second year in a row, the election of Fairfield Electric Cooperative board members and the annual meeting will be a drive-thru affair. But that’s not expected to dampen member voters from showing up.
Until last year, the draw for the annual meeting has been
popular giveaways: – a free used car, lawn mowers, free electricity, various
$50 – $200 gift cards and a nice door prize for everyone who attends. But this
year, like last, it’s a peaked interest in who gets elected to the co-op’s
board that is more likely to bring out the crowds.
After the public became aware three years ago that board
members had extended a nearly $1.8 million golden parachute to its former CEO,
William Hart, their interest in the elections grew. Two candidates campaigned
against the posh pensions and cozy compensation packages provided board members
and CEO’s in the past. Both candidates prevailed by good margins over the
incumbents.
In 2017, Hart’s final full year with the co-op, he received
$520,353 in total compensation, according to the co-op’s federal tax return.
The 2018 tax return pegged Hart’s total compensation at $2,123,633. According to one board member, the IRS fined
the co-op $200,000 for excessive compensation to Hart.
While the board has made a number of reforms since the $1.8
million vote, more are in the works, such as the way candidates run for office.
“Until now, each candidate has to campaign for votes
throughout the entire co-op coverage area,” Vice-President of Member Services
Doug Payne said. “Beginning next year, they will only have to campaign in their
own district.”
Candidates for District 1 (in the order listed on the
ballot) are incumbent Johnny Roberts and challenger Eddie Branham. Calvin Jay
Smith, who is listed on the ballot for District 1, has dropped out of the race.
Running for District 2 are, incumbent Joe Sharpe and challenger Ronald Friday.
District 3 contenders are Gen Palmer and Mike Good.
The race for open seats in three districts will be decided
this year by co-op members at four different voting venues on five different
days. The drive-thru registration and voting portion of the annual meeting will
be held May 17-20, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and on May 21, from 7 a.m. – 12 noon
at the following locations: May 17 (Chester), May 18 (Lugoff), May 19
(Blythewood), May 20 & 21 (Winnsboro at the Fairfield Electric Cooperative
office, 3129 Highway 321 N.)
The business meeting and raffle on May 21 will be livestreamed on the co-op’s website. Only the board, committee representatives and key staff will attend.
Fairfield Electric Cooperative linemen who left for Lake Charles, Louisiana before daybreak Sunday morning are, from left: Hunter Dean, Fedward Richmond, Evan Douglas, Ryan Hunnicutt, Zack Lewis, Bubba Tanner, Cliff Collins, Michael Robinson, Eugene Talford and Todd Frick. | Barbara Ball
BLYTHEWOOD – In the predawn hours of Sunday morning, one by one, 10 Fairfield Electric Cooperative linemen began pulling their pickup trucks up to the big sliding gate that leads to the bucket truck garage area of the company’s Blythewood headquarters.
As the men hauled luggage, boots and other gear from their
pickup trucks onto the floor of the garage and then into bucket trucks, crew
leader Bubba Tanner handed out new hats and tee shirts imprinted with the
company’s logo.
A few minutes later, the linemen climbed into seven bucket
trucks and slowly pulled onto Blythewood road. The big white caravan then
turned south onto I-77.
Their destination was Lake Charles, Louisiana, where they
would spend the next two weeks helping a sister cooperative in Lake Charles,
Jeff Davis Electric Cooperative, rebuild hundreds of transmission towers,
repair substations and reset thousands of power poles and lines downed by
Hurricane Laura four days earlier.
Making landfall as a category 4 storm, Laura had lashed the
Gulf Coast from Port Arthur, Texas to Cameron, Louisiana with 150 mph winds and
a 20-foot surge of ocean. It was the strongest storm system to hit the area in
generations, killing at least 3 people in Louisiana (14 across its path) with
damage estimated between $8 and $12 billion in Louisiana alone.
Lake Charles was one of the areas hit the hardest.
Downed power lines in Lake Charles, LA. | Contributed
“It’s my understanding that the entire system of Jeff Davis is with out power – none of their members had power after the storm,” Fairfield Electric’s Doug Payne, Vice President of Member Services, told The Voice.
Talking about the linemen’s mission, Bruce Bacon, CEO of
Fairfield Electric, called it dangerous. He said the crew will work 12-hour
days, from sun up until sun down, every day for two weeks under the most
difficult of circumstances in the merciless, muggy Louisiana heat.
“Then we’ll bring them back and probably fly a fresh crew down to switch out,” Bacon said. “It’s dangerous work, and we worry about them getting tired and having accidents. It’s going to be at least eight weeks to get power restored to everyone, so we may be sending down more than one other crew.”
The Fairfield crew is one of hundreds from around the
country that have converged on Lake Charles, according to Bacon. Photos of the
staging area around Lake Charles’ Burton Coliseum show a sea of bucket trucks
that have been sent to aid Jeff Davis Cooperative and its members.
“We always want to help cooperatives in other states because
we know that, at some point, we could need help and we would hope they would
come help us,” Bacon said. “Even now, in the midst of COVID-19, which makes
things a little bit more precarious as far as what they have to do, we
certainly want to help. I talk to our guys every day. They’re setting poles and
working long days.”
They’ve also texted back photos of forging through downed
trees and wading into storm water to do their work.
“Some of our contracting company’s like Lee Electric also
sent crews,” Payne said. “They (Jeff Davis Cooperative) need all they help they
can get to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible. It’s hard work.
Trees are down all over where the crews are having to rebuild the entire
system,” he said.
Payne said Fairfield Electric was eager to help and he
commended the crew for going.
“Our guys had been working all week and then to head out Sunday morning for this – they’re a good crew,” Payne said.
Hunter Dean and Evan Douglas on site in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Board’s Per Diem is $500/Meeting; With Free Health, Dental, & Life Insurance & More
WINNSBORO – After extending a nearly $1.8 million golden parachute to its former CEO, the Fairfield Electric Cooperative applied for and received coronavirus relief for a similar amount through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), according to federal records.
While the cooperative says it sought the PPP loan to offset
anticipated non-payments from customers due to the COVID-19 pandemic, posh
pensions and cozy compensation packages have become core issues for two
candidates seeking election to the co-op’s board.
“I’m running because of what I see as extravagant spending
for the (former) CEO,” said Derial Ogburn, who’s challenging long-time board
member Peggy Jeffcoat in one of the two contested races for the board.
Fairfield County’s Peggy Swearingen is challenging Trustee
Allen Beer. Swearingen, too, says she wants to see the co-op board accountable
to its members.
The races are for two of four seats members will decide at
five different voting venues on five different dates from Aug. 24 – Aug. 28.
(See dates and locations below) Kenny Miles and Robert Entzminger are running
unopposed. Election results will be announced during the co-op’s annual meeting
on Aug. 28. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting will be livestreamed
online starting at 6 p.m. at http://fairfield.coop.
PPP loan
It was nearly two years ago when the cooperative board voted
to pay $1,798,889.90 in pension funds to William Hart, the co-op’s former CEO,
meeting minutes show.
According to federal tax records, Hart was making over
$500,000 a year when he retired June 30, 2018, in the wake of a general public
outcry and media reports calling attention to high pay for executives and board
members at electric co-ops statewide
Hart’s retirement package was the result of a complex series
of deferred compensation plans that had accumulated for the past seven years.
While the lump sum payment closely matches the $1.6 million
the co-op recently requested through the PPP program, the transactions are
completely unrelated, said Mitch Rabon, chairman of the Fairfield co-op board.
“Those two transactions are not related at all,” Rabon said.
The PPP program was one of many initiatives of the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, a $2 trillion
coronavirus aid bill aimed at helping taxpayers and businesses weather the
coronavirus pandemic when an economic downturn triggered mass layoffs
nationwide.
President Donald J. Trump signed the CARES Act into law on
March 27. Nearly a month later, at its April 20 meeting, the Fairfield co-op
board adopted a resolution authorizing the co-op to seek up to $1,609,800 in
PPP loans, according to meeting minutes.
The U.S. Department of Treasury approved that request a week
later, stating in federal records that the co-op retained 71 jobs.
Rabon said while the PPP program and Hart’s pension are
unrelated, he is dismayed by Hart’s retirement payout, saying the money
would’ve been better spent issuing refunds to customers.
“The thing that’s somewhat unnerving about the $1.8 million
deferred compensation plan is that it exceeded the entire membership’s excess
revenues over expenses,” Rabon said. “We only refunded about $1 million to
approximately 30,000 consumers. That is a valid comparison.”
Rabon said the board applied for the PPP loan because there
was uncertainty over the potential impact of nonpayment of delinquent accounts.
Though the economy has seen some improvement, nonpayment
remains a concern since that impacts the cooperative’s revenue stream.
“We were concerned at the time of that loan that co-ops
would be under stress from people not being able to pay their electric bills,”
Rabon said. “This was designed to make sure any financial repercussions
would’ve been minimal.”
Co-op fined for excessive pay
In 2017, Hart’s final full year with the co-op, he received
$520,353 in total compensation, up from $511,393 in 2016, according to the
agency’s federal tax return.
The co-op’s 2018 tax return pegged Hart’s total compensation
at $2,123,633.
The former CEO’s compensation has already caused fiscal
repercussions. Ogburn and Rabon said the IRS recently fined the co-op $200,000
for excessive compensation.
The IRS requires nonprofits to pay its executives
“reasonable compensation,” which IRS documents define as “the value that would
ordinarily be paid for like services by like enterprises under like
circumstances.”
While Hart’s pay follows a similar trend among other CEOs
who lead South Carolina cooperatives, at least two South Carolina co-ops of
comparable size—Black River Electric in Sumpter County and Pee Dee Electric in
Darlington—pay their executives more than $100,000 less than Fairfield’s former
CEO.
Charles Allen, CEO of Black River, earned $319,669 in 2018.
Yet, that year, the Sumter co-op reported annual revenues of $82,587,386, which
is about $2.1 million more than Fairfield’s revenues of $80,466,579 in the same
period.
Pee Dee Electric reported even greater revenues at
$86,663,514 and paid its CEO $411,721.
Ogburn fears the cumulative effect of excessive pay and the
failed V.C. Summer project could mean rate increases for co-op customers.
“The whole thing is just rotten,” Ogburn said. “It’s just
out of control. It’s totally out of control.”
Double Duty
Also in 2016, in addition to Fairfield co-op pay, Hart
received $21,979 for serving on the Central Electric Cooperative board. Since
2010, he’s received $79,491 in additional compensation serving on the board of
the Columbia based co-op.
Bruce Bacon, Hart’s successor as CEO, serves on additional
co-op boards as well.
In July 2018, when the board appointed Bacon as the interim
CEO, it also appointed him to serve on the boards of Central Electric, the
Electric Cooperative of South Carolina and the Cooperative Electric Energy
Utility Supply/Line Equipment Sales Company.
Other South Carolina co-ops routinely appoint their CEOs to
serve on other co-op boards where they receive additional compensation.
Co-op trustees are typically compensated by receiving a per
diem to attend meetings.
The Fairfield co-op’s per diem is $500 per meeting – usually
held at Fairfield Electric’s Blythewood office – and they receive free health,
dental and life insurance.
Recent reforms
Changes in state law have brought some reform to how
cooperatives like Fairfield co-op are governed.
Rep. Russell Ott, D-Calhoun was the lead sponsor of a bill
that became law in June 2019. Act 56 includes a number of new provisions
pertaining to cooperatives, namely requiring the disclosure of board member
compensation, posting meeting minutes online and other governance-related
measures.
Act 56 also places cooperatives under the oversight of the
state’s Office of Regulatory Staff, or ORS, which can launch investigations,
conduct audits and mediate disputes.
Rabon, the cooperative’s chairman, said these changes have
helped improve transparency and fiscal accountability.
“That’s a huge change for co-ops all across South Carolina,”
he said. ““Electric cooperatives all across the state have had problems, mostly
related to governance issues, compensation to executive directors and also
compensation to key employees.”
Rabon said the cooperative has instituted additional
measures to increase the public’s trust in the nonprofit.
Rabon was among the trustees voting in the minority against
Hart’s retirement package. In April 2018, the board voted 7-4 to approve the
$1.8 million payout, according to meeting minutes.
In July 2018, the board approved a new transparency policy
that mandated posting on the co-op’s website copies of federal tax records for
the past three years, time, place and date of monthly meetings, and meeting
minutes within 30 days of the board adopting them.
The policy also required publishing salaries of the CEO and
individual board members.
Lastly, the policy calls for crediting additional
compensation the CEO receives for serving on other co-op boards against his or
her compensation, “and considered in establishing the compensation for the CEO
unless otherwise authorized by the Board of Trustees.”
A year later, in September 2019, the board also raised the
vested retirement age from 60 to 65 and eliminated a 50 percent cost of living
benefit through the co-op’s national retirement plan. The latter provision took
effect Jan. 1, 2020, minutes state.
Also, in January 2020, the board adopted a conflict of
interest policy for board trustees. Among other things, it established a
nepotism policy to prevent board members from securing jobs for family or
appointing family to committees of the cooperative.
“We’re all about disclosure and transparency,” Rabon said. “It’s made the board of directors far more accountable. It also makes the CEO far more accountable to the membership.”
For more information on the Fairfield Co-op’s Board of Directors, click here.
BLYTHEWOOD – With the blessing of the town’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR), a new electrical substation will soon be going up on Community Road, across from Midlands Storage.
While the property at 861 Community Road is in the Town Center District and requires a special exception for an electrical substation, Thomas Black, Vice President of Engineering for Fairfield Electric Cooperative, made the case for the need for a new substation before the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) earlier this month and again Tuesday evening before the BAR.
“We currently have a substation at Blythewood Road and 321 and at Hardscrabble and on Langford Road, and they are all coming to capacity,” Black told the board. He said projects, both industrial and residential, slated for the area will further increase the need.
The Board of Zoning Appeals met last week to approve a special exception to the TCD zoning for the substation property contingent on the town’s planning staff and BAR’s approval of a landscaping plan for the site.
While the Town Center District zoning calls for a 10-foot perimeter landscaping buffer zone and other specific landscaping requirements, Black said his company has other plans.
“We are planning an 8 to 10-foot stone buffer along the outside of the fence and possibly adding some small bushes. We want to be good neighbors,” Black said.
The stones would create a patio effect around the substation, however, rather than privacy screening.
In addition, Black said it would be necessary to cut all of the trees on the site to protect the substation.
“This may happen,” Cook said, “but is yet to be determined until we receive a plan from a civil engineer. We will work to keep any that we can.
Fairfield Electric’s other plans for security include surrounding the entire 1.93 acre property with an 8-foot-high, heavy gage, black steel louvered fence that is bulletproof and not climbable.
“With today’s terrorism and kids going by and shooting transformers, protecting our assets is very important,” Black said. “It (the fence) is another source of security and acts as a shield.”
Without requiring the 10-foot landscaping buffer zone and other landscaping requirements of the Town Center District, the BAR approved a Certificate of Occupancy unanimously, saying the Town’s administration would work with Fairfield Electric on a landscaping plan at a later time.
In other business, officers for the board are scheduled to be elected at the next scheduled meeting.
BLYTHEWOOD – More electrical power is needed in Blythewood for Fairfield Electric Cooperative to keep up with demand, a company representative told members of the Blythewood Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Monday evening. The BZA approved that request unanimously.
Fairfield Electric vice president of engineering, Thomas Black, applied for a special exception to construct an electrical substation at 861 Community Road (TMS#15100-03-06) within the Blythewood Town Center zoning district. The +/- 1.93 acre site is located across Community Road from the Midlands Storage facility.
Black said the need for the electrical substation is driven by the steady construction of housing in the Cobblestone Park subdivision and in the surrounding Blythewood area. The proposed substation would be the third substation in the Blythewood area and the closest to the town’s commercial “load center.” The other two stations are each four miles away from downtown.
Black responded to the Board’s concerns regarding each of five specific criteria necessary to grant a zoning exception.
Regarding (1) the traffic impact – “The traffic impact will be zero. There will probably be just one pickup truck visiting the site daily to perform inspections,” Black said.
Regarding (2) vehicle and pedestrian safety – Black showed the Board a section of the 6-foot high fencing they plan to use – a black painted steel screen, mini louver, 75-mesh Guardiar fence.
“This fence is not climbable and is bullet proof,” Black said. “It will be reinforced to withstand up to a 95 mile-per-hour wind,” he added. The board reacted positively to the sample.
The potential impact of noise, lights, fumes or obstruction of air flow on adjoining property (3) was questioned by Board Member Marlon Hinds.
“What about the lighting at the facility,” Hinds asked. Black explained that “The normal lighting would be one 100-watt LED bulb. There would also be LED,” Black said. “Downward facing lights will be off normally but available during a power outage or emergency maintenance. The only noise generated would come from cooling fans during the summer that generate 65 decibels.”
Hinds questioned the security and signage at the site. Black responded that there would be 11” X 17” alert signs and gate alarms.
Regarding (4) the adverse impact of proposed use on aesthetic character of the area, Black said there is already a SCE&G substation at the end of Community Road and that the new one will be very similar, but there won’t be as many lines as the SCE&G site has, and the SCE&G site doesn’t have the black steel screen fencing that we are proposing.”
Regarding (5) Criteria, Orientation and spacing of improvements of structures, Black said the sub-station would be located toward the center of the property.
Chairwoman Pat Littlejohn asked about the disposition of the trees currently on the site.
“The trees on the site will have to come down,” Black said. “We try to buy the most compact sites available to save money on the overall project. There will be a retention pond. We take all the issues into account when we choose the most practical sites,” he explained.
Because the Board is taxed with consideration of additional criteria for Special Exceptions due to the proposed electrical substation being in the TC Town Center District, the question of land use capability came up. Black referenced the site map saying nearby parcels were zoned industrial and cited plans for a potential commercial project.
Black said this project will consist of two power transformers having capacity to serve 2500 to 3000 households.
Town Administrator Brian Cook said because the site is located in the TCD, a 10-foot landscaping buffer requirement all around the perimeter of the property would be addressed by the Board of Architectural Review next week.
Black balked, saying Fairfield Electric plans were to keep 6 to 8 feet of stone laid outside of the fencing and that no plants were currently planned for the site.
A motion was made by Board member Hinds to approve the special exception with the condition that the BAR approve the landscaping plan when it meets Feb. 19.
In other business, the Board re-elected the same current officers with Pat Littlejohn remaining as Chair and Derrek Pugh remaining as Vice Chair.
BLYTHEWOOD – Fairfield Electric Co-op is planning to build an electrical substation on property located at 861 Community Road on two acres across from the Midland Storage Company.
Because the substation is located in the Town Center District, an electrical substation is not permitted outright. Fairfield Co-op is requesting that the town’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) make a special exception for the facility. The property borders industrial zoning. A public hearing has been set for 6 p.m., Monday, February 11, for the board to hear the appeal.
If the BZA appeal is granted, the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) will then take the matter up at another public hearing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 19 at Doko Manor, to determine whether to award a Certificate of Appropriateness, which is required before Fairfield Electric Co-op can begin construction.
If the substation request for a special exception is does not qualify for a BZA exception, utilities sometimes get special consideration because of the need for the service they provide, BAR president Jim McLean told The Voice. However, he said he is not sure if either the BZA or the BAR is the level at which such consideration is granted.
Town Administrator Brian Cook said the BAR does have the power to grant certain variances from the architectural review parameters for out-of-the-ordinary circumstances.
“It could open a can of worms for us,” McLean said. “I would be surprised, though, if this type of request has not come up in other towns. So, we’ll see.”
The texts and documents related to the requests for both the special exception and the variance are available, upon request, for public inspection in the office of the Town Clerk at Blythewood Town Hall, 171 Langford Road, during regular working hours. The documents will also be available at the public hearing.
