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  • Brown: I’ve Had Enough

    David Brown

    District 7 Councilman Won’t Seek 9th Term

    WINNSBORO – Following this year’s election cycle, and for the first time in more than three decades, there will no longer be a Brown sitting on County Council. David Brown, the 32-year incumbent from District 7 who has been battling throat cancer for the last year, announced his retirement in a letter to The Voice Tuesday afternoon.

    In his letter, Brown said the bipartisan deal-making days of progress in the 1980s and 1990s were a thing of the past as politics in Fairfield County and nationwide has degenerated into a stalemate of “name-calling, lies and negativity,” and he has simply had enough.

    “I’m tired,” the 64-year-old Brown said in a telephone interview with The Voice Tuesday. “I’ve done it long enough. I’ve done it for half my life. It’s time to let some other young person have it, someone who’s not controlled by any certain group, someone who stands on his own two feet. That’s what I’m hoping will happen now that I’ve made this announcement.”

    Brown, in his letter, said Council struggles to find common ground, and the constant criticism of Council’s every move by local municipalities and the county’s state legislative delegation – while at times deserved – has taken its toll on him and is holding the county back.

    “The war of personalities that we continue to see from all angles of our elected leadership in Fairfield County is not helping to move our county forward,” Brown wrote. “While the infighting continues, the only people being hurt are the future generations of Fairfield County. The welfare of this county is bigger than personality and popularity contests, and our elected leadership should come to that realization.”

    Brown told The Voice that Council’s recent decision to turn over long-term planning duties to the Central Midlands Council of Governments (COG) to help prepare the county for the great influx of wealth expected in 2019 from the first of two new nuclear reactors at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station in Jenkinsville was just one example of his frustration. That decision drew significant criticism from State Sen. Creighton Coleman and State Rep. MaryGail Douglas, who have been trying to bring the County to the table with SCANA and Santee Cooper to craft a long-term plan.

    “You go in there and you don’t say much and what you do say makes sense, and then the legislators are going to criticize it,” Brown said. “The best thing we could do was to go with the COG for that plan. The plan (Coleman) wanted to do wasn’t going to go anywhere. I wanted something that could get passed (by Council).”

    During his 32 years as a Councilman, Brown has devoted himself to economic development in Fairfield County. In the 1980s, he was a member of a Council that helped usher in an economic boom for the county, with Mack Trucks, Standard Products and the RiteAid Distribution Center, all of which was a joint effort, Brown wrote. In the 1990s, Brown and Council worked across party lines at the state and national level to help bring the first international industrial park in the state to Fairfield County – the park that bears his family name on Cook Road.

    As the political climate changed, Brown told The Voice, and bipartisanship became anathema, economic development opportunities dried up.

    “I devoted myself to economic development so my children and grandchildren wouldn’t have to leave Fairfield County just to make a living,” Brown said. “I’m leaving without that dream being fulfilled, but hopefully some of the things we’re working on now will open some opportunities up. I dedicated my life to putting industry in the park that has my dad’s name (Walter Brown) on it, but I never got paid for economic development.”

    Brown, who sits on the COG as a private sector member, said he hopes to continue his service to the county there. In the meantime, he said, he will devote his time to being a grandfather to his two grandchildren – Emma, 20 months, and Walt, 3 months.

    “This Saturday will be the one-year anniversary of finishing my cancer treatment,” Brown said. “Going through cancer changes the way you look at things. If I can be a halfway decent granddaddy, I deserve that. Being a granddaddy is where I’m needed.”

  • Anomaly Hill

    What’s a ‘Monadnock?
    You’re looking at it, on Parson’s Mountain.

    A 93-mile trek through Greenwood to Abbeville will take you to the Long Cane District where a geographic anomaly revives memories of Oconee and Pickens County vistas. Parson’s Mountain, a monadnock, sits alone overlooking the forest below as it stretches to the horizon. Geologists call this type of hill a “monadnock,” which is a technical term for a mound of hard rock left when all the surrounding land erodes away. It towers 832 feet over the Sumter National Forest. It’s a tough, winding climb to the top but worth it. Peering through the green canopy of broad-leaved, deciduous trees, the earth drops away into blue haze. It’s especially beautiful when fall colors arrive.

    Dreams of El Dorado died on this rugged mountain. Feel up to a challenging climb? Take the spur that branches off the westernmost portion of trail and you will climb past Civil War-era gold mines to the summit. I made the climb. Up top stands a fire tower and I found a strange arrangement of stones that appear to be a compass. Stones spell out “N.” You’ll find an upright toilet in the woods just behind the tower. Use at your own risk.

    Growling engine sounds float up through the canopy . . . more than 12 miles of off-road trails crisscross the mountain’s flanks. Come fall, fluorescent orange will dot the greenery along the Morrow Bridge and Midway Seasonal Camps as hunters arise and go forth.

    From the top of the mountain you get a great view of the mixed pine and hardwood forests of the Piedmont. It’s quiet atop Parson’s Mountain, though a diamondback rattler rustled tall grasses right by the trail leading to the top. My walk down was much faster.

    Nearby is the Parson Mountain Lake Recreation Area. A calm, 28-acre man-made lake distinguishes the wooded land. It’s a picturesque area with a 23-acre campground devoted to tent and trailer camping. People like to hike and fish here. Fishermen come here to catch bass, crappie, bream and catfish. Wading birds, including great blue heron, frequent the lake. A good-size picnic area sits near a swimming area (no lifeguards on duty).

    The area offers relaxation and solitude as well as easy access to a variety of recreation activities. The day use area was designed with an earthen pier, a pedestrian bridge and a boat ramp for non-motorized boats.

    Before you go, inquire to see if the area is open. It’s open seasonally from May 1 through Nov. 15. Even if the area is closed, it’s worth the drive to see how Parsons Mountain rises above the land, a mountain seemingly left behind by the Blue Ridge Mountains.

     If You Go …

    454 Parson’s Mountain Road
    Abbeville, S.C. 29620

    864-446-2273

    • From Abbeville go south on Route 72 to South Main Street; turn left and look for signs.

    Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during daylight saving time

    • $3-day use fee per vehicle. $7 per campsite per night. Self-serve fee station. Campsites are first come-first served.

    • GPS coordinates: GPS: 33.80497, -81.931278

    • www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/scnfs/recarea/?recid=47187

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

  • Town Fills Top Spot

    Gary Parker

    BLYTHEWOOD – Town Council voted unanimously at its monthly workshop on Tuesday to hire Gary Parker, 67, of Archdale, N.C. as the Town’s new Administrator. Parker will begin work on Monday at Town Hall.

    Parker retired as Town Manager of Sunset Beach, N.C., Dec. 31, 2013, where he had been employed for five years. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from N.C. State University in Raleigh.

    Asked what he sees as Parker’s role as the Town’s administrator, Mayor J. Michael Ross told The Voice that Parker’s strengths are budget and grant writing.

    “We are looking for both of these, and after talking to two Council members who Parker served with in the past, I think he’s the right one for our town,” Ross said. “It will take a while to find out his expertise, but we, the present Council members, are who the people elected and we’re looking for someone to administer the town. We are not looking for a visionary. We’re looking for a town administrator.”

    Ross said the 40-hour-per-week job will pay $75,000 and that Parker has already taken temporary residence in 29016 and is house shopping. Parker’s wife, Debbie, who still works for the town government in Trinity, N.C., will move to Blythewood after two more years, Ross said.

    Parker was one of four candidates selected as finalists from a field of 16 applicants for the position.

  • Blythewood at the Ball Park

    Everyone in Blythewood is invited to attend the Columbia Blowfish/Highpoint-Thomasville HiToms baseball game at Capital City Stadium, Saturday, June 21 at 7:05 p.m. Free admission, $3 per car for parking. Gates open at 6 p.m. for pre-game activities – a Kids Catch at 6:10 p.m. (bring mitt and ball). Pick up your ticket voucher before Wednesday, June 18 at Town Hall.

  • N.C. Cops Nab B&E Suspect

    David Ezel Simpson

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. – A North Carolina man wanted for a string of church break-ins in Fairfield County last month was arrested June 6 by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. David Ezel Simpson, 63, was arrested at 6:30 a.m. at a home in the 5900 block of Fairmarket Place in Charlotte and is being held at the Mecklenburg County Jail where he faces extradition.

    Simpson is wanted in Fairfield County for the May 26 break-ins at Weeping Mary Baptist Church at 7109 Highway 321 N., Winnsboro, and New Independent Methodist Church at 371 Odyssey Drive, Blackstock. Simpson is also a suspect in a break-in and motor vehicle theft at Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church at 2508 Camp Welfare Road, Winnsboro.

    A Fairfield County Sheriff’s deputy responding to an alarm call at Weeping Mary in the pre-dawn hours of May 26 spotted Simpson fleeing the church parking lot in a 2002 Kia SUV. After a high-speed chase down Highway 321, Simpson crashed the SUV into a tree on Bull Run Road, kicked out the window on the driver’s side door and continued on foot. In spite of being tased and physically taken to the ground twice by the deputy, Simpson managed to evade capture, running into a nearby wooded area. Fairfield County’s bloodhound unit and a helicopter from the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) searched the area for hours, but with no luck.

    The Kia was traced back to a Simpson family member, investigators said, and items inside the SUV were identified as those having been stolen from Weeping Mary as well as from New Independent Methodist Church. The stolen goods – a keyboard and other miscellaneous items, worth approximately $1,100 – were returned to the churches.

    The New Independent break-in occurred some time between 1 and 3 a.m. on May 26, but was not discovered until later that afternoon. The suspect, believed to be Simpson, cut the wires to the church’s alarm system and forced his way in through the front door.

    A third incident also believed to be attributed to Simpson was discovered the following afternoon at Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church. A church member there found the church bus missing from the parking lot at 12:04 p.m. on May 27. Investigators found that the church had been broken into through the front door, and that the door to the pastor’s office had also been forced open. The only thing missing were the keys to the bus, which had been kept in a desk drawer inside the pastor’s office. The bus, worth $30,000, was found a short time later parked on the side of the road with its emergency flashers on, approximately 7 miles from the church near Highway 21 N.

    Simpson’s bond has been set at $75,000, according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police spokesperson. The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office said Simpson was fighting extradition and it may take several weeks before he faces a Fairfield County judge.

  • A ‘Heady’ View

    You Can See for Miles and Miles –
    The view from Blue Ridge Escarpment at Caesars Head.

    Up in northern Greenville County, you’ll find one of the Blue Ridge Escarpment’s more prominent landmarks, Caesars Head. Some believe this rock outcropping resembles the Roman Emperor, Caesar, thus its name, though some believe the landmark took its name from an early pioneer’s dog. Regardless of its origin, Caesars Head surveys a kingdom of stunning views, and the landmark’s name gives Caesars Head State Park its identify as well.

    Caesars Head, composed of durable granitic gneiss more than 400 million years old, connects to Jones Gap State Park in the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area, an 11,000-acre area of pristine southern mountain forest. Driving through the Mountain Bridge Wilderness Area you’ll encounter curves aplenty and scenic overlooks. Highway 276, a road favored by mountain lovers, delights travelers between Brevard, N.C., and Pumpkintown. Its hairpin turns and steep grades challenge drivers who motor up 3,208 feet to Caesars Head State Park. Come autumn colors pull hard at leaf worshipers and Highway 276 sees its share of fall foliage and sightseers.

    Atop Caesars Head you stand upon the Blue Ridge Escarpment 3,266 feet above sea level. From here you can see Georgia and North Carolina. The panoramic view includes Paris Mountain near Greenville. In the fall people come to watch hawks wheeling and spiraling — a process called “kettling” — as they migrate to Central and South America for the winter. You, too, can migrate from here. Day hike to one of eastern United State’s highest and beautiful falls: Raven Cliff Falls, near Caesar’s Head, plummeting some 420 feet. Brave? Cross its swinging footbridge Indiana Jones style. Shaky-step your way across and brag about it later.

    A drive up to Caesars Head and its namesake park never disappoints. There’s much to do: bird watching, especially autumn’s hawks, camping, fishing, and waterfalls to see. Keep an eye out for black bear. Make the trip in autumn and you can see fall color aplenty. Make the drive in summer and enjoy the cooler air. It’s a good place to be active. Over 50 miles of hiking trails will test your legs. Primitive camping is available here too. Pack a picnic basket and enjoy eating at one of the picnic tables and shelters. Be sure to make the tight descent through cracked rock walls known as the “Devil’s Kitchen.”

    Be sure to put the Visitor Center on your schedule. It houses exhibits of area attractions, a relief map of the Mountain Bridge trail system, hawk displays and gift and souvenir items. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily during daylight saving time. It’s closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

    If You Go …

    Caesars Head State Park

    8155 Greer Highway

    Cleveland, S.C. 29635

    864-836-6115

    128 miles, a 2 hour and 20 minute drive.

    • From Greenville: Take Hwy. 276 W. for about 30 mi. Park is located at the top of the mountain right off the Hwy.

    • Open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. during daylight savings time.

    • Free Admission

    www.southcarolinaparks.com/caesarshead/introduction.aspx

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

  • BZA Elects New Chair

    Sabra Mazcyk

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Board of Zoning Appeals elected a new chairwoman on Monday evening. Vice Chairwoman Sabra Mazcyk was elected unanimously to fill the seat left vacant by former Chairman Bob Massa who gave up his seat on the board when he was elected to Town Council last November. Longtime board member Pat Littlejohn was elected Vice Chairman.

    The Board then heard a request by subdivision owners DR Horton and Crown Builders for a special exception regarding a decorative wall they want to build at the entrance to Holly Bluff subdivision. The subdivision is located on Blythewood Road near the intersection with Fulmer Road.

    Landscape designer Richard Soltice, acting as agent for the owners, explained that in an effort to add a pleasing entrance to the subdivision, his design company, Saluda Hill, had included a 30-inch tall stone and brick wall that would encroach about 8 feet into a lot at the entrance to the subdivision. Soltice explained that no one had yet purchased the lot, so there was no objection to the wall from any property owner. He said those who purchase front end lots such as this one are frequently happy to have esthetically pleasing landscaped structures such as this wall adjoining their properties. After some discussion and no objections from neighboring properties, the Board voted unanimously to grant the special exception.

    The Town’s Planning and Zoning consultant, Michael Criss, announced that the Board would most likely be called to convene again on July 14. While the Board only meets when an issue is brought before it, Criss said he expected another application to be filed prior to the mid-July date. The BZA is a quasi-judicial board whose rulings are appealed to the Circuit Court.

  • Plantation Residents: Things Reek in LongCreek

    BLYTHEWOOD – Some residents of Blythewood’s LongCreek Plantation subdivision are accusing the Board of Directors of their Property Owner’s Association (POA) of turning a blind eye to a developer, Gateway LLC, who residents say is blatantly disregarding the neighborhood’s deed restrictions and covenants as it develops a new neighborhood within LongCreek Plantation. Sam Brick, an attorney and resident of the subdivision, but not a member of the POA, said there are, so far, no responses from either the POA or Richland County to Gateway’s actions.

    Gateway purchased 10 acres at the southern entrance to LongCreek Plantation March 15, 2013. According to members of the POA and other residents of the subdivision who asked not to be identified, Gateway, earlier this year, proceeded to rip out a landmark giant oak tree and the subdivision’s substantial sign and fountain at that entrance on Longtown Road to make way for another smaller entrance (in the same location as the tree and sign) to serve a new neighborhood proposed on the 10 acres. Brick said the tree and sign were specifically protected in the property’s deed restrictions and should be addressed by the POA board.

    “When John Bakhaus, the developer of LongCreek Plantation, sold the 10 acres to a Presbyterian church about 14 years ago, it was specified in the deed that the tree and fountain must not be removed,” Brick said.

    When Gateway LLC purchased the property last year, the owners signed a deed that stated (section F of page 5 of the deed restrictions) that “Additionally, the LongCreek Plantation Sign and overhanging tree shall be left intact.”

    In addition to the ruckus over the destruction of the tree and sign, Brick said the zoning for the 10 acres is medium density with 8,500-square-foot minimum lot sizes.

    “Yet, the developers are not abiding by this in almost half the planned lots and the County is not honoring the zoning in its approvals of these site plans,” Brick said.

    Some residents also say flooding from recent thunderstorms (at the adjacent intersection of Longtown Road and Longtown Road East and West) is the result of Gateway’s failure to abide by the covenants, which, they say, state that no more than 40 percent of the area may be disrupted during construction of the roads, sewers, etc.

    Brick told The Voice that Gateway’s designs also call for a four-way traffic stop on Longtown Road East between the Windermere Club and the four-way stop at the entrance to LongCreek at Longtown Road.

    “The POA has standing on these issues but is doing nothing to protect us. It’s burying its head in the mud,” Brick said. “The POA is responsible for upholding covenants of title but have done nothing so far in this case.”

    The Voice received several email notices from residents that the POA had called for a meeting Wednesday evening (June 11) at the Columbia Country Club to discuss these issues. However, POA members received an email from the LongCreek POA on Tuesday, June 10, stating that the meeting was not for the residents, but a regular monthly POA Board of Directors meeting.

    “Any member of the POA is allowed to attend the meeting,” the email stated, “unless it is called into Executive Session. Non- members of the POA are not allowed to attend, unless specifically invited…”

    The Voice obtained a copy of the meeting agenda, which did not list any of the residents’ concerns regarding the Gateway development, but mundane items including: website update, a neighborhood yard sale and the LongTown nature trail. An executive session was listed but there was no explanation, as is required by the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, as to the purpose of the session.

    Brick said many of the residents of the subdivision are hoping the POA board will open the meeting to the residents and hear their concerns about the construction at the entrance.

    The Voice left email and voice messages for LongCreek Plantation developer John Bakhaus; the agent for Gateway LLC, Kenneth E. Ormand Jr. and the president of the LongCreek POA, Stephen Stackhouse, but had not received any responses at press time. Since the Wednesday meeting of the POA was held after The Voice went to press, that report will appear in the June 20 edition.

  • Douglas Prevails in Primary

    State Rep. MaryGail Douglas

    Dickerson Earns Bid for Senate Race

    WINNSBORO – In unofficial results reporting in late Tuesday night, incumbent State Rep. MaryGail Douglas (D-41) successfully held off a primary challenge from Chester City Councilman William “Budda” Killian, 1,696 votes to 968. Douglas swept away Killian in her home county of Fairfield 1,182 votes (72.96 percent) to 438 (27.04 percent). In the Richland County areas of District 41, Douglas also carried the day, 126 votes (82.89 percent) to 26 (17.11 percent). Killian carried his home county 504 votes (56.5 percent) to 388 (43.5 percent), but it wasn’t enough to overcome Douglas, who will be unchallenged in November.

    “I am elated and glad I made it through for another 730 days,” Douglas said. “I’m glad folks have that much confidence in me. I have enjoyed my first term and I am looking forward to serving again.”

    Douglas said that in her upcoming second term in the General Assembly, two key issues top her agenda – ethics reform and roads and bridges.

    “(Ethics reform) has got to be resolved,” Douglas said. “We have got to do a better job of reclaiming some semblance of integrity among ourselves. We have some good people there, but we are branded by people who think we’re all crooks.”

    Roads and bridges, Douglas said, “are the foundation of our state and we wouldn’t allow our houses that we live in to get into the shape that our roads and bridges are in. We have got to address that.”

    U.S. Senate

    With 43 of 46 counties reporting at press time, Richland County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson (District 2) earned one of the two Democratic nominations in the race for U.S. Senate. Dickerson beat out Sidney Moore and Harry Pavilack with nearly 66 percent of the vote Tuesday. Dickerson carried Fairfield County with 843 votes (61.99 percent), and Richland County with 14,602 votes (82.66 percent). She will face Republican incumbent Tim Scott in November. Scott handily earned his party’s nomination with more than 90 percent of the vote over Randall Young.

    Orangeburg Democrat and S.C. State Sen. Brad Hutto (D-40) earned his party’s second nomination in the U.S. Senate race, besting Jay Stamper with 76.64 percent of the vote. Hutto will face Republican incumbent Lindsey Graham in November. Graham fought off a slew of challengers in the Republican primary with 56.49 percent of the vote. His closest rival, Greer conservative State Sen. Lee Bright (R-12), mustered just under 16 percent of the vote.

    Sixth Circuit Solicitor

    In the race for the Republican nomination for the Sixth Circuit Solicitor’s Office being vacated by retiring Doug Barfield, Randy Newman Jr. earned the bid, beating out Tom Holland 3,157 (55.02 percent) to 2,581 (44.98 percent). Holland carried Fairfield County, 452-385, but strong showings by Newman in Lancaster, where Newman won 2,393-1,840, and Chester, where he won 379-289, lifted Newman to victory. Newman will face Fairfield County public defender William Frick in November.

    Results from Tuesday’s primary remain unofficial until certified later this week.

  • Christ Central Cuts Ribbon on Mission Ridge

    The directors of Christ Central cut the ribbon during the grand opening ceremony Friday of the renovated Mission Ridge Golf and Leadership Center in Winnsboro. From left are mission directors Ted McGee, Barbara Franklin, CEO Jimmy Jones, Lee Kizer and Roger Floyd.

    WINNSBORO – About 100 community members and elected officials attended the ribbon cutting for Christ Central’s newly renovated and expanded Mission Ridge Golf and Leadership Center, formerly the Fairfield County Club. The facility, which includes a 9-hole golf course, will be used for leadership training for Christ Central missions as well as for local organizations and governments, according to Jimmy Jones, CEO and founder of Christ Central. Jones now has 90 facilities around the country that minister to the homeless by providing housing, education opportunities and jobs. Mission Ridge, with several furnished bedroom suites on the second floor, will also accommodate private social events including weddings, receptions and other celebratory events.

    Gov. Nikki Haley, who had been scheduled to speak at the grand opening ceremony, was unable to attend but her prepared message was read by a spokesperson.

    “You and your leadership team have truly set the example for neighbors helping neighbors,” Haley said in her message.

    The training center will focus on ways to serve the community and will serve as a retreat for mission directors. Jones explained how Christ Central began operations 17 years ago on a street corner in Columbia serving homeless people with meals and other services. Jones said that besides feeding the homeless, Christ Central housed them and prepared them to find jobs and get an education.

    Jimmy Burroughs, a lifelong resident of Fairfield County and Director of Christ Central in Winnsboro, told those attending the event, “This is a great facility for Fairfield County and now it’s a public facility for the entire area to use.”