SCODT lowered speed to 25 over rough patches on Hwy 321 S. | Barbara Ball
FAIRFIELD COUNTY – A highway project in Fairfield causing angst for drivers is the recent patching of potholes on a stretch of U.S. Hwy 321, just south of where it intersects with Hwy 269.
The roughness of the road caused by the patching has been
the subject of conversations between Fairfield County Councilman Douglas Pauley
and road officials.
“The road is so badly patched in that stretch,” Pauley said,
“that vehicles actually shake as they drive over it. SCDOT has even had to post
a sign warning drivers that they need to slow down to 25 miles per hour.”
While Pauley said he was told at one point by one road
official not to expect the road to be repaired until 2022, it looks now like
the project could be repaired sooner, he said.
According to Poorer, the 6.5 mile stretch of patching on Hwy
321 is now scheduled for scraping and repaving all the way to the Richland
County line.
“The project will require the contractor to ground down the
new patches, then re-patch and resurface with new asphalt and pave the
shoulders as well,” Poorer said.
The bidding process for the project is expected to begin in
April.
“We’re going to expect the successful bidder to have the
project completed in the Fall of 2021,” he said.
“That’s a long time to be driving on such a rough surface,”
Pauley said. “But at least the completion is in sight.”
Reconstruction of bridge over Little River on Highway 34 between Winnsboro and Blair. | Barbara Ball
FAIRFIELD COUNTY – So, what’s the deal with the seemingly never-ending construction project on the new bridge over the Little River on State Highway 34 in Fairfield County?
Apparently, the engineering consultant procured by the South
Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) to design the new 418 foot bridge
really messed up – enough that the highway contractor building the bridge is
having to demolish part of it and build it again.
Due to a design flaw discovered during testing,
constructions was stopped in November, 2019, and the new bridge is being
partially demolished and rebuilt to better standards, said Pete Poorer,
director of communications for SCDOT.
“As the new bridge construction was nearing completion,
SCDOT ran tests to confirm that it met design criteria. The testing revealed
that though the bridge was built according to the plans, the design failed to
meet stringent design criteria,” Poorer said in an emailed statement.
“In an abundance of caution, the Department directed the
consultant to redesign the bridge to proper standards at no cost. Currently the
contractor is demolishing the substandard portions of the bridge and will begin
reconstruction when completed.”
Poorer said construction began in May, 2017, on the original
replacement project which is taking place beside the existing bridge.
According to the National Bridge Inventory, a federal
database which compiles information about bridges nationwide, the original
bridge at this location was built in 1929, and the current one was built in
1967.
The existing bridge, which is being replaced, is a 395-foot
concrete bridge consisting of three spans, about 11 miles west of Winnsboro.
Poorer said the new bridge construction began after the
highway department determined that building a new one would be a better deal
than paying for increased maintenance costs on the old one.
“The replacement of this bridge was identified as a priority
of the Department due to the current structure nearing the end of its useful
design life. The structure is in no danger to the public in its current state;
however, the cost for maintaining the structure is no longer prudent,” Poorer
said.
The new bridge, as initially designed and constructed,
likewise posed no threat to the motoring public, he said, but concerns arose
with regard to increased future maintenance costs that would be required due to
the design flaw that was discovered.
The redesigned and reconstructed new bridge is expected to
be open to traffic in summer 2022.
BLYTHEWOOD – After a police camera was installed by the Richland County Sheriff’s Department at the corner of McNulty and Blythewood Road, some residents called town hall and The Voice to ask who it’s taking pictures of.
The answer is, according to Blythewood’s RCSD Region Six
Commander, Lt. Chris Duke, ‘the criminals.’
“This is not a surveillance camera,” he said. “We aren’t
surveilling the community, checking to see if someone is running a light or to
capture accidents on film,” Duke said. “This camera has four lenses in four
directions, and it’s a tool we use to identify stolen plates, stolen cars,
suspects, things that go on in the parking lots that shouldn’t be going on,”
Duke said.
“We have several hotels here and the busy intersection.
There are a lot of vehicle break-ins in this area,” he said. “We aren’t
photographing citizens who are doing everything right. We use it for when good
citizens become victims. “
Duke gave an example of the cameras making a difference. One was instrumental, he said, in the capture of Brian Chase Haas, formerly of Blythewood, who was being recently being sought by law enforcement in three counties – Kershaw, Richland and Fairfield – for steeling catalytic converters and lawn care trailers from family, friends and strangers.
“The cameras are installed throughout the county by
Statewide Security Systems,” Duke said, “with only one in Blythewood.
Blythewood was always a quiet place, and that’s how we want it to remain.”
But with the buildup of growth in the community, Duke said
the cameras are helping keep it that way. The cameras follow crime trends, he
said.
An early morning shooting has been reported at the Dogwood Apartments in Ridgeway
RIDGEWAY – An early Wednesday morning shooting resulting in the death of one person is being investigated by the Fairfield County Sheriff’s office.
Charlie Cason, III, age 18, a graduate of Fairfield Central High School was found deceased about 3 a.m., inside of his residence in Ridgeway, according to Fairfield County Coroner Chris Hill.
The Sheriff’s office said Cason had been shot multiple times.
SLED and the Fairfield Coroners office are investigating along with the Fairfield County Sheriff’s office.
No further details are available at this time. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
BLAIR – Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office investigators are
seeking help in locating Blair resident Larry Carter, 42. Carter is wanted for
attempted murder in connection with a shooting that occurred March 16 in
Blair.
Fairfield County Sheriff’s deputies were called to an address on Twisted Lane near Clark’s Bridge Road at 6:21 p.m., Tuesday evening in response to a reported shooting on the front porch of a home.
Upon arrival, deputies found a victim, Frederick Evans, 46,
sitting on a couch inside the residence with a towel wrapped around the lower
part of his left leg. Deputies report that Evans appeared to have a gunshot
wound to his leg and was bleeding heavily and appeared to have lost a large
amount of blood.
Deputies applied a tourniquet to Evan’s leg and he was taken
by ambulance to an area hospital.
There were no other victims and no word about what led up to
the shooting. The incident is under investigation by the Fairfield County
Sheriff’s office.
If you have any information about Carter’s whereabouts,
contact the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers at
1-888-CRIMESC (888-274-6372) or visit midlandscrimestoppers.com to email a tip.
Your identity will be kept anonymous.
Alexandra Watson, one of many Winnsboro residents who have lodged complaints with the Town over inconsistent and high utility bills – and the town’s lack of response to those complaints – said her family’s February gas bill was $408.26 for 27 days while their January gas bill was only $125.01 for 34 days. | Barbara Ball
WINNSBORO – After years of complaints about water billing from both Blythewood and Winnsboro customers, the town of Winnsboro is looking at options to upgrade its meter-reading and billing system.
Why now? The cost of better technology has finally come down
to a price that a small town can afford.
“Basically, we’re looking at trying to do a better job for
our citizens and our customers,” Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said. “We want our
billing process to be accurate, and we want to be proactive in identifying
problems in the system.”
Gaddy readily acknowledged longstanding complaints: that
variation in the length of billing cycles results in inconsistent billing, a
problem that’s worsened during the Covid-19 pandemic; that errors have
sometimes resulted in erroneous bills; and that leaks can go undetected for a
while, resulting in large and unexpected charges for water use.
Two Options
The two options now being considered by town leaders, he
said, are aimed at upgrading the meter-reading and billing system to address
these complaints.
The first option, presented by Elgin-based Ferguson
Waterworks at a town council meeting, is completely automated, enabling an
antenna to communicate with upgraded meters that send back usage data in real
time. This provides two advantages: a labor-free way to implement consistent
billing cycles and the ability to recognize unusual usage indicative of a leak
and alert homeowners early.
“What they can do is they can put an antenna on the top of
our water tanks, and of course put electronic meters on the water meters, that
will give them the ability to look at what people are using water-wise,” Gaddy
said, “so if they’ve got a leak at their houses… they can identify that and be
proactive in calling the people instead of people getting a big bill.”
This option has a higher up-front price tag but would result
in cost savings over time because the town would no longer need to employ
people to go and read utility meters, Gaddy said.
The second option, presented by Border States Meter-Reading
Group, would upgrade meters to communicate not with a tower, but with a device
that meter-readers could use from the road. It would streamline the collection
of meter information to eliminate errors and provide more consistent billing,
but without the ability to spot leaks as quickly. “What they do is they put a
meter on your water meter and… it’s kind of a ride-by meter reading where an
individual can ride by and read the meter without having to go in the backyard
and fight off dogs and that sort of thing,” Gaddy said.
The up-front cost of this option is lower, but it would
require continued employment of meter-readers and so could have a higher cost
over time, Gaddy said.
Of course, both options also require ongoing fees and
maintenance, and Gaddy said the town is still awaiting the cost estimate data
that will be needed to make a good comparison between them. He anticipates the
town council will have the information it needs to make a decision soon.
Blythewood Pilot
Gaddy said $800,000 for a Blythewood pilot project, which
would serve about 1,500 customers, is in the budget for this year.
Assuming all goes well with the chosen option, the plan
would be to then upgrade the system in the town’s main water service area – and
the town has the money to put this in its 2022 budget. The hope then would be
to extend the technology upgrade to Winnsboro’s other utilities – sewer, gas,
and electric.
Winnsboro is one of just five municipalities in South
Carolina that have these four utilities – which Gaddy credits with its ability
to avoid charging town property taxes.
While he said he’s still awaiting information and the town
council has yet to make a decision, Gaddy said he likes the idea of an
all-automated system because of its simplicity and the opportunity it offers to
be proactive about water leaks. It’s a plan that Mayor Pro Tem John McMeekin,
who is running for Gaddy’s seat in April, has been eyeing for some time.
“We’ve got a proposal from both of the companies,” Gaddy
said, “but we have not made a decision which one we are going to go with yet.”
He said the town looked at systems like these a few years
ago, but the cost then was too high. In the time since, the complaints have
continued – and the cost has come down.
Town Has The Money
“The good thing is we do have enough money in the budget
that we can certainly do the pilot project of the water in Blythewood, and we
have enough money in the budget that we could put the system in for water in
Winnsboro,” he said, “and then, once you have that basic system in, if you
decide to expand it to electricity and natural gas in Winnsboro, it’s not going
to be a major financial commitment.”
Gaddy, who after 12 years as mayor is not seeking re-election, says it’s likely the town will make its decision within the next six months and have at least the pilot project installed within the next year.
WINNSBORO – As the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office
continues to look into the source of a hate letter that was mailed to several
residents in the Dawkins community earlier this month, Sheriff Will Montgomery
updated The Voice on the investigation Tuesday morning.
“The FBI, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED)
and the United States Postal Service are all involved in the investigation and
met with us Monday, Feb. 25 to discuss some things and we talked again on
Monday, March 1,” Montgomery said.
Investigators have reportedly questioned several people in
the Dawkins community who received the letters and others.
“SLED processed the letters for possible DNA and fingerprints.”
Montgomery said. “They came up with 30 fingerprints and 100 samples of DNA. Of
the 30 fingerprints, many of them were from Sheriff’s deputies and from those
who received the letters in the mail. But a number of them were from unknown
persons and SLED is looking at those for a match. They’re checking for matches
and will get back to us with any results,” he said. “The investigators are
taking this very seriously and are thoroughly investigating this crime.”
Anyone with information about the mailing, call 803-635-4141 or 803-635-5511. A reward of $2,000 has been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who sent the letters. The identity of the person providing the information will be kept anonymous.
A rendition of the planned restoration of Mt. Zion.
WINNSBORO – Cancelling plans for a new county building would trigger litigation that could cost Fairfield County upwards of $13 million, some council members say.
“If the ultimate goal is to tear down this project, we’re
probably looking at a $13 million lawsuit we can’t afford,” Councilman Neil
Robinson said during a special meeting Feb. 10. “We’re looking at our bond
rating going down and we’re looking at no other plan to house [county]
employees.”
Robinson’s grim warning came in response to Council Chairman
Moses Bell’s suggestion to create an ad hoc committee to “review the Mt. Zion
contract to determine the costs to the county from the beginning to the end.”
Council members voted 4-3, with Bell and council members
Mikel Trapp, Shirley Greene and Tim Roseborough supporting the committee. Bell
appointed Greene, Roseborough and Robinson to serve on the committee.
In October 2018, the council in a supermajority 5-2 decision
voted to repurpose the old Mt. Zion Institute into a new county building and
lease it at an estimated cost of $4.2 million.
The current council, however, has consistently voted 4-3
since they were seated on Jan. 11, 2020, and in the opposite direction as prior
councils recently have voted.
Bell stated an ad hoc committee was needed to determine the
true costs associated with the Mt. Zion plan.
“We continue to get this question—how much is it costing us?” Bell said, not specifying who is asking the question. “The purpose of this [committee] is just to see how much this is costing us from inception up until
now.
“We need to look at the cost end of the building,” Bell
continued. “We don’t know what that’s going to look like.”
“Is the true intention of Mt. Zion committee to lay the groundwork for canceling the contract?
– Councilman Neil Robinson
Gilbert, though, said spending time revisiting the Mt. Zion vote also risks hampering ongoing projects, such as infrastructure upgrades and recruiting industry.
“Shouldn’t we be looking forward instead of looking
backwards?” he said. “It just doesn’t make any sense. We as a council and the
administrator should be moving Fairfield County forward.”
Greene countered by saying it’s the council’s responsibility
to evaluate how taxpayer money is spent.
“We’re responsible for making sure our money is spent
judiciously. We can’t do that if the information isn’t in front of us,” Greene
said. “If we’re going to move Fairfield forward, we have to make sure we have
all the financial information that we need.”
Robinson said he worries the true intention of the Mt. Zion
committee is to lay the groundwork for canceling the contract.
“Before this new council came in, it was already said that
the first thing on the agenda was to tear down old projects,” Robinson said.
“It kind of seems like we’re following suit with that. If we spend two years
digging up all old stuff to make sure it’s correct, we won’t get anything
done,” Robinson added.
Bell responded that he’s heard conflicting figures about the
true cost and forming a committee will help pin down the exact figure.
“We want to settle all the questions,” Bell said.
Councilman Doug Pauley reminded Bell that the answers to
cost-related questions can be found in recordings of the various public
meetings and town halls the council held on the subject.
“I’ll tell you what’s amazing to me, except for Ms. Greene
and Mr. Roseborough, who have recently been elected, all five of us were here when
the Mt. Zion contract was done,” Pauley said. “Now we get to this point and you
don’t have a clue what was spent, what was discussed. The five of us already on
council should’ve already answered these questions.”
The Mt. Zion committee has been tasked with reporting back
to the council within 60 days.
Also during the Monday night special meeting, council
members voted 4-3 to create another ad hoc committee, this one to hire a new
county attorney.
Former county attorney Tommy Morgan is resigning effective
March 1, citing the shifting political landscape in Fairfield County following
the November election.
The Feb. 10 vote initially began as a motion for “the
council to hire the new attorney” without any additional details.
Pressed by Robinson, Gilbert and Pauley for details, Bell
said he’s looking to form a committee, which wasn’t stated in the original
motion.
Bell said he would be chairing the committee, which would
also include Councilman Trapp, and that County Administrator Jason Taylor would
serve in an advisory capacity.
The committee will interview the attorney candidates and
make a recommendation to the council.
There was no discussion of advertising the county attorney
vacancy. Rather, Bell said, “We’re thinking about reaching out to those persons
we know with the help of attorneys that we know today.”
The agenda for last week’s meeting also contained an item
regarding forming a third ad hoc committee to review census data, but action on
that item was postponed.
Rontavious Davis and daughter Zuri with brother-in-law Monteco Johnson, who helped get Zuri to safety. | Barbara Ball
WINNSBORO – It was a little after 7 a.m., Monday, Jan. 26, when fire broke out in a Sand Creek Hills home in Winnsboro, forcing a harrowing escape that included dropping a toddler from the roof into the arms of a Fairfield County Sheriff’s deputy.
Emergency crews were dispatched to the home where it was
reported two people were entrapped – homeowner Rontavious Davis, 28, and his
one-year-old daughter, Zuri.
Davis’ wife, Shanice, had just left for work a short time
before the fire broke out, and Davis and his daughter were still sleeping in a
second floor bedroom when he was awakened by the smell of smoke. Opening the
bedroom door, Davis said the smoke was so thick he couldn’t see through it.
“I realized the downstairs was on fire, but I couldn’t see
anything,” Davis said. “I called the EMS and my wife’s cell to let her know the
house was burning. I didn’t know then, but she also called her brother who was
across town just leaving for work.”
As Sheriff’s deputies arrived, they observed fire pushing out the home’s kitchen window. They forced open the front door and made several unsuccessful attempts to reach the two occupants entrapped on the second floor.
In the kitchen downstairs, the fire was still contained, but
blue sparks and flames were reported shooting from the hood over the stove. In
a second rescue attempt, the officers tried to make their way up the stairs to
Davis and his daughter, but heat and smoke forced them to retreat from the
house.
Outside, Davis’s brother-in-law, Monteco Johnson had sped to the scene and was running toward the house.
“It was cold, raining, and we were two stories above the ground.
-RONTAVIOUS DAVIS
Trying to think how he and his daughter could escape, Davis
picked the toddler up and opened a bedroom window. It was cold and raining
outside and they were two stories above the ground.
“That’s when I saw Monteco running across the yard to the
house,” Davis said. He quickly took his daughter to the master bath that
overlooked the garage and opened the window that was high above the garage
roof. But the roof was too far down and too steep to climb out on with a
one-year-old.
That’s when Davis’s brother-in-law, Monteco Johnson, turned
into a superhero and accomplished a near impossible feat. He ran up on to the
deck at the back of the house, jumped up on the deck railing and somehow
hoisted himself into the air and about four feet around the corner of the house
to the garage roof which was about two feet higher than the rail, a dangerous
leap by any standards. In his leap of faith, Johnson had no handholds, but
spotted an exhaust pipe sticking out of the roof. He grabbed it and somehow
pulled himself up onto the steeply pitched roof.
Monteco Johnson points to the roof he “flew” to as he helped his brother-in-law and niece to safety.
Below, Sheriff’s Deputy Amber Shultz was shouting for
Johnson drop the little girl to her.
“I was scared and cold and just had shorts and a t-shirt on.
It was very emotional. I handed my baby out the window to Monteco, and watched as
he dropped her from the edge of the roof down to the officer,” Davis said,
recalling how upset he was as he watched his daughter being dropped from the
roof.
EMS, the Winnsboro Department of Public Safety (WDPS) and
firefighters were quickly on the scene and brought a ladder to the roof’s edge
for Davis and Johnson to climb down.
“It was scary,” Davis said. “They took me to the back of the
firetruck to help me calm down,” he said. “They wrapped towels around us and
put me and my daughter in the ambulance and took us to the hospital to be
checked out.”
Inside the kitchen, firefighters had almost extinguished the
fire when a fireman pulled the kitchen’s exhaust hood down. A ball of fire and
blue sparks shot out from the hood, according to Lt. Oren Gadson, investigator
for WDPS. When the home was fully extinguished, the completed investigation
determined that the fire started in the exhaust hood.
The Davises escaped the burning house physically unscathed,
but they lost many belongings and are still shaken over the ordeal that Davis
and his daughter survived.
“The inside of the downstairs will have to be rebuilt,”
Davis said. The family is currently living with family members in Winnsboro.
Davis, who works at an industry in Blythewood’s Northpoint Industrial Park,
said co-workers and friends have been generous with financial and other
donations to help the family recover from their losses.
Davis said he’s thankful for the help from the first
responders, for the support he and his wife and daughter are receiving from
family and friends, and he said he’s especially thankful to his superhero
brother-in-law, who he credits with saving his and his daughter’s lives.
WINNSBORO – In a joint effort between Cooperative Health and
the Fairfield County Transit Department, free transportation to vaccine
appointments will be provided to those who do not have access to
transportation.
The following locations are currently scheduling and
accepting vaccination appointments:
Lake Monticello Family Practice
9017 Hwy 215 South, Jenkinsville, SC 29065
Call 803-298-2068 to schedule a vaccination appointment for Thursdays.
Ridgeway Pediatric, Family and Dental Practice
755 US Hwy 21 South, Ridgeway, SC 29130
Call 803-337-2920 to schedule a vaccination appointment for Wednesdays.
Winnsboro Pediatrics and Family Practice
1136 Kincaid Bridge Rd, Winnsboro, SC 29180
Call 803-635-1052 to schedule a vaccination appointment for Tuesdays
If you do not have access to transportation, make an
appointment at the location closest to where you live, then contact the Fairfield County Transit
Department (803-635-6177) to schedule transportation to your vaccine
appointment.
