Blythewood Online 691

Tag: slider

  • PC tie vote fails to recommend industrial zoning

    County’s $26M Blythewood Land Purchase Hinges on Rezoning of 1,300 Acres

    BLYTHEWOOD – In a cliff hanger vote Monday night, the Blythewood planning commission failed in its effort to make a recommendation to town council regarding a request from Richland County to rezone 163 acres west of I-77 to Limited Industrial Two (LI-2) zoning. The three parcels that make up the 163 acres are currently zoned Development District (D-1).

    The 163 acres are part of 1,300 acres that Richland County is proposing to purchase for about $26 million for use as an industrial park it has dubbed ‘Blythewood Industrial Park.” Three years ago, Blythewood council rezoned about 600 of the 1,300 acres from LI-1 zoning to LI-2 at the county’s behest. Approximately two-thirds of the 1,300 acres is located in the town limits of Blythewood and one-third in Richland County.

    Because the vote ended in a 3-3 tie, the motion by Commissioner Rich McKendrick to recommend approval of the rezoning failed and the issue will now go forward to council with no recommendation for or against the rezoning.

    McKendrick’s motion followed a motion by Commissioner Ed Kesser to defer the issue until town officials could sit down with Richland County officials and determine what he called appropriate restrictions and traffic patterns for the park that would be beneficial to Blythewood.

    That motion died for lack of a second.

    Cobblestone resident Philip Martin holds the schematic of the planned industrial park (see below) as he questions proposed traffic patterns into the industrial park that would affect the proposed traffic circle on Blythewood Road at the entrance to Cobblestone Park. | Barbara Ball

    Tim Duerr, Manager of Research for the County’s Economic Development Department, addressed the rezoning Monday night, saying the county has been working to bring an industrial park to this site for several years.

    “This is one of the last untapped labor-draw areas in the state for OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers),” Duerr said. “If this is not developed, there are two other counties that will capitalize on it.”

    A statement released by Richland County simultaneously with the Planning Commission meeting said the proposed industrial site is one of the largest in the area and would give the county a competitive advantage in attracting big-name companies.

    Duerr said the park, as proposed, would accommodate 5.9 million square feet of office and class A technology and manufacturing space. The press release went further, saying the Blythewood Business Park could be transformative for the Columbia region – creating jobs, providing controlled growth and increasing tax revenue.

    Ed Parler, the town’s Director of Economic Development, said that while he believes the industrial park is the highest and best use for the property, he pointed out that only the county would benefit from the tax revenue, since the Town of Blythewood does not have a millage.

    The statement issued by Richland County said the park has been 20 years in the making. Lucent Technology considered it for a premier campus beginning in about 1999.

    “For reasons not related to the site, the project did not advance, but the state and region knew that this was an asset that should be pursued when the time was right,” the statement said. “The right time arose several years ago and the Richland County Economic Development Office began working to gain control of the property and perform the critical due diligence necessary to evaluate the merits of the site…the site remains a premier location for businesses and industry because of rapid residential growth in Northeast Columbia, robust infrastructure, availability of large tracts of land and success of other business and industrial parks in and around Blythewood. It is accessible from two interchanges on Interstate 77,” according to the statement.

    Duerr said the park is fully master planned, incorporating green spaces, natural areas and large buffers between it and the Ashley Oaks residential neighborhood.

    Kesser asked why the county prefers LI-2 zoning over LI-1 for the proposed industrial park.

    “The LI-2 zoning district allows a wider variety and greater intensity of manufacturing uses than the LI-1 zoning district,” Town Administrator Brian Cook said.

    It is those more intense uses that Kesser and several citizens expressed concern about Monday night.

    “You open it up to LI-2 and you’re opening it up to lots of kinds of manufacturing,” Kesser said.

    Attorney Stuart Andrews, who lives in the Middlefield Lane area, was one of seven members of the community who addressed the commissioners.

    “There is not general opposition to the park from my neighbors if it has lots of green space and heavy buffers,” Andrews said. “But I would urge you to exercise care about many of the uses listed. Let’s not just open the door to everything. Some of those allowed [uses], we don’t consider good neighbors – textile mills, steel fabrication, wood product manufacturing, copper recovery, sheet metal, small arms manufacturing, aircraft manufacturing …”

    Andrews suggested the zoning content of LI-2 should be changed to eliminate the more intense manufacturing uses.

    “To be a first class project, it has to have a first class process,” Andrews said. “Richland County has not been open with you. At the January, 2019 county council retreat, Jeff Ruble, Director of Richland County’s Office of Economic Development, was a lot more specific and informative than they have been in either of their presentations to you,” he told the commissioners. “It’s really a disservice. At the retreat, Ruble identified the Blythewood Industrial Park as the signature project for Richland County for the last 5-10 years. And it’s going to be in our back yards.”

    The issue was tabled by a 4-2 vote in July after commissioners and the public complained that while the county’s economic development staff had presented detailed plans for the industrial park to town council in executive session, it had failed to adequately apprise the commissioners and public of those details.

    Commission Chairman Donald Brock asked Town Administrator Brian Cook to pull Ruble’s retreat speech up on the overhead screen. In the 12-minute clip, Ruble likened the prospects of the park to Volvo – a company with 4,000 employees in two million square feet of office space.

    “If we’re looking at six million square feet of office space

    [in the Blythewood Industrial Park]

    , we could be looking at even more employees,” Andrews said. “You can’t have that kind of impact on an area without it effecting everywhere else. We want to be involved in the process. We think it’s important to be at the table.”

    Andrews said he wants the town government to look at ways to protect the community’s interest.

    “The property should not be rezoned, then have negotiations about restrictive covenants afterwards,” he said. Andrews also recalled the incentive-rich Mack Truck deal in Winnsboro.

    “After all the incentives were used up, Mack Truck walked away. I understand that Richland County would like to have an ideal list of recruitment targets. But if we change the zoning and then try to restrict covenants, Richland County doesn’t have to participate,” Andrews said.

    Duree insisted that the kind of manufacturing the county wants to recruit is smart, clean manufacturing with high paying, technical jobs.

    “All these jobs are what most communities are trying to recruit,” Duree said. “

     “Industrial parks can be done in a first class way if that expectation is built in to it,” Andrews said. “Let’s not chase industry we don’t want.”

    Sandy York of Ashley Oaks neighborhood questioned whether the alternative to the industrial use of the 1,300 acres would be another 3,000 homes.

    “Get the town’s tax base up first, then a commitment from Richland County,” Roberta (Bobbie) Young said. “We have to make sure the rules and regulations are in place.” Young said she would like to see the commission slow the process down for now.

    “I’m in favor of LI zoning, but before I’m ready to commit to a specific zoning,” Kesser said, “I think there needs to be some more work done on the front end with regard to convenants, restrictions, traffic, etc. I’m fearful that if we don’t, we’ll get in a position where, yes, we go to the table, but we’re not the 800 pound gorilla here in Blythewood.”

    An unidentified woman said she moved to Blythewood from Summerville, about 10 miles from the Volvo plant.

    “You would not believe the explosion of houses and road deterioration, four-story storage units on every corner and houses all over the place. Please, be careful in making a decision that could turn Blythewood into Summerville,” she said. “Backed up traffic at 9 and 10 in the morning and at 2 in the afternoon.”

    After Kesser’s motion failed to get a second, Rick McKendrick made a stand for the rezoning.

     “I think there’s a level of comfort doing nothing. But until we rezone this, to a zoning it is contiguous with and that Richland County has spent time and treasure studying,” McKendrick said, “I think there is a flip side to ‘pump the break’ and ‘make sure we have a seat at the table.’ We have a seat at the table. This is a fantastic opportunity that might take 30 to 40 years to build out. But if we don’t rezone the property, we might be here a year from now fending off D.R. Horton that wants to put a lot of houses here.”

    “So I’m going to make the motion to recommend approval of the rezoning,” he said.

    The nays rolled out first – Erica Page, Ed Kesser and Sloan Griffin. The yays came from the other end of the table from Brock, Derrek Pugh and McKendrick.

    Town Council will take the first of two votes on the rezoning on Monday, Aug. 6, at The Manor.

  • Revitalization of Zion Hill on the table

    Officials from the County, Winnsboro and Central Midlands Council of Government discuss revitalization with Zion Hill and Fortune Springs area residents. | Photos: Barbara Ball

    WINNSBORO – “If we don’t get something done here tonight,” Robert Davis told a crowd of Zion Hill and Fortune Springs Park area residents, “it’s our own fault. Officials from the town, county and the Central Midlands Council of Government (CMCOG) are here to help us.”

    Davis was speaking to residents who had been asked by county officials to gather in the renovated Fairfield High School building for the purpose of contributing information that CMCOG could use to create a master plan for Winnsboro.

    For some in the community, the mention of yet another plan for the town immediately caused skepticism to ooze.

    “I have three or four folders at home where officials have come to my area with a plan, started work, tore down a few houses, then left. Will this be a designated plan?” Betty Gunthorpe, a resident of the Cemetery Street neighborhood across town from Zion Hill, asked. She also wanted to know, “Why Zion Hill?” and “How did Winnsboro get like this?”

    Resident Robert Pinkney recalls how Zion Hill used to be.

    Chris Clauson, Fairfield County Community Development Director, answered Gunthorpe’s first question, explaining that this particular plan would, indeed, be different. He said the creation of the master plan is a required first step for the county and town to apply for thousands of dollars in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG’s) that can then be used to revitalize areas in neighborhoods overcome with blight caused by such things as dilapidated houses, crime, neglected parks and crumbling infrastructure.

    Gregory Sprouse, Director of Research, Planning and Development for CMCOG answered Gunthorpe’s second question.

    “I appreciate what you’re saying,” Sprouse, said. “To your point, we want this [Zion Hill] to be a starting point for how we can move similar types of projects into other areas of the town that need the same type of commitment. CDBG funds must be spent to benefit low to moderate income populations based on census data, and Zion Hill and the Fortune Springs area fit that criteria.”

    While Gunthorpe’s third question stumped the planners, Clauson set conversation in motion as to how things could be turned around.

    “Tonight is the first phase,” Clauson said. “We’ve been out in the community talking to residents and gathering data. We’ve seen some things. Now we’ve called this meeting to get input from you about what you think is wrong in your neighborhood and what you want changed. We want to know what’s going on, what are the issues, the opportunities, the challenges. We want to hear about traffic issues, infrastructure, lighting, town services, transportation (transit), public safety and issues with health and education, so we can pair them up with potential grant funds to fix the problems.

    “The point tonight is to determine what the potential projects are and to set priorities for them,” Clauson said. “The problem we’ve heard the most about is dilapidated houses and other structures that are deserted and falling in. They’re eye sores,” Clauson said. “But we have to create the master plan for revitalization before we can apply for the funds to deal with the houses.”

    During the course of the evening, residents began to pour out their worries and frustrations, including what they perceived to be poor code enforcement, the inaccessibility of Zion Park, poor responses from the Sheriff’s department and town hall and nothing being done about houses falling into disrepair.

    Chris Clauson, director of the County’s community development, leads revitalization discussion.

    “It can be a very arduous process to condemn these houses and clear them out,” Mayor Roger Gaddy explained. “The laws are on [the property owner’s] side. It’s a very costly process. Before we can do anything, we have to find the property owner, who frequently lives in another state, and send two registered letters,” Gaddy said. “Then, after they open the first letter, they won’t sign for the second one. It’s extremely frustrating. But if you don’t go through the process, you put the town at risk of being sued.”

    But solutions were also presented. Clausen explained that the County is making some headway in eliminating blight by tearing down those dilapidated structures that have come under the county’s ownership through tax forfeiture.

    County Administrator Jason Taylor explained that the county has acquired more than 100 structures over the years through the forfeiture land trust, and has begun tearing those structures down. He said the county is also trying to acquire others that it doesn’t own that need tearing down.

    “But you have to have the money to do this or it’s just a dream,” Taylor said. “A CDBG will give us $500,000 to work with to get property owners to sign the properties over to us so that we can tear them down.”

    Taylor’s plan includes more than just tearing down the houses. He said the lots that remain after the houses are torn down could be leveraged to accommodate new affordable homes in the neighborhood.

    “Once we tear the houses down, we have all these empty lots throughout the town with water, sewer, electricity, sidewalks and roads ready to be built on. When you build a new subdivision, you spend most of your money on roads, sewer, water, those kinds of things that these lots already have,” Taylor explained. “So we have reached out to Habitat for Humanity. Once we get ownership of all of this, we hope to bundle the lots and work with Habitat or some other developer to come in and put new houses on them.”

    Other discussion centered around problems at Fortune Springs Park – lack of tree pruning, soil erosion, sidewalk needs and more.

    There were also poignant testimonies of a once thriving neighborhood that is now at the mercy of crime.

    “I grew up on Zion Hill and nothing’s the same anymore,” Robert Pinkney told the planners. “You used to know everybody and feel safe. My house has been broken into five times and I finally had to go find the thieves myself and get my own things back –  three TVs, two lawn mowers, two weed eaters and more,” he said. “We don’t get any help.”

    While some of the complaints residents relayed to the planners were raw and difficult for city and county leaders to listen to, it was what the organizers had come to hear.

    “I’ve been to these community meetings all over the state,” Newman told the 60 or so residents in appreciate of their participation, “and the turnout here is amazing. Haven’t seen anything like it.”

    “We have some competitive projects here,” Sprouse said, “and we will be submitting our application for a neighborhood revitalization grant in September.”

    According to Taylor, together, the town and county are eligible to apply for four $500,000 CDBG grants each year, one each for the county and the town for infrastructure in the spring and one each for the county and town for community revitalization and enrichment in the fall.

    “Working together,” Taylor said, “we can do a lot”

    Asked by one resident, what MCOG’s track record is for getting CDBG money,” Sprouse answered with a smile, “it’s good.”

    “We are committed to getting some of that money in here,” Clauson said. ”And we will be having more meetings like this one for future projects if we are successful with this.”

    Before the crowd dispersed, Ridgeway Town Councilman Don Prioleau, who is also the president of the Fairfield High School Alumni Association, invited those attending to take a tour of the renovated school building to see first-hand what revitalization can do.

    After the meeting, Prioleau pointed out that the school has been almost totally restored to its original state through the efforts of its former students and with no government help.

    “The building is now beautiful and useful. It offers meeting space for community meetings such as this one,” Prioleau said. “It’s a wonderful asset to the community now. The renovation of our school is something we worked long and hard to accomplish and we are very proud of it,” Prioleau said. “I’d like to see that for this whole Zion Hill community, for the whole Town of Winnsboro.”

  • Woman found dead along Hwy 200

    WINNSBORO – The body of a woman who appeared to have been stabbed was discovered along Highway 200 at about 8:40 on the morning of Wednesday, July 24, according to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department.

    Thelma Alejandra Villegas Rios, 21, of Charlotte, was reportedly found face down in a ditch next to Highway 200 in the area of Hook Road.  The body was discovered by a person mowing along the highway. A K-9 unit was brought to the scene and the surrounding area was searched, the report stated.

    The woman appeared to have been stabbed by a knife or sharp object in the right upper chest area. She also had a laceration to her right knee, according to officials.

    The victim was positively identified as the person who had recently been reported missing in the Charlotte area.

    The incident is being investigated by The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department, the Charlotte Mecklenberg Police Department and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).

    The Fairfield County Sheriff’s Department is asking that anyone with information about the incident to contact them at 803-635-4141.

  • Kinsler family reunites at burial ground of enslaved ancestors

    Senator John Scott welcomes the Kinslers to Blythewood. | Photos: Barbara Ball

    BLYTHEWOOD – A line of cars with license plates from New York, Georgia and beyond slowly turned off Kinsler Road on the western edge of Blythewood 29016 and through an open farm gate into a 400-acre horse farm where rolling fields, manicured to the nines, glistened green in the bright afternoon sunshine as far as the eye could see.

    As the cars parked in the grassy field, the folks stepping out of them laughed quietly and hugged each other, then walked somberly toward a clump of tall pines that shaded a circle of ground marked with tiny grey stones topped with small vases of flowers. The visitors milled about in the shade, pausing reverently at each stone.

    The stones marked the graves of their ancestors – slaves who died hundreds of years ago on the land where they are now buried. The cool, shaded cemetery, in its simplicity, was as breathtaking as the contrasting sunny green pastures that surrounded it, dotted with giant cross-country jumps and riding arenas – a horseman’s paradise.

    Mary Burnside, the farm’s owner, greeted the visitors one by one and welcomed them warmly. It was apparent there was already a strong bond between Burnside and her guests.

    Except for Burnside, the people buried and the people visiting the buried – both white and African-American – belonged to one family – the Kinsler family.

    They had gathered for a family reunion and to honor their ancestors.

    At 2:30 p.m. last Thursday, everyone took their seats beneath white tents. Bobby Clark, Chairperson for the 2019 Kinsler family reunion, welcomed the 60 or so family members.

    Burnside then spoke, recalling how her late husband, Richard (Dick) Burnside, accidentally discovered the graves when he was bush hogging the land some 50 years ago.

    In the disturbed soil, there were many small stone columns driven into the ground as grave markers, Burnside said as she related how her husband felt an obligation to repair the stones he had hit and to mark them clearly so that they would not be hit again. While Dick Burnside didn’t know who the people were that were buried on his property, he began caring for the cemetery, something he would continue to do until his death last year. He did not, at the time, know if anyone would ever be able to tell him just who, exactly, these people were.

    Fast forward about 30 years when Brenda Kinsler (who is African-American) of Washington, D.C. and Charlie Smith (who is white) of Charleston, S.C., met online while researching their separate family histories.

    “It didn’t take long before we realized that our ancestors were the same family – the Kinsler family – who had lived on the Burnside property since the 17th century, until it was purchased by the Burnsides in the 1970’s,” Kinsler said.

    In their research, they learned that prior to the Burnsides owning the land, it was owned by Smith’s great, great, great grandfather, John Herman Kinsler, a signer of the South Carolina Ordinance of Secession, State Senator, State Legislator, Chairman of the Senate Education Committee and Chairman of the Board of the South Carolina College, now the University of South Carolina.

    They also learned that Brenda Kinsler was a descendent of African slaves owned by John Herman Kinsler and, therefore, bore his name.

    Brenda Kinsler’s and Charles Smith’s remarkable story did not end with the discovery that their families were the same. Their story went on to reunite all the descendants of John Herman Kinsler – both his African-American descendants and his Swiss German descendants.

    In 2004, Kinsler and Smith traveled to the Cedar Creek community where the Burnside farm is located. They wanted to see where their ancestors had been enslaved. During that first trip, they visited a few related properties in the area looking for clues as to where the Kinsler slaves were buried.

    “I was hoping to find the cemetery of my ancestors,” Brenda Kinsler said. At her urging, she and Smith pulled up to Burnside’s house and knocked on the door to ask if any old cemeteries were on the property.

    “His face lit up,” Smith wrote in a memoir, “and he said, ‘Give me a minute and I’ll get my truck and show you right now.’ It was a toss-up who was more excited at that moment, Brenda and I who had information and no cemetery or Mr. Burnside who had a cemetery and no information,” Smith recalled.

    Keith Kinsler presents a Kinsler family shirt to Mary Burnsides, making her an official member of the Kinsler family.

    That chance meeting on the internet more than a decade ago has since changed the entire dynamic of a family born into the South Carolina slave-holding culture, and it gave the man who had tended that sacred space an answer to the question of just who these people were who were buried on his land.

    After Burnside’s death, the care and keeping of the slave cemetery has been continued by his wife, Mary, a longtime horsewoman in the Blythewood community who keeps a stable of horses across the road from the cemetery.

    To show their gratitude for what the Burnsides have done for their ancestors’ graves, slave descendent Keith Kinsler presented Mary Burnside with a Kinsler family t-shirt, declaring her an official member of the Kinsler family.

    A plaque, donated by Burnside, was then unveiled to commemorate the cemetery and the Kinsler slaves buried there.

    Following the ceremony, the family traveled to Charleston where they joined the Swiss-German Kinsler descendants for a continuation of the Kinsler family reunion on July 26 – 28.

    A book about the Kinsler family and their ancestors, by Cynthia White, titled ‘From Whence We Came – a history of the African-American Kinslers’ is available online from Amazon books.

    “We would love to help others do what we have done, to find our ancestors and to know where they lived and where they are buried,” Brenda Kinsler said.

    For more information about the Kinslers and how they traced their ancestry, contact Brenda Kinsler at 1-202-407-3290.

    The Kinsler family gathered around the plaque donated by Mary Burnside to commemorate the graves of their enslaved ancestors who are now buried beneath the trees behind them.

  • Barn Express reopens Thursday, Aug. 1

    WINNSBORO – Answering the prayers lifted up by many folks in Fairfield County the last two months, Jennifer Boone has re-opened the popular Barn Express. It opened Thursday morning at 10 a.m.

    It’s going to be the same, but different, the longtime co-owner of the restaurant told The Voice earlier in the week.

    Jennifer Boone, co-owner of Barn Express. | Barbara Ball

    “It will no longer have the convenience store component,” Boone said. “It’s just going to be a restaurant. I got rid of all the booths – sold ‘em yesterday. We will have tables and chairs in both the dining room and in the front area,” Boone said, running through a list of changes customers will see. “We’ll still have the buffet, but no more busboys. I’m going to have waitresses instead,” she said.

    A new ordering system will take orders straight to the kitchen and make everything more efficient, Boone added.

    “We’ll have a couple of people on the floor to assist the customers so they won’t have to be running back and forth to get a drink,” Boone said. “I’ve bought new kitchen equipment and added another fryer to keep us from running out of fried chicken. We’re also adding subs and some additional sandwiches, and we’re adding to our grill menu.

    “I’m trying to do better. I want our customers to have a better experience,” Boone said.

    One thing longtime customers may not like better is that Boone will no longer be open for breakfast but will be open for an early dinner.

    “We will be open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., seven days a week,” Boone said. “But no breakfast.”

    After 24 years running the restaurant, starting in 1995 with her dad, the late Jackie Mincey, and later with her sister Julie Haynes, Boone said she has come back refreshed.

    “We intended to just be taking a vacation and closed for a week when my husband had knee surgery the end of May,” Boone said. “But during the same week, Julie became a grandmother for the first time. Plus my mom was not well, so we just shut the place down and decided to sell it. I realized that the welfare of my husband and mom were more important to me than the store. Julie felt the same about her new grandbaby. But, you know, when my husband got well and my mom was feeling better, I didn’t have anything to do! I began missing all our customers. So I decided to open back up, but with changes,” she said.

    Haynes, on the other hand, decided to continue on playing with her new grand, and will not be rejoining her sister in the business. The two purchased the business from their dad in 2003.

    “While we were closed, we started to hear from our customers. I didn’t realize how important the restaurant was to the town and how much our customers missed us,” Boone said. “It makes me feel really good that we apparently did the right thing all these years to have so many loyal customers. With the changes, I’m looking forward to opening back up.”

    The Chamber of Commerce is planning a ribbon cutting for the grand re-opening sometime in mid-August, Boone said.

    “But I’m going ahead and opening now so we have time to get used to the new way we’ll be doing things. It will give us time to adjust,” Boone said. “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again, and I think the customers will like everything better.”

    Everything except, maybe, the part about ‘no breakfast.’

  • DHEC finds radioactivity in Jenkinsville water

    JENKINSVILLE – Contamination has been reported again in Jenkinsville water.

    In July, the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, or (DHEC) issued a new notice of violation against the JWC, the fourth such violation in five years, and fifth since 2010, according to public records.

    The latest violations occurred at Well 15 on Clowney Road. Other wells are in compliance.

    JWC exceeded Gross Alpha radiation levels on two occasions in 2018 — July to September, and October to December, DHEC records show.

    Gross Alpha is a test that measures radioactivity levels in water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA.

    During the October to December testing period, Gross Alpha levels peaked at 34 pCi/L (picoCuries per liter). July to September radioactivity levels came in at 23 pCi/L.

    The state legal limit for drinking water is 15 pCi/L, according to DHEC.

    Samplings taken since then have been in compliance.

    From January to March, radioactivity was 11 pCi/L. From April to June, it was 12 pCi/L, documents show.

    JWC chairman Greg Ginyard said he couldn’t explain the 2018 measurements found in violation. He said the JWC has done nothing different in the past 12 months, yet radioactivity levels dropped to acceptable levels.

    “It doesn’t make sense to me. Was it a blip in the lab somewhere? I don’t know,” Ginyard said. “They had two that were bad that were a year ago. I don’t have any answers.”

    In 2010, DHEC issued a notice of violation when uranium was found in a JWC water storage tank in Blair. Radium has been found on multiple occasions at the Clowney Road well, records show.

    “Effects of Exposure to Radium”

    DHEC spokeswoman Laura Renwick said Jenkinsville water customers should not worry about ill effects from short time exposure.

    “Over a long period of time and at elevated levels, ingestion of radium increases the risk of bone cancer and uranium increases the risk of kidney damage,” Renwick said via email. “There are no immediate short-term health risks or symptoms from drinking water that contains gross alpha radiation.”

    No fines or penalties had been imposed as of press time. An enforcement conference will be held at a later date.

    Renwick said the JWC must submit to DHEC a corrective action plan that addresses the violation. The JWC must also publicly notify customers within 30 days of the violation, which is dated July 23.

    The latest violation is the fourth in five years that DHEC has issued against the Jenkinsville water provider, agency records state.

    It also comes amid pushback and threats of litigation from the JWC and its attorneys against Fairfield County Councilwoman Bertha Goins, who’s publicly criticized the authority over its water quality. No lawsuits had been filed as of press time, according to the Fairfield County Public Index.

    In June, the JWC went as far as to issue an ultimatum demanding Goins retract her statements. She refused, saying publicly and through her attorney that the JWC’s threats are meant to intimidate and silence her.

    In one of its letters to Goins, the JWC called its water “award winning,” asserting that no contaminants above DHEC levels have been detected in seven years.

    Legal Victory for JWC

    The violations reported in July overshadow a legal victory for the JWC, which succeeded in having one of two pending lawsuits partially dismissed.

    In 2014, D. Melton of Broad River Campground sued the JWC for breach of contract after the body rejected his request for increased capacity.

    Melton later amended his suit to include JWC chairman Greg Ginyard and vice-chairman Joseph McBride individually as defendants. The amended suit also alleged violations of the S.C. Unfair Trade Practices Act, or SCUTPA.

    In February, a circuit judge dismissed the SCUTPA claim as well as individual suits against Ginyard and McBride while allowing the breach of contract litigation to continue.

    Circuit Judge Brian Gibbons wrote in his order that he found no evidence the JWC was guilty of unfair trade practices.

    “Plaintiff BRC failed to prove that Mr. Ginyard and/or Mr. McBride acted with reckless, willful, wanton, or gross negligence,” Judge Gibbons wrote. “To the contrary, the evidence shows that Defendant JWC acted in accordance with the advice and recommendation of its third-party engineers, and no evidence showed, or even inferred, that Mr. Ginyard or Mr. McBride attempted to undercut, disregard, or deviate from those recommendations.”

    Ginyard declined to comment on the pending litigation, but did say he doesn’t see the partial dismissals as legal victories.

    “To me it’s not a victory because I didn’t do anything wrong. I knew all the time that there was going to be vindication,” Ginyard said. “I took a polygraph. I passed it.”

    NOTE: This story has been corrected to say customers should not worry about ill effects from short term exposure.

  • Bravo Blythewood concerts lose $18K+

    BLYTHEWOOD – Last December, town council awarded $17,360 in hospitality tax revenue to Bravo Blythewood to organize a four-night Spring concert series with the purpose of bringing visitors to the town. During Monday night’s town council meeting, Mayor J. Michael Ross presented Bravo Blythewood’s final report on the series. It revealed that the concerts not only failed to bring many visitors to town, but that Bravo Blythewood lost $18,140.53 on the four concerts.

    And if that wasn’t enough to raise the mayor’s and council’s ire, there was more. No one showed up at the meeting to answer for the loss.

    The four concerts were performed in the Palmetto Citizens’ Credit Union Amphitheater in Doko Park April 27, May 3, 10 and 17.

    In the application requesting hospitality funds, event manager Sara Ballard projected revenues of $46,054: $17,360 from H-Tax funds; $11,000 from sponsorships; $1,500 from food vendors, $14,560 from beer/wine sales and $1,634 from juice and water sales.

    Besides the town’s contribution, the event only brought in $8,618 ($3,568 from beer/wine sales, $2,000 from sponsorships, $2,000 from Martha Jones, president of Bravo Blythewood and $1,050 from vendor fees).

    The projected revenue fell short $7,000 on sponsorships, $450 on food vendors; $10,992 on beer/wine sales and $1,634 on juice and water sales.

    “I’ll just say I hope this wasn’t their major fundraiser,” Ross joked, then turned serious.

    “Why is no one from Bravo Blythewood here tonight?” Ross asked. Buddy Price, a Bravo Blythewood board member, had been in the audience but left before the agenda item came up.

    “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see where their projections were way off,” Ross said. “And some expenses I would question. I’m not an event planner, but there are some things that, well, I can see where they lost some money,” he continued.

    “I see Sara Ballard [the event planner] is not here,” Ross said, scanning the audience. “But I would have thought someone would be here. I don’t understand why they aren’t here to answer our questions. Gosh! We gave this money for them to bring people [to town]. So who do we ask?”

    “This is not good,” Councilman Eddie Baughman interjected

    According to Ballard’s report, she was paid $8,000 to organize the event. She was not paid (according to the final budget) a $1,000 bonus that was listed in the projected budget. Ballard was paid $1,000 for Facebook promotion – $900 to her company Broadstreet Consulting, LLC, for Facebook advertising and $100 for Facebook ad management. No breakdown or receipts were provided for any of the Facebook costs.

    In addition to lower than expected attendance, expenses ran amok in several areas, including $9,200 for sound system and lighting equipment that had not been included in the projected $46,054 event budget, and $4,315 for hired staff that was projected to cost $640.

    Ross ran through the list of losses, focusing on beer and wine sales and sponsorships.

    “But the one that is mind boggling to me is the sound costs. Sound was not even budgeted, yet they spent $9,200 on it,” Ross said, raising his voice.

    “You add these three losses up and that’s $26,000,” Ross said. “And they still haven’t paid the town the $3,000 they owe us for the venue (amphitheater).”

    “We have an unbelievable facility out here and the sound has been great for other events,” Ross said.

    “Their expenses were astronomical – $10,000 per night plus expenses,” Baughman commented. “It could have been done for half that cost.”

    “When they applied for this money, what were we thinking,” Councilman Larry Griffin asked. The audience and council laughed.

    “They were projecting a much larger audience,” Baughman said.

    Ross laid partial blame for the lack of attendance squarely on Ballard’s advertising choices.

    “They spent $1,100 on advertising in the Northeast News!” Ross grimaced. “I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m very disappointed that Sara Ballard is not here for us to at least be able to ask her some questions,” Ross said.

    Ballard stated in her final report that Bravo Blythewood took the hit for the loss.

    Bravo’s contribution to the event, Ballard stated in the final report, had been budgeted at $4,000; however, $20,140.65 was ultimately required to cover total expenses. Consequently, Bravo anted up $16,140.65 to cover that loss.

    A note on Bravo’s ‘budget to actual’ report states that Jones donated $2,000 in personal funds to cover certain checks written.

    Despite the five-digit financial losses, Ballard stated in her report to Council that Bravo Blythewood overwhelmingly believes the event contributed positively to the quality of life in the Blythewood community and has committed to hosting another series next year.

    That same commitment was not forthcoming from Council.

    “It would be hard for me to approve this kind of money for them again,” Baughman said.

    Jones could not be reached for comment.

  • School board OKs $2.3M bond

    WINNSBORO – Fairfield County School District leaders are borrowing another $2.3 million.

    At its July 16 meeting, the district’s board of trustees voted to issue a one-year general obligation bond totaling $2.3 million to finance various school building projects. The vote was unanimous.

    At the July 16 meeting, Kevin Robinson, the district’s finance director, said debt millage would remain at 20.6 mills, the same as last year, which wouldn’t result in any tax increases for residents.

    Robinson said the district requested the $2.3 million bond issue even though it has a surplus that exceeds $2 million. The surplus, he said, is being set aside to fund employee bonuses that were approved earlier this year.

    “So it’s to maintain a good cash flow,” Frick said at the meeting. “What we don’t want to do is budget these out of our surplus funds and something unexpected happens.”

    Bond money will help cover $600,000 in heating and air equipment at Fairfield Central, and also at Geiger, McCrorey Liston and Fairfield elementary schools. It also includes floor tile, carpets, signage and awning improvements at those elementary schools, as well as Fairfield Magnet and Kelly Miller Elementary. Another $50,000 in paving is included at Gordon Odyssey, Geiger Elementary and Fairfield Elementary.

    The bond covers several district wide projects as well:

    • $500,000 — Roof Recoating, Roof Repair Work
    • $300,000 — Computer, Chromebook, Servers, & Clear Touch Panel Replacement
    • $200,000 — Security cameras and door access hardware
    • $200,000 — Reconfigure to control hallway access to classrooms from front door

  • Man dies in apparent stabbing

    WINNSBORO – A Fairfield County man has died of injuries from what Sheriff’s officials say appears to be a stab wound.

    Sheriff’s deputies were called to a home on Jewel Street off Highway 34 at 4:50 p.m., Tuesday, July 23. The caller said his brother was bleeding and did not know how it happened or where the blood was coming from, the report stated.

    When Sheriff’s deputies arrived on the scene, they reported EMS personnel were trying to locate the wound. EMS later notified deputies that the victim had a large laceration on the inside of his left thigh that appeared to be a stab wound.

    The man was pronounced dead by EMS personnel on scene, and Sheriff’s deputies notified the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division who arrived on scene according to the incident report.

    The incident is being investigated by SLED and the Fairfield Coroner’s office.

    More information will be posted on The Voice’s website as it becomes available.

  • Winnsboro woman dies in house fire

    RICHLAND COUNTY – A Winnsboro woman died early this morning after being involved in a house fire on Lilton Road in Winnsboro. The address is in the Richland County service area and was covered by the Richland County Fire Service.

    Shari Austin, 65, died at the scene, according to Richland County Coroner Gary Watts. An autopsy indicated the cause of death to be carbon monoxide toxicity due to smoke inhalation.

    The Richland County Coroner’s office and the Richland County Fire Marshall’s office are investigating the incident.