RIDGEWAY – Sometime around May 1, a large tree outside the home of Harry Kennedy began to lean, so Kennedy called the SCDOT office in Winnsboro. A spokesperson for the agency explained they would not be able to take the tree down for several months because they contract the work out and things were backed up. In the meantime, Kennedy and his family were afraid to drive under the leaning tree.
When a waterline running under the tree broke and the Town of Ridgeway came to repair it, the tree roots were loosened and the tree leaned all the way across the roadway against other tall trees that prevented it from falling. Then the waterline needed more repair, but the tree was leaning so badly at that point that the Town of Ridgeway told Kennedy that the tree was unsafe and that it would have to be removed before they would be able to make further repairs.
With the prospect of no water, Kennedy tried once again to convince SCDOT that the tree presented an emergency situation. On Thursday, June 1, a SCDOT engineer called to say an SCDOT contract engineer would arrive the next morning to remove the tree.
And it did.
