WINNSBORO – Fairfield County government quietly purchased a property on the Broad River last month where it plans to build a proposed wastewater treatment plant. But the property purchase was not revealed to at least some county council members and some Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System (FJWSS) board members, including the chair of the FJWSS.
The purchase, which was finalized on July 22, 2024, was not announced until Monday, Aug. 19, during a special called 4 p.m. meeting of county council’s economic development committee.
At least three members of county council and two members of the Fairfield County Joint Water and Sewer System board told The Voice they were not notified by the county administrator nor by the council chair that the site was being purchased. The Voice has not yet received responses from other members of the council or the FJWSS board as to whether they knew of the purchase that was made almost a month before it was announced on Monday.
Interim Administrator Clay Killian told The Voice that everybody knew the property was going to be purchased.
“I was told that last fall they were advised that’s the one [property] we were going after,” Killian said. “Everyone was briefed.”
The council and FJWSS members who said they knew nothing of the property purchase said they knew the county was looking for a property in a general area on the Broad River, but had never been told which property was chosen or that it was being purchased.
“Everybody knew the county wanted to go to the Broad and that the engineers were looking at a number of properties in a certain area, but I was never told which property, how much it would cost or anything, until a reporter called me to ask if I knew,” said County Councilwoman Peggy Swearingen, one of the three members of the economic development committee. “The next day after that phone call, the property purchase and closing were announced in a special called economic development meeting.”
“We didn’t advertise that we’d closed on the property, but we probably should have,” Killian said, “but it’s still a positive step in the whole drawn out process of the wastewater treatment plant.”
After being notified about the purchase by an outside source on Friday, Aug. 16, The Voice obtained the deed on the property from the office of the Fairfield Clerk of Court. The sale information was not listed publicly with the Fairfield County Assessor’s office until Monday, Aug. 19, the day of the announcement.
The 98.91 – acre property is located at 348 Richtex Road (TMS No. 230-00-00-002-000), at the intersection of Hwy 215 and Richtex Road, along the Fairfield County southern boundary with Richland County. The purchase price was approximately $600,000 according to the tax records.
Public Vote required by Law
Asked by The Voice why there was no public vote to purchase the property as required by law, Deputy County Administrator Synithia Williams said council had previously passed an ordinance which contained authorization and directions for the county administrator (or his/her designee) to select, purchase and arrange financing as necessary to purchase property along the Broad River for the proposed wastewater treatment plant. Williams emailed The Voice a copy of the ordinance (Ord. 825) which council voted to pass almost a year ago, on Oct. 9, 2023.
Swearingen said she thought the council would still have a final vote before the purchase.
The ordinance also states that “Fairfield County will work with the Fairfield JWSS [Joint Water and Sewer Service] regarding the site selection.”
Some members of the JWSS board say that did not happen.
“The ordinance appears to have surrendered all authority to the administrator. Probably lawful, but a terrible way to run a government,” said Jay Bender, Media Attorney for the S.C. Press Association.
Winnsboro Mayor John McMeekin, who is chair of the Fairfield JWSS, said he only learned about the purchase of the site the night before the Monday afternoon announcement. McMeekin said he learned about it from Winnsboro Town Manager Chris Clauson, also a member of the FJWSS, after The Voice had informed him (Clauson) of the purchase.
Three county council members – Shirley Greene, Peggy Swearingen, and Dan Roof, said they had also not been informed of the purchase before it was announced on Monday. The Voice reached out to the other members of council on Wednesday morning, but on short notice, had not received responses from them at press time.