WINNSBORO – Winnsboro Town Council received its audit report during council meeting, Monday night with news of a budget shortfall of $900,000. CPA Bill Hancock pointed out that, in past years, council has voted to cover budget shortfalls with a transfer of monies from the utility fund. “In the past, there has been a sizeable […]
After cutting $700K, Ridgeway Rec Center is still over budget
February 23, 2023 By
RIDGEWAY – The new recreation center is under construction on Hwy 21 outside of Ridgeway. But it is not the one promised by former Council Chair Moses Bell during his two-year tenure as chairman of Fairfield County Council. He said it would be a state-of-the-art recreation facility featuring a large 6-goal basketball court, a library, […]
MPA calls on court to strike Blythewood government’s counterclaim
February 16, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood’s counterclaims in an ongoing FOIA lawsuit should be stricken because the town’s allegations do not relate to the S.C. Freedom of Information Act, according to a recent court filing. Attorneys for MPA Strategies, LLC, which the town previously contracted with to perform marketing services, filed the motion Feb. 7. MPA sued the […]
McKenrick calls for attorneys to continue pursuit of MPA cases
February 9, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – Returning from an executive session during Monday night’s special called town council meeting, Councilman Rich McKenrick took the lead for the second time in less than a year in calling for council to reaffirm the contracts of the town’s outside attorneys, who are defending the lawsuits filed by MPA Strategies and Ashley Hunter, […]
FJWSS forges ahead with Wastewater Treatment Plant Plans
February 2, 2023 By
WINSBORO – The Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System Commission met Tuesday to swear in new members to the commission and elect new officers. “It makes sense for a politician to be chairman,” the commission’s attorney, CD Rhodes said, “It also makes sense for the town manager to be treasurer, because in the coming months […]
BAR, church spar over Town’s codes, siding
February 2, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – Attorney Jamie Walters, representing Sandy Level Baptist Church, appeared before the Town’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR) for the second time in as many months to request a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) that would allow the church to replace the existing vinyl siding on the church’s sanctuary building with like vinyl siding as […]
MPA sues Franklin, Town, Tonya Page for defamation, civil conspiracy, more
February 1, 2023 By
Country Chronicle Publishing Company Sued for Negligence BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood leaders falsely alleged that the CEO of a local marketing firm had a romantic relationship with a sitting councilman in order to land a marketing contract with the town, according to a recently filed lawsuit. The suit also accuses a Camden news organization of publishing […]
Audit late, expected in March
January 26, 2023 By
WINNBSORO – Insufficient staff and a last minute data dump by the finance department onto the auditor contributed to Fairfield County missing its annual audit deadline for the second year in a row. Now the county’s auditing firm won’t be able to present its findings to County Council until sometime in March, said interim county […]
Dinkins challenges Blythewood Town Council’s transparency
January 26, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – During Monday night’s town council meeting, town officials and town center property owner Byron Dinkins had their say about the approval process for a 50-foot natural gas tank for Dominion Energy that was placed next to Dinkins’ property on Blythewood Road in early December. Dinkins said Monday night that the tank did not […]
Swearingen: County’s finances in a bad spot
January 26, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – In addition to bad news about the county’s audit during Monday night’s county council meeting, council members received disappointing and conflicting news about the county’s fund balance. In December, the previous council leadership claimed Fairfield had been regularly depositing money into the fund balance since mid-summer and that the finances were in good […]
