WINNSBORO – Town Council approved eight new water taps Tuesday night for a residential development in Blythewood. The taps will go to a development currently known as Holly Bluffs, off Blythewood and Muller roads just over the Richland County line, and must be paid for in advance, Council said, to the tune of $1,350 each.
Council also voted to change the billing information for Holly Bluffs to reflect the development’s new owner, S.C. Pillon Homes, Inc. John Fantry, special counsel to the Town of Winnsboro, said S.C. Pillon Homes is seeking approval from the Town of Blythewood for design changes to the development to increase the number of lots from the original 54 to include the eight additional lots. The sale of the development from Holly Bluffs to S.C. Pillon Homes has not yet closed, Fantry added. Winnsboro Mayor Roger Gaddy said the taps would provide an average of 450 gallons per day for each household.
On other water-related fronts, Gaddy said no date has yet been set for the next meeting of the steering committee for the proposed Fairfield regional water authority, a matter Council discussed during Tuesday night’s executive session. If the process for forming the authority doesn’t move forward soon, Gaddy indicated it might be time to pull the plug.
“The different members are being canvased to get some of their ideas of what kind of governing structure they’d like to have, plus the indication of their desire to see the project move forward,” Gaddy said. “If we don’t have clear evidence that people are on board and dedicated to it, we’re not going to try to pound a square peg in a round hole. We’ll table it until we have some further interest, if we can’t get enough support from all the members.”
Gaddy has said in previous meetings, including the most recent intergovernmental meeting earlier this summer, that failure to form the water authority would mean the costs for maintaining and expanding the Winnsboro system would be passed along to distributors who purchase their water from the Town.
Council approved an additional $12,650.65 Tuesday night to cover just such system upgrades. The request came from Jesse Douglas, Director of the Town’s Gas, Water and Sewer Department, and covers a portion of the Town’s transition from Chlorine to Chloramine to treat potable water. The Town had originally budgeted $22,000 to purchase equipment at the water plant necessary to monitor the chemicals involved in water treatment, as well as equipment to be used in field testing water. The cost of that equipment has gone up, Douglas said, to $34,650. 65.
Town Manager Don Wood said that brings the Town’s investment in the Chloramine transition to approximately $200,000.
In other business, Council approved a request from Carl McIntosh for a one-time cleaning of the cemetery located at the end of Cemetery Street in Winnsboro. Wood was unclear on what it will cost the Town to mow and clear the lot, but said it would only involve the cost of hourly labor and should take no more than a few hours to complete.
Council also held first reading on an ordinance to revise the Town’s zoning code to include farmers markets under C-1 and C-2 of the Town’s existing zoning districts. Second reading and a public hearing on the ordinance will be held at Council’s next meeting, Sept. 17.
