WINNSBORO – With the help of federal grants and state funding, three projects to improve downtown Winnsboro are progressing, says Town Administrator Jason Taylor. “We’re trying to do everything we can to plan and use this money to get essentially the best result we can – the most we can for our money,” Taylor said, […]
Material weaknesses mar Ridgeway audit
August 17, 2023 By
RIDGEWAY – Ridgeway’s auditing firm identified several “material weaknesses” in how the town conducts its finances, according to the town’s annual audit. “We identified certain deficiencies in internal control that we consider to be material weaknesses and significant deficiencies,” Love Bailey & Associates wrote in a letter to the town. Specifically, the Laurens-based firm identified […]
Council votes 7-0 for $25/hr nonprofit rental fee
August 17, 2023 By
Bender: Discussing Rental Fee in Executive Session Likely Unlawful WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Council likely violated South Carolina open meeting laws when it discussed a rental fee for the farmers’ market building behind closed doors, according to a media law expert. Following an executive session during Monday night’s meeting, council voted unanimously to charge nonprofit […]
Judge rules on 5 MPA/Town of Blythewood motions
August 17, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – There was movement last week in the more than two-year-old legal battle between the Town of Blythewood and MPA Strategies, a marketing company the Town contracted with in April, 2021, and terminated less than three months later. At issue are a Freedom of Information lawsuit filed by MPA against Mayor Bryan Franklin and […]
Ethics attorney bases claim on Town of Blythewood’s accusations
August 10, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – Recent court filings claim without evidence that a Blythewood town councilman engaged in self-dealing by helping the town’s former marketing firm land a contract to perform marketing services. Filed Aug. 3, an opinion-based affidavit from ethics lawyer Nathan Crystal accuses Councilman Donald Brock of seeking to politically benefit by engaging in a quid […]
AG: Council can view documents
August 10, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – Blythewood Town Council members are entitled to review financial documents itemizing town legal expenses, according to the S.C. Attorney General’s Office. Elected officials also aren’t required to file Freedom of Information Act requests for financial records over which they have jurisdiction, the Attorney General’s office stated in a June 2019 opinion. “It is […]
Market struggles to pay county’s $50/hour rental fees
August 3, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – In a continuing effort to cover a $50 per hour rental fee the Fairfield County government has charged for use of the Farmers and Artisans market building since April of this year, the market vendors have been conducting monthly fundraisers. For August, they prepared 121 prepaid chicken bog dinners that they sold for […]
Purple Heart ceremony at Manor set for Aug. 6
August 3, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – The Town of Blythewood will hold a National Purple Heart Day ceremony on Sunday, Aug. 6 at Doko Manor in Doko Meadows Park. The Purple Heart is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving their country with the U.S. military on […]
Water authority votes to send wastewater to Broad River
August 3, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – After almost three years of political back-and-forth over whether to discharge a proposed wastewater treatment plant into nearby Cedar Creek or into a distant location on the Broad River, the vote took little more than a few seconds of a less-than four-minute meeting. Just moments after the meeting convened on July 25, 2023, […]
County announces hires, promotions
August 3, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – Three new county staff hires/promotions were announced at the July 24 Fairfield County Council meeting. The three are Jamie Webb, Beverly Mozie and Holly West. Jamie Webb was named Director of Fairfield Fire Service, replacing Jason Pope who resigned earlier this spring. Webb is a lifelong resident of Fairfield County and lives in […]
