BLYTHEWOOD – According to recently filed court documents, Town leaders are using litigation to punish their former marketing firm for requesting public records through the FOIA. MPA Strategies has asked a circuit judge to grant summary judgment to dismiss eight causes of action, including fraud, civil conspiracy, negligence/gross negligence, and another misconduct. The causes of […]
Public shut out of water treatment plant report
May 11, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – On Tuesday night, May 9, the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System (FJWSS) commission voted during a special called meeting to go into executive session to receive “legal advice concerning a draft wastewater plant alternatives analysis.” According to The Voice’s media attorney, the executive session may not have met the requirements of the […]
State proposes tightening animal law
May 4, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – Proposed revisions to state animal cruelty laws would shift cost of care of seized animals onto defendants charged in abuse or negligence cases. S.C. House Bill 3682 passed third reading on March 29. The Senate held first reading March 30, and referred the legislation to the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources, […]
Blythewood Council’s ‘ethics opinion’ on Brock not issued by SC Ethics Commission
May 4, 2023 By
BLYTHEWOOD – After The Voice questioned whether an ethics opinion received by town council from its outside attorneys during a March 27 executive session was a valid ethics opinion, Meghan Walker Dayson, Executive Director of the S.C. Ethics Commission, confirmed in an emailed response to The Voice that “only the Ethics Commission can determine if […]
State releases almost $5M to county; audit lingers
May 4, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – As the county rolled from April into the fifth month of its overdue audit, the SC Comptroller’s Office was withholding $4,870,188.11 of the county’s state funding. Section 4-9-150 of the state code mandates that if a county’s audited financial statements are late, the state must withhold its state funds pending receipt of the […]
Winnsboro Water, Joint Water Authority receive $20M in grants
April 27, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – The S.C. Rural Infrastructure Authority (RIA) announced Monday that it awarded grants for $10 million each to the Town of Winnsboro and the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System (FJWSS). The Town’s $10 million will go toward upgrading and expanding its water system. The FJWSS’s $10 million will be used to construct an […]
BW Town Council passes first vote to rezone 290 more acres for Scout
April 27, 2023 By
Ruble, Pugh plan more talks with Ashley Oaks neighbors concerning rail noise abatement BLYTHEWOOD – In a 4-1 vote Monday night, the Blythewood Council gave first-reading approval of the rezoning for a 290-acre parcel slated to become part of the Scout Motors industrial development. A rail yard is proposed for the property to support the […]
County Council denies Kelly Mill rezoning
April 27, 2023 By
COLUMBIA – Blythewood’s county council representative Derrek Pugh, who represents the area and voted against the rezoning, and Jessica Mackey (Dist. 9) held a town hall meeting in February for residents to address their concerns about the rezoning with Steelman. Pugh said he wanted residents to know what is coming their way, to give them […]
Fairfield County Council blasts complaints
April 27, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Council members are pushing back against criticisms that little progress is being made on routine fiscal, administrative and other county matters. Specifically, residents have railed against the council over thin agendas, tardy audits, lack of transparency, not working toward filling the vacant County Administrator post and failure to move forward in […]
Residents ask Fairfield County Council to do more
April 20, 2023 By
WINNSBORO – Fairfield County Council is looking into making a change to its animal control ordinance, though some residents are asking leaders to do more. On April 10, council members unanimously passed first reading of a vaguely phrased ordinance to “amend and restate” the existing animal control ordinance last adopted nearly five years ago. The […]
