Orangeburg County Council – Country Oaks residents seek road repairs – flood damaged main route in neighborhood

The road was damaged by the Nov. 7 flood.

“It is very, very bad from where we are,” Oakmont Drive resident Ballard Williams told Orangeburg County Council on Dec. 16.

“That road is the main thoroughfare to all the people in the neighborhood,” he said.

Williams said he has talked with local and state officials about the road, but has been given the runaround.

“We are getting a lot of lip service, but no results,” Williams said.

Williams expressed concerns about access for emergency vehicles, noting there are a number of elderly people who live in the Country Oaks neighborhood.

He said one access road into Oakmont is the county-maintained Stacey Bridge Road, a dirt road which is in poor shape. A portion of that road has been washed out as well, making it impassable.

Some residents requested the county scrape the road to make it drivable and accessible for residents while they wait for the paved Oakmont Drive to be fixed.

Stacey Bridge Road was also a topic of discussion during the county’s special called Public Works Committee meeting Dec. 16.

The county’s Public Works Department estimates it will cost about $105,385 to repair Stacey Bridge Road. Concerns were raised about the existing pond which abuts the road and its potential for future road-damaging floods.

“Nobody wants the pond,” Williams said. He asked that the owner of the pond remove the pond.

The S.C. Department of Transportation won’t repair the road because it sits atop the private pond and dam, according to the S.C. Department of Environmental Services. A decision must first be made about the dam’s future.

Councilman Joseph Garvin said the road is a state road but resident Bonita McCoy said the state road has been turned over to the county.

Council Chair Johnnie Wright said the county will follow up on the issue.

The neighborhood has circulated a petition requesting the county conduct an inspection of Oakmont to assess the damage, repair and reinforce the road, review the maintenance of the pond and allocate funds to expedite the repair of Oakmont.

As of Dec. 23, the Orangeburg County Emergency Services Department is reporting 44 roads in Orangeburg remain closed. At the height of the storm, there were 179 roads closed in the county.

In other business:

• Council unanimously passed a resolution authorizing the extension of the tax benefit investment period for Dempsey Wood Products Inc.

The resolution will extend the company’s fee-in-lieu of taxes investment period an additional two years, which will take the investment to ten years.

• Council gave unanimous second reading approval to the rezoning of about 11 acres at 1404 Springfield Road to forest agriculture for the construction of a community center.

The property outside Springfield is currently zoned residential general.

• Council delayed second reading of the rezoning of Gardner Boulevard land at the request of the town of Holly Hill.

Santee-based Landco Developers LLC asked to rezone about six lots covering 19 acres just outside of Holly Hill to business industrial for future commercial industrial development.

No specific businesses or companies have committed to the Holly Hill location. The rezoning is being requested to pave the way for the possibility.

• Council gave unanimous second reading approval to the execution of a quit-claim deed in favor of John Brailsford Jr. for two acres of property at 570 Buckley Street in Orangeburg.

The parcel was placed into a delinquent tax sale, but did not sell and was titled to the Forfeited Land Commission. The commission sold it to Brailsford, but entered a deed for the property to go to the county as well.

The county needs to hold three readings and a public hearing to correct the error.

• Orangeburg County is contracting with West Columbia-based Graybar Electric Company Inc. for $231,069 for the placement of broadband fiber in the Cope area.

The broadband installation is a part of the $13 million U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service ReConnect Project. The money will be used to take broadband to Cope, Felderville, portions of Santee, Neeses and North.

• Council unanimously appointed Franklin Williams to the Orangeburg County Board of Assessment Appeals Tax Equalization Board for Council District 4.

The county recently reassessed properties and in anticipation of reassessment hearings in January, council is revisiting the composition of the board.

• Councilwoman Latisha Walker asked her constituents to contact her by phone or email and not to come to her residence. Walker is a retired law enforcement officer and her husband is currently in law enforcement.

“I cannot tell if you are Mr. Jones from District 7 coming up my driveway where my children are or if you are someone that we have dealt with in the street,” Walker said. “To protect the sanctity of my home and your being, please do not come to my home. We cannot discuss anything as it relates to county council in my driveway.”

“I am always accessible by phone by email,” Walker said.

• Councilman Joseph Garvin asked for everyone to pray for two people who died in the Wisconsin shooting at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Six people were injured, two with life-threatening injuries.