Budget proposals are lighting
fires with local fire departments

May 25, 2006

By JOANIE BAKER
Index-Journal staff writer

As low funding has left local fire departments struggling to fill gas tanks, provide safety gear and acquire paging devices to their firefighters, Greenwood County fire chiefs are saying they are battling a fire they might not be able to put out alone.
Thirteen fire departments submitted budget proposals to Greenwood County Council, only to find that some could receive only enough funding from the upcoming budget to make truck and insurance payments.
In the past five years, local fire departments have been seeing a steady decline in the funding they receive from the county.
In 2001, the county budget for the fire departments came to $903,810. The proposed budget for the 2006-07 fiscal year is $847,542.
Though each department is responsible for fundraising, with fuel costing between $300 and $400 a month, firefighters are saying that is more hash than they are able to sell.
Despite the fact that many said they provide the volunteer service out of love for the job and care for the community, some firefighters said there might need to be a strike.
“Every time that siren goes off, I take a deep breath and close my eyes and think, ‘Is this going to be the one that gets us?’” Lower Lake Greenwood Fire Department Chief Jerry Roberts said. “I don’t know how many more rabbits I have to pull out of this hat.”
More than rabbits can jump in and out of Roberts’ station, as he said the roof leaks whenever it rains and a truck and equipment lie around because the fire department is unable to have them repaired.
Though the county does not own any of the fire departments, it does provide funding under the umbrella of the Public Safety Division of the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office that also encompasses the county’s Emergency Medical Service, Emergency Communications and Emergency Preparedness.
George McKinney is commander for the division that was started in December. He said not all of the departments’ requests could be filled with the $847,542 allotted for fire departments, but he said the county did try to provide funding for the priorities.
McKinney said one of the goals for the upcoming fiscal year is to try to maximize funds by buying items, such as protective gear for all of the departments, in bulk at a cheaper price.
McKinney also said research has shown the departments are eligible for funds from residents’ homeowners’ insurance for the fire calls and car fires they go to. After a billing company gets its share, the departments could receive $450 for each house fire or $250 for each car fire they respond to from an allotment already set aside by the insurance companies, he said.
But Franklin Cloninger, public information officer at the Highway 34 Fire Department, said the station’s $67,480 allotment from the county will cover the $51,913 annual truck payment and $13,000 insurance. That will leave the department with just enough money for a few months of fuel, but not enough for the mandatory physicals or much needed gear, even bought at bulk.
As other departments struggle with truck payments, and some can barely pass OSHA standards with their faulty gear, firefighters say that more than fundraising is necessary to keep them afloat.
“You can’t raise $40,000 in a month. You can barely raise $4,000 in a year,” Cloninger said.
Woody Owensby, chief of the Coronaca Fire Department and president of the county Fireman’s Association, said the department does not have enough gear to give to the new firefighters who decide to join.
“We want to have money to do the required physicals. We’re needing firefighters but don’t have the money to buy them equipment to go into a burning structure,” he said.
Roberts, whose department received $63,868 of the $117,729 requested, said he worries about the safety of the firemen and the public, a situation he said “isn’t quite red, but is definitely a bright pink.”
Roberts said his department is servicing a larger area, as new subdivisions are being built, but with worn or broken equipment and fuel soaking up his funds, the job has become difficult.
“I sit in here and try to think how to cut the budget and cut the budget ... but sooner or later we’re going to run out of string and luck,” he said. “We’re the ones at risk. We’re the ones who will be the victims right now.”
McKinney said firefighters are at risk not only because of the equipment but because of training. He said although all the firefighters have undergone basic training, they don’t sustain some needed training. He said he hopes to focus on training and equipment upkeep this year.
But since all those items require funding, some firefighters continue to quietly discuss a strike. Roberts said, however, he doesn’t see any of them making decisions that would hurt the public.
“We get mad, but when something happens, we’ll be there,” Roberts said. “We may look like a bunch of refugees, but we’ll be there.”

Greenwood council zeroes in on sales tax referendum

May 25, 2006

By VIC MacDONALD
Index-Journal regional editor

People came armed to Wednesday night’s first-ever The State of Greenwood event.
Most were armed with concerns about the way Greenwood County will deal with federal mandates to improve safety at Lake Greenwood — and they kept county officials answering those questions more than a half hour past the meeting’s conclusion.
The Partnership Alliance, sponsor of the event in The Arts Center in the Federal Building, arranged to have presenters available at tables in the Countybank Gallery after the formal presentation in the Calhoun Mays Reception Hall.
A drawback to the location was the late afternoon sun that streamed through oversized windows in the room. Sunlight washed out the projections on the room’s side wall. The audience couldn’t read the graphics and information that supported each speaker’s points.
But a crowd of about 200 retained its interest throughout the hour-long session. Topics ranged over the City of Greenwood City Center development, the county’s major capital projects, the Partnership Alliances’ economic development and job-creation efforts, and an industrial announcement that could provide a shot in the arm for struggling Ware Shoals.
SPF USA announced that it will build its American headquarters in the county industrial park near Ware Shoals, making products that enhance the taste of pet food. Hiring an initial 54 employees, the company could attract people from Ware Shoals that lost a major water and wastewater customer when National Textiles shut down last year.
“The meeting went well,” said Robbie Templeton, Greenwood County Council chairman. “The majority of the people were interested in the lake, and a majority of the comments were very positive and we had good questions.”
Templeton presented to the event audience an outline of the county’s plan to offer to voters in November a capital sales tax referendum. The 1-cent sales tax is envisioned to pay for two major projects: federally mandated upgrades to Lake Greenwood’s flood control system and its earthen dam to withstand an earthquake, and the county’s contribution toward a replacement county library.
After the presentation, at the county’s table in the gallery, Templeton and Larry Smith, county engineer, were surrounded by people interested in the lake projects who peppered them with questions.
“There was some misinformation out there, but I believe folks there were genuinely concerned,” Templeton said. “We answered their questions, and they asked us, ‘Have you sought money from this place or that place.’ We have looked and will continue to look at ways of lessening this cost.”
The Lake Greenwood projects could cost Greenwood County $30 million and county’s contribution toward the library project will be $10 million. One aspect of the lake projects is still under study. “I’m fairly confident (lake projects costs) won’t be $30 million,” Templeton said.
One question is being researched, Templeton said. It is this: If the county shuts down the hydro-plant at Buzzard Roost at the dam that forms Lake Greenwood, would that eliminate Lake Greenwood from federal regulation, and mean the county would not have to pay for the projects?
“What FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) has told us is, it’s not a hydro issue, it’s a safety issue,” Templeton said. “But I have asked to have that question answered.”
Jim Kier, Greenwood County manager, said the meeting offered county officials a chance to make a direct statement to residents about the lake projects and the new library. “It cleared up a lot of things,” he said.
He said the county has examined several ways to pay for the projects including issuing bonds. “But bonds would have to be paid back by property tax,” Kier said.
The county is limited by state law as to the amount of bonded indebtedness it can have outstanding at any time. That amount in Greenwood County’s case is $12 million-$14 million, Kier said.
To exceed that limit for $40 million in projects, he said, county voters would have to say “yes” in a referendum, the same process for approving a capital projects sales tax.
“I’d rather just raise property tax than go with bonds,” Kier said, “because (with bonds) you have to pay a bond attorney and have insurance and pay interest.”
Residents of at least one Lake Greenwood neighborhood have asked to have county offcials come to a homeowners’ association meeting to explain lake issues in more detail, Templeton said.
That kind of meeting could become a regular occurrence for county council members and county officials between now and November. Templeton said he expects to “spend a lot of time” selling the idea of a capital sales tax to pay for the big-ticket projects.
Kier said the county is prohibited from using public, tax money to promote the way it wants people to vote in the referendum. “Individual council members and county officials can promote it,” he said. But any expenditure of money for a “vote yes” campaign would have to come from private groups such as the Partnership Alliance or Chamber of Commerce, Kier said.
“If the comments to me are any indication of the rest of the community,” Templeton said, “they support a (sales tax) referendum rather than a property tax increase.
“I cannot speak for the other six (council members), but my responsibility is to promote this. Nobody likes taxes, but the (state) Department of Revenue says with a sales tax, 40 percent of the money will come from the outside. I think the way we’re headed, with a capital projects sales tax, is the best solution for this problem. It’s not like we haven’t looked at all our options.”
Even though the lake’s issues dominated discussion inside and outside The State of Greenwood presentation, residents also had the chance to learn updated information about other projects.
Charlie Barrineau, assistant city manager, presented the City Center plan with its centerpiece as the building in which the program was conducted. “It was a great opportunity to use the Federal Building,” he said. “We had a good number of people take brochures. Folks are pretty familiar with what we’re doing Uptown.”

Defining status of caucus could have a wide effect

May 25, 2006

The more open government is to the people it serves, the better off everyone is. That’s why a recent ruling by South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster deserves attention.
McMaster ruled that the Republican caucus in the State House of Representatives must meet in the open to abide by the Freedom of Information Act. Caucus leaders disagree and say they will “vigorously defend” their position. Anyway, they say, they don’t have to operate in full view of the public and press.
What will happen, of course, is unclear. The Attorney General’s ruling does not carry the force of the law. Nevertheless, it does carry some weight.

McMASTER SAYS STATE LAW appears to define legislative caucuses as committees of the General Assembly, which makes them subject to open-meetings laws. He also says the GOP caucus receives rent-free office space from the state, which would meet the law’s definition of a public body being an entity that receives anything of value from the state.
“In our view, the majority caucus is supported in whole or in part by public funds and is expending public funds. Thus the majority caucus is a public body,” says McMaster, who is a Republican and a former head of the S.C. GOP.
It’s reasonable to expect that definition to apply. However, if it is ultimately decided that the GOP caucus must be open to the public and press, that same definition must be applied to every caucus within the House and the Senate.

THAT, OF COURSE, INCLUDES the Black Caucus and any other caucus that is formed for the benefit of one specific group, whether it’s racial, political, educational, religious, economic or anything else.
Like so many things in the political world, looks are often deceiving, not to mention confusing. What sometimes seems to be is not ... and vice versa. It’s a simple situation. If public money is used in any way by any group for any partisan purpose, it must be considered a public body and, therefore, its proceedings must be done in public view, not in executive session.
Anyway, why should any group that deals in public business want to go into executive session?
That move alone creates public suspicions.

Obituaries

Tommy Cox

GREENWOOD, SC — Jesse Thomas “Tommy” Cox, 80, resident of 315 Hunting Road, husband of Ann Rutledge Cox, died May 24, 2006 at the Hospice House.
Born in Anderson, April 20, 1926, he was a son of the late Woodfin Grady and Queen Iona Corbin Cox. Mr. Cox attended schools in Anderson, Ninety Six, Greenwood, and Clinton and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BS Degree in Naval Science with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. While at USC, he lettered in baseball. After graduation in 1946, he participated in the U.S. Navy’s Atomic Bomb test, Operation Crossroads, at Bikini Atoll, Pacific Ocean. After his tour of duty aboard the USS Ingraham, he returned to Clemson University and earned his second BS degree in Civil Engineering. In 1950, he was recalled to active duty during the Korean Conflict where he served aboard the USS Douglas H. Fox. Mr. Cox served about ten months in the Sea of Japan and made a trip around the world.
He worked on construction and engineering projects in the Southeastern States and later in Egypt with the USC Archeological Group. He retired as Manager of the Greenwood Metropolitan Commission.
A member of the First Presbyterian Church, he was also a member of the John Knox Sunday School Class. He formerly served as a Sunday School teacher and was a member of the Board of Deacons. Mr. Cox helped establish the Golden K Club and the Men’s Garden Club. He is a past president of the South Carolina Society of Engineers, the Greenwood County Historical Society, the Genealogical Society, the Wade Hampton Kiwanis Club of Greenville, the Greenwood Golden K Kiwanis Club and was past Kiwanis Distinguished Lieutenant Governor. He served the American Association of Retired Person (AARP) two years as District Director and State Director for 4 years,
Surviving in addition to his wife of the home are a son, Jesse Thomas Cox, Jr., and wife, Lee Munn Cox of Florence; two daughters, Deborah Cox Gard-ner and husband, John Michael Gardner and Suzanne Cox Martin and husband, James Lovelace Martin, all of Green-wood; nine grandchildren, Jesse Thomas Cox III and wife, Catherine Coleman Cox, Derek Michael Gardner and wife, Susan Strong Gardner, Anje Elizabeth Cox, Benjamin Walter Martin, Jonathan Ross Gardner, Matthew Rutledge Martin, Elizabeth Cox Gardner, Meredith Way Cox, and Mary Rutledge Cox; one great grand-child, Victoria Grace Gardner; a sister, Rozella Cox Goldman; nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by brothers, Cecil, Guy, and Joe Cox and a sister, Sue Arnold.
Funeral services will be conducted at 11:30 a.m. Friday at First Presbyterian Church with Rev. David Mayo and Dr. George Wilson officiating.
Burial with military honors will be in Edgewood Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Thomas Cox, III, Derek Gardner, Jon Ross Gardner, Ben Martin, Matt Martin, Rutledge Martin, William Paul Martin, Jr. and Joshua Stewart.
Honorary escort will be members of the Golden K Kiwanis Club along with Les and Katherine Martin, Hayden and Gayle Igleheart, Bill and Sherill Inabinet, William L. Riggs, Jr., John Wright, Mary Blake, Helen Marshall and Ora Cheney,
The body is at Blyth Funeral Home and will be placed in the church at 10:30 Friday.
The family is at the home on Hunting Road and will receive friends in the First Presbyterian Church Parlor from 10:30 to 11:30 Friday morning.
Memorials may be sent to First Presbyterian Church, 108 E. Cambridge Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646; Hospice Care of the Piedmont, 408 W. Alexander Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646 or the National Kidney Foundation of SC, 5000 Thurmond Mall Ste 106, Columbia, SC 29201.
For online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Cox family.
PAID OBITUARY

Sara Harrison

GREENWOOD — Sara Brooks Harrison, 90, resident of 2502 McCormick Hwy., widow of Thomas Leonard Harrison, died May 23, 2006 at National Health Care of Clinton.
Born in Greenwood County, February 4, 1916, she was a daughter of the late Elijah Pickens and Mary Pauline Wightman Brooks. She was retired from Greenwood Mills Plant #5 and was a member of the Greenwood Mills Quarter Century Club.
A member of Lowell Street United Methodist Church, she was also a member of the Cheerful Workers Sunday School Class of the church.
Surviving are a son, Thomas Wayne “Blue” Harrison of Greenwood; a granddaughter, Diane Cape of Clinton; two grandsons, Bryan Harrison of Rock Hill and Charles “Chuck” Harrison of Greenwood; a daughter-in-law, Carolyn Harri-son of Greenwood and five great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be conducted at 2 pm Friday from the Blyth Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Richard Waldrep and Rev. Randy Ouzts officiating.
Burial will be in Greenwood Memorial Gardens.
Pallbearers will be Chuck Harrison, Bryan Harrison, Brian Cape, Donnie Gaines, Pick Gaines and Thomas Norman.
Honorary escort will be members of the Cheerful Workers Sunday School Class of the church. The family is at the home on the McCormick Hwy. and will receive friends at the funeral home from 12:30 to 2 Friday afternoon.
Memorials may be made to Lowell Street United Methodist Church, 300Lowell Ave., Greenwood, SC 29646.
For online condolences please visit www.blythfuneralhome.com
Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services is assisting the Harrison family.
PAID OBITUARY

James Hyatt

James Robert Hyatt, 71, of 224 Woodlawn St., husband of Virginia Carol Stokes Hyatt, died Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at Hospice House of Greenwood.
Services will be announced by Blyth Funeral Home & Cremation Services.

Reynolds Rapley Sr.

Reynolds Rapley Sr., 64, of 118 Magnolia Drive, husband of Jennie Ruth Gary Rapley, died Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at Self Regional Medical Center.
Born in Greenwood County, he was a son of the late George and Connie Reynolds Rapley. He was a former employee with Mathews Mills and M & M Tire Co. He attended Brewer High School and was a member of Oldfield Bethel AME Church.
Survivors include his wife of the home; two sons, Reynolds Rapley Jr. of Greenwood and James Allen Rapley of the home; two daughters, Gwendolyn Denise Rapley of Clarksville, Tenn., and Mrs. Bobby (Nanette) Garlington of Greenwood; three brothers, James M. Rapley Sr. and Charles R. Rapley Sr., both of Greenwood and Herbert Rapley of Hodges; two sisters, Minnie Garrett and Mrs. Robert (Georgia Mae) Williams, both of Greenwood; six grandchildren; a great-grandchild.
The family is at the home at Magnolia Place.
Services will be announced by Robinson & Son Mortuary Inc.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at robson@nctv.com