Budgets Get

Second Readings

　　Saluda County Council gave second readings to the School District One and county budgets Mon., May 14.

　　The local support portion of District One’s $13,783,850 budget is $5,580,562, minus revenues and credits reflected on tax receipts from Property Tax Relief, Homestead Exemption, Tier 3 Property Tax Relief, and Motor Carrier for a net amount of $3,533,341.

　　This was unchanged from the first reading.

　　The county budget at second reading is $9,197,745.54. This includes $9,062,616.00 in expenditures, and $135,129.54 in debt service.

　　The first reading total was $9,903,301. 54.

　　"We are still about $400,000 over budget," Councilman Jacob Schumpert said, "but that’s where we are every year, since the state cut local support, which is about $400,000 a year."

　　 Schumpert said Council had cut about $700,000 since the first reading, and has a month before final reading.

　　"I hope we can pass a budget that doesn’t have a tax increase," he said.

　　Council also gave second reading to an ordinance allowing the transfer of funds from the county reserve fund to the general operating fund, not to exceed $100,000.

　　Council Chairman Don Hancock said the ordinance allows the staff to transfer funds from departments that are in the black to departments that are in the red.

　　Approved was Councilman Frank Daniel’s nomination of Helen Davis Keenan to the Saluda Behavioral System board.

　　Batesburg-Leesville residents Elon and Pansy Buzhardt voiced their disapproval of a joint venture between the Saluda County Water and Sewer Authority and the Town of Batesburg-Leesville, in which Saluda County will provide water to Batesburg-Leesville, and Bates-burg-Leesville will provide sewer to Saluda County.

　　Buzhardt gave Council copies of his $100 water and sewer bill, and asked Council to stop the project before bills got any higher.

　　Mrs. Buzhardt said she was not going to be as calm as her husband.

　　A vocal opponent of the project since it began, Mrs. Buzhardt said the project was railroaded on the citizens of the two areas by just a few people.

　　She said Batesburg-Leesville doesn’t need water, and in order to handle sewage from Saluda County’s Amick Farms, Gentry’s and Valley Protein, Batesburg-Leesville would have to construct a new sewage plant.

　　She said the Sierra Club would fight discharge into the Edisto River, and she told council members they were not immune from lawsuits.

　　Mrs. Buzhardt gave council members addresses of websites she created on information she gathered on the project: www.box.com/shared/god9m6821d and http://www.ridgewatch.com.

　　At the beginning of the meeting, Daniel announced the Peachtree 23 Yard Sale will be held June 2.

　　Councilwoman Gwen Shealy announced Morgan Derrick of King Academy had been awarded the South Carolina Associations of Counties Scholarship from Saluda County.

　　Councilman William Pugh announced the date and hours for the food bank had been changed from the fourth Thursday to the second Thursday and the hours had changed from 3-5 p.m. to 2-4 p.m.

　　Hancock pointed out the story in last week’s newspaper on School District One being recommended for full accreditation, and expressed the Council’s concerns and prayers for former Councilman Paul Corley, who underwent brain surgery earlier in the day. Corley is Mrs. Shealy’s father.

　　The following came out of Executive Session at the end of the meeting:

　　1. County Council unanimously appointed the Building Code Official or his designee to administer and implement the provisions of the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance until the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance can be amended.

　　2. County Council unanimously approved to offer the Information Technology position to David J. Miller to be effective July 1, 2012.

 

Pettigrew Out

　　Last week’s story about Eddie McCain being the only candidate for an office serving Saluda County to be taken off the ballot by a S.C. Supreme Court ruling was incorrect.

　　Saluda County Election and Registration Chairman Jack Atkinson informed the Standard-Sentinel Monday that Republican John Pettigrew, who was challenging Sen. Shane Massey for the District 25 seat, was also removed from the ballot.

 

 

Artist rendering of the Mount Willng house. (Marty Mote)

June Dramatic Presentation of

‘Where Our Paths Crossed’ Open to All

by Bela Herlong

　　All of you who are interested in learning about the people and events from the 1750s until 1895 in the Mount Willing area are invited to attend the dramatic presentation of the book Where Our Paths Crossed: The Old Edgefield District Settlement of Mount Willing. This drama will be presented at the Saluda Theater on Saturday afternoon, June 16, at three o’clock, and all who attend are also invited to a drop-in afterwards at the American Legion Building, where books will be available for sale.

　　You may know Mount Willing only as the name of a road now, but in the past Mount Willing was a thriving community with its center where Dr. Bill Sawyer lives today. The elegant old two-story house, a cotton gin, a country store, and many other outbuildings were there. Jacob Smith was one of the first settlers, and he built three houses—Flat Grove or the Bonham House, Winehall on Highpoint Road, and Mount Willing where two main roads crossed. Lee’s Ferry Road crossed the river at Lee’s Ferry, went by Mount Willing, and forked at Emory Church and went on to either Edgefield or to Augusta. The other road was Chappell’s Ferry Road, which crossed the river at Chappells, crossed Lee’s Ferry Road at Mount Willing, and then went on to Orangeburg and Charleston.

　　The books tells on many families and individuals and of events that we had not even heard of. You will certainly take a trip back in time as you see the actors create the period long ago when Mount Willing was one of the four population centers of Edgefield County. Letters and selections from the book will be published in the Standard-Sentinel each week until June 16 to give you a glimpse at what is contained in the book.

　　The Mount Willing crossroad marked the boundary of four militia beats at that time, and the days when they mustered at Mount Willing were big events when crowds came to watch the soldiers march and enjoy barbecue and other good foods. Other organizations also had big meetings and big times there. James Bacon, editor of the Edgefield Advertiser, wrote in 1874 about one of these days when he had come to Mount Willing for a meeting of the Pomona Grange. He was a writer who could make his subject come alive as you will see in the section quoted below:

　　"And now we cross Richland Creek, and are at the ‘Mount.’ This is old Mt. Willing- almost historic--where Col. Jacob Smith lived in old times, and dispensed an elegant hospitality, and where battalion musters were held annually—at which men fought and bled, and died for mere pastime. Col. Smith’s house, now occupied by Mr. Aycock, is much changed and dilapidated. But back to the picnic. The hill literally swarms with men, with women, with children, with horses, and with vehicles. Two groups of ladies and gentlemen are playing Croquet, while the old Smith house is filled, below and above, with youth, beauty, mirth and music.

　　 "We take a sweeping glance, and we espy Edwardses, and Padgetts, and Quattlebaums, and Bouknights, and Smiths, and Trotters, and Whittles, and Herlongs, and Strothers, and Longs,and Ken-nerlys, and Corleys, and Wests, and Mathises, and Yarboroughs, and Culbreaths, and Forests, and Bodies, and Mobleys, and Clarks, and dwellers in all the regions that in anywise pertain to Mt. Willing. And Youngbloods are there too—our best friend, Capt. Jake; and young Glenn, Dr. Arthur’s only son, whose great-great grandparents lie buried in the old grave yard hard by."

　　Look for the special articles about Mount Willing in the next issues of the Standard-Sentinel to learn more about the place and its people, and then on June 16, come to see the stories on stage.