Drainage: City fails to comply
Last Updated on 12/4/2008
Published on 8/19/2008
By Tommy Howard
thoward@gtowntimes.com
Drainage problems around the City of Georgetown continue as Tropical Storm Fay heads towards South Carolina. Showers and thunderstorms are forecast over the next several days.
Now it comes to light that despite repeated requests, the City has not provided information sought by various state and federal agencies. That failure may cost the city up to $4 million in state and federal funding.
State Sen. Yancey McGill wrote Georgetown Mayor Lynn Wood Wilson on April 17 stating that the Legislative Delegation is committed to helping make the project successful.
McGill wrote that he wanted to know costs, revenue sources, any expenditures to date and how much money was on hand.
At that time, Joe Young of Yauhannah was vice chairman of the S.C. Department of Transportation Commission. He and DOT Director Buck Limehouse spoke with Wilson "and shared with you their concerns over the direction the project was taking." There was also a need for a new "scope of work" or updated plan for the drainage project.
"We need this information from you as quickly as possible," McGill continued. State Highway Engineer Tony Chapman and Limehouse "have a major concern about the operation and maintenance on the project once it is complete. They do not feel that the City of Georgetown will be able to maintain and operate the system as planned."
Further, McGill stated, the approval process for $4 million in funding from the Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments (WRCOG) was underway, but there would be stipulations.
Missing page
All of this became apparent due to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request on Aug. 5 from Georgetown Times Publisher John Carr to the City of Georgetown.
What is particularly of note, however, is that the second page of McGill's letter was left out of the response from the City to Carr's request.
Help yourself
Perhaps the key paragraph of the whole letter, it states:
"These are some of the serious issues surrounding this project, and as a Delegation, we now understand why you are having a problem getting funding. We want to help the City, but Georgetown has got to also help itself, too. If you have any questions about the information needed, please feel free to contact Tony Chapman or Director Limehouse, or any member of the Legislative Delegation."
Carr said he appreciates the fact that the City answered his FOIA request within three days. He wonders, though, if it's just a coincidence that the only page apparently missing from a stack of documents almost 3/4 inch high is the second page of McGill's letter.
Grants denied
On April 16, the day before McGill sent his letter to Wilson, S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control sent a letter to City Administrator Steve Thomas saying the drainage project, on their project list since 2002, was being cut from the list because it was not ready to proceed.
Other grants were also turned down.
State and federal officials pointed fingers at one another over who denied grants. They stated that while Georgetown met basic criteria for grants, the "Benefit Cost Analysis" (BCA) wasn't high enough to fund Georgetown's drainage project over other cities.
$2 million efforts
Most members of City Council and Thomas made a trip to Washington on May 13. They met with staff for U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Jim DeMint and Rep. Henry Brown.
A packet of information from the trip shows that problems with drainage began soon after Georgetown Steel -- now ArcelorMittal Steel -- was built in the late 1960s in an area along Front and Fraser streets.
Numerous studies and plans have been developed over the past 40 years.
The city has cleaned out drain pipes, covered over a drainage ditch, installed supplemental pumps and more, at a cost of approximately $2 million.
As time has passed and costs have risen, the projected cost summary for the whole project at the time of the May trip was $18.5 million. The City had secured $9.1 million in local, state and federal funding.
That, however, left a shortfall of $9,458,848.
Also in the packet of information was a chart showing damages from Tropical Storm Gordon in September 2000 were $2.5 million in direct costs and $690,000 in indirect costs.
Parrish Motor Co., located across from City Hall on Fraser Street, suffered a million dollars in damages. The Dollar General Store on Fraser Street moved after having four feet of water inside the store. Owners blamed the damage on drainage problems.
Photos in the packet showed just the roof of a car in the City Hall parking lot, trucks and cars along U.S. Highway 17/Fraser Street barely moving on that major evacuation route and other damage.
There's been little or no indication that City officials have sought funding from the steel mill to help cure the drainage problem that some people say only began after the mill was constructed in what had been a wetlands area.
Simmering again
Just last Wednesday, water utilities director Lane Mixon sent an e-mail to Mike Horton with Davis and Floyd engineers, saying "the drainage project is simmering again. The City is interested in using the available funds to construct a portion of the drainage project. This could be as little as the detention pond at City Hall and some piping work along Hwy 17."
He asked Horton, "Can you put something together that will immediately help with the drainage problem, but can also be added to once more funding becomes available to complete the overall project?"
Steve Thomas sent that e-mail to Wilson and members of City Council, adding "We'll see if we can't get something going right away that will have some impact on the problem."
Heavy rains
Meanwhile, on Sunday, Aug. 17, from 4 to 6 p.m. about 1.5 inches of rain fell at the weather station at Wedgefield off U.S. Highway 701 north of Georgetown.
From the NERR weather station at North Inlet, east of the city, 3.68 inches of rain fell on Sunday from 5 to 7 p.m.
Residents of the city, businesses in the 200-acre area that has suffered much from flooding over some 40 years, and people passing through Georgetown are all hoping that the lack of information provided to grant-making agencies doesn't end up costing millions more dollars.
Or, as Thomas wrote July 31 in an e-mail to Tom Simpson with the state's Emergency Management Division and Wendy Mathia in Graham's office:
"Can we put a price on the loss of life potential if a major hurricane evacuation route is quickly flooded? If so, I can't imagine another project in this state with a better BCA number."
Meetings
On Thursday, Aug. 21 at 5 p.m., WRCOG will have a public hearing at City Hall seeking public input on community needs.
City Council meets at 5:30 p.m., also in Council Chambers.
Neither item specifically mentions drainage, but both meetings are open to the public and have time set aside for public comments.
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We have these problems because the same people are in office. Posted by whatever on 8/21/2008
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This is what happens when you vote the same old crew for the leadership of the city. When will the people of Georgetown get it? Just because you went to school with this person, or you know that person, doesn't mean that they should be in office. Posted by cpncerned citizen who wants change on 8/21/2008
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Ref Jamie Davis; I have heard that she was fired. I also heard that Steve Thomas was going to announce his decision, resign or be fired, tonight at the Council meeting. I hope he resigns and I would hope also that Wilson and the City Council would also give it up. It would not take much to get an interim Administrator in to oversee the operations of the city. We could have a special election and if any of Council that resigned were stupid enough to run again, so be it. Who knows anything about the rumor that BACK OFF Sawyer is going to run for Mayor? Lived here many years but that just may be the incentive to move. Posted by Resign on 8/21/2008
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Oh Steve! You can't understand why the citizens of Georgetown just plain don't like you. Can't get your head out of your behind. Instead of defending yourself against what the Gtown Times writes, why aren't you making better use of your time (and OUR tax money) by making better decisions and being honest and transparent with the residents? Your first big mistake (that you CONTINUE to make) is living in Conway, not Georgetown. HEY, MY TAX MONEY that pays YOUR enormous salary is being spent in the city of Conway and Horry county!!! That's just NOT ok!! Your foundation of trust with the citizens of Georgetown has been rocky from day number one. And you continue to be muddy in the decisions you make that affects OUR lives and OUR city (not YOUR city because you don't live here)!! So, quit trying to criticize the paper for trying to make the citizens aware of what you don't do for us, instead spend your time and OUR tax money building a better relationship with us. Oh, and thanks for providing your phone number, but I wouldn't want to call you and hear the load of bull coming directly from your mouth. At this point, nothing you say holds any merit. Posted by sympathetic-not! on 8/21/2008
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Wow I wonder how much it cost the taxpayers for Mr Thomas to write that response lol. Anyway, your basic problem here Steve (besides your Mayor and Council) is that you are now in an adversarial position with the local paper. I don't know how you got there or why but in all reality what ever the media publishes is what the voters see. I hope you can really make some good decisions and get some undeniable results or your employment here will be short lived at best. The mayor and council will throw you to the lions in a heartbeat, I have had a lot of dealings with the city in the past and have SEEN them at making decisions behind closed doors. Trust them if you want, but if you do you will be glad you did not move from Conway. Posted by LOL on 8/21/2008
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Though the words of Thomas here may be true this time--I doubt they don't have a spin in them somewhere--let us not forget the City completely squandered its opportunity with the local delegation to get the funds in the first place. Remember Steve Thomas kept talking to the Conway delegation and not our own local delegation? Steve Thomas's leadership completely fouled the drainage funding from his very hiring. The root cause of the problems is not whether the City is trying to do something now or not, its what it did the first time around, which amounted to nothing. Also, if there were monies left in the Electric Fund as it was designed, you know, CAPITAL projects, there might not be this issue of lack of money. Nope, the Thomas administration and the current Council squandered that cash and is now floating down a lonely creek with no paddle. Posted by xuhong gaio on 8/21/2008
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What happened to Ms. Davis, the new zoning administrator? Heard she quit and perhaps she sees he leadership is a problem. Posted by Georgetown Resident on 8/21/2008
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In a democracy, voters get stuck with whatever government they tolerate. Posted by tom rubillo on 8/20/2008
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Mr. Thomas, If you suddenly are so open with everything.. I suggest you now do several things in a hurry if you are to survive: 1. Publish Salaries such is done by all state employees in the State Newspaper.. 2. Move to Georgetown and stop living a lie..This is a big part of your problem.. 3. Become trusted in the community thru your own measures and personality.. 4. Become credible to the point that you do not have to give write ups on the newspaper site defending your ever action.. You are giving the image that you are totally paranoid..and this is taking a toal on your job performance.. 5. You now have the media and the people AGAINST you. You must now turn this around if you are to make a go at your job..The power of the pen is amazing..and the word on the street will become true and take you down.. 6. I am sure you are frustrated. It will only get worse if you don't make some changes which will require effort on your part. 7. Sell your drainage plan to the people.. and make it happen.. You are working with a crappy city council..You have your hands full.. The people are frustated with you. If you moved here and got to know people you just might be able to do a better job. I am telling you the honest truth... living in Conway will never allow you to become trusted and give you the power to do your job effectively. After all, you AGREED to move here after you were fired in Conway. JUST KEEP YOUR WORD.. For Some reason the Council will not enforce this clause in your contract. People are not sure why!! In closing, you can spend hours on the job writing a defense of yourself but until you become trusted...You can give it up.. You are paddling up stream with one arm and one paddle. Best wishes, A person who will get to know you.. Posted by Common Person on 8/20/2008
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The Georgetown Times recently requested information from the city through Freedom of Information regarding recent developments in the Highway 17 Drainage Project. The information supplied to the Times (primarily a series of emails between me and various government officials including city staff and council members)was forwarded to the Times as soon as it was compiled. We anticipated follow up from the Times with questions and comments from the Times prior to a story but this did not occur. Therefore, in line with the Times' recent pattern on other issues, a story was printed regarding the city's recent efforts on the drainage project that contains several inaccurate statements, is misleading and is incomplete. Only the Times can explain their intent but it was certainly not to provide their readers with an accurate and unbiased assessment of the status of this project. Now I must once again take taxpayer time that could be better spent elsewhere to inform Georgetown's citizens of the city's recent efforts to obtain the necessary funding to make this project work. I assume that the headline "Drainage: City Fails to Comply" is tied to the assertion in the article that the city has failed to provide requested information after repeated requests by federal and state agencies. This assertion has absolutely no truth to it whatsoever and I would challenge the Times to prove it from the information they received from the city or any other source. As a matter of fact, information regarding the drainage project has been supplied to most state and federal officials and agencies on several occasions and has been updated several times. Therefore, the assertion by the Times that this failure to respond will cost the city up to $4,000,000 in state and federal funding is also totally false. Thankfully, both our federal and state delegations as well as the entire SCDOT Commission Board has been apprised of our financial needs for the drainage project, have pledged their support, and are working diligently to assist. The Times did an equally poor job of reporting on the May trip to Washington to visit the federal legislators. Regarding the second page of a letter that the Times has indicated that was missing in the packet of information supplied by the city, our records indicate that it was included. However, if the Times did not receive this page, the Times could have simply contacted the city for another copy rather than trying to make this into a "murder mystery". If the city was trying to withold information from the Times, why would the city have provided even the first page of tis letter? You insult the intelligence of your readers. Furthermore, the DHEC letter you refer to was not related to a grant denial whatsoever as you incorrectly assert but was simply a notification from the state revolving loan fund that the city needed to refresh its information on file in Columbia if it desired to borrow from this fund to help pay for the project. The city initially notified SRF of its intent to participate in 2002 and the information on file has been refreshed three times since then. We have basically put the SRF loan on hold now until we have the additional funding necessary to do the drainage project. Regarding the issue of the city's ability to operate and maintain the drainage system once it was completed, the city's consulting engineers would not have designed a system to handle the drainage problem that the city would not be able to operate and maintain. This confirmation was forwarded to Senator McGill so he could address the concerns posed by SCDOT. As far as the city's efforts in "helping itself", the city has committed millons of city dollars towards this project which I would remind the Times readers falls mostly within federal and state right-of-way. City staff recently proposed to the city's consulting engineers the idea of constructing the planned retention pond adjacent to city hall as a means of helping with drainage until funding for the rest of the project became available. I have yet to see a professional engineering study on the effects of the mill on the drainage conditions but the city has previously been granted easements by the mill to improve the drainage infrastructure that already serves the project area. Please post the above comments to your web site and print this as a letter to the editor. Contact me should you need confirmation as to the source of these comments. I would be more than happy to answer any questions from the Times or interested citizens. Please contact me at 545-4003. Posted by Steve Thomas on 8/20/2008
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Reading this article this morning was done so with a smile on my face. Not because I thought it was a funny situation but because I was thinking of our so-called leaders... Wilson, Thomas, and the ineffective City Council. This is no surprise to me whatsoever. Would not it be wonderful if they all threw up their hands and admitted that they cannot accomplish anything for the citizens of this city and QUIT. Let someone come in and fix the problems. It seems from reading about problems lately that the problem itself is administrative. No, I did not vote for Wilson or Sawyer and never will. How they keep snowing the people in the historical district I don't understand. Worthless both!!! Posted by Concerned on 8/20/2008
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The reasons to rid the City of Georgetown of certain elected officials just keep mounting up, Lynn Wood, Steve, and City Council. You people never cease to amaze me of the lack of concern you show to the Citizens of Georgetown. What are you people in office for, anyway? It certainly does not seem that you have the best interests of the people who elected you, in mind. Posted by Wanda Morris on 8/20/2008
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We have a bunch of CLOWNS on the council. Sawyer thinks his role is to get his name in the paper by stealing trucks and dealing with such petty issues as flags which are out of code to be up. 2 law breakers: Sawyer and Parrish Motors.. Where in the H... is the honest leadership. My Lord..Ford thinks this is Burger King..I can have it my way!! Why would the city roll over on this issue.. Now we have a continued mess with drainage. I just hope WHEN water totals cars in the city, I trust people will think twice about where they buy their next car. I think the lady who was enforcing the code deserves an apology from Ford and the Truck Stealer. Keep enforcing the codes until the council changes them.I wonder if the flags had been hoisted in the West End..Would Sawyer have run up there with such great vigor.. I seriously doubt such would have happened.. Wonder Why!! Posted by Sick and Tired of the Crowd on 8/20/2008
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I can't wait for Paige Sawyer to grandstand on this issue next. maybe Paige can send the state a letter saying to "BACK OFF". HA! Posted by NO MO PAIGE on 8/20/2008
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I'm glad I didn't vote for the current Mayor or any current members on Council. I just feel angry, not responsible. Posted by Disgruntled Voter on 8/19/2008
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