kitchen countertopsIn Summerville, SC

Lead testing was on the minds of the Commissioners of Public Works (CPW) during their Jan. 24 meeting at the group’s N Cedar Street headquarters in Downtown Summerville.

Its budget may be solid, but one fly in CPW’s ointment that could incur higher fees down the road is a federal one that’s impacting cities all over the country. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requiring communities like Summerville to conduct testing for lead in water supplies — a regulation spurred by the 2014 water crisis in Flint, Michigan, in which town managers inadvertently released lead into its water supply. The oversight impacted at least 30,000 children, caused intellectual disabilities in hundreds of them and has residents still waiting for hours in lines to pick up donated bottled water several years later.

According to Alicia Wilson, CPW Deputy General Manager of Operations, and Capital Projects Engineer Micah Miley, Summerville has been testing for lead since 1994 and has never found a significant amount.

You might say the EPA wants Summerville to go “looking for lead in all the wrong places.”

“You can’t prove a negative,” said Miley during Tuesday’s CPW board meeting. Miley recently earned the Lowcountry District’s Engineer of the Year Award from the Water Environment Association of South Carolina.

“There are guys who have worked here for 40 years; they’ve never seen a lead pipe in the system and have never purchased a lead fitting to fix one.”

But the EPA’s newly required testing still must be completed by 2024, and the city has to figure out how to get the word out to property owners and get pictures of each residential property’s water system at the point of access. Wilson told commissioners that Charleston utility staff sent out notices to 1,500 homes in Hollywood, where they know there may be lead, and got no answers.

Staff are also struggling to get answers from the EPA about the details of how the testing is to be done. Unfortunately, the dearth of federal direction or notable amounts of lead to look for doesn’t mean a lack of potential cost to consumers.

“The EPA comes out with what looks like a benign regulation and then when they start writing what we have to do it becomes tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in cost to our customers,” said CPW Board Chairman Charles Cuzzell.

“The financial impact on them can be significant.”

Other points of interest that came up during the CPW board meeting were:

-The refundable deposit that contractors pay for temporary hydrants during a construction project will increase from $750 to $2500. The increase is intended to cover damage to the units rather than just the basic cost; if no damage is done, the full amount is returned. The vote was unanimous.

- Cale Schweitz, Deputy General Manager of Customer Service, told the board there will be a change in how customers receive emails from the utility. Microsoft, the largest software vendor in the world, indicated it will no longer provide email service for the department, which sends out an estimated 18,000 emails a month.

- Deputy General Manager of Engineering Construction Mike Priester and crews were out in the dark, cold hours of Christmas morning, helping customers with bursting pipes and flooding homes caused by temperatures down in the teens. The fact that many homeowners don’t know the location of their shut-off valves or can’t access them exacerbated the system-wide issue. Staff expressed concern that the leaks from cold-cracking pipes also caused a shortage in the firefighting water supply, but did not indicate that any of that water was needed.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The Town of Summerville announced the approval of the Maple Street Extension project on Monday.

Years after the project was introduced in 2014, Blythe Development Company was awarded the bid to begin construction on the project, which will improve in total a mile and a half of roads throughout Summerville.

The town acquired 90 pieces of property in order to make the project possible with the first of four major projects of the extension being Maple Street, which will be widened from two lanes to four to reduce traffic and improve safety in the area.

The project does not just include Maple Street, but intersection improvements at US-78 adding turn lanes on all approaches, installation of a traffic signal at West Richardson Avenue and new alignment from West Richardson to Parsons Road where it will transition from three lanes to two lanes at the Parsons Road connection.

Summerville Director of Public Works and Town Engineer Russ Cornette has been with the project since the beginning. He says he’s really happy to see the project get approved for construction.

“I think this is the largest purchase order the town of Summerville has ever approved,” Cornette says. “The towns and cities the size of Summerville don’t take on large projects like this; this is kind of a unique situation.”

The cost of the project, including construction engineering and inspection services, will be funded by the Town of Summerville’s Mid-Town Tax Increment Finance District funds up to $11 million Dorchester County Sales Tax Referendum Funds will fund the remaining cost.

“The project purpose is to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety and that whole corridor anytime you have that many cars, taking up that little space that’s there, you’re going to have accidents and we’ve seen that the past four years,” Cornette says. “That extra lanes extra capacity will help congestion and get people moving a little more freely than they are now.”

Construction on the Maple Street Extension project starts in April or May of 2023 with the goal of completion being in the spring of 2025.

“The Maple Street extension project will help alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety,” says Summerville Mayor Ricky Waring. “I am grateful for the support from our agency partners and the Dorchester County voters who supported the transportation sales tax referendum that helped fund this project.”

For further details on the Maple Street Extension project, visit project page on the Town of Summerville’s website.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

Could vanpooling be people’s preferred choice to commute to and from work in the near future?

The folks from Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCDCOG) introduced their Lowcountry Go Vanpool Program as a “real solution” that would help reduce traffic congestion at the Summerville/Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce’s “Power Hour” event on Feb. 15 at the Rollins Edwards Community Center.

Morgan Grimes and Courtney Cherry were on hand to apprise the early-morning crowd of 50-60 attendees on Lowcountry Go’s initiative that provides eligible groups of four of more commuters with a 7 or 15-passenger van to get them to work anywhere in the Tri-county area.

During their presentation, the duo described the vanpooling endeavor as an easy and inexpensive service available via a month-to-month lease agreement which furnishes clients with a vehicle, insurance, maintenance, gas and emergency trips.

The monthly cost, they added, is divided among riders, as that expense lowers with more people who join in on the vanpooling endeavor. Overall, it was noted, the plan is most economical for groups traveling 15 or more miles one way.

The minimum amount of people to start a vanpool is four.

Audience members learned that the vanpool solution was the offshoot of factors, such as population growth — which is three times the national average in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties — and roadway congestion since in many cases lawmakers cannot widen their way out of traffic problems.

In addition to the vanpooling option, Lowcountry Go delivers walking, biking and public transit solutions in the form of electronic buses.

Vanpools typically run Monday through Saturday and all participants — including the driver — must be commuting, as detailed in a corresponding slideshow at the “Power Hour” gathering.

Vanpooling, according to stats compiled by Lowcountry Go, saves people 50-80 percent annually on their commuting costs, 11,100 miles on their personal car and up to 25 percent in car insurance.

From an environmental standpoint, it eliminates 40 pounds of nitric oxide gases per day and saves up to 7.2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. What’s more, up to one billion gallons of fuel can potentially be saved by more people opting to vanpool to work.

In fact, just 10 vanpools annually can eliminate 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide.

Grimes and Cherry further mentioned the quality-of-life benefits derived from vanpooling, such as stress reduction and affording commuters more time to themselves before and after their daily drive.

Questions regarding Lowcountry Go can be sent to Grimes (MorganG@bcdcog.com) or to Sharon Hollis (SharonH@bcdcog.com).

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - Located at the corner of Berlin Myers Parkway and Highway 78, a 57-acre multi-use property will bring new development to the Summerville area by early 2025.

The property, named Sawmill, will include 474 multi-family apartment units, offices, restaurants, hotels, stores, banks, outdoor spaces and a 40,000-square-foot Roper St. Francis facility.

Summerville spokesperson Mary Edwards said the task to get the development started was a long process.

“It’s something that people have been wanting for a long time, and council has really supported the developers, too. It’s a big deal for us; I mean, it’s a new big development that’s coming to our area,” Edwards said. “It’s something that’s needed. It’s something that the public has really wanted.”

The developers, Lee & Associates, said in a news release that “a new walkable community designed to better connect residents with the fun they want and services they need will be anchored by a major healthcare system.”

Although not everyone in the area is excited about the new development. Some members of the Summerville community shared their concerns on a Facebook post with over 400 comments mentioning traffic problems, school enrollment and housing availability.

Located near the development, the Spinx gas station may see increased traffic with the upcoming construction. Employee Rona Emons, shared her concerns.

“I don’t think we can really handle it because this road is already always backed up; it’s already hard to get in and out of the store,” she said. “I think that’s going to make it a lot worse unless they try to widen the road somehow, which I don’t know how they can do that. But yeah, it’s going to cause a lot of congestion in this area.”

In response to the concerns, Edwards said the city and developers studied research before deciding if the project was appropriate for the area.

“The town is growing really fast,” Edwards said. “So, we know that people want to come here, and they want to experience the area. We want to be able to provide these types of options for people when they come.”

Construction on the health care facility and multi-family apartment units will begin in early 2023.

“I’m kind of excited,” Emons said. “I’d like to get out. You know, it’d be nice to see something new in this area. So yeah, I’m looking forward to it in some ways, and otherwise, I’m kind of a little leery of it.”

Overall, the project is expected to cost $200 million.

Copyright 2022 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE — There will soon be a new sculpture right outside of Saul Alexander Playground, and it’s going to be absolutely bananas.

Town Council accepted the Sculpture in the South’s donation of a 350-pound, 7-foot half-peeled banana with feet reclined on a 6-foot-long bronze bench.

Sculpture in the South is an organization formed in 1999 to add art to public spaces throughout Summerville.

The group is in the process of fundraising to purchase the sculpture, which costs $50,000.

Otis Engelman, chairman of Sculpture in the South, said every sculpture the organization has purchased to place in Summerville has been paid for by donations from Summerville residents and no town funds.

The banana sculpture will be placed between the Miracle League field and the playground, near the horseshoe. Town Council accepted the sculpture during its Jan. 12 meeting.

The banana is a work of Jack Hill, who is based out of DeLand, Fla. Dora Ann Reaves, a member of Sculpture in the South, said the banana is one of Hill’s favorite forms, adding that he has other sculptures of bananas on roller skates.

“He’s got a real interesting sense of humor,” Reaves said. “The idea that a banana could sit on a bench or roller skate is of interest to him.”

Sculpture in the South has already placed a variety of sculptures around the town, many of which are in Summerville parks. The organization helped facilitate the sculpture of the late John McKissick and his wife, Joan.

Sculpture in the South was looking to add a more whimsical piece to its collection, Amy Evans, parks and recreation director, said.

Reaves spoke for the banana at the standing committees meeting on Jan. 9, where the Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to accept the donation.

Reaves said she likes the banana sculpture because it’s a more fun piece, and has a unique look.

Town Councilman Aaron Brown spoke in favor of the sculpture after Reaves gave her endorsement.

“I think it would be a good idea if we try to be more broad-based with the sculptures that we approve,” Brown said at the meeting. He then suggested getting a sculpture at Wassamassaw Community Park to represent Native Americans’ heritage.

Town Councilwoman Kima Garten-Schmidt said she believes the banana is the perfect sculpture for the park.

“It’s not supposed to be anything serious,” Garten-Schmidt said. “The kids are going to absolutely love it. They’re going to love climbing on it, getting their picture taken with it — even adults are going to love getting a selfie taken with it.”

While it was board of the Sculpture in the South’s decision to choose the banana to place in Saul Alexander Playground, Reaves said she was pleased with the choice.

“Most of our other pieces are memorials or animals,” Reaves said. “We don’t have any other bananas.”

If anyone is interested in donating or contributing to the fundraiser for the banana sculpture, email sculptureinthesouth@gmail.com.