By Jason Evans
Staff Reporter

jevans@thepccourier.com

COUNTY — County officials continue to look at options regarding a new jail facility but warn that just adding beds won’t solve the overall problem.

Overcrowding at the jail gained further attention after a fight between eight inmates in April.

Interim county administrator Tom Hendricks addressed the jail issue during his report to council at the May 2 county council meeting.

He said he’d recently met with an architect about a new jail. The architect presented two options — a one-story or two-story design, Hendricks said.

“We’re looking at somewhere between a 290- and 400-person capacity jail,” Hendricks said.

The one-story option would cost about $23 million. The two-story option would cost about $24 million.

“There’s a lot of hubbub about the fight over at the jail this past week,” Hendricks said. “Spending millions of dollars is not going to stop a bunch of people from doing what they normally do.”

He said Oconee County had spent $25 million on its jail over the past 10 years.

“Two weeks ago, they had a riot in their jail that injured two detention officers,” Hendricks said. “It was over the fact that there was no ice in the Kool-Aid. Unfortunately, the people they’ve got over there at the jail didn’t get there from attending church too many times.”

The county can spend money, he said, but officials need help from “the people who surround the jail.”

“The magistrates, the solicitor’s office, the judges,” Hendricks said. “I think it was suggested not long ago that we consider a night court or a weekend court, and two of the magistrates turned to salt.

“It’s not just brick and mortar. We’ve got to do something with the system — and the people in that system have to help.”

Municipalities often sentence someone to the jail and set their bail at the same amount as the fine associated with the crime, Hendricks said.

“The person they put in there doesn’t have the money, so he serves the max amount of time,” he said. “Then he’s dismissed for time served.”

“He’s staying in our detention facility, not prison?” councilman Tom Ponder asked.

“Yes, sir,” Hendricks replied. “It’s done that way, to see if they can force him to pay the bond.”

A new jail, with the cost estimates given by the architect, would require a tax increase of 55 mills, according to councilman Neil Smith.

“You guys get upset when we talk about two or three mills,” Smith told the audience at the meeting. “This is the biggest decision that we’ve got. This is probably the biggest decision we’ve got coming to us.”

Later in the meeting, Smith moved to amend the proposed 2016-2017 budget, to restrict the funding of any capital expenditures exceeding $500,000 “until the county makes a decision on the status of the county jail.”

“This is just good business sense,” he said. “I’m from that financial school that if I’ve got to deal with $24 million or $34 million in the next 12 months, I don’t want to spend all my money on other little projects. I’m basically saying before we build on any other projects, including Tri-County Tech, we’ve got to deal with the jail.”

Smith’s amendment to the proposed budget passed unanimously. The budget then passed on second reading. It requires third reading before it can take effect.

“That is going to be the biggest decision coming before a future council,” Smith said of the jail.

Courtesy photo

More than 200 pounds of prescription and over-the-counter pills were collected during the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office’s recent Pill Take-Back Day.

COUNTY — The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office announced last week that a total of 235 pounds of drugs were collected during a recent Pill Take-Back Day held at three local drop-off sites around the county.

[cointent_lockedcontent]The 235 pounds represents the largest volume of various prescription and over-the-counter drugs since 175 pounds were collected in September. Drop-off sites were the Clemson Free Clinic, Cannon Memorial Hospital and Baptist Easley Hospital. The Clemson Police Department was among those joining the sheriff’s office in sponsoring the event.

Pill Take-Back Day is held for the purpose of encouraging the general public to rid their homes of potentially dangerous, unused and unwanted prescription drugs by turning them over to law enforcement officials for proper disposal.

Sheriff Rick Clark said he is proud of the collaborative efforts of local law enforcement agencies, the Pickens County Coroner’s Office and area health providers “in the partnership to educate our citizens within Pickens County of the dangers associated with the improper disposal of these products.”

“For every pill we collect, there is one less pill that will be flushed into our water and sewer systems,” Clark said. “The environmental impact from these drugs can be potentially devastating to our community without these types of programs.”

Since 2013, 1,708 pounds of medication have been collected through seven National Pill Take-Back Day events. The highest event volume was 390 pounds in April 2015.

The next Pill Take-Back Day will take place sometime this fall.[/cointent_lockedcontent]

By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

COUNTY — In a letter last week to local media, Pickens County Council gave its side of the coal ash dumping controversy that engulfed the county several months ago and led to a bill signed by Gov. Nikki Haley preventing it from being dumped statewide into Class 2 landfills.

The letter states that the county’s relationship with MRR dates back to 2007-08 when the two discussed a plan for MRR “to construct and operate a construction and demolition and land-clearing landfill.”

By November 2008, Pickens County and MRR had “entered into a development and host agreement for the landfill and approval was given for the Highway 93 C&D landfill” containing the special condition that “all other wastes, including animal carcasses, are prohibited from disposal in the landfill.”

While the recession of 2009-13 caused MRR not to begin construction of its new landfill and Pickens County continuing to own and operate its C&D landfill, DHEC provided extensions to MRR on time allowed to start construction. County Council stated that MRR and DHEC began conducting a series of meetings in 2014, wherein MRR proposed to add Class 3 landfill features, altering the initial design and adding a liner and leachate collection system — providing “zero notice” to county officials and the public regarding the changes.

County Council further stated in its letter that the meetings between MRR and DHEC resulted in a “confirmation” to characterize the modifications as “minor” despite the clear qualifications of these modifications as “major.” The county also stated that throughout 2014 and ‘15, MRR “lied” by continuing to inform Pickens County “that the plans for construction remained unaltered.”

In a meeting with the planning commission dated Jan. 12, 2015, Pickens County said MRR was asked whether or not it would need any liner and if there had been any changes to the plans presented in 2007. Council said MRR officials “falsely stated no liner was necessary and there were no changes to the initial plans presented in 2007.”

But by December 2015, council stated it began hearing information concerning MRR’s intentions of “depositing coal ash into the landfill” and required specific information from MRR “concerning its intentions.”

Council said MRR “refused to comply and failed to provide the requested information,” leading to the planning commission’s decision in January of this year to suspend the land use approval for the landfill.” The commission also requested MRR “to present sufficient information of their intention to strictly comply with the 2007 and 2015 land use permits.”

The Pickens County Legislative Delegation also expressed opposition to MRR’s application of a variance to DHEC, stating it was “much too close” to the city of Liberty and the Pickens County Industrial Park.

State Sen. Larry Martin, along with State Rep. Davey Hiott, both of Pickens, introduced bills designed to keep it from being dumped in Class 2 landfills statewide — passing each of their respective legislative bodies and later amended in the Senate. The bill was later signed by Gov. Haley.

Martin’s legislation also included a five-year “sunset” provision that would require the Senate to go back and revisit when the time comes.

MRR has filed a $25 million lawsuit against Pickens County, claiming the county could not prevent them from using the Class 2 landfill for coal ash.

But the state senator said he is confident in the new state law and DHEC, where permits are issued through, will prohibit coal ash from being disposed of in Pickens County.

“From the beginning, I expected them to challenge anything that was done, but I’m confident with our ability to defend it,” Martin said.