Neighbors oppose rezoning Keels Road subdivision plan causes traffic, flooding concerns BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17, 2016
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A number of residents near a proposed subdivision on Keels Road told Sumter City Council on Tuesday they are against a proposal to rezone the 31-acre property to allow smaller lot sizes. Several people who rose to speak in opposition to the change said they had lived in their neighborhood for decades, and they thought the subdivision would devalue their property by
aggravating traffic and flooding problems in the area and changing the character of the neighborhood. Corey Dagesse said his property is adjacent to the proposed subdivision, and he is concerned about where water runoff from the subdivision would go. Steve Henson said he has also experienced flooding, but that was not his only concern. “There would be two properties for every one backed up to our house,” he said. Henson said he
has seen high-density developments in the Northeast, and such developments bring in a “totally different lifestyle.” “Would property owners be invested when they live on smaller plots of land?” he asked. Traffic is the issue for Henry Miller, who lives on Keels Road. “Traffic is a real problem,” he said. “We don’t need another 109 houses with three cars and a garage,” he said.
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Runners take off Monday night from Palmetto Oyster House on Wesmark Boulevard for a three- to four-mile run.
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Sumter Pub Run connects veterans, community BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com People in the Sumter area looking for a way to connect with the community and stay active should consider joining Sumter Pub Run group during its weekly run at 6 p.m. on Monday at Palmetto Oyster House. The pub run group is made up of members of Sumter Running Group and local members of Team Red White and Blue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting veterans with their communities through physical activities. Senior Master Sgt. Robert Griffith of the U.S. Air Force, who also started Sumter Running Group, said running is all about making friendships and having a group to hold you accountable for meeting your fitness goals. He also wanted a diverse group of people to represent all of Sumter — military, dependents and civilians. It’s great to join with like-minded people to socialize with and just enjoy yourself after a run, he said. Like Griffith, many of the pub run members are affiliated with or supporters of the military. Mike Beaudet, who recently retired from the Air Force, joined Sumter Running Group in search of people who shared his passion for running. Beaudet, now chapter captain for Team RWB Columbia-Sumter, was
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The Monday evening running group provides camaraderie for local veterans and others who want to join in the pub run. Many of Sumter Pub Run’s members are also part of Team Red White and Blue, a nonprofit with the mission to connect veterans with their communities through physical activities. inspired to start a pub run group in Sumter after he joined the Williamsburg, Virginia, Team RWB chapter during its weekly pub run while on a work trip in Virginia. Almost 100 people showed up for that run, he said. Palmetto Oyster House was chosen as the start and end point for the group because of its location and menu. And, after getting the go ahead from the restaurant manager, the running group held its
first run on March 14 this year. Only four people showed up the first day, but the group now has between 25 and 30 runners, walkers and joggers each week, Beaudet said. The group members run three or four miles — the two distances follow different routes. He said many of Sumter Pub Run’s members are also members of Team RWB, including Griffith.
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BILL RHODES — 1949 - 2016
Sumter remembers Mayesville’s long-time town clerk MAYESVILLE — It would be easy to say a man had deep roots in his town, but somehow, that doesn’t seem to convey the connection Bill Rhodes had with the community of Mayesville. To find that connection, you may have to dig a little deeper, down where the water pipes are buried that bring residents clean water. As Rhodes told The Sumter Item in June, when he began working as town clerk for Mayesville in 1977, the hardest part of the job was getting people to pay their $3-a-month water bills. “All the meters were covered up, and if people couldn’t pay, we had no way to shut them off,” he said. People only used the town’s water to water their lawns, Rhodes recalled.
“The water wasn’t any good,” he said. William “Bill” Rhodes died from pneumonia Monday at the age of 67 after a long struggle with cancer. He was Mayesville town clerk for 39 years until he retired at the end of May because of his illness. With his wife, Rose Norton Rhodes, he lived in the 140-year-old home built by one of his ancestors the couple meticulously restored more than a decade ago. His great-great-grandfather owned the first store in town, he said, right next to the original train depot. All that was burned down during the Civil War. Rhodes got his early education at Oswego School, where there was an old pot-bellied stove for heat and a
cowbell to call the students to class. “We didn’t have running water, so we used a dipper to get a drink out of a big, old pot,” he remembered. During the June interview with The Sumter Item, Rhodes and historian Sammy Way — two longtime friends — had a good laugh sharing a school memory from long ago. On occasions, the kids would get a special treat. “It was the best: Cane Patch Syrup and biscuits,” a smiling Rhodes recalled. Way, a former teacher in Sumter School District, said he served some of that “special treat” to his students several years ago.
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Bill and Rose Rhodes are seen on the back porch of their historic Mayesville home earlier this year.