Mobile Home Sales in Kershaw, SC

It will take several months before the projects come to light, but it could bring close to $282M worth of investment.

CASSATT, S.C. — Two solar farms, Project "Creed" and Project "1802," are being considered for Kershaw County.

"They are going to be solar farms projects. At this point, the county is working with the consultant for the company that's proposed these projects, and we're just going through basically the first steps," said Jeff Burgess, the Kershaw County economic development director.

He said the projects would be in and around Cassatt but couldn't provide the exact location. That's left residents with mixed opinions.

"If it's a smaller thing or somewhere where, if you can't see it, I don't think it's a big deal," resident Joshua Kelly said. "If it's right there on the road and it's an eye sore, I don't think anyone will like that."

"I'm okay with it in our community," said Dean Elliott, the pastor at Cassatt Baptist Church.

Burgess said the project is expected to bring significant revenue to the area.

"Right at $282 million in investment, that's both projects come in investment; the property they are looking at is about $7,000 in taxes a year. With improvements they do on it, it's a $495,000 profit to the county on the revenue, so it's a win-win," he said. "There's not a whole lot of effort in it, and it brings that revenue in the county they can, then disburse."

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Based on planning and zoning regulations, solar farms must be 100 feet from all roads' right-of-way, and there must be a 50-foot planted buffer if it's near existing residences. But before any of that can happen, Burgess said many more steps will come.

"At this point, they still have to do several steps: an interconnectivity study with the utility provider, then the power purchase agreement known as the PPA. And that would need to be negotiated between the utility companies. Once they get that part settled, then they come back county, and then we move forward with first, second, third reading," Burgess adds.

Before the project can move forward, planning and zoning officials said there must also be a 15-foot height limitation, mandatory fencing and a glint and glare study to ensure no impact. Officials must also consider a decommissioning plan for when a solar farm is no longer used.

The county currently has an ordinance only allowing people to stay 3 months, but that may be changing soon.

KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. — Those visiting Kershaw County and planning to stay at campground or RV sites may soon be able to stay longer than 3 months.

“It is huge,” says Christopher Renfroe, owner of Renfroe Ranch Campground.

Renfroe has been advocating for the county to change the current policy, which only allows guests to stay 3 months at a campground before they must leave.

“I would say 80% of our traffic to 90% of our traffic in income would more than likely come from longer than 3-month stays,” Renfroe said.

He says many who come to a campground like his are either construction workers or new residents looking to build, and once they realize they can only stay for 3 months, they might take their business elsewhere.

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“It makes it a lot harder, especially being a new small campground. We have a lot of transient workers that come through needing way more than 3 months, so they go to our surrounding counties which offer long-term camping,” Renfroe added.

Councilmember Derek Shoemake says several campgrounds are excluded from the current ordinance of only 3 months, as they were grandfathered in before a previous council made the change.

Now, the county is taking steps to change that ordinance again, ensuring small businesses like Renfroe Ranch have room to grow.

RELATED: Changes could be coming to residential growth in Kershaw County

“We voted to send through Planning and Zoning a change to the ordinance that would take 3 months and expand it to 9 months," Shoemake said. "It would also add a record-keeping requirement so it would be easier to know when someone was staying at a campground.”

Shoemake says Planning and Zoning will look at the request or take away provisions altogether allowing someone to stay as long as they like. He says he supports extended stays, but doesn’t want to throw out all rules.

The new draft is expected to be taken by council in August.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) released an incident report for the death of a Sumter man where the EMT on the scene reportedly told other first responders the man was just “acting out.”

SLED is investigating the incident, which the report states took place the morning of March 10, near the Love’s Travel Center on White Pond Road in Elgin.

SLED provided documentation showing the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO) requested the investigation the same day.

WIS first reported on the incident in May, when county officials declined to provide any records of what happened.

SLED provided the KCSO report but redacted the names of all the individuals involved, including the deceased.

The available information does show the man was from Sumter and was either 49 or 50 years old.

The incident report includes three deputy narratives, but it’s not immediately clear how many deputies were on the scene. A deputy reports EMS and fire personnel were also on the scene.

Here is the full incident report:

Only the second narrative makes note of the EMT’s comment.

The deputy reports EMS had requested help due to a “combative patient.”

When that deputy arrived, the patient had already been placed on a stretcher.

The other two narratives lay out how attempts to get the man to go into the ambulance had been unsuccessful, requiring the patient to be handcuffed and placed onto the stretcher by a team of first responders.

The first narrative described how the patient’s eyes were big, “almost as if they were coming out his head” and that a paramedic believed he was having a stroke.

Once in the ambulance, the second narrative states the patient’s “breathing became irregular and his eyes were bulging from their sockets. [Redacted] asked EMS personnel; “Why is he breathing like that?”. The EMT looked at [redacted] and stated that he was just “acting out”.

The narrative patient’s condition continued to get worse, with “EMS” saying he’s unresponsive and dying.

The first responders rushed the patient to the hospital.

The first narrative stated he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Kershaw County Administration and Sheriff Lee Boan did not return a request for comment.

SLED declined an interview request.

The Kershaw County Council unanimously approved a resolution to procure body cameras for the EMS department at its June 13 meeting.

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KERSHAW COUNTY, S.C. (WIS) - Some residents in Kershaw County tell WIS they’re “appalled” and “disrespected” by the actions of an elected official.

County Councilman Russell Brazell is on blast for listening to loud music while a former first responder addressed Emergency Medical System (EMS) issues during last week’s Kershaw County Council meeting.

On March 14, exactly 17 people signed up to voice their opinions on a $10 million recreation center slated for Woodward Park. As Chairwoman Katie Guinn announced the public comment portion of the meeting, Brazell put a white earbud in his right ear.

Brazell is an avid supporter of the Woodward Park project.

“I was not watching him, so I don’t know when he started using the earbuds or when he started playing music, but when the music got loud enough to interrupt the meeting, that’s when I noticed,” said Chairwoman Guinn.

When the 12th speaker in line was called to the podium, Brazell plugged both ears with matching headphones. The speaker was Matthew Hutchison of Cassatt, a staunch opponent of the Woodward Park project.

“I’m in a unique position to understand some of the issues that we’re facing in Kershaw County with our first responders,” said Hutchison to WIS.

Rather than a recreation park, Hutchison believes $10 million should go towards five preexisting EMS stations throughout the county. This, as well as the installation of two additional stations in the area.

Hutchison pointed out severe infrastructure issues across KC EMS Station No. 1 following our interview in Camden on Friday.

He was prepared to address his opinions without interruption during last week’s Public Comment. Instead, Chairwoman Guinn paused Hutchison while trying to get Brazell’s attention.

“Mr. Brazell, can I have your attention, please, or are you listening to something else,” said Hutchison at the podium after Guinn called for Brazell’s participation twice.

After calling on Brazell a total of three times, Guinn ordered Councilman Sammie Tucker to tap his shoulder.

“The word that came to mind was disrespectful. I felt disrespected as a man, I felt disrespected as a citizen of this county, and everybody in the room, I’m sure, felt the same way. Even the other council members, who are probably embarrassed by that behavior,” continued Hutchison to WIS.

After a pleasant phone call with Brazell, he emailed this statement to WIS which has not been altered:

“First of all, I would like to say I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you regarding this. From time to time humans make mistakes. I’m one of those humans. Without forgiveness and Grace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we would never be able to embrace moments like this. My intention with my earbud use was to assist in hearing in a crowded room. The older I get the harder it is to hear. Unfortunately, I later chose to use them to tune out a couple of individuals that consistently bring negativity to our community. I have seen negative statements about our sheriff’s child posted online as well as my own children. You know it’s ok to poke fun at a public official but I find it disgusting to make derogatory comments about children. Ultimately I made a mistake and I own that mistake. Ignoring an individual is not the answer. I apologize to the citizens of Kershaw County that I represent for doing a poor job that Tuesday night. I will do better and this county deserves the best of me.”

Brazell is not Hutchison’s district representative. The next KC council meeting is on March 28.

You can watch Hutchison’s full speech before the Kershaw County council from minutes 1:18:53 to 1:25:01 by clicking here. He’s interrupted at minute 1:23:18.

Notice a spelling or grammar error in this article? Click or tap here to report it. Please include the article's headline.

Stay up to date with WIS News 10. Get the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Storeand Stream us on Roku, YouTube, Amazon Fire, or Apple TV.

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