The Columbia Record from Columbia, South Carolina • 15

Che (STolumbia Record Sports 4 Classified'! Tuesday July 9 1985 Obituaries IProwate tamOs Recreation commission files suit to By Bill Robinson Staff writer pay supplement Development Board By Deb Woolley and Thom Fladung Staff writers The new director of the state Development Board will receive an annual salary of $82000 with $15578 of it coming from a private foundation according to sources near the Development Board The Palmetto Foundation a private group whose purpose is to support economic development activities has agreed to supplement the annual state salary of $66422 for Mac Holla day Holladay currently director of the Trident Chamber of Commerce in Charleston was named to the post last month and will start work Aug 1 Joseph Sapp chairman of the state Development Board said the salary supplement which is "strictly year to year with no binding SMI pinto ky ANDY LAVALLEY Cheek to beak While sitting on the front porch of her Devine Street home yesterday Sherry Scott shared a shoulder and a smile with Baby her pet cockatoo Baby is about a year old and Ms Scott said her feathered friend is like a little Revitalization loan program to get finishing The Richland County Recreation -Commission worried about an erod-' ing tax base has filed suit to overturn a 1971 state law which allows Colum-4 bia to annex land and remove it from special county recreation district tax rolls The initiative comes at a time when Columbia has been annexing large valuable tracts of commercial property contiguous to the city limits Nearly all the recent annexations have come at the request of land-owners and much of the activity has occurred in the SL Andrews area Roy Bates the city's chief at- torney was unavailable for comment -today The city has SO days to file a response to the suit in circuit court Tom Linton county recreation district chairman said the suit asks the court to rule unconstitutional a 1971 law which exempts property annexed by Columbia from being charged county recreation taxes The suit wants to restore the recreation tax district boundaries to their 1971 configuration Other terms of annexation would not be affected The amount of land annexed by Columbia in the last 14 years is not known but the area and its worth is thought to be substantial Linton an attorney said he thinks the 1971 annexation-exemption law applies only to the ColumbiaRichland County relationship Linton rejected any implication that the county recreation com- mission is in effect seeking to create a situation of double taxation He said that because of the value of the land in question the overall county recreation tax could be reduced substantially if the valuable land could be taxed "Our available tax base has been diminishing at a faster rate than there's been growth and that's a real concern to Linton said The Impetus for the suit has been recent annexations in the St Andrews area especially in the Grey stone Boulevard corridor The decision to file the suit has the unanimous backing of the seven-member county recreation commission Linton said If the suit is successful Linton acknowledged landowners whose property has been brought Into the city since 1971 would pay a county recreation district tax as well as city taxes which are used for services including the city recreation department The county tax will likely be 47 mills for 1985-86 City property owners currently pay no special recreation district tax to Richland County The city has its own recreation program funded through the general fund Linton said the city's recent tendency to annex commercial property has been whittling away at a valuable portion of the county recreation tax base The commission he said envisions problems In the future of holding the line on the millage if property continues to be annexed and exempted from the tax institutional (commercial) use 1403 Victory SL 2713 Trull St and 1404 Kingston Road change in single-family residential designations 1017 Daly St from singlefamily residential to office and institutional (commercial) use By Bill Robinson Staff writer Columbia City Council plans tomorrow evening to put the finishing touches on a $28 million loan program designed to stimulate commercial revitalization projects in the central business district The Community Development office has submitted a resolution for council approval which officially establishes the intent to make the loans at below market value interest rates The money will be targeted for use by small and minority businesses people whose expansion or improvement plans will likely add jobs to their payrolls Darrell Riddle a Community Development program coordinator said he expects the city to issue its first loan in about 45 touches change in single-family residential designations Amend the city zoning code to regulate the placement of satellite dish antennas and similar Amend the city zoning code to create a new commercial district which would the existing character of commercial areas which serve a unique and special function with the The first area where such a designation would apply would be the Five Points area Council also is expected to pass an appropriations ordinance which would allocate $15000 for use in paying for tourism brochures promoting the abundant antique sales firms especially those in the Gervais Street area The source of the money is surplus generated by the accommodations tax said the problem could be overcome by using conservatively "We anticipate any problems" Richland Memorial spokeswoman Dianne Berry said this morning Shandon-area committment" was necessary to bring the salary for the state Job up to the salary level at Trident Chamber of Commerce we had concluded that Mac offered the talents and expertise we needed we thought we might not be able to get him because of the salary Sapp said "So I took it on myself to see if it were possible" He said he contacted the governor to get his support then worked with the foundation He said the state Budget and Control Board was informed a ruling was obtained from the Attorney office and the state Ethics Commission approved it A spokeswoman for the Ethics Commission said today however that a draft opinion approving the arrangement had been issued but that opinion must be approved by the (See Salary 3-B) days Those interested in apply may contact the Community Development office at 733-8313 Three sources provided the loan pool: $23 million from local private lenders $400000 from the federal government and $165000 from city government The vote will come during a special evening session which is scheduled to start at 5:30 pm at City Hall on the corner of Main and Laurel streets To make its meeting more accessible to people unable to attend regular morning sessions council schedules a night meeting in April July October and January Tomorrow agenda is relatively short To lead off council will allow citizens to make comments regarding 11 proposed zoning amendments which eventually will be submitted as ordinances in vices Inc at 2701 Boulevard located just off Bluff Road in Columbia Industrial Park said Assistant Fire Chief Goff Firefighters estimated damages at $18000 to the building and about $12000 to the contents the power antenna tower the station's 600-foot tower that put out 1250000 watts has continuously flashing white strobe lights which makes it all the more easy to notice Upright said It is embedded in a concrete base weighing more than 1 million pounds and can withstand winds up to 1275 mph Furthermore the tower contains 5860 pieces of steel and the total weight of the steel is 418500 pounds The structure cost about $25 million and was built by Kline Iron and Steel Co of Columbia which has built towers all over the world including one in the middle of the Indian Ocean new tower is the tallest structure in central South Carolina and was built to "improve the (television) picture in Richland and Lexington counties Upright said Upright said the new tower doubles the station's coverage area which now extends north to Lancaster east to Florence and Darlington south to Bamberg and west beyond Newberry Channel 19's signal is no longer in tbe general area of Channel signal so people with rotor antennas or permanent set antennas will have to make an adjustment on the (Soo Tower 3-B) Fire does about $30000 in damage to laundry service A fire of undetermined origin caused about $30000 in damage last night to a laundry service shared by four major area hospitals authorities said Fire broke out just before 7 yesterday at Hospital Ser Up and at the weeks ahead No votes will be taken Wednesday night however One of those zoning amendments involves a change in the commercial designation for property the city would like to see developed as a shopping center along Taylor Street Mayor Kirkman Finlay and council have targeted the business district near Allen University for nearly $400000 in local and federal grants to interest a developer in building the project known as James Square The property is zoned for office and institutional use and must be changed to commercial use before construction can be permitted under the city zoning code The other 10 amendments involve: 700-702 Calhoun St from general residential to office and As of late this morning fire department investigators had not been able to determine what sparked the blaze Hospital Services is owned jointly by four local health care facilities Lexington County Antwina hoisted to top of plan promotional campaign 910 Grace rn Road from office and institutional (commercial) to general commercial use Various lots in the Shandon neighborhood from general residential (multi-family dwelling permitted) to single-family residential Koon and Geraldine roads confirm single-family residential zoning 700 Candi Lane confirm neighborhood commercial zoning 2600 block Forest Drive Hospital Richland Memorial Hospital Providence Hospital and Baptist Medical Center The fire destroyed about a day's supply of laundry for the hospitals but supply supervisors WLTX tower Channel 19 turns to its new 2049-foot on (See Lawsuit 3-B) merchants area maps (Hinted that list all the businesses stores and service industries in the area The maps will be distributed by the Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce as well as relocation offices of local real estate companies banks and area hotels and motels Ms Rackes said the campaign is designed to reach the "people driving into Columbia Our area is well known by the people who live and shop here but we want to let others know what we have to The campaign is a first for the area loosely defined as Five Points to Madison Hall on Devine Street and Rosewood Drive to Millwood Avenue but Ms Rackes hopes that it will become a biennial event "We just wanted to maintain a sense of community and grow in an organised Ms Rackes said "We wanted the merchants the businesses the restaurants and the residents all working Shandon Associates was first formed by four business people: Ms Rackes Duncan MacRae of Debbie McDaniel of Tbe Happy Dashery and Pat Hubbard a University of South Carolina law professor and an executive member of the Shandon Neighborhood CounciL Elizabeth Wilson a graduate sta-dent in the University of South Carolina College of Business Adminstra-tion is serving as campaign director and membership coordinator By Deb Woolley Business editor Beginning next month residents and merchants in the Five Points Shandon and Devine Street area will begin telling the rest of the world that their area is the place in Columbia to live wine dine shop and have fun Shandon Associates a non-profit group founded to stimulate economic growth in the area has raised $125000 and plans a campaign of billboards and maps to introduce the area to Columbia visitors Barbara Rackes owner of Rackes and a founder of Shandon Associates said "There are some things about our area that make it similar to other areas in town but there are a lot of things that make us different The single purpose of our campaign is to promote our area as a place to live shop work and She said the campaign paid for with $100 donations from 125 sponsors will include billboards around the perimeter of Columbia urging people "to drive past the suburban malls and see what the Shandon-Five Points-Devine Street area has to offer We've got all the shopping available at the malls as well as restaurants and entertainment We have plenty of parking but we also have gardens and The billboards which will go up in mid-August will read: "Columbia's Garden District Five Points Shandon Devine" In addition the group is having By Salley Mclnerney Staff writer WLTX has got one heck of a new tower poking up out of them thar sandhills off Screaming Eagle Road what with 15850 metal bolts six miles of guy line and more than a million pounds of concrete keeping the steely structure headed skyward At a height of 2049 feet the structure is about 800 feet taller than the Empire State Building and was turned on so to speak for full-time operation at 2 am terday Gene UprighL Channel 19's program director says planning for the new tower began about two years ago and construction started in March really big" said Upright who was given an opportunity to go to the top of the tower by way of a "free-swing type" of cable and weight ball system "But I he said The new structure radiates 5 million watts of power and is 11 miles northeast of Columbia in the Fort Jackson area Upright said it can be seen if driving along Percival Road toward Camden or "coining in from Camden on the The new tower which replaces 111 ii i1 i ii 1 i lL AAiA.