June 17, 2015

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Swan Lake earns national awards

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City’s $3.4 M blight removal will begin soon BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter City and County Planning Director George McGregor announced during Sumter City Council’s meeting on Tuesday that the city will begin demolishing the first 10 houses of the city’s $3.4 million blight removal project within the next 60 days . McGregor said the city is utilizing two strategies. First, he said the city will focus on the “worst of the worst” and the next stage is to focus on areas where significant redevelopment might be possible. McGregor said the process has already started, though no structures have been torn down. He said the city must submit the properties to be demolished to the State Housing Authority for approval before starting negotiations with property owners. McGregor also announced the City Codes Enforcement Department has completed demolition orders for 15 substandard properties. He said the city is ag-

gressively moving forward in its fight against unsound residential property. Also, Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark announced at the meeting the department had been awarded an Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program from the U.S. Department of Justice in the amount of $27,195. According to its website, the JAG Program provides funding for state and local law enforcement, prosecution and court programs. Roark said the funds will be used to purchase software to upgrade the department’s formatting and filing processes and to acquire nine additional Tasers because the department’s current Tasers are out of date and out of support from the manufacturer. In other news, council approved: • final reading of the city’s 2016 fiscal year budget which becomes effective July 1, as well as an amendment to the budget

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Senate passes Capital Reserve Fund bill BY JIM HILLEY jim@theitem.com

PHOTOS BY KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM

A swan, above, stretches its wings after preening at Swan Lake-Iris Gardens on Tuesday. The first award was a Certificate of Commendation from the Department of Georgia and South Carolina Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the second was TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. Docents in training tour Swan Lake with master gardeners and other docents, below, on Tuesday morning.

Flag display, hospitality garner praise BY COLLYN TAYLOR intern@theitem.com

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Sumter landmark is getting national recognition for its hospitality and patriotism. Swan Lake-Iris Gardens received two awards last week, both given by nationwide organizations. The first award was the Certificate of Commendation from the Department of Georgia and South Carolina Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War, a chapter of the nationwide organization designed to promote patriotism and honor veterans across the country. Swan Lake was awarded for its “exemplary patriotism” in

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its prominent display of the American flag on its grounds. The second award was given for Swan Lake’s hospitality by one of the largest travel websites in the country. The property was awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, for hospitality and consistency of good reviews on its site. The Certificate of Excellence is all user-driven, with

TripAdvisor awarding it to destinations with high user reviews. TripAdvisor also takes into consideration quality of reviews, how many reviews the destination has and whether the destination has a high rating on the site’s popularity index. To get the award, a travel destination must also have a

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SEE SWAN LAKE, PAGE A6

South Carolina legislators returned to Columbia on Tuesday with an attempt to wrestle budget legislation through the General Assembly high on the priority list. Ideally, a budget would be sent to Gov. Nikki Haley before the end of the fiscal year, June 30, but with little action taking place in the Senate during the regular session’s final days, that deadline may not be realistic, said Sen. Thomas McElveen, D-Sumter. Early Tuesday afternoon, it appeared the Senate would be unable to bypass debate on more than 200 amendments to the Capital Reserve Fund bill, but before the chamber adjourned, the body had passed the third reading of the bill, 37-5, with two absentees and returned it to the House. The bill appropriates money for a variety of expenses, much of it education-related. Notable items include $17 million for school bus lease and purchase, $7 million for veteran tuition reimbursement and $6 million for a tax processing system for the Department of Revenue. The Senate also man-

aged to move forward on a continuing resolution to keep the state government funded at 2015 MCELVEEN levels if no new budget is passed by the General Assembly and signed by the governor by the end of the month. “The continuing resolution is kind of a fall back plan,” McElveen said. “We have a lot of work to do in a limited amount of time.” McElveen said the budget bill has already been sent to conference committee to iron out differences between the House and the Senate versions but is unclear when it will come out of the conference committee and how quickly the House and the Senate could vote on the committee report. After it is sent to the governor, she will have another five days to act on it. “We may push it past the limit,” McElveen said. McElveen said most senators wanted to see what would be in the Capital Reserve Fund before dealing with supplemental appropriation legislation being debated in the House. The General Assembly is scheduled to adjourn the session at 5 p.m. Thursday.

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