It is hard to believe that three months of 2018 has now passed. During this time Southern Greenville County has experienced several major changes. Our long time State Representative, Eric Bedingfield, retired and was replaced by Ashley Trantham, who took her seat in January. With the filing period just ended she is unopposed and will be elected to a full term in November this year.
A major grass roots effort occurred in and around the Fork Shoals area beginning last fall. A group of citizens met several times with the Planning and Zoning Department of the County and decided they would like to petition the County to zone part of the area. This was a lengthy process, but through the work of many people and the leadership of Kyle Gilley, Tom Stitt, and Dennis Chenault the project was completed. As a result 7,700 acres of previously un-zoned land is now zoned either RR-1 (one house per acre) or RR-3 (one house per three acres). The focus of this group from the beginning was to maintain the rural character of their portion of District 26.
When the Elections Office closed filings at noon on March 30, 2018, no one filed to challenge me. I have enjoyed being your County Council representative for the past four years and look forward to serving you the next four years. District 26 is very large and has a diverse number of challenges, but it is exciting for me to be involved and to have gotten to know so many of you these past four years. Thank you for your continued confidence in me.
A very bad accident occurred in the northern point of District 26 a few weeks ago. A tree fell and landed on top of a school bus. Fortunately no one was injured, but it could have been disastrous. When I drove out to the location the next day I saw two additional tress in the right-of-way that were leaning toward the road. I notified both County Staff and the SCDOT (it was a State Road) and included pictures. The next day the two leaning trees along with the fallen tree were all removed. I am asking each of you as you drive around District 26 if you notice any leaning trees that are in the right-of-way please let me know. My email is LBallard@greenvillecounty.org. I want to be proactive in removing any such dangers to avoid future accidents.
Thank you again for your continued confidence.
