Republicans win most races in South Carolina and York County!

Straight Party Voters – 59% of the York County straight party voters, voted Republican ticket!

Over 60 thousand voted in York County SC, a 48% voter tun out!

South Carolina elects their first Women (Republican ) Governor!

Here are the unofficial election results for seats representing the York County South Carolina area. (as of 11pm Nov 2nd reported by the Registration and Elections Commission for York County, SC). Final results confirmed Nov 5th

York County Election Result Nov 2 2010 summary Raw report download from the Registration and Elections Commission for York County, SC

I am still laughing about Charlotte ranked 9th most miserable city to live by Forbes magazine. As you may know if you read my earlier post, I disagreed with Charlotte’s ranking. Of course my opinion has a lot to do with where I came from and I actually live south of Charlotte in small town called Tega Cay, SC.

I thought about the conversations Carmen and I have had with friends in the neighborhood over the last year and why they moved to our area. All of our neighborhood friends decided to relocate to the area. So I decided to put together a list of the top ten reasons on why our neighbors and of course Carmen and I live in the Fort Mill or more specifically Tega Cay, South Carolina.

The Top Ten Reasons We Live in Fort Mill/Tega Cay, SC (not ranked in any order):

1. Moderate weather year round.
2. You’ll find miles of walking trails.
3. Centrally located – the Appalachian mountains are approx a 3 hour drive to the west and the Atlantic beaches are approx 3 to 4 hour drive to the east
4. There are several quality golfing communities.
5. There are many city parks and sports complexes including baseball, soccer, tennis, fields, YMCA facilities and Leon Springs facilities.
6. Fort Mill schools rank very high in the state and have received many national education awards.
7. The area has a small town atmosphere but located just a few miles south of a much larger city Charlotte, NC.
8. Located near or on a recreation Lake Wylie with fishing, boating, swimming, etc.
9. Friendly people.
10. A bonus last year – Property taxes were lowered for most home owners in 2007.

I could come up with many more. How about you? If you wnat more information click on the city for a link Fort Mill or Tega Cay or contact Carmen Miller.

WBT Radio based in Charollete, NC reported this week that US home values plunged 8.4%. But the Charlotte area maintained a plus 3% home value growth. The Charoltte Metro area includes Fort mill, tega cay and Lake Wylie SC.This information was based on data through November 2007 sales. Experts predict some softening of values in the coming months in our area. Charlotte was one of 20 cities in the home value study. Only 3 cities out of the 20 saw rising home values.

Marketing a small local business takes a lot of work. There are many bumps in the road when trying to market your business that limits what you can do.

Michelle Shirley started a pet sitting business last year called the Petnanny. She has tried many things to get her name out. Real estate type signs certainly do the trick but where do you put the signs? Tega Cay like many cities now days have sign restrictions that limit where you can put signs and when unless your a politician running for office.

Michelle and her husband Scott initial bought a pile of real estate signs. They religiously put out signs every weekend and took them down before Monday. They placed signs in and around the Baxter, Fort Mill, and Tega Cay area. Slowly they began seeing their sign inventory dwindle. The signs were being taken by various people. Their guess was city staff or just angered citizens who don’t like signs.

Finally Michelle was able to make a reciprocal ad arrangement with the Sunoco K Won Mart at the corner of Highway 160 and Gold Hill Road. The picture above is the sign that now sits daily at the convenience store with a fair amount of traffic passing by daily. Michelle and Scott say thanks to the K Won Mart for helping out.

Michelle’s pet sitting business called the Petnanny has been doing very well. Michelle says the best marketing investment so far has been the signs on Michelle’s Hummer 3 but the real estate signs are definitely an important part of her marketing success. Michelle is an experienced pet sitter and of course a pet lover. For more information visit her website at http://www.tegacaypetnanny.com/.

See update Sept 2010 below

Carmen asked me Monday if anything new has come up about the new Fort Mill Hospital. I had not heard anything so I did some online research. It seems back in May 2006 Piedmont Medical Center was awarded a certificate by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) to build a 221,985-square-foot, 100 bed hospital called Fort Mill Medical Center on a 40-acre site at the corner of Hwy. 160 West and Hwy. 21. The process allows for an appeal process that was estimated to take 2 years to resolve. I have not been able to find on line any updates on the timing or status of the hospital. Here are a couple links to Fort Mill Times 2006 articles by Jonathan Allen about the Fort Mill hospital.

PMC will receive 10-year break on Fort Mill taxes

Appeals process could take years

Here is a link to a PMC article:

But I did find a related story that popped up in the Fort Mill Times yesterday by Jonathan Allen . Piedmont Medical Center (PMC) was trying to stop Carolinas Medical Center (CMC) from building a medical building and urgent care facility at the corner of Gold Hill Road and I-77. Apparently PMC filed a complaint to DHEC to block the project but the appeal or complaint was denied because the CMC facility is planned as a office building not a medical procedure facility. The CMC building is under construction and is estimated to open in December 2008.

Update Sept 2010

Presbyterian Healthcare and Carolinas HealthCare System appealed the 2006 decision to go with Piedmont and a judge ruled late Dec 2009 that state regulators had failed to review the Fort Mill applications in accordance with South Carolina’s certificate-of-need law.

As you may have seen all of the new billboards, websites, and signs in our area, all three hospital systems are on a souped up marketing campaign to gain your support for their new application to be the Fort Mill Hospital.  It looks like October 2010 is the deadline to reapply.

To see each one of the hospital systems pleas, go to their website:

Piedmont’s website

CMC’s website

Presbyterian’s websiten

For me, I am leaning towards 2008 will be a good year. How about you?

I predict Carmen will have a good year. She has done very well this last year in real estate. Our area is still experiencing growth. Between her great social skills, decorating skills, knack of predicating sales trends/prices, and pure hard work I know she will continue to do well.

Tega Cay – it is so interesting the issues our city faces. For example; the dog park location, liquor sales on Sunday, or who is running the golf course to name a few. I predict new surprising issues will keep popping up as more new people relocate to our area.

I won’t get into my New Year resolutions but I heard on the radio this morning that the number one New Year resolution is spending more time with friends and family. That’s a good resolution although my pants are telling me to stop eating for a while.

Speaking of friends. We have invited Dianna and Joey Fuqua to help us author Carmen’s blog. Dianne is the president of the local Moms club and can share many experiences, facts, and current issues on our area. Joey, well Joey is a “worldly” kind of guy and can share his many experiences too. Welcome Joey and Dianna!

Happy New Year!

The Tega Cay city council tabled the discussion about the dog park relocation. A special meeting is set up for Jan 14, 2008 to continue the discussion.

It seems the city of Tega Cay and local residents have been battling over the current location and potential new location of a dog park. It’s a tough call. Many residents have pets and like the idea of a special park for dogs. Of course this sounds great until you happen to  live next door to the special dog park. The home owners on Newberry Lane which is the current location of the dog park are complaining about noise, safety, traffic, and odors.

The Tega Cay Parks and Recreation Committee has been looking at 8 potential locations. The current recommendation is to relocate the dog park behind the concession stand at Turner Field. The topic will be discussed again with the new location recommendation at the Dec 17th city council meeting.

To read more about the story, see the article in the Fort Mill Times

Dog park could be taking a walk

By Jonathan Allen Fort Mill Times

(Published December 12, 2007)

December 6 – City Christmas Tree Lighting 7:00 p.m. Runde Park and Fire Station

December 7 – Arbor Day Celebration at Windjammer Park at 1:00 p.m. Trees will be planted in memory of Nancy Currie and Knox Tabb

December 9 – Candy Cane Hunt at 3:00 p.m. at Runde Park

December 11 – Light Tour w/the Tega Cay Police Department 6:00 – 9:00 pm – Meet at the Beach & Swim Center

December 10-14 – Christmas lighting contest judging

December 17 – Winners of Christmas lighting contest announced

@ council meeting.

Clover mayor’s race: Donnie Grice – 306 votes, Donnie Burris (i) – 272 votes;

Tega Cay City Council (2 open seats) George Sheppard – 567 votes, Larry Harper (i) – 444 votes, Ron Kirby (i) – 420 votes, Hope MacBride – 414 votes, Ron Kazel – 366 votes;

Fort Mill Mayor’s race Danny Funderburk – 791 votes, Charlie Powers (i) – 517 votes;  

Ward 2: Grady Ervin (i) – 747 votes, Ronald Helms – 480 votes; Ward 4: Tom Adams – 674 votes, Charlie Boyette – 548 votes; At-large 2: Ken Starnes (i) – 887 votes; Bryan Smith – 201 votes, Dean Youhanic – 163 votes.

In October 2007 I contacted and asked each Tega Cay, SC. City Council candidate to write and submit to me information about themselves to print in my first Lake Shore Newsletter. Below are the 4 candidates that responded and their printed information.

RON KAZEL

Dear Lakeshore Residents:
My wife and I left a city plagued by problems created by rapid growth and no master plan: crisis planning, inflated home values that crashed when city taxes escalated to pay
for short-term fixes. We learned that decisions regarding growth need to be based on solid research, and to clearly support community goals. Past Tega Cay annexation decisions need to be analyzed in terms of city income vs. costs. Future growth must be smart growth – making economic sense, enhancing our quality of life. I know that we can work together as a community. I’ve met with individuals and families who support the research-based decision making required to meet the demands of our future. We need a City Council that can ask hard questions, and provide an open, real exchange of opinions that includes public insight. I’m convinced the leadership and energy needed to govern Tega Cay will come from a blend of new perspective with historical knowledge. I’m ready, willing, and able to be a part of that Council. I count on your support to pursue our vision of a phenomenal tomorrow. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me – 548-7914 or EduExp@comporium.net. Thank you!

George Sheppard

I have a background in nonprofit, church and corporate work with 21 years in the same industry. After moving with my wife and 12 year old daughter to Tega Cay in February 2006, I felt immediately at home and passionate about our new city. After working on projects with the city and within my own neighborhood I was encouraged by many to run for a seat on City Council. I would like to see better communication between the city and residents, and public service groups working to keep up with growth. Recent economic growth in Tega Cay has developed by way of annexation, and I see that as accelerating business development and thus improving our tax structure, reducing the risk of increased taxes to our residents. Growth, regardless of origin, is often traumatic but must be faced honestly, wisely and with great care as to not overburden our public safety. Also, in an effort to bridge the perceived gap between Tega Cay residents residing in the Lake Shore subdivision and those residing in Historic Tega Cay, I would like to see a better understanding of the abundant volunteer opportunities Tega Cay has to offer its residents. Helping to get Tega Cay involved as one whole city. If elected Nov. 6th I will work toward maintaining the homey atmosphere of Tega Cay while keeping an open mind to new ideas and representing all of the people of Tega Cay. I currently serve on the Parish Council, teach Religious Ed. and am a Eucharistic minister for St Philip Neri Church. I am a member of the Lions Club, and enjoy volunteering for Habitat for Humanity. In NY I sat on a regional Board of directors and chaired a local chapter of a not for profit organization dedicated to protecting children. Visit my blog at: http://sheppardtegacay.squarespace.com

HOPE MACBRIDE

Hope, her husband Jim, and son James II moved to Tega Cay from Western New York over 13 years ago. Our son James II graduated from Fort Mill High, University of South Carolina, and is completing graduate work at Clemson. Since moving to Tega Cay, Hope has worked for Bank of America, currently as Business Support Manager. She attended Montreat School of Professional Studies earning her BBA in 2001 and MBA in 2004. Hope is dedicated to the community of Tega Cay. Throughout the past 13 years Hope has been involved in the Lioness Club, took a stand against Wal-Mart, and over the past three years has served on the Finance Committee, currently as Chairperson. As our area continues to grow, City Council will need to explore new and innovative ideas
to collectively address the residential, business, and recreational expectations for our city through sustaining an open forum with the citizens of Tega Cay; keeping communications open; maintaining adequate fiscal responsibility to ensure that the services and needs of the community will continue to be met; staying well informed and up-to-date on city issues; making educated, informed decisions.
VOTE ON NOVEMBER 6:
HOPE MACBRIDE
803-493-4337
BLOG: http://hmacbride.squarespace.com/
Email: hopemacb@lycos.com

LARRY HARPER

I am currently ending my second four year term on council which began in 2000. Prior to that I served on the Planning Commission for almost ten years, the last five as Chairman during some difficult times. I have a civil engineering degree from Clemson and until last year, was employed at Duke Energy for 26 years. I have watched this city grow from a budget of a few hundred thousand to over $5 million this year. With that growth has come many challenges and many accomplishments, Lake Shore Development being one of the most significant as it spurred growth with a new utility company TCUD, and provided amenities such as the beach center, golf club and other assets for the city. I strongly believe in a government that does not infringe on personal property rights and have fought to make it so. I believe safety and communication with citizens are top priorities for government. There is much more work to be done and I would like to focus on issues relating to running the city and future planning for major projects. I understand the frustration expressed by citizens, when they think they are not being involved and I have definite plans to assist in this area. I would like to continue serving as your councilman, as my experience helps me understand how the past affects our future. I look forward to working with all of Tega Cay to make this a better place for our children and families.

Click here Download November 2007 Newlstter