Home RemodelingIn Tega Cay, SC

TEGA CAY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Tega Cay Fire Chief Glyn Hasty commemorating promotions and the hiring of new fire personnel at their annual Promotion and Ribbons Ceremony.

Speaking to a crowd of city employees, along with, family and friends of firefighters. Chief Hasty presented Lifesaving awards to 6 firefighters who used extraordinary measures to save a life in two incidences in 2022.

Hasty also swore in one firefighter who completed the required skill sets certifications to earn the fire badge.

And introduced the departments’ newest firefighters.

New Tega Cay Firefighter Ryan Taylor said, “I have been preparing to a full time position in the fire service ever since i first joined. its been my life long goal to do this as a care”

Hasty says the the ribbon recognition program recognizes significant events, certifications and promotion to a higher rank. In 2022 18 firefighters received ribbons encourages firefighters and helps the community understand how hard they work.

Lifesaving Awards: Gold Hill Middle School incident Lt. Daniel Dellinger, Engineer Chris Rose, Firefighter Crystal Stephens

Dulany Drive incident Lt. Daniel Dellinger, Engineer Chris Rose, Fire Marshal James Broome

Swearing in Ceremony and presentation of new badge: Firefighter Tom Simpson

Promotions: Engineer Michael Doster, Engineer Chris Rose, Lt. Wil Blackwelder

Ribbon Recognition Firefighter Chris Barnett, Lt. Wil Blackwelder, Fire Marshal James Broome, Vol. Sebastian Colon-Aviles, Firefighter Keith Davis, Lt. Daniel Dellinger, Firefighter Troy Doss, Firefighter Myrick Hatcher, Engineer Stan Hutton, Firefighter Anthony Knight, Lt. Edward Liberatore, Firefighter Jacob Morin, Engineer Brandon paul, Engineer Chris Rose, Firefighter Tom Simpson, Firefighter Crystal Stephens, Firefighter Ryan Taylor, Lt. Dan Wilkins.

LANCASTER, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – An assisted living facility held its first ever Flag Ceremony to honor their Veteran residents.

Since opening it’s doors, Sunflower Springs is a new assisted living facility which opened this past December in Indian Land, says they have had a large amount of veterans join them and wanted to do something special to honor them for their service.

Sunflower Springs Executive Director Robert Pila said, “Paying them homage and respect now goes a long way for them, it just lets them know that their duties to the country are not in vain and they are much appreciated just like they are at any other sporting event”

The VFW Indian Land Chapter helped put together this ceremony.

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Discussions are underway for the possible 5th round of the Pennies for Progress Program.

Pennies for Progress History

The York County Pennies Program was the first in the state when it first launched in 1997. Anyone purchasing goods in York County will see the one cent sales tax with that money going to fund road work in the county. The program has been presented to the residents of York County four times through a referendum, and all four times the referendum has passed. The Pennies Program will end in 7 years with the 5th Round approaching in 2024.

One of the most recent road projects completed under the Pennies for Progress Program has been the new intersection of the Fort Mill Parkway and Spratt Street which is designed to help alleviate backups for drivers turning left onto Spratt Street toward Highway 21. This was $8.5- million project.

The Pennies for Progress 5 Commission met and officers were elected with former Rock Hill School Board Member and York County Council member – Dr. Britt Blackwell – selected as Chair.

The commission, made up of community members and well as several more selected by York County Council, will begin to hold meetings in the different cities throughout York County throughout 2023. To hear what road projects residents want to see in the 5th Round of the Pennies Program.

A finalized list of road projects, and their projected costs, will come together in the Spring of 2024 with the possibility of a public vote occurring in November 2024.

Dr. Blackwell says York County can’t rely on the state department of transportation for money for road projects.

Click above for full story.

TEGA CAY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – Nine-year-old Mia Ridley of Tega Cay competed in the Miss Earth USA National Pageant and won the title of Little Miss Earth USA in Orlando.

The Miss Earth Organizations says it was created to celebrate the glamour of the beauty pageant industry while making an impact on pressing environmental issues.

Mia will compete for the National Title next year.

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2/16/2023 – CN2 News

ROCK HILL, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – We are checking in with our tri-county lawmakers to get an update from the State House. York County Senator Wes Climer sits down with CN2’s Renee O’Neil and brings us up to speed on the Fentanyl Trafficking Bill and the repeal of the Certificate of Need Bill.

Tiffany Johannes moved to the Charlotte region two dozen years ago. Johannes lives in Union County, North Carolina, and works in Ballantyne. But Johannes has a new home planned for Lake Wylie.

So Johannes is a commuter who’s living what she’s preaching.

Johannes leads not only the RE/MAX Executive: Ballantyne office but is general manager for 18 offices across the Carolinas. Johannes also is president of the Canopy Realtor Association that supports and analyzes more than 40 real estate markets in the Charlotte and Carolinas regions.

Almost daily, Johannes and her team get questions from prospective buyers on the pros and cons of a bi-state region that’s grown like wildfire for more than a decade.

“Often times people want to know how they compare to other areas,” Johannes said.

So what’s the difference between Fort Mill, Rock Hill, Indian Land, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie?

How do they compare to Steele Creek, Belmont, Waxhaw or Weddington on the North Carolina side?

It’s what those areas have in common that keeps many of them among the highest-growth residential spots in the region for a decade or more.

“Still affordability compared to Uptown or closer to the center city of Charlotte,” Johannes said. “And schools have been another great piece.”

Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Lake Wylie and Clover have some of the highest-rated schools in South Carolina. Indian Land has a brand new high school and several other recent school additions.

Another draw as buyers look out toward Rock Hill, Clover, Union County, Monroe or Waxhaw is increased acreage. Johannes said many buyers from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, California and Florida look here expecting to find as much or more than the two or three acres they had before they left. This region also has lots — literally — of options for new construction.

Johannes first asks a potential buyer what he or she needs in a home. The second question involves commute time. As the region grows, traffic can become difficult to navigate. Buyers often opt for cities or towns based on their daily drives. Johannes has a program that projects actual commute times between spots in the region and Charlotte, down to the day and time buyers might most often travel.

“We want to give them realistic projections of what to expect,” Johannes said.

The south Charlotte region offers urban to rural options, homes near the interstate or homes on Lake Wylie. Once buyers narrow on the region, honing begins on communities.

Locally, owners and buyers know how hot real estate is on both sides of the state line. The difference, Johannes said, is the potential buyer from from several states away who comes to Charlotte for work and starts searching online.

“Most of the time South Carolina is not on their radar until a Realtor brings it up,” Johannes said.

Many of those out-of-state clients who hadn’t thought of South Carolina, Johannes said, end up moving there. Lake living in Tega Cay or Lake Wylie is a draw. The Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill is a way for buyers to live on smaller lots, but have access to nature.

South Carolina also has a track record. This part of the state has grown so much in recent years, it’s easy for a buyer from Pittsburgh or New York or Chicago to find fellow transplants already living just south of the state line. Johannes said some people find a hometown feel and camaraderie in South Carolina, even when they’d never before been there.

“It also provides for a sense of community,” Johannes said.

There are dollars and cents differences that show up at the state line.

“The difference between the states in particular,” Johannes said, “are the tax structures.”

Differences like how seniors are taxed in the two states than can be important for some buyers. South Carolina tax law makes buying and living in a home more affordable compared to North Carolina, but the resulting shift toward business tax can make investment property purchases more expensive than in North Carolina.

Other variables involve preference. Politically, South Carolina runs red. North Carolina shades purple, sometimes blue. Agents don’t get into that level of politics with buyers but Johannes said some buyers do their own research and pick a state that aligns with their politics.

“That definitely has come up,” Johannes said. “It doesn’t come up as much right now.”

Culture and laws brought on by politics can differ. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, South Carolina often was more likely to reopen businesses or drop mask mandates at the state level than North Carolina was. South Carolina has long been known for fireworks and cheaper gas, also based on differing state laws.

“Sometimes it can come down to regulations and rules and taxation beyond property rights,” Johannes said.

Real estate licenses don’t come with crystal balls. Yet, Johannes looks into 2023 with confidence in the real estate market. Because job creation and job market figures are so strong in South Carolina, and the Charlotte market overall, people will relocate here. So even recession isn’t necessarily bad for the housing industry.

“New companies are coming every day to our community,” Johannes said.

Interest rates are higher than they were in recent years, but the past two years the Charlotte region saw record numbers of home sales with multiple offers and people paying above asking price. Even if interest rates are a couple points higher than they were, a market stabilization could help buyers.

“You save money at 6.5% compared to overpaying in previous years, and bringing cash to the table,” Johannes said. “You keep more cash in your pocket.”

Rates are already lower than they were at peak time last year, Johannes said, and could tick down again this year. Even if they don’t, Johannes doesn’t expect to see a federal uptick spike the rates new homeowners would pay.

“The mortgage industry has really already figured that in, so I don’t think we’re going to see parallel rate hikes for home mortgages,” Johannes said.

Johannes said there are more first-time home buyers asking Realtors for strategies to make a deal happen. There’s optimism for sellers. Johannes points to a regional study that showed the typical area homeowner gained 54% equity in the home from January 2020 to July 2022. Last quarter 28% of buyers were investors and 25% first-time home buyers. Johannes expects the trend to shift somewhat toward more first-time buyers this year.

This story was originally published January 26, 2023, 8:19 AM.

A new traffic pattern is open in Fort Mill, but better days still should lie ahead for drivers.

The intersection where Fort Mill Parkway and Spratt Street meet, near Riverview Elementary School and the new Elizabeth neighborhood, opened earlier this year with a new configuration. Yet there’s still concern from drivers how well the intersection, plus the nearby U.S. 21 and Sutton Road intersection, are functioning.

“It’s a new traffic pattern,” said Pennies for Progress director Patrick Hamilton. “There’s a couple of growing pains that comes along with that, for the public to adjust.”

Hamilton updated elected and public officials Friday when the Rock Hill-Fort Mill Area Transportation Study policy committee met. One of those officials, Fort Mill Mayor Guynn Savage, thanked Hamilton for ongoing road work but said she gets constant constituent concern at spots like Fort Mill Parkway and Spratt or Sutton and U.S. 21.

Savage said she met early Friday with a development group when the latest round of input came.

“I was barraged with phone calls, texts,” Savage said.

Hamilton said he’s aware of concerns, like traffic light timing at Sutton and U.S. 21. There also are barrels out still on the parkway in front of Elizabeth. Hamilton said GPS sites may still need to update the newly located intersection, which isn’t fully complete despite it being open now in a new spot.

“We’re hoping by the end of March, early April, that everything will be completely finished and open to traffic,” Hamilton said.

Even then there will be challenges. The intersection work adds turn lanes, but there still is just one through lane on the parkway. The most recent Pennies campaign, approved by York County voters, includes a widening of the parkway there to five lanes.

Hamilton’s group should start acquiring right-of-way this spring.

“That project is moving along,” Hamilton said. “We’re still a couple of years out from construction starting.”

Rock Hill and Tega Cay drivers can expect new construction soon, too. Hamilton said there’s been paving done, but still some sidewalks left to complete at the Hubert Graham Way extension in Tega Cay. The project connects to the Windhaven neighborhood.

“This is set to be open to traffic around that same timeframe (as Fort Mill Parkway), around March or so,” Hamilton said.

Two smaller intersection projects have been bid out, at New Gray Rock and Sutton roads in Tega Cay and at Celanese and Cherry roads in Rock Hill. The Tega Cay project is near the new Catawba Park. The Rock Hill job is near a much larger project, the planned interchange upgrade at I-77, Celanese and Cherry.

Both the smaller intersection jobs have had utility relocation through the winter.

“Roadway construction is expected to begin in March and both of these are relatively smaller projects,” Hamilton said. “We hope to have these open to traffic in the summer.”

Still more work could come across York County, if voters approve it. A new Pennies commission was appointed, and met for the first time in January. More information should be available this week or next on the coming public meetings where municipalities and residents can offer up projects they’d like to see improved.

“They will be holding public meetings throughout the year,” Hamilton said.

York County Council appointed former council members Britt Blackwell and Chad Williams to the citizen commission, along with Montrio Belton. Chris Leonard from Tega Cay, Zackary Zapack from Rock Hill and Steve Mellon from York are the other members.

That group will take project requests through the fall. A list will be narrowed and sent to county staff for cost estimates. The commission will get those estimates back about this time next year. The group will finalize a list York County Council can vote — in full, they can’t modify it — to put on a referendum for county voters in fall 2024.

Hamilton told the RFATS group Friday there isn’t a cost projection yet for how may projects may make the next Pennies campaign, the fifth one since the program began in 1997. Pennies is a cent sales tax for roads. With extensive growth in the area since the most recent campaign was approved for almost $280 million in 2017, Hamilton said it’s likely the next campaign would fund even more work.

“I would think surely it would surpass Pennies 4,” Hamilton said.

This story was originally published January 30, 2023, 12:01 PM.

It’s been more than 15 years in the making, but now Catawba Park is ready for generations to come.

The 62-acre park in Tega Cay with brand new baseball and softball fields, soccer fields, playground and outdoor gathering space has its ribbon cutting Thursday morning. In recent weeks the city began rec league play there. Mayor Chris Gray said Monday night when Tega Cay City Council met that the city has always wanted a park the size of Catawba Park, and Thursday morning would be a joyous occasion.

“Just getting feedback from everyone, everyone is enjoying playing out there and it is a fantastic facility that we all should be proud of,” Gray said.

For anyone who can’t make the grand opening on Thursday, and even larger event looms.

“Catawba Fest, formerly our Fall Festival, will be our first big-scale event at Catawba Park,” said city manager Charlie Funderburk.

The Oct. 29 event will run 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. The city expects a crowd. A typical fall festival might have 75 vendors. This year there are about twice that many. The city has overflow parking plans at the Gold Hill Middle School lot.

“We’ll have shuttles running throughout the entire event,” Funderburk said.

City officials say the impact at Catawba Park is vast, for families throughout the area.

“This gives us much more space to be able to get them on baseball fields, softball fields, and then soccer as well,” said Dustin Overton, city parks and recreation director. “It’s a game changer for the city.”

This fall, Tega Cay has more than 2,000 participants in its youth sports program. That number has grown steadily in recent years. The city has more than twice as many people as it did two decades ago, the last time a large active sports park opened.

“We haven’t had new facilities since Turner Field was built,” Overton said. “This creates a massive opportunity for our recreation program just to have more field space, to allow us to expand to more teams, and then also have community events.”

The new space also allows for new sports trends that may come. Several years back, for instance, Tega Cay dropped tackle football and saw flag football surge. Catawba Park has space for whatever may come next.

“This facility really gives us a chance to really expand on the things that we do, and make them better than they were before,” Overton said.

Tega Cay families who use Catawba Park fields for recreation, or travel programs that schedule weekend play there starting in the spring, should have more dependable scheduling at Catawba Park compared to other venues. The soccer or multipurpose fields are entirely artificial turf. The baseball or softball fields have artificial infields.

Grass maintenance and time treating, dragging and lining fields after rain aren’t nearly the concern they would be on all natural fields.

“It’s a massive difference,” Overton said. “With this turf it’s supposed to drain within 10, 20 minutes of rain. And you can literally brush off any standing water, and you can play again.”

In Tega Cay, there’s often a pull between the historic peninsula area where the city started and the expanded area along Stonecrest Boulevard, Hubert Graham Way, toward Windhaven or other areas where it’s grown since. Catawba Park is big enough, and central enough, to serve all of the city.

“It’s a balance, because we do have our older parks in historic Tega Cay,” Overton said. “Runde and Turner Field, which we still plan to use whether it’s our concerts or recreation program, events, things like that. But this gives us just another opportunity to expand, to encompass a little bit of everything.”

As its name suggests, Catawba Park has connection to the Catawba River. An aerial view of the park show the river just below the dam, just south of Lake Wylie. Passive recreation areas — non-sports — will come closer to the water.

“That’s a future phase,” Overton said. “That will be in addition to where our river access is. The plans are to expand that with some more trails, some more passive recreation, picnic shelters, things like that.”

The ribbon cutting at Catawba Park is at 9 a.m. Thursday, at 2351 New Gray Rock Road in Tega Cay. Catawba Fest will be held there 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Oct. 29. For more information, visit tegacaysc.org.

According to the lawsuit, the two cities refused to enter into written agreements that would hold the cities accountable for paying for services rendered.

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Editor's Note: On May 2, during the York County Council Meeting, members voted to remove the city of Tega Cay from the lawsuit and approved an interlocal agreement with Tega Cay for services.

Original story continues below.

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The city of Rock Hill and the city of Tega Cay in South Carolina are both being sued by York County for reportedly failing to pay for services associated with sending inmates to the York County Detention Center, including not paying or reimbursing the county for housing its inmates.

Attorneys representing York County believe this lawsuit is about the "dignity of local governments under Home Rule."

In the lawsuit released Thursday, attorneys stated in June 2021 the two cities along with the city of Fort Mill, the town of Clover, and the city of York sent a joint letter to York County Council. In the letter, the municipalities said they would still send inmates to the detention center but had no plans to reimburse the county for the expenses associated with the inmates from the respected municipalities.

Although this letter was sent in June 2021, the Fort Mill, Clover and York reportedly continued to pay the charges for the detention center. By February 2022, the three municipalities also signed a written agreement with York County and the sheriff on the agreed terms of detention services.

After sending the joint letter to York County, Rock Hill and Tega Cay reportedly continued to send inmates to the detention center but have yet to pay for services. According to the lawsuit, the two cities refused to enter into written agreements that would hold the cities accountable for paying for services rendered at the York County Detention Center.

The lawsuit is asking a judge to issue an order that declares the following:

WCNC Charlotte reached out to the city of Rock Hill for a statement and received the following response:

Today, York County took the unfortunate step of filing a lawsuit against municipalities in York County. The County is completely aware of the City of Rock Hill position that these fees have historically been paid voluntarily as they are not required under state law. The City does not entirely object to voluntarily paying a fee; however, the City only plans to do so under a fairly negotiated agreement.

Just over one year ago, York County unilaterally and arbitrarily announced it was raising the daily fees for boarding prisoners to almost $100 per prisoner per day, essentially doubling the fee. This was done with no provision of information or background on how the fee was calculated. Many of the municipalities in York County announced they would not pay these fees. Several months later the County provided new information to the municipalities that reduced these arbitrary fees by approximately 20%. However, again no adequate justification was provided for how the fee was calculated.

In the spirit of cooperation and good faith, the City has paid all fees associated with the dispute. The fee has been voluntarily paid, even though there is no law requiring the City to do so. In fact, the state statute requires the County to board all municipal prisoners with no provision for fees. Beyond paying these fees, City of Rock Hill taxpayers already fund operations related to the Sheriff’s Office through County property taxes paid to the tune of approximately $7.9 million a year. Surely, Rock Hill residents have paid their fair share to York County for these services.

The City has made several offers on how we would be comfortable moving forward under a fairly negotiated agreement; however, York County has refused to negotiate. We look forward to providing additional information before the court and vigorously defending the residents of Rock Hill all of whom are also residents of York County.

Read the entire lawsuit below: