Fort Mill declines to take over Springs Complex

FORT MILL -- Editor's note: The York County Roundup is a weekly look at highlights from The Herald's sister weekly newspapers, the Lake Wylie Pilot, Fort Mill Times and Enquirer-Herald. The publications come out Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, respectively, and are available across the county.

Fort Mill declines to take over Springs Complex

The town of Fort Mill has declined to take over a privately-held conglomeration of parks and other services operated by Leroy Springs and Co., citing the cost in a down economy.

Fort Mill and Leroy Springs are still discussing a deal in which the town would take over some Leroy Springs programs. But the town has turned down a proposal for it to take over the Leroy Springs Recreation Complex. The complex, valued at about $10 million, is on the eastern edge of Tom Hall Street near Springfield Parkway.

“Fort Mill has decided not to accept our offer of the complex,” Tim Patterson, Springs president, told the Fort Mill Times. “We expected that Fort Mill would accept this gift. We're disappointed that they turned us down.”

Patterson said the failure to finalize a deal with the town could mean layoffs for Leroy Springs employees.

Negotiations began in May and Oct. 1 was the target date for Fort Mill to take over the complex and the Banks Street gym near the heart of the downtown area.

Town Manager David Hudspeth said Fort Mill is still interested in working out a deal with Leroy Springs & Co.

“We want to be involved in recreation,” Hudspeth said. “We don't think we can afford to provide all the services that they offer. It wasn't any one thing. It was all the cost involved.”

Hudspeth suggested a revamped agreement.

“We have indicated to Leroy Springs that we are very interested in pursuing a partnership that would allow us to provide some of the services that they provide,” Hudspeth said.

There is no timeline, Hudspeth said, for forging that partnership, but Patterson said he's listening. “We're certainly going to continue discussions with the town in order to protect the services we provide,” he said.

Fort Mill Times, www.fortmilltimes.com

Safety concerns voiced about fish attractors

Members of the Lake Wylie Marine Commission have offered their seal of approval on fish attractors in Lake Wylie, despite safety concerns from residents.

Dr. Bill Jarman told commissioners about the Duke Energy-sponsored Habitat Enhancement Program, which installed almost 700 porcupine fish attractors in Catawba River lakes last year. Early next year, between 100 and 300 should arrive in Lake Wylie.

“There's a lot of trepidation about putting them at the end of docks and having kids jump off the docks and impaling themselves,” said commission executive director Joe Stowe.

C.D. Collins, who lives along a Gaston County cove of Lake Wylie, said he saw two incidents more than a year ago. In one, he said, a parent who checked the end of his dock before his daughter jumped into the lake found a steel barb fish attractor.

“That disturbed us, because we didn't have any idea who put them there,” Collins said. “My main concern, as always, is safety.” Collins and a neighbor saw boaters dropping cinderblocks in the water near another dock, something Collins sees as a danger to homeowners.

“If they put them along the shoreline where there's nobody swimming or jumping in the water, that's one thing,” he said. “They don't need to be putting them at the end of people's docks.”

Experts say the new attractors should be installed in deeper water and that they are made of PVC pipe, not metal. The porcupine “ball” attractors are about five feet in diameter. Bricks sink them to 18- to 28-foot depths to serve as a structure for algae growth, which provides protection for smaller fish and smaller fish food for larger fish.

Lake Wylie Pilot, www.lakewyliepilot.com

York to host parade for veterans on Saturday

The annual Veterans Day parade will proceed through downtown York beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday.

After the parade, a ceremony honoring service members will be at the Whitesides Laundry parking lot on North Congress Street. Refreshments including barbecue, cole slaw, chips and drinks will be served for $7 per plate, and drinks will be $1. Proceeds will support local Scouting programs.

Keynote speaker Mary Phillips White Gettys is a Chester native who earned a bachelor's degree from Erskine College in 1941 and graduated as an ensign from the U.S. Navy midshipman's school in 1943. She served in the military as a WAVE until 1946 and received communications training at Norfolk Navy Yard.

Also addressing the crowd will be youth speaker Katherine Nunez, a home-schooled 11th-grader who has written an essay to honor and thank all who have sacrificed for freedom. Her grandfather's service, and his book, “The Other Side of the Clouds,” inspired her to write the essay, which can be read at www.isfreedomtoocostly.blogspot.com.

Enquirer-Herald, www.enquirerherald.com