BAMBERG, S.C. – The Bamberg County Council learned what’s being done as part of an approximately $6,000 structural engineering study to repair cracks in the county courthouse Monday night.

Representatives from Charleston-based Liollio Architectural Firm said their goal will be enhancing service efficiency and safety while maintaining the historical integrity of the building, which may undergo enhancements for updated technologies and security measures.

C. Dinos Liollio and Mary Mac McFadden were present, along with Bill Ussery, a professional engineer with Charleston-based 4SE Inc. which conducted a structural analysis of the courthouse. Liollio said the master plan and property analysis focused on county administration and judicial functions and public safety. The county currently has six basic locations for those programs that occupy roughly 18,000 square feet of space, he said.

“Some of the issues that are missing within the context of county functions include training facilities, conference rooms and support facilities for security issues such as that,” Liollio said, projecting that the county will need approximately 38,000 square feet of space over the next 20 years.

McFadden presented three scheme overlays of the county’s current building functions, including those for the courthouse which is separated from the jail and E-911 center by Second Street. While Schemes A and B included the closure of Second Street to provide for the more secure transport of inmates to the courthouse, etc. Scheme C included leaving Second Street open. Scheme C also had public safety and administration functions in a separate building behind the courthouse, which would have one central access point.

County Administrator Rose Dobson-Elliott said, “We’re trying to look at effectiveness and efficiency, but we’re also trying to bear in mind the cost. We just do not have enough space that’s usable for court facilities. ... You have to incorporate more than one building. They don’t all have to be big ... but you do have to have more than one.”

Ussery noted the courthouse was “in generally good condition.” He said the main problem was the inside wall cracks, some of which have come through to the outside of the building. He said the cracks were occurring primarily where the courthouse’s addition was made in 1960.

Ussery recommended monitoring the cracks and having a geotechnical engineer conduct a study of subsurface conditions “to see what’s going on” before coming up with a solution to stop the building from settling.

In other business:

* Council approved final third-reading of an ordinance amending the county’s personnel policy to include an acceptable-use policy for the Internet.

* Bamberg County Hospital CEO Roy Vinson presented September’s financial report. He said patient volume was slightly up from August at just under 13 patients a day. Surgery volume for the month was down approximately 15 percent from August -- from 299 to 253, he said. Net revenue was down by $62,000 from August, with expenses for September $119,000 less than the previous month.

Net income for September stood at a positive $36,000. For the 12 months through the end of September, the net income was $468,000. For the prior year-to-date through September, it was a negative $1.4 million.

Vinson said the change represented an improvement of $1.9 million. He reported that unexpected repair expenditures for the “aging building,” including replacing hospital ceiling tile, totaled $3,975.

* Kelle Anderson, project manager with Southern Carolina Alliance, announced a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 17 for completion of the speculative building at Cross Rhodes Industrial Park.

* Dobson-Elliott said Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter talked about the possibility of expanding broadband Internet access across rural areas in the region at a recent meeting.

* Council appointed Annette Hill, human resource director at Tobul Accumulator, to the Lower Savannah Workforce Development Board as a private sector representative. The council also reappointed John Bennett to the board.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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