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IChE 0am eco ck Controversy plagues Green Diamond ■ Task force asks board of trustees 1 chairman to recuse himself from issue by Brandon Larrabee The Gamecock A group that opposes the proposed de velopment of land along the Congaree Riv er has called for USC’s chairman of the board of trustees to publicly recuse him self from any university or board decision concerning a proposed technology park in the controversial Green Diamond project. The Congaree Task Force for Eco nomic and Environmental Responsibility, agroup that opposes Burroughs and Chapin’s proposed development in the floodway * of die Congaree River, sard Chairman Mack Whittle shouldn’t be involved in any uni versity decisions on the matter because it would give the appearance of a conflict of interest. wmuie is president ana cmet execu tive officer of South Financial, a partner in Columbia Venture, Limited Liability Co., a corporation formed for the Green Dia mond project. “There’s no question there’s an ap pearance of a big conflict of interest here that I think anybody looking at this could see,” task force spokesman Robert Adams said in an interview with The Gamecock.' Because of Whittle’s place within the company, Adams said the chairman shouldn’t be involved in any discussions with the university’s board, administration and staff, as well as state, county or local officials, concerning the development. “If he has, we think that’s something ij he shouldn’t be doing,” Adams said. The task force also wants Whittle to refrain from participating in any board meet ings related to the project. An informal advisory opinion, issued by the State Ethics Commission in response to a “hypothetical situation” from Weston Adams, Robert’s brother, stated that “John Doe” — apparently meant to resemble Whittle — would have a conflict of inter est if he were “associated with” a hypo thetical company that mirrors Columbia Venture, LLC. But Doe’s involvement with another hypothetical company, this one similar to South Financial, might not mean Doe was “associated with” the partnership under state ethics law. ‘“Business with which he is associat ed’ means a business of which the person or a member of his immediate family is a director, an officer, owner, employee, a compensated agent, or holder of stock worth one hundred thousand dollars or more at fair market value and which constitutes five percent or more of the total outstanding stock of any class,” the Dec. 18 letter, signed by Executive Director Herbert Hayden, quoted state law as saying. “If you’re not one of those things, then that’s not a business with which you’re as sociated,” said Cathy Hazelwood, general counsel for the commission. Adams said he didn’t know whether Whittle would fall into any of the cate gories in the commission’s opinion. A subsequent opinion, based on two other scenarios offered by Adams, also failed to turn up a clear case that Whittle violat ed ethics laws. One floated the possibility of an em ployee of the company resembling South Financial working for the company re sembling Columbia Venture, LLC. In a Jan. 9 response to the second request, the commission said the hypothetical employee would have to fall under the definition of “associated with” in the Dec. 18 opinion. The second request also raised the. pos sibility that Doe was “de facto” a director or compensated agent of the company re sembling Columbia Venture, LLC. The commission shot that down as well, saying “the Commission has no right to look for or impose another meaning.” Whittle didn’t respond to a message Thursday seeking comment. However, he has spoken about the issue before. Whit tle told The State in December that the pro ject hasn’t come before the board. “In the past, I have excused myself and would continue to do that,” Whittle told the paper. “If and when it ever becomes an issue, I will deal with it in the profession al manner I have dealt with everything else at the university and areas outside of the university.” But Adams said Whittle should still publicly recuse himself now, at least part ly because of the way USC has allowed Co lumbia Venture LLC to use the universi ty’s name in association with the development. “That is not the norm and it makes it look like Mr. Whittle had a hand in that,” Adams said. The city desk can be reached at "amecockcitydesk@hotmail.com Travis Lynn/The Gamecock The Congaree River has played a key role in debates over the Burroughs & Chapin development south of Columbia. ■ Law firm says county could be held liable for levees by Charles Prashaw The Gamecock When Myrtle Beach developer Burroughs & Chapin Real ty lint proposed a multimillion-dollar residential project for the lower Congaree River, they thought the City of Columbia would be more accepting. The Green Diamond Project could create hundreds of jobs, bring millions of dollars to the local economy and could result in a proposed USC research park. But the Grand Strand developers soon found that in Columbia, politics are more com plicated. There are sufficient legal and liability problems with the pro ject, namely the proposed new levee construction, an indepen dent law firm contracted by Richland County announced Thurs day. “In summary, the County will likely not be able to take steps to insulate itself entirely from substantial liability exposure to third parties in the case of a significant levee failure,” Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough law firm said in a formal release. The legal statement could persuade County Council mem bers to vote against the project in upcoming zoning and build mrr n/amut lanonnitc “*o r ...-ow Earlier last year, Burroughs & Chapin announced details of the Green Diamond Project, which would include an exten sion to 1-77, a USC high-technology village, an 18-hole golf course, a hotel and convention center, retail villages and homes. The southern part of the property would include an exten sion of the technology park, three-fourths of the residential de velopment and a second golf course. It would also have a 350 acre nature preserve, a site for a school and a site for a new state Farmers Market, if state officials want to move it there. The property would be 30 to 40 percent green space and dotted with ponds to control flooding. The entire project is ex pected to take up to 30 years to complete. - Burroughs & Chapin first ran into problems when the Fed eral Emeigency Management Agency declared 70 percent of the Green Diamond site a flood plain. Under current Richland County ordinances, buildings may not be constructed in a flood plain. The rest of the land is protected by a floodway. If the project goes through, Burroughs & Chapin would need to take preventive measures to avoid flooding. The county and the city would have to upgrade existing levees, which would cost taxpayers about $10 million. Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarbor ough said if Richland County failed to upgrade levees for the project, residents could sue. The city desk can be reached at gamecockcitydesk@hotmail.com City donates $ioK to local Sistercare by Valerie Matchette The Gamecock ^Columbia Mayor Bob Coble made a $10,000 donation at a press conference Thursday to Sistercare of the Midlands, an organization dedicated to providing care and shelter to vic tims of domestic violence. According to the mayor, the donation symbolized the City of Columbia's commitment to fighting domestic violence. He said that while the figures for victims of domestic abuse for 2000 have not yet been released, he said he expects a decrease in the number of crimes. "We are very pleased that we are making some progress," Coble said. Nancy Barton, director of Sistercare, accepted the check on behalf of her organization. She was appreciative of the do nation and said it represented "a partnership between the pub lic and private sectors," because Sistercare is already being par tially supported by a private grant. She also emphasized the profound impact domestic vio lence has on everyone. "This is a community problem, and we need a full, holis tic community response," she said. "It affects all of us in some way." According to Barton, the money from the donation will be used to check on women and children who have left the Sistercare shelter after a period of time. The money used for the donation came from fines charged to offenders in domes tic violence court. L-Oiumoia mrce '_mei cmaries Ausun arso naa a lew woras to say about domestic violence. He said it's been treated like a "dirty little secret" for far too long because it often goes un reported by its victims and has been largely ignored by the community. He also said he had grown up in an environment with domestic abuse. "There is somewhat of a personal emotional attachment to dealing with this matter," Austin explained, adding that no children should have to be scarred permanently by living with domestic abuse. He went on to stress the police department's commitment to ending domestic violence. Sistercare is one of 13 shelter programs within a statewide network, and serves Fairfield, Kershaw, Lexington, Newber ry and Richland counties. The network was established in T980 by the South Carolina Department of Social Services. According to a DSS Web site, its Battered Spouse Program "provides support for crisis intervention and prevention ser vices fo victims of family violence, their children, and abusers through a network of community-based, non-profit service providers." The goal of Sistercare and similar organizations is to give shelter to victims of abuse, raise public awareness about do mestic violence, work with other programs for the good of the community and coordinate with law enforcement when nec essary. 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