Mattress storein Holly Hill, SC

Shop manager on Old State Road in Holly Hill says he and others are still seeing flooding, mold and financial loss.

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. — Hurricane Idalia may seem like old news by now, but some Orangeburg County residents are still struggling with the damage it left behind.

Shawn Olsen is the manager of the Majestic Pineapple, a shop on Old State Road in Holly Hill. He says they’re still recovering from the physical and financial effects of Hurricane Idalia.

“When the storm was over, lo and behold, I came and I had a mini flood that then damaged a lot of property,” Olsen said.

He says they lost between $3,000 and $4,000 in inventory. Now, the shop is having issues with flooding and mold that they didn’t have before.

“It just comes in now,” Olsen said. “Now it- it comes in through the walls.”

Olsen says other businesses in Holly Hill are in similar situations.

For other Holly Hill residents, evidence of Hurricane Idalia is just about gone.

“In general in town, we are pretty much back to normal,” said John Elmore. “A little bit of debris here.”

Reverand John Elmore is the pastor at a church where a large tree fell during the storm. He says the clean-up and repairs throughout the town were ‘seamless’.

“Even in the midst of the storm, when the tree fell here at the church, our city workers and the mayor responded great and I ended up being out there with them,” Elmore said.

The director of Orangeburg County’s Office of Emergency Services, Billy Staley, says they encourage residents to report damage.

“The county is still doing damage assessment as we get damage reported,” Staley said. “After the storm the county went and combed the areas looking for damage from the storm and our flood prone areas. We had several homes that had low levels of water in them but that were impacted.”

He says the damage is not severe enough to access FEMA resources.

“We don't meet those thresholds,” Staley said. “But we are trying to connect with our partners, our volunteer organizations to help those families who may need help, who had damage to their structures.”

The guaranteed maximum price for the total construction of the two-story, 106,000-square-foot elementary school was unanimously approved by the board at $39,995,221.

The total construction cost includes $630,000 in offsite road improvements and $1.2 million in contingency costs. The original estimated total construction cost for the school was $40,883,487.

The estimated soft costs of the project are about $6,040,952 for a total project cost of $46,036,173.

The new East Elementary School at 1490 Brant Avenue will house 750 students, with the possibility of expanding to serve 900.

The first floor will be 83,000-square feet and house kindergarten, special education, pre-K, administration, media center and dining operations.

The second floor will be 23,000-square feet and will house grade levels three to five.

The school's lobby area will include colors of each of the three schools that are joining together to form the new school: St. James Gaillard, Holly Hill and Vance-Providence elementary schools.

Thompson Turner will be the general contractor for the project.

Construction is scheduled to start in the immediate future with the school opening in the fall of 2025.

OCSD trustee Dr. William O'Quinn asked how many students will be in the school when it opens and was told about 650 to 680.

"I want to be sure that what we are planning to do is going to accommodate whatever expansion happens down in that area because of the move up in the Charleston area," he said. "Let us be sure we can expand to 900 and even more if we have to."

School architect officials with LS3P say the school is designed to be added onto.

OCSD Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster also said the Elloree Elementary School can hold 1,100 students. Its student population will be down to 230, allowing additional space if needed.

Trustees also received an update on the new O-W high school.

The school is currently in the design and development phase. The price of the project will be presented at a future board meeting.

Construction is scheduled to begin in February 2024. It’s scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2026.

The two-floor, 277,940-square-foot school is described by architects as a “state of the art” school with energy conservation measures built within.

The first floor will be 190,789 square feet and the second will be 87,151 square feet.

The bus entry will be near the existing high school, meaning school buses will enter on Bruin Parkway and parents and students will enter on Cook Road.

The main school building will be located off of Cook Road, with practice fields and a 4,500-seat football stadium being near the rear of the property.

The school's campus will also include a field house, tennis courts, parking, baseball and softball fields as well as concession stands.

Inside the school, the entrance will have administration and academic wings.

A media center will be in the middle of the school.

The lower floor will also include a cafeteria; a 400-seat auditorium and drama, band and chorus rooms. A 3,000-seat gym will include space for practice court facilities, volleyball and a weight room.

The second floor will have more academic space, work rooms and guidance counselor space.

The interior in the lobby of the high school will have school the logo and colors. The media center will provide open and private spaces also branded with O-W colors. The dining room will also be branded with school colors.

O'Quinn raised concerns about the school's impact on a creek located behind the proposed football stadium as well as its impact on neighboring property that has about 120 acres under conservation.

O'Quinn also expressed concerns about the impact on residents in the area.

"I think you have done a great job designing the school," O'Quinn said. "I just don't' like the location. I don't think it is the best place for the school."

School designers said there will be tree buffering between the school and the houses and that water runoff will be contained within the school's own property and not impact neighboring property owners.

"We are using the topography to assist with the runoff," LS3P Architect Mary Beth Branham said, noting the site has natural hills that will help with water flow.

In related matters, trustees were informed about the results of the $90 million general bond anticipation note to do work on the various school building projects. The bonds were sold on capital money markets, with the low bid coming in at 3.34 percent from Jefferies LLC.

District financial advisor Bob Damron praised the district's ability to receive a low interest rate, citing the rate as a credit to the district's strong financial standing. The district's negative financial outlook from credit rating agency Moody's was recently removed.

Damron said a strong fund balance is a key aspect rating agencies look at when determining a rating.

The ceremony was attended by Orangeburg County School District Superintendent Shawn Foster, school board members, faculty, students and community members.

Several speakers at the ceremony thanked the community for supporting the $190 million bond, which included funding for the new school. Voters approved the bond issue in November 2022.

“Welcome to what you have done, because as a community, if you did not buy into Dr. Foster’s vision, you would not have voted for the bond referendum,” Orangeburg County School Board member Betty Pelzer said.

“So I want to say thank you for buying into Dr. Foster’s vision. I want to say thank you for buying into the needs of the students of this community.”

Faculty and students from each of the three area schools that will be consolidated into the new facility upon its completion – Holly Hill Elementary, St. James Gaillard Elementary and Vance-Providence Elementary – spoke at the event, including the principals of all three schools.

“For the past 69 years, our school has done her job well,” Avaeh Pratt, a student at St. James-Gaillard Elementary School, said. “Saying goodbye will be difficult and we will have a mixture of nerves and excitement as we prepare to walk the halls of the new facility. When our students see their new building, new desks and new materials, it will really make it all worth it.”

The school will cost up to $40 million and house 750 students upon opening, with the possibility of expanding further. Construction was previously reported to be scheduled for completion in 2025.

Many said the school would not only positively impact the students, but the wider community as well.

St. James-Gaillard Principal Keonia Gillard said the new facility would be “a pillar of our community for decades to come.”

“If you know me, you know I’ve been born and raised right here in this community,” Latanya Durant, principal at Vance-Providence Elementary, said. “In my 40-plus, almost 50 years of being here, I think this is very historical, because I’ve never witnessed a brand new elementary school being built for the children and I’m very proud to be a part of this process.”

Holly Hill Principal Johnnie Smith said students were excited about the new school being built when he talked to them in a class the day before the groundbreaking.

“And with all the distractions out there, anything that gets our students excited about learning is nothing less than phenomenal,” Smith said.

Allen Taylor, principal architect with the new school’s designers LS3P, said the ongoing construction will not only provide state-of-the-art facilities for the students, but also give them a chance to see STEAM (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) throughout construction.

Many speakers thanked Foster for his role in getting the school funded and built, but he did not want to take the credit himself, he said.

“It isn’t about me,” he said. “I appreciate the sentiments, but I’ll tell you I’m not that great to do this alone.”

Aside from the financial support from the community through the bond, Foster thanked the sacrifice from staff of the three schools who may not have a job after the consolidation in the new building.

“There’s always a concern about my livelihood,” Foster said. “Who’s going to be here? What am I going to do? So it shows an even greater investment from the adults at the three schools to say ‘I’m going to take a step even when I can’t see the stairway,’ as Martin Luther King said, because I know that what’s best for those little people is most important and everything else will work itself out. So I thank them for trusting us. Not only with their dollars, but with their livelihoods and with their teachers.”

“We’re going to continue to make sure we consider those things and consider the sacrifices that they made as well. We owe it to them because they are then putting in an even greater sacrifice for those young voices you heard earlier,” Foster said.

As of December 2022, the existing Holly Hill Elementary buildings were planned for demolition, The T&D previously reported.

While many were excited for the new facilities, some faculty, students and parents were also nostalgic for the original, existing structures, said Joseph Brown, school counselor and 36-year-employee at Holly Hill Elementary.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” Brown said. “I always thought I would retire from Holly Hill Elementary, and I really considered doing that, but I said, ‘No, I think I’m gonna stick around just to see the transition.’ Because change is always good. I’m very excited, mainly for the kids, because they will get the opportunity to be in a new, upscale building with the latest technology, latest equipment and give them the opportunity to compete with kids from all around the state and all around the country.”

Correction:

The story “This is very historical,” which appeared on page A1 in Tuesday's edition incorrectly said remarks were made by a student from Vance-Providence Elementary.

It should have said the remarks were made by by Avaeh Pratt, a student at St. James-Gaillard Elementary School.

We apologize for the error.

HOLLY HILL, S.C. – (WIS) As the family of an Orangeburg County woman, who went missing four months ago, seeks answers, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office is releasing new information about the case.

The Sheriff’s Office said Friday in a statement that it put out a public call for leads this week after an “unconfirmed report of a possible sighting.”

Melissa Aguilar of Holly Hill was reported missing by an ex-boyfriend on August 18, a Sheriff’s Office report states.

Investigators believe she left a home Fourwind Road, which is an unincorporated area of Orangeburg County, after an argument with her ex.

Aguilar’s youngest daughter Shanna Brown told WIS in a Friday interview that the last four months have been excruciatingly painful.

Brown said she used to speak with her mother every day, and the fear of the unknown has caused her so much “anger, heartache, and worry.”

“It’s been really hard trying to juggle a job and put on a smile and act like nothing’s wrong when there’s so much wrong,” she said.

Brown described her last conversation with her mother on August 17, the night before she was reported missing.

During that phone call, Aguilar sounded upbeat and happy, Brown said.

Aguilar was excited about her oldest daughter’s upcoming wedding in September, and the pair discussed Brown’s future wedding plans as well, Brown added.

Immediately following her disappearance, the Sheriff’s Office shared the information with the local newspaper, but did not put out a public release through its official channels, nor send the information to other news outlets like WIS.

On Friday, the Sheriff’s Office provided written answers to some questions, but an investigator familiar with the case was not made available for an on-camera interview.

The department did not provide any specifics about who reported the “unconfirmed report of a possible sighting,” when this happened and where.

Family members, however, say they fear Aguilar is gone.

“She would’ve come back by now, or at least called somebody,” Brown said.

Sarah Shipman, Aguilar’s sister, agrees, and said she does not believe that her sibling would vanish without her belongings, and miss important family events.

There was a law enforcement presence at Aguilar’s last known location, the place she was staying with her ex-boyfriend on Fourwind Road, throughout the morning on Friday.

The Sheriff’s Office said they could not explain why so they do not “jeopardize the case.”

“I wish that they would’ve done a lot more than what they did in the beginning,” Brown said.

Brown implored the community to come forward with information, regardless of how inconsequential it may seem.

“If they see anything, they think they see anything, if they hear anything, that we just want to know, we just want to get an idea, a lead, anything so we could bring her home, alive or not,” she said.

Neighbors tell WIS that their statements were taken for the first time on Friday.

The Sheriff’s Office declined to answer questions about whether there is a suspect or person of interest in the case, saying they “cannot comment on particulars of an investigation.”

The public is asked to contact the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office with tips, leads or information.

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A tree stump still sits in front of a church in Holly Hill, the scene of a huge downed tree during storm winds. On Sunday church members gather to give thanks.

HOLLY HILL, S.C. — When a large tree fell in front of the Holly Hill Methodist Church during strong winds, the Rev. John Elmore wasn't sure if Sunday's church service would go on; however, with the community's help, the church is fully functional and giving back to others.

A song of praise and thanksgiving was sung inside Holly Hill United Methodist Church on Sunday. The view is a stark difference from the one on Thursday after Tropical Storm Idalia ripped through the area. Elmore said he was cleaning up some flooding inside the church when his week changed instantly.

"My wife actually heard something. She said, 'What was that?' I said, 'I don't know, come on, let's move some chairs.' When we walked outside, the mayor and city workers were here and the tree was laying across the street," Elmore said. "We got it to where they could use a tractor, and of course, they pushed it and blocked about two-thirds of the front of the church."

A News19 crew was in Holly Hill Thursday to see the tree completely turned over in the street, with church members using chainsaws to break it down.

On Sunday, no tree remained in front of the church, and the road was open to normal traffic. The Rev. Elmore said the trials of the storm were a key part of the message of his sermon.

"Some of the illustrations that we used in the sermon were tied to the tree and tied to the storm because we all had lived it," he said. "And so, we can speak into that reality of the scriptures and how they relate to us."

A small crowd gathered inside for the church on Sunday. According to Elmore, many helped get the church operating that day. He said that, in the coming week, his church will have the opportunity to help others in worse situations through the Methodist church's emergency response team.

"We have 10 to 12 trailers that are fully stocked to do tarping, muck-outs from flooding homes, [and] tree removal equipment," he said. "We've received an invitation to go to Ray City, Georgia."

Elmore said he's seen God work through people locally and nationally during the storm, giving more opportunities to spread the gospel.

"It's always people trying to help us in the time of storms, and we should always be willing to be that," he said. "Because when we do, people get to see our love for other people, and I think the scripture is always about loving other people."