Shady Rest and Richardson Park residents express frustrations at city forum

BENNETTSVILLE—When the Lake Paul Wallace dam was breached on May 6, Richardson Park and Shady Rest neighborhoods were evacuated as a precaution in case of extensive flooding. Power was turned off in the neighborhoods and an emergency shelter was opened at Marlboro County High School.

Two weeks later, many residents of the area are frustrated by the years of flooding issues they’ve been dealing with. The city of Bennettsville hosted a community forum to give an update on the next steps for the area, but some residents left the meeting feeling as if their time had been wasted.

Edgar Covington said he left the meeting with more questions than answers. “A lot more questions,” he said. “Somebody needs to step up.”

City Administrator William Simon Jr., explained how three agencies — the DHEC, S.C. Department of Natural resources and the Lake Paul Wallace authority have control over the lake. SCDNR owns the lake, DHEC is in charge of inspecting the lake and the lake authority, which was created by state representatives control the activities that occur at the lake.

Engineers will be meeting with the city and other agencies to begin evaluations to repair the spillway and fix the issues— but the process could take up to two years, Simon said. That brought a rustling of disappointment from the crowd.

Covington said the meeting was important, but the residents in attendance didn’t care to hear about money.

Part of the meeting was dedicated to the discussion of how the city allocated American Rescue Plan Act funds. A media report from a North Carolina agency had alleged that the city had millions of dollars missing.

The city provided a detailed report showing the projects that the monies are assigned to. But Covington said that wasn’t helping the people in at the meeting.

“We didn’t want to know about that, we wanted to know about the floods,” he said. “And we want to know why that lake can’t just be closed down. That is a man made lake, it wasn’t for us. I don’t go out there to get bit by an alligator. They’re walking in our yards now. We shut down that lake and that water has to be going somewhere now. I want to know where it’s going.”

Simon said he understands the frustration that people feel. “These people have been living in these homes and experiencing the matters for several years. We wouldn’t dare discount that. We think the meeting went well and I’ll tell you why, we’re communicating directly with our citizens. And anytime you’re feeding information directly from the agency to our citizens, I think it’s a great thing. Anytime you don’t do that all they can do is speculate and go off things that they hear in other areas.”

And though Simon understands that citizens may not agree with what they hear from the city, it’s important to provide families with factual information.

Thomas Bennett, a resident who was evacuated on May 6, felt as if the meeting was a waste of time. He said he was looking to hear more ideas about the city’s plans to fix the problem of flooding in Shady Rest and Richardson Park, rather than hearing about the city’s financial status.

“What do they have planned for us during hurricane season? Every time we flood it’s always early in the morning,” he said. “We have all of these committees and there’s no one from either neighborhood on them. We’re the ones that are suffering. We’re waking up in water.”

Bennett said during Hurricane Florence in 2018, it was 3 a.m. when first responders knocked on his door. He wants to know what efforts are being made for getting notifications to the neighborhoods sooner.

At the meeting, the city introduced a text alert system called TextMyGov. Citizens with cell phones can text BENNETTSVILLE to 91896 and opt in to updates from the city. Many at the meeting questioned how this service helps seniors who may not have mobile devices.