DI News History - October 26, 2017
TEN YEARS AGO – Enhancements to Smythe Park lake!
In the October 25, 2007 issue of The Daniel Island News, we featured articles about our popular island lake in Smythe Park. About 12,000 tiny aquatic critters, bluegills and shellcrackers, were added to the 12-acre lake as part of a series of enhancements to the picturesque park that has become a popular gathering place for Daniel Island residents.
“Smythe Park was designed from the beginning to be one of the main recreational focal points for the south end of the island,” said Julie Dombrowski, communications director for The Daniel Island Company. “The idea is to encourage people to fish there after the spring.”
Other Smythe Park enhancements included finishing a path that would circumnavigate the whole lake, the addition of formal entrances at the park’s two eastern corners, lighting of the oak trees, and completing the landscaping that surrounds the water. New picnic areas were also in the works at the time. In addition, a floating dock located off an island within the lake was ready to be used for launching kayaks and canoes. Developers finished up all improvements and landscaping by the end of that year.
FIVE YEARS AGO – Not all in favor of school bond referendum
In the October 25, 2012 issue of The Daniel Island News, it was reported in an article that there was controversy surrounding an upcoming $198 million school bond referendum in Berkeley County. Daniel Island resident Joshua Whitley, an attorney, voiced at the time that he wanted to see new schools built in Berkeley County, and renovations made to facilities that were not up to par, but he didn’t believe a $198 million bond referendum was the best way to achieve those results. Whitley, who had organized the Berkeley Committee for Sustainable Education in opposition of the referendum, called into question several of the district’s actions regarding the initiative, including what was being financed, whether or not the district was providing citizens with accurate information about enrollment growth, and how much the referendum would ultimately cost taxpayers.
On the district’s side, Rodney Thompson, then acting superintendent, indicated that total school enrollment was up by 953 students that school year, compared to 2011-2012, and had increased by “approximately 900” students the year before. District officials contended at the time they were open and upfront with the public in every way. In the end, voters ultimately passed the referendum and several new schools, including three on the Cainhoy Peninsula, have been built as a result. Thompson resigned his post in the summer of 2015 and later plead guilty to one count of using public funds, property and time to influence the outcome of an election.