Has the city ‘forgotten’ this Columbia neighborhood 25 years after annexation?
When Columbia resident Bertha Jones moved to her house on Truman Street in the late 1960s, a small stream ran behind her property. With each passing year, the stream in her Belvedere neighborhood got wider and wider until eventually Jones was left with a massive ditch that threatened to consume her whole backyard.
In 1996, after residents in the north Columbia neighborhood won a hard fought battle to get their homes incorporated into the city, Jones hoped the ditch and other infrastructural issues in the area would finally be addressed.
But after 25 years and countless promises from elected officials, residents say few improvements have been made.
“It just feels like Belvedere is a forgotten neighborhood,” Jones said.
Officials from the city and Richland County said they recently formed a partnership to address the problems caused by the ditch but no one was certain how long it would take to repair.
Diane Wiley, president of the Belvedere Community Organization, estimates that at least 150 properties in the area are being impacted by the ditch. When it rains, those homeowners often face severe flooding. Garbage washes up into their backyards. Some residents have even complained about infestations of snakes and wild animals.
Longtime resident Carter Chaplin said for years, neighbors struggled to pinpoint which government entity was responsible. “I’ve had every politician in the area come out to my house promising to help,” he said “But when it comes time to do something, they all want to pass the buck onto someone else.”
The Richland 1 School District owns the land where the ditch is located, according to spokesperson Karen York. “The district is aware of the issues and is working with the City of Columbia to address the concerns,” she said.
Clint Shealy, the assistant city manager of Columbia Water, said the city and the county agreed about 18 months ago to work together on the repairs and split the cost. The city recently hired a contractor to study the problem and come up with a solution.
He said that will take about eight months. Another six months will be required to solicit bids and award a contract for construction.
According to the city’s capital improvement plan, the project is expected to cost between $2 million and $5 million. So far the city has set aside $709,203 for the project, according to the 2020-2021 budget.
Paul Livingston, who represents Belvedere in Richland County Council, was unable to give more details about the county’s role in this partnership, but said that he believed the problem “was being taken care of.”
The ditch is not the only issue Wiley has been highlighting. On a recent tour through the neighborhood she pointed out crumbling roads, a vacant lot filled with debris, and the lack of signage and speed bumps at busy intersections where school buses stop to pick up kids.
“Belvedere is an old infrastructure community,” said Ed McDowell, who represents the area in Columbia City Council. “We want to see the neighborhood get taken care of and it’s important to us, but it needs to be done in a methodical way. These things take time.”
Wiley said she believes she and her neighbors have waited long enough. She questioned why the city has repeatedly invested in areas like Bull Street and Five Points while neglecting Belvedere.
“We always get the worst and the last of everything,” she said. “We’re not going to give up fighting, but we are tired.”
