Landscaper avoids contempt of court, says Richland 1 paid $2K for learning center work
A Columbia landscaping business that worked on Richland School District 1’s abandoned early learning center construction project said it was paid some $2,000 for water mitigation.
The owner of Blooming & Grooming Landscaping Services, now known as B&G Landscaping of South Carolina, discussed the work and payment during a court hearing in Richland County involving a lawsuit over flooding near the construction site. The plaintiff’s lawyer had said that Blooming & Grooming had not responded to subpoenas seeking documents related to its work on the project.
The lawsuit was filed against Richland 1 last July by homeowner Johna Wilkes after stormwater runoff from the district’s early learning center construction site rendered her home “unliveable.”
Her home, which is located in Lower Richland’s Creekside neighborhood, had never experienced such flooding before the district clear-cut the once-forested property for the $31 million early learning center. The center, which was put on hold indefinitely in January 2024, was envisioned as a state-of-the-art facility serving children as young as infants.
Legal missteps led to an investigation by the state Inspector General and $6 million in wasted taxpayer resources, according to state Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver. The district scrapped the project in March. The future of the partially-built center is unclear.
B & G Landscaping owner Mary Able appeared before Judge Jocelyn Newman Friday afternoon and reported that aside from an invoice from the district, there were no other written documents regarding the work her company did for Richland 1.
Able said the district asked her company to install sandbags in the easement between the district’s property and the adjacent residential property, which cost about $2,560. It was the only work the company did for the district at the learning center site, Able said.
She said she had emailed the single document to Chris Kenney, attorney for Wilkes, earlier this year. But she had misspelled his email address, Newman pointed out. The document was given to Kenney in court, and Newman told Able she may be asked in for a deposition for further questions.
Richland 1 spokeswoman Karen York confirmed Monday that the company performed water mitigation at the early learning center site in March 2024, about six weeks after Richland County issued a stop work order that halted the unpermitted construction.
York said Blooming & Grooming filled sandbags and placed them on the property on March 5 of last year in an effort to reduce stormwater runoff.
Kenney said that the parties are set to mediate the case in April, with a potential trial in May. A second, similar lawsuit was also filed by another Creekside neighborhood resident. It makes similar allegations involving stormwater damage.
B&G Landscaping of South Carolina is a longtime Richland 1 vendor with a troubled financial history. An investigation by The State found the company hadn’t had a county business license in over a decade and owed the state thousands of dollars in unemployment taxes.
