Success! Sod laid in Barony Place II

March 3, 2021

The homeowner at 18 Barony Place Circle, in Barony Place II, will be delighted today, because sod was finally laid by the Columbia (City) Water Division.

The owner had reported a water leak in July 2020, and it took the Columbia Water Division a month to come out and fix it. They left the yard a mess and also left a mess in the street.

It took the involvement of recently-elected Richland County Councilman (District 8) Overture Walker to achieve this conclusion. His office contacted Richland County Administrator, which contacted the City, and an Assistant City Manager contacted the Water Division. The target date was last Friday, and that was missed. The Assistant City Manager jumped back on the Water Division, and work was completed today.

Many thanks to Overture Walker and his staff, and to the Richland County Government staff and the Columbia (City) Assistant Manager and his staff. And thanks to the Water Division for completing the work.

I lost track of the number of times in September, October and December that I contacted the Ombudsman and the Water Division. In November I asked the HOA office to help, and all they did was contact the Ombudsman. Early in February I asked the Board to help, and one board officer said they too would contact the Ombudsman.

The staff at the Ombudsman's office is always polite and desirous of being helpful, but they are like traffic cops. All they can do is "request" a department to do something. They can't make a department do anything.

It would have been nice, and certainly more helpful, if the HOA had actually done what I was doing; i.e., make waves and get action. The Neighborhood Representative for Barony Place should have noticed this problem in September or October and inquired whether the homeowner needed help.

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