Commercial Electrician in Summerville, SC

Summerville designer Gray Benko and her family are on a quest to bring color and life back to historic spaces in the Charleston area. It’s a feat they are accomplishing head-on in a new TV series called “Happy to be Home with the Benkos.”

In six episodes, Gray Benko teams up with her craftsman husband, Mike Benko, and her father, Joe “Grumpy” Highsmith, to renovate portions of six historic Charleston-area homes.

Each episode features a different house that dates back at least 100 years. The idea is to add color, texture and fun to each one while breaking away from the “stereotypical farmhouse concept that has been so popular for so long,” said Mike Benko.

Most of the renovated spaces are ones the homeowners were unhappy with. They were either looking for a change, or the space needed some sort of structural or construction work.

The crew works to salvage the integrity of each home’s history while adding the flair of Gray Benko’s designs. Once complete, most of the spaces are revived from floor to ceiling with brand new construction, vibrant colors and patterns, antique furniture and fixtures from local shops.

Each member of the trio has their own rule in the renovations. Gray, who is also a photographer, is responsible for the designs. Highsmith, a general contractor from Hilton Head Island, oversees the construction. And Gray describes her husband, Mike, as a renaissance man who’s “like a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy.” He completes a personalized, special project for each homeowner.

Gray, a Lowcountry native, said her family’s passion for this work likely stems from living in historic homes for so many years. They’ve renovated their own homes, “and that’s kind of how this whole things started,” she said.

“I did our houses, people saw it on my Instagram, loved it and then started asking me for help with their house,” she said. “And then it all turned into this whole TV show thing, and here we are.”

“Happy to be Home with the Benkos” airs on the Magnolia Network, which features original shows curated by Chip and Joanna Gaines, the stars of the hit home renovation TV series “Fixer Upper” and owners of the Magnolia home brand. The show can be streamed on HBO Max and Discovery+, too.

Since the Benkos utilize local businesses to help with the renovations, many Lowcountry faces are seen on the show, too, like Charleston upholsterer Kelvin Moultrie of Carolina Auto Trim, seamstress Elizabeth Wheaton of Wheaton Whaley Home and designer Sally Bennet of Mirth Studio, among other South Carolinians.

The Benkos are currently taking on new projects in the Summerville and Charleston areas. Homes that are built in the 1920s or earlier are preferred.

“We are looking for people who are not afraid of color, obviously, and who have renovations that they already want to do,” Gray said.

Those who are interested should send an email to info.graybenko@gmail.com.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism recently granted nearly $34,000 to bring more people into Summerville.

The town, acknowledged for its charm, history and its people, wants to make sure everyone gets to experience some of the Summerville way.

“It feels good to be able to show off our hometown to people who can come visit and vacation here,” Town of Summerville Public Information Officer Chris Makowski said. “And to really see the beauty and the people that are here.”

Summerville sees a record number of visitors, sitting at around 250,000 every year and housing more than 50,000 permanent residents.

The town hopes to boost the statewide economy by encouraging tourism and development in the area.

The community shared their thoughts on the funding and what they hope to see come out of it.

One family, planning to move to the area in just a few weeks, was ecstatic.

“As far as bringing tourists in, I do feel like it’s worth it,” future Summerville homeowner Whitney Mourlam said. “It’s just a gem, and it’s worth coming inland a little bit to check it out.”

“It’s a great location, like a little way from the touristy feel but you can really blend in and feel like you’re a local right away,” future Summerville homeowner Mark Mourlam said. “We want to grow our family down here and live everything Summerville has to offer.”

One long-term resident said he enjoys seeing his town thrive, but worries about what it could mean for traffic, infrastructure and the cost of living.

“I’ve watched the growth, and it’s terrific how fast and how large this place has gotten,” Summerville Homeowner John Calvert said. “But you can only build so many apartments and so many subdivisions. We’re running out of space!”

There are no specific projects or plans for the grant.

The Town of Summerville says they want to allocate the money toward marketing campaigns through social media, magazines and the local visitor center, to name a few.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE — Jacob Limehouse, 26, and his wife do not want children and had already discussed Jacob getting a vasectomy. Then the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in late June 2022, allowing states like South Carolina to seek to ban or severely restrict access to abortion, and that sealed it for them.

“That definitely added to the desire to get it done,” Limehouse said.

After doing what he felt was a lot of research, much of which downplayed the risk from the procedure, he went in for a vasectomy on Jan. 9. What followed was a trip to the emergency room and a week at Summerville Medical Center battling severe complications that have left him with lingering pain and extensive medical bills.

Limehouse wasn’t alone in his newfound interest in vasectomies. Immediately after the Dobbs decision by the Supreme Court, the search for information on vasectomies hit a five-year high on Google Trends, according an article in the journal Fertility and Sterility. In many states, particularly those which banned or severely restricted abortion in the wake of the decision, interest in vasectomies took off, according to an analysis by The Post and Courier.

In Michigan, where a temporary injunction blocked a 1931 law that banned abortion except to save the life of a mother, inquiries about vasectomies at one clinic increased 225 percent compared to the year before, according to a study in the Journal of Urology. Another study at 10 academic medical centers spread across the country found an overall 10.9 percent increase in vasectomy interest among patients compared to a slight decrease the year before. The rates varied across the centers and were higher in states where bans or restrictions were enacted, the authors found.

In Ohio, where a ban on abortions after six weeks is on hold, the number of inquiries at one large clinic increased 22.4 percent in the months after the decision compared to the year before, according to a study in the International Journal of Impotence Research. More of those men, like Limehouse, tended to be younger and childless compared to those who sought vasectomies the year before, the Ohio study found, which lines up with the experience at other clinics.

Not every clinic is seeing an increase.

“We’re seeing roughly the same number of vasectomy consultations,” said Dr. Tracy J. Tipton of Urology Associates of Charleston. Because the practice sets aside a certain number of slots for vasectomies, the wait to get in has increased over the last several years, particularly during the pandemic, but is back down to about four to six months, he said, what it has been for the last couple of years.

While weighing the impact of the abortion ruling and surge of interest in vasectomies, there were also concerns about how the procedure was being portrayed on social media, according to a Perspective in the Journal of Urology, which is published by the 23,000-member American Urological Association. Particularly troubling were suggestions that vasectomies were a “solution” to contraception concerns and that the procedure was easily reversible, the authors noted. But reversal procedures are “technically challenging and expensive” surgeries that insurance companies are not likely to cover, the Perspective found.

Tipton of Urology Associates in Charleston said reversals are rarely covered by insurance and not likely to work if many years have passed, so he counsels his patients to consider a vasectomy as permanent.

“I try to tell them, yes, technically this is reversible but you should think about this like an irreversible procedure,” he said. “If you are on the fence, maybe we need to think about this a little bit more.”

‘It could happen to you’

The risks involved might also be downplayed on social media. When Limehouse did his research, he found the complications were portrayed as “super minor,” mainly swelling, bleeding at the surgery site and some persistent pain that could last a month. He got similar counseling about complications at the clinic.

On the afternoon he headed in for the procedure, “I wasn’t nervous at all,” Limehouse said. “I had read so many positive stories. I couldn’t find a negative story, to be honest.”

The whole thing took maybe 20 minutes under local anesthesia, he said, then he rested for five minutes before heading home.

But almost immediately, there was a lot more swelling than he expected, even when applying ice packs. Then he got nauseous, then dizzy, then tried to make it to the bathroom.

“The next thing I know, my wife was standing over me, trying to wake me up,” Limehouse said. It was the first time in his life he had ever fainted.

His wife, Marissa Christine Wiggins, called her parents for advice. When the nausea continued and Limehouse passed out again, they took him to the ER at Summerville Medical Center. Limehouse said he was only semiconscious then but Marissa told him he was extremely pale. He was rushed back for tests and a CT scan and eventually admitted for syncope, fainting or passing out, after his blood pressure dropped significantly when he stood up, according to Limehouse’s medical records.

The CT scan found a suspected blood clot just under 3 inches in diameter above his left testicle and swelling throughout the area but nothing else remarkable, the records showed. When he was again administered a test for syncope by standing for several seconds, “I passed out in the nurse’s arms,” Limehouse said.

His hemoglobin level, which measures the red blood cells that carry oxygen, and hematocrit level, which looks at the percentage of red blood cells, appeared normal at first but began dropping. A few days later, when his hemoglobin dropped to about half the normal range, nurse Ellen Patrick flagged it, records show. The urologist who performed the vasectomy, whom Limehouse does not want named, came in to perform surgery and removed the blood clot. But Limehouse said neither he nor his family was told about the clot.

Summerville Medical Center did not provide a relevant response for comment or make the nurses, whom Limehouse credits for getting the care he needed, available for comment.

Months later, he is left with some pain and a load of medical bills from his stay. He started a GoFundMe to seek help.

Still, “I don’t regret getting the procedure,” Limehouse said. “I’m happy I did it. But I regret the little research I did.”

Overall, the rate for serious complications for vasectomies is low, with infections and hematomas or lumps from blood clots, in the 2-4 percent range, according the World Journal of Men’s Health. But it is something to keep in mind, Limehouse said.

“What’s the old saying? It could happen to you,” he said.

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) - The Town of Summerville announced the approval of the Maple Street Extension project on Monday.

Years after the project was introduced in 2014, Blythe Development Company was awarded the bid to begin construction on the project, which will improve in total a mile and a half of roads throughout Summerville.

The town acquired 90 pieces of property in order to make the project possible with the first of four major projects of the extension being Maple Street, which will be widened from two lanes to four to reduce traffic and improve safety in the area.

The project does not just include Maple Street, but intersection improvements at US-78 adding turn lanes on all approaches, installation of a traffic signal at West Richardson Avenue and new alignment from West Richardson to Parsons Road where it will transition from three lanes to two lanes at the Parsons Road connection.

Summerville Director of Public Works and Town Engineer Russ Cornette has been with the project since the beginning. He says he’s really happy to see the project get approved for construction.

“I think this is the largest purchase order the town of Summerville has ever approved,” Cornette says. “The towns and cities the size of Summerville don’t take on large projects like this; this is kind of a unique situation.”

The cost of the project, including construction engineering and inspection services, will be funded by the Town of Summerville’s Mid-Town Tax Increment Finance District funds up to $11 million Dorchester County Sales Tax Referendum Funds will fund the remaining cost.

“The project purpose is to reduce traffic congestion and improve safety and that whole corridor anytime you have that many cars, taking up that little space that’s there, you’re going to have accidents and we’ve seen that the past four years,” Cornette says. “That extra lanes extra capacity will help congestion and get people moving a little more freely than they are now.”

Construction on the Maple Street Extension project starts in April or May of 2023 with the goal of completion being in the spring of 2025.

“The Maple Street extension project will help alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety,” says Summerville Mayor Ricky Waring. “I am grateful for the support from our agency partners and the Dorchester County voters who supported the transportation sales tax referendum that helped fund this project.”

For further details on the Maple Street Extension project, visit project page on the Town of Summerville’s website.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

SUMMERVILLE — Dorchester County Council is requesting the town remove the county’s human services building from the Midtown Tax Incremental Finance (TIF) district.

If released from the TIF district, the county will broker a fee-in-lieu of tax agreement with the prospective owner of the property at 500 N. Main Street: the owner won’t have to pay property taxes, but will instead pay a flat rate to the county for a period of time.

The Midtown TIF is one of two TIF districts in Summerville, where new property tax revenues generated by development in the specified area are used to fund development-related projects in the same area, like road projects and school improvements.

Some projects included in the Midtown TIF are Dorchester District Two school improvements and the Dorchester County Coroner’s Office.

The County Council voted 6-0 at a May 22 meeting — with Councilwoman Rita May Ranck absent — to formally request the town council to release the property from the TIF district.

County Council Chair Todd Friddle said the Midtown TIF did not take any redevelopment at 500 N. Main St. into account, and most of the $25 million that’s bonded in the TIF has already been set aside for other projects throughout the district. In other words, it won’t help with the redevelopment of the property.

Friddle said if the county building isn’t removed from the TIF district, the new owner would have to be on more of a pay-as-you-go basis without the capacity to issue bonds; essentially, they wouldn’t have to front funding for the project.

He added a FILOT instead of a TIF would give the county and developer more flexibility. If the developer pays a flat fee instead of property taxes, Friddle said the extra money would be able to go toward preserving the façade of the building, workforce housing, and more.

The decision comes after several Summerville residents have raised concerns to the County Council about the redevelopment of the property. Formerly the Dorchester County Hospital from 1937-1975, many people want the building — which is located in the town’s Historic District — to be preserved.

Veterans have also spoken up at County Council meetings, questioning what would be the fate of the Veterans Memorial on the site if the county sells the property.

Response from Summerville

Christopher Makowski, Summerville’s public information officer, said the town hasn’t received an official request from Dorchester County yet. Once they do, he will add the issue to an agenda for discussion during an upcoming town council meeting.

But some town council members already told The Post and Courier they are at least considering the county’s proposal.

Scott Slatton, director of advocacy and communications at the Municipal Association of South Carolina, said cities and towns across the state don’t have a formal role in the fee-in-lieu of tax agreement process.

“As happens frequently, a county will issue a fee-in-lieu of tax or sign a fee-in-lieu of tax agreement with a business or developer,” Slatton said. “The city or town could make an objection, just like anybody else in the public, but there’s no statutory requirement that the city or town agree to that fee-in-lieu of tax agreement.”

Town Councilman Bill McIntosh, a vocal opponent of any redevelopment in Summerville’s Historic District, said he doesn’t oppose the property being removed from the TIF district, but is concerned the FILOT may seal the fate of the old hospital.

“The overall objective of county council is to be able to borrow (against anticipated revenues coming from the redevelopment) and spend as much money as possible. But in order to reach that objective, they need to be able to tear down the hospital building and put up higher density buildings,” McIntosh said.

But not all council members agree. Town Councilmen Terry Jenkins, Bob Jackson and Russ Touchberry want more details and are waiting to hear recommendations from the town’s financial advisor and bond attorney before concluding on whether the town should release 500 N. Main St. from the TIF district. They said that it looks to be a good decision.

“We may be able to benefit from the fee-in-lieu more than what we would gain out of the TIF,” Jackson said.

Town Councilman Aaron Brown expressed support for the county council’s efforts to remove the property from the TIF district.

“I think it puts them in a better position to do some of the things they need to accomplish in the county,” Brown said. “If they’re able to do some things to preserve the concerns of the residents, like the Veterans Memorial and the façade of the hospital, it might work out.”

Town Councilwoman Kima Garten-Schmidt did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publication.