Greenwood County approves new fire station, PIO position
Greenwood County is looking for help telling its stories.
In a 4-2 vote Tuesday night, Greenwood County Council approved funding a public information officer position. The job description wasn’t laid out at the meeting, but Councilman Robbie Templeton said he was “thrilled” to cast his vote in favor of funding the role.
“I just think we have such a great story to tell in Greenwood, and we tend to be reactive rather than proactive with that,” he said. “We have so many great things to tell, and if we can find the right person to tell our story, it will help with workforce and economic development.”
Public information officers are typically responsible for handling public communication. Templeton said with County Manager Toby Chappell and attorney Carson Penney busy handling administrative and legal matters, a PIO would be free to pursue gathering and sharing the sides of Greenwood not always seen.
The position will be funded through a combination of $12,947 in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, $2,158 from an Emergency Management Performance Grant and $43,155 from the Economic Development department in the county’s general fund. Councilwoman Edith Childs and Councilman Mark Allison voted against creating the job. Childs said she didn’t think it was necessary, and Allison said it was hard to justify creating a new role when costs seem to be rising.
Council also approved the contract to build its sixth and final fire station of the Capital Project Sales Tax. This station will be on Morgan Road in Hodges, across from Walt’s Shoals Junction Station. CPST Coordinator Josh Skinner said the station would add 103 new structures to the county fire service area.
The Gordon Group was the low bidder for the station’s construction contract at $403,266, Skinner said. The two-bay station will include a bathroom, office and a storage and training room. Despite being similar to the other stations built, Skinner said this one is the most expensive yet because of rising construction costs.
“We were kind of expecting it based on what we had heard,” Skinner said. “It’s the same exact station as the other two base stations.”
With this sixth station, Skinner said 99.6% of the homes in Greenwood County will be within five miles of a fire station.
In her update to council, County Treasurer Steffanie Dorn said the county’s auditors completed their field work after three weeks in her office. With no questions from the auditors so far, she said she hopes to present the audit at the Dec. 21 council meeting.
Dorn said so far this fiscal year Greenwood County has spent about 29% of its general fund budget, an improvement from its expected spending of about 33%. Local accommodations tax collections are still beneath pre-COVID-19 levels, but she said they’ve seen an increase over 2020.
So far, Greenwood County has collected 46.6% of its allowed CPST funds despite being about 53% through with the project period.
“We expect our collections will continue to grow,” Dorn said. “The difference is an expected difference.”
Dorn said she still thinks the county will collect 95% to 99% of its expected CPST revenues, barring any economic disaster.
During district reports, Councilman Theo Lane shared some news from his employer, Duke Energy. As district manager for government and community relations at Duke, Lane said he worked with staff at the company to secure $90,000 to donate to various efforts in Greenwood.
Lane said $25,000 is going to the county fire and EMS services and $10,000 to provide free travel vouchers as needed for Greenwood’s public transportation through McCormick Area Transit. Another $10,000 each is going to the Boys and Girls Club of the Lakelands, the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce, Lander University’s nursing program and Piedmont Technical College’s MODELS Academy. He said $5,000 each will go to the Food Bank of Greenwood, Pathway House and the Lander student food bank.
“Around Thanksgiving, we always focus on food insecurity,” Lane said. “I thank council, but it really got me thinking in this regard about three months ago.”
Council Chairman Chuck Moates thanked Lane for his work securing these donations.
“Christmas has come early,” he said.
In other news:
Council unanimously approved dissolving the Magnolia Place Special Tax District. One resident spoke in favor of dissolving the district and doing away with the special tax.
Council had first reading on an ordinance to continue the use of a fire support uniform service charge on parcels in the county’s unincorporated areas.
Pam Willis was appointed a commissioner of the Grace Court Townhomes special tax district.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Nov 17, 2021
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com
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