City unveils possible projects for capital sales tax
With the application process in full swing, the city rolled out some potential projects to be funded by a possible capital sales tax in the coming years.
City Manager Charlie Barrineau updated City Council on Monday with a collection of anticipated projects located in the city likely to be presented to the capital project sales commission, which was appointed by County Council and City Council, and ultimately residents of Greenwood County and its municipalities.
County Council Chairman Steve Brown announced the county’s intent in pursuing a 1-percent capital project sales tax, also known as a penny tax, in July during his State of the County Address and will likely start funding projects in 2018.
The county opened up the application process last week, accepting applications for capital projects to be funded by the tax if approved by County Council and the general public as a referendum on the November ballot.
Acceptable projects are outlined in state statute and the county plans on focusing on five major categories: economic development, infrastructure, parks and recreation, public safety and quality of life.
Barrineau said the city will focus on projects outside the city center.
“We have heard in the past that people feel Uptown gets a lot of love, so we’re focusing on projects outside the Uptown,” Barrineau said.
Parks and recreation
Barrineau said he is anticipating the Greater Greenwood Parks and Trails Foundation to submit one unified application for park, trail and greenspace projects countywide and focusing on three key parks in city limits, including Magnolia Park, Grace Street Park and a new park in South Greenwood.
Magnolia Park, one of the city’s oldest parks near Uptown, is in need of upgrades, while Grace Street Park, which is newer and includes a dog park, has been a recent focus for development.
Meetings have already been organized to establish a park in South Greenwood at Foundry Road, marking a first for the area with plans to work with the Greenwood Housing Authority.
Barrineau said plans have been developed for an about $2 million park on land owned by the housing authority near the old foundry.
City Council shared concerns with future funding for maintenance of parks and other capital projects coming from the tax, however, Barrineau said those details are likely to get worked out throughout the process.
“At this point, we are simply at the application level,” Barrineau said.
Councilman Kenn Wiltshire said the process will be a good opportunity to work closely with the county on any joint projects moving forward.
“This is probably the best way to work with the county,” Wiltshire said.
Councilwoman Niki Hutto said she would like to have the commitment of the parks foundation, the Greenwood County Parks Commission and the county on the parks projects, among others, since residents living outside city limits often enjoy facilities paid for and operated by the city.
Barrineau said bike and pedestrian pathways will likely be looked at by the parks and recreation committee as well, which were outlined in a recent pedestrian and bicycle master plan.
Public safety
Barrineau said the county is interested in upgrading the countywide public safety radio system to 800 megahertz, which would warrant an upgrade for the city as well in order to be on the same system.
Other projects in public safety could include upgrading the Greenwood Police Department and Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office records management system and constructing a joint law enforcement facility for police, fire and EMS.
Barrineau said the city could also include a new platform pumper fire truck to replace a 1973 model for about $1.2 million.
Infrastructure
Storm drainage issues and creek-stream restoration that would impact the public at large are the focus for the city with many issues being revealed after record levels of rainfall this fall and winter, causing flooding throughout the county, according to Barrineau.
Barrineau said the U.S. Geological Survey rain gauge at Sample Branch near the Kia car dealership showed more than 30 inches of rain from October to the end of the year, compared to less than 10 inches recorded during the same stretch last year.
Quality of life
Barrineau said the commission could include demolition of distressed structures for open space, which Sumter County successfully passed and strategically placed at the end of the projects list in order to use some funds to remove blighted properties.
The properties must be publicly owned in order to use tax funds and can be identified later if successfully passed by the popular vote.
Economic development
While the city did not offer any potential projects in economic development, Barrineau said the county and the Greenwood Partnership Alliance will likely submit some items.
Brown said during his State of the County Address the county will focus on the construction of a speculative building for industrial and manufacturing recruitment and an advanced manufacturing training facility at Piedmont Technical College, as well as implementation of the rural fire master plan, Civic Center recreation complex revitalization and county road improvements.
Each project application will be reviewed for accordance with state law and turned over to five committees to make recommendations to the capital project sales tax commission, which will draft the referendum question and project list for the ballot.
Applications can be downloaded on the county website at www.greenwoodsc.gov. A full text of the capital project sales tax state statute can also be found on the county website.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jan 4, 2016
By COLIN RIDDLE criddle@indexjournal.com
