Quality-of-life issues dominated a joint meeting of the Greenwood city and county councils this week, with officials trying to find common ground on areas including parks and recreation management, litter control and landfill disposal costs.

Members from both councils said meeting together early in the year was a top priority, with plans from the session helping to influence policy and budget decisions in 2019.

“We think we have a lot of common interests that we need to be talking about. We both serve the same people,” County Council chairman Steve Brown said.

Parks and recreation

With the city’s increasing parks footprint — including plans for a 13-acre site along Foundry Road — delineating oversight over the county’s recreation portfolio was a key point for municipal officials.

That venture will be paid for in part using $1.75 million through the 2016 capital project sales tax.

“There’s a lot of hands in the pot that I think could use some cleaning up. As we continue to look at how the capital projects sales tax is going to bring expansion and updating to parks, it feels like a good time to try and clean it up,” City Manager Julie Wilkie said. “We’re going to have to identify who owns what, who takes care of what and how these costs line up.”

In Ninety Six and Ware Shoals, the county offers active recreation opportunities such organized sports programs, while local entities are responsible for day-to-day maintenance, Brown said.

In what a recurring theme, county leaders were clear that offering special treatment to one municipality government entity means setting a precedent for others.

“What we do for one, we have to do for the other, and I think (County Manager) Toby Chappell and Julie have a good starting point. We believe our role is in the active recreation. Asking us to take on every park in this county, we don’t have the money, we don’t have the staff. So we would ask, meet us halfway,” Brown said.

Litter abatement

County officials have already committed $50,000 worth of hospitality tax funds to fight a stubborn litter problem that has been identified as a hindrance for economic development.

How that money will be deployed remains to be seen, but the city could help by pursuing state grants to pay for the operational costs of an abatement program, County Council members said.

In exchange, the county could pick up the costs of personnel to run it, Chappell said.

“I would like some kind of assurance that there is operational money before we hire somebody,” Chappell said.

Mayor Brandon Smith, who made city beautification a cornerstone of his campaign, said he stands ready to partner with the county to address the issue.

“We’re not unique in terms of this problem, but we want to be unique in finding a way to fix it,” he said.

County Councilman Mark Allison and City Councilwoman Niki Hutto — both real estate agents — suggested private sector buy-in by having Wilkie reach out business with large parking lots about keeping them trash-free.

Allison has been an outspoken critic of those who continue to litter.

“We definitely have a serious problem with trash in our county, and it’s throughout the city and county,” he said.

Capping landfill fees

One of the most expensive pieces of the county’s inventory, the landfill’s revenue stream is set up as an enterprise fund, which allows for fee collections that can be used to finance its growth.

But as the city moves forward with neighborhood reclamation projects by taking down vacant and blighted homes, the cost of moving all that inventory to the county’s landfill adds up.

“We know if County Council was willing to cut us a break where we could put it in to bids at lesser costs, it would allow us to do more with less,” Wilkie said.

County leaders said they’re willing to compromise, but asked for detailed figures about what kind of cap the city wants.

“To me, it would be some kind of refund or credit, and I would think it’s going to have to be a maximum amount each year because we’d have to know that amount to do our budget. What we do for you, we’d have to do for others,” Brown said.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 15, 2019

 By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/city-county-leaders-work-toward-common-ground-in-joint-meeting/article_c9459009-3160-5195-841f-9e30b43facc7.html

Greenwood County will be a hotbed of activity for youth baseball in 2019, with a pair of organizations hosting tournaments over 12 weekends that will bring thousands of people to the area.

Last week, Greenwood Emerald Baseball Club president Matt Howard told the County Council that Concord, North Carolina-based Top Gun Sports and the United States Specialty Sports Association have agreed to bring league play on weekends starting March 2.

In all, the tournaments will bring in about 2,100 people each – that’s 25,200 in all.

“Some will be making a day trip and will be frequenting our restaurants, and some will require overnight lodging,” Howard said. “We typically have not been a destination for these, but there’s opportunity here.”

Howard credited county parks and recreation director Tripp May with helping to secure some of the tournaments, and making sure the Wilbanks complex is kept in well enough condition to allow for the added traffic.

The USSSA is a breeding ground for top baseball talent. Alumni include Boston Red Sox pitcher David Price, who played a key role in leading the team to a World Series title over the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.

Bryce Harper, the National League’s 2015 MVP, also played USSSA ball, as did 2014 World Series MVP Madison Bumgarner.

Enhancing recreational assets through the county was identified by the council as a top priority in 2019, and facilities including the Wilbanks complex, J.C. Fox “Boozer” site in Ninety Six and other locations are in line to get a combined $10.7 million worth of upgrades through the voter-approved 2016 capital projects sales tax levy.

Howard said the attendance that will accompany the tournaments would be bolstered by small investments at the Wilbanks facility, including functioning water fountains and freshly painted structures.

County Councilman Theo Lane said he was happy at the prospect of Greenwood becoming a go-to destination for youth sports.

“That’s 25,000 people you’ve already booked,” he said.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on: Jan 22, 2019

By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/sports/greenwood-county-to-be-hotbed-for-youth-baseball-in-19/article_0a14ad4f-0c28-5824-b28e-2aa4c783cbbc.html

A signature economic development project in northern Greenwood County is almost ready to accommodate tenants, as work to bring $1 million of infrastructure to the site is winding down.

In August, County Council voted to allocate $1.1 million for development of the North Greenwood Industrial Park on the U.S. Highway 25 North corridor, with the money going toward construction and engineering of an access road, sewer lines and signage.

The sign and utility lines have been installed, and county leaders said grading on the road is nearly complete.

It’s part of a larger vision for the property, which is also receiving $8.4 million from the capital projects sales tax approved by voters in November. Officials plan to develop a 31.7-acre parcel offering ready-made pads to businesses. Plans also call for the construction of a 100,000-square-foot spec building that can be presented to potential investors.

Putting nearly $10 million into a single piece of land is a significant investment, County Manager Toby Chappell said, but one that officials believe is necessary to ensure the region can stay competitive.

“We need product to sell. We can find companies, give tax incentives and all those things, but if they don’t have a place to build their facility and operate, the two are obviously interrelated,” he said. “Two, it is on a four-lane highway already, so logistically it’s very advantageous to us to put it there.”

The park is near major industries such as Colgate-Palmolive, Diana Pet Foods and UTC Aerospace Systems.

The non-sales tax funds are coming from three places: $600,000 from a state Department of Commerce Grant, $125,000 from Duke Energy’s site readiness program and $395,000 from the county.

Greenwood-based Satterfield Construction Co. was awarded the $866,540 construction contract, and Greenwood Commissioners of Public Works is receiving $55,000.

“If we’re looking to cluster industry together, this is the next logical cluster. And while the number is a lot of money, $725,000 of that is not coming from the county. I think when you look at all of those things together, now was the right time for us to make this move,” Chappell said.

According to a posting on the state Department of Commerce’s website, the property’s per-acre price is $7,500. It’s 29 miles from Interstate 385, 125 miles from Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and 52 miles from the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport. The nearest port is in Charleston – 183 miles away.

With on-site sewer handled by Ware Shoals, electricity is provided by Duke Energy, natural gas by Greenwood’s Commissioners of Public Works and telecommunications by CenturyLink.

Chappell said the industrial park is ready to host tenants “immediately.”

“I think that the Partnership Alliance is actively recruiting businesses to go into the park,” Chappell said. “I think a lot of things would be ideal in there. If you’re looking at heavy industrial, Ware Shoals has wastewater capacity available, I think being on a four-lane highway 28 miles from an interstate would be good for distribution, so it’s open to pretty much any kind of client.”

Greenwood Partnership Alliance CEO Heather Simmons Jones said having the park in the county’s portfolio has already begun to generate leads.

“We have had specific interests in the North Greenwood Industrial Park as it becomes more “pad ready” that prospects say would not have otherwise been there. Primarily, companies that we talk to are looking to be operational quickly and the stage of readiness that our park now sits in shaves months off the timeline for these prospective companies,” she said.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Dec 18, 2017

By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/north-greenwood-industrial-park-gearing-up-for-tenants/article_6f7bf08e-a02d-515d-b150-9c028e3265b2.html

 

If it were school, Abbeville city and county might be accused of cheating, taking answers from Greenwood city and county’s tests.

But in this case, we’d prefer to think of it as Abbeville government following Greenwood government’s lead in taking steps for its future.

In particular, note that following Greenwood County’s success in levying an additional penny in sales tax to fund a variety of capital projects, Abbeville County set about mirroring the methodology deployed by its neighbor. Come November, Abbeville County voters will decide whether to tack on a penny sales tax for its own list of projects.

Must-haves or wishes? That’s what the voters will decide, but the team appointed to explain the projects and field questions about them has done a commendable job. Voters will not be able to say they didn’t know what the tax is about or what it is intended to fund.

Abbeville County also saw the promise in Greenwood Promise, having established its own version of the program aimed at ensuring dollars are available for graduating high school students’ college tuition. As with Greenwood Promise, the Abbeville program will make funds available to all students graduating from private, public and home-school settings. Good move there as well.

And now, the City of Abbeville is poised to put before its voters a referendum that would let them decide whether restaurants can sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays. The two-pronged referendum, if approved, would simultaneously let voters decide whether beer and wine currently sold in retail outlets could also be sold on Sunday.

Several years ago, Greenwood County voters gave the go-ahead to allowing restaurants to serve adult beverages on Sundays. Come November, Greenwood County voters are most likely going to have the same opportunity as its Abbeville city neighbors, giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down to allow retailers to sell beer and wine on Sundays.

If anyone thought this a criticism of Greenwood’s good neighbors, that would be incorrect. Again, we think Abbeville — the city and county — are taking note of what is taking place around its borders and merely borrowing good ideas and mimicking good processes.

That’s not cheating; that’s borrowing from successful playbooks.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jul 15, 2018

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-nothing-wrong-with-copying-what-works/article_297ea3b7-dfc9-5ecf-8d40-9314ffbb98d6.htm

It’s a question city planners field more than almost any other: What’s being done to make Greenwood a friendlier place for cyclists and pedestrians?

“There is a surprisingly strong cycling community here in Greenwood. Behind sign permits and plat approvals, the most emails and phone calls I get are from cyclists asking what we are doing as far as bike lanes,” City/County Planner Josh Skinner said.

An ordinance working its way through the City Council seeks to provide an answer by requiring any new developments to include bike lanes and connect future sidewalks to the existing network.

Both policies are taken from a city-approved 2015 Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and an updated countywide comprehensive plan.

“The whole purpose of this ordinance would be to create a more interconnective city,” Skinner told the City Council at a Monday work session.

Local and statewide cycling groups helped provide input on the ordinance, Skinner said.

Creating new places to cycle and walk isn’t the only requirement under the policy. Developments with more than 12 parking spaces would have to install bike racks.

“While Greenwood currently lacks many on-road bicycle facilities, there are numerous assets and opportunities throughout the community that provide a strong base for facilitating a safe, accessible, and convenient bicycle network. Though Greenwood has a substantial network of existing sidewalks in the city center and in its traditional neighborhoods, gaps in pedestrian infrastructure and a lack of pedestrian intersection improvements limit overall connectivity and pedestrian safety and comfort,” the 2015 master plan concluded.

If adopted, the ordinance will partner with financing in place to enhance the city’s alternative transportation opportunities.

Of the $5.57 million allocated for various park and recreation projects through a voter-approved capital projects sales tax, $596,078 is earmarked to convert an abandoned railroad right-of-way from Mill Avenue through West Cambridge Park to Lander University’s Jeff May Complex into a bike path, connecting Lander to the Greenwood Mall.

Officials are also anticipating making improvements from Lander to Uptown Greenwood by paving a second right-of-way from Grace Street to Cambridge Avenue East.

Greenwood Parks and Trails Foundation President Billy Nicholson wrote in the application to the penny sales tax commission that an expanded trail system for pedestrians and cyclists could push the city into the minds of young families looking to relocate.

“Greenwood has the foundation and momentum to become a community where walking and bicycling are normal transportation and recreation choices,” he wrote. “Trails in other communities have been shown to be attractors for regional visitation.”

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Apr 7, 2018

 By ADAM BENSON abenson@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/city-paving-the-way-for-more-cycling-walking-opportunities/article_2c0ffe79-60d1-5704-8947-1cc8b376859c.html