With a fully equipped kitchen, three laundry machines and private bedrooms, the new Wilbanks EMS-Fire station has all the amenities emergency staff could need.

That’s not what excited County Fire Chief Steve Holmes during the station’s grand opening Thursday, however. This station is about to be one of the county’s busiest. Built at 1610 Highway 72/221, it’s nestled between two fire districts that each get about 1,900 calls each year.

“That station is going to be within five miles of 75 percent of my calls, and that’s a hard figure to imagine being true as big as Greenwood County is,” Holmes said.

The Wilbanks station is the new home for the Medic One ambulance unit as well as a fire engine. It’s centralized location should shave five minutes off response times to medical calls in the area, said EMS Director Derek Oliver.

“This station actually fills a very vital role in the county and community when you’re talking about response times and you’re looking at both EMS and the fire side,” he said. “We did build it with the future in mind. It is able to mirror what this side of the building looks like on the opposite side, so that in the event we have to increase staffing, we can build off that end of the building.”

The bay is large enough to house two EMS and fire units each in its bay, although it only holds one of each right now. The bay features a laundry area, and inside the station there’s a kitchen, restroom and multiple private bedrooms, as well as office space.

The staff that will work that station isn’t likely to spend a lot of downtime there, however.

“Young firefighters love to answer calls, and this is going to be a busy station,” Holmes said. “The thing I like most about this station myself, it’s the first fire station in the county that has a fire sprinkler system in the station. As a proponent of fire safety, I’m all the time encouraging — or making people, by code — put a sprinkler system in.”

The station is in County Councilwoman Melissa Spencer’s district, but she wasn’t able to attend the grand opening because of illness. Council Chairman Chuck Moates said the Wilbanks station was paid for using county operating funds, and joins the six stations built using Capital Project Sales Tax funds. These include the refurbished Medic 30 EMS station, which had a fire station bay built and connected to it, making the Wilbanks station the county’s second joint EMS-fire station.

Moates said its location makes it a prime spot for the firefighters to assist with any calls they’re needed for within city limits, as well. With each of the new stations built and being built, Holmes said by early next year 99% of homes and businesses in Greenwood County will be within five mils of a station — a metric required by the Insurance Services Office, which rates fire services for insurance purposes.

“This station represents yet another step in improving coordination and collaboration between the city of Greenwood and the Greenwood County Fire Service,” Moates said. “I hope and pray that one day we can see a unified county fire service for all of Greenwood County.”

State Rep. Anne Parks said the station represents a progressive step forward for Greenwood, and Councilwoman Edith Childs said former Councilman Gonza Bryant wanted a fire station there. Though he’s no longer on council, she said the project came through in the end.

State Rep. John McCravy said the station saves on people’s insurance rates and helps with economic development because investing companies will know Greenwood invests in its safety infrastructure.

“But more than all that, this is going to save lives for many years to come,” McCravy said. “It’s a great building, these are great trucks, but the real fire stations are the people.”

Originally Published by Index-Journal on: Oct 29, 2021

 By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/greenwood-county-officials-open-wilbanks-ems-fire-station/article_53147cce-74bb-5465-8958-acab0844bd61.html

With Greenwood’s future on their minds, the local legislative delegation and city and county government officials sat down for lunch Friday and a discussion of the challenges and opportunities facing Greenwood County.

The Greenwood SC Chamber of Commerce hosted the meeting, called a legislative luncheon, at Harris Baptist Church’s social hall. Chamber President and CEO Barbara Ann Heegan said she was honored to host the elected officials, heads of local law enforcement, CPW representatives and officials from major local stakeholders and chamber partners.

The panel of guests set up to speak included county, city and state officials. Heegan asked them all a series of questions fielded from Chamber members about their priorities and plans for Greenwood’s future.

A clear priority across all levels of government was expanding broadband internet services throughout the county. State Sen. Billy Garrett said federal and state funds are on their way to pay for internet infrastructure.

“I think that broadband right now is something we all need to be working on,” he said. “Most importantly, it’s something we need to be doing for our students.”

State Rep. Anne Parks agreed, and said as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, classrooms aren’t equipped to allow for social distancing. Quality broadband service for all students is essential for providing virtual education, she said.

“Our children are our most precious commodity, and with the virus continuing they need to be in class,” she said.

County Council Chairman Chuck Moates said Greenwood suffered a great loss with the death of the councilman Steve Brown. Still, the work initiated under his tenure will go on, including Capital Project Sales Tax projects, the expansion of the county’s fire service plan and the Lake Greenwood Master Plan.

“Even though his leadership will be missed, the work will continue,” he said.

Public safety has been a clear priority for the city, said Mayor Brandon Smith. License plate reading cameras have made it easier for law enforcement to find offenders, and he praised Police Chief T.J. Chaudoin’s approach to policing.

City Manager Julie Wilkie said the city is hoping to use federal American Recovery Plan Act funds to hire on six additional police officers for the department’s Crime Suppression Unit. This team spends time in neighborhoods building relationships and trying to halt crime at its source by connecting with and providing resources to their community.

“They don’t answer 911 calls, they are a proactive unit,” she said. “We live in a wonderful place. We just have to show people that there’s more to crime than these 15 ‘bad guys’ shooting back and forth,” Wilkie said.

Across the board, everyone agreed infrastructure investments are needed — funds are set to be allocated to broadband internet infrastructure, roads and bridges. Many of these funds will come from one-time federal programs, said state Sen. Mike Gambrell. South Carolina has $2.5 billion from those funds, but Gambrell joked his requests alone were up to $3.5 billion.

Gambrell serves on the state Senate Finance Committee.

“Last year we were fortunate to have more funds than normal, but if you remember last year that was really a two-year budget,” he said.

Because these are one-time funds, Gambrell said governments have to be cautious not to fund recurring costs with these dollars unless they have a revenue stream to maintain the cost moving forward. State Rep. John McCravy said it’s unclear whether the federal government plans to follow up this wave of funds with another, and he’d like to see dollars go toward Lander University and Piedmont Technical College, the Greenwood Pathway House and infrastructure projects.

State Rep. Stewart Jones said the money needs to go to local governments, who will know best how to spend them. Still, he cautioned against this flow of federal dollars, saying people will pay for them in increased costs of goods and services. Parks agreed, saying while broadband and infrastructure are well agreed-upon projects, the state can’t tell local governments where to spend their portion of these funds.

On matters of economic development, Wilkie said Greenwood is working with the development cooperative Greenwood Together and looking at expanding housing options in the city. This year’s festivals were successes, she said, and they’ll continue to play a major role in Greenwood’s economy.

“I think the Festival of Discovery and Festival of Flowers are huge hits in our community, and we’ve seen how we can safely return to events as we come out of this, I hope,” she said.

Moates said for the county, economic development is not a synonym for industrial recruitment. While enticing industry is a part of it, the county’s model is more holistic. It includes providing public transportation, bringing in housing development and ensuring a high quality of life for residents.

“We had six wins — six different companies expand or come to Greenwood, which totaled about $238 million,” said County Manager Toby Chappell.

Greenwood’s partnership with McCormick Area Transit to provide busing services was an effort to ensure people had transportation options for getting to work. It was funded through a $150,000 match grant with the state Department of Transportation, and recently expanded to include more of the county and more locations it will take travelers.

Greenwood County is about halfway through with fund collections for the 2016 Capital Project Sales Tax, and 14 of its 27 projects have been completed, Chappell said. Next year, much of the funds are going toward building up the Wilbanks Sports Complex, located at the site of the former civic center.

“I think we’re in a tremendous position here in Greenwood,” Garrett said.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Oct 15, 2021

By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/greenwoods-future-a-lunchtime-topic/article_86d2c866-8a0c-518c-aade-c498774cf6f2.html

Plan for the worst, hope for the best — the first half is part of George McKinney’s job in Greenwood County.

As emergency management coordinator, McKinney has worked alongside government officials, local organizations and private business owners to update the goals and strategies of the county’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.

The plan was developed to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s regulations and guidance to help reduce the human and economic costs of natural disasters. Planning like this involves assessing areas most at risk, analyzing their vulnerabilities, developing mitigation strategies and implementing a schedule for the county and its municipalities.

“For every dollar you spend on mitigation, you save four on the back-end,” McKinney said. “You can’t mitigate everything at one time, so we go through the process of identifying our goals.”

The 59-page mitigation plan is available online at bit.ly/3ERiyv7, and was recently updated from the previous 2018 draft. McKinney said he hopes to get feedback from the community and receive FEMA’s approval on the plan by the end of December. The county will host a public meeting Oct. 29 to discuss the plan and any recommendations for change, but the location and time have not been set yet as officials monitor COVID-19 case numbers and adapt for public safety.

For information or to share feedback on the mitigation plan, call McKinney at 864-942-8553 or email him at gmckinney@grenwoodsc.gov.

“There’s over 70,000 people here, and they see things we don’t see,” McKinney said. “We want to make sure we are getting those and including that in our plans.”

Some of the changes include an increase in the hazardous materials threat the county faces. McKinney said it partially arose because of past transportation of hazardous materials through the county and the probability of small events that could pose a risk.

The historic flooding that hit South Carolina in fall 2015 played into the updated plan, he said, and the county has seen an increase in flooding in low-lying areas.

“Over the years, we’ve continued to have impacts, with roads and bridges being topped and having to be closed,” he said.

Potential loss estimates in the event of a disaster increased because Greenwood has grown — loss estimates increase as more people move into the area, he said, and officials see estimates rise nearly every year.

Part of planning is identifying critical facilities and figuring out how to make them less vulnerable. Schools are vulnerable to tornados, so McKinney said the county can look at requiring certain construction materials or techniques for any new building to reduce the threat tornados pose.

A large part of prevention is community education, so McKinney said the county provides weather radios and smoke detectors through grant funding. An upcoming capital project sales tax project will involve studying the watershed of several creeks that have flooded repeatedly over the years, and efforts to mitigate flooding such as digging drainage trenches or building retention ponds.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Sep 28, 2021

 By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/greenwood-county-updates-hazard-mitigation-plans/article_f116a6b4-96d6-5cee-b229-df2491dfcd51.html

MONDAY

ABBEVILLE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD OF TRUSTEES

TIME: 5 p.m.

LOCATION: District board room

AGENDA: Discussion action item — bond resolution

GREENWOOD CITY COUNCIL

LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS MEETING

TIME: 5 p.m.

LOCATION: 520 Monument St.

AGENDA: Consider executive session for the following: a. Discussion regarding the development of security personnel or devices b. Discussion regarding the performance review of city manager. Public appearance: 1. Recognize Jenny Boulware, Main Street South Carolina, for a presentation of National Main Street Accreditation to Uptown Greenwood Development Corporation and 2021 Master Merchant Award to Laura Bachinski, owner of Main & Maxwell. 2. Recognize Mrs. Helen Nazzaro representing bringing Wraths Across America. 3. Recognize Mr. Freddy Adams, resident of South Hospital Street. Proclamation: 1. Recognize Parker Egbert for his participation in the 16th Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. Unfinished business: 1. Consider Ordinance number 21-024 Amending the city of Greenwood’s official ordinance number 10-004 concerning automatic changeable copy boards for educational uses in the PDD zoning district created by the ordinance (second reading). 2. Consider ordinance number 21-025 amending ordinance number 03-010, zoning ordinance, chapter 6, supplemental regulations, section 6.3.10.3, concerning electronic signs in the IP and OP zoning district for educational uses (second reading). 3. Consider ordinance number 21-026 amending the city of Greenwood’s official zoning map (ordinance number 04-020) by rezoning approximately 1.08 acres of land located at 1408 and 1410 Cambridge Ave. from R3 (medium density residential) to GC (general commercial) (second reading). New business: 1. Consider reappointment of Lillian Thomas to the Greenwood Housing Authority Board of Directors. 2. Consider ordinance number 21-027 amending ordinance number 03-010, zoning ordinance, chapter 5, design and performance standards, section 5.6.4(B), concerning sidewalk requirements for innovative development incentives (first reading).

TOWN OF DUE WEST COUNCIL

TIME: 6 p.m.

LOCATION: 103 Main St.

AGENDA: Legislation: Ordinance number 04-2021, First reading — An ordinance of the town of Due West, S.C. to add section 32-78 “Sewer deposits” and attached exhibit A, to chapter 32 “Utilities,” article III. “Rates and fees,” of the code of ordinances, which by reference becomes a part of this article and code of ordinances. Reports: A. Mayor’s report B. Town administrator C. Attorney John Andrew Bishop D. Fire E. Police F. Utilities Announcements: 1. Town Hall will be closed for Labor Day on Sept. 6, 2021 2. Upcoming general election for three council seats will be held on Nov. 2, 2021. Books closed on noon Aug. 16, 2021. 3. ASC’s on-demand online courses consist of six sessions. FOr more information and to gain access to the free training sessions, visit www.masc.sc (keywords: planning training). 4. Regional advocacy meeting will be at 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2021 at The Arts Center in Greenwood. Registration information to be posted when available.

GREENWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT 50

TIME: 6 p.m.

LOCATION: 400 Glenwood St.

AGENDA: Information items — District update (Steve Glenn), COVID update (Dr. Matt Logan), board recognition (Ken Cobb). Financial update (Rodney Smith). Executive Session, personnel recommendations and vacancies. Action items: A. Budget amendment (Rodney Smith) B. Personnel recommendations and vacancies (Christi Louden).

GREENWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT 51

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

TIME: 6 p.m.

LOCATION: Ware Shoals Community Library

AGENDA: Athletic Director’s Update — Coach Johnston; Health and Safety Report — Mr. Cox; Title IV — Dr. Crockett; Superintendent’s Update — Dr. Sprouse (ARP — ESSER III Plan); Action Items: Annual Appointments, District’s Attorney (Recommendation: Duff, Freeman, Lyons, LLC), Ex-Officio Secretary (Recommendation: Brenda Mattison), Energy / Safety Team (Board Member), Russell Technology Center Advisory Board (Board Member); Finance Review

TUESDAY

GREENWOOD COUNTY COUNCIL

TIME: 4 p.m.

LOCATION: Greenwood County Library

AGENDA: Executive session. Public comment. New business: A. Resolution 2021-19 to transfer of funds to Capital Projects Sales Tax Fund for the Promised Land walking trail — Josh Skinner, CPST coordinator. B. Consideration of the appointment of special tax district commissioners for the following subdivisions: Beech Lake — Johnny Holtzclaw, district seven; Rock Creek — Matthew Clary, district six; Belle Meade — T. Stewart McDonald, district six. C. Consideration to authorize county manager to sign amended investment advisory agreements with Greenwood Capital — Steffanie Dorn, County treasurer. D. Update from the County treasurer’s office. E. Resolution 2021-20 to consider budget amendment for partial expenditure of American Rescue Plan Act funds — Steffanie Dorn. F. First readings: 1. Ordinance 2021-20 to approve the request by Lost Lure special tax district to dissolve — Steffanie Dorn. 2. Ordinance 2021-21 to amend the Greenwood County zoning ordinance as and if amended, so that one parcel of land totaling approximately 28.1 acres, owned by Beattie Development located at 421 Sagewood Road, Greenwood changes of zoning classifications from R-1 (single family residential) to R-2 (single family residential) — Phil Lindler, planning director. District reports, manager’s report, attorney’s report. Executive session if needed.

MCCORMICK COUNTY COUNCIL

TIME: 6 p.m.

LOCATION: 610 South Mine St., McCormick

AGENDA: Speakers: 1. Rufus Chamberlain and Joe Greene 2. Doug Chalifour, Blueway Festival 3. Clay Antonakos 4. Rita Smith 5. Allen Dean 6. Larry and Francis Lewis 7. Patti Yarbrough 8. Mike Payne 9. Donald Putnam 10. Dale Metts 11. Tracy Middlebrooks 12. Billy Bass 13. Amy Gay 14. Joey Harris 15. David and Julie Thacker 16. Jessical Delaigle 17. John van Haastrecht Public hearing: Ordinance 20-10, an ordinance to increase building inspection fees. Decision items: 1. Ordinance 20-10: an ordinance to increase building inspection fees. Council to consider third reading. 2. Ordinance 21-06: An ordinance abolishing the Modoc Special Tax District for fire protection pursuant to South Carolina Code section 4-9-30(5)(e). Council to consider second reading. 3. Resolution 02-21: Honoring the Rev. Sara Covin Juengst. Council to consider passing resolution 02-21. 4. Council to consider authorizing the administrator to renew easement number DACW21-1-21-0076 with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. 5. Council to consider authorizing the administrator to sign memorandum of understanding with South Carolina Women’s Leadership Network (Matchboard), free of charge from Nov. 1,2021-Oct. 31, 2022. 6. Council to consider authorizing administrator to approve Modoc Special Tax District for fire protection invoices FY 2020/2021 for allowable expenses until further notice. 7. Council to consider donating $500 to the 2021 Western Blue Way Festival from the council special projects account. Information: 1. Letter from the S.C. Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office.

WEDNESDAY

SALUDA TOWN COUNCIL

TIME: 6 p.m.

LOCATION: 100 South Jefferson St., Saluda

AGENDA: Budget for 2022. Priorities and goals for 2022.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Aug 14, 2021

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/community/public-meetings/public-meetings/article_1f495a8e-7b15-5739-aea3-18535ef2d9a9.html

There is plenty of good news worthy of applause, accolades, attaboys — attapersons, if you would prefer — and thumbs pointing skyward.

Let’s jump right in, shall we?

It’s perhaps counterintuitive to get giddy over a tax. OK, giddy might be a stretch, but seeing as how we were in support of the Capital Project Sales Tax when it was first introduced in Greenwood County voters we were glad to learn that past quarter’s haul was a record-setter, which means funding for more of the countywide projects on the list.

On tap to be financed with the latest revenue take are the county’s fire master plan phase three and the Lake Greenwood Master Plan phase two. It also includes funds for the Promised Land walking track, restrooms at Cokesbury College and renovations at the old Brewer Recreation Center.

And remember, while we all contributed to the projects with our in-county purchases, people living outside of Greenwood County are helping pay the tabs.

And then there’s Lander University.

Enrollment’s up, state dollars have been earmarked to build a new state-of-the-art nursing facility to train an up-and-coming new crop of nurses.

The university’s footprint continues to grow with the purchase of the long-vacant former Bank of America building off Main Street in Uptown and the soon-to-be-completed renovation of the former American Legion Post 20 building across the street from Greenwood Country Club.

The former Legion Hall will become a nursing simulation lab while the former bank building will include office space and multipurpose event space on the first floor designed to bring about more interaction between Lander and the community.

Changes are not just physical. Lander will also start offering a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Arts in teaching visual art K-12, plus offering bachelor’s degrees in entrepreneurship, cybersecurity and data science.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jul 23, 2021

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/opinion/editorials/our-view-on-really-good-news/article_8f652338-2494-56ac-958a-0691a3352e6c.html