Greenwood County Council sets yearly goals, gets CPST update
With a look ahead to what 2022 might have in store, Greenwood County Council spent part of its Tuesday meeting talking about their goals for the year.
“Each of these suggested goals are important enough to warrant an in-depth discussion and development of well-thought-out strategies in order for us to adequately address them,” said council chairperson Chuck Moates.
Council member Edith Childs said she wants to see county staff cross-trained on other employees’ responsibilities. She also wants to explore the idea of hiring a mental health specialist trained to aid first responders in de-escalating situations with people who may be in crisis.
The county could do better at getting information to people seeking help, said council member Mark Allison. He wanted to see an information desk at the courthouse that would contain details on how people can start a new business, or go about putting a dock in at their lakeside property, along with information on specific contacts for additional information.
Council member Melissa Spencer wanted to see council have a retreat in order to focus on connecting with one another over training sessions. From his recent time campaigning, council member Dayne Pruitt shared concerns he heard from constituents, including worries over the Lake Conestee Dam holding toxic sediment back that could flow into the Saluda River. He also said he wanted to see the county explore transitioning into a paid fire service to recruit more firefighters.
“I believe the fire service is infrastructure, in my opinion. I think it’s important,” he said. “The problem is our volunteers, some are aging out at some point and we’re not getting new ones.”
Council member Robbie Templeton wanted to focus on existing projects instead of racking up a wish list of new ones. Agreeing with Pruitt’s concerns about Lake Conestee, council member Theo Lane proposed organizing a meeting to hear from experts on the dam’s status. He also said he wants to see new facility space for county staff to help thin out the crowding of the courthouse.
Moates shared his interest in getting the state Department of Transportation to repair and repave some of the roads in Greenwood County, but he also set his sights to 2025.
“I don’t think it’s too soon to start thinking about our next Capital Project Sales Tax initiative,” he said. “Our success the last time we did this was built on the fact that we got out in front of it, planned it and executed our plans. That’s all I’m asking us to do now.”
Moates said the current capital projects underway have provided examples of the good the penny tax can do for Greenwood County and said council would be foolish not to invest its efforts in this revenue source. Josh Skinner, CPST coordinator, gave council a quarterly update on how the tax, its income and the projects are going.
To date, the CPST fund has collected $44,349,034.51, and Skinner said he’s hopeful the collections from December will show an increase in sales tax revenue. This quarter’s income check is being split between the upgrades being done to Grace Street, Foundry and the Ninety Six town parks. It’s also being used to pay off the new record management system for law enforcement, but the majority of the quarter’s income is going to the Greenwood recreation center being built at the Wilbanks Sports Complex — the former civic center site.
Skinner gave updates on the work underway to clear the old water treatment plant that will become part of Grace Street Park, as well as the work that has started on the new boat ramp near the bridge across Lake Greenwood on Highway 221.
The Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historical Site is being redesigned to meet the budget for the renovations there, and Skinner said Ware Shoals officials said they’re close to resolving a right-of-way issue to get their sewer line improvements underway. Waterline upgrades in Ninety Six should be done by mid-March, Skinner said, while work at the J.C. Fox Boozer complex in town has been going well.
Moates said these were all prime examples of why preparing for another capital projects tax campaign for 2025 is essential.
“Josh stood up here and gave us beautiful example after example after example of how that money has improved the quality of life and services in this county,” Moates said. “We are fools if we do not try to renew it and continue that kind of emphasis.”
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 2, 2022
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com
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