Greenwood County OKs design work on projects

Design work can soon start on multiple county facilities after Greenwood County Council approved advancing three ongoing projects: the county recreation complex, a picnic shelter at a county boating facility and a new county administration building.

At their Tuesday meeting, the council members unanimously approved selecting J.D. Goodrum General Contractors as the designer and builder for the Greenwood County Recreation Complex. More than $9 million in Capital Project Sales Tax funds are going toward building and improving the former civic center site into a recreation complex, and another nearly $1 million for an accessible playground.

CPST Coordinator Josh Skinner said he’s waiting on a contract from J.D. Goodrum for approval, but asked council to approve them as designers, along with spending $36,600 on an aerial survey of the site so Goodrum can begin the design process.

Council also approved a 6×6 timber-frame picnic shelter, to be built by MAR Construction, at the Greenwood County Boating Facility. MAR is already responsible for putting in a ramp and parking lot beside the Highway 72/221 bridge into Laurens County, which will be the county boating facility.

On the horizon, the county will be getting a new administration building and seeing renovations to Park Plaza. On Monday though, Council approved a proposal from design group DP3 to design that new building and the renovations, for $239,500.

Council had to weigh approving a new five-year fire master plan, drafted by firefighter Paul Bagnoli in conjunction with the county’s Chiefs Advisory Committee. The plan lays out a timeline for hiring additional paid staff to work the recently constructed fire stations, as well as replacing outdated equipment, restructuring the service’s organization and administration, revamping training and bolstering funding.

“Obviously our objective was to provide the best level of emergency response for the people of Greenwood,” Bagnoli said.

Bagnoli said that realistically, Greenwood has about 70 “active” volunteers protecting 28,000 structures and parcels from fire. The county has two full-time firefighters on duty, along with four part-time workers during the day and two at night.

“There’s a lot of staff in this plan, I get it, but we need the resources and we need the people,” he said.

Council member Mark Allison voiced his concern that the impending economic situation looks bleak, and if there’s further downturn he doesn’t want council committed to an expansion it cannot afford. For similar reasons, council member Edith Childs said she could not support the plan, though both praised the work fire staff put into planning for the future.

The remainder of council voiced their support, and said there’s a need for a plan to provide a framework for how to expand the county fire service. The plan was adopted by a vote of 5-2, with Childs and Allison voting against it.

Council received a batch of good news from Economic Development Director James Bateman and Treasurer Steffanie Dorn. Bateman gave his first planned quarterly update, showing that since the county hired him to run economic development at the start of fiscal year 2021 the county has seen 10 projects announced bringing in more than $362 million in capital spending from companies.

In that time, those 10 projects are slated to bring in a total of 624 new jobs. The work Bateman, Billy Ray Morgan and Jamie Dowtin are doing, Bateman said, is attracting industries to Greenwood. Morgan is responsible for handling these inquiries from curious companies.

“We’re building a pipeline,” Bateman said. “In the two years of county economic development, we’ve had 69 requests for information.”

Along with the 69 potential investors asking for information about the county, he said there have been 37 visits from prospective investors, though some were repeat visits. Bateman laid out how Dowtin’s role as public information officer has expanded the county’s social media footprint, and resulted in more media attention.

Dorn put a smile a council members’ faces when she said that this past quarter saw less of a dip in CPST income than expected. Usually coming off the fourth quarter’s holiday boon, the first quarter of the following year sees a big dip in funds, she said. This unexpectedly high income in the past quarter has made her confident the county will meet 100% of its expected CPST collections.

Council approved moving funds so the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office can spend more than $23,000 from its budget to buy a new fingerprint machine. It also gave the county manager the authority to opt-in to a state program that Public Works Director Rob Russian said will likely cut the county’s E-waste processing costs.

In other business:

Council tabled a vote on a boundary line agreement for a lakeside property at 110 Dunn Lane in the hopes the owner can come up with a plan that will not cut off neighbors’ access to what is currently publicly owned land.

Childs read two proclamations, one recognizing Command Master Chief Anthony Sanders’ retirement from the U.S. Navy and another noting the 130-year celebration of Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministry’s service.

The county extended its contract with McCormick Area Transit to provide transportation services in Greenwood, with a clause that could cost the county more money if gas prices rise again.

Council recognized its employees of the past two quarters alongside recent retirees.

Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jul 20, 2022

 By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com

Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/greenwood-county-oks-design-work-on-projects/article_0fcde5a6-296e-576b-8b88-5d75eaf6e8b0.html