Greenwood County unveils tribute to Steve Brown in library
For the first time since his death, Steve Brown’s face appeared at a Greenwood County Council meeting.
At Tuesday’s meeting, county Veterans Affairs Director Rosalind Burke presented to Brown’s family a display featuring a picture of Brown, his medals earned while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps and other memorabilia commending his service to his country.
Sgt. Brown served for four years as a Marine, trained in radar-jamming technology and serving as a combat aircrewman in three combat missions.
“Sgt. Brown’s actions are a credit to the United States Marine Corps, and to the United States of America,” Burke said. “Mr. Brown was a very dedicated advocate to the veterans affairs in Greenwood, to the veteran Greenwood community and to his United States military, which he so proudly served.”
Brown’s wife, Beverly, and children, Gavin and Meagan, joined Burke in revealing the display. Council chairperson Chuck Moates thanked Burke and Brown’s family for attending the meeting and gave praise to those responsible for putting a tribute to Brown in the room council regularly meets.
“He served for decades as the Greenwood city manager and for, I believe, eight-plus years as a member and chairman of this Greenwood County Council,” Moates said. “His service to Greenwood County and his dedication to serving the citizens of Greenwood County was, without a doubt, exemplary and commendable.”
Council revisited their previous vote on amending the Wingert Road Planned Development District to allow for C&C Metal Recycling to have a pull-apart salvage yard on its property. A previous vote to approve the change failed because of a tied vote while two council members were absent, but council voted at its last meeting to re-visit their vote.
Council approved the change in a 4-2 vote, with Councilwoman Edith Childs and Moates voting against. The change allows C&C to move forward with its goals for a pull-apart operation. This is intended to salvage parts from cars intended for scrap, and to sell those parts at a reduced rate for people looking for used car components.
Council also approved a countywide change that will allow for accessory dwelling units, sometimes known as “granny flats.” The unanimous vote amended the county’s zoning ordinance to allow property owners with an existing dwelling to build one ADU on a property that’s at least five acres. These ADUs can only be up to 1,000 square feet.
Local internet company WCFiber entered a 20-year fee-in-lieu-of-tax agreement in exchange for a capital investment in Greenwood County of at least $19 million. Council unanimously approved the tax incentive agreement, with an amendment to count about $7 million of existing broadband infrastructure work the company has installed this year.
The agreement has WCFiber set to install broadband infrastructure in five areas, encompassing a total of about 2,530 addresses that can receive internet service. The company is set to install this infrastructure from 2022 to 2026, but if the “take rate” — the percent of subscribers relative to the parcels the service lines pass — for any of the five areas is less than 50%, the company is not obligated to continue building in subsequent areas, according to the agreement.
Capital Project Sales Tax Coordinator Josh Skinner gave council a quarterly update on the county’s projects. This quarter saw $2,929,724 in tax revenue for the CPST, with about $41 million collected to date. The county has spent less than it has taken in so far, but with several projects about to begin, he said expenditures will match revenues.
Bids went out Sept. 21 for one of the largest sets of projects, park improvements. Skinner said officials are working with the lowest bidder to reduce the over-budget cost of the projects, which will bring upgrades to the Grace Street, Foundry and Ninety Six parks next, along with bike trails and other improvements.
The county is finalizing a contract for the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historic Preservation Site’s auditorium, and bids went out Tuesday on a boating facility on Lake Greenwood’s shores.
Next quarter’s revenue check is going toward upgrading area law enforcement’s records management systems, along with the second phase of county park improvements. This will include the Wilbanks Sports Complex, the former site of the Greenwood Civic Center.
Council members asked whether CPST tax revenues are on pace to meet the income goal of about $89 million by the end of the tax’s lifespan. County Treasurer Steffanie Dorn said if it comes up short, it might be by about 5%.
“The way numbers were coming in during the first part of this tax collection, I wasn’t sure we were going to make it,” she said.
Income hasn’t grown much following a dip from the coronavirus pandemic, but Dorn said retail experts expect spending to grow in the next quarter.
“So many of the projects, the costs have expanded,” Moates said.
Where price tags have increased, Dorn said the county has found ways to scale projects back or find other sources of funding to pay for the overage. The county is not pulling funds intended for future projects to pay for ones underway today, she said.
In other news:
County unanimously approved two boundary line adjustments for lakeside properties on Grand Harbor Boulevard and Cape Charles Court. The former received 0.03 acres of county property, while the latter received 0.04 acres.
The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office had delinquent invoices from Carolina Recording Systems, the company that provides recording services for 911 calls. Dorn said the state office of Revenue and Fiscal Affairs reimburses 80% of the cost for this service, and council approved spending $29,660.40 to pay Carolina Recording Systems.
The commissioners of the Magnolia Place Special Tax District requested to dissolve. Dorn said in asking residents their opinions, she learned many didn’t know they lived in a special tax district, or what that meant. The commissioners sought to dissolve over the $10 per lot fee the county introduced last year for special tax districts.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Nov 3, 2021
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com
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