Leaders share state of city, county
The fiery twang of Mayor Welborn Adams’ impassioned speech was followed by the steady, undisguised rhetoric of County Council Chairman Steve Brown.
Each sharing in the excitement and dedication to one cause: Pursuing Greenwood’s potential.
While Adams expressed his pleasure Friday with the many projects underway and the many to follow during the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce’s State of the City and County Address, Brown shared in the opportunities present with a full plate of duties, requests and, at times, demands.
“I am convinced today that many other governmental jurisdictions would give anything if their county government had our full plate,” Brown said.
Brown took the opportunity to officially announce the county’s intent to immediately pursue placing a capital sales tax referendum on the 2016 ballot and named five possible projects, including the implementation of the rural fire master plan, a speculative building for industrial and manufacturing recruitment, an advanced manufacturing training facility at Piedmont Technical College, Civic Center recreation complex revitalization and county road improvements.
“Isn’t it great to live in a community where such good things are happening and our future looks bright? However, with most opportunities, it requires some type of revenue stream to make things happen. Because of state laws, County Council does not have the capacity to generate the needed revenue to fund projects that require millions of dollars of capital,” Brown said.
Next steps include the appointment of a committee to vet projects that would be included on the referendum question per statutory requirements.
Jerry Timmons, director of the advocacy committee for the chamber, shared that the chamber has organized public forums to gauge the public and professional interest in certain projects and will report soon to council.
Adams reported on Uptown’s biggest project, the Uptown Market, that is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year, including the “biggest splash pad in the state next year.”
Other projects included the city’s continued streetscape upgrades at Riley and Magnolia avenues and the possibility of updating the arcades that provide second-story access to Uptown’s buildings along Main Street. Adams referred to the arcades as a unifying aspect of the Uptown and are in need of love.
“We’re in the midst of a real construction boom in Uptown,” said Adams, standing in front of a large screen showing the prowess of three of the city center’s largest buildings — the old textile building at 332 Main St. turning into luxury apartments and retail space, the first-floor retail space of the Greenwood Building and the Inn on the Square, which recently acquired longtime and former Montague’s Restaurant executive chef David Epps.
More construction projects included the demolition of Mineral Court Apartments to make room for a sprawling Habitat for Humanity community along with Auburn Place subdivision offering new residential in city limits. Wal-Mart and Save-A-Lot represented the new business side, bringing in more jobs and more tax dollars.
Adams also shared positive perspective on the two utilities, Greenwood Metropolitan District and Commissioners of Public Works, who have continued sewer and water line rehabilitation and replacement throughout the city.
The mayor also was grateful for the work of public safety with the fire department receiving new equipment and carrying an ISO rating of two, which influences homeowners insurance rates based on an area’s fire coverage.
The police department has seen a 68.6 percent reduction in violent crime, while not one firearm-related homicide occurred in 2014, according to Adams.
“With everything that’s happened across America in other places, the thing I’m probably most proud of with Chief (Gerald) Brooks is that we did not have one case reported with excessive use of force, not one single case,” said Adams, who insisted on applause for the police department’s good conduct.
Brown harped on the economic development the county has seen and will continue to see, hinting at a new industry announcement soon while sharing news that the county is pursuing the construction of a speculative building in partnership with Greenwood Partnership Alliance at the recently-acquired North Greenwood Industrial Park.
He added that the development of the Piedmont Tech advanced manufacturing training facility will contribute in keeping the workforce trained during that economic growth.
The county’s fire services will see vast improvements during the next eight years from a new master plan that will help replace aging equipment and stations with movement towards a countywide service.
The Greenwood County Airport has seen $3.1 million in improvements to runways with 95 percent of funds coming from the state or federal governments and hosted another successful Aviation Expo this year.
On the money side, County Council was able to pass a balanced budget with no millage increase after many hours of deliberations over the course of four months. The county also enjoyed being debt-free for a second year after about $10 million worth of debt was retired last year.
The Lake Greenwood Master Plan will be a focus for the future and is being developed by Orion Planning Group with input from Preserve Lake Greenwood and Connect Lake Greenwood, a joint initiative of Greenwood, Laurens, Newberry and Ninety Six chambers of commerce to boost local businesses and economic development around the lake.
“The master plan is a must if we decide to have this valuable asset to enjoy for our citizens now and the years to come,” Brown said. “The plan will include natural resources and environment, tourism and quality of life, land use, economic development, infrastructure and land use elements.”
Brown also had a message for neighboring Laurens County, whose water and sewer commission is working to secure a permit to allow them to withdraw a daily maximum of 6 million gallons of raw water from Lake Greenwood.
“We have asked to meet with the Laurens County Council to discuss this request. We cannot ask the citizens of Greenwood to continue to cover the expense of maintaining Lake Greenwood while Laurens County and its water and sewer commission withdraw raw water that will be treated and used to compete directly with us on residential, commercial and industrial development,” Brown said to applause.
Adams emphatically praised the efforts of the city and county in working together on a number of projects and in a variety of departments.
“We do this better than anyone else in the state. Nowhere else in the state will you see a county and city work together in as many areas as you see in Greenwood,” Adams said. “If you’re paying taxes, you are getting great value out of the city and county, because they are providing services at an unheard of level in this state.”
Both parties continually expressed gratitude for the hard work of the city and county councils and staffs.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Jul 25, 2015
By COLIN RIDDLE criddle@indexjournal.com
Article Link: https://www.indexjournal.com/news/leaders-share-state-of-city-county/article_d2c693d1-8615-5b1d-9118-2ec3e5644c06.html