Daniel Prince
County doesn't receive EDA grant for regional sewer project
At Tuesday’s Union County Council meeting, Supervisor Frank Hart gave his final report to council. In it, he said the effort toward building an Advanced Technology Center on campus at SCC-Union is currently stalled. He said an operational funding plan still needs to be worked out between Spartanburg Community College and the school district. With the county no longer pursuing a Capital Project Sales Tax this year, that also hurts the funding effort for that project.
For housing, the county is still working with the developer. There have been delays in getting plans completed and approved. The county has asked the developer for an update on the project.
The county received a blow toward its regional sewer project connecting the City of Union to Jonesville. The county was not awarded the requested amount from the Economic Development Administration. There are still grant funds available that could help with the project, including from the Power Team, though their commitment is contingent on running sewer to a particular economic development site. Hart said the city and county are looking at the possibility of breaking the project into phases, which would allow them to utilize grant funding as well as applying with the Rural Infrastructure Authority for American Rescue Plan Act funds to complete the project.
The report states that the county has abandoned a wireless solution for the Carlisle community, saying that Spectrum has a build-out plan that will cover Carlisle as part of their expansions in Union County. Originally, Carlisle was not part of Spectrum’s build-out plan and the county was looking to work with another vendor to bring wireless broadband to the area, but now it appears that Spectrum will include Carlisle in its expansion plan.
The phase 1 environmental study is done at the site of the former Sims High School and Jr. High School. Hart said the county notified the school district that it wants to extend their option on the property for another six months. Tourism Director Curtiss Hunter is working with the developer to firm up commitment for the project prior to the expiration of the option in November.
The county applied for funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission for the Buffalo Mill site redevelopment project. The grant application cleared review in Columbia and has been forwarded to DC for review.
The ordinance transferring City Park to the Union Laurens Commission on Higher Education has been completed and the deed is being prepared. The sale agreement includes a license agreement giving the county access and use of the basketball courts as well as use of fields when such use does not conflict with USC Union athletic programming.
We’ll have more from the meeting in tomorrow’s newscast.