Daniel Prince
Apr 26, 2023
Project has been years in the planning
The Union and Jonesville Regional Wastewater project will finally get off the ground thanks to a round of grant funding by the Rural Infrastructure Authority. The city and county jointly have been applying for grants to extend industrial sewer to the Trakas Industrial site on Highway 18 and up 176 into Jonesville for several years, but they never could secure the funding for the expensive project. The total price tag for the project was listed last year as around $9.7 million. The Rural Infrastructure Authority announced Monday that it was awarding a total of $1.369 billion in grant funding to communities across the state through the South Carolina Infrastructure Investment Program, or SCIIP. They awarded the sewer project a total of $8,868,000. In addition, the Rural Infrastructure Authority awarded an additional $500,000 in state grant funds to the project, as well. City and county officials have touted this project over the last several years as a game-changer for the county that will open up the entire northern corridor of the county to industrial development. We will hear from City Administrator Joe Nichols and Union County Supervisor Phillip Russell in future newscasts to get their reactions to the grant awards.
Two other projects in the county also received money from the SCIIP program. The City of Union received a grant of $2,673,125 for the Cherokee Sewer Rehabilitation project, which will go toward work on the trunk line serving portions of Foster Street, Horseshoe Circle, most of Cherokee Estates, and feeding to the Beltline.
Also, the county and the Meansville-Riley Road Water Company received a grant of $9,840,365 for the upgrade and replacement of the Highway 49 East water line. In all, $21,881,490 in grant money is flowing into Union County for these infrastructure upgrades.