LANCASTER, S.C. — Lancaster County Council and county staff members met Jan. 31 for the first of two retreats to discuss ideas to move Lancaster County forward in the next several decades.
Officials held the retreat at the main Lancaster County Library and heard ideas from other county workers, lawyers and consulting groups on the best possible strategies for about eight hours.
“It’s an opportunity for the council and staff to talk about some of the issues coming before us in the next 12 months,” said Dennis Marstall, Lancaster County administrator.
The first meeting addressed various topics including fire services, transportation funding and strategies on how councilors can best represent their districts.
“It will help me think about the budget recommendation going forward and will also help us think about our service delivery,” Marstall said.
Road projects, fundingJeff Catoe, county public works director, presented a study of roads in Lancaster County, along with funding ideas for proposed projects.
The county has about 1,400 miles of publicly maintained roads, Catoe said, with 900 of those maintained by the state and 500 by the county.
Catoe said funding for county roads comes from multiple streams, including $9 million from the Capital Project Sales Tax 2 proviso, $4 million from Capital Project Sales Tax 3, $1.4 million from County Transportation Commission funds and $800,000 from road fees.
To help fund roads more efficiently in the future, Catoe said the county is looking at adding a transportation sales tax after watching it play out in other areas of the state, including Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester and Richland counties.
Lancaster County has several major road projects planned for the future, including the widening of U.S. 521 from S.C. 75 to the North Carolina state line for $150 million, making both Harrisburg and Barberville roads three-lane highways and intersection improvements on Henry Harris and Marvin roads.
Catoe said that all transportation projects take time and it will be critical to establish and utilize an efficient funding stream for them.
Based on the timetable, Catoe said the goal is to determine the next projects and their costs for councilors by April and have a potential first reading of the transportation sales tax ordinance with the initial ballot question by May 28.
The following goal is to have the ordinance approved by Aug. 1 to go to the Voter Registration Office, provide an educational campaign through October and have the transportation sales tax question on the November general election ballot.
Fire servicesLancaster County emergency director Darren Player addressed councilors on a proposed one-to-five-year plan that would provide additional fire services and firefighters.
The plan would supplement the volunteer-based structure with dedicated career staff assigned throughout the county, the addition of two new firefighter employees per year for the next five years with salaries of $44,545 each, expanding operating hours from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., investing $27 million for new engines and a $10 million centrally located countywide training facility.
“The training facility, along with the headquarters of the fire station, will help provide more to firefighters and will expand the schedule so that we can have folks on the weekend,” Player said.
In addition, the county would get four new fire stations under the proposal, including two fire stations in Indian Land off Harrisburg Road and south of Van Wyck Road, a station with the training facility and one to support either the Riverchase or Edgewater developments on the western side of the county.
The stations would be $8 million each, for $32 million in total.
“It will take care of everything that we need to get out of our fleet,” Player said of the proposed plan.
To help get the ball rolling, suggestions were made to maintain the status quo for fire services, the creation of a countywide tax district or adding separate fire service areas throughout the county to help fund future fire projects.
Lancaster County on the MoveMilton Pope, a principal with Parker Poe Consulting, addressed councilors on ways to not only represent their district, but developing relationships with their fellow constituents.
Pope, who has more than 25 years of experience in county government, cited that with high performance and resource optimization, councilors must be prepared to make the decisions in the best interest of those they serve, both now and in the future.
“I think what happens in most local governments that I’ve worked for is that you are so busy in the moment of doing things, the present pressure on you from your district, you’re thinking about now and not thinking about what your decisions could have 25 years from now,” he said.
In his address, Pope said that Lancaster is a vastly different community compared to others across the region, mainly due to new developments coming in from the Charlotte metropolitan area.
With new residents moving to the county, Pope challenged councilors that when it comes to decisions made by the county, they need to be prepared to serve them the best way possible, including updating county rules and procedures frequently, issuing informational content such as newsletters and reporting on how they are responding to issues related to their districts.
“Because of the unprecedented growth, you’re getting a lot of folks that are including themselves in your culture and actually changing things that don’t happen in the way that they used to be. People want to be responded to when they call and not be bounced around,” Pope said.
