COASTAL OBSERVER

Officials were scrambling this week to find out if Georgetown County was included in a bid submitted to International Paper Co. by a prospective buyer for its closed mill in Georgetown. They said the county does not want to be part of any bid.

State Rep. Lee Hewitt said he learned last week that the county was listed as a collaborator with Santee Cooper and Santee Electric Cooperative in a proposal from an unnamed buyer. 

“They have publicly endorsed a bidder by having their name associated with it,” he said.

Hewitt has worked with another unnamed buyer who has a contract to purchase the Liberty Steel mill in Georgetown. That buyer is also interested in the paper mill site, which is being proposed for redevelopment as a power plant that burns biomass.

Georgetown County owns the former state port property that sits between the two mills on the Georgetown waterfront, the result of legislation initiated by Hewitt. He introduced the steel mill buyer to county officials.

“What worries me about that is the fact that I’ve tried to stay out of it and not pick a winner,” Hewitt said. “I took someone to see them without them disclosing they were a collaborator.”

The county is not a partner to any bid for the IP property, County Council Chairman Clint Elliott said.

“We’re still trying to dig in and find out what people are all fired up about,” he said. “We never authorized ourselves to be included in any bid.”

What the council did was agree to let the county administrator, Angela Christian, sign a memorandum of understanding with Santee Cooper and Santee Electric at the end of March. They are “interested in working collaboratively to identify certain real property and/or corporate assets that may result in a transaction involving one or all of the Parties to this MOU,” according to a copy of the document provided by the county.

The memorandum was discussed in a closed-door executive session and no formal action was taken. “We just kind of nodded heads,” Elliott said.

The document cites an “interest in maintaining community services and minimize the impact of service closures on the Georgetown County community, particularly those related to electric and water services made available out of the IP Georgetown mill.”

The county is specifically interested in two tracts outside the mill itself: 222 acres adjacent to the county airport and a tract between the port property and Highway 17. The council discussed the possibility of acquiring that property at its annual retreat because they tie in with the redevelopment of the port and an economic development plan for the airport.

“These are the properties we’re interested in,” Elliott said.

Hewitt said he learned that the county was included in a bid during a meeting with Santee Electric.

Council Member Bob Anderson said he talked with officials at Santee Cooper this week and was told the state-owned utility had made a proposal to IP. The county wasn’t included, he was told.

Anderson agreed that the only approval the council gave to Christian was to let bidders know the county is interested in the two tracts. “She did not do anything wrong,” he added.

The utilities and the county are also concerned about the future of a 27-mile long canal that runs from the Pee Dee River to the paper mill. It provided freshwater for its operations and could be used by a future industry, Anderson said.

He doesn’t oppose the plan to redevelop the mill’s existing power plant as a biomass plant, although he said he would prefer that it be located outside the city.

Council Member Stella Mercado opposes the biomass plan. If the county is included in any bid that involves biomass, she wants the county removed, she said.

But she added that the county will need to work with whoever acquires the paper mill site.

“We’re not advocating for anything,” Elliott said.

He doesn’t favor an expansion of the IP power station, but said he wouldn’t object if it was restarted. A biomass plant “would be better suited to another location,” Elliott  said.