COASTAL OBSERVER

A multipurpose path in Parkersville could join the list of priority projects for funding through a proposed sales tax if Georgetown County finds another way to fund one of the most expensive projects on that list.

The six-member Capital Project Sales Tax Commission presented its list of $72 million in infrastructure projects to Georgetown County Council this week along with another $52 million in projects that will be funded if the 1-cent sales tax generates more revenue than expected or if priority projects fall through.

The council must approve the project list in the form of a referendum ballot that will go before voters in November.

Among the 21 priority projects that are guaranteed for funding if the measure passes is $10 million for a new emergency operations center and 911 call center. It’s the second most expensive project following a $12.7 million sewer project in the rural Sampit community.

The commission members were initially cool to the EOC proposal when they started reviewing projects in January. Brandon Ellis, the Emergency Services director, told the panel that the current facility in Georgetown is outdated, under-sized and located in an area that is prone to flooding.

The commission understood the need, but thought the price tag would use up funds that could go to other more immediate health and safety projects. The sales tax is estimated to generate $10 million a year in revenue.

But Ellis worked with the sheriff’s office to consolidate its request for $4 million for a 911 call center into the EOC project at no extra cost. The commission ranked that 18th on the priority list.

Council Member Stella Mercado this week asked whether the joint project could be funded through the same bonds that the county has issued to build a new jail. That facility will be on the same site, off Highway 51, that is proposed for the EOC and 911 center.

It could, said Frannie Heizer, a bond attorney with Burr & Forman who advises the county.

The $67 million in bonds for the jail were issued through a “public facilities corporation” created and controlled by the county. The corporation will own the facility and lease it to the county. The structure of the deal means the debt will not count toward the limit on general obligations bonds imposed by state law.

The ordinance for the bonds could be revised to include the EOC and 911 center, Heizer said.

If that happens, $10 million in projects would move up from contingencies to priorities. Among those are $3.5 million for drainage work and a multi-purpose path on Parkersville Road. A similar project for Martin Luther King Road is already on the priority list at $5.5 million.

Area residents told the commission they have tried to get the county to fund those projects for years.

The knock-on effect would also add projects to the contingency list. Those include a $5.5 million request for a multipurpose path on Wachesaw Road from Old Kings Highway to Bypass 17, a section of the Inlet to Intracoastal route being created by the Murrells Inlet 2020 revitalization group.

Council Member Clint Elliot, who represents Murrells Inlet, asked the commission how many projects didn’t make either funding list.

There are 18 in that category and they total $53 million, said Mark Hawn, who chairs the commission. “Every single project on our list is a quality project,” he added.

Hawn pointed out that $1 million is included for a portion of a project that will dredge navigable creeks and channels in Murrells Inlet at an estimated cost of $36 million.

Another project that could move to the contingency list is a “materials recovery facility” to sort recyclables at the landfill.

Maureen Mulligan, the county’s environmentalist, told the council she was disappointed that project, known as the MRF, wasn’t on the commission’s list.

“It is critical infrastructure for the entire county,” she said.  “It must have been overlooked somewhere in the process.”

Hawn estimated that the commission members each logged about 500 miles at sites around the county over six months of meetings that were intended to garner public input and demonstrate transparency.

“There are a lot of people out there that want to see it happen,” he said of the tax.

The council members are among them. There are projects in each of the seven council districts, something that resulted from widespread infrastructure needs rather than design, Hawn said.

Council Member Raymond Newton  questioned two projects on the list. He wanted to confirm that an $800,000 pavilion is for a recreation facility in Pleasant Hill in his district  and that a $3.3 million sewer project is for an area outside his district with a similar name. The answer was yes in both cases.

He and Council Member Everett Carolina tried in December to rescind the resolution that created the commission because their districts didn’t have a member.

“I sit in front of you today and say I was wrong,” Newton said.