Winnsboro mayor outlines wastewater plan, $10 million conditional grant for connector line

Winnsboro Mayor McMeekin, who serves as chair of the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System Commission, said the county needs a new wastewater treatment capacity to support industrial and residential growth and described work already under way on a $10 million connector project.

“The do nothing option is not a viable,” McMeekin said, summarizing options in the preliminary engineering report and urging action to avoid constraining development. He added, “Hope is not a plan,” when describing the county’s need to move from discussion to construction.

Why it matters: County and town officials said a limited wastewater capacity in Winnsboro and Ridgeway constrains where new homes and businesses can be built. The commission and county leaders say a wastewater line from the industrial park to the Jackson Creek plant and ultimately to a new wastewater treatment facility would unlock capacity needed for job-creating projects.

What officials described: McMeekin directed members to the preliminary engineering report (PER) and laid out alternatives, including a “do nothing” option that would leave the county dependent on the Winnsboro and Ridgeway plants. He said the town of Winnsboro’s Jackson Creek plant has about 500,000 gallons per day of excess capacity but that relying on existing plants alone would limit growth.

McMeekin said the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority conditionally awarded $10,000,000 to the Fairfield Joint Water and Sewer System Commission to help build a wastewater connector line from the county industrial park across Peach Road and down U.S. 321 to Winnsboro’s Jackson Creek plant. He said construction on the connector had begun in sections, with multiple contractors working on different segments, and that a pump station site had been cleared about a mile up from the Peach Road turnoff.

The mayor said meeting the Infrastructure Authority’s requirement for “regionalization” — cooperation among the county, Winnsboro, Ridgeway and Mid-Carolina Water — was a condition of keeping the award and that failure to meet conditions could cause the grant to be returned.

Regulatory steps noted: McMeekin said the project will require amendments to the local water-quality management (28) plan, review by EPAC (Environmental Protection Advisory Committee), approval from the Central Midlands Council of Governments and a DES/DHEC review to obtain a federal NPDES/EPDES permit (discharge permit) before a new plant could discharge treated effluent. He described a statutory-like review process and said regulators would scrutinize engineering and site details.

Timing and next steps: McMeekin said construction of the connector line is underway and that sections must be completed on a schedule set by the grant agreement; he cited a completion milestone in mid-2026 for the connector phase. He urged continued cooperation among local governments to avoid jeopardizing the conditional award.

Background and context: McMeekin traced the work back to 2017 planning and said the joint commission was formally organized in February 2019. He noted past expectations that two proposed power plants near Jenkinsville would produce income that made a new county treatment plant feasible, but he said those plants did not materialize and that the county’s growth has lagged compared with the state. He said the Scout Automotive site across the southern county line has renewed urgency for regional water and sewer improvements.

Ending: McMeekin closed by stressing regional cooperation and the link between wastewater capacity and future economic prospects: “Without economic growth, there is no prosperity,” he said.