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Lexington County council committee approves letter of interest to revise Kenley Creek flood study
Summary
The Planning Committee approved submitting a letter of interest to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to seek funding to update the Kenley Creek study, aiming to reframe the project into phased, fundable elements; the county would provide a 25% match if a grant is awarded.
The Lexington County Planning Committee voted to approve submitting a letter of interest to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to pursue a Flood Mitigation Assistance grant and to fund a revised Kenley Creek study.
The revised study would update the 2015 Kenley Creek analysis to reflect buyouts of about 37 homes, recent watershed development including Carolina Crossroads, and increased storm frequency and intensity, and would prioritize smaller, phased projects that are more likely to receive implementation funding, county staff said.
Matt Rowland, Land Development Manager for Lexington County Community Development, told the committee the grant program’s "capability and capacity building" category supports data collection, outreach, engineering and cost-benefit analysis. "The goal of the revised Kenley Creek study is to prioritize flood risk reduction projects in a phased approach, which would be more likely to obtain implementation grant funding in the future," Rowland said.
Committee members asked whether the county would be repeating work done for prior interstate or watershed projects and whether federal funding sources would be secured before committing local match dollars. A committee member noted past studies and buyouts and questioned whether another study would produce different results; Rowland and other staff described changes since 2015 — including development and prior buyouts — that they said justify revising the study.
Rowland said some work already funded through Community Development Block Grant disaster recovery had led to property buyouts and that the Office of Resiliency (a state entity formed after the 2015 floods) had advised a phased approach after reviewing the county’s earlier large-scope submission. He clarified the grant requires a 25% local cost share. "This is what [the Office of Resiliency] was created for after the 2015 flood," Rowland said.
The motion to approve submitting the letter of interest was made and seconded by members identified in the committee as Charlie (mover) and Todd (second). The committee voted in favor with no opposition. Staff said, if approved, the item would be reported to full council on Feb. 26 for further action and to support a formal application to SCDNR.
Why it matters: Updating the Kenley Creek study would aim to convert a broad, unfunded plan into a set of prioritized projects that could compete for state and federal mitigation funds, and it commits Lexington County to a 25% match if the county pursues an implementation grant.
What’s next: Staff will submit the letter of interest to SCDNR, and, if invited, will prepare a full application and report back to full council at its Feb. 26 meeting.
