Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Infrastructure Water topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Jasper County workshop: $10 million water line for Palmetto site; $1.7 million shortfall covered by grants and developer investment
Summary
County staff described a water-line project exceeding $10 million to serve the Palmetto/SCA site and a 1,400-acre corridor. A roughly $8.1 million state grant plus local match and developer contributions cover the work; staff will bring a resolution back to the council for approval.
County staff on Thursday detailed a water-line project they say will support a large manufacturing site at the Palmetto/SCA tract and create redundancy and capacity along the Highway 17 corridor.
Unidentified Speaker S1, presenting project details, said the water line “really kind of increases people's incentive to want to locate in Jasper County” and confirmed the main project cost is over $10 million. He said the project ties into an existing 36-inch main that can supply the Palmetto site and a roughly 1,400-acre development area.
Staff described the financing mix: a grant of about $8.1 million from the state authority that allocated federal infrastructure dollars, a 25% local match equal to roughly $2.7 million, and developer cash contributions to cover a remaining shortfall. "The grant represents, about 8.1," S1 said, attributing that funding to the South Carolina Infrastructure Authority; S1 also said the developer contributed about $1.7 million toward the shortfall and carried additional engineering, permitting and environmental costs.
According to the presenter, the developer paid engineering and design costs of roughly $1,000,000 and purchased wetland credits costing about $3,000,000; S1 summarized those additional expenditures as approximately $5.3 million in developer-supported investment. S1 said Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority would serve new customers connected to the line.
Council members asked how costs could be recouped from businesses that did not directly pay for the line. Staff and several members replied that future customers would pay into the Beaufort Jasper system and that the line’s increased capacity and redundancy along Highway 17 would yield broader regional benefits. One member urged the county to consider tap fees or other mechanisms to capture value from later users.
A council member noted projected employment tied to the development; S1 identified a total of about 1,350 potential jobs associated with the site and related OEM opportunities.
Staff told the council they are near the end of construction, named the local contractor JH Hyres, and said they aim to finish work in January or February. Unidentified Speaker S8 said staff will define final technical parameters for the Beaufort Jasper Water and Sewer Authority connection and will return with a formal resolution for council consideration.
Next steps: staff will prepare a resolution and technical parameters for the council to consider formal approval of the water-line agreement and associated funding actions.
