Town releases LTIP 2.0 and FY25 impact-fee report, prioritizes West Main/Gibson intersection

Randy Edwards, the town's transportation director, told the planning commission the LTIP 2.0 refresh re-applies a data-driven methodology to roughly 100 candidate intersections and narrows them to a prioritized list of about 30 locations.

"The success of the original LTIP is unquestioned," Edwards said, noting roughly $3.8 million in road improvements have been completed since the plan's adoption and that total projects planned or engineered are in the multi‑millions. He walked commissioners through a ranking formula that weights level of service at 50 percent, growth at 30 percent, crashes at 15 percent and average daily traffic at 5 percent.

Vanessa Stoker, the town's special funds manager, presented the FY25 development impact-fee report required under South Carolina law, describing how restricted impact-fee funds are collected, maintained and programmed. "These funds must be programmed and spent within a certain time frame or they're subject to refund provisions," Stoker said.

Stoker summarized FY25 activity for the major impact-fee categories. Transportation collections totaled about $148,000 in FY25 with roughly $900 in interest; after a transfer of approximately $32,000 to the streets and infrastructure fund the reported ending balance was just over $1.08 million. Stoker said the town anticipates roughly $800,000 more in revenue between FY26 and FY29 to support programmed projects including the Gibson Road/West Main intersection.

Stoker also described park and municipal funds: FY25 park collections were about $51,000 with $45,000 transferred to Virginia Hilton Park and a reported ending balance near $6,500; municipal facilities collections totaled about $19,700 with an ending balance around $153,000 and projected revenues through FY29.

Edwards told commissioners the LTIP 2.0 identifies improvement types that generally favor efficiency measures such as auxiliary turn lanes, turn‑lane extensions, signal optimization and access management rather than wholesale reconstruction in every location. He pointed to specific priority examples including the West Main/Columbia intersection and problem locations flagged for roundabouts or added turn lanes.

Commissioners asked staff how impact-fee funds would be matched to LTIP priorities and whether collections are limited to in‑town projects; staff said the fees are restricted to capital capacity improvements that serve new development and that programmed projects will be vetted during design and permitting. Stoker emphasized the report shows the town remains in compliance with state requirements and that the LTIP serves as a five‑year living guide to prioritize construction and developer mitigation work.

The presentation concluded with staff noting the LTIP 2.0 document will be posted as a live link on the town website so stakeholders can review the prioritized intersections and underlying data.

What happens next: LTIP 2.0 and the FY25 impact-fee report were provided to the commission for information; no action was required. Town staff said individual projects identified in the LTIP will follow engineering, permitting and funding approvals before construction.