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Tuesday, March 19, 2024 - 06:51 AM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

About 80 people Attended Greenville County Citizen Roads Advisory Commission Meeting at Greer City Hall

Lisa-Stevens_Page-01When Lisa Stevens asked for a show of hands of those who would favor a tax increase to repair roads, about 90 percent of those in attendance at the Greer meeting of the Greenville County Citizen Road Advisory Commission raised their hands. Stevens is chairman of the commission. Of course, those present and voting were mostly people that had a special interest in road and sidewalk construction and repairs because of a pet project or perceived urgent need in their neighborhood or a project that would be beneficial to their business.

The first speaker represented Ashmore Brothers Construction Co., a paving contractor. He presented the commission with a list of needed road projects.  Another speaker, who was a developer and builder had a list of intersections and sidewalks that needed improvements.

After abandoning a plan to seek a referendum on a 1- percent sales tax for roads, sidewalks, bike trails, etc., Greenville County Council quickly created a commission “to initiate the development of a project list of roads, intersections, and bridges to be improved.” The process of creating the list includes gathering public input at seven selected county and city locations throughout the month of February 2014.

Two of the meetings will be held in the city of Greenville, one in Simpsonville, Mauldin, Pelzer, and Travelers Rest, plus the meeting held in Greer, Thursday, Feb. 6.

The remaining meetings will be at Valley Brook Outreach Church in Pelzer, Thursday, February 13; Gateway Elementary School in Travelers Rest, Thursday, February 20; and Greenville County Square Saturday, March 1, 2014.

All meetings will be held from 6:30 until 8:30 PM except the last one at County Square that will be held on Saturday morning from 9 a m until 12 noon.

After the final meeting, the commission will compile a list of projects that include highways, roads, streets, bridges, and related facilities including sidewalks and transportation amenities, and present it to Greenville County Council as “what the people of Greenville County want and are willing to raise taxes to pay for.”

To avoid being accused of raising taxes, Council will instead allow the people to decide in a referendum. The list from the commission is in the form of a recommendation. The list may be modified and added to in order to satisfy a sufficient number of special interests to assure passage of the referendum.

No meetings are scheduled for the rural areas of Northern Greenville County where fewer people favor tax increases and where the most urgent road and bridge repairs are needed. Residents of Blue Ridge, Gowensville, River Falls, Lake Lanier and the Cliffs must attend the meeting at Travelers Rest or the final meeting in Greenville in order to register their opinions and needs. District 17 County Councilman who represents northern Greenville County has issued a press release encouraging people to attend one of the meetings in order to be considered in the survey.

Dill said, “We need to let them know that the people of Travelers Rest, Slater-Marietta, Blue Ridge. Gowensville, River Falls, Lake Lanier, and more are serious about improving infrastructure here in the northern part of the County. Our needs are just as great as anyone else’s and we need to make that clear on February 20th.

“The citizens that travel our roads everyday have a good grasp on the overall condition of our roads and bridges, and they need to share that information,” Dill concluded.

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