Greenville City Council made progress at the May 9 meeting in relieving the gridlock on Woodruff Road. They also approved ordinances for zoo grants, bond plans and food trucks.
Approved: Interagency MOU to study ‘parallel road’
Council is another step closer to addressing the congestion on Woodruff Road, joining forces with Greenville County and the city of Mauldin to address the chronic congestion through a memorandum of understanding to study building a parallel road.
The area of study runs from just past Mall Connector Road to Smith Hines Road.
Who will own and maintain the road has yet to be decided, but the city is hoping to address that as soon as possible. In April, the city reached out for public input for the project, and they hope to reach out to businesses and stakeholders quickly.
Passed: Bonds for neighborhood infrastructure, public safety campus projects
Council issued installment purchase revenue bonds to complete the public safety campus and begin the Neighborhood Infrastructure Bonds (NIB) project. The combined cost is $55 million. Funding will be issued in two tranches.
The bonds will contribute $9.5 million toward purchasing the old Fluor building at 204 Halton Road, along with $4 million to upfit the building to the city’s needs. The city will begin phase 1 of the NIB projects with $15 million, and phase 2, which starts in FY24, will be $21 million. While the projects aren’t related, the bonds will come from the same source.
“We’re saving money by doing it once rather than twice,” said office of management and budget Director Matt Efird.
Greenville Public Facilities Corporation (PFC) will lease the building to the city, and they make lease payments to PFC. According to a city council presentation, the PFC issues debt for the purchase and construction of public facilities and leases the assets to the city of Greenville for use during the term of the debt. The process allows for a more flexible repayment structure, an easier, less-expensive insurance process and keeps the city’s general obligation debt at legal limits.
Approved: Zoo conservation grants
The Greenville Zoo Conservation and Research committee named nine recipients for their Greenville Zoo Conservation Fund grant awards, with the council giving approval to the measure.
The grants ranged from $920 to $3,000 and come from admission sales in a bid to promote conservation locally and globally. Winners are chosen by a panel that grade each application. First-year applicants can be eligible for up to $1,000, and continuing projects can be eligible for up to $3,000.
Two local projects, Friends of the Reedy River and Coastal Long Eared Bats, received almost $4,000. The other grants went to projects as far away as Cameroon, Kenya and Brazil.
Final approval: More food trucks on the menu
Council gave final approval to an ordinance allowing food trucks at city-approved and community events. The ordinance gives properly licensed food trucks access to events provided they abide by certain restrictions, such as no individual trailer or container is in place longer than 48 hours.
