Here’s a recap of Greer City Council’s Sept. 8 meeting.
Approved: Major change to Blaize Ridge design review district
Council unanimously approved an ordinance authorizing a major change to the design review district covering the Blaize Ridge development on Gibbs Shoals Road. The development is 92% complete and contains 57 single family homes and four townhomes that are age restricted to residents 55 and older.
The major change ordinance authorizes converting the last eight townhome lots into five single-family lots.
Two residents expressed support for the change at council’s Aug. 26 meeting but also shared concerns that some of the promised amenities would not be completed following the developer’s bankruptcy last year.
Prior to the vote for final approval, council asked city staff to look into options requiring developers to bond amenities and explore other tools that might help the city to ensure developers deliver projects as promised.
Initial approval: Financing CPW capital projects
Council approved first reading of two separate measures authorizing financing for two Greer Commission of Public Works capital projects.
The first measure would authorize borrowing $1.9 million through the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority to install 6,600 feet of eight-inch line along East Poinsett Street to expand capacity.
The second measure would authorize borrowing $4.2 million from the state’s Water Pollution Control Revolving Fund to replace 12,500 feet of wastewater force main serving industrial and residential customers along the U.S. Highway 101 near BMW Manufacturing.
CPW General Manager Marc Regier said the projects are separate from maintenance and upgrade projects to be financed through $33 million in revenue bonds the council authorized in May.
Regier said the water line upgrade on East Poinsett Street would expand capacity for industrial customers in the area in the event of a high-demand situation like a fire. He said the wastewater force main project along S.C. Highway 101 would connect to the pump station on BMW’s site and would provide redundancy and a small increase in capacity to lines that were installed when the BMW plant was built.
Councilman Karuiam Booker (District 2) was the lone dissenting vote on both measures. In explaining his opposition, Booker said he would like to see stronger assurances that CPW borrowing would not increase the burden on ratepayers.
Both measures will require a second reading before going into effect, which is expected at council’s Sept. 22 meeting.
