Council Responds to Public

WINNSBORO – Milton Pope, interim County Administrator, reviewed and answered at Monday night’s County Council meeting a list of questions submitted to Council during the public comments portion of recent Council meetings.

Q: What are the specific goals of the I-77 Alliance?

MP: The I-77 Alliance is an alliance that the County agreed to participate in some time ago. It is a legal entity established with the goal to market the I-77 corridor, and to incentivize and promote economic development in Fairfield County, as well as in partnering counties.

Q: What are the costs associated with the I-77 Alliance?

MP: The County has invested $25,000 in the I-77 Alliance. There will be an annual contribution for membership in the Alliance.

Q: What processes are in place to prevent part-time associates from “creeping up to 30 hours per week” and manifesting an unplanned full-time status with full benefits like insurance?

MP: The Fairfield County HR (Human Resources) Department and the Finance Department monitor and track the cost of part-time and temporary employees to ensure costs are within budgeted guidelines. This will be formally revisited during our upcoming budget preparations. Our requirement for part-time folks is actually 25 hours. If there is a reason for them to work over that, we approve that on a case-by-case basis.

Q: Will expenses including staff and maintenance related to the Drawdy Park football field come out of that district’s recreational bond allocation?

MP: No. Personnel expenses cannot be attributed to the bond. Only the construction and the associated implementation of projects can be attributed to the bond.

Q: When will the rest of the financial statements be placed on line?

MP: Financial information is presently on the County’s website, including a link to the S.C. Comptroller’s website. We have linked that information to the Comptroller’s website. Fairfield County’s audit will be completed by year’s end and the audit will be presented in January.

Q: What follow-through plans and actions have been created in response to the 2010 Fairfield County Economic Development Survey?

MP: The Economic Development Plan calls for various stakeholders, some within the County’s purview and others are not, to take actions to increase economic development opportunities in Fairfield County. One (recommendation of the Plan) was to create a public-private partnership – Fairfield County is a member of the Central Carolina Regional Alliance. The County is also partnering with the I-77 Alliance. Another recommendation was to create a marketing plan for the County, as well as recommendations to promote sub-regional alliances – that’s one of the things we’re doing through these associations and these investment dollars the County is putting out there each year, to bring folks into our county and now we have a product to show folks for industrial and manufacturing investment. Another thing was to establish a long-term suitable office for Economic Development. The last thing I’ll mention is to develop a county wide water/sewer master plan. In 2010, the County partnered with the Town of Winnsboro to engage the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a water study, knowing a county wide water distribution and sewer plant would be necessary. In early 2013, the County hired a firm to complete a county wide water and sewer master plan.

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