County Seeks Public Input on Strategic Master Plan

WINNSBORO – Although Interim County Administrator Milton Pope reported to County Council during their Aug. 24 meeting that the projected completion date for reactor unit number 2 at the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station had been pushed back to June 2019, with unit 3 expected to come online a year after, the County’s strategic plan for how to deal with the associated influx of revenue is moving forward.

To that end, Pope asked Council to be prepared to submit names at their Sept. 14 meeting for consideration to serve on the Project Advisory Committee (PAC), the public input component of the plan being developed by T.Y. Lin International and its subcontractors.

“The PAC is typically made up from community leaders with experience in organizing people, presenting issues in a public forum and citizen outreach,” Pope told Council. “Generally each member is appointed for a specific geographic area so as to have representation of the entire county. Professional people including business leaders, clergy and successful career-minded individuals and those who have a long standing relationship with Fairfield County are recommended.

“Individuals who have the respect and following of the local community should be included,” Pope continued. “Diversity is a requirement, and to that end the PAC should be represented by a cross section of Fairfield County in terms of the demographic strata. It is intended that the PAC can assure public participation in the development of the master plan and effectively reach out to the citizens of Fairfield County.”

Council gave Pope the authority during their Aug. 10 meeting to finalize the $303,163 deal with T.Y. Lin to develop the plan. Pope said then that the plan would entail the revitalization of Winnsboro, Ridgeway and Jenkinsville, and would include an investment in infrastructure.

The four phases of the Master Plan, Pope said on Aug. 10, would include a project set-up, a County assessment of existing plans, a community development action plan and an economic development action plan. The latter, he said, was already under way through the I-77 Alliance.

Pope said the plan will include “extensive public involvement” through community meetings and workshops, as well as through meetings with the county’s other local governing entities.

“The purpose of the PAC is to give overall guidance to the process,” Pope said Monday night, “but in the final analysis, everything has to be finally decided by County Council.”

 

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