FAIRFIELD COUNTY – County officials are beginning the process of deciding what to do with 27 properties identified as vacant or unused, with options ranging from further research to demolition or sale through a public bidding process.
During a Monday night’s county council meeting, staff presented the findings of the county’s Surplus Properties Committee, which was tasked with reviewing county-owned properties to determine whether they were being used or sitting idle.
The tour may have violated the state’s Freedom of Information statute as citizens were not allowed to accompany county council members on the tour. County officials said it was an issue of liability that citizens were not allowed to go on the tour.
Lucas Vance, director of the county’s recreation department reported to council on the buildings.
“So this committee was tasked with looking at all the county-owned properties and deciding whether they were vacant or not vacant and how they were being used,” Vance said.
After reviewing the county’s inventory of land and buildings, the committee identified 27 properties that are considered vacant or unoccupied. The next step was to provide council with recommendations for each property.
A list provided to council includes a recommendation column outlining proposed actions for each parcel. Some properties are marked “research,” indicating that additional inquiry is needed before a final recommendation can be made. Others are listed as “hold,” “request for bid (RFB),” or “hold for demolition.”
Several properties marked for additional research are tied to legal ownership issues, according to Vance.
“The properties that are listed as being on hold are properties that we need to do some more research on because they’re not actually owned by the county but by a former commission that no longer exists,” County Administrator Vic Carpenter explained. “So we have to go and do the title work to clean it up so that it belongs to the county in legal terms.”
Those properties were once tied to organizations such as the Downtown Winnsboro Community Development Association or recreation commissions that no longer operate but are still listed in property records.
For other properties, the committee recommended demolition due to severe deterioration.
“The recommendation is we demolish the dilapidated property that’s on that lot and then decide what to do with that lot,” Carpenter said.
Some of those demolitions would be funded through a Community Development Block Grant targeting blighted structures in the Zion Hill neighborhood.
“I think eight properties total will be taken down,” Carpenter said. “Some of those houses were beyond salvage, and the grant allows us to take the houses down and then turn them into a green field.”
One property that drew particular discussion was the county’s former farmers market building, which is currently recommended for sale through a request-for-bid process.
Councilman Don Goldbach questioned whether it should be sold, noting that residents expressed strong interest in preserving a space for a farmers market during recent community meetings.
“We heard loud and clear during our community input sessions relative to the strategic plan that the farmers really would like to have a place to have a farmers market,” Goldbach said. “I personally would like to hold off on that one particular building until we understand what we can do about a farmers market.”
Other council members agreed that keeping the building for that purpose should be explored.
“I’d like to somehow save the building for the farmers market,” Councilman Carl Bell said, suggesting options such as a grant to repair the structure or transferring the building to the Town of Winnsboro.
However, Carpenter warned that the building would require major repairs before it could be used again.
“The entire roof of the building is deteriorated to the point it has to be replaced,” he said. “The roof alone is definitely in the six figures. Flooring has to be replaced, and there’s electrical work inside the building that needs doing.”
In addition, a sprinkler system and water line would have to be installed to meet requirements for a public facility, according to Carpenter.
Carpenter also noted that the county has already invested roughly $125,000 in the building over the years.
Council took no vote on the recommendations during the meeting. Carpenter said the list of surplus properties will return to council at a future meeting for formal action.
“At the end of the day, only county council can make that decision,” he told council members. “Council will decide whether to keep a property or sell the property.”