By Carson Lambert

clambert@civitasmedia.com

“We all are in grave danger because we have the inability to adequately communicate,” said Sheriff Lee Foster regarding the county’s current radio equipment.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Foster.jpg“We all are in grave danger because we have the inability to adequately communicate,” said Sheriff Lee Foster regarding the county’s current radio equipment. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

Pomaria mayor Darryl Hentz displays the poor condition of the basement of the Old Pomaria School Building, which the town desires to renovate with CPST funding. “Not only would the upgrade of this building be a plus for our community but it would also be a valuable asset to the county,” he said.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_Hentz-1.jpgPomaria mayor Darryl Hentz displays the poor condition of the basement of the Old Pomaria School Building, which the town desires to renovate with CPST funding. “Not only would the upgrade of this building be a plus for our community but it would also be a valuable asset to the county,” he said. Carson Lambert | The Newberry Observer

NEWBERRY COUNTY — The Capital Project Sales Tax commission received the last batch of project presentations Monday with deliberation expected to begin this Monday.

One of the largest projects submitted, second only to the city’s recreation complex, is a $7.4 million radio system requested by the county’s emergency services.

“We all are in grave danger because we have the inability to adequately communicate,” said Sheriff Lee Foster, who explained that the Sheriff’s Office as well as the city’s fire department are using radio technology now decades old.

Additionally the coverage is limited creating many dead-zones across the county and signals often do not penetrate buildings.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that the county’s emergency services — police, fire and EMS — currently utilize different radio bandwidths and are unable to communicate with each other.

The proposal is to bring these agencies into the 21st century by purchasing the SC Palmetto 800 radio system and constructing two communication towers.

A key aspect of this project is that it is not phasable and that even at the full requested funding they would still be several hundred radios short of fully outfitting all emergency personnel.

Stating their case for updates to their existing infrastructure was the Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority, represented by manager Brent Richardson.

The Lake Murray Water Treatment Plant, located on Hamm’s Landing Road in Prosperity, was completed in 2004 with a 1 million gallons-per-day pumping capacity.

The plant was upgraded in 2014 with CPST funds to increase the capacity to 2 MGD.

“But due to some pumping capacity and pipe restrictions our deliverable capacity is 1.3 MGD,” Richardson said.

To bring that figure up to the desired capacity NCWSA hopes to eliminate the constraints by adding to their current system two 2 MGD water pumps, two 2 MGD booster pumps and over 30,000 feet of water mains at a total cost of $4.74 million.

Rick Farmer, director of Economic Development for the county, spoke on behalf of the project saying it’s essential for a community to be in a constant cycle of job creation.

“Jobs are naturally going to go away. They are also going to organically grow to some extent,” Farmer said. “What we do is try to strategically lure capital investment and job creation and public infrastructure is absolutely critical to everything we do.”

Farmer said there was once a time when industry could be brought in on the promise that a city would provide their water/sewer needs. However, the sell is much easier when the infrastructure is already in place, Farmer said.

Additionally NCWSA submitted a $4.12 million project to construct just under 11,000 feet of water main and a 600,000 gallon storage tank to provide water to the Mid-Carolina Commerce Park in Pomaria.

Should only one of these projects be selected priority will be given to the Lake Murray Water Treatment Plant improvements.

NCWSA was founded in 1963 and provides residential water service to approximately 12,000 people and 290 commercial establishments.

Mayor Darryl Hentz of Pomaria lobbied on behalf of his town for the renovation of the Old Pomaria School Building which could then serve as a venue for public and private functions.

The total cost of all desired improvements, including asbestos removal, is $1.07 million and would allow the building to host events such as weddings, reunions, various meetings and the annual Old Pomaria School Festival which is expected to bring in over 1,000 people.

“Not only would the upgrade of this building be a plus for our community but it would also be a valuable asset to the county,” Hentz said.

Mayor Billy Hollingsworth, representing the Town of Whitmire, appealed for funding for renovations to Town Hall which he categorized as the town’s first priority above other submitted projects.

“I’m concerned about the integrity of the building,” said Hollingsworth who described water breaching the building’s interior following several months of heavy rain.

“I don’t want structural damage to get worse before we take action whether it’s through this or other means,” he said.

At a cost of $1.52 million Whitmire would remodel the interior, redo the roof and completely rewire the building.

And lastly, Silverstreet Mayor Lisha Senn requested $700,000 to demolish the Silverstreet Elementary School building and utilize the property as a green space featuring a park and walking track.

“It would be a nice area to have a playground for the children to play,” Senn said. “We believe that this green space would be a benefit to not only the residents of Silverstreet but to the surrounding communities and it would help to make everyone more active.”

Senn cited a statistic that one in three children are overweight owing to a lack of regular physical activity.

“If you want to give a child something to do put them on the playground,” she said. “Research shows that playgrounds have, of course, the physical benefits of making you stronger but social benefits also.”

Senn said children on playgrounds learn to interact with other children which instills values such as sharing, taking turns, citizenship and neighborliness.

Reach Carson Lambert at 803-276-0625, ext. 1868, or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.