“Find a penny, pick it up, then all the day you will have good luck.”

For Orangeburg County officials, the penny has been good luck charm -- to the tune of millions of dollars spent in the past decade on about 160 community-enhancement and economic development projects.

“The penny sales tax has really been the single most powerful economic development tool that we have in this community,” said Orangeburg County Administrator Bill Clark, explaining how the tax has “created an environment” and helped “plant the seed” for economic development.

The Orangeburg County/City Industrial Park, the John W. Matthews Industrial Park and the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency are among the fruits of the penny.

The first special-purpose penny tax brought in about $54 million for 116 designated projects. A little over 50 percent of the county voters approved the tax via referendum.

“It would have been doubtful that we could have done that without the penny. We are about to see a nice return on that investment with job creation,” Clark said. “This will lead to a new level of opportunity.”

In 2004, when the referendum to renew the 1-cent capital project sales tax was approved by 68 percent of voters, Clark was like a child celebrating Christmas.

The renewal was for a seven-year continuation of the penny tax -- this time projected to bring in $71 million for 108 projects. The second penny phase became effective in May 2005.

Through the middle of August this year, 60 of the 108 projects have been either completed or are in various phases of construction.

About $8.5 million has been expended on the projects, with about $6 million currently under contract.

In January 2007, Orangeburg County Council agreed to borrow $64.245 million to jump-start the second phase of the penny.

The county will receive $48 million up front, with an additional $5.2 million from investments in four to five years.

The money will be drawn down at a rate of about $1 million a month for the next seven years.

Clark said as a result of the first and second penny projects carried forth over the past 10 years, the county has seen about 21 percent of its revenues come from non-county residents using the amenities and has seen projects both in municipal and rural areas flourish.

And despite tough economic times, Clark said the projects have proceeded at a welcome pace as there appears to be a more aggressive marketplace.

“As there has been a downturn in the economy, contractors become more aggressive in their bids,” he said. “We have seen sometimes more contractors responding to our solicitations.”

Clark said once the monies are approved on the ballot, they are restricted for use to designated projects.

“The funds will be there; they are not going anywhere,” he said.

With so many projects on the drawing board, there are some priorities for the county.

These include: road construction, water and wastewater infrastructure development in the “Global Logistics Triangle.”

Roads

With the second phase of the penny tax, Clark said the focus has been on paving county roads.

“Our road crew has been constructing on average about a mile or better of paved road each month,” Clark said.

He said about 15 to 18 miles of road have been paved annually over the past three years under the second penny.

About $3 million has been spent on road construction through the middle of August. Paving will continue throughout the year.

Road work has been done in a rotating fashion, with three miles of road paved in each County Council district as part of the rotation. Roads are paved according to their condition and traffic flow. Currently, the county is paving roads in District 6.

Estimates are approximately 80 miles of dirt roads will eventually be paved by county crews over the life of the second penny, Clark said.

Under the first penny sales tax, about 60 miles of the county’s estimated 1,100 miles of unpaved roads were surfaced.

Under the state “C” funds program, which is funded with gasoline tax revenues, the county can pave about three miles of road each year.

Water/wastewater

About $7 million of the penny has been set aside for infrastructure (water, wastewater and road) improvements, particularly in what the county has trademarked as the “Global Logistics Triangle.”

About $1 million of the $7 million will be the placement of water and wastewater lines from the town of Bowman along S.C. Highway 210 to Interstate 95, Exit 165.

“What that will do is open up the interchange to water and wastewater services where there are presently none available,” Clark said.

Clark said additional penny monies will also go toward tying municipalities in the eastern part of the county to the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency project. Water lines from the Santee water plant will be constructed to help tap into the John Matthews Industrial Park, Bowman, Elloree, Vance and Holly Hill.

Preliminary engineering studies are also under way toward construction of a 1.5 million-gallon wastewater treatment facility to be built behind the Matthews Industrial Park at U.S. 301 and U.S. 176.

The treatment facility would help provide capacity for the park as well as the towns of Santee and Elloree. Both municipalities are either at or near treatment capacity.

Clark said the extent of infrastructure development is crucial due to the planned growth of the area in light of Dubai-based Jafza International’s industrial plans.

Jafza, a subsidiary of Dubai World, announced in September 2007 that it intends to invest $600-700 million in Orangeburg County. Plans call for a logistics, manufacturing and distribution hub that could employ between 8,000 and 10,000.

Clark said the county is awaiting the Jafza master plan in determining further allocation of penny funds.

“We are looking forward to receiving that information and that may help give us more insight on other areas we need to focus on,” he said. “One thing we are concerned about is road infrastructure in that area and the anticipated impacts of growth in the eastern part of the county.”

Western county development

The county has engaged engineering services to do a Western Orangeburg County Infrastructure and Target Market Study aimed at the eventual placement of an industrial park. About $2 million has been set aside for the project.

More information is expected to be released in November or December.

Clark said various sites near U.S. 321 have been reviewed as possibilities. He declined to provide details about sites being examined.

Officials say the area could be ideal for a possible industrial park between 200 and 600 acres.

The area is cited as ideal for development, with an estimated 450 trucks traveling on U.S. 321 daily.

The CSX rail line runs parallel to U.S. 321. The area has water and natural gas, although some sewer issues must be resolved.

Fire training facility

This project will include a 40-foot, five-story drill tower/burn facility located at the fire complex headquarters near U.S. 301 and Interstate 26. About $688,000 is allocated for the project. The multipurpose facility would also be used for police and rescue training. The building will be about 25 feet wide and 75 feet long.

Engineering and site work will soon get under way, with hopes the facility will be up and operational by June 2009.

Orangeburg County Fire System Coordinator Gene Ball said the penny money would go toward the building, with the Fire Commission responsible for financing the site and engineering work as well as placement of protective fencing.

“The penny is insufficient to do what was planned five years ago,” Ball said, explaining how the increase of supplies and inflation have priced the project higher.

County fire officials have said that Insurance Service Office companies rate fire departments and communities on their fire service infrastructure development. Lower ISO ratings for fire departments typically mean lower insurance premiums for the homeowners they serve.

Reaping the benefits

Looking back, the penny has already blossomed in a number of projects within municipalities and county-wide.

Some include:

Orangeburg streetscape, renovations of Orangeburg City Council Chambers, Orangeburg Municipal Airport improvements to allow more space for planes.

Completed streetscape projects in Bowman and Cope. Branchville’s streetscape is ongoing.

Construction of a municipal parking lot near the Eutawville Town Hall and construction of an equipment storage building.

Construction of a community center in Vance and Rowesville.

Tennis court improvements in Holly Hill.

Expansion of a parking lot at Neeses town hall and recreational facilities related to children’s playground and concession stands.

Acquisition of property for a recreation project in North, improvement to town baseball fields, improvements to the town library and additional fire hydrant placements.

Upgrades of tennis courts and walking tracks at Lake Marion High School.

Rehabilitation of Springfield High School to incorporate a museum, a library, meeting spaces and concert halls.

Renovation of the old Willow High School in Norway into a museum.

“We have some great old facilities that have been recycled from the education system back into the community,” Clark said.

Projects continued with second penny

Of the 116 projects the county sought to fund with the first penny, 100 were completed.

About 11 of the 16 projects are using money from the second penny, with nine related to sewer infrastructure.

Among the unfunded projects from the first penny that were moved to the second penny, and are currently under contract and near completion, are the Northeast Belleville sewer projects. They include line placement in Palmetto Gardens, the Rosewood area, Woodberry, Highway 33 and Highway 33 to Gramling.

Clark said the project, which was bid out at the first of the year, was contingent on about $500,000 coming in the second penny to construct the project.

“Part of that was the increase in the cost of construction materials that have driven up the contract price,” Clark said. “It is coming down the home stretch now. Five projects from the first penny were all combined for bid purposes so we could get a better price.”

The total cost of the project is about $2 million. About $1.8 million or 90 percent of the project is complete.

Engineering and survey work has been done for sewer improvements in the Country Club and Dove Point area, which will be combined under one project.

Clark said monies under the penny capital sales tax were able to fund about half the project with more funds needed. There are hopes the penny can be leveraged with grants from other sources, though the economic demographics of the area have made grant money difficult to obtain.

“We have not given up on that yet,” he said.

Preliminary project planning for sewer improvements was done in the Moss Hills/Landing area and the Hunter Hill area, but like the Dove Point and Country Club projects, finding other sources of funding has been difficult. About $1 million of the penny is available for the project.

“Before the end of year we will seek contracts to go as far as the money will go,” he said.

Other projects to move forward contingent on the receipt of leverage funding through the receipt of grants include: sidewalk work on Myers Road in District 7 and sewer projects on Sprinkle Avenue and Decatur Street.

The Sprinkle Avenue project has about $400,000 allocated and the Decatur Street project about $172,000.

The estimate for the Decatur project would be about $280,000 or $300,000; the Sprinkle Avenue project about $800,000.

T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached by e-mail at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5551. Discuss this and other stories online at The TandD.com.

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