Anderson County approves $8.5 million bond issue and truck restrictions on Ballard Road

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By Stan Welch
In a surge of legislative activity that Congress would do well to emulate, the Anderson County Council gave final approval to eleven ordinances, ranging from rezoning changes to approval of an $8.5 million bond issue.
Council unanimously approved restrictions on all eighteen wheelers not making local deliveries on Ballard Road. County Councilwoman Cindy Wilson, who had been lobbying for the changes, said that the road, which runs from Highway 29 to Highway 8, was never designed for the traffic load it has been subjected to in recent years.
The general bond issue is intended to fund the construction of a new fleet services facility. The current facility is in serious disrepair, explained finance director Rita Davis. “Some of the larger equipment can’t even fit inside. We have people working on equipment outside, said Davis”, explaining the need for the proposed thirty two thousand square foot facility to Councilwoman Gracie Floyd.
Floyd questioned the proposed bond issue, asking what would happen to any monies left over if the project didn’t cost the entire $8 million. Davis explained that the levy imposed by county auditor Jacky Hunter would simply be adjusted downward, lessening the tax load required. Floyd said that had never happened before, to which Davis replied that it had happened this budget year, when a levy was reduced from 2.1 mills to 2 mills. She also explained that a bond issue dating back to 2007 is expiring.
The bond issue received second reading approval.
Two ordinances were approved authorizing compensation for the members of both the county planning commission and the zoning appeals board. Members will be paid fifty dollars per meeting attended; an incentive designed to produce quorums of the two boards more regularly.
A zoning change for .33 acres at 3 Beaverdam Road from mixed residential to highway commercial was approved on first reading; as was a change for 8.75 acres at 83 Princeton Highway from neighborhood commercial to highway commercial. Both properties are located in District Seven.
Second reading approval was given to a wholesale updating of the county’s sewer ordinances. Also receiving second reading approval was an ordinance authorizing additional methods of approaching construction projects undertaken by the county. County attorney Leon Harmon explained that the current policy of design, bid and build is restrictive and is not always the most economical or efficient model to use.