Anderson County Council hears recommendation

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For Roads and Bridges DepartmentBy Stan Welch – The Anderson County Council received information from several entities Tuesday night, including the Appalachian Council of Government ( ACOG), and the Anderson Free Clinic. Perhaps the most important report they received was from Robin Haley, who represented the Matrix Consulting Firm, who recently completed a review of the County’s Roads and Bridges Department and its operations.

Haley began by informing the Council that his company, by the nature of its work, stressed opportunities for improvement, which sometimes translated to a emphasis on what should be done differently. “Let me say that the Anderson County roads and bridges division is doing many things well. Of course there are adjustments to be made, but this division is on the verge of doing some great things.”
Nonetheless, the county faces some formidable challenges, both in improving its performance and in finding ways to fund those improvements. Haley pointed out that the county currently resurfaces approximately twenty miles of roads annually. That number is a fraction of the fifteen hundred and forty miles of roads in the county.
He added that the division does a very good job of maintaining the roads that see the heaviest traffic. The down side of that is that lesser used roads go for long periods of time without attention. This could lead to eventually having to do much more extensive and expensive repairs at a later time. In worst case scenarios, some roads might even be allowed to return to gravel.
The current combination of the use of C funds (generated by the gasoline tax) and funds from the general fund provides approximately three million dollars annually for roads and bridges. That figure is less than forty per cent of the amount the division projects each year. The firm recommended that the county impose a wheel tax, or a transit occupancy tax that would be added to visitors’ hotel bills to finance more road maintenance.
Haley also reported that the fleet maintenance services, while adequate, also have some areas for improvement. The county fleet, for example, is maintained separately than the sheriff’s fleet of vehicles, which is actually larger. Together, the two fleets comprise nine hundred and fifty four vehicles.
While the county fleet is maintained by certified mechanics, three inmates with various levels of automotive expertise maintain the sheriff’s vehicle. Haley explained that two administrative costs are duplicated by having the fleets separated.
The physical plant for the maintenance operations are also a problem. Some of the work bays are not large enough to accept the larger pieces of equipment, forcing repairs to be done in the open weather, which seriously hampers production. Haley said that a long term recommendation would be to at a minimum add some larger bays, although eventually building a new facility altogether would be preferable.
The study also recommended a doubling of the hourly labor rates charged to the departments served. Two current vacancies in the ditches and pipes department were recommended not to be filled. The county is currently doing an inventory of the approximately one hundred miles of ditches and pipes that it maintains.
Steve Pellisier, of ACOG, again reminded the Council of the strong return on investment (ROI) that it receives from its financial support of the ombudsman organization. The county annually invests just over eighty one thousand dollars a year, and last year, received almost $2.9 million in funding and services, for a return of thirty five to one.
The nature of that ROI is varied and eclectic. For example, the ACOG obtained $450,000 for the Powdersville Water Districts water line project along I-85. They also helped secure $13.6 million to replace the Cherokee Road bridge over Highway 29, a project that is in the phase of acquiring the rights of way needed, and scheduled for actual construction to begin in 2019.
At the same time, ACOG funded medical services, home health care programs, minor home repairs and transportation for senior citizens in the county, as well as serving more than fifty two thousand meals.
West Pelzer and Williamston both received grants for $477,000 for sewer improvement projects. Pellisier also announced a new program proposed by ACOG to provide veterans with grants between five hundred and fifteen hundred dollars a month. The grants are intended to allow veterans to remain in their homes, instead of having to go into nursing homes or special needs facilities. The money could be used to improve homes and keep them habitable, or for home health services that might be needed.