During their meeting Tuesday, Anderson County Council heard a report on services provided by the Appalachian Council of Governments (ACOG).
ACOG operates as a multifaceted service organization for local government, providing a regional forum where elected officials, industry experts, community leaders and community members come together to discuss issues and share ideas to solve local challenges.
ACOG represents a six county area that include Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens and Spartanburg counties. Funding for ACOG’s programs and services comes from a variety of sources, including grants from federal and state agencies, as well as dues from member local governments. In 2023, 75 percent of ACOG revenue came from federal sources.
In his presentation to Anderson County Council, ACOG representative Steve Pellissier said Anderson County’s annual investment in ACOG of $93,885 in 2023 had a return on investment in grants and services amounting to $33,476,306. The ROI investment ratio amounted to $356.57 on every $1, he said.
Of that, $2 million were Appalachian Regional Commission Grants; Communty Block Grants of $2,856,820; Rural Infrastructure Authority Grants of $444,500; SCIIP $18,399,813; EPA $5.3 million; SRF $900,000; Transportation Improvement Program $1.8 million; Service to Seniors $1,128,310; and Workforce Development $747,628.
Grants secured included management of $29,991,133 in funding for 14 grant awards; Improvement of 16.4 miles of water infrastructure and 5.6 miles of sewer infrastructure; 1.8 miles of sidewalks and 2,500 sq. ft. of building renovations.
Projects in Anderson County benefitted 32,510 people and 2,193 businesses, Pellissier said.
ACOG helped with Senior Advocacy Services, providing in-home help to 105 seniors and delivering 99,384 hot, frozen and shelf-stable meals to 632 seniors. ACOG answered 74 complaints resulting in the investigation of 39 cases regarding quality care in long-term facilities. Other services included assisting 1,130 seniors with navigating Medicare enrollment and options,, completed 632 senior assessments for needed services, and provided $76,981 in caregiver respite services.
Government Services provided by ACOG included providing technical assistance on budgeting, social media policies, and human resource matters to the cities/town of Pelzer, West Pelzer, Belton and Pendleton. A continuity of Operations Plan was completed for Anderson County to improve the resiliency of county operations during disasters and disruptions. Harassment Training was also offered for Anderson County staff.
Planning Services provided by ACOG included beginning work on a US Hwy. 29 Corridor Study to assess future mobility needs to meet growth in Anderson County; Allocation of $500,000 for the US 29 Corridor Study and $800,000 for preliminary engineering and ROW for intersection improvements at US 29 and Old Williamston Road; Allocation of $500,000 for preliminary engineering of the US 178 resurfacing project.
According to Pellissier, ACOG also rehabilitated eight homes using $283,525 in HOME Consortium funds; provided sate mandated education for 15 planning-related board, commission and staff members from Anderson County communities and reviewed 22 requests for 208 Water Quality Conformance on sewer projects.
ACOG was also insturmental in economic Development with enhanced recruitment efforst of the Anderson County Economic Development team by maintaining both interactive data visualization and property search tools for the County Economic Development website and providing technical assistance through the InfoMentum suite of services.
