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USCOG October 2023 County-Specific Activities Report
/in NewsUpper Savannah Council of Governments provides a wide scope of services and performs many functions. This activities report highlights this information and offers us the chance to regularly communicate our general activities in your county with you. Download the October 2023 report here.
USCOG September 2023 County-Specific Activities Report
/in NewsUpper Savannah Council of Governments provides a wide scope of services and performs many functions. This activities report highlights this information and offers us the chance to regularly communicate our general activities in your county with you. Download the September 2023 report here.
USCOG August 2023 County-Specific Activities Report
/in NewsUpper Savannah Council of Governments provides a wide scope of services and performs many functions. This activities report highlights this information and offers us the chance to regularly communicate our general activities in your county with you. Download the August 2023 report here.
Upper Savannah Roadway Departure Safety Implementation Plan Among First of Its Kind
/in NewsThe Upper Savannah Council of Governments Roadway Departure Safety Implementation Plan (RwDSIP) is currently in the development stage. It is one of the first plans of its kind to attempt to address rural roadway safety.
Carolyn Fisher, safety and traffic operations engineer with the S.C. Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), said at a statewide meeting in July 2022 that because South Carolina has such a high rate of fatal accidents, the state is eligible for extra help.
Upper Savannah Government Services Director Rick Green was attending that meeting and accepted the offer.
The FHWA then hired consulting firm VHB out of Raleigh, N.C., to study rural crashes in the Upper Savannah Region of Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood, Laurens, McCormick and Saluda counties.
Himes is leading the study and spoke to USCOG transportation stakeholders at a meeting at the Greenwood Genetic Center Aug. 29.
“The idea is if you get in a crash (on a rural road), you will walk away,” Himes said of the intended results of the plan.
VHB is developing a plan that will likely be completed this fall for the Upper Savannah Region, which is leading the way for the state and nation.
“It will be a template that other councils of government (COGs) here in South Carolina and maybe around the country can use,” Green said. “We are among the first regions that the Federal Highways Administration has used (the others are three Department of Transportation districts in Texas).”
Himes and FHWA Safety Engineer Joseph Cheung addressed the USCOG Board of Directors on Aug. 28. Some of those same COG Board members as well as transportation planners from some other SC COGs and other transportation officials attended the meeting on the 29th.
What they learned at these meetings is that roadway departure crashes in the Upper Savannah Region are random and sporadic in location but consistent in number of accidents per year.
So Himes is recommending a systemic approach in the Upper Savannah Region, deploying countermeasures on roads with the highest risks for fatal or serious injuries whether they have commonly occurred there or not.
Countermeasures can include pavement friction treatments for better tire grip, shoulder or center line rumble strips, clear zones (an unobstructed traversable roadside area), signage, reflective signs or markings, guardrails, widening of shoulders, etc., all steps that can help drivers stay on the road.
Another discovery from the study is that 42 percent of the roadway departure crashes with death or serious injury in the Region involved unbelted drivers. “If people would just wear seat belts, forty percent of those deaths might have been prevented,” Green said.
Roadway departure safety plans tailored to other COG regions might focus more on accident “hot spots,” Himes said.
Green is eager to see the completed version of the Upper Savannah RwDSIP.
“Ultimately we will have a nice roadway departure safety plan and be able to work with local and state Department of Transportation offices to see if we can address the problems that are out there,” Green said.
USCOG July 2023 County-Specific Activities Report
/in NewsUpper Savannah Council of Governments provides a wide scope of services and performs many functions. This activities report highlights this information and offers us the chance to regularly communicate our general activities in your county with you. Download the July 2023 report here.
USCOG June 2023 County-Specific Activities Report
/in NewsUpper Savannah Council of Governments provides a wide scope of services and performs many functions. This activities report highlights this information and offers us the chance to regularly communicate our general activities in your county with you. Download the June 2023 report here.
USCOG May 2023 County-Specific Activities Report
/in NewsUpper Savannah Council of Governments provides a wide scope of services and performs many functions. This activities report highlights this information and offers us the chance to regularly communicate our general activities in your county with you. Download the May 2023 report here.
Upper Savannah Counties, Municipalities Eligible to Apply for Funding in Newly Announced Program
/in NewsThis cycle of the State Economic and Infrastructure Development (SEID) Grant Program will fund projects that revitalize and transform communities, spurring economic development in parts of Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
Click https://scrc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/SCRC-SEID-Grant-NOFA-06082023-release.pdf for more details.
The program is designed to invest in critical infrastructure including expanding basic water and sewer, increasing access to affordable and reliable digital infrastructure, and supporting transportation infrastructure and transit services.
The program is also designed to improve health and support services access and outcomes, promote workforce development programs, foster entrepreneurial and business development activities, expand affordable housing stock and access, and promote environmental, conservation, preservation and access to increase outdoor recreation and tourism opportunities.
Funding amounts will range from $50,000 to $500,000 and a match will be required. The match amount will depend on the economic distress level of the county as determined by the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission.
The pre-application portal will open June 19 and will be due July 21, and full application portal will open Aug. 7 with grant application due Sept. 15, 2023. Project awards will be announced Nov. 14, 2023.
City of Greenwood Receives CDBG Grant Award to Upgrade Sewer Lines in Neighborhood
/in NewsThe City of Greenwood has acquired a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to rehabilitate sewer lines in the Booker T. Washington neighborhood, the S.C. Department of Commerce announced Wednesday.
The CDBG grant award is $840,000. Greenwood Metro is providing a $400,190 grant match for a total project cost of $1,240,190.
Upper Savannah COG Community Development staff prepared and submitted the grant application on behalf of the City of Greenwood in the CDBG spring infrastructure round.
Nine CDBG projects totaling almost $8.5 million were awarded throughout the State.
The Booker T. Washington project will take place on Central Avenue, North Hospital Street, Brewer Avenue, and New Street in the City of Greenwood.
Rehabilitation will include approximately 4,800 feet of 8-inch sewer line with Cured in Place Pipe (CIPP), rehabilitation of 25 brick manholes, and installation of new frames and covers.
There will be approximately 65 service connections in the public right of way. No land acquisition is anticipated.
This project will benefit approximately 56 units, occupied by an estimated 119 persons. Ninety-five percent of the residents in the project area are low to moderate income.
USCOG Hosts First Informal Lunch for Mayors; Funding Programs, Common Issues Discussed
/in NewsA group of seven mayors met for an informal lunch at Upper Savannah COG Thursday to discuss common issues and learn about funding programs that can help their communities.
USCOG has hosted town and county clerks and also city, town and county administrators for informal lunches over the years. This was the first such meeting for mayors.
The mayors of Clinton, Waterloo, Lowndesville, McCormick, Edgefield, Saluda and Gray Court attended.
The mayors learned that Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens and McCormick counties and their municipalities are eligible to apply for funding in the new Growing Rural Communities Grant Program.
Recently launched by the S.C. Department of Commerce, the program is designed to support community growth and prosperity by providing funding for programs that enhance economic development, improve infrastructure, and promote quality of life in rural areas.
A community project identification process must be completed prior to grant approval by contacting contact Peggy McLean at pmclean@SCcommerce.com. A group of 10-15 people per community will be selected for interviews to discuss potential projects, USCOG Government Services Director Green told the mayors.
The mayors also discussed funding that is available for environmental assessments of brownfields sites across South Carolina, enabling for the possible redevelopment of properties that might have contaminants such as asbestos, lead-based paint, oil or other chemicals.
The Upper Savannah Region has received a total of $73,446 to use for projects over a two-year period ending September 2024. A brownfields site is a former industrial or commercial site where future use is affected by real or perceived environmental contamination.
The site of environmental testing must be owned by a city, town or county, or be supported by a municipality for possible redevelopment. A private entity may apply for funding if supported by their municipality or county. A letter of support will be required from the administrator or council chair.
Examples of sites that might be redeveloped after environmental testing for contaminants include old gas stations, automobile repair shops, car dealerships, textile mills, laundrymats, etc.
A Phase I environmental site assessment averages around $3,500. Green said three projects in the region have already been submitted: the old McCormick County Administration Building where there are plans to develop apartments and office space, and two old mill sites in the City of Clinton where housing developments are being considered at both sites.
The mayors of Edgefield and Saluda both mentioned sites of interest in their towns that are potential brownfields projects.
Several common issues were discussed, including how to fund housing rehabilitation needs in their communities where many residents cannot afford to fix problems such as roofs and windows.
Mayors discussed incentive programs that their communities are offering to their merchants to improve the condition of their buildings.
Also discussed were salary increases that have been put in the S.C. budget for state law enforcement officers, making it difficult for local police and sheriff’s offices to make their salaries competitive. One mayor wishes local communities could get more law enforcement funding also.
“It is going to be difficult to keep officers if they can make more money” as a state trooper, one mayor said.