Something’s “up” at Lake Hartwell, and it’s not just the water levels, which appear to have almost completely bounced back after a severe 2007-09 drought.
Specifically, we’re referring to a proposed “recreational development” on a 300-acre tract of taxpayer land on the Oconee County (a.k.a. Deliverance) side of the lake.
From UpstateToday.com:
A spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism said Tuesday that a state budget office recently declared a proposal by a Seneca group to develop the property as being “responsive.”
Marion Edmonds, director of communications for the state PRT, said the “responsive” designation means that the Materials Management Office of the South Carolina Budget and Control Board considers the bid presented by Sanctuary Pointe LLC of Seneca to be financially viable after making a complete review of the group’s proposal.
The general framework for the project, as described by the state’s Request for Proposal (RFP) issued in the fall of 2008, calls for the building of a golf course, hotel/conference center, water activity facilities, restaurant and rental cabins.
Sanctuary Pointe was the only firm to respond to the state’s RFP last fall.
Hmmmm … we can’t put our finger on it just yet but something fishy is going on here.
Oconee County officials recently voted to spend tax dollars to provide sewer service to the area, as well …
By Delivery it! January 7, 2010 at 9:47 am
I’ve lived in Oconee County for three years now. At least we’re not as backward as Union County, Anderson County or half the low country of South Carolina.
The sewer project and several other issues tied to this proposed development have been debated on local radio talk shows and in the local rag.
I take it Willie is a native of Oconee County?
By Ynotfirst January 7, 2010 at 10:20 am
whoa, building a park while the state budget is crumbling????
is this like the SC version of the CCC?
By Not Sayin', Just Sayin' January 7, 2010 at 10:42 am
The egg-toothed Tater in charge of the House budget will make this retreat happen. Too bad he can’t buy an ACC Championship for their once-great football team, too.
By Skidmarks January 7, 2010 at 11:06 am
What the hell?
The news story I read said this was to be a private development with some public access.
What the hell!
Please stay on this story.
By Joseph Reynolds January 7, 2010 at 5:08 pm
I dont read it to mean that the state is ponying up the money…but rather that the developers will be using their money to develop state owned property…
in other words..
public/private partnership.
Can you think of a better use of non revenue producing land sitting empty and putting NOTHING back into state or local covers?…all the while producing jobs in construction and the varuious facilities at the resort..
Sounds like a great, fiscally responsible plan, if you ask me…
Now lets do the same with about 30 other pieces of state owned land scattered throughout SC…
By political hack January 8, 2010 at 1:29 pm
This will just be another government ran resort. Public/private ownership just means that the project can’t go bankrupt, and even if no one goes there or the resort begins to bleed money, our taxpayer dollars will go into keeping it afloat. There are plenty other golf courses up that direction without the need of one issued and ran by the state. But, I reckon that the Oconee boys would appreciate it, at least in the short run, given people can even afford to go there and spend money.
By Doug Bietermein January 8, 2010 at 5:24 pm
If this is the property that the South Carolina Welcome Center is on then they should do the same thing to all of the other Welcome Centers and close them and not funnel anymore tax money down the drain. These places were great until the first GPS and first cell phone with internet access came out. Now they are as out dated as a video rentel store. Imagine how much could be saved in the South Carolina State Budget if all of the South Carolina Welcome Centers were closed.
By southernmapart January 8, 2010 at 11:02 pm
First of all, the local rag is not reliable for factual reporting. In other words, verify everything you read, or is hinted at, in that paper.
Next, is that the current proposal for sewer in Oconee County is to serve the truck stop at the third exit (Exit 4) on the Interstate in Anderson County. Anderson County is not contributing to the $6.6 million in construction costs, or the $500,000 annual operating costs with very few sewer customers to pay user fees to pick up the tab. The county taxpayers pick up the tab.
But, wait a minute, seems there’s a little opposition. Somebody tried slip by the public with a funky curled up 8 x 11 1/2 sheet of paper of a DHEC notice on the “lots for sale” sign on the county hayfield industrial park. It may all happen, but not easily. Protest. Ahh, good ol’ protestors complained to DHEC, which is now extending the public comment session to January 29th on the Oconee County sewer line that will serve Anderson County taxpayers.
Comments go to:
Jaeho Ho
Domestic Wastewater Permitting
Bureau of Water, SC DHEC
2600 Bull Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Phone: (803)898-4329
Fax: (803)898-4215
They wanna spray the schitt on a field that is too rock hard to absorb it during rainy weather. To fix that, proposal is to build a holding tank to hold all that truck stop schitt until it quits raining. Now, if it don’t quit raining long enough to spray, and the holding tank is full and overflowing, I’ll guess DHEC’ll be at the truck stop closing them down. That’s what DHEC did with the motel at Exit 2, closed it down to ten rooms when it overflowed into Hartwell Lake.
btw, the creek down there ain’t big enough to carry off the treated waste water, which is the reason for the spray gig.
I realize the article was about the “park” at Exit 1. Well, the county boys have sewer for that somewhere in the pipeline, but they are hell bent to serve the truck stop in Anderson County first. Anderson County doesn’t want to pay for any of the sewer because the truck stop is already on a package plant.
By John Morgan January 21, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Sewer is one of the basic building blocks of economic growth. With growth our children have job opportunities right here in Oconee County. It’s an investment that comes back over and over.