CPST Commission chooses projects
May 26—NEWBERRY COUNTY — The Newberry County Capital Projects Sales Tax Commission has officially made their decision of what projects should be on the November ballot and in what order.
Over the course of three meetings, the CPST Commission made tough decisions and cut projects completely, trimmed some down and decided where they should appear on the ballot.
Here is the final ballot listing, which includes 12 projects spanning the entire county:
1. Newberry County Public Safety Complex, including facilities for Emergency Services, a relocated Friendly Fire Department and a relocated Newberry Rescue Squad ($7.75 million).
2. Improvements to City of Newberry Recreation Complex, including splash pad expansion, Miracle Field, skate park, sidewalk and paved walking trail, shade structures, additional restrooms, and maintenance access drive and maintenance building ($3,295,000).
3. Improvements to Town of Prosperity parks, including Langford Street Park, Town Center Park, North Main Street Park and Town Center Football-Soccer Field ($3.15 million).
4. New cell block building and upgrades to support facilities at Newberry County Detention Center ($8 million).
5. Improvements to Town of Little Mountain Reunion Park, including park entrance upgrade, walking trail, shelter renovations with stage conversion, renovation of smokehouse/picnic shelter including bathrooms ($2,015,825).
6. Downtown Newberry amphitheater and pavilion/support building ($3.65 million).
7. Upgrade and Expansion of Newberry County Water and Sewer Authority's Cannon's Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant ($5,154,560).
8. Renovation of a portion of Gallman High School on Brantley Street in Newberry for use as community center by Building Thriving Communities Foundation ($1.45 million).
9. IT/Network/Security Improvements at Newberry County Courthouse ($295,000).
10. Roof replacement and HVAC improvements at The Newberry Museum ($815,000).
11. Improvements to Town of Pomaria's Old Pomaria School community center ($671,745).
12. Improvements to Town of Whitmire City Gym ($800,000).
The decision of what projects to include did not come lightly as the commission was tasked with taking over $47 million in projects down by roughly $10 million.
To start, Chairperson Lisa Toland first asked the CPST Commission to cut three projects entirely.
Initial cuts were Prosperity Well Rehab and Water Tank Construction ($4,562,500), Mawsons Way ($2 million) and Little Mountain Reunion Park Amphitheater ($1,976,803).
They then cut down projects that made it on the ballot by eliminating some of their components. The Newberry Recreation Complex lost four items, Hidden Lake dock and nature trail ($145,000), additional shelters ($295,000) playground addition ($160,000) and cabin driveway and parking improvements ($190,000). The Town of Prosperity park improvement had two park improvements removed, Downtown Square ($190,000) and Highway 76 Park ($100,000).
The Little Mountain Reunion Park renovations were decreased by $440,819, specifically limiting the scope for the BBQ Smokehouse renovations. The Upgrades to Whitmire City Gym were also lowered from $1.38 million to $800,000.
During the second meeting, the CPST Commission chose the order of the projects, as seen above. During their third meeting, they chose the payment method, which is to bond the projects.
After approving the ballot and payment method, the CPST Commission sent the ballot back to Newberry County Council for their approval. During council's May 18 meeting, they approved, in title only, the first reading of the ordinance to impose the 1% sales tax for these projects.
This will not be a new penny sales tax, but a continuation of the sales tax already in place in Newberry County.
To see details on the projects listed above, see past articles written about the projects: "CPST Commission hears first round of proposals" and "CPST Commission hears final projects."
Reach Andrew Wigger @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.
