Spartanburg County Council OKs sewer district annexation despite Inman's objections

Inman officials had planned to annex 4,211 acres on SC Highway 292, but Spartanburg County Council decided to allow Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District to annex the land.

The Meadows Creek Drainage Area northeast of Inman contains 742 properties — a mix of residential and farmland — that have septic systems and no public sewer.

Public sewer is considered one of the keys to providing for high-density residential and industrial growth.

Inman Councilman Kevin Newman said the city has been "planning for many years to incorporate these properties into our sewer system."

Once in Inman's sewer system, that area would be annexed into the city of Inman. With a population of more than 3,000, Inman has been experiencing rapid growth the past few years, he told County Council on Monday, Dec. 11.

"We now have a vibrant downtown with over $7 million in local investment for 2023, we host over a dozen special events each year and we are very excited about the southern point for the Saluda Grade Trail coming in the near future," Newman said.

"Being able to grow is our way of making sure that our city can continue to be the community our residents have come to enjoy," he added. "The ability to have input on the entrance corridor from U.S Highway 26 to our downtown is our primary target."

Inman City Administrator Joe Lanahan said property owners in the Meadows Creek Drainage Area have shown a willingness to be annexed into Inman, which has zoning laws.

"The sprawl of Highway 9 (in Boiling Springs) has become what the city of Inman has wanted to protect against," Lanahan said. "If you come into the city, you receive city police, fire, sanitation and trash services. And insurance rates for being in the city are less."

Newman said Inman has spent nearly $800,000 on engineering and planning and predicted a total cost of $10 million to provide sewer service to the drainage area. Lanahan said the city is also planning to expand the capacity of its wastewater treatment plant to accommodate growth.

However, Spartanburg Sanitary Sewer District has also been targeting the Meadows Creek Drainage Area, seeking to expand public sewer there to handle future growth.

A year ago, the County Council awarded $20.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to the sanitary sewer district to expand gravity sewer extensions to that drainage area.

However since the property owners did not request to be annexed, the sewer district needed County Council's approval, which was granted on Monday, Dec. 11.

As a result, the sewer district will proceed with the project.

"The county is well within their rights to do this," Lanahan said. "That is not a question. But we would like to be involved, and be a partner."

County Council Chairman Manning Lynch, who was a member of the sewer district commission for 28 years, said having the sewer district expand public sewer to Meadows Creek instead of Inman makes the most sense.

"SSSD has the ability to provide gravity flow all the way from Meadows Creek all the way to the treatment plant (on Southport Road)," he said. "Small systems don't have the manpower and resources. To deliver the project in a timely and proper fashion, it takes an operation the size of SSSD."

Bob Montgomery covers Spartanburg County politics and growth & development. Reach him via email at bob.montgomery@shj.com.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg County OKs sewer annexation over Inman's objections