Metric Road has development opportunities on both ends. For that reason, the Laurens County Water & Sewer Commission has placed a 1 Million-gallon water tank near the spot where it intersects with Hwy 14, connecting Laurens with Gray Court.
At this spot, water can be pumped through a 16-inch line to Gray Court, where LCWSC owns the town water system and the town is home to the massive ZF Transmissions plant.
The “other end” is at Hwy 221 North, home to the Hunter Industrial Park, Walmart Distribution Center, and the Piedmont Technical College Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CAM), all within proximity to I-385.
Coming on-line April 19, the Metric Road tank was among the projects reviewed Aug. 25, as the LCWSC board heard projects updates from the commission staff. The projects are fulfilling the commission’s long-range mission to facilitate the growth of Laurens County.
This is a $12 Million project, just recently receiving final reimbursements from the Economic Development Administration.
Most of LCWSC’s major expansion projects are federal- or state-grant driven investments.
Viewing the tank’s location behind a convenience store, Metric Road at Hwy 14, where a traffic light recently was installed, LCWSC Executive Director Jeff Field pointed out to the board, “Also, we have a line the other way, toward Lanford, 221 North beyond the Walmart Distribution Center and around the CAM.”
This opens the potential for water-availability if the CAM’s surrounding land were to open for more development. A motel, 7-Eleven, and Waffle House, along with industrial properties, sit there now. This is in proximity to the Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation SC grounds (3688 Warrior Creek Church Road, where the 18th Annual Powwow is scheduled for Sept. 26).
While this project is grant-funds driven, LCWSC has another in-the-neighborhood project that is being done in-house.
It is upgrading 5,000 ft of 6-inch force-main sewer line along I-385, from the in-the-median rest area to the Waffle House on Hwy 221N. This $174,873 project is scheduled for completion this month. The contractor, Roper Brothers, used this project for a promotional video.
Upgrading the line from 6-inch to 8-inch, the project is unique for the boring under I-385 that LCWSC had to acquire permission to do from the South Carolina Department of Transportation.
The EDA reimbursement of just over $500,000 for the Metric Road tank is part of the $9.3 Million cash balance for LCWSC one month into the first quarter of the fiscal year. At this time last year, with several projects on-going, that cash balance figure was $7M, the board was told. It’s part of the steady growth that LCWSC wants to see — 81 new water taps and 47 new sewer taps installed in July.
Water taps include 7 irrigation taps, which are exempt from Impact Fees but can be shut off during drought conditions.
LCWSC wants to continue expanding its sanitary sewer system, but that requires continuous study.
An additional wastewater treatment plant for Northern Laurens County is under study. However, several subdivisions in Northern Laurens County are reaching their build-out, and that affects LCWSC in terms of expanding public sewer.
Next: Sept. 23: a Clear Well at the Lake Greenwood Water
