Two government decisions ending out 2023 and going into 2024 bear watching in the coming year by citizens. The Laurens County Council has authorized borrowing $30 Million to finish exterior and interior renovations of the Historic Courthouse. The Clinton City Council has decided not to participate in a class action lawsuit against 3M and Monsanto related to “forever chemicals” in the water supply.
First, the County - Council passed Resolution #2023-51C as the year was ending and it says money needs to be borrowed for “planning, developing, acquiring, constructing, equipping and improving courthouse, election, veterans-affairs facilities and other County facilities (the “Project”) with the proceeds of debt obligations reasonably expected not to exceed $30,000,000 (collective, the “Obligations”).” The Phase 2 exterior renovations of the Historic Courthouse are about $2 Million over what the Capital Projects Sales Tax proceeds will pay, so that has to be paid for - and, what’s the use of renovating a building if you can’t use it, so the inside has to be brought up to code and made functional (that’s Phase 3). Then, the county wants to move its E911 and Emergency Management functions to the rear of a former grocery store that houses offices for elections and veterans. That moves dispatchers from the basement of the old library in Laurens.
The County feels it needs to make that move because the basement could be subjected to flooding from a nearby creek; HOWEVER, where the dispatchers work now is like a military bunker - a tornado could flatten the building above it and, likely, communications would continue. We would suspect that engineers are going to have to design something similar for the back portion of 105 Bolt Dr. -- buying all new equipment for E911 Communications also wouldn’t be a bad idea.
So, through bonds that are paid by taxes, Laurens County Taxpayers are going to finance a new, recycled-building offices for Elections, Veterans and Communications AND centralize county operations, since the Bolt Drive building is next door to the Hillcrest Center (courts, services, and administration). That leaves only the Sheriff’s Office as Laurens County’s major unaddressed, in-need-of-repair building. What’s the tax burden going to be? is a question for later.
Second, the City - Council has decided to hire attorneys to “go out on its own” to potentially recover Tens of Millions of Dollars - rather than about $1 Million offered in a huge settlement - in something called the Aqueous Film-Forming Foams Product Liability Litigation. You know the chemical that makes foam coming out of fire extinguishers, and makes non-stick fry pans actually not stick? That’s what we’re talking about - the stuff is not good for you, and it’s in the water supply. Before The Government steps in and tells everybody who runs a water system to filter these chemicals out, 3M and Monsanto have agreed to a settlement amount (more than $10 Billion). Water-Cities throughout South Carolina are making the decision - join the settlement or sue on our own. The Charleston Post & Courier’s Pee Dee office put together a very comprehensive article about what Water-Cities in the eastern part of the state are doing - and, as expected, it’s a mixed bag.
Some want money now - to invest - hoping it will be enough to meet government standards in the future; others want to see the standards first, then ask 3M and Monsanto for their money. The Post & Courier article says concerns about “forever chemicals” have been around since the 1940s. It’s not clear what the effects of this stuff -- per- and polyfluoroalky substances -- are on humans, but people who study these things figure we’ve all been exposed to them.
The, literal, Million Question is, Will the Government ban the stuff? We expect the current Biden Administration will, and the projected Trump Administration won’t. Donald Trump gutted thousands of regulations/businesses red tape when he was president, and still brags about it. Biden, as a Democrat, never met a government regulation he didn’t like. If the chemicals are NOT banned, what’s the incentive for 3M and Monsanto to pay anybody who hasn’t already sued, and settled? It’s the typical “bird in the hand” questions that we, as taxpayer and rate-payers, put in the hands of our officials.
ALSO, Laurens County’s Treasury is reaping the benefits of once vacant/farm land becoming higher-taxpaying subdivisions:
There’s a place in the planning department page on the Laurens County website where you can look up the subdivisions that have been authorized for the county. Note that some other approved subdivisions fall under the guidance of planning officials and commissions in the City of Clinton and the City of Laurens. Either no subdivisions were authorized in 2023, or this listing has not been updated. The County has no zoning; both Clinton and Laurens Cities have zoning.
Listing of Approved Subdivisions by Year
Approved in 2020
Approved in 2021
Holly Grove
Approved in 2022
