County prepares for opening of $3.5 million transit center

The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, South Carolina, 2012-11-30

By Lee Hendren, The Times and Democrat, Orangeburg, S.C.

Nov. 30--"We are trying to make the quality of life better for our citizens," Orangeburg County Council member Janie Cooper-Smith said Tuesday after council accepted ownership of the $3.5 million transit center on Carolina Avenue.

"It's a state-of-the-art building and everything in this building had to be made in America: the nails, the cement, the bricks, the furniture, everything," Cooper-Smith said.

County Administrator Harold Young said the grand opening ceremony for the two-story, 9,150-square-foot multi-purpose structure will be in January. The date has not yet been set.

"I would like for the citizens to come out and witness the ribbon-cutting ceremony and take advantage of our transit system," Cooper-Smith said. "We need their ridership. It is not a countywide thing yet but we hope it will soon become countywide."

The transit center will be the hub of the Orangeburg-Calhoun Cross County Connection, a bus service begun in 2009 that has run tens of thousands of trips around downtown Orangeburg, among area college campuses and to and from St. Matthews.

Councilman Johnnie Ravenell said, "We know it's going to benefit the citizens of Orangeburg County as a whole," including rural residents."

He said routes to towns in the eastern end of the county were included in the original plans but "evidently we did not get enough citizen participation, but hopefully it will be tried again. Sometimes when you try something new, people are not used to it and I think it's just going to take a little time."

The Santee-Wateree Regional Transit Authority has operated the bus service out of offices in a Chestnut Street strip mall, but a need was seen for a more permanent facility.

"When we went after federal funds" to build the transit center, "the federal Department of Transportation required that it be awarded through a Council of Governments," Young explained. The county "could not be awarded directly. We had to give the property to the Lower Savannah Council of Governments until the duration of the grant was over. Now that the building is constructed, they are giving the property to us."

In a special called meeting, council also gave second reading to an ordinance allowing the county to issue a bond anticipation note for up to $3 million to purchase ambulances, sheriff's patrol cars and other vehicles. A public hearing is set for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 5 in council chambers.

Council Chairman Johnnie Wright said some readers of earlier news articles expressed "some concern we were going into the towing business. That is not the intent.

"We are not competing with the (private sector). This is only for county vehicles when they break down."

Young said his previous reference to county trucks towing impounded vehicles for the sheriff's office was "misstated." He clarified that county tow trucks will be used "to preserve evidence" when vehicles are impounded in connection with criminal cases, but private-sector tow trucks will continue to be hired for routine towing of vehicles, such as when the driver is arrested and no one else is available to move the car.

Final approval was given to an ordinance changing the zoning of property at the intersection of Old Number Six Highway and Camden Road from forest agricultural to commercial general.

After 15 minutes in public session, council voted to adjourn, then met in executive session for the stated purposes of "library information," "property purchase," "economic development" and "a legal briefing related to a potential legal claim."

Contact the writer: lhendren@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5552.



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