Clarendon County to improve water access using new study

By ROBERT BAKER
Item Staff Writer
bbaker@theitem.com

MANNING — Officials eager to get water and wastewater access throughout Clarendon County will now look toward a feasibility study that will prioritize projects for the next five, 10 and 20 years, according to those attending the meeting Thursday of the county's water and wastewater Administrative Review Committee.

Manning Administrator Rebecca Rhodes, Summerton Administrator Bruce Behrens, Turbeville Administrator Pat Goodwin and Clarendon County Development Director John Truluck all participated in the meeting.

The committee has met monthly since December after being charged by Clarendon County Council with finding a way for the municipalities and the county to work together to bring water and wastewater to county residents.

At last month's meeting, the administrators decided to have their respective public works directors meet with Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments representatives to design a map that would pinpoint hook-up lines between different city and county lines. These connection points, which would link Summerton to Manning to Turbeville and vice versa, are essential to providing water to areas that desperately need it, like Newman Branch, New Zion or Forreston, Behrens has said.

Behrens, who also chairs the committee, said Thursday that the committee should next look at a feasibility study and also present whatever findings that has to each of the county's four councils — Manning City Council, Turbeville Town Council, Summerton Town Council and Clarendon County Council — in order to make sure future configurations of those bodies uphold any current agreements that might be made.

"We should go around to the councils and get resolutions much like we did in December," he said. "We want us to all be in this together because there is a benefit to us all being on board with this."

County Grants Administrator Steve Harrington said that those resolutions would help him with finding funding.

"I think that if we could get all the councils in on it, and I could say to the funders that we have these four councils agreeing and that we're all on the same page, that will look very favorably," he said. "Hopefully, by that time we will have a study done so we will be able to move forward from there."

The committee will meet again at 10 a.m. June 4 at the Development Board Office in Manning.

Contact Staff Writer Robert Baker at bbaker@theitem.com or (803) 435-8511.