5 storylines to know from local government happenings this month

1. Rezoning requests may bring new businesses

A hookah lounge and another Dollar General are poised to get the green light after being approved by the Sumter City-County Board of Zoning Appeals and Sumter City-County Planning Commission, respectively.

The applicant for the lounge, slated for 4672 Broad St., told government officials at a meeting July 10 that she has talked with all her potential neighbors in a business strip on the south side of Broad Street and received no objections. No alcohol will be sold on premises for on-premises consumption.

If a Dollar General comes to fruition at 3555 Camden Hwy. in Dalzell, it would be the 21st such business in Sumter County.

The application indicates the store would be 12,480 square feet and include 50 parking spaces.

2. Abandoned home demolished

Funding from a community development block grant, or CDBG, was recently used to demolish an old, abandoned home in disrepair at 410 Church St.

Demolitions such as this tearing down of the four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with a rotted foundation and stairs crumbled to its cinder block foundations require the City of Sumter having an entitlement community status based on its population density to receive federal CDBG money, as well as property owner approval. Homeowners retain ownership of the land after the demolition is complete to rebuild as they wish.

According to the city, this Church Street home was the eighth demolition this fiscal year.

Codes Director John Macloskie said there are an estimated 150-200 blighted structures that could be covered and up for demolition under a separate federal grant from Congressman Jim Clyburn's office.

3. Transportation improvements

An estimated 6,500 vehicles use the West Liberty Street corridor daily, a number that is poised to grow to 8,000 in coming years, and improvements to the area should pick up steam in 2026, local officials say.

The area was slated as a high-priority project based on traffic and crash data, with intersections being the main place crashes have occurred between 2013 and 2016.

This corridor is one of a handful of transportation projects at top of mind with more than $239 million coming from state and federal funding as well as revenues remaining from the Penny for Progress sales tax initiative voters approved in 2014. It was discussed at a recent Sumter Area Transportation Study Policy Committee meeting, where transportation planning is discussed in front of the public.

Other updates included:

- Engineering and right-of-way acquisition work is underway for the Manning Avenue Bridge replacement project, with contracts expected to move forward early next year;

- Contracts are expected for a revitalization project for North Main Street in spring 2025, with right-of-way acquisition and utility coordination underway; and

- Intersection improvements at Broad Street and North Saint Pauls Church Road is expected to start to move forward in summer 2025.

4. No tax increase in city budget

The city's new budget cycle started July 1, and it was passed balanced with no tax increase.

Last year's budget did include an increase to the millage rate, which is the formula used to calculate property taxes, the first increase in 15 years.

5. Wastewater treatment plant upgrades coming

State funding will bring improvements to the Pocotaligo Wastewater Treatment Plant Bio Solids Drying Plant, which treats wastewater from Sumter and Mayesville before it is discharged into the Pocotaligo River and converts sludge into a low-grade marketable soil enhancer.

Sumter City Council approved $1.2 million for the installation and startup of dust hazard safety upgrade equipment, which is needed in the treatment process.

The plant has a daily capacity of 24 million gallons, and it collects, treats and discharges close to 5 billion gallons of wastewater annually.

Information for this article was taken from reporting by Item government reporters Deirdre Currin and (former) Bryn Eddy.