Lancaster County could get $68 million of jail, road, park upgrades. Here’s the list.
Two votes — one by county officials and the other by the public — are all that remains for more than $68 million worth of capital projects in Lancaster County.
After several meetings the county capital projects sales tax committee finalized a list Thursday. That list of 14 projects now goes to Lancaster County Council. If approved there, it would show up in November on the general election ballot.
In the plan, sales tax revenue would pay for detention center upgrades, roads, airport expansion, recreation space and other work. Projects likely wouldn’t start until 2022 at the earliest.
The two largest dollar amounts also are the top two priorities. The commission approved more than $30 million for new detention center space and more than $13 million for road improvements. Both figures were well lower than the requested amounts of $47 million for jail space and $34 million for roads.
The roads amount was approved last, with remaining funds within the $68 million estimated budget after amounts were set elsewhere. The commission could’ve decided more specifically how to allocate what was about a third of the requested amount for roads.
“This commission is satisfied with public works (making) the decision on best use of the funds assigned for roads and rehab,” said commission Chairman Charles Deese.
There were 25 projects submitted for the capital sales tax funding. Of them, 18 made the final vote but three — Gay Street streetscaping in Lancaster, a new fire department building in Kershaw and an airport industrial park road — didn’t get a dollar amount at the final vote.
Six of the 14 projects that made the funding list would receive less than their requested amount. Some projects got their full amount, but fell lower on the prioritized list. A senior center in Indian Land, for instance, is listed at the almost $3 million requested but is the final project on the list.
“The detention center would be bonded,” said Steve Willis, county administrator. “Everything else would be pay (as you) go. So we’re going to work them in the order that you have determined.”
Five projects impact the high-growth Indian Land panhandle, apart from the detention and road projects that reach countywide.
The full list, by dollar amount, includes:
▪ $30.1 million for the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office detention center
▪ $13.2 million for road rehab and resurfacing
▪ $9.6 million for U.S. 521 widening
▪ $2.9 million for Indian Land Senior Center
▪ $1.8 million for Heath Springs EMS station
▪ $1.8 million for Van Wyck Road EMS station
▪ $1.5 million for Lindsay Pettus Greenway
▪ $1.5 million for Gay Street Commons in Lancaster
▪ $1 million for USC Lancaster
▪ $1 million for the old bank building in Kershaw
▪ $1 million for Hwy. 9 pedestrian connections
▪ $1 million for Walnut Creek field improvements
▪ $900,000 for new airport terminal and hangar
▪ $647,640 for Van Wyck community park
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 9:00 AM.
