Lake Wylie park plan goes before committee Oct. 5

The park plan on Crowders Creek in Lake Wylie will be presented to a county committee Oct. 5.

That county finance and operations committee will later report to council members whether to allocate hospitality tax money for the project. The committee includes almost half of the full seven-member council. Councilman Michael Johnson is chairman, joined by Councilmen Bruce Henderson and Robert Winkler.

The latest step comes after the county hospitality tax advisory committee recommended on Aug. 18 to spend $4.9 million for the recreation complex. The county hospitality tax, collected in unincorporated areas on food and drink sales in unincorporated areas like Lake Wylie, has banked about $5 million. About $2.1 million comes in annually. Projects could be bonded up to $10 million.

On Sept. 22, the tax advisory group also voted to recommend $3.2 million for athletic fields on Fort Mill School District property.

Ron Domurat, vice president of Lake Wylie Athletic Association, said the Lake Wylie and Fort Mill plans support each other as large tournaments could use both sets of fields. Domurat was glad to see a decision on the Fort Mill project, which means movement on the Lake Wylie one.

Domurat would like to see a final decision for Lake Wylie by the end of the year or early 2016.

“I imagine it will take some time,” he said.

Neither the Fort Mill nor Lake Wylie recommendations were unanimous, due to an overall numbers crunch. The Clover School District and Upper Palmetto YMCA pitched water park plans for the aquatic center at $1 million, which received council approval earlier this year. The recreation park plan for Lake Wylie is recommended at $4.9 million. Even with the advisory group tabling a $1 million proposal from a film studio on the Catawba reservation, the recommended projects now outspend available money.

Advisory group member Brenda Robbins has concerns depleting the fund, when plans for an agritourism or other facility could be possible.

“He’s going to come to us for money, and we’re not going to have any,” she said.

County Council has final say on whether to fund projects recommended by the advisory group.

This story was originally published September 25, 2015 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Lake Wylie park plan goes before committee Oct. 5."