Sewer repairs brought to forefront of county budget matters

LAURINBURG — The Scotland County Capital Committee agreed to look into moving some budgetary proposals up the timeline on Wednesday. The two line items at the top of that list combined would cost the budget approximately $110,000.

This came about when county officials met to discuss how funds should be spent in the upcoming years and to see if before mentioned projects are on the right timeline.

“I wanted us to be able to start a conversation about some of the projects already on the projection list,” said County Manager April Snead. “We need to look at these projects to see if some can be moved back and if there are those needing to be moved to the front.”

Mike McGirt, Scotland County building director started by speaking on a few items that will need attention fairly soon.

“Many of the items on this list were presented as projections of what we wanted to do, but now we have had things happen to change the course,” McGirt said.

The two main issues are matters involving county-maintained sewers.

“The main sewer line that helps serve the Department of Social Service Building needs repairs,” explained McGirt. “For that, we are looking at around $50,000.”

The second on McGirt’s list was the sewer lines at the Scotland County Detention Center.

“I recommend that we go in and clear out those lines because they have had a lot of issues,” McGirt said. “The cost of this would be around $60,000.”

Other projects were discussed briefly during the meeting like the possible construction of a new law enforcement center for the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office as well as targeting needs for Scotland County High School.

It was decided to place both on the projection list to be looked into further and to determine where on the schedule those should land.

According to Snead, the dates on the schedule span from the year 2024 and surpass the year 2037. She also stated the purpose of the meeting was not to make any final decisions on what was to come but to get a head start on the process as to determine what projects are needed sooner rather than later.