LAURINBURG — The Scotland County Board of Commissioners recently discussed the future of the former IEJ School in Laurinburg, and that conversation morphed into other areas of concern.

Commissioner Clarence McPhatter expressed his disappointment in his fellow board members after many of them showed hesitation on taking ownership of the property which would ultimately be used as a type of community center.

“Would it take members of the community coming back in here and intimidating all of you into doing something positive for them?” asked McPhatter. “There always seems to be a negative, I can read between the lines with the questions.”

Some of the questions McPhatter was referring to were mainly about cost, upkeep and who would take ownership of the building.

McPhatter also pinpointed two other concerns.

“When all of those from Laurel Hill came in here, you all didn’t say anything about the cost, (was there) intimidation?” McPhatter said. “It is what it is because you still haven’t said anything about the $575,000 we threw out the window, because y’all don’t want to talk about it.”

The money McPhatter is referring to is what was lost after administrative mistakes — allegedly made by Economic Development Director Mark Ward and overseen by County Manager Kevin Patterson — were made during a water tank project, followed by a railroad spur project which caused the county to lose the state grant which would have ultimately paid for the work being done. Now, county taxpayers are on the hook for repayment of a state loan for $575,000.

“Do we need to galvanize like Laurel Hill and Wagram to come in and speak so we can make it happen?” continued McPhatter. “If it something we want to see happen, I know how we work — if we want it, we will make it happen. If not, we will block it and it won’t happen. We are trying to provide what residents want without embarrassing the board and have them all come in here.”

Commissioner Darrel “B.J.” Gibson was in agreement with McPhatter and said that the county has provided Wagram with a community center and the one for Laurel Hill is in the works. He asked is it not only fair that those in the Laurinburg area be given one as well?

He went further.

“I think Commissioner McPhatter made mention of a matter that still needs to be addressed,” said Gibson. “Most commissioners seem to be very careful now, but apparently before were much less careful and it is now costing citizens $57,500 annually for 10 years.

“I keep thinking if we invested this much into a community center and services for our most vulnerable population of citizens, our community would be a much better place to live,” Gibson added. “The Edwards Wood Products loan ‘mistake,’ as it has been identified, is a matter that I think has been pushed under the rug without being dealt with properly. Although it happened before my time, I am going to encourage our board to have a conversation and give the people a clear update.”

Commissioner Tim Ivey said McPhatter was “spot on” about the Edwards project.

“It seems it’s been one of those topics no one has wanted to discuss, hoping it would be forgotten,” said Ivey. “I don’t think you can lay this issue to rest until the people of the county who paid for this are made whole and can be assured all proper steps are in place to ensure it never happens again. At this time, I don’t think the population feels that way.”

The response from Patterson, County Chair Whit Gibson and Commissioners Carol McCall, John Alford and Betty Gholston … crickets.

Despite the disagreements among board members, Ivey and Darrel Gibson said the meeting did end fruitfully.

“I was a bit disappointed in the beginning, as it seemed there was a lack of support for the project,” said Darrel Gibson. “I do think overall it ended up being beneficial.”

Darrel Gibson went on to say it is his hope the commissioners will see the value of restoring the IEJ building with the same sense of investment that is being placed into the Laurel Hill Community Center.

“One of the comments I made at the Restoration Committee meeting was that it’s important for everyone in the boat to be rowing in the same direction,” said Darrel Gibson. “By the end of the conversation I felt better, but some seem too hesitant and searching for reasons why we can’t make this happen.”

The hope of the Restoration Committee members, according to Gibson, is that, ultimately, the building will be a community-based building that will allow for some office space, room for the school systems to possibly hold classes as well as other programs that would be beneficial to the area.

“I am hoping we can move this project forward in partnership with the city of Laurinburg, the school system and other entities,” said Darrel Gibson. “However, I think we, the county, have to be willing to take the lead. There is a population in our community not being adequately served and, at some point, we have to be willing to accept that and make it better.

“Everyone knows the northern part of Laurinburg has been neglected and some investments must be made to help the community,” Darrel Gibson continued. “We will go back and do our homework and hopefully provide commissioners with more information so that we can move this project forward for the community. I am in anticipation of seeing that building opened and our citizens being able to enjoy it for various reasons.”

JJ Melton can be reached at [email protected].