Business Journal Interview
Job Creation & Economic Development | Growth Management & Land Use Planning
Transportation | Business Journal Interview
(Note: This is archived material from my term in office.)
Chairman Wants County To Grow Wisely
Charleston Regional Business Journal
Dec. 6, 2009, written by Chelsea Hadaway
(Here are some of the county’s issues and progress discussed in the interview.)
As a longtime resident of Summerville, Jamie Feltner has seen the recent explosion in residential growth in the area. But he has also been concerned about the lack of planning and other kinds of growth. “We need to tie residential growth to infrastructure,” Feltner said. Economic development has been a priority for Feltner since he took the position (of County Council Chairman) in January. Now, Dorchester County, replete with sprawling residential growth and at-capacity schools, would like to send the message that it is open and ready for business.
Priorities
“We need to focus on economic development instead of residential development,” Feltner said. In order to attract large companies and businesses to locate in the county, the council has been working to identify potential industrial sites within the county. Dorchester County has the first state-certified industrial site in the tri-county area, Feltner said, off U.S. Highway 78 before St. George. Although the Summerville end of the county is full, the other end near Interstates 26 and 95 has plenty of open space and infrastructure available.“We hadn’t capitalized on that area for some reason,” Feltner said. “We can utilize what we have up there.”
The county has already identified several industrial sites and has started to advertise itself as ready for business. It’s assembled a team to work on the effort, including salespeople and an economic developer. “We’re looking for anything clean,” he said. This could include auto assembly, parts suppliers and other similar industries. Feltner pointed to Bosch, which employs 2,500 people and is a “very clean plant,” as an example. Another element that goes hand-in-hand with attracting business is providing a skilled work force. To that end, the county is working with Trident Technical College and the Trident Workforce Investment Board to build a training site and quick jobs center in Dorchester County. “Before, people had to go elsewhere for training — outside the county,” Feltner said. Having a jobs training site in Dorchester County will help prepare the work force there for new industry.
Diversify the tax base
Part of the reason Dorchester County is trying to expand its tax base it because it has to. The boom in residential growth has brought people to the county, requiring added public works and infrastructure. But many of those new residents are working in other areas. So the county is losing out on the benefit of the tax revenues from the companies that employ them, Feltner said. “People come here to live but drive away to go to work,” he said. “It’s a losing financial game.”
Feltner said the county must limit residential growth in order to allow commercial and industrial growth to catch up. Even the retail area where most Summerville residents shop isn’t within the county. The big shopping centers lie in other counties, which reap the sales tax benefits. “We have to work really hard to keep taxes low for our homeowners because that’s all we have,” Feltner said.
Other issues
Another issue the Dorchester County Council has been dealing with is trash — Charleston County’s trash. With the closure of the incinerator in North Charleston, Charleston County had to find another place for its trash. And it chose Dorchester County. Unlike the publicly owned landfills in Charleston and Berkeley counties, Dorchester County’s landfill, Oakridge Landfill, is privately owned, and the county has no control over it.
Even though the county would be affected, Dorchester County was originally left out of discussions between Oakridge Landfill and Charleston County. Feltner prompted Oakridge and Charleston County to include Dorchester County, and it has had a seat at the table since then. “We were concerned with traffic and safety,” he said. The roads to the landfill on which the big trucks are traveling have steep shoulders and poor intersections, he said.
The county was also concerned about taking on hundreds on tons per day of additional trash with the citizens of Dorchester County not getting anything in return. But since Dorchester County’s inclusion in the discussions, Feltner says some of his concerns have been alleviated. “We still don’t want the trash, but we can’t control that,” Feltner said. “So the best thing we can do is negotiate the best deal and mitigate the effects.”
