County leaders mull a Utica improvement project

To what extent can Oconee County come to the rescue of troubled Utica? A lengthy committee discussion last night ended with the chairman’s decision to propose a vote on a Utica improvement plan when the full council meets Friday in its annual retreat meeting. As a former Utica resident, District Three’s Paul Cain has a special interest in Utica, where life in the 20th century revolved around a now closed textile plant. Cain and his colleagues welcomed Nelson and Marlene Vassey and others concerned with Utica to the meeting of the council’s planning and economic development committee. Mr. Vassey led the presentation which included comments and photographs about drugs, blight, and other problems that beset Utica in the 21st century. Cain announced that the county will follow the progress of legislation at the state level that will empower counties with similar kinds of authorities that municipalities now enjoy when it comes to ridding neighborhoods of blight. His colleague, Julian Davis, says he’s concerned about the cost of asbestos abatement that would likely be required when a burned out or abandoned structure is removed. The Vasseys delivered a sad message about how Utica has fallen in recent years, but there is hope. A separate group is raising money to build a youth center and a Methodist church there conducts a successful weekly program to feed the hungry.