Greenway grant request rejected

A grant application for a greenway to connect parts of Oconee with two neighboring South Carolina counties is now by the wayside–a development pleasing to critics who claim the millions that it would cost is wrongheaded in light of other pressing needs.  But Seneca’s councilman, Paul Cain, strong supporter of the recreation benefits a region greenway would mean, doesn’t see the rejection as a death blow.  His colleague, Matthew Durham of Mountain Rest, used the term “sigh of relief” as he addressed those in last night’s council audience opposed to the project.  One greenway critic, the homebuilder Tom Markovich, has suggested to the county fathers that, in place of committing $300 thousand toward an engineer’s study for the greenway, the county would be wise to work toward a by-pass for an alternate route away from the 123 Clemson traffic snarl.