Roads to be built to enter industrial parks

Workers this year are expected to pave entrance roads into two of Oconee’s undeveloped industrial park properties. Richard Blackwell says these projects have been long-awaited. The entrance roads are planned at the Golden Corner Commerce Park at Fair Play and at the Seneca Rail Park on county-owned property that adjoins the city’s industrial park. Blackwell, the county’s economic development director, gave a report Thursday to the county’s state “C” Fund Committee which is paying the bill for part of the work. Preceding the Seneca Rail Park entrance road connecting to Shiloh Road will be the removal of several acres of trees. Unfortunately, Blackwell said, sale of the timber would bring little or no value. At the Golden Corner Commerce Park, winter weather has delayed county road crews from completing the official entrance road. However, the work schedule will pick up once temperatures moderate and there’s no further frozen precipitation to impede the project. The end game for all of this work is the ability for the county to have ready-site locations to attract new employers. In the case of Gold Corner, attorneys are at work on agreements toward acquiring a state loan to build there the county’s next speculative industrial building.