“We have a lot to lose” – says 4th generation farmer
Forty-two acres in what one farmer called an “overgrown field” will be professionally prepared for economic development, in line with a vote last night by the Oconee County Council. After a searing session of public comments opposing piped sewer in the heart of Oconee’s farm community, the council approved a $169 thousand contract for a Greenville company to provide the engineering and related services toward a pad ready spot in the here-to-now undeveloped Golden Corner Commerce Park on SC 59. Fair Play farmers filled council meeting chambers to implore the county’s fathers to think twice about Sewer South Phase Two and the repercussions that new commercial or industrial development will have on farmers’ livelihoods and their ability to help feed the public. The night began when Amanda Brock, county administrator, tried to clear confusion between Sewer South and a separate basin study, a study alarming to several farmers. And drew to a close when the president of Oconee’s State Farm Bureau, Justin Ables, warned the council of the consequences of wild economic growth, including the potential for tract (or cookie cutter) housing developments. Following Ables, District Four Councilman Julian Davis sought to dispel talk that he wanted sewer on the road of his Oakway farm and touched on irony that Ables, son of a former county council chairman, spoke on a night some 20 years after his father, Frank Ables, pressed the county to open the southern section to economic development and the jobs that would follow. However, another Fair Play farmer, Tim Donald, says the periods of time are no longer comparable. In the early years of the 21st century, according to Donald, there was great need for job creation, especially in parts of the county passed over by industry. Not the case today as employers are begging for job applicants.