Clear Answers on Florence's Water Issues w/ Mayor Barnes & City Manager Davis

Mayor Lethonia Barnes and City Manager Scotty Davis sit down with us for a candid, behind-the-scenes conversation about what’s really happening inside Florence’s water system — and more importantly, what’s being done about it. From iron-rich aquifers to construction disturbances, they break down the science, the safety standards, and the long-term fix in plain English.

With more than $200 million committed to water, sewer, and stormwater upgrades through 2045, city leadership is putting real investment behind real solutions — modernizing plants, expanding capacity, and using smart technology to keep Florence growing the right way.

Have a question about Florence’s water? Drop it in the comments. We’re reading them, or even better go straight to the source and call the people who can do something about it!  843-665-3236

Transcript

Meet The Mayor And City Manager

SPEAKER_04 0:12

Double R Flowtown. We said we had some heavy hitters coming. Reeves.

Reeves 0:18

We are blessed to have them. Mayor Barnes, City Manager, Mr. Scotty Davis, uh, City of Florence, we are delighted to welcome you to the Double R Flowtown podcast and excited for you to share what's going on in Florence.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

Thank you guys so much. Thank you for having me. Thank you. Thank you.

Reeves 0:35

Pleasure to be here. Robert, I was at the Home Builders Association last week, and uh the mayor and city manager were there sharing some updates for the home builders, and you particularly talked about the water, the infrastructure with the water as well as the sewer. And if you've been around Florence, you know that can be a little bit of a hot button topic.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Yes.

Paths To Public Service

Reeves 0:57

So we wanted to have you on uh to share about that. Before we get to that, if you will, both of you, and mayor will start with you. Just tell us a little bit about your story and how you got to be the mayor of Florence.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Actually, it it was not planned because I am not the typical uh politician. I I this was not something that I said I would always want to do, but I've always been a community person, always worked in the community. And I heard a talk show on the radio, and a person called in and they complain and they complain and they complain. And the radio host said, So what are you gonna do about it? That stuck with me. And um I then decided to run. I ran for school board, and Trish called a kick my butt. Um but you know, she and I are still friends today. Um, but it it kind of opened some things up, and one day my husband said, Let's go to a city council meeting. Went to the city council meeting, and Octavia Blake was leaving, and that seat was coming open, and so the three ladies who were on council said, Hey, would you be interested in running for city council? And I'm like, What? Me? And I said, Well, we'll pray about it. And I did, and thus is the history. Um, I'm not the typical um politician, I am a forever citizen of Florence. Well, I serve with someone who has been a longtime person that served the city on the other side for the city, um, working behind the scenes. I've been that voice saying they should do this and they should do that. And now God has given me the opportunity to actually um help Florence to be better. And so I take it very serious that this opportunity that has been given to me. That's awesome.

Reeves 3:04

That is very cool. And I want to hear more as we go in the podcast about kind of the vision and initiatives you have, not just around water, but around living in Florence. But uh thank you for sharing that. Mr. Davis, tell us a little bit about your story.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Certainly. Um, as we talked about, I grew up in the metropolis of Windsboro, South Carolina, Fairfield County. I went to school at UNC Charlotte, uh, worked on an MPA there, went to law school at uh Campbell University for a year or so, and I went back to Charlotte and uh got engaged to my beautiful bride, uh Kimberly, then Turner, and her drop moved her to Florence, and of course I was looking for a job and looking to stay with my bride. He's a smart man. Yes. So followed her here to Florence. Uh that was in 1997. Uh, been with the city for uh about 28 and a half years now, uh, and now I'm fortunate to work uh as the city manager and certainly thankful for counsel for giving me that opportunity.

SPEAKER_04 4:07

Well, that's awesome. That's really man. We've got you guys make a great team.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

I think so. Yeah, I think so.

Vision: Smart Growth And “Hallmark” Feel

SPEAKER_04 4:15

I can't imagine running a city. I mean, uh, you know, most people just can't really grasp that. What are what are as as we're growing, what are some of the challenges that that we need to kind of be looking at and can help do better?

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Well, um, I'll start off with that. One of the things that um I want to focus on is us growing smart and not lose. Florence is known for the people, yes, for the environment. I don't want us to lose that. Yeah, I want us to remain connected, but while we grow and we give our citizens the best of that we can be, but we still stay connected. So that has been my focus. Um, I'm blessed to serve with Scotty. I don't see how he he's able to manage so many things, but what he didn't tell you is that he has served as he's been a director in almost all of the positions at the um at in the city. And so he brings forth a a wealth of knowledge, which makes us a good team because I'm all over the place. I'm like, what can we do this? Can we do that? Can we do that? And he'll have to say, wait a minute, maybe calm it down. And so my my dream is having, I look at Hallmark.

Reeves 5:38

You my wife looks at Hallmark as well. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 5:41

And so I see Florence as a Hallmark. You know, when you're walking the street, yeah, everybody is loving and speaking, and that's that's my dream for Florence. And so I can come up with everything, and he'll have to tell me, no, we can't pay for all of that. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 5:59

So, but but I'll certainly uh I will echo what the mayor said about smart growth and and and not having urban sprawl.

SPEAKER_04 6:09

Right.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

And certainly that that stretches our resources. If we're running water and sewer, running fire and police trucks all over this community, uh, that we can't be as effective as we need to be uh there. The mayor's talked often to me about the Hallmark and being that and how nice Florence is. Well, in that Hallmark uh center, you also have uh lights everywhere, street lights, and you have uh sidewalks and all of those things. Well, that's a cost to all of that. And and although I love it and I think we should do that, but if we continue to grow too fast uh there, some of those the quality of life things we we don't have as as much there. So we have to be careful in that. Uh certainly, as we see with it's some of our water agent infrastructure, uh, it could be a strain on our our infrastructure there. So we have to be careful there. Uh even the schools, you know, uh it's going to require additional schools to come into our community there, uh, and it's needed. All of our schools are busting at the scene. Wow. Uh there. The city doesn't necessarily have a lot to do with that, but those are institutions that we're still responsible for and have to provide provide services to there. Uh so we have to be very careful as we grow there. Florence is maturing. Florence is is some would call us a big little city or a little big city there. And we're certainly maturing, and we have to understand that identity. Who do we want to be uh there? Uh but certainly I think quality of life is is critically important to us. Whatever we become, we have to have quality of life at the forefront there. Uh so when we're looking at at providing funding to those things, uh, that's always at the top of council's list is to ensure that we we can provide those services that government is responsible for. Uh water, sewer, fire, police, sanitation. Uh all of those services are key whenever budget decisions are made. That has to be at the forefront, and obviously quality of life encompasses all of that.

The Cost Of Quality Of Life

Reeves 8:17

I know you guys are very aware, and I saw a post this morning about water on Facebook. And you know, I think y'all are continually fighting that message that gets out via social media. And that was one of the things I so appreciated about what you shared last week at the meeting I was at. But share with our listeners and those who are listening to this podcast, tell us about the infrastructure in regards to water and sewer and what is being done to address those opportunities.

SPEAKER_00 8:47

Well, one of the things, first of all, I want to say I I applaud this uh council as well as our staff. Um brown water has been around since the late 90s.

Reeves 9:02

Okay.

Brown Water: History And Myths

SPEAKER_00 9:03

But when I when I first ran, this older gentleman said to me, and they call me Peaches. He said, Peaches, if you want to stay mayor for a long time, don't try to do too much. It has rang true for our water. This council has stepped up and has done what no other council has done. We've had aging infrastructure for a long time, and the minute we said, okay, we're going to work on it, everybody's complaining about the the brown water. And so we when when um also I hear people saying, you know, the brown water, the quality of water is bad. And we have brought in experts after expert. And our city manager will go into that. Um I I want them to understand, you know, oftentimes I look on Facebook and I'll see people responding that may not even live in Florence. Yeah, and they and it's that me too. Yeah, me too. I've got it too, me too. Um, and then you have some people that have it that won't respond and won't, because we're trying to identify the locations so that we can resolve this, but never before in the history of Florence, well, I won't say in the history in a long time that we've had so much infrastructure um um disturbance because of construction or new construction. Okay. And so the brown water was always there, but it's tag team now with a lot of infrastructure being, not infrastructure, but construction to new home, new development. And so they are seeing it more. We are dedicated and committed to fixing this. Florence has the number one bottling, water bottling company in America. Wow. And they have now put down roots in Florence. They would not put down roots in Florence if the if it was a quality of water issue. And so, yes, we have the aging infrastructure, but we want, we're first of all, I want to say anyone who wants us to come out to it to talk to their groups, we want to explain where we are, how far we've come, and how far we've got to go to get to where we're going. But there, our our city manager um and his team has formulated a great plan, and I'm excited about it. I'm excited that we, as a politician, we had to say, do we want to cross this line, which we knew people were going to then start complaining more? And because we are putting more monies in, rates of water bill could go up. A politician does not want to hear that. But we had to make the hard decision and say, let the chips fall where they may. We've got to fix this problem. And so we start fixing the problem, and everybody's saying, We got brown water, we've got brown water, we've got quality issues. So we are dedicated to the communication. We don't shy away from questions, we're open for um anyone that wants to know, but our city manager can tell you um how far we've come, what we've done, and I it's just a great plan. It is.

The Master Plans And Big Investments

SPEAKER_01 12:47

Well, thank you, madam mayor. And and council certainly has been great in working with staff and there uh we're providing information for them, they're giving us direction and guidance there, and they do have to take the hits uh uh on brown water, they have to take the hits on all of the cost increases associated thereof uh there. And they've stepped up to the plate and doing what is right uh for the future. And I really appreciate it. It makes my job a lot easier when I have a committed council who's on board and understands the need, and they're willing to put forth those efforts there uh with that. City of Florence has uh and council has adopted three plans there. We have a water plan, a master plan for water, a master plan for sewer, and a master plan for stormwater. Now, those aren't just fly-by-night plans, they're living, breathing documents. Took us about four years to complete those plans uh there. So we're looking at every valve, every line, every pump station, lift station, uh, every well, and and getting a plan of action. Uh, how old is it? Is it working properly? What is the cost to repair that? How do we fix it and make it the best system that we need? And we're not looking at just tomorrow. We're looking at, you know, for your grandchildren there. We're looking 20, 25 years out. So this plan is good for the next to 2045 or so there on both sides. And then we have to put dollars with that. Right. And we've done that. And it's gonna cost a lot of money. Uh, and those costs change, and we've told council that uh initially we talked about our surface water plant there, and we were looking to upgrade our surface water plant uh from 10 million gallons a day to 20 million gallons a day, and we had a cost uh associated with that, and we presented that to council. Well, we bid that out, and the cost was about three times as much as we had to punt. We can't go back and say, hey, mayor, I need three times more money than than I initially told you. That's not gonna fly.

SPEAKER_02 14:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

Uh so we decided to regroup and look at that, and it actually was a was a blessing in disguise for the city. Uh, we were able to look at other items that we needed to address immediately. Uh there groundwater uh plants there is where our our brown water, if you will, are coming from. That's a high iron content. You know, the the discolored water. It's not bad water, it's discolored water, and it's discolored because our aquifers, our water source, is full of iron there. That iron is treated by the city, uh, but oftentimes that will get through our pipes and get into homes there. And generally we can flush that out by opening an hydrant, we'll flush that out there, and within a few minutes, your water's clear again. That's generally what happens in most cases. Uh in Facebook and and people complaining on Facebook, certainly if I have discolored water, I want it fixed. I understand that completely. But the what we have to understand is how does that occur? It doesn't occur on Facebook. It occurs by calling the city 843-665-3236. 843 665-3236. That number is manned 247-365. 24 hours a day, that number is manned. And if you call that number whenever there's an issue there, we'll have a record of that call. We'll also, in certain instances, we'll able to send staff out. Now, if if it's three in the morning, we have obviously limited staff and it's on emergency cases only there. But during the day, we can get someone out there uh uh with our our daytime staff to find out what's going on. Why, and we need to know why is that water being uh discolored? That's not the water generally that's coming out of that, out of our aquifer, because we've treated it. So in the system, something happened. What happened? Uh was it Demir talked about a contractor? Uh, did a contractor hit a line and cause that uh change? And when you hit a line, you're you're changing the hydraulics there. Our agent infrastructure will have iron in those pipes there, but it's it's caked up on the walls and it's not getting into the system. Obviously, if you shake that line and you're causing that water hammer or something to occur there, it's going to stir up that iron and you're going to see those particles of iron there. Uh uh we look at uh how many parts per million that iron is in there, and we treat that with with chlorine and lime and all other uh chemicals there to get that iron out there, to oxidize that iron and get that out of our system there. But sometimes uh that isn't the case, and and we have issues that you've heard about or see from time to time there. We've set aside uh a bonding of about$138,$140 million there. Uh$30 to$40 million of that money is set specifically for water quality improvements there. That's an existing plan that we're working on today. And again, I have to applaud council for making the tough decision to borrow uh that type of money there. Uh will it happen overnight? Certainly it won't happen overnight. We have a number of issues with water that we're we're adjusting. Again, working on all of our wells uh there. We have 33 wells, uh we have 14 plants. Uh half of those plants are we have immediate needs for about six of those plants. We've set aside money to work on those plants throughout the system there. Those wells, uh we are looking at all of those wells. Some wells we may have to take offline. Why will you take a well offline and and uh repurpose that well or move that well somewhere else? Well, if a well is continually to produce high iron, then maybe I need to look at taking that well offline and moving somewhere else and adding that. So we'll be looking at those things uh there. Uh is it cost effective to continue to treat that well if it's producing high quantities, high quantities of iron for a limited amount of people? And we do have one well that's that's uh I think it's uh 4,000 people in the city are being served from said well. Well, also that well is going to cost me$9 million to renovate. I can drill another for$12 million, and I can get better water, and I can serve if I move that well somewhere else in another part of town, and I can serve a larger constituency. So those are some of the decisions that we're making there. Uh we have about 35, 34,000 uh connections to our water system.

SPEAKER_03 19:56

Wow.

What Causes Discolored Water

SPEAKER_01 19:56

The vast majority of those are fine, we don't have issues. Uh certainly there is a small, very small minority of people that will have uh occasion uh water issues there, and we try our best to address those uh, but we need to know about those. And I must stress that. Call the number 843-665-3236 whenever there's an issue. We'll we map out every call. So I'll get a report on every call, how many times we've called, what are those issues at every address that will call there. And we can see, okay, on 123 My Street, we have several issues. What's going on in that area? Well, I want you to test that every week, every day if necessary. Go out there and test, find out what's going on there. Uh look within the area. What's serving that area? Is it is it on the city? Is it a well that's not working properly? Is it a plant that's not working properly there? Test those areas to ensure that we have safe, adequate drinking water in Florence.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

I I you want to ask a question. I don't want us because one of the issues, I believe, is people don't know what all has taken place since we had a water debacle uh about a year and a half ago. And so all of the things that he has named, um, people think that we were doing business as usual, kicking the can down the road, because they have not heard of all of the things that we have put in place. And so we get questions like, why haven't you done this? Why haven't you gotten another um water um source? Um, why haven't you? We take everything, we we put everything on the table to find the best solution for Florence. We have to take in account one one of the things I why um not get a a water source, another um, and I say no, not well, authority. Water authority. Water authority to come in. Um water authorities are not nonprofit. We are. You you get someone who is in the business for making money that has to fix the same problems that we have to fix, that has to pay the same thing that we have to pay, it costs you different than if the city who's not profiting from it at the rate that they are. And so we also, when we saw this problem, uh Scotty brought in several different um people for them to tell us what our problem is, to map out a plan. And so this was not just the city manager and his people. We looked um, you know, outward to make sure that we had the best um um answers.

SPEAKER_01 23:14

So can you certainly yes, and I'll just speak with uh uh in reference to the a water authority, and and that's been kicked around a little bit. And I took my team out and and met with a water authority, uh, one that's about 60, 70 miles from here, uh, to talk about them. And and strangely enough, we found out this authority actually has 10 rates.

SPEAKER_04 23:36

Wow.

Report Issues: The 24/7 Hotline

SPEAKER_01 23:37

10 rates. We have two. We have inside rate and outside rate. They have 10 rates. Uh they will extend uh water and particular water lines into rural areas, but as they tell us, there's a cost for that. Yeah, we we understand if you're running a business, it has to be call uh the cost uh benefit analysis has to be done there and and they do that uh there. But when we're working with business and industry at the city, uh there are decisions that the council has given to the city manager that can be made and providing water and sewer to business and industry there. Uh what's best for Florence. A water sewer, a water authority is doing for water what's best for the authority.

SPEAKER_04 24:22

It almost ties your hands a little for growth.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

It certainly ties your hands there. Uh working with developers. We work with developers, and as you guys are in the industry there, you understand that uh there, uh the city certainly participates on large-scale projects there. Well, authority, again, that that will be different.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Right there.

Reeves 24:43

There's three things I've heard y'all say that I think are really important. First, you're willing to tackle something that previous leadership maybe not willing as much to tackle, going back to what that gentleman said to you. If you want to stay mayor for a long time, don't do anything. That's good insight, and I applaud all of you, you know, the two of you as well as the city for tackling this issue. So that's first. I I think secondly, you've said something very fascinating. We have good water. Yes, and the ev the evidence of that is we've got the largest water bottling company in America bottling the water that is going to homes like ours, all of ours, to their plan as well to be shipped everywhere they ship water.

SPEAKER_04 25:30

That's a great point.

Reeves 25:31

That is a huge point. Yes. Third, we do have aging infrastructure. Yes. And I think one of the things I heard y'all talk about when we met is there's some projects coming. I think particularly uh Second Loop Road and some other things, this$140 million that's been allocated. So what are some of those projects? Where's that money going to be spent? How's that gonna uh fix this age aging infrastructure?

Funding Strategy And Tough Tradeoffs

SPEAKER_01 25:57

And and before I answer that, when I want to go back to the council and the monies, I talked about the 140 million, but before that, uh two years ago, I think it was another 60, 70 million. So over the last several years, three years, we've we've set aside, borrowed, set aside about over 200 million dollars. Wow from 2000, 2012 to 2021. The city didn't borrow 200 million dollars total for the water and sewer. So in the last three years, we've borrowed more than 10 years previously. Wow. So certainly, again, kudos to council for addressing the issue head on. Yeah, we have issues, uh aging infrastructure relative to water and sewer, and we're working towards both. You talked about the the second loop issue there. We have a major uh sewer line that is in Jeffrey's Creek there. That sewer line has uh is is near in capacity. We have to do something with that. That's a$50 million project. We have$25 million set aside. Uh we got a grant for$25 million from the state, and the city has another$25 million through the barring that we'll be doing there, and we will have to put that in the middle of second loop.

unknown 27:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:15

It's gonna be a bad project. It's traffic will be horrendous, I know it. Uh, but we can again allow it to continue, allow it to sometimes uh get into Jeffries Creek, have sewer into Jeffreys Creek, or we can do what's right and get that out there, and we can look towards the future and ensure that we have continuous growth and we can have all the houses that's coming online there, five to six thousand houses coming online there, uh, and we'll have the infrastructure associated with that. We have issues uh through our rail trail and in the mall area with sewer issues. Those issues have to be addressed there. That's because again, when that infrastructure was put in place there, uh we're now nearing capacity in some of those areas there. So we have to address those issues and we have funding set aside to do that.

Reeves 28:10

Is there any kind of time frame? I mean, the average resident is driving down second loop or wherever in Florence, when are they gonna see construction crews doing something?

Major Projects: Second Loop And Beyond

SPEAKER_01 28:18

That'll be several, that'll be at least three years away. We have to design all of that, we have to get permits for that. We've been working with the state on that, and then we have to bid those projects out. And and understand, we're not bidding one project here, one project there, and they're not designing just one or two projects. These again, almost$200 million worth of projects that are being designed. Uh, they have to be bid out, sometimes more than once, unfortunately, uh, depending on the work that contractors have uh throughout this this state and even this country uh there. Uh but but we are actively working on that. We have our engineers working each and every day on that. Uh some projects we we have a project, a sewer project uh in East Florence there. We have significant growth on the east side of town. I said, hey, you have to move that project up. You have to cut six months off of that. I can't wait on that project. We have we have a number of housing units, we we have potentially uh growth for business and industry out there. We have to move this project quickly. And and understand, you know, another project that may add six months to another project there, but I have to look at where growth is and the absolute need for that. Uh, and it's a critical need in certain areas, and we're making those decisions every day. But but talking about those, our surface water plant, if I didn't tell you, we had we have a redundant water system. So you have surface water, and that's from the the PD River, and you also also have groundwater. Those groundwater plants are the aquifers that we talked about. Our issues with water clarity is regulated to our groundwater, not surface water there. So that that's a critical point that should be made. Surface water, we have 15 million gallons a day capacity now. We're excuse me, 10 million. We're trying to go now to 15 million, and we've set aside$53 million to upgrade that plant from 10 million to 15 million gallons per day. That will limit and reduce uh the need for groundwater.

SPEAKER_02 30:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:33

Not significantly, but it will give some relief to groundwater, which again provides the high iron content there. So we're in the process of doing that now. We have$30 million set aside for our groundwater to ensure that when the water comes out and comes into the pipes, that it's free of iron. And it's we don't have any issues there. So we have$30 million there. So that will include that will have some upgrades. We'll have some new technology. Uh, one piece that I'm very proud of is called SCADA, S C A D A there. And I wouldn't know the acronym, but I just forgot it. But that SCADA uh technology there is designed to minimize staff's uh reliance on staff to go out to each and every plant. Again, uh if you 14 plants, 33 wells there, we don't have the staff to go there and stay there every day, nor does any community uh for that matter. That SCADA will will look at what's going on in that plant and able to adjust the chemicals there. And staff they now have the tablets and they can see, okay, we have X parts of per million, let's say it's five parts per million of iron, and we need to be at two, and they can add the chemicals there without leaving their desk there. So in the old days, old days, I two years, three years ago, old days, we would have to go out there and check that plant there and adjust it as you're there, and then you leave. Well, if the numbers go are off, you know, it could be six hours, and we don't know that that we have too much iron in that system there. But now we have that information on tablets there, and we'll put that throughout our system uh there. Uh on the sewer side, we have what's called the smart meters. We're gonna put uh on the caps of all the manholes, not all, we can't afford all, but on several errors that we know we have issues, it'll read and tell us how high that sewer is in that in that line there, and we'll able to adjust again there. We may have to turn off a lift station there and say, okay, don't push any more sewer through yet. Hold off for a second until that what's in the line is able to leave the system there, or we'll able to, you know, worse come to worse, we'll just come out and pump that. But those those issues will help us tremendously in improving uh quality, uh, again, water quality there, and not having as many uh sanitary sewer overflows that that we've seen uh in recent years.

Surface Vs. Groundwater Fixes

SPEAKER_00 33:14

I I do want to say one thing, um, because I we thought we thanked the staff and council, but a lot of this is also shouldered by our partners on the state and federal. The partnerships that we have with our elective uh officials, um, they help to bring grant monies back to us, helping to lower your prices. And so the partnerships that we have. Florence is just unique in we are we see ourselves as a family. And when something is missing, all the different areas see how we can help. And so I also want to applaud um the guys on the state level and also our representatives on the federal level because they they have been helping us tremendously over the years. We we go up constantly to Washington, D.C. and um have to sit in the office with Lindsey Graham or Russell Fry. We're sitting, and they are always so willing to see what they can do for us. So, of course, and then of course our Philip Lowe and our our Rick umbach Rick and Bach and all of those guys, they they they work to make sure that the funds can come back home, and we truly appreciate them for that.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

We've we've been very successful to have a great relationship uh there on both state and federal level. There, as the mayor mentioned, uh certainly we've seen state dollars come in, and those again dollars that but for those dollars we would have to borrow. But for those dollars, we couldn't do all the projects that we've talked about there. So it's critically important uh to get some of that funding from the federal and state level. Again, uh yes, Representative Lowe and Senator Rickenbach and others and all the others of our delegates have been great with us. They understand the need, they've listened, and and they're bringing money back home to Florence, and that's critically important. At the federal level, we have over$330 million worth of requests. Request.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

Well you can't get it if you don't ask, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

We don't we're$300, and these are dollars, and and these are not just not only just we're asking. We've sat down with with uh uh Congressman Sfry's staff on several occasions. We work with uh Senator Graham's staff and both of the uh congressmen and and the uh senator as well, but particularly with their staff to to understand, allow them to understand the need, putting the information in front of them, and they are literally working with us. So it's not that it's just you're just trying to get this money, you're not gonna see it. No, we're very close. We've received millions and millions from both sides uh there. Uh we're critically close on all of these dollars. But certainly, if your viewers would love to call and say, hey, let's support Florence with ward and sewer infrastructure, you know, that'll go a long way. Okay, that's good. Yeah, that'll go a long way. We're$330 million. And and I've told the mayor, uh, and I keep telling her all the time, Mayor, if I don't get this, I have to borrow this. Just so you know, we're trying our best, but this is money that's needed in Florence. And if we have to borrow that money, that will be an increase on the taxpayer or the ratepayers in Florence. We don't want that. We're doing everything we can to avoid any increases.

Reeves 36:54

Well, and I think the thing that encourages me the most is you're tackling the issue. Not only are you tackling the issue, but you've got a plan. Yes. The master plan you talked about with water, sewer, and stormwater. I think the average citizen doesn't think about okay, we got water that we drink, we got sewer, and then we got storm water that comes from the sky. We got to figure out how to get rid of that so we don't flood ourselves, right? All three of those, you now have a master plan to address that. Now we've got to fund it. You're you're going to get the money, get the resources. Some of that's gonna come from the citizen through through water bills and things like that. But uh I'm really thankful that y'all are y'all are tackling this issue, and and you're right, you know, it's uh it probably would be easier just to pretend it doesn't exist and let it go.

Tech Upgrades: SCADA And Smart Sewer

SPEAKER_04 37:43

You guys are taking it head on. Well, you you're you're taking it head on, and and that's probably part of the reason we're here because it hadn't been head on. And so I think you know, yeah, what I I'm hoping we see comments after this that are like, thank you guys so much for the work you're doing and the plan that we've got in place to fix it.

SPEAKER_02 38:05

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 38:06

And I would have to imagine we're not the only city with aging infrastructure. You know, I mean, there's all these other cities, I'm sure, fighting the same battles.

Reeves 38:16

Wasn't there a city up in Washington near Washington or something?

SPEAKER_00 38:20

Well, we were in DC. They had an issue with with water in DC. And so they it's all over. Columbia had it, Lexington had it, Charleston's had it, Myrtle Beach, all of them. And but I don't want to make an excuse to say we got it and they have it. No, we are working. We are working. Um I I I pride myself on the fact I did not take this position for title. It it's for impact, it's it's to make the lives of the citizens of Florence better. And so every day um we are wondering what we can do, how can we get the information out? How can we stay connected while they are working hard? Our staff has um, I don't know how much experience in years between them, but most of the staff who are working on this, on these, these problems have been with the city for a long time. They're vested.

SPEAKER_03 39:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

They they are vested in and they love this place. And so it's not about a job. It is really about impact. And and every day we get up, we we fight to try to make a difference in the lives.

SPEAKER_04 39:42

So um we fix this by coming together, not by being divided.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

We have to.

SPEAKER_04 39:47

Yeah, yes, and I feel like you got I feel like we there's a good chance for us to come together. And you know, I've been in meetings with you, I've seen developers on the other side of the table. And and I see that tightrope you have to walk of that developer saying, I need this sewer, we're gonna get 1200 homes here, and you're I see you're thinking, we'd love that, but here's what it's gonna cost. Right. And it's not an easy position to be in.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

It's never an easy and you make a great point there, uh, because there are two trains of thought. Some say stop growing, fix everything, no more growth.

SPEAKER_04 40:23

And some cities are going that direction.

SPEAKER_01 40:25

Some cities are going that way. You know, Mount Pleasant, uh one of them that that they haven't necessarily stopped growth, but but they might have a$20,000 or$30,000 impact fee to limit growth and slow growth. So that you have those cities there. Florence isn't necessarily there yet, but we do get a lot of complaints of people saying, why are you you building way out here? We're trying to to create that happy medium. We continue to grow, but we also must fix what we have now so that we can provide, again, quality product to all. Yes.

Reeves 40:58

And so I guess the last thing before we let you guys go back to your your day job, so to speak. Um if somebody has brown water, you that you want to hear from them. Please call us. Yes. And so the phone number, 843-665-3236.

State And Federal Partnerships

SPEAKER_01 41:15

That's the number. Man, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Please call us. We'll have to figure it out there. Because if they're having brown water, it's not just them, it's it's their neighbors. It could be blocks away. We need to fix those issues. We need to find out root cause analysis, what is causing that problem, how can we fix it, how can we be better.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

Also, um, if they need if anyone needs us to come out and share this information, we're open. Okay. We because we want we want the community to know what's going on.

SPEAKER_04 41:51

That's awesome. Well, I I I really think this is going to be such a good way to get this message out. And we're here anytime to help be a voice for you guys and really get the message out. Like you just showed me that paper. City of Florence, stronger together. That's exactly right. Thank you guys for everything.

SPEAKER_01 42:11

Thank you so much for having us. Appreciate it.