Ron Barnett

rbarnett@greenvillenews.com

Two of the three candidates for the Liberty area seat on Pickens County Council cite stopping a coal ash dump as the biggest issue in the race for the Republican nomination, while a third puts economic develop atop his list.

Three-term incumbent G. Neil Smith and challenger Keith Culbreath said the battle with MRR Pickens, which has sued the county in attempting to build a landfill for coal ash near Liberty is the most important issue facing the county.

Roy Costner said reversing the outflow of Pickens County residents to jobs in surrounding counties has to be the No. 1 priority for County Council.

Smith, who is president of GNS Media, LLC and serves as vice chairman of the Appalachian Council of Governments, touts his more than 30 years of government experience, including six years as chairman of the County Council, among his qualifications for another term.

He noted that the county’s legislative delegation got the state law changed to make MRR’s coal ash plans illegal but says the fight is not over. He says the state Department of Health and Environmental Control "should be held accountable for almost allowing toxic coal ash to be dumped in a non-regulated class two landfill."

“MRR has a track record of opposing local governments and I want to assure the voters that I will do everything in my power to stop them,” he said. “I believe the future regulations which DHEC is now composing may be a threat if they allow MRR to store coal at the Liberty site for future recycling. Pickens County Council should continue their legal challenge for the foreseeable future.”

MRR has filed a lawsuit claiming $25 million in damages and has continued to pursue litigation despite the change in the law.

Smith also said he wants to see through the finish of the Liberty Auditorium project, which is the last piece of the redevelopment of the old school property on Main Street that the county acquired and has been developed to house the consolidated county magistrate office and the McKissick Center for Senior Wellness, operated by Meals on Wheels.

Culbreath, a former law enforcement officer with 30 years’ experience, including 17 years with the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office where he retired as a detective, said the county’s economic future hinges on stopping MRR’s coal ash plans.

“We must put this thing to rest for good,” he said. “If we don’t, we will lose all hope of any economic development coming here and the ones we have will leave, as will some people who live here. We will lose significant property values and tax revenue, making it harder on the average citizen, not to mention the potential environmental disaster it poses.”

To boost economic development, he believes the county should look at rejoining the Upstate Alliance, a business recruitment coalition that Pickens County pulled out of several years ago.

“We should reach out to the larger business owners in the area and ask them to help to help generate interest in bringing their businesses to this county and listen to their thoughts,” he said.

He also cites his experience as a member of the Liberty Area Fire District Board for more than eight years among his qualifications for County Council.

“We have built two fire stations and have over $1 million worth of assets in equipment alone and operate on a balanced budget,” he said.

Costner, a local sales manager for Spectrum Reach who has previously worked as general sales manager for Clear Channel Radio, office manager for Easley Orthopedic Clinic and owned two businesses in the county, lists his role as creator and host of the TV show and community event Liberty Idol and Pickens County has Talent among his qualifications.

He points to the loss of jobs in recent years in a county where nearly half of the workforce is employed in another county as the most pressing issue for County Council.

Until the past few weeks, with announcements of expansions and new businesses adding several hundred jobs, the county had gone a stretch of several years without any significant economic development, while surrounding counties latched onto the state’s growth boom, he said.

“We are not a bedroom community. We are a community whose workforce has to commute 20-plus miles to work,” he said. “Eventually it becomes more cost effective to move.

“Couple this with Council’s inaccessibility and unwillingness to work together with other operations and organizations both in and out of Pickens County to encourage growth and you have a recipe for disaster.

“We need to bring back local businesses and industrial jobs, deliver with accessible, dependable leadership, and apply solid business practices to manage our local government,” he said.