Hopkins, SC (WLTX) - Construction for the Lower Richland Sewer Project could begin this year. That’s according to Richland County Councilman Norman Jackson.
The county has been working for years on the proposed $13 million project that would create a sewer line along Lower Richland Blvd, from Hopkins to the Eastover Wastewater Facility.
In that time, residents have pushed back. Hopkins & Lower Richland Citizens United, Inc. filed a lawsuit in 2015 with hopes to understand the plans.
"Our lawsuit was not to stop the project,” says Helen Taylor-Bradley, Hopkins Resident. “It was to get the information that was submitted to get the funding for it."
According to the county website, the project is being funded by loans and grants from the USDA Rural Development Program.
However, Taylor-Bradley says there are more questions.
"What we were told then at the time is that it's a done deal and that there's nothing you can do about, it's going to come. We beg to differ and that's why we took the road that we did, to file lawsuits and try to hold it up."
There were concerns that the project would also cost residents thousands of dollars to tap into the proposed line. Councilman Jackson says there is no fee, as long as it’s done before construction.
"The tap on is free,” says Jackson. “There's no fee for the tap on and I want to make that clear."
He has been pushing for the project and says it’s necessary for growth in that area.
"People want hospitals, they want all of these businesses in the area, but at the end of the day some of them don't want infrastructure,” says Jackson. “When they realized that infrastructure is necessary to have these other amenities built, then they really got the picture."
Jackson says he does not know the date of construction, and there could be other community input before the lines are put down.
Those involved in the lawsuit are expected to be in court on July 10th for a hearing on where the suit stands.
For more information on the Lower Richland Sewer Project, click the link here.