Photos| Cheris Hodges
BENNETTSVILLE—Despite the fact that Lake Paul Wallace isn’t open to the public because of the dam breach in May, the Marlboro County Council can’t seem to agree with reallocating funding from the boardwalk project at the lake to the Marlboro County Aquatic Center project.
It could be three years before the swimming side of Lake Paul Wallace reopens, meaning that there is no swimming area in Marlboro County for the public to use. County Administration Wilson “Tony” Clyburn said at the council meeting that the county has $1.15 million already allocated to the Aquatic Center project, but the cost of the center could end up being $1.9 to $2 million.
Clyburn reminded the council that at a previous meeting, the majority of the members knew that the project could be around the range of $2 million, but the contractors were asked to stay in a budget of $1.8 million, but the prices came back a little bit more.
“It’s been almost a year and prices have gone up as we all know,” he said. “We don’t want to scale back, we don’t want to put a watering hole out there.”
The plan for the center is to have a junior Olympic-sized pool that will enable Marlboro County High School to host swim meets, a zero-entry pool, which is like walking on the beach, a water slide, and a splash pad. There will be showers, locker rooms, and office space.
The center will also have activities for youth and seniors across the county.
“We do know that the lake is scheduled to be fixed, however, if they get the funds right now …It could be three years before the citizens have anywhere to swim publicly in Marlboro County,” he said.
But many councilmembers didn’t agree with reallocating funds, even though if the money isn’t used Marlboro County will lose it.
Council member Damien Johnson made a motion to have the money reallocated to the center. During the discussion of the motion, council member Charles Midgley read a statement from the Lake Paul Wallace Authority chair, Sully Blair, asking that the county continue to fund the boardwalk project.
“I understand the discussion about the possibility for reallocation of the funds for this project because of the current situation with the lake. Please know that the lake authority has not changed course with the design and ultimate construction of the boardwalk. The walking trail is not impacted by the dam breach and will continue to be open for our citizens to use,” Midgley read.
Blair’s statement asked the council to keep the funds for the project in place. Midgley said if the boardwalk project is shut down, it’ll cost more in the future to revive it.
Council chair Anthony Woods said it’s been two years since the council has heard about progress on the boardwalk project. “Even with the boardwalk, we don’t know what the exact cost is,” he said.
Council member Ken Stroman said at some point common sense has to come in. “The lake is breached right now. You’re looking at three or four years before work gets started and by that time, these funds will have dried up. It’s not feasible for the citizens of Marlboro County to just let those funds disappear when we could allocate those funds into something that everyone can us in all areas.”
After talking about the motion, no decision was made, even though the clock is ticking.