Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008

Settle dispute over farmers market outside of court

TAXPAYERS SHOULDN’T have to endure — or fund — a legal battle between Richland County and the state of South Carolina over land once slated as the home of a new State Farmers Market.

County officials are understandably upset that the state backed out of a deal to move the current Bluff Road market to a new Richland site. And they’re right to demand the return of land the county bought for the project and deeded to the state. But it’s wrong for these two governments to waste tax money on lawyers in an effort to resolve their differences.

After being enticed by the state to enter a bidding war with Lexington County, Richland offered a lucrative package that included the purchase of 196 acres on Pineview Road. All but 50 acres of the $4.55 million property was deeded to the state.

The county has sought to get that land returned since the state jilted Richland, but state officials have refused, saying the state must first be reimbursed for more than $2.5 million it spent clearing the land of trees and relocating power lines.

Frankly, we don’t think the county should be obligated to reimburse the state; it’s state officials who abandoned this project. That said, there is apparently a contract between the county and the Agriculture Department that called for the land to be returned and the state to be reimbursed if the deal failed.

It’s imperative for these two governments to work this out among themselves as soon as possible — without court intervention — and in the best interest of taxpayers. If the best way to do that is to stick to the deal made between the state and county, so be it.

No matter which side wins a court battle, taxpayers, who have already seen public dollars wasted on a market that won’t be built, will lose once again, this time having to underwrite unnecessary legal bills. State and county officials’ poor decision to pursue a new market assured that taxpayers would get the short end of the stick. Taxpayers must not be placed further in the hole.

Considering that neither the state nor the county could afford this project, it was a losing proposition from the beginning. It never should have been attempted. But officials from both governments, in a show of bad judgment and poor stewardship, insisted upon moving forward.

Frankly, the state’s poor handling of the Richland County deal gives us even further pause about its supposed commitment to follow through with the development of a public-private market in Lexington County. Add in the fact that state services — from schools to prisons — are being cut because revenue is down, and we see no reason for the state to be charging ahead to build a new farmers market.

Whatever happens now, Richland County Council members will have to answer to their constituents for frittering away millions.

Likewise, state officials will have to own up to their part in that mess. And while the chances are slim, we’d hope that they would recognize that now is no time to be trying to move the current market.

While a new market might be in order at some point in the future, it’s hardly important enough to put ahead of the many services being cut as a result of decreased revenue. It’s this kind of irrational thinking that led to the fiasco with Richland County in the first place.