Chapin won’t issue taps to Brighton park. A decade-old contract may require them
A looming standoff between two local governments in the Midlands over the development of a long-delayed industrial park could hinge on a contract signed more than a decade ago.
Even as Lexington County moves forward with the development of the Chapin Technology & Business Park at Brighton, the town of Chapin says it won’t be issuing new taps to its municipal sewer system, a potential barrier to any new businesses or homes that go into the 200-acre park.
At the heart is the tension between attracting new business to the county and the impact of growth on the people already living there.
But a contract, signed in 2015 by previous administrations on both sides, lays out the requirements for both town and county in the development of the park, then in the early stages of development.
Obtained under a freedom-of-information request, the contract was reviewed by The State and an outside attorney. It seems to leave the town will little wiggle room to get out of providing the requested hookups now.
Chapin Mayor Bill Mitchell has said Chapin will maintain a freeze on issuing new taps that the mayor instituted shortly after he was elected last year, citing growth’s impact on Chapin residents’ quality of life and the limited capacity of the town’s wastewater system.
But a decade earlier, the town agreed to provide the equivalent of 667 sewer taps to the future development The contract was signed by former Mayor Skip Wilson on March 27, 2015.
The county would eventually spend at least $16 million on the park just outside the town limits near Interstate 26, although it has struggled to attract businesses in the years since.
Now the county is moving forward with the park’s development. Lexington County Council last month gave initial approval to a $20 million mixed-use development in the park that is expected to generate 2,500 jobs, Mitchell said in a video address the day of the vote that the freeze will remain in place until Chapin can improve and expand its wastewater facilities.
He said in that video the current number of sewer taps the town has already approved could bring the town wastewater plant to 97% capacity, and that a $42 million process to double the town treatment plant’s capacity could take up to a decade to complete.
The 11-year-old contact foresaw the challenges future growth could pose to the capacity of Chapin’s system.
“(D)ue to unknown variables in overall future growth of the Chapin Regional Sewer Service Area, CHAPIN CAN NOT GUARANTEE FUTURE AVAILABILITY TO ACCOMODATE (sic) any and all future proposed users in the Chapin Technology & Business Park unless and until all required Tap fees for each user are paid in full,” the contract reads.
But the document also still requires Chapin to meet the Brighton park’s needs within a set timeframe.
“If Chapin does not have capacity when needed at the Park, Chapin will increase the capacity to accommodate the needed capacity within 24 months from when the taps fees are paid as set forth herein,” the contract says. “Should the Town reach sewer capacity before the needs of the Park are met, the Town will begin the process of increasing the Town’s sewer capacity as soon as reasonably possible before the Town is completely out of capacity.”
If Chapin “defaults” on its responsibilities under the contract, the town could be left liable in court.
“The damaged party shall have a right to recover all damages and costs attributable to the default,” the contract says.
Lexington County officials agreed in the contract to construct the needed infrastructure inside the business park, with the intention of turning it over to the town.
The contract notes that, according to regional planning rules, “Chapin is mandated to supervise the orderly construction and extension of public sanitary wastewater facilities within the Chapin Municipal Service Area.” The municipality is the service provider for many residents on the north side of Lake Murray outside of its town limits.
Mitchell has said he has already refused an offer from the county to purchase $4 million worth of taps to service the park. But the contract says the purchase of the taps is not required to begin construction.
“In lieu of ‘up-front’ purchase of Sewer Taps by the County, it is agreed that Sewer Tap Fees will be due from the Owner/Occupant/lessee of each business unit in the Park project,” it says.
Instead, under the contract, 50% of the tap fee is due from each user in the park when they apply for a sewer line extension. The other 50% is due when the user requests to begin operating the sewer line extension.
That means the conflict may not come to a head until a business sets up shop in Brighton and can’t get a sewer tap — if any can move forward knowing town sewer service is unavailable.
The two sides of the contract did not comment on its requirements. Mitchell did not respond to calls seeking comment, and county attorney Jeff Anderson said in an email that “The contract needs to speak for itself.”
.jpg)