City Moving Forward on Economic Development

In September of 2010, Mauldin city officials made the decision to prioritize economic development as its foremost goal. A year later that decision is beginning to come to fruition. The most obvious example of development may be just a stone’s throw from City Hall at what will ultimately be known as City Center.

But the site that may yield the most jobs and have the biggest long-term impact is a 40-acre site on Old Stage Road, .

At Tuesday Night’s committee meetings, City Administrator Trey Eubanks asked the City Council to approve a request for proposal to help the Old Stage Road site achieve Step 3 status, which they did unanimously.

According to Eubanks, completing Step 3, which is granted by the Department of Commerce, would give the city a significant advantage in competition with similar sites across the region. The Department of Commerce will let the city know if they are eligible for Step 3 certification during the week of October 17.

Achieving certification is a multi-faceted process that involves an environmental site assessment, an endangered and threatened species study, an archaeological/historical investigation, a geotechnical study and a topographical study, among others.

Eubanks said the site is a very strong one in terms of the potential economical development particularly with respect to transportation channels, including a freight rail line that connects the property to larger rail systems. It is planned as an industrial location.

Eubanks is optimistic that the site will get invited to proceed for certification. If it does, Eubanks said the city wants to have bids in hand from companies that can help the city complete Step 3.

“This also sets up opportunities to collaborate with other entities like the GADC (Greenville Area Development Corporation) and the Department of Commerce,” said Mayor Don Godbey. Godbey added that such partnerships and collaborations are critical in today’s economic environment and credited Eubanks and city planner John Gardner for their work thus far.

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In other city business, the council also approved a request for proposals for the City Center master plan. The city has a $53,000 budget. $10,000 of which came from an art grant that the city matched. The remaining $33,000 came from funds provided by The Greenville Area Transportation Study (GPATS).