Leaders discuss state of Scotland County

LAURINBURG — The community is in good shape.

That was the overarching message at the annual State of the Community Breakfast held Friday where leaders throughout Scotland gathered with the community to learn and discuss what growth is happening in Scotland County.

During the breakfast held at the Laurinburg Presbyterian Church, panelist Seth Hatchell, Southeast Regional Airport Authority director; Mark Ward, Scotland County’s Economic Director; Laurinburg City Manager Charles Nichols; and Scotland County Manager April Snead, each spoke on a variety of topics that included quality of life, public safety and new industry.

Allen Johnson moderated the forum.

At the top of the forum, Rep. Garland Pierce gave an update on the general assembly and what items he is placing at the forefront for Scotland County in the budget session like education.

“We better do all that we can wherever we can to ensure that we fully fund education … We got to make sure that our young people have quality education so that we might have a quality workforce,” Pierce said.

Pierce said as he goes into the next budget cycle, there is additional funding he’s seeking to finish out ongoing projects like the I. Ellis Johnson Community Center.

Scotland County

One of the largest projects coming into fruition is the North Turnpike Waterline Project, Snead said.

“That is expanding our water service up North Turnpike Road … Those citizens are very excited about that. They’re ready to get down there and pay their deposit so that they can clench in that they’re going to get on that waterline,”

“As we’re starting that, we’re going to look and see if there are means to expansion in that area as well and run that line even further,” Snead said.

Snead also gave an update on the Opioid Settlement funding and how it is being used.

“Our commissioners this year have passed two resolutions already that we can use that funding for prevention in our school systems [and] to make sure that our first responders, our volunteer firefighters have Narcan at their disposal at all times and to begin programs for those we know who are struggling,” Snead said,

Within Park and Recreations, Snead spoke of the two major projects that came into fruition in the past year, the completion of the Dragon Park and the opening of the IE Johnson Community Center.

“That’s our third community center in the county … We have some excellent spaces for entertainment, for activities, for park and recreation and their programming,” Snead said.

“We still have some work we’re going to do at I.E. Johnson. That’s a large building that has a lot of great space,” Snead added.

Snead also noted updates to the Scotland Memorial Library where several upgrades have been made like the addition of new shelving, walls, and a handicap-accessible desk.

“The library was outdated … Go over to the library, I invite you to do that,” Snead said.

Rounding out, Snead said she hopes to start having serious talks about construction for the new EMS building will occur this year

“Legislature gave Scotland County $6.5 million for a new EMS building. Our building is very old and very outdated and it cannot simply accommodate your needs in the county,” Snead said.

Snead said the county will also look into potential using this funding for substations.

“Currently response time, if you live up there in Wagram is 18 minutes,” Snead said.

City of Laurinburg

Nichols boasted of the tens of millions of dollars in funding the city has received in grants as well as the continued growth and beautification of Downtown Laurinburg over the last few year.

“Our downtown continues to grow and thrive,” Nichols said. “I tell people when I left for college in ‘01 and I came back in ‘05 our downtown was nothing like I remember growing up, growing up our downtown was always thriving. I came back and it just did not resemble what I remember growing up.”

Now, there are several new businesses and murals, throughout downtown, Nichols said.

Nichols also unveiled that the North Fire Station is expected to open this summer after a series of delays.

“It’s been a process. We built City Hall. It was smooth and seamless but there’s been so many people a part of the North Fire Station project. There have been so many funding sources,” Nichols said.

Laurinburg-Maxton Airport

Hatchell spoke of what is new with the Scotland Maxton Airport. This past year the authority made it an effort to have the cheapest Avgas in North Carolina and was able to hit close to achieving that goal by being in the top five.

“Having that cheap Avgas, it gives people a reason to fly into Scotland County and maybe they’ve never been there before so we’re proud,” Hatchell said.

The airport director said the authority has also begun the design process of constructing additional hangers at the airport.

“We have 13 additional aircraft that don’t have a hanger by itself and we also got a waitlist at 10 or 15,” Hatchell said.

Hatchell said that the airport is also looking into building a new terminal to replace the original one built in the mid-1970s.

“It’s a great building. We put a new roof on it but it’s also the trend across the state to build new terminal buildings. Afterall it is the gateway to the flying community into Scotland County,” Hatchell said.