Letter of support approved

Oconee County Council approved a letter of support this week for Tri-County Technical College’s plans for a new building on its main campus in Pendleton. The project to build a Tech Student Success Center is independent of ongoing efforts at securing a satellite campus in Oconee County. The letter of support is something which Tech may take later this year to the State Budget and Control Board for approval at the state level. It commits Oconee to paying $6.75 million of the estimated total building cost of $42 million, to be shared proportionately by Tech’s other service counties, Pickens and Anderson. By late last week, Anderson had been the only of the three counties in support, but Tech President Ronnie Booth said efforts were underway to win Pickens County’s approval. The letter of support, approved by a 5-0 vote of the Oconee County Council, does not require upfront money. The first payment would be due during the next fiscal year, 2016-17.