Scoring the Seneca Rail Site

At the former Pro Pex Plant near Seneca, the city now owns the building and the county has possession of about 100 acres at the location. The county’s Capital Projects Advisory Committee today reviewed point rankings made by individual committee members as to the need to start preparing the property now called the Seneca Rail Site for the purpose of attracting development. Those rankings are to be assimilated for later presentations to the planning commission, to a public hearing, and eventually to the Oconee County Council. Committee member John Rau questioned whether the county should identify its projects priorities before settling on the ways to pay for them: Committee Chairman Paul Corbeil gave examples of the projects, which included the Seneca Rail Site. There, county officials envision potential for development with the construction of one or more spurs to the railroad that parallels the property. County leaders have indicated they have a bite on property at their Echo Hills Park on highway 11, provided the property there can be prepared in time. County Administrator Scott Moulder told the committee that bids to clear property for Echo Hills’ first phase were opened yesterday, and the low bid of $2.1 million fell 700 to 800 thousand dollars lower than anticipated.