With new leadership, we look at what’s in store for Greenville County Council this year

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - This week the Greenville County Council swore in four new leaders. As the new members get into the swing of things the county has a big year ahead with lots of projects and concerns on the agenda.

The county is expected to grow by 250,000 more people by 2040, so preparing for continued growth is at the forefront of anything the council does this year.

“The last four years we’ve had a lot of infighting and power struggles and a lot of uncertainty, which has kept us from doing our basic jobs,” said Councilman Dan Tripp.

Tripp is the newly-elected Chairman of the council, with Liz Seman serving as Vice-Chairwomen.

“We’re on all the top 10 lists and you know, that’s great, but growing pains are painful” Tripp said.

Housing, Business and infrastructure all must grow with the population. Tripp’s eager to see the new affordable housing incentive policy at play.

“See what works, what doesn’t work and encourage the things that do work” he said.

How to fix roads will also be up for debate.

“I think we’re at a point now to where we can be a little bit selective on the kinds of major businesses that come into our community. and make sure they don’t add additional strain to our roads” said Councilman Butch Kirven who represented District 27.

Kirven says we’ll see continued road plans like property acquisition for the Woodruff Road Congestion Relief Project.

All while much of the government is shifting. Staff is preparing for a move into the new county square. And work to transform McAlister Square into the new EMS hub starts in March.

“You’re going to start seeing county square being vacated. EMS will be out, you’ll start seeing some changes into the roads out that way building an infrastructure for the development that’s to come” said Kirven.

Council will also approve a 2-year budget and possibly consider a 2024 penny sales tax, as proposed by Councilman Ennis Fant.

“It feels great. A lot of work to do though” said Tripp.

The new council will get down to business at their January 24th meeting.

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