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Date Published: October 8, 2004
Sumter gets cash to ward off BRAC
By LESLIE CANTU
Item Staff Writer
lesliec@theitem.com
Gov. Mark Sanford and Comptroller General Richard
Eckstrom pulled up in front of the Shaw Air Force Base sign on U.S.
378 on Thursday to hand over a giant check to local officials to
help in the effort to protect the base.
The $100,000 check,
which was appropriated in the state budget for the fiscal year
beginning last July 1, goes to the Support of Shaw Fund. The fund
looks at ways to protect the base during the base realignment and
closure process. Three other regions in the state will be receiving
similarly sized checks in the next two weeks.
Retired Maj.
Gen. Thomas Olsen said the committee will have to meet to decide
exactly how to spend the money, but he anticipated much of it going
toward continuing to pay for the services of the Spectrum Group, a
Washington-based consulting firm.
However, the check amount
was a pleasant surprise to the committee, which usually receives
checks in $50,000 chunks. Olsen and Mayor Joe McElveen said the
additional amount will put the fund in a good position to carry out
some other projects it has been considering, although they could not
be more specific about how the money might be spent.
"This
will allow us to do some things that we might have wanted to do but
didn't think we could afford," McElveen said.
In a little
more than a year, the fund has collected more than $300,000 from the
state, businesses and individuals, not including Thursday's check.
The fund pays $10,000 a month for the Spectrum Group's services and
had some $177,000 left in the bank before depositing the state's
contribution.
The governor said the timing of check
disbursement is dictated by the local community's needs and the BRAC
timeline.
"The really critical time is basically the last
six months, which is the point we're at right now," Sanford
said.
Olsen said the the committee will hang on to some of
the money to ensure it has funds when the BRAC list is published May
16. Once a base is on that list, there's only about a 15 percent
chance of getting off it, but if Shaw were on that list, the
committee could spend money on additional studies and advice to try
to prove Shaw's utility.
One of the frustrating parts of the
BRAC process is that no one on the local level knows what data is
being collected about the base.
"We know what kind of data
has been collected," but not the specifics, Olsen said. "I don't
know how it will be weighted ... we won't know until May."
A
few dozen people, including members of both city and county council,
state representatives and both state Sen. Phil Leventis and his
opponent, Dickie Jones, attended the press conference.
Contact Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or
803-774-1250.
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October 8, 2004 
