a $470 million infrastructure bill for roads.” INNOVATION IN HOUSING SOLUTIONS Hardeeville has pioneered creative approaches to workforce housing through public-private partnerships that address affordability challenges in a market where median home prices have reached $445,000 and new homes sell in an average of just 9 days. The city’s strategic land acquisition fund, generated from developing a new industrial park for over $5M in profits, enables targeted property purchases for housing development in the historic downtown area. “With the land acquisition fund, one of the strategic uses of that is to purchase in our historic downtown parcels where we can develop workforce housing,” Mayor Williams explains.“Our most recent one that is first of its kind anywhere in the country is a 10unit collaboration with Habitat for Humanity and a local builder, the city providing the land, the builder working at basically cost and Habitat for Humanity.” Power grid improvements involve multiple partners, including Dominion Energy’s new transmission lines and a state energy bill passed recently to increase electrical capacity statewide.TS Conductor’s advanced technology offers additional benefits beyond job creation. “When TS Conductor came in, they worked very closely with Palmetto Electric, the electric cooperative in this part of the state,” Mayor Williams explains.“If everything coordinates properly, one of the advantages besides jobs of TS Conductor, their technology is such that it should deliver not only faster power generation, but cheaper.” The $470 million road infrastructure bond, approved by Jasper County voters, will fund $376 million in critical road improvements. The coordination extends to the $825 million I-95 widening project from the Georgia border to Exit 8, expanding from four to six lanes with 14 new bridges, directly addressing daily traffic bottlenecks that currently affect local businesses. Mayor Williams emphasizes the coordination required: “We were fortunate, we spent a lot of time educating our community to pass 229 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 09 HARDEEVILLE, SC
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