Council Approves Sale of Land for TTI Retail Store

Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer 

Anderson County Council approved the sale of property to TTI, a new Duke backup battery facility at the civic center, and $28.7 million in special resource bonds to be used to pay for sewer projects at Exit 14 on I-85.

The county will sell four acres to Other World Technologies (TTI) for a retail outlet for some of the the company’s brands, including Milwaukee, Ryobi, Homelite, Hoover, Orek.  

Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns said TTI is paying the county the appraised value for property, and will begin work their retail outlet as soon as details on the sale and final. 

The county also approved giving seven-tenths of an acre to Duke Energy behind the Anderson County Civic Center to be used as a battery backup for the main facility. Duke uses the civic center as a operations site during emergencies, and the building is also used as a shelter by the county during those emergencies. Duke will pay for the construction of the battery backup center. 

Meanwhile, plans to boost economic development at the Exit 14 site got a shot in the arm when council approved the three sewer projects on the property.  

Anderson County Councilwoman Cindy Wilson said the projects should have happened “30 years ago.”

“This is important for our county’s economic development,” said Rita Davis, director of finance for Anderson County. 

“It’s a very detailed plan,” Wilson said. 

Council also moved ahead with a plan to restrict the kinds of vehicles which can travel on Ballard Road.  

“Since the county finished improvements on the bridge, 18-wheelers have been using the road as a cut through between U.S. 29 North and S.C. 8,” Burns said. “It’s not appropriate traffic for that road.” 

Wilson agreed. 

“It’s important to keep the 18-wheelers off that road,” she said. 

Finally, on Tuesday night, council moved ahead with a plan to pay members of the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Board of Planning $50 per meeting. Both boards require extensive training and in the past many of the meetings were poorly attended, said Anderson County Councilman Ray Graham.