$1.4 billion—it’s a mind-boggling figure that could transform South Carolina’s water infrastructure landscape. In this episode, go behind the scenes with Bonnie Ammons, Executive Director of the SC Rural Infrastructure Authority, and Angie Mettlen, Vice President and Director of Strategic Funding and Regulatory Affairs at WK Dickson & Co., Inc., as they unpack the unprecedented impacts of this massive investment.
Transcript (Automated)
Angie (00:00):
Our kids and our kids’ kids are gonna look back at this as being a very pivotal transitional time for infrastructure in the United States.
Bonnie (00:08):
That was a moment for us that we said, wow, wow, you know, wow, this is gonna have a big impact on our state.
Robert (00:21):
Welcome to the outfall, where we dive into the unique backstories of our water and infrastructure world. In today’s episode, we’re exploring a landmark event for South Carolina, a staggering $1.4 billion worth of investment from the American Rescue Plan to revolutionize the state’s water and sewer systems with over 200 projects already in motion. This is not just a financial boost, it has the potential to have a significant step towards a more sustainable and resilient future. If you’re from South Carolina, you already know these two folks we’re joined by Angie Melin, vice President at WK Dixon, and Bonnie a Amens executive director of the South Carolina Role Infrastructure Authority. They’ll take us behind the scenes of this effort. Let’s kick things off with Angie, who will explain the significance starting from its roots in the pandemic.
Angie (01:28):
So, I’m Angie Melin. I am Vice President and Director of Strategic Funding and Regulatory Affairs with WK Dixon. So we were monitoring this. We kept hearing about the American Rescue Plan Act, and we were following it from the very beginning, and a lot of things were still shut down. So what we did, um, is we started helping our clients get prepared for what we thought was gonna happen. We kept hearing about the Amer American Rescue Plan Act. We kept hearing about how they were going to open it up for water infrastructure. So we started having webinars so that our clients could sit in and learn. And lo lo and behold, you know, here it came. And what we didn’t know is we knew that the state money, the state could decide, or, you know, the states could decide how they wanna distribute the, the money that they got from arpa.
Angie (02:19):
And we knew that that water infrastructure was going to be a big deal, but we didn’t know how big it was gonna be for each state. You know, how much of their pot of ARPA money they were gonna put toward water infrastructure. The good thing in South Carolina was we had just finished with the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority, the statewide water and sewer sustainability study on viability of water infrastructure in our state and water utilities. So we had all this data on how much need there was and how much investment was gonna be needed in our utilities in South Carolina. So we were able to hand the legislature and Governor McMaster really a playbook and say, Hey, look, this is a good way that you can invest in South Carolina’s infrastructure. And that also plays into being able to compete from, for economic development, you know, rural areas that need support. All of that plays in. So that’s what happened. And, and I will tell you, I mean, we work across the southeast and every state did put money into, into water infrastructure from their ARPA funds. But per capita, South Carolina invested more of their ARPA dollars and water infrastructure than any other state in the south out.
Angie (03:38):
If you look back, we had a really long period of growth before 2008, 2009 when we had the, the recession. And so a lot of investment was being done at expansion. You know, we were expanding our systems, and so the core of our systems kind of got neglected. And so now when 2008, um, 2009 happened with that, that period of where everybody was pulling back in and not doing as much, um, you know, expansion that has, that’s put the spotlight on needing to invest in our core infrastructure doing rehab, rehabilitation. And if you look at some of our larger utilities, they’re the ones that serve some of the areas that, you know, some of the older areas of our infrastructure in, in the states. And so they’re having to, to reinvest in a lot of that infrastructure now, you know, to make sure that it’s sustainable.
Angie (04:30):
I mean, you can expand all you want, but if the, if the core isn’t there and it needs work, then you know that that’s really where the heart of it is. I tell you, I think we’re gonna look back on this period of time, and maybe our kids and our kids’ kids are gonna look back at this as being a very pivotal transitional time for infrastructure in the United States. Even compare it to the, um, after the Great Depression with all of the Public Works projects that came out of that in order to lift the country out of the Great Depression. This is bigger than that. Um, from a, from a just pure percentage of gross domestic product, it is, it is significantly more investment in infrastructure and water infrastructure, which is fantastic. We’re used to, we’re used to hearing infrastructure, and when people talk infrastructure, they’re talking generally roads and bridges and things like that.
Angie (05:21):
And the water infrastructure has gotten left behind. And this is not the case now, which is fantastic. You know, and I will, I will tip my hat to Bonnie Ammons and the, the folks at the Rural Infrastructure Authority, they were prepared for it, and they’ve done a really, really good job of managing the grant funds that the legislature gives them every year. And so, not only did we have what, you know, the data that came out of the study that we did, but they had a track record of helping, um, our utilities across the state and doing a darn good job at it.
Robert (05:57):
After hearing from Angie about her perspective behind this effort and her shout out to Bonnie, I think it’s a perfect time to hear from Bonnie.
Bonnie (06:07):
Um, my name is Bonnie Ammons and I’m executive director of the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority. Essentially, our agency was created to, uh, provide infrastructure, financing resources, um, and that is in the form of grants and loans, uh, that we provide for water wastewater and storm water projects. We always felt confident that there was so much need in the state that we knew that if, if the general assembly, you know, the governor, if they would allocate the money for water and sewer needs, we just never had any doubt that it could not be spent. We had procedures in place. We, we had relationships with the water and sewer agencies. We had been running much smaller, uh, you know, a $25 million, uh, competitive grant program for a long time. And so we, we sort of had the structure in place to be able to do that. It was just, uh, that we had to crank it up seven times, you know, to be able to, to, to do that much .
Bonnie (07:22):
Um, but we worked really hard. I mean, wow, what an opportunity. So, you know, we did a lot of outreach. There was a lot of conversation that, you know, in the water and sewer, uh, community, you know, word gets around fast, you know, when there’s funds available. And so I think everybody was, you know, sort of aware of it, and they thought, this is our opportunity. I think opportunity, you know, when, when the, the funds finally did, uh, actually become available, people were ready, they were ready to apply, and we actually got over $2 billion in applications. And what I think was amazing about it is that, that these were, you know, sort of the short term need, you know, in other words, you, the, the, there was a expenditure deadline of, uh, December, 2026. So whatever project you came up with, you pretty much had to be ready to go so that you could complete it within that timeframe.
Bonnie (08:30):
I think we had a moment after we finally awarded the funds. We had workshops all over the state. We did regional workshops, we did online workshops. We were working to get applications in here. We got a ton of applications, then we had to go through them and select projects, which we did. Um, and then the real work began, uh, began, uh, with implementing those projects. And, and as you may recall, we had an implementation workshop at the Columbia Convention Center. We were expecting, I don’t know, 250 people there. I mean, we were expecting a good crowd, but we filled the big ballroom and actually ran out of chairs. They didn’t have any more chairs that we could access. There were over 600 people there. And honestly, you could feel the excitement in the room. You could, you could just sense the expectancy, the, the, the, the, uh, anticipation, um, that communities, these water and sewer systems were feeling about what an impact it was going to make in their community.
Bonnie (09:46):
You could just sense that it really meant a lot to these systems. And I, I would say in particular, the small systems, um, that were able to access some of these funds, but also the large ones as well, because they were able to do some big projects sooner than they might have been otherwise able to do. And I think that that was a moment for us that we said, wow, wow, you know, wow, this is gonna have a big impact on our state. And, um, and, and, and we still feel that way. Uh, and, and as we are implementing these projects, you know, we, we feel that people are committed to it and they’re trying to, uh, you know, they’re trying to get ’em done, uh, quickly, and they’re excited about what they’re gonna mean for their own communities. And, and that’s what’s exciting to us.
Bonnie (10:43):
I do think that, in particular, if you can invest in things that will have long-term economic impact, that you’re not only investing in, you know, clean drinking water, sanitary sewer, protecting the environment, water quality, those are all, you know, that’s our quality of life for the South Carolina. But if you can also provide infrastructure that has the capacity to generate, uh, economic opportunities, especially in, in our rural areas, um, where those opportunities are sometimes few and far between, I think that’s important. I think that’s, you know, you want the rising tide that, that lifts all boats. You know, that’s what you wanna do. That’s what you want to try and invest in, in the long term.
Robert (11:35):
Well said, Bonnie. Now let’s circle back to Angie for one last observation about the future. I know I’ve heard some concern about how this influx of funding might impact construction costs, but despite all this, Angie remains optimistic, and here’s why.
Angie (11:53):
In South Carolina, what we’re gonna see is probably later this year, the vast majority of the projects are gonna start hitting the street. So the good thing is, I think we’ve tried to plan for it with contingency estimates and things like that, but I think it’s a, a good, I’m not gonna call it a challenge, I’m gonna call it an opportunity, because again, I, I, I know there, there’s folks, the glass half empty folks who are like, well, you know, because of the price escalations and this and that, we can’t do as much with this money as we could. You know, what it, I, I think we need to take advantage of it. Um, we’re not gonna have, I don’t think we will ever see this type of investment and opportunity ever again.
Robert (12:40):
And that’s a wrap on today’s dive into South Carolina’s massive infrastructure push. Huge. Thanks to Angie and Bonnie for sharing their insights. It really puts into perspective for me, the monumental effort and historical significance of this $1.4 billion investment, despite any challenges in construction costs. It’s clear we’re witnessing a landmark moment. And to you, our listeners, thanks for sticking with us through season six. Don’t forget to hit that subscribe button on the Outfall podcast for more stories. Your support fuels our effort into documenting and sharing these stories, just like this. Catch you next time and have a fantastic day. It’s hard to do this when you’re friends with someone,
Angie (13:28):
. It’s, it’s all good, .
Robert (13:34):
Alright. Alright. So we’re gonna talk.
