Homeless in 2009

In January of 2009 , more than 643,000 people were homeless in the United States. Two-thirds were in shelters while the other third were on the streets or in abandoned buildings. Sixty three percent were individuals and the remainder were members of homeless families.

From October of 2008 through September 2009, almost 1.6 million individuals had taken refuge in emergency or transitional housing. Thirty nine percent of this homeless population lived in California, New York and Florida where high housing costs contributed to the problem.

Below describes the makeup of the typical homeless population:

• 78% were adults;
  
• 61% were males;
  
• 62% were members of a minority group;
  
• 38% were 31 to 50 years old;
  
• 64% were lone individuals; and
  
• 38% had a disability.

Between 2007 and 2009, homeless individuals declined by 7 percent and homeless families increased by 30 percent.

On January 29, 2009, there were 295 homeless persons in Florence County and an additional 105 homeless persons in the Pee Dee Region. There are two soup kitchens located in Florence:

• House of Hope of the Pee Dee located at 1020 W. Darlington St.


• The Manna House at 450 Jarrott St.

Also, the Harvest Hope Food Bank is located at 2513 W. Lucas St. and depends on donations to stock their shelves. Recently they have made public requests for supplies because of the shortage.

The recession is sure to have an impact on the homeless population as statistics are updated!

I-95 Roadwork, Florence

Night time lane closures will occur in various locations north- and south-bound from mile marker 154 to 197 for guardrail repair over the next two weeks. As a reference, Dillon is exit 190, David McLeod/ I-20 is 160 and the exit for 341 is mile marker 146.

New form of alternative transportation

Do you have the Five Points traffic blues? I saw this parked on the library lawn today. No doubt someone's idea of alternative transportation. I had the privelage of riding in these regularly with a previous job - they are fun!

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Florence County "A Step Ahead" Of Natural Disasters

Tornados, hurricanes, and floods! Disasters we hope will never come our way, but know the possibility is always there. How great is it that we can worry a little less knowing that Florence County departments are on top of the aftermath should we be subjected to one of these unwelcomed disasters!

That's right! The Florence County Geographic Information System (GIS) staff has developed a computer program (DART), which is a new damage assessment tool that will be utilized in the event of a natural disaster. DART stands for Damage Assessment Relay Tool. The program combines GIS data with tax assessor information and calculates the dollar amount of damage based on property value of buildings and structures. The beauty of the program is the time it could cut in obtaining federal aid for disasters. By utilizing this new program, Florence County Emergency Management is aware almost instantly how much damage has been done and the dollar amount. This information is critical to submit to the state and federal government since this information is one of the considerations as to whether or not a presidential disaster declaration is issued.

So how does this program work? For past disasters, both an inspector and an appraiser would travel to a site with a paper map, clipboard, pen and paper. On the map, they had to figure out what piece of property they were looking at when they came to a damaged area. Then they would write down the parcel number, the type of structure, amount of damage and the address - if they could determine the address! This procedure had to be done for each damaged location. This information then had to be taken to the tax assessor's office to process the estimated damage for the neighborhood. This alone took three days.

With DART, the inspector's use dash-mounted laptops to plot points and send them back to the emergency operations center wirelessly. DART provides drop-down boxes for each field and uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) to pinpoint a team's exact location with a view of the site from the air. That way if the house is gone or completely destroyed, they can still see what use to be there. Now, what would have normally taken days to complete will make the process faster and much more accurate. As we all know, there is always the chance that the wireless communications could go down. No need to worry for this operation, the data can be logged into the computers and uploaded later at the emergecy operations center.

The Florence County Emergency Management office ran a successful first test on DART in June of this year. DART's capabilities should also help disaster response teams adjust plans as new information becomes available and allow agencies at the emergency operations center to track the path of disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes. With these coordinates plotted on maps, they can view wind patterns and where the damage occurred. This information helps them make decisions on opening additional shelters and where to send additional resources.

We can't prevent these disasters if they are in our path, but doing whatever we can to make the aftermath easier to deal with is a big thing! Hurricane Hugo and the long weeks following it certainly are not pleasant memories. Learning about DART makes me breath a little easier should we be faced with another similar to Hugo. Hope it does the same for you!

LaHood in Florence

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood with Congressman John Spratt.

It's not often and never anticipated to see the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in your hometown planning for transportation's future. The Secretary of Transportation is the head of the agency that provides funding for State and local transportation projects and, for the reason of today's meeting, larger national-scale projects such as I-73. So, that's is just what happened this morning. I got a tip late last night from a Darlington County colleague (thank you, Brooks) that explained that there was going to be a transportation roundtable at SiMT Friday morning.

The Planning Services team with Secretary Ray LaHood (from left, Renee Proctor, Elizabeth Ervin, myself, and Debi Matthews at the right of the Secretary.

Of course you know what I said: "what roundtable meeting on transportation at SiMT?"
So a quick search for the meeting came up with Secretary LaHood's appearance in the Pee Dee - only the second for this position. Then, since I was excited about a potential 'fun Friday' with my staff, I woke up and called them to see if they were interested! ...yes, they were interested (and were already awake!). And, plus our intern was going to go, which I though would be a fantastic experience to see government in action.

Deputy Secretary of Transportation  John D. Porcari, who LaHood said, "really runs the department." 

During his presentation, Mr. Secretary mentioned that the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is compiling a reauthorization of the transportation funding bill (where FLATS, through SCDOT, gets it's guideshare funding) worth nearly $500 billion with a tenth of that being a "down payment" to begin with the larger, important projects that the President mentioned in Milwaukee on Labor Day.

All in all, a very eye-opening day with an audience full of elected officials, MPO staff members from GSATS (our Myrtle Beach colleagues, Grand Strand Transportation Study), directors and administrators of many of the jurisdictions that would be affected by the new interstate highway.

Exciting times here in Florence!

This blog was edited to correct the number of visits the Sec. of Trans. has visited SC.

FLATS Policy Committee Pursues Options

The most recent FLATS (Florence Area Transportation Study) Policy Committee meeting was held this past Monday. The meeting revealed what we can expect regarding transportation in our area and what applications for enhancement grants have been submitted.

Enhancement grants are federal funds most often used for bicyclists facilities, pedestrian facilities, landscaping and scenic beautification such as streetscaping and also preserving the abandoned railway corridors. Eligible applicants include city and county governments in the FLATS area (Darlington County, City of Florence, Florence County and Quinby). SCDOT must approve the local government to manage the project by showing that it has adequate staff to meet federal requirements. The allocated amount for the FLATS area is $117,000 annually.

An enhancement project that prompted discussion was the enhancement of the Cheves St. corridor (shown in turquoise and labelled "A" in the map below) from around the railroad tracks west to Irby St. The City of Florence is investing $1 million in parking north of this street that will support the Performing Arts Center and planned museum. City plans show a change in the number of lanes of this corridor to provide a more pedestrian-friendly environment to downtown and these new facilities. The enhancement grant proposal also includes much needed landscaping and bike lanes.

Renee and Debi did this.

Another option is to enhance the Dargan St. corridor (shown in pink and labeled "B" in the map above). Some of the Committee members mentioned this street may be the focus for enhancement monies. This street is two lanes and begs for beautification that will be inviting to downtown. The Committee has requested City of Florence staff to incorporate Dargan St. in the plan. What is your choice?

Other discussion at the meeting included upgrades to S. Cashua from Second Loop to Knollwood Rd. The question is whether sidewalks should be included in the project in a location where currently has little walking traffic or is walking traffic light because there is no where to walk? With limited area to expand, would a bicycle lane be a better solution in this area? As you can see in the schematic below, lane designation near the shoulder acts as a more significant bicycle accommodation.

Courtesy of SCDOT

The Committee has asked SCDOT to determine a cost savings if sidewalks were omitted from this project. Weighing the pros and cons make for healthy discussions especially when there is a high dollar at stake. We'll talk more at the next FLATS Policy Committee Meeting.

What are your thoughts and concerns on the above projects?

Adventures in Planning

Hello Blogosphere! My name is Elizabeth Ervin, and I’ve been interning at the Florence County Planning and Building Department for almost three months now, and I have to say I’ve learned a lot. I started strictly working in the GIS department, going over the database of Florence County roads with a fine tooth comb to make sure that when firefighters, police officers, EMS, and other first responders head to a sight they have an accurate map to guide them.

A few weeks into my internship, I got asked to help proofread the Transportation Element of the County’s Comprehensive Plan. Reading this piqued my interest in planning, so I asked Scott if I could help out more often, and he was nice enough to say yes.

Since then, I have gotten to attend meetings on transportation planning, learn planning terminology, and even make a few cool maps that show areas of growth in Florence County. I have been bombarded with new terms and ideas, and have seen firsthand all the work that goes into county planning.

Currently, I am working with a planning program called CommunityViz. CommunityViz allows for the visualization of future patterns of growth based on different scenarios. You can input zoning types, unbuildable areas, current building footprints, and other existing information. Then you can specify certain scenarios, for example changing zoning type or building of new roads or other infrastructure, and the program will predict what will happen to the area in the future. It’s really cool stuff, and especially great because I get to combine GIS with planning! It’s taking some time to figure out, but with the help of Rony (a super-talented GIS Technician), it’s getting there.

Working for the Planning department has been quite an experience so far, and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for me next!