YEMASSEE - The depot project is full steam ahead. The Yemassee Town Council approved two train station agreements on March 9 that will finally make the renovation of the train depot a reality.
One was for the purchase sales agreement with CSX which would enable the town to purchase the train depot. The other agreement was a lease agreement with Amtrak. These two agreements will give the town the train depot and the adjoining parking lot. The Yemassee Revitalization Corporation, a nonprofit organization, made this a possibility and it will cover the costs of the building and property transfer for the town.
"We're going to own the property," YRC Executive Director Sue Sledz said to the town council.
Sledz said she has been working on this deal for 16 months. Mayor J. L. Goodwin said he had been working on the project for 13 years. The final ownership of the depot building and the adjoining parking lot is expected to transfer in June.
When the transfer takes place, the YRC can begin to renovate the old train depot and make it a focal point for the downtown of Yemassee.
The YRC is also applying for a USDA grant to renovate the old health care building. If the YRC gets the grant, the building will be able to hold three small businesses. The council approved a USDA rural development engineering terms agreement to contract with Charles Brightwell P.E. to perform the phase two architectural/engineering work and the design, bid and construction administration if the YRC gets the grant.
In addition, Sledz announced that the YRC netted $19,000 in profit for its fundraiser at Auldbrass Plantation which was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.

In other matters:
- A public hearing was held with Lowcountry Council of Governments to amend a grant for a pump station project. The remaining grant funds will be used on water looping. The project will benefit 807 people with over 50 percent being low to moderate income.
- Another public hearing was held by Lowcountry Council of Governments and the town council to do a needs assessment for the town. The town needed to identify three priority projects to apply for the Community Development Block Grant. At the public hearing the audience was invited to make suggestions. In the end water looping/ water improvements was decided as one of the top three priorities. The other was community enrichments and the other one was downtown revitalization.
- Council approved business licenses for: Home Free Bonding owned by Gerti Dupont Rivers, Ferguson Boutique owned by Clyde Ferguson, Bryson's Seafood owned by Billy Twitty, A Bail Now owned by Don Mescia, and Rite Way Complete Paving owned by Greg Sherrlock.
- Police Chief Jack Hagy reported that for the month of February there were the following calls: one burglary, two simple assaults, three simple possessions, one grand larceny, one petty larceny, 14 driving under suspensions, three criminal domestic violence calls, one false information to a police officer, 10 alarms, 18 broken down motorists, 10 vehicle accidents. The chief also gave an update on his enforcement of town ordinances.
n Assistant Fire Chief Tom Risse reported that the fire department had a total of 15 calls for the month of February.
- Tommy Logan came to discuss the Yemassee/ Port Royal railroad. He is trying to get support to get it running again. He wants to use it as a tourist attraction by making it a historic tour dinner train. He is trying to gain support for the project in Beaufort and the Yemassee area. He said he was expecting the Yemassee/ Port Royal railroad to be able to generate a ridership of 60,000 to 100,000 people, which would help bring tourists to the area.
- Mayor Goodwin urged people to fill out their census forms and get the word out to others to fill out their census forms. During the last census count the town only had 807 people. Goodwin thinks the town has 1,200 people in it. He said if the town was a municipality of over 1,000, he would have a vote in Lowcountry Council of Government decisions. As it stands now the mayor has input but no vote. An accurate count with the census is key in getting federal funding and it also helps to decide the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives. Hampton County Councilman Chris Haulsee said that it is estimated that Hampton County lost $10 million during the last census because the numbers were not accurate. He also said that South Carolina has a chance to pick up another representative for the U.S. House of Representatives.