COLUMBIA, S.C. — Scout Motors now has the permit it needs to resume work on its planned electric vehicle plant in Blythewood, and officials say the company is working to address concerns form the community.
It's a project that state and local leaders are excited about because it could create up to 4,000 jobs.
But some residents still have concerns about the project, including retired veteran Charles Dayne.
"This is going to happen, so what kind of moves can I be thinking about to help them? I don't want to just be against the project," Dayne said. Dayne said he's worried about what it might do to air quality.
Blythewood Mayor Sloane Griffin said he had a chance to meet with Scout Motors leadership officials on Tuesday to discuss some of those concerns.
"They are going to have on site air quality management control so we as Blythewood know what's going on," Griffin said. "Everybody has homework from the table. Everybody left the table with some homework."
Griffin said he had a chance to tell the Scout what people in his town have told him.
"I laid my expectations out to the team that I want to make sure citizens are getting first off respected and recognized."
Blythewood citizen Cindy Merritt said she just wants to know every step of this project.
"I've seen changes that haven't bothered me. I've seen changes go up, but this right here is heartbreaking and heart wrenching," Merritt said. "There needs to be transparency and they keep saying they will let the public know, they will let the residents know. They are not letting us know anything!"
But Griffin said he was told by Scout Motors that from now on the community will get regular updates.
"What's going to happen is we are going to be able to get adequate timelines provided to us and the town," Griffin said. "That is one of my requirements."
In terms of what the timeline on development looks like, Griffin said those answers are still in the developmental phase.
"They are having to go back and redraw some things and revamp some of their timelines due to the time period of them not being able to work."
To help address ongoing concerns, Scout agreed to create an email for citizens to use to express concerns they have, something Griffin wants people to utilize throughout the entire process.
"I also asked to include us in the process all the way out. Don't stop including us in the process. So, if there are concerned citizens emailing you, when you write them back, cc the town in the email so we know what's going on out there."
To citizens with concerns, the mayor says he will listen to experts but ask questions and voice the public's concerns along the way.
"I want to make sure they are keeping us in it and we are keeping Scout in it," he concluded.