No Bull The sale of the former state mental hospital site on Bull Street is on hold, at least for its one buyer prospect, Greenville–based developer Bob Hughes. Hughes was offering to buy 165 acres out of a total of about 180 acres, leaving 15 acres still in public hands. Earlier Hughes was the point man for Green Diamond property owner Burroughs & Chapin when he promoted B&C’s land on the Congaree floodplain as a cattail plantation, suitable for natural cleansing of partially treated sewage. The land would have to be purchased by the city at B&C’s prices, but the water draining through the cattails into the Congaree would be clean, Hughes said. Albeit supported by Mayor Coble, the idea failed, probably due to B&C’s high land prices. On the Bull Street property, the S.C. Mental Health Commission objected to the Hughes deal’s price and structure, neither being fully disclosed publicly. Meanwhile, the Midlands Housing Alliance’s push to locate its homeless shelter at the corner of Main and Elmwood moves forward, protecting the Bull Street property from the threat of a homeless shelter locating on its 15 acres still in public hands.

Speaking of floodplains The City of Cayce has been recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for its outstanding floodplain management activities. In a letter to Cayce’s leaders, FEMA Certified Floodplain Manager Brad. G. Loar said, “As a token of our appreciation for your community’s efforts to reduce loss of lives and property damage caused by flooding, restore environmental functions of floodplains, and hold development standards that exceed the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), we are pleased to present you this plaque acknowledging your success in the Community Rating System (CRS).” The CRS is a voluntary incentive program that promotes community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements.

FDIC closes another Georgia bank On Friday, June 25, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation shut down First National Bank of Savannah. Georgia has seen 39 of its banks closed since August 2008. The Savannah Bank will buy some of the assets at defunct First National of Savannah while it assumes all of its deposits. Across the country since the beginning of 2010, 85 FDIC–insured banks have failed. In Georgia for the past six months, a total of nine banks have been closed, including First National Bank of Savannah.

Meanwhile, it gets tougher for small banks The U.S. congressional conference committee working on financial reforms appears to have resolved differences in approaches between the House and the Senate. All institutions, big banks and small, will have to spend more to comply with the new expanded regulations. Banks with $1 billion or more in assets, say, can probably manage, but the small community banks are likely to find the costs of the new regulations too much. Expect more mergers.

Atlanta bus routes reduced In Atlanta come September 25 the number of bus routes run by MARTA, the greater Atlanta area transit authority, will be reduced from 131 to 91, which represents a 10.2 percent service cut. The rail system service will be cut by 14.2 percent, also by September 25. The total number of employees inside MARTA is being reduced by 734 positions. Still, the September 25 cuts combine for less reduction in service than recently threatened by recession–depleted sales tax collections. The MARTA service area collects a onecent sales tax dedicated to mass transit, and the new budget in place July 1 is $389.6 million.

Charlotte is No. 18 New York City and its 8.39 million residents is America’s largest city, by far, and No. 2 is Los Angeles with 3.83 million people. Chicago is third with its 2.85 million citizens, and Houston is fourth with 2.26 million. The top four American cities were ranked the same in the year 2000. This year, No. 18 is Charlotte and its population of 709,441, all inside the city limits. In 2000, Charlotte had 567,943 residents. The U.S. census estimate for Columbia is 129,333, making Charlotte about 5.5 times the size of Columbia.

Home sales drop in May Statewide in S.C. May pending home sales fell by 23.8 percent, as compared with May 2009. The federal homebuyer tax credit program finished the month before, so May and its 3,111 purchase agreements signed became the first month of data without the tax credit program, which partially explains the drop–off in pending sales.