But it occurred to me we could really help them do some fundamental planning. Last September, Luger invited county commissioners and their county managers to a roundtable discussion. The group agreed. Led by staff at the Carolina Environmental Program , the workshop will be open to graduate students from city and regional planning, environmental science and engineering, law, and business. First, they'll travel to the coastal counties to meet key players and get an idea of what infrastructure is already in place.
Infrastructure is the biggest impetus to growth.
The course will be directed by Deborah Amaral, adjunct assistant professor of environmental sciences and engineering, with input from Luger and Dale Whittington, professor of environmental sciences and engineering, and Richard Whisnant, assistant professor at the Institute of Government. By the end of the class, students will offer coastal planners a variety of finance and infrastructure scenarios for managing growth on the coast. Every state along the seaboard has concentrated growth. Upchurch, now chairman of the four-county regional wastewater task force, says so far his group hasn't received much help from the state. But he welcomes the idea of studying the issue one more time.