EASLEY — The city of Easley took several steps Monday night at its council meeting toward making the projected Easley Town Center shopping development at the former site of Platt Saco Lowell a reality.

The first step in this direction came a week earlier in a special called council meeting for the first reading on an ordinance that has Easley entering into an agreement with Easley Commons Retail Associates, appropriating up to $1.7 million toward the development of Easley Town Center.

The ordinance passed on first reading last week, then passed its second reading Monday night, 6-0, with council person Kim Valentin not present.

Initial stages of development will include the replacement of the bridge on Prince Perry Road that passes over the Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks and connects with US 123 at the intersection with Rock Springs Road.

The bridge is narrow, and has a high arch in the middle. City officials have long been concerned about emergency vehicles crossing the two-lane bridge, with the coming traffic hidden on the other side of the arch.

Other ordinances and resolutions from Monday night’s meeting mostly dealt with details that needed to be cleared up on the Saco Lowell project.

One ordinance involved the issuance and sale of a bond for no more than $1.8 million, to provide the city with the funds promised in the earlier ordinance. The slight difference in the amounts for the two ordinances was due to attorney’s fees and closing costs.

The ordinance passed first reading with a 6-0 vote.

A resolution was also passed giving city officials permissions to enter into an agreement with Norfolk-Southern Railway Company giving the city and Department of Transportation a construction easement near the railway.

Easley Mayor Larry Bagwell said that while the railroad company would handle any changes needed for the actual railroad tracks, the city and the Department of Transportation would legally need permission for construction near the tracks.

Another resolution passed expressing the intention of the city to be reimbursed for certain costs with the proceeds of tax-exempt obligations.

This simply states that the city plans to pay off the bonds issued through money collected the Tax Increment Finance district, accoding to city administrator Fox Simons.

The final resolution passed Monday night stated the city’s intentions of entering into a participation agreement with the South Carolina Department of Transportation stipulating the division of responsibilities of each party in the project.

Easley Mayor Larry Bagwell said that these resolutions and ordinances were the results of hours of talks between himself and Simons and officials from Norfolk-Southern and the state Department of Transportation.

“If you’ve never had to deal with folks from the Department of Transportation and the railroad company ... you ought to try it sometime,” Bagwell said.

Bagwell said it was very important to get the details all ironed out before the work began on the projects.