Tag: City of Myrtle Beach

Achilles Heel of Atlantic Beach Bikefest Planning

The 40 mile traffic loop proposed by City of Myrtle Beach officials is quickly becoming the Achilles Heel of Atlantic Beach Bikefest planning.

Yesterday, Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus proposed an alternate plan during the county’s Public Safety Committee meeting.

The Lazarus Plan would take traffic down Ocean Boulevard to the traffic light at Market Commons. A right turn on U.S. 17 Business to Harrelson Boulevard where a left turn onto Harrelson Boulevard would take traffic to U.S. 17 Bypass. A right turn on U.S. 17 Bypass to the intersection at 29 Avenue North with a right turn onto 29th Avenue North to Ocean Boulevard would complete the loop.

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Myrtle Beach Tries Forced Annexation Again

In the words of Yogi Berra it’s “déjà vu all over again” as the City of Myrtle Beach is back with another attempt at forced annexation of businesses.

After winning the vote, but subsequently determining there were legal issues with a referendum held for the Bridgeport and Waterside Drive communities three months ago, Myrtle Beach is looking further north this time.

Last month, the city sent a letter to residents of the Magnolia North subdivision soliciting their signatures on a petition to annex into the city. It is questionable, under state law, whether the city can solicit a petition or the idea and petition to annex must be initiated by residents of an area.

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Mixed Messages on Atlantic Beach Bikefest

Local and state officials are sending a lot of mixed messages about the Atlantic Beach Bikefest next year.

So far this week, Atlantic Beach Mayor Jake Evans said the town supported the Atlantic Beach Bikefest and it would continue. The next day, Governor Nikki Haley reiterated the Atlantic Beach Bikefest was bad for South Carolina and it needed to end.

Each admitted they had not talked to the other. Is picking up a phone so hard?

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Gingrich, Myrtle Beach, Oil and Interstates

Myrtle Beach Mayhem – It’s the Economy’s Fault

Myrtle Beach city officials finally got on message yesterday about the murder and mayhem that occurred in the city over Memorial Day weekend – Officially – It’s the Economy’s Fault.

The story goes, ‘because S.C. cities and counties that usually send officers to help on the Grand Strand during biker weekends are stretched tight budget wise, because of the poor economy, they couldn’t send any help this year.’

The fact that Myrtle Beach cut the $150 per diem it pays to these outside officers out of its budget for this year probably was a factor also.

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More Myrtle Beach Annexation Questions Arise

The more one looks at the City of Myrtle Beach annexation petition, the more questions arise on the issues surrounding this proposed annexation.

A July 15, 2014 special election is scheduled in what the city is calling the “South Area” to vote on whether the area will be annexed into the city limits.

A 50% plus one positive vote of qualified electors within the petition area will annex the whole 640 acres or so into the city with only qualified resident electors of the area voting on the question.

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Second Myrtle Beach Annexation in Pipeline

We learned this week that a second City of Myrtle Beach annexation is already in the process.

Earlier in the week, we reported about a Myrtle Beach annexation in which the city has submitted a petition for a referendum vote scheduled to be held July 15, 2014. In this one, the city has bundled together a relatively small amount, approximately 44 acres, of residential property with approximately 600 acres of commercial and undeveloped property into one annexation package.

Using an option in state law that allows 25% of voters in the proposed annexation area to petition for a referendum, the city has cut the owners of the commercial and undeveloped property included in the annexation out of the process completely. They literally have no say whether their property will be annexed into the city even though their business license fees and property taxes will rise.

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Is Proposed Myrtle Beach Annexation Really a Land Grab?

An unnecessary vote by Horry County Council at its May 6th meeting has raised questions about just what is going on with a prospective City of Myrtle Beach annexation plan.

This annexation proposal met initial opposition from two members of city council before passing. It was back to flying nicely under the radar until it was mistakenly put on Horry County Council agenda for a vote on a Resolution to move a referendum on the annexation question forward.

After initially passing county council by a 9-1 vote, council member Paul Prince moved for reconsideration after hearing many of the property owners were not included in the decision. Council, then, defeated the resolution by a 6-4 vote.

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Gingrich, Myrtle Beach, Oil and Interstates

Myrtle Beach Budget Retreat-Must Be the Water

It must be the water at Pinopolis because the City of Myrtle Beach budget retreat provided plenty of unusual highlights this year.

From $125 per year library cards to major surgical procedures under the city healthcare plan being shipped off to Costa Rica to the Downtown Redevelopment Corporation having a new secret plan for the pavilion site, the budget retreat had its moments.

Police Chief Warren Gall actually admitted that his force of caped crusaders does not do as effective a job of policing the south end of the city as it does the city’s north end. For anybody familiar with the city and its politics, that’s not news. In fact it’s quite obvious.

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Coast RTA Select Committee Findings

As the Select Committee on Coast RTA considers its findings to report to Horry County Council, several items from the reams of information collected by the committee stand out.

While Coast RTA General Manager Myers Rollins told the committee several times that the project was “contaminated from the beginning” because SCDOT administered the project grant under the wrong set of federal guidelines, this mistake alone did not cause the project to fail.

Had Coast RTA completed the shelter project by the end of the second contract extension, this SCDOT mistake would have probably gone unnoticed. Coast RTA submitted and was paid on 13 invoices from 2007 through 2010 even though the wrong guidelines were being used.

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Select Committee on Coast RTA Considering Final Report

The Select Committee on Coast RTA members have until Friday to come up with preliminary statements for consideration in the committee’s final report.

Charged with assessing the failures of a shelter and sign project and an intermodal center project, the committee must conclude whether the failures of the projects point to systemic problems within the management of the agency. It must also make a recommendation on future funding of the transportation agency by Horry County Council.

During its third meeting April 21st, the committee concentrated on new information received over the last two weeks about an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Myrtle Beach, a resolution by the Coast RTA board, the Coast RTA/SCDOT shelter project contract and a contract between Tolar Mfg. and Coast RTA for the shelters and associated equipment.

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