Politics

More Talks for International Drive

Yesterday’s meeting on International Drive ended with further discussions scheduled for August 17, 2015.

According to several sources who attended the meeting between Horry County officials and representatives from the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation, yesterday’s talks were very cordial and very open.

The sources said both sides presented several options that could be considered for a compromise on the current International Drive standoff.

“We gave each other some options and both sides are going to talk about them,” said Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus. “Hopefully when we get together on the 17th we can come to some type of agreement. If it works out, I believe everyone will be happy.”

Specifics on the options each side presented are not available. Lazarus said both sides agreed to keep those confidential until the next meeting.

Lazarus said he emphasized the importance of International Drive to the citizens of Carolina Forest and the strong support of citizens in the Carolina Forest area to getting the project completed.

The International Drive project was initially scheduled to be completed in 2013 as one of the last roads on the Ride II list of projects.

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International Drive Talks

Representatives from Horry County, the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation will meet this afternoon to discuss International Drive.

The talks will be an exploration to determine if any compromise is possible to get the International Drive construction started.

As of right now, the environmentalist groups have until August 29, 2015 to determine if they will appeal a recent decision by the SCDHEC board not to conduct a final review on the project.

If it comes, the appeal will be made to the Administrative Law Court.

Representatives of the CCL have indicated in media reports that they may be open to a compromise solution that would avoid more legal action and move the project along.

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus reached out to the groups after the SCDHEC decision to determine if any compromise is possible.

Lazarus told me he thought it was proper to take the initiative on attempting to find a compromise.

“IF it goes to court, I will feel better being able to say we tried to find a compromise,” Lazarus said.

I salute Lazarus on the attempt. There is really nothing that should be stopping the International Drive project from moving forward other than senseless roadblocks put up by the environmentalist groups.

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Cam Crawford Newest Horry County Council Member

Cam Crawford swept through the special general election for Horry County Council District 6 Tuesday.

Crawford, who was unopposed on the ballot, gathered 240 of the 250 votes cast.

Rumors of a write-in campaign to challenge Crawford did not pan out as only eight write-in votes were cast.

Crawford can now be sworn into office in time to attend the next scheduled Horry County Council meeting on August 18, 2015.

This election brings council back to full strength, at least for the time being.

In other local election news, Republican runoff candidates Russell Fry and Tyler Servant are scheduled to face off in a debate Thursday August 6, 2015.

Fry and Servant will be opposing each other in a special Republican primary runoff election net Tuesday, August 11, 2015, to see who will be the Republican nominee in the SC House District 106 special general election scheduled for September 15, 2015.

Fry led the first round of primary voting last week with 1,152 votes to 851 votes for Servant who finished second. The winner of the runoff election will be the only name on the special general election ballot as there are no Democratic candidates in the race.

The South Strand Republican Club will be hosting tomorrow’s debate. It will be held at the Horry County Recreation Center in the South Strand government complex on Scipio Lane.

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Bears, Harbor Dredging and Ecoterrorism

The cries of ecoterrorism seem to be the shrillest when the environmentalist groups have trouble getting what they want.

There was another piece in mainstream media over the weekend crying out about lack of bear tunnels and high fences with regard to the International Drive project.

This came within one week of the decision by a committee of the SCDHEC board voted 3-0 to reject a request for review of the project by the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation. These two environmentalist groups made a last minute appeal July 10, 2015 to stop SCDHEC and the US Army of Corps of Engineers from issuing permits that would have allowed construction on International Drive to go forward.

After a discussion of how political pressure apparently influenced the SC Department of Natural Resources to drop an earlier requirement to include three bear crossing tunnels and higher fences in the International Drive project, the following statement is made about a 2013 agreement between Horry County and SCDNR about the project:

“Horry County also agreed to pay the natural resources agency $122,210, the 2013 agreement shows.”

The inference here is that Horry County paid SCDNR to drop its requirements. Actually, Horry County paid SCDNR the money for a right of way on SCDNR property along the International Drive route. The inference was even stronger in earlier statements and op-ed pieces by staff of the SC Coastal Conservation League.

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Vote Tomorrow Horry County Council District 6

By Paul Gable
Vote tomorrow, August 4, 2015, in the special general election for Horry County Council District 6.

Republican Cam Crawford will be the only name on the ballot.

Crawford turned back five other candidates in the special primary election just over a month ago. The Democratic Party did not have any candidates file for this seat.

The citizens of Horry County Council District 6 have had no representation on county council since the death of Bob Grabowski in late March 2015.

In the interim, Horry County Council passed the largest tax increase in a generation in a series of 6-5 votes.

Nothing highlights the need of every district to be represented than those votes.

Even though Crawford’s will be the only name on the ballot, a write-in candidacy is always a possibility. It is important to make your voice heard through the ballot box.

This summer has been an extraordinary time for special elections in the southern end of Horry County.

Last week, Russell Fry and Tyler Servant finished one and two, respectively, in a special Republican Primary for SC House District 106. Next week will see the primary runoff election between these two candidates.

Again, the Democratic Party has no candidates in the SC House District 106 race.

Some areas of these two districts overlap, leaving voters in those precincts the opportunity to vote in both elections.

I know the Dog Days of Summer are a difficult time to get out and get around the Grand Strand as the height (and heat) of the tourist season is still upon us. However, it is important we have as many voters turn out as possible for these important elections.

So please get out and vote.

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MBREDC Smart Economic Planning or Insanity

On July 7, 2015, the Horry County Council approved another 2-year $2.6 million contract with the MBREDC (Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation.)

This action is probably very confusing for anyone who has followed the progress of the MBREDC over the years.

Have Horry County taxpayers received a proper return on the $1.3 million given annually to the MBRDC during the past 5 years? Certainly any prudent investor would ask about an expected return on investment before committing funds to a corporation, whether a quasi-public/private or solely private one. There is only one measure of success when it comes to investing your (the taxpayers) money and that is the return on investment. In this case the return would be measured in number of residents who got jobs per tax dollars spent.

Unfortunately (for my peace of mind and confidence in our County Council) I did some basic math. The MBREDC receives $1.3 million annually from Horry County taxpayers. The former MBREDC President Brad Lofton had announced 1,500 jobs were created by the MBREDC in Horry County during his 3 years running the agency. Oops – but it appears that half of those jobs have not been filled. Let’s do some easy math; 750 jobs at $1.3M X 3 years of taxpayer money = $5,200 per job. Oops, forgot to subtract the money owed to the county by the current occupant of the Cool Springs Business Park (paid for by taxpayer $). PTR owes $73,000 in back rent as of June. Is it now logical to add $73,000 / 3 = $24,333 to the cost per job? Well probably not, but you get the drift.

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Committee Disappoints on HCSWA Contract

The Horry County Administration Committee’s requests Thursday regarding a potential contract between the HCSWA and Charleston County were disappointing.

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority has been in negotiations with Charleston County to take its recyclables while a new material recycling facility is constructed in Charleston County.

One reason Charleston County approached Horry County is they stepped up to help the HCSWA when the old HCSWA MRF on Hwy 701 North burned some years ago.

But, the Administration Committee seemed to forget that when discussing potential contract terms with HCSWA officials at its meeting Thursday.

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus was reasonable in his initial comments, “I don’t want residuals to go in our landfill. I don’t have any problem doing it (taking Charleston County recyclables.) We need to be very careful in the final document that we don’t lose any money and it is not at the detriment of our landfill or at the detriment of the flow control ordinance.”

However, after an executive session regarding contract terms, Lazarus made a motion that “this body tell the HCSWA to move forward under the conditions that provisions stricken (from the original contract proposal) by Charleston County be put back in plus the contract have a 30 day opt out clause.”

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Russell Fry Wins First Round

Russell Fry won the first round of the special Republican Primary for SC House District 106.

Fry gathered 1,152 votes for 44.88 percent of the votes cast. Tyler Servant, Horry County Council District 5 representative, was second with 851 votes or 33.15 percent. Roy Sprinkle finished in third place with 374 votes, 14.57 percent and Sam Graves had 190 votes for 7.4 percent of the vote.

Fry and Servant will face off in a special primary runoff in two weeks to see who will gain the Republican nomination and only name on the ballot for the September 15, 2015 special general election as the Democrats have no one in the race.

Fry, in his first attempt at elected office, said he was in complete disbelief when the returns started coming in and he was leading in the vast majority of precincts reporting.

“As late as yesterday (Monday), I was talking to people who didn’t know there was a special election,” Fry said. “I consider this a stunning upset in the first round, but the real work begins now.”

For Servant, it is the first time he has finished outside of first place in his short political career. He finished first in the primary voting for Horry County Council District 5 last June and won the runoff. He was unopposed in the general election.

Servant only assumed his county council seat January 1, 2015 and already he is looking to move on. Maybe he is finding out when you ask people to vote for you, they don’t expect you to come back after only seven months in office looking to get elected to something else.

One would think his political consultant and other advisors would have warned Servant that jumping into one race after another, as opportunity appears to present itself, makes it look like he is more interested in himself than the citizens he purports to represent.

We’ll see in two weeks.

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International Drive Clears One Hurdle

The International Drive project jumped one hurdle yesterday when a SCDHEC committee rejected another review requested by two environmental groups.

The committee voted 3-0 to reject a request for review of the project by the Coastal Conservation League and SC Wildlife Federation who put in a last minute appeal July 10, 2015 to stop SCDHEC and the US Army of Corps of Engineers from issuing permits that would have allowed construction to go forward.

It is expected an appeal will be filed with the Administrative Law Court within the 30 day required period.

The two environmental groups objected to the elimination of three bear tunnels that had been included in the project at one point and to a four lane instead of a two lane roadway.

At the time, we called this ecoterrorism in the form of delaying the project for as long as possible, a move that has been going on since 2007 in one form or another.

According to sources familiar with the committee deliberations, one SCDHEC board member asked if Horry County and the environmental groups would agree to a compromise of one bear tunnel instead of the three the environmentalists were requesting in an effort to avoid more legal proceedings. Evidently nothing was mentioned regarding two v. four lanes.

An attorney for the environmentalists reportedly called the compromise plan interesting and worth exploring.

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Horry County General Aviation Problems

An email making its way around the county highlights continuing problems with general aviation at the Horry County Department of Airports.

Discussions about general aviation were taken up during the Horry County Council March 2015 budget retreat. It was mentioned that the county’s general aviation operations were running approximately $400,000 in the red.

There is a general aviation terminal at Myrtle Beach International Airport and general aviation airports in North Myrtle Beach, Conway and Loris.

At the time of the budget retreat, GSD wrote that the problem was the county, and specifically Horry County Department of Airports, has neither a real business plan nor any idea how to develop one.

That’s a main reason the International Technology and Aerospace Park (ITAP) at Myrtle Beach International remains nothing but bare grass and why the nearly 200 acres of county land surrounding Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach has no aviation related businesses located there.

This was reiterated in the email, which was sent by a long time aviation business operating in the county, “I would tell you that you need someone in this job that understands aviation, how to promote it and educate the public on the benefits derived from it. Above all, a complete change of attitude on how best to attract good solid business people at these facilities to service the aviation community. Only then will these four airports become productive and useful to the county.”

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