Politics

Unresolved Issues Remain with Coast RTA Shelter Project

The third meeting of the Select Committee on Coast RTA will have to obtain some answers to several unresolved issues regarding the shelter and sign project before the committee can begin to finalize a report.

Despite fairly lengthy presentations by Coast RTA and SCDOT at the second meeting of the committee, held on April 7th, the number of shelters Coast RTA managed to install for use by its passengers remains in question.

While Coast RTA has maintained all along that it purchased 73 shelters total and installed 15 of those shelters, 10 shelters installed in the City of Myrtle Beach appear to be used for purposes other than those for which a $1 million grant was received by Coast RTA from the Waccamaw COG GSATS in 2005.

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Coast RTA Shelter Project: Whose Shelters are They Anyway?

An intensive study of documents provided by Coast RTA, SCDOT and the City of Myrtle Beach have brought to light discrepancies between the agencies about what exactly happened with the shelter project and associated funds.

It is obvious from studying the documents why Horry County Council chairman Mark Lazarus established an ad hoc Select Committee on Coast RTA to take an in-depth look at the project.

Presentations made before the Select Committee, at its April 7, 2014 meeting, by both SCDOT and Coast RTA indicate that 73 shelters were purchased by Coast RTA. Of these, 15 shelters were installed by Coast RTA for its use. After nine years, SCDOT cancelled the project and the remaining 58 shelters were inventoried and auctioned by GovDeals.com.

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Don Wizeman – Rest in Peace “The Watchman”

I was more than saddened yesterday to hear of the death of my friend Don Wizeman.

Don Wizeman was a visionary, never much appreciated by the good ole boys of the Myrtle Beach area, even though many of his tourism marketing ideas were well ahead of their time.

He suffered fools badly, which often brought him into conflict with many of the area’s so-called movers and shakers.

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Near Miss on RIDE III for Carolina Forest

Residents of Carolina Forest should be aware of how nearly they were cut out of the RIDE III decision making process before it even got started.

Horry County Council approved, at last week’s budget retreat, a process that would have cut out a citizens’ committee from the project identification phase of the RIDE process in favor of county and city staffs making up the initial list of projects.

Fortunately, after a short break, council reconsidered what it had approved and amended the process to put the citizens committee back in.

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Brent Schulz Seeking Third Term in Horry District Two

Brent Schulz is seeking his third consecutive term as Horry County Council member for District Two.

Nearing the end of his second term, Schulz said he enjoys his work on council and is happy he has been able to help his constituents.

“I really enjoy serving on council a lot,” Schulz said. “Over my two terms, we have been able to accomplish many of the things people wanted to see in the district without raising taxes.”

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Coast RTA Funding Up Against Tight County Budget

Horry County’s funding for Coast RTA could be more affected by a tight county budget than by the current controversy the agency is embroiled in with SCDOT over Coast RTA’s cancelled sign and shelter project among other differences.

County staff had to cut $750,000 for dirt road paving from the budget just to present a preliminary balanced budget to county council at the council’s budget retreat this week. Coast RTA funding remained at $1.055 million in the preliminary budget.

Cutting dirt road funding has serious impacts on the citizens of at least five council districts, all of which have little to no bus service. Additionally, it has lesser impacts on five more council districts that do have some level of bus service.

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Sherrie Todd Running for School Board District Two

Myrtle Beach native Sherrie Todd is a Republican candidate for Horry County School Board District Two.

“I was born and raised in Myrtle Beach knee deep in sand,” said Todd.

After graduating from Myrtle Beach High School, Todd graduated from the Beaux Art College of Cosmetology. Immediately upon receiving her license, Todd and her mother established La Petite Styling Salon, the oldest surviving beauty salon in Myrtle Beach.

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Coast RTA Special Committee Second Meeting

The second meeting of the Special Committee on Coast RTA confirmed there is fault to be shared among several agencies when investigating why the bus sign and shelter project was not completed.

When Coast RTA received a $1 million grant through the Waccamaw Council of Governments, the Federal Highway Administration provided the funds. However, SCDOT administered the grant as if the funds came from the Federal Transportation Administration. FHWA and FTA have different requirements for how grant funds are administered.

Despite submitting 13 invoices for reimbursement from the FHWA, through the first few years of the project, SCDOT continued to administer by FTA regulations.

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Jeff Johnson in House District 58 Race

A native of Conway and longtime attorney in the local area, Jeff Johnson is a candidate for the S.C. House District 58 seat.

Johnson has deep roots in District 58, having graduated from Conway High School and Coastal Carolina University before establishing his law practice in Conway after graduating from Mississippi College Law School in Jackson, Mississippi.

“I grew up in the district, have a lot of family and friends in the district and believe I understand the needs of the residents of the district,” Johnson said. “Helping people has been my life’s work and I want to continue to help the people of my community as the representative for House District 58.”

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Helping Our Combat Veterans

The events at Ft. Hood yesterday only serve to highlight what a terrible job we are doing as a nation to help our veterans deal with the trauma of combat.

The killings at Ft. Hood will draw several days of headlines, many dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, then, be forgotten as the news cycle changes.

But the problem remains and the numbers are startling.

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