By Paul Gable
The Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) board is lobbying county council members to approve changes to the agency’s by laws at tomorrow night’s council meeting.
The HCSWA board has been working on by-law changes for 18 months, but, now there is a fool’s rush to ramrod a council vote without much consideration or proper procedure being applied.
The county Infrastructure and Regulation Committee first saw the proposed changes last week. The committee has a considerable number of suggestions on further refining of the document.
But, kowtowing to the HCSWA desire to get this done, the committee voted to pass the by-laws to council with a recommendation for approval pending completion of the changes that were discussed.
That’s a new one, recommending approval on a document you haven’t seen the final version of yet.
It gets better.
The HCSWA had a public hearing on the by-law changes scheduled for a few hours after the end of the I&R Committee meeting. With all the new recommended changes to be made, this had to be postponed.
The new public hearing for the HCSWA by-laws is scheduled for October 23rd. Yet, the HCSWA expects county council to pass a resolution approving the changes and making them official 16 days before the public has an opportunity to comment.
For all its rhetoric to the opposite, the public has never meant anything to the HCSWA, its board or its staff.
Neither did county council, except as an object to be manipulated, until council went against HCSWA wishes and amended the county ordinance to solid waste flow control early this year.
Why should council slip back into old bad habits by not making sure all the I’s are dotted and T’s crossed before it gives a vote to the proposed HCSWA by-law changes?
Speak Up…