Tag: Horry County Council

Coast RTA Funding Agreement Far Exceeds Special Committee Recommendations

Horry County has apparently found a way to exert the influence it desires over Coast RTA decisions with a proposed funding agreement between the county and the bus agency.

After failing for the last two years to have its membership on the Coast RTA board increased, the county will now have the ability to virtually dictate decisions to the Coast RTA board if the new funding agreement is approved by both sides.

The funding agreement goes far beyond recommendations made by a Special Committee on Coast RTA appointed by Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus. The committee deliberated through four sessions before approving a report to Horry County Council that recommended continuing funding for the agency.

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Paul Price Endorses Reese Boyd for Horry District 5

Retiring Horry County Council District 5 member Paul Price issued the following press release today endorsing Reese Boyd to succeed him.

Price said after careful consideration, he believed Boyd was the best choice to represent the citizens of District 5 in the upcoming term.

The endorsement comes at a key time with the Republican Primary being held on Tuesday June 10th to decide among four candidates who will replace Price on the November ticket.

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New Restrictions by Horry County on Coast RTA Funding

While the full $1.055 million funding grant to Coast RTA remains in the Horry County budget after second reading, the ability of the bus agency to draw that money will be significantly more restricted in the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2014.

A move against Coast RTA funding has been growing among county council members since February. It showed its full face Tuesday night when council approved second reading of the Fiscal Year 2014-15 budget.

Included in second reading was a budget amendment offered by council member Al Allen that stated funding for Coast RTA will be withheld pending satisfaction of terms set forth by council in a funding agreement with Coast RTA. When the terms of that funding agreement have been met, council will vote on a resolution to approve transfer of funds to the bus agency.

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Coast RTA Funding from Horry County Intact

After Tuesday’s Horry County Council budget workshop, Coast RTA was still on track to receive $1.055 million in grant funding for next fiscal year from Horry County.

Council member Marion Foxworth presented a synopsis of the findings of the Select Committee on Coast RTA, which council chairman Mark Lazarus appointed and Foxworth chaired.

Foxworth said the Select Committee voted unanimously and was adamant in recommending to continue the county’s commitment to public transportation and the taxpayers who pay for the grant.

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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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NAACP Head Threatens National Attention on Coast RTA Issues

Abdullah Mustafa, President of the Conway Branch of the NAACP, told Horry County Council he planned to bring “national attention” to events regarding the Select Committee on Coast RTA and the firing of former Coast RTA general manager Myers Rollins.

Mustafa addressed Horry County Council during public input at its regular meeting of May 6, 2014. Mustafa claimed he was addressing council “on behalf of the citizens who cannot speak for themselves”, namely the riders of Coast RTA. But, he didn’t.

Instead, Mustafa challenged the right of county council chairman Mark Lazarus to form a Select Committee to study the failure of two projects at Coast RTA and to make a recommendation on continued funding of the bus agency.

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Select Committee Recommends Continued Funding of Coast RTA

The Select Committee on Coast RTA voted unanimously to recommend to county council that funding of the bus agency be continued with additional controls.

That decision was made at the committee’s fourth and final meeting Monday night. The recommendation was adopted by committee members along with 20 findings of fact about the failed shelter project and suspended intermodal center project.

Failure, especially of the shelter project, falls predominantly on poor program management at Coast RTA with some blame also attributed to the Grand Strand Area Transportation Study (GSATS) and SCDOT, according to the findings.

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SNAFU on HCSWA Board Appointment

After seeing notice of a proposed nominee to the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) Board of Directors, it appears that everything is back to normal on Hwy 90.

As we have recently seen with Coast RTA, oversight is the single most important function that an appointed board should exercise over the public agency it is associated with.

Otherwise, you can wind up owing hundreds of thousands of public dollars to state and federal agencies because of poor program management leading to failed projects.
To be fair, in the case of the HCSWA, it is much more the wasting of millions of public dollars on lobbyists, attorneys and public relations firms because the board fails to say no to wasteful management recommendations.

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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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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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