Tag: Horry County Council

Hidden Woods Special Tax Bonds

Third and final reading of an ordinance approving the sale of $850,000 in bonds for the Hidden Woods Special Tax District should sail through county council tonight.

Third reading approval is included on the consent agenda of council, meaning it will not be discussed and will receive approval as part of the overall consent agenda unless a council member pulls it off for individual consideration.

The property owners in the Hidden Woods tax district received a shock when their property tax bills arrived in the mail. This was the first year that the special tax for road improvements was included and many homeowners saw their property taxes more than double. This extra assessment is scheduled to run 15 years.

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Election Filing Mess Leads 2012 Stories

As we look back on the news of 2012, the top story in South Carolina this year was the election filing mess that kept nearly 300 candidates off the ballot.

Most candidates affected were challengers to incumbent Republicans, although many Democrats got left off too, in the June primary. They were ineligible to be certified as candidates because the state and local Republican and Democratic parties did not understand, and did not make allowance for, a minor change in state law that required electronic filing of the candidates’ Statement of Economic Interests.

The party leaders never saw it coming and they blew it. I don’t believe it was a big conspiracy to keep new candidates off the ballot. Some newcomers did file properly and did get certified, too few for a real democratic process, however.

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Hidden Woods Special Tax Controversy

The residents of Hidden Woods sub-division in Horry County got a shock in October when property tax bills, with their new special tax district assessments included, arrived in the mail.

This is just another example of the many problems with homeowner associations or, in the case of Hidden Woods a property owner’s association.

In this case, the Hidden Woods POA led an initiative over the past several years to get roads in the private community up to county standards so they could be included in the county road system.

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RCPS Properties Mining Request Moves Forward

The decision on whether to allow RCPS Properties to expand its mining operations in the Carolina Forest area rests with Horry County Council at its December 18, 2012 meeting.

The county’s Infrastructure and Regulation Committee voted earlier this week to send forward a resolution to full council recommending approval of an application to expand by RCPS Properties.

According to members of the I&R Committee, the RCPS Properties request meets and/or exceeds all county requirements for mining.

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Horry County Council Chair Special Election

The Horry County Council Chair special election race to succeed Tom Rice is heating up even though Rice has yet to resign his position, something he will have to do prior to being sworn in as the new representative for the S.C. 7th Congressional District.

Even before Rice won his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, former council member Mark Lazarus and former county council chairman Liz Gilland announced they would be candidates in the special election that will fill the remaining two years of Rice’s unexpired term. Gilland bested Lazarus in the 2006 Republican primary election for county council chair.

Tomorrow, current District 11 county council member Al Allen will announce his candidacy for the chairman’s seat.

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Conservatives for Responsible Government Endorsements

The Conservatives for Responsible Government, probably the most truly conservative group in Horry County, announced their candidate endorsements this week.

CRG supports low taxes, low spending and individual freedom through limited government. It is not an automatic endorser of candidates spouting labels and clichés.

“Party labels are not important for our endorsement,” said CRG chair Chris Panos. “We are not interested in whether candidates have an “R” or a “D” behind their names. We want candidates who live by our principles of small government and individual liberty.”

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No Quick Solutions for Carolina Southern Railroad

Last week’s first meeting of the new committee discussing the state of the Carolina Southern Railroad comprised not much more than organizational work.

Comprised of public officials and prominent business people, the committee draws representation from Horry, Marion and Brunswick (NC) counties.

Shutdown since August 2011, he railroad has spent approximately $400,000 repairing bridges along the line, but estimates at least another $1.5 million must be spent to complete the bridge repairs.

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The Checkered Past of David L. Rocker

Additional revelations about David Rocker, Chief Operating Officer of Covation, the company associated with the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Authority’s embattled Project Blue, reached Grand Strand Daily in the last several days.

Project Blue ran into trouble a month ago when myhorrynews.com and the Myrtle Beach Herald broke several stories about Rocker’s criminal history, which includes a tax fraud conviction, jail sentence and continuing tax liens.

Among other facts, the stories outlined a Klein conspiracy where corporate receipts from National Capital Group, Inc., an alleged investment entity run by Rocker, were diverted to other bank accounts for Rocker’s personal use. Additionally, a trust account in an ABN AMRO Bank branch in Canada is mentioned.

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May Bike Rallies Issue Rises Again

The May bike rallies were a topic of discussion during the Horry County Public Safety Committee meeting Thursday when county Public Safety Director Paul Whitten disclosed the county lost approximately $190,000 policing the two rallies this year.

The amount of the loss drew raised eyebrows from several committee members who called for a full discussion before county council.

That the bike rallies cost the county money should be no surprise after the contentious debate over vendor permits earlier this year.

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David L. Rocker and The Many Faults of Project Blue

David L. Rocker and Project Blue

The real reason for the big secret called Project Blue by the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corporation may have surfaced Monday when myhorrynews.com, the website for Waccamaw Publishers, broke a story on the shady past of David L. Rocker.

According to documents provided to Horry County Council, Rocker is listed as the Chief Operating Officer of Covation Holdings, a startup Georgia company that is trying to land a call center jobs project in the Carolina Forest area. However, last night the EDC was trying to spin Rocker as merely a consultant on the project.

Whatever the truth is behind Rocker’s participation, his past difficulties should raise some eyebrows about whether the county should be risking public dollars on a project which has, so far, been much hype with very little substance.

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