Tag: Horry County

HCSWA Singing Flow Control Blues

Horry County Solid Waste Authority officials were singing the blues at a pre-budget workshop earlier this week claiming a loss of $400,000 in revenue next fiscal year because of the elimination of construction and demolition debris from county flow control regulations.

Truth and reality rarely are factors at the HCSWA Hwy 90 headquarters and they are quickly removed if they are. There is nothing to base this $400,000 assumed loss of revenue on, but it’s being put out for media consumption.

And some media outlets in the county will play directly into the hands of HCSWA officials by spreading it.

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Horry County Council and Fiduciary Responsibility

I have heard much recently about how Horry County Council was exercising its fiduciary responsibility, overseeing the use of public money, by appointing an ad hoc committee to report on Coast RTA.

I always get a funny feeling when I hear ‘fiduciary responsibility’ from public officials because it’s usually a dodge for some other agenda.

The recent cancelling of a contract for signs and bus shelters by SCDOT and the possibility that Coast RTA may be required to pay back money already spent on the project is the alleged reason the ad hoc committee will be looking into how effectively Coast RTA spends its public dollar grants.

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Coast RTA, SCDOT and Horry County Council Part II

Continued funding of Coast RTA by Horry County Council, and at what level, will be the focus of the ad hoc committee established by Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus earlier this week.

This discussion should have been settled when Horry County voters approved an advisory referendum supporting .6 mill (six-tenths of a mill) funding for Coast RTA by a 62% to 38% margin in the November 2010 general election.

For two years, council honored the voters’ decision. However, during last year’s budget considerations, council attempted to make funding contingent on Coast RTA getting a change in state law designating membership on the Coast RTA board.

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Leslye Beaver Considering Council Run

Murrells Inlet entrepreneur and businesswoman Leslye Beaver is seriously considering entering the race for the Horry County Council District Five seat.

For a first time candidate, name recognition is often the biggest hurdle to overcome. This will not be a problem for Beaver.

Originator and owner/operator of the Beaver Bar and the newer Big Beaver Bar, Beaver is well known throughout District Five and the county in general.

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Horry County Council and Coast RTA

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus announced last week he would appoint an ad hoc committee to study the controversy that exists between Coast RTA and the S.C. Department of Transportation.

The ad hoc committee will study facts relevant to two stalled Coast RTA projects, a $1 million shelter and sign project for bus routes and a feasibility study for an intermodal transportation center for the agency.

SCDOT representative Doug Frate told council members in an executive session held after a council workshop last week that Coast RTA may have to pay back approximately $500,000 to SCDOT for the stalled projects.

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Horry County Council Oversight

The Horry County Council workshop last week demonstrated the new approach council is bringing to addressing issues throughout the county.

Council is taking a stronger, more hands on approach, especially with large, potentially controversial issues, before they become a divisive subject of debate on the dais mired in the morass of politics.

Of particular interest was the RIDE III agenda item where a strong majority of council voiced the opinion ‘let’s take our time and get this right with sufficient public input along the way.’

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Paul Price Will Not Seek Re-election

Horry County District 5 council member Paul Price announced today that he will not seek re-election this year.

Price, who is retired from the military and the highway patrol said it was time to focus on his family.

“When I look at my life as a whole, I’ve served the country, the state and the county for a total of 45 years,” Price said. “It’s time to focus on family now.”

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Reconsidering the HCSWA

A Horry County Council workshop scheduled for February 6, 2014 at 5 p.m. will consider amending Ordinance 60-90 to add a formal process for dissolving the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA).

Free standing, quasi-governmental authorities are the worst form of public agency. They have a tendency to forget they are public agencies trusted with implementation of public policy through the use of public dollars. The HCSWA proves this statement every day.

Since its creation, in December 1990, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority board has acted as if it was the board of a private corporation rather than the implementation arm of Horry County Council’s solid waste policy. And the HCSWA board quickly developed its own peculiar form of corporate arrogance.

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HCSWA Flow Control Lobbying

The Horry County Solid Waste Authority is looking for a way to continue lobbying activities in Columbia despite last week’s vote by Horry County Council to amend the county’s flow control ordinance.

The HCSWA Finance Committee will consider a request by HCSWA executive director Danny Knight to approve approximately $30,000 initially for continued lobbying activities.

If the committee approves the request, the HCSWA board will consider giving approval at its regular meeting in February.

In the meantime, Knight has approval of the HCSWA board to negotiate a temporary, month-to-month agreement in the $5,000/mo range.

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Carl Schwartzkopf Not Seeking Re-election

Horry County District 8 council member Carl Schwartzkopf announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in the upcoming 2014 general election.

Schwartzkopf said he was announcing his retirement from county council early so that candidates would know District 8 was an open seat in 2014.

Schwartzkopf said at age 73, he believes it is time for him to retire.

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