By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
A “big, beautiful” but temporary chain-link fence proposed by chairman of the Freedman Arts District Dick Stewart just may become a reality … eventually.
Stewart, whose 303 Associates own a number of buildings in the downtown area, offered to pay for a replacement fencing along the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park at a meeting of the Waterfront Advisory Committee last month.
The proposed fencing would be a visual improvement to the existing fencing installed by the city last June, while advisory committee and city officials decide how to repair the sagging seawall.
City Manager Scott Marshall told City Council members last week during their monthly work session that he is collecting information on a proposed alternative.
In meantime, Stewart, at that same work session, outlined plans for a walking trail marked by public art through the park and downtown area. The “statue trail” would be a tourism enhancement, according to the Freedman Arts District officials who said they’d like to see the new fencing and the public art in place ASAP.
Marshall gave no time frame for when he will have information to provide City Council for their decision.
City’s stormwater project moves forward; citizens still want better communication
BEAUFORT — The gaping hole at the intersection of Charles and Bay streets which plagued downtown motorists and retailers through the Christmas shopping season has been patched so that downtown traffic can continue, but the $11.9 million stormwater drainage update is still far from over.
The city is working with the S.C. Office of Resilience, manager of the project, and contractors with Gulf Stream Construction and McCormick Taylor Engineering to make sure the project, as well as the King Street drainage project is complete by December 31, 2026 or else return unused funds to the American Rescue Plan Act, ARPA, from which those tax dollars came.
City Manager Scott Marshall has instituted a weekly email “Bridge Report” providing information on the progress and other major city projects, all to improve communication.
But, as we know, there are always items that “fall through the cracks.”
One of the recent examples involves a very large, very beautiful oak tree at the corner of Port Republic and Charles which homeowners fear could become another victim of the stormwater replacement project.
A smaller oak, estimated to be about 100 years old and located at the terminus of Charles Street in the Waterfront Park, was cut down at the start of this project, to the chagrin of those who weren’t aware the plans included tree removal.
The owners of 915 Port Republic Street and the estimated 300-year-old oak that, according to those owners is the subject of more tourist photographs than the circa 1820 home itself, have been carefully monitoring the engineering plans for the project since the beginning. Their concern focused on the future of the oak whose roots reach under the sidewalk and dangerously close to Charles Street.
A meeting organized mid-February by state Rep. Shannon Erickson with the homeowners and representatives of the various parties ended with promises of careful monitoring for the oak tree’s root system. Therefore, the owners were surprised last week to find out the sidewalks along parts of Port Republic and Charles Street, covering the tree roots, were being ripped out to make way for improvements to the water and sewer lines, part of the replacement project.
It was a matter of communication, or lack of it, said Peggy Simmer who bought the home with her husband largely because of the beautiful tree. Simmer, who prides herself on communication as newsletter coordinator for several downtown neighborhood associations, expressed concerns that many citizens share when public projects come rolling along and catching them unawares.
Government agencies, with a pledge for “transparency” and help of social media, appear to be trying harder to keep the community inform but it’s not easy.
It all points to the public’s responsibility to stay vigilant, speak out and try to influence changes, which anyone who tries it knows, is certainly is easier to say, than do.
Speaking of trees …
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. — Maybe you saw the latest tree murder on Savannah television last month when community residents in western Chatham County rallied around a 300-year old oak in an effort to protect it from Georgia Power.
Well, they lost … contractors for the utility cut down the magnificent oak last week in front of the television crews, despite pleas for mercy from concerned tree-lovers.
Of course, the property owners had sold an easement to the tree site more than a year ago but that didn’t make the loss any easier for those who recognize the value of trees.
Georgia Power said the removal was necessary for utility transmission expansion and since the action was in violation of Chatham County tree removal ordinances, they would be paying fines.
“Unfortunately the tree must be removed,” was part of the company’s statement.
Sound familiar?
FYI: Dominion Energy plans to schedule a workshop in Beaufort later this month to explain their upcoming tree-cutting plans, always a joy for locals.
City Manager Scott Marshall is “having conversations’ with the utility company, which has a franchise agreement with the city, about the number of hanging power lines from Dominion’s power poles, lines that apparently have been installed by contractors for the various telecommunications company on Dominion’s poles but are NOT being removed.
City Councilman Josh Scallate brought the issue up at last week’s council worksession, when Marshall said he had heard the concerns and was discussing it with Dominion representatives.
Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and newspaper columnist. In her former role as a reporter with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today and Beaufort Today, she prided herself in trying to stay neutral and unbiased. As a columnist, these are her opinions. The Rowland, N.C. native’s goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.