By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
It’s almost May Day, and this weekend, the community and visitors will get to celebrate with the annual Taste of Beaufort festival.
Beginning Friday night with entertainment in the Waterfront Park – giving everyone a chance to check out the city’s new “social district” – the festival kicks off with eating opportunities both Friday night and Saturday. Admission to the park is free, but not the tickets you have to buy to taste that food.
Thanks to the Waterfront Park being partially decommissioned, organizers of the festival have expanded the festival locations to include the USCB campus on Carteret Street, where the “Taste of the Arts” events will be happening, with a juried art show and art market with items for sale.
And … at long last, the newly renovated Washington Street Park will be the site of celebration, with a gathering planned to mimic entertainment events that attracted the community back in the 1940’s.
Organized as the Beaufort County Negro Recreational Center, the park located in the city’s Northwest Quadrant was the only public park for black families during times of segregation.
The park recently underwent a major $1.3 million renovation which was funded with grants and money from the city’s Parks and Tourism Revenue Bond. A historic marker outlining the park’s past will be unveiled as part of the day’s activities.
Also part of the program will be storytelling and traveling musicians such as the groups that entertained the locals “back in the day.”
Plastic straw ban moves slowly along
BEAUFORT — Last week was National Earth Day and across the country, including Beaufort County, there was some celebration.
Some county employees got Friday morning off to work with public work crews from the county and city … wearing their bright orange vests — to do a concentrated roadside cleanup. The resulting pictures were impressive.
There’s no doubt, throughout the year, the county leaders have taken steps to protect our natural environment. If nothing else, consider the Green Space Program which was approved by voters in 2022 to create a two-year penny sales program for the purchase of land to prevent development. (There’s a website https://beaufortcountygreenspaceprogram.com/, if you want more information.)
Even before the Green Space program, taxpayers supported the purchase of land or development rights through the county Rural and Critical Lands Program which worked with the Open Land Trust to protect more than 29,000 acres.
But … there’s always a but … wouldn’t it have been a lovely gesture on the part of the County Council to celebrate the commitment to environmental protection, if they would move a bit faster on a proposed revision to the 2018 plastic bag ban ordinance.
Groups including the Keep Beaufort Beautiful board, Port Royal Sound Foundation and Coastal Conservation League are advocating for revisions that include further bans on all plastic bags, plastic cutlery, Styrofoam cups and straws since the Council passed the original ban, eight years ago.
Beaufort City Council has already given a first reading vote of approval to the proposed changes but are waiting to see what the County leaders do.
At the April 6 meeting, council’s Natural Resources Committee members voted, 5-2, Mark Lawson and Tab Tabernik opposing, to recommend passage to the full council. Two different surveys conducted by the county planning staff showed wide-spread support for a total ban on plastic bags and Styrofoam cups and carriers.
The issue of eliminating straws and plastic cutlery has been more divided and the ordinance revisions now recommend businesses can offer straws and cutlery instead of a complete ban.
Also at that same April 6 Natural Resources Committee meeting, the county’s elected officials got a presentation from Kim Konte of Bluffton, who formed Non-Toxic Neighborhoods a nationwide program aimed at reducing pesticides in public spaces. She is asking for local governments to take a closer look at the insecticides and pesticides used on the public parks, recreation areas and roadsides.
The Hilton Head Island and Bluffton councils already adopted resolutions of support along with Rep. Bill Herbkersman who is working on a statewide effort, according to Konte. The committee members expressed general support and agreed to look further at the deals.
In the meantime, the plastic bag ban, Part 2, is expected to be on the County Council agenda in May.
City tackles FY27 budget, massages STR regulations
BEAUFORT — For those of you who might have missed it (or even care – there are still local citizens who don’t know that STR’s stands for short-term rentals … one of those things if you know, you know), the Beaufort City Council did NOT put the latest proposed regulations “to bed” last week.
The special meeting allowed them to make further amendments and set the groundwork for second and final vote on the ordinance.
Mayor Phil Cromer, at the conclusion of last week’s discussion, noted, “it’s convoluted. But it’s done.”
Not surprising, the audience of about 20 concerned citizens exited last week’s meeting after the discussion and prior to the council’s commencement on the FY 2027 budget.
To a mostly empty council chamber, City Manager Scott Marshall began a detailed review of the proposed $73.5 million budget which includes a flat millage rate, something all politicians hope for.
The budget will be balanced by an increase in the value of the mil, which is used by the county treasurer to set financial guidelines for the next year’s spending plans.
The city’s budget, as is, includes a 2-percent cost-of-living increase for all employees and options for merit increases, at the discretion of department heads.
It includes $100 K to continue the home repair program, $402,500 to the tourism bureau to bring more visitors, and their spending dollars, to town, and a new $32 tag fee for vehicles to pay for right-of-way maintenance.
The discussions will continue through May and up until the end of June when the budget, per law, must be completed.
Interestingly, but again not surprising, one public comment during the discussion of STR’s was, “wish you’d spend as much time on the budget as you do talking about STRs.”
Obviously, budget discussions are not necessarily “sexy” … until tax bills come along.
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.