By Lolita Huckaby
BEAUFORT
It’s been written here before and thus, will be written again. Watching the two municipal councils of Beaufort and Port Royal often evokes a tale of two cities.
The councils of both municipalities held their final meeting of 2024 last week, and the atmosphere in the rooms was a contrast.
(Actually, it was SUPPOSED to be the Beaufort City Council’s last meeting but because they had not completed their work on ARPA grants, they had to meet again this week.)
In Port Royal, a fairly good-sized crowd was gathered to watch the Town Council give the final reading to an ordinance change which limits short-term rentals (STR). The Council had imposed a moratorium on new STR licenses until a citizen’s task force came up with a plan to restrict the numbers.
The speakers that addressed the Council were generally supportive, expressing concerns about the number of STRs that were popping up across town. There was at least one speaker who voiced opposition because of concerns about the impact on his financial plans for his property, but the Council was firm and unanimous.
One speaker even used the opportunity to thank the council not just for more restrictive STR regulations, but for the tighter tree regulations enacted this past year, expanded sidewalks and speed bumps and a lovely lighting ceremony for the town Christmas tree.
On the other end of Ribaut Road, in the Beaufort City Hall, Mayor Phil Cromer and Council members Neil Lipsitz and Mitch Mitchell were sworn in after winning re-election last month. At least there was no “swearing” at them, not yet.
County Council adjourns for the year with more secrecy
BEAUFORT – Beaufort County Council’s final meeting of the year probably brought a sigh of relief to those 11 elected officials, with all the controversy they’ve encountered this year.
But even in the waning month of a controversial year marked by lawsuits and departing administrators, the council leadership, Chairman Joe Passiment managed to generate more ill-will.
Passiment had orchestrated a private meeting the week before with Hilton Head town officials to discuss strategy for funding the U.S. 278 bridge project, now that the proposed sales tax referendum didn’t pass and the budget for the plans is $190 million short.
Invited to the meeting were various town and county administrators, Council Vice Chair Larry McElynn, the three Council Committee chairs, Alice Howard, Mark Lawson and Logan Cunningham. And Sen. Tom Davis who’s determined to find money to get that bridge fixed.
Since the meeting was private – the elected officials can legally do that because there was not a majority of members in attendance – there were no reporters there so the public only knows, based on a press release put out by the county that county and town leaders are working together to find a funding
solution.
The lack of invitation, or even a forewarning of said meeting, didn’t sit well with Councilman Tom Reitz, whose district includes part of the U.S. 278 bridge corridor. He said so, at last Monday’s meeting, and by the end of the week, he’d put out a statement that Passiment and Council Vice-Chair Larry McElynn should resign their leadership roles.
It will be interesting to see how this latest rift works out when the Council comes back to work in January. One of the first things on their agenda will be to elect a chairman.
Lolita Huckaby 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. Her goal is to be factual but opinionated, based on her own observations. Feel free to contact her at bftbay@gmail.com.
