County Council to host forums on transportation tax referendum
Beaufort County Council will host several informational forums in April to answer questions regarding November’s 2024 Transportation and Sales Use Tax referendum.
The remainder of the schedule is as follows:
- Thursday, April 11, 6 p.m.: Hilton Head Island Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road.
- Thursday, April 18, 6 p.m.: Buckwalter Recreation Center, 905 Buckwalter Parkway.
- Monday, April 29, 6 p.m.: St. Helena Branch Library, 6355 Jonathan Francis Sr. Road.
These informational meetings are intended to help the public understand what projects the sales and use tax money will fund if voters pass the referendum in November. Materials will be available for citizens to gain a greater understanding of sales tax in general as well a recap of past and current projects funded through transportation sales tax in Beaufort County.
County Council members will be in attendance and guest speaker will be Jared Fralix, Assistant County Administrator for Infrastructure.
The meetings are open to the public and no RSVP is required. For more information, please contact the Clerk to Council’s Office at 843-255-2180.
Auditor’s office to close Thursday
The Beaufort location of the County Auditor’s Office will close at 3 p.m., Thursday, April 11, for staff training. The Bluffton office will remain open. The Beaufort office will resume regular hours Friday, April 12.
A new communication system is being installed that will allow employees to assist the public more efficiently and effectively. For questions or more information, please contact the Beaufort County Auditor’s Office at 843-255-2500.
Sportfishing and Diving Club meeting April 11
The Beaufort Sportfishing and Diving Club’s April meeting will be held Thursday, April 11, 2024 at the Beaufort Yacht and Sailing Club located on Lady’s Island off of Meridian Road. The social begins at 6:30 p.m., and the meeting will start at 7 p.m.
The topic will be Cobia. Local Captain Tommy Buskirk and Captain Scott Willard of Sea Island Adventures Fishing Charters (@Seaislandadventures, www.seaislandadventure.com) will discuss inshore and offshore Cobia fishing. This will include baits of choice, techniques, anchoring, rods-reels-lines – bottom and top rigs.
Guests are welcome. Reservations are not needed. For additional information, contact Captain Frank Gibson at 843-522-2122 or email fgibson@islc.net.
County hosting shredding event Saturday
The Beaufort County Public Works Department of Solid Waste and Recycling is holding a secure document shredding event for County residents Saturday, April 13. The event will be held from 9 a.m. until noon (or until truck containers are full) at 140 Shanklin Road, Beaufort.
Individuals will be limited to disposing of no more than two boxes, containers or bags.
- Bank statements, tax documents, medical records, credit card receipts, and any other documents that contain personal information will be accepted.
- Any types or colors of paper, file folders or envelopes are acceptable. Staples or paper clips do not need to be removed.
- Binders, hard devices, folders, and non-paper items will not be accepted.
- Materials can be brought in two small boxes, containers or bags and will be emptied into roll carts for immediate shredding.
- Residents will be limited to two small boxes, containers or bags approximately 10 inches x 12 inches x 15 inches.
Only residential quantities will be accepted. No materials from commercial businesses will be accepted. No electronics will be collected at this event.
For more information, visit www.beaufortcountysc.gov/recycle or contact Solid Waste and Recycling at 843-255-2736.
Beaufort TEA Party meeting April 15
Two Lowcountry candidates for office will be the guests at the next meeting of the Beaufort TEA Party set for Monday, April 15, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at AMVETS Post 70 at 1831 Ribaut Road in Port Royal.
The guests are Republican Shelley Gay Yuhas (https://www.voteshelley.org/), a candidate for S.C. House District 121, a seat currently held by Democrat Michael Rivers; and Republican Catherine Templeton (https://templetonforcongress.com/), a candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat currently held by Republican Nancy Mace.
Candidates will have a brief introduction, with a question and answer session to follow. Visit the meeting’s Facebook event page at https://bit.ly/4agiYKx for more information.
Beaufort County holding election education forums
The Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections is hosting five community forums to educate and inform the public on the upcoming election season.
Topics will include what’s on the ballot, voter registration – how to register, confirming voting status, deadlines to register, polling locations including new voting sites, and how to become a poll worker.
The remaining forum schedule is as follows:
- Wednesday, April 17, 6 to 8 p.m., Port Royal Town Hall, 700 Paris Avenue, Port Royal
- Thursday, April 25,6 to 8 p.m., Hilton Head Branch Library, 11 Beach City Road, Hilton Head Island
- Tuesday, May 7,6 to 8 p.m., Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 367 Keans Neck Road, Seabrook
The forums are free and open to the public. No rsvp is required.
For more information visit Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration or call Jean Felix, Training and Outreach Coordinator at 843-255-6900.
Indivisible Beaufort meeting April 27
Patrick Perryman, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Beaufort, will be the guest speaker when Indivisible Beaufort meets next at 11 a.m., Saturday, April 27 at the Beaufort Library Downtown at 311 Scott Street.
The topic of the meeting is Israel and Palestine. The group will explore the Biblical and historical contexts to better understand the complicated conflict between Israel and Palestine today.
Perryman has been in the ordained ministry since 1998, with a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. He is an accomplished theologian and teacher.
The event is free and open to the public.
City of Beaufort taking a survey
Take a quick survey to share your insights about downtown Beaufort
Beaufort is looking for ideas on how to make the city better. The City of Beaufort’s Downtown Operations Department has been working with a committee to explore ways to increase the vitality of downtown.
The team has created a survey asking residents and visitors a number of questions to get a better sense of how often they visit downtown, what activities they engage in when you are downtown, how convenient are shopping hours, and more.
Those who visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/J7R8NB5 to fill out the survey will be automatically entered to win a prize.
Committee seeks feedback on stormwater manuals
The Southern Lowcountry Technical Sub Committee is seeking feedback on the jurisdictional Southern Lowcountry Stormwater Manuals. All stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments, suggestions and improvements.
Implementing jurisdictions are working on draft changes, and would like input on any additional proposed edits from residents, developers, engineers and other individuals with technical expertise.
Comments on all manuals will be received beginning Monday, April 1 through Friday, May 31. Comments may be submitted to wstormwater@bcgov.net.
For more information on current manuals, plans and studies, go to https://bit.ly/3PNgb3r.
For questions and more information, contact Beaufort County Stormwater Department at 843-255-2813.
PSC to hold hearings abour Dominion’s rate hike request
The Public Service Commission has scheduled customer public hearings in Docket No. 2024-34-E, involving Dominion Energy’s application for authority to adjust and increase its retail electric rate schedules, tariffs, and terms and conditions.
This filing includes a request for an increase to retail electric rates, and the Company’s application can be reviewed at https://bit.ly/3xoFKSg.
The public hearing scheduled for Beaufort County will be held Monday, June 10 at 6 p.m., in the Bluffton Town Council Chambers at 20 Bridge Street. Customers who want to speak must pre-register.
In its application, Dominion proposes an increase of $18.86 or 14.21% for residential customers, an
increase of $2,002.25 or 12.32% for commercial customers, and an increase of $57,486.40 or 12.68% for industrial customers.
More details can be found in the Notice of Filing and Public Hearings at https://bit.ly/3VHAa7i. For more information, please reach out to the Public Service Commission at contact@psc.sc.gov or at 803-896-5100.
