By Jim Hicks

<b>School Buses, Safety and Sams Point Road</b>

School is back in session and approximately 4,000 students are traveling Lady’s Island roads. Many of these students will travel by school buses.  Just a reminder that in South Carolina if you are traveling behind a school bus with a flashing red or amber light the law requires you stop if the bus stops.  If you are traveling on a two lane road and meet a stopped school bus with its flashing red lights you must come to a full stop and remain stopped until the bus begins forward motion again.  If you are on a four-lane road, such as Sams Point Road, and you meet a stopped school bus, you do not have to stop.  Regardless of the fact that the law no longer requires stopping on four-lane roads, drivers should slow down and proceed with caution.

<b>Pizza Hut Arrives on Lady’s Island</b>

Pizza Hut recently opened a store in the Food Lion shopping center which offers take out and delivered pizza.  The store’s manager, Mr. Donald O’Connell indicates plans are for a similar Pizza Hut store in the Shell Point Shopping Center and another one later in the City of Beaufort.  Sadly, it would seem that at some future date the Pizza Hut store on Ribaut Road will close.  We extend our appreciation to Mr. O’Connell for choosing Lady’s Island as a location for his store and wish him every success.

<b>An Example of What Makes Lady's Island Special
</b>

As most Beaufort County residents know, growing along the sides of many of our roads is Behia grass, also known as highway grass since this grass is often used by builders of roads for the purpose of erosion control.  This grass gives new meaning to the term fast growing and when combined with SCDOT limited grass cutting capability the results are often roadsides presenting an overgrown and unsightly appearance.

Recently, Lady’s Island resident Mr. Tom Hirshey, a retired Marine and civil service worker at Parris Island decided to do something about the high grass along Brickyard Point Road and Sams Point Road.  He simply drove his riding lawn mower to Brickyard Point Road and started cutting the grass. As a result of the sequestration requirement that he take six days off from his job, he used the extra time to cut not only along Brickyard Point Road but also portions of Sams Point Road. When asked why he was cutting the grass, he replied that his father always told him that if something bothered him to do something to correct it.  The unsightly grass along the road bothered him. To this civic minded individual a special thank you is extended for setting the example as to the power of one individual. The road does look really nice. It is neighbors like Mr. Hirshey that makes living on Lady’s Island a special experience.

<b>Brownfields, What are they? </b>

In a recent Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC)  announcement in the Beaufort Gazette and also included on a sign posted on the property in front of the Lady’s Island Dockside Restaurant was request for public comment on a proposed voluntary cleanup contract between DHEC and Falcon Mortgage Group LP.  The property in question includes 2.44 acres which, prior to 1951, was developed as a marina and has since been improved to include a restaurant, a cement block workshop building and a parking lot. The property in question does not include any of the structures in the marsh or waters of Factory Creek. In return for Falcon testing and rehabilitating the property, DHEC will not hold Falcon responsible for any preexisting pollution discovered and will allow it to be acquired as a Brownfield site. Brownfields are land which was previously used for industrial purposes or some commercial uses and may be contaminated by low concentrations of hazardous waste and has the potential to be reused once it is cleaned up. It should be noted that this procedure does not reduce the responsibility of any former owners. No decision will be made by DHEC until a public hearing is completed.

<b>Barbara Jean’s Restaurant Closes</b>

It is with a touch of sadness that we note Barbara Jean’s Restaurant located on Ferry Drive on Lady’s Island closed its doors on September 2 after being in business for nine years at that location.  Mr. Howard Graham, who guided the building of the restaurant in 2002 and served as the president of the company, has been part of the Lady’s Island community, along with his family, for a number of years. We wish them well in their future endeavors and thank them for their contribution to our community over the years. As a note of interest the Barbara Jean’s Restaurant in Charleston closed last May but those in Georgia and Florida will continue to be open.
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