<b>PALS pools to be </b><b>closed Friday, Sept. 2</b>

All Parks and Leisure Services (PALS) facilities will close from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, for staff training. For additional information or to learn more about PALS programs and services, call 843-255-6680 or visit www.bcpals.com.

<b>Various offices to close for Labor Day</b>

Following are government offices and other facilities that will be closed Monday, Sept. 5, for Labor Day:

• All local, state and federal government offices (there will also be no postal delivery) and libraries
• PALS facilities, except the Lind Brown Outdoor Pool
• The South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (The DMV also reminds customers that the days before and after a holiday are often extremely busy at the DMV. Customers may want to choose another time to visit their local DMV office or process their transactions online at the agency website at www.scdmvonline.com.)

<b>Republican club to </b><b>meet at Rose Hill</b>

The Greater Bluffton Republican Club will hold its next meeting Monday, Sept. 12, at Rose Hill Golf Club at 4 Clubhouse Drive in Bluffton. The group will be hearing from local activists on both sides of the 1-percent sales tax referendum that will be on the November ballot. Afterwards, dues-paid members will vote on whether or not the Greater Bluffton Republican Club will take an official stance on the issue. Those interested in joining can pay dues before the meeting starts in order to participate in the vote. The cost is $25 for one person or $40 for a family. The social hour begins at 5 p.m. and the meeting starts promptly at 5:45 p.m. The public is welcome.

<b>Women Republicans to meet for luncheon</b>

The Beaufort Republican Women’s Club is having a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the Hilton Garden Inn.  The speaker will be State House Rep. Shannon Erickson. The cost of the luncheon is $20 payable at the door by cash or check. There will also be a cash wine bar. For reservations, contact Daphne Brown at 843-838-0203 or at 401-749- 5216, or by email at daphne13ks@gmail.com.

<b>County participates in </b><b>litter pick-up event</b>

In response to litter concerns on S.C. 46 in Bluffton, a team of staff from various agencies worked together to clean a 2-mile stretch of that road. The work started at the junction of S.C. 170 and S.C. 46 and continued to Old Miller Road. Staff representing Beaufort County’s Public Safety and Public Works areas collaborated with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office and its Traffic Management Department, as well as volunteers from the town of Bluffton, the South Carolina Department of Transportation and Adopt-A-Highway to pick up litter on the roadside. The group collected 83 bags of trash, which is equivalent to 1,245 pounds of litter. The county reminds residents that the solution to litter lies with all of us. Residents should not throw trash out of their vehicle. Transported loads should be covered tightly to prevent trash from being blown out of vehicles. All waste should be properly disposed of utilizing appropriate waste collection services. Anyone interested in adopting a 2-mile section of road in Beaufort County and forming a new Adopt-A-Highway volunteer group can contact Caroline Jordan by phone at 843-255-2734 or by email at cjordan@bcgov.net.

<b>County to accept electronic waste</b>

The Beaufort County Public Works Department Solid Waste and Recycling Office is offering free electronics recycling events for county residents. The next event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, at Beaufort County Public Works, 9 Benton Field Road in Bluffton, and at 140 Shanklin Road in Beaufort. Any personal computers, laptops, CRT monitors, LCD monitors, CRT televisions, non-CRT televisions, printers, hard drives and miscellaneous electronics (microwaves, lamps, cell phones, radios, fax machines, and typewriters) will be accepted. For more information, call 843-255-2736 or visit www.bcgov.net/recycle.

<b>New traffic signal installed on 278</b>

Beaufort County has installed a new traffic signal on U.S. 278 (Fording Island Road) at the new St. Gregory Drive in front of Bluffton Township Fire District Station 35 to enhance the safety and access for motorists in this area. The traffic light is fully operational, having replaced the emergency signal at that location, Motorists are asked to use caution when approaching this intersection because of the new signal. For more information, contact the Beaufort County Traffic Engineering Department at 843-255-2940.

<b>SEC, Hilton Head agree </b><b>on disclosure rules</b>

The Securities and Exchange Commission and Hilton Head Island have come to an agreement regarding disclosure of financial reporting. The Town Council approved an offer of settlement with the SEC stemming from the SEC’s Municipalities Continuing Disclosure Cooperation (MCDC) Initiative, a voluntary self-reporting program announced by the SEC in March 2014. The SEC issued its order recently accepting Hilton Head Island’s settlement offer and ordering the town to not commit continuing disclosure violations in the future and to undertake certain corrective or remedial measures. In settling this action, the town neither admitted nor denied the SEC’s findings, and the town is not subject to any civil or criminal penalty or fine. Under the MCDC initiative, municipal bond underwriters and bond issuers could voluntarily report to the SEC past instances in which inaccurate statements or omissions were made in bond offering documents. Taking advantage of MCDC, it was reported that documents related to bonds issued by the town in 2011 and 2013 included statements that the town was in compliance with disclosure requirements, when in fact the town had filed its audited financial statements for fiscal years 2009 and 2010 approximately 288 and 43 days late, respectively, but did not specifically disclose those late filings. For more information, visit emma.msrb.org.

<b>Comment period on </b><b>stormwater closing</b>

The Beaufort County Stormwater Department is in the final week of seeking public input on the draft “2016 Beaufort County Manual for Stormwater Best Management and Design Practices.”

The public comment period will close Thursday, Sept. 1, and the final draft will be presented for adoption to the county’s Stormwater Management Utility Board at its regularly scheduled meeting on Sept. 14. The meeting will take place in the Executive Conference Room, Administration Building, Beaufort County Government Robert Smalls Complex, 100 Ribaut Road, Beaufort. The manual contains the design and construction standards for stormwater facilities, such as detention ponds and pipe systems. Comments can be submitted to the Beaufort County Stormwater Department atwstormwater@bcgov.net or 843-255-2805.