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<p><strong>Port Royal promises more fireworks</strong><br><br>PORT ROYAL - Imagine the dismay of the town officials who invited hundreds of guests to their Fourth of July soiree only to discover the fireworks wouldn’t … well … work.</p>
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<p>That was the case in Port Royal on Sunday night. The weather was perfect, folks were happy to be outside, hugging one another, and no fireworks to top off the evening.</p>
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<p>Mayor Joe DeVito bravely turned to social media on the town’s Facebook page on Monday to explain the situation, that the electrical wiring used by the professional fireworks folks malfunctioned and party-goers were treated to a much lesser show. He apologized and promised the town would “make it up” to folks with another fireworks show later in the year.</p>
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<p>And DeVito, being a man of his word, will make sure it happens.</p>
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<p>It’s interesting to reflect on the fireworks failure and speculate about the outcome of Wednesday night’s Town Council meeting where the final reading of changes to the town’s agreement with Grey Ghosts Properties, LLC is scheduled to take place.</p>
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<p>The changes are designed to make the waterfront property more attractive to a potential buyer, rumored to be Texas-based Safe Harbor Marinas.</p>
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<p>If the changes are approved, it’s still no guarantee that the sale will go through and the mega-marina which has its state permit and the hundreds of homes and commercial buildings planned for the tract get built.</p>
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<p>Port Royal folks have been waiting for years for that waterfront development, and like the fireworks show, we’ll have to wait to see what happens.</p>
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<p><br><strong>Capital Waste starts to work</strong></p>
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<p>BEAUFORT – Beaufort residents have been practicing patience for the last two weeks as the switch-over continues from the old Waste Pro to the new Capital Waste.</p>
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<p>It’s the proverbial “out with the old, in with the new” as the beat-up Waste Pro containers line the streets, waiting for the final collection and the new, shiny Capital Waste containers show off their colors.</p>
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<p>But alas, on the first day of an official schedule come reports Capital drivers were seen COMBINING those two containers – household garbage and recycling – into one truck.</p>
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<p>Anyone who knows recycling … or anyone that DOES recycling … knows that’s a dead give-away of disrespect for the process and must be nipped in the bud.</p>
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<p>If we’re to have a mutual friendship for the next two years … maybe five, Capital Waste needs to step up and separate that waste.</p>
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<p>Don’t fault the city folks; they’ve been working tirelessly to facilitate this transaction.</p>
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<p>No, Capital Waste … we hold you responsible. We separate, you collect it.</p>
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<p>We’ll be watching.</p>
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<p><br><strong>And a tip of the hat to ...</strong></p>
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<p>To Mrs. Diane Chmelik of Callawassie, who was recognized last week by the Beaufort County Council for her 20 years of service on the county Zoning Board of Appeals and, most recently, the Planning commission.</p>
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<p>Mrs. Chmelik made it clear she was not retiring because of her health.</p>
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<p>“I’ve run out of patience,” she told the elected officials.</p>
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<p><br><em>Lolita Huckaby Watson is a community volunteer and former reporter/editorial assistant/columnist with The Beaufort Gazette, The Savannah Morning News, Bluffton Today, Beaufort Today and The Robesonian (Lumberton, N.C.). She can be reached at bftbay@gmail.com.</em></p>
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