COASTAL OBSERVER Vol. XXXIII No. 32 Pawleys Island, South Carolina ~ January 29, 2015 50 cents WACCAMAW LIBRARY ROADS Corks may pop when branch opens Willbrook roundabout draws criticism BY JASON LESLEY COASTAL OBSERVER County librarian Dwight McInvaill won’t be able to wrap a big red bow around the new Waccamaw Library, but he told trustees last week that the new building on Willbrook Boulevard should be open for Valentine’s Day. McInvaill said shelving is the next priority for the builder now that flooring and carpet have been installed. Once the shelves are erected, library employees will begin filling them with books from the Pawleys Island branch as well as some new ones acquired over the past year. An official grand opening will be held in March. Trustees approved a proposal by a 3-1 vote to permit the consumption of beer and wine on library property under the restrictions of a new county ordinance allowing alcohol on county property. McInvaill said the shift in policy will allow community organizations, such as Friends of the Waccamaw Library, to use the facility for fund-raising dinners that SEE “LIBRARY’S,” PAGE 4 BY CHARLES SWENSON COASTAL OBSERVER Tanya Ackerman/Coastal Observer The proposal contains a 50-mile coastal buffer. Feds move forward on offshore oil leases BY JASON LESLEY COASTAL OBSERVER The Atlantic oil and natural gas drilling debate just got real. Off-limits for more than three decades, federal waters off South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia are included in a leasing plan that would begin in 2021 proposed by federal regulators this week. Bill Crowther, executive director of the Alliance for Economic Development in Georgetown County, said he was pleased that South Caroli- na was included in the federal “draft proposed plan” announced Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management director Abigail Hopper. “We are in a comment period now,” Crowther said. “They’ll listen to folks for it and folks against it. We’ll see how it moves down the road.” A 60-day public comment period will end March 28. Next comes a “proposed program” and another public comment period, and then a “proposed final program” and a period for SEE “OFFSHORE,” PAGE 3 Plans for a roundabout on Willbrook Boulevard to improve access to schools and the new branch library have raised opposition among some residents who say the concept is flawed. Georgetown County is working on a design for the intersection with Wildcat Way, which is currently restricted to right turns, after officials got approval from the leaders of area homeowners groups last fall. Bill McElroy, president of the Litchfield by the Sea Community Association, said he was surprised by the support of those SEE “ROUNDABOUT,” PAGE 3 Bike path phase finishes The new phase of the Bike the Neck path along Kings River and Waverly roads will be completed next week, according to the project manager for the state Department of Transportation. The project was delayed because a sewer line had to be moved at the site of a bridge along Kings River Road, said Kit Scott. The completion date is Feb. 6. The total project cost $1.3 million, with the bridge itself costing $380,000. The portion along Waverly Road to Waccamaw Elementary was funded through a $250,000 grant. Workers finish the bridge last week. Photos by Tanya Ackerman/Coastal Observer Loving spoonfuls aid Habitat Kathy Patrick, above left, gives a taste of soup to Susan Hodge during the 17th annual Souper Bowl for Habitat for Humanity. At right, Jim Mallow waits for a serving. LEGISLATURE Paving to park waits on state Haley gas tax plan surprises lawmakers BY JASON LESLEY COASTAL OBSERVER Gov. Nikki Haley’s proposal to raise South Carolina’s tax on gasoline in her State of the State speech last week caught members of the General Assembly by surprise, according to state Rep. Stephen Goldfinch. “We had no idea,” Goldfinch said. “My initial response was that she is going to get killed on this thing. She shopped it around with various groups, of course. She didn’t shop it around with the legislature, which is somewhat frustrating.” Goldfinch told members of the Waccamaw Neck Republican Club early last week that one of his reasons for opposing a gasoline tax increase was because Haley had promised to veto it. Now that it’s on the table, both Goldfinch and Sen. Ray Cleary say the governor needs to provide a lot more detail. She called for raising the state’s 16.75-cents-a-gallon tax on gasoline by 10 cents over three years, cutting the state’s 7 percent income tax by 2 percent over 10 years and changing the way commissioners are selected for the Department of Transportation. She said the elements were a package deal. “There are a couple flaws with it,” Goldfinch said. “That doesn’t mean she won’t iron them out. It doesn’t mean she won’t eventually give us a plan that will work. Overall, the plan didn’t provide any details how to get that done. The problem I see is the swap. Forty percent of our budget is made up of income SEE “GAS TAX,” PAGE 6 Georgetown County is awaiting state approval to begin work that will pave the road from Martin Luther King Road to Stables Park. It’s a process that started over a year ago, said County Administrator Sel Hemingway. The state Department of Transportation approved $850,000 to improve the intersection at Martin Luther King and Petigru Drive, but the county has to fund the paving to the park. DOT has to approve the county as the project manager, Hemingway said. “We are right at the final line of that certification process,” he said. “We can go out and design the job, bid the job and manage the construction.” The state portion is in DOT’s local budget for 2016. ARTS | Cultural Council of Georgetown County A county grader on Petigru Drive, the road to Stables Park. Inside this issue Umbrella group continues to add events BY JASON LESLEY COASTAL OBSERVER New director Leslie Ayres is filling the calendar with events at the Cultural Council of Georgetown County. The group, founded as an umbrella for the county’s arts organizations, has become an active participant with its own gallery, art shows and lessons, concerts and events. The council will host a gallery opening for a Black History Month art show Sunday at 4 p.m. at its headquarters at 922 Front St., Georgetown. It will be brief, Ayres said, to accommodate the Super Bowl’s kickoff at 6:30. The following Sunday, Feb. 8, the council will host a performance by the U.S. Air Force Rhythm and Blues Band at the Waccamaw High School Auditorium at 4 p.m. And its annual Mardi Gras parade and party on Feb. 17 will be twice as big as last year with 600 tickets selling quickly, she Tanya Ackerman/Coastal Observer Leslie Ayres replaced Scott Jacobs as director. said. Ayres was chairman of the board when director Scott Jacobs decided to leave for Michigan last year. She took over day-to-day duties as inter- im director and was hired for the job. Ayres said she got her marketing savvy by watching her mother direct boat shows, sports car shows and events around the country. “I grew up in Detroit with an opportunity for art and theater and travel to New York,” she said. “My parents took me everywhere. I was very fortunate in that.” She said she turned the skills like party planning and marketing she learned from her mother toward what she loved: art. Ayres and her husband, Kevin, came from Michigan for a second honeymoon at the South Carolina coast and never left. They bought a house in Willbrook Plantation but sold it five years ago for a country place big enough for their three children to join them. He got a job as a pharmacist with Georgetown Memorial Hospital. After selling a cosmetics business in Surfside Beach, she joined the Cultural Council board because of her interest in art, not expecting it to become full-time. Success of events like last year’s appearance of the U.S. Army Band at Francis Marion Park on Front Street have led SEE “ARTS,” PAGE 4 Revival: Services at St. Mary AME celebrate half a century of worship. SECOND FRONT Sports: Four-game streak puts WHS boys in second place in region. PAGE 20 Crime ...................................7 Opinion................................8 Crossword........................ 12 What’s On ......................... 13 Classifieds.........................16 Sports................................ 18 On the Internet www.coastalobserver.com
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