Mar 1 Section A1-10.indd
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Mar 1 Section A1-10.indd
COASTAL OBSERVER Vol. XXX No. 36 Pawleys Island, South Carolina ~ March 1, 2012 50 cents Council puts 1-cent sales tax to a vote BY JACKIE R. BROACH COASTAL OBSERVER The question of a 1-cent sales tax to help pay for capital projects in Georgetown County is a step closer to being posed to voters. County Council members unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday to cre- POST OFFICE ate a six-member commission that will be tasked with coming up with a specific list of projects the sales tax would fund and determining the wording of the referendum that would appear on the November ballot. Both must be approved by council before the referendum is a guarantee. Council has 90 days to appoint the members of the commission, said Wesley Bryant, the county attorney. Three members of the commission would be chosen by council and three others by municipalities within the county. There was no discussion of the resolution before the vote — at least not publicly. Council went into executive session to receive legal advice before it voted. Bryant said the session was an opportunity for him to make council aware of basic legalities surrounding the resolution, commission and sales tax funds. Council was clear to point out that it did not vote for a tax increase, but to give the public another option for funding capital projects. If the sales tax is SEE “SALES TAX,” PAGE 4 PAWLEYS ISLAND DEAD DOG SALOON | Murrells Inlet pulls together $99K home could add $50K kitchen under change in town rules Dead letter Customers raise few eyebrows at slower delivery of 1st class mail BY CHARLES SWENSON COASTAL OBSERVER BY JACKIE R. BROACH COASTAL OBSERVER First-class letters going to and from the Pawleys Island area will take an extra day to reach their destinations after the Postal Service closes its Florence mail processing and distribution facility. Mail processed at the facility will go to Columbia for processing instead. The only difference consumers will notice is that the service standard for letters mailed first-class will change from 1-3 days to 2-3 days, said Harry Spratlin, a spokesman for the postal service. Priority and Express mail, as well as package services (parcel post) won’t be affected. The closure of the Florence facility is a result of declining mail volume. First-class mail volume sent through the postal service has decreased 25 percent since 2006. That equates to 43 billion fewer pieces of mail, and the trend is expected to continue, Spratlin said. “We’re really just shrinking down to match our resources to the demand that American people are giving us,” he said. Janet Burton of Litchfield Country Club, said she doesn’t use first-class mail often, but she’s still a little concerned about the additional delay and that it could cause bills and other time-sensitive materials to arrive late. She pays most of her bills online, she said, but “not everyone can do that. A lot of people still don’t have computers.” Mary Ellen Cordeiro isn’t bothered by the longer delivery time since it doesn’t affect Priority mail. She mostly mails small packages and usually sends them Priority, she said. With employees spread across the Southeast and as far SEE “MAIL,” PAGE 4 Inside this issue Photos by Tanya Ackerman/Coastal Observer Work began the day after the Ash Wednesday fire to clean up and rebuild. Counting down 90 days BY JACKIE R. BROACH COASTAL OBSERVER A week ago Charlie Campbell stared in horror at the blackened beams and smoldering embers where the Dead Dog Saloon once stood. The Murrells Inlet restaurant, which Campbell owns, burned in the early morning hours of Feb. 22. No one was hurt, but dozens were left unemployed. It was devastating, but devastation has turned to determination and Campbell is now focused on the future. “We’ve kind of moved beyond the mourning stage and we’re on the fast track for rebuilding. That’s a lot more fun than watching it come down,” Campbell said. He refers to the burn site as the phoenix. “It’s not the Dead Dog anymore,” he said. But it will be again soon. Campbell hired A&I Fire and Water Restoration to handle the construction and they’re about halfway through the de- bris removal. He expected to have blueprints for the new building to the Georgetown County Planning Department before it closes today. “They’re wanting to go fast and we’re going to expedite what we can on our end,” said Boyd Johnson, the county plan- ning director. Once the permitting is taken care of and the green light is given for construction, officials with A&I hope to have the restaurant ready to open within 90 days, according to Campbell. While that would be nice, he SEE “DEAD DOG,” PAGE 3 Even as they took steps to restore a limit on the value of renovations to homes before they have to be brought into compliance with town zoning rules, the Pawleys Island Planning Commission this week agreed that it wants to do away with the so-called “50-percent rule” that was struck down by a Circuit Court judge last year. That means the town may allow buildings that don’t conform to the zoning rules to remain as they are even if they are improved. Until the court ruling, the town required anyone who did renovations equal to or exceeding 50 percent of the value of a home to bring it into compliance with setbacks, roof pitch and other regulations. That policy was challenged in a suit stemming from a dispute between neighbors in the island’s Birds Nest section. The case was heard by the Board of Zoning Appeals, and Georgetown County’s chief building official, who works for the town under contract, testified that the 50-percent rule only applies to homes that are damaged. The case reached the Circuit Court, where a judge affirmed the building official’s interpretation of the ordinance. The Planning Commission this week recommended that Town Council amend the zoning ordinance to restore the 50 percent rule, but only while it reviews the need for the rule. Commission member Walter McElveen said someone with a home valued at $99,000 (not including the land) ought to be able to do a $50,000 renovation to the kitchen without triggering other changes to bring the home into compliance with the zoning rules. “That’s some kitchen,” commission member Bill Tuttle said. SEE “TOWN,” PAGE 4 EDUCATION | Pawleys Island Christian Academy High school starts with a freshman class BY CHARLES SWENSON COASTAL OBSERVER Where the wild things are: This weekend they will be at the Winyah Bay Heritage Festival in Georgetown. Also, class teaches how to become a master naturalist. SECOND FRONT Crime ...................................9 Opinion............................. 10 What’s On ......................... 14 Crossword........................ 15 Classifieds.........................17 Sports................................ 19 On the Internet www.coastalobserver.com Pawleys Island Christian Academy will add a freshman class in the fall, making it the third high school on Waccamaw Neck as it grows over the next four years. The school opened in 2001 with 55 students in pre-K through fifth grade. It now has 115 students through eighth grade. “Parents who have children currently in the school want to see a high school,” said Sherry Hubach, president of the Parent Teacher Organization who has two children at the school. There are six students in the eighth grade class, about half the number in last year’s class, said Billy Cox, a middle school teacher who also has two children enrolled at the school. The school expects to attract other students into the freshman class and is prepared to Six eighthgraders are expected to be the nucleus of the new high school’s first class. Tanya Ackerman/ Coastal Observer take some sophomores if they apply. “This is where we’re stepping out on faith,” said Hubach, a member of the board and its high school committee. There is already space for high school classrooms on its campus at Pawleys Island Community Church. The school is a ministry of the church. The school got its start around the dining room table of the Rev. Don Williams, senior pastor of the church. His wife, Ginny, was the first principal. “We’re going to start off slow,” Williams said. He expects 14 or 15 students in the freshman class. Informational meetings for parents and prospective students will be scheduled in the next few weeks. A high school has always been envisioned for Pawleys Island Christian Academy. “We just wanted to make sure we had the foundation set,” Williams said. SEE “ACADEMY,” PAGE 5
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