Posted on October 20, 2016
By Clayton Stairs, SouthStrand News
Noise, smell and effects on oyster leases were some of the main concerns voiced by Murrells Inlet residents and business owners during a public meeting Oct. 17 about the upcoming dredging project in Murrells Inlet.
About 50 people came out to the Murrells Inlet Community Center to hear about the project, which is one of five slated to be paid for by a one-cent capital projects sales tax. The sales tax started in May 2015, will continue until April 2019 and will raise an estimated $28 million.
Georgetown County Administrator Sel Hemingway said at the meeting, which was hosted by Georgetown County Public Services Department, that the total will come about $1 million under the estimated cost for the Murrells Inlet dredging project, which was $10.3 million.
“We are now sitting at about $9.3 million,” Hemingway said, adding that Georgetown County Council will decide what to do with any funds left over when the project is complete.
Several other projects funded through the sales tax are already underway, including countywide road improvements and construction of fire substations. Another project for the sales tax funds, the dredging of the Georgetown Harbor, is on hold.
The Murrells Inlet project will address the dredging of the Federal navigation channel belonging to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The dredged material will be placed on Garden City Beach and behind the jetties at Huntington Beach State Park, where significant erosion is occurring.
Georgetown County will concurrently dredge the access channels the county is required to maintain. An option was also given to private landowners to partner with Georgetown County in this portion of the dredging effort.
Presenters for the meeting were Wes Wilson, project manager with the Corps of Engineers, Larry Setzler, project manager with GEL engineering, a consulting firm hired by the county, and Hemingway.
During the meeting, some residents expressed concerns that the dredging will be noisy, stinky and could affect shellfish beds, including some oyster leases. Setzler assured the residents that these issues will not be a problem. He said although the dredging will be 24 hours a day, engineers will comply with the county’s noise ordinances, the de-watered dredge material will not have a strong smell and shell fish beds will not be affected.
Wilson agreed.
“We will do everything we can to address these concerns,” he said.
Wilson told those assembled that the federal project is estimated to cost about $6,350,090. If all goes according to plan, it will be completed between November 2016 and April 2017.
The benefits of the project, Wilson said, include reducing risk to structures on Garden City Beach, reducing risk to the jetties and shoreline, the development of habitat areas and cost reduction from upland or offshore disposal. He said the inlet was last dredged in 2002.
Wilson said the Corps of Engineers has coordinated with several groups on the project, including the South Carolina Department of Natural Resource, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Huntington Beach State Park.
“We are excited to have this opportunity,” he said, “and we are excited to partner with Georgetown County to make this project work for you guys.”
Also speaking during the event was Al Hitchcock, who represented six of seven MarshWalk restaurants that are in a cost-sharing agreement with Georgetown County for the channels in front of their properties.
“The restaurants are very happy that this project is about to happen,” he said. “This will enable us to have the boat parade at high tide every year.”
He explained that this past Fourth of July, the boat parade had to be moved to the Monday afterward to allow it to be held during the highest tide. He said people are always asking about the water level when it is low tide.
“Some people come down during low tide and say you must be in the middle of a draught,” Hitchcock said. “We need water for the boat landings to be functional, for water sports and fishing charters and we have to be able to do it during daylight hours to make it convenient for the customers.”
Source: South Strand News
