Recent Posts

HCSWA Board Studies Tipping Fee Increase

During a pre-budget meeting last week, the HCSWA board directed staff to come up with a proposal for raising tipping fees for municipal solid waste.

The increase is necessitated by increasing costs of running the Horry County Solid Waste Authority, especially delays in procuring equipment and making other improvements on the landfill site.

According to information provided at the meeting, the HCSWA preliminary budget for FY 2016-17 shows a deficit of $1,110,686. The HCSWA consultant engineer has also recommended an additional $1.25 per ton be added to reserve funds for future closure and post closure costs. The authority currently puts aside $6.25 per ton toward those future costs.

Additionally, several sources said the vertical expansion to the landfill, which will increase the life of the landfill until approximately 2035, is costing more than initially expected.

Each $1 increase in tipping fees produces approximately $250,000 in revenue for the authority. Therefore, an increase of from $4-$6 per ton in the MSW tipping fee will be studied.

The current tipping fee for MSW is $29.50 per ton of which $2.25 per ton goes to Horry County government for the county wide 911 communications system.

In 1995, the HCSWA was charging $30 per ton with no money going to county government, according to authority staff.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for an increase in tipping fee to be needed at this time.

According to HCSWA staff, the statewide average tipping fee for MSW is $35 per ton.

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Bubba Owens Helping Hand

For the past five years, Bubba Owens has donated his time and money to give a helping hand to those in dire need.

Owens organizes and directs charity events to raise money to help people through very hard times.

“About five years ago, several people approached me about someone with cancer and no insurance to sponsor an event to raise money to help with the medical bills,” said Owens.

A businessman in the south end of Myrtle Beach for many years, Owens called on his many contacts to help with the event.

“We were fairly successful with the first event and I liked the feeling I got from helping someone in real need,” Owens said.

Owens said he has run approximately 25 events in the past five years raising a total of approximately $250,000. The beneficiaries have included a family who lost their home to fire, cancer patients and others with serious medical problems and trust funds for small children who have lost parents.

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International Drive Stalemate

A recent meeting between residents in the SC 90 area and representatives of the Coastal Conservation League highlighted the International Drive stalemate.

According to sources familiar with the meeting, homeowners in the area want the road built and the environmentalists won’t give in unless they get their way.

Their way is to add millions of dollars to the cost of the project for bear tunnels, electronic warning signals, higher fencing and additional mitigation not needed for the project at the cost of a $1.6 million payment to The Nature Conservancy.

In other words, the environmentalist tactic is to delay the project for as long as possible and to add as much additional cost as possible in the hope the road project will be abandoned.

And I don’t believe these delaying tactics are about bears in the area at all.

Fifteen years ago, the Horry County Solid Waste Authority board discussed using authority funds to pave International Drive as a means of reducing garbage truck traffic on SC 90.

The environmentalists were never heard from during these discussions.

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PR: SCAM ALERT: Avoid Fraudulent Charities

In response to the devastation of the recent flood, many South Carolinians are searching for ways to help victims. The SC Department of Consumer Affairs and Secretary of State Mark Hammond advise consumers to be on the lookout for fake charities in the coming weeks.

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Michael Slager Denied Bond

Former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager has been denied bond by Judge Clifton Newman.

Slager, the officer who made international news by shooting a fleeing Walter Scott numerous times on April 4, 2015, will have to stay in jail for now as preparations for his defense go forward.

In his short narrative order filed earlier today, Judge Newman said, “After careful consideration of all the evidence presented and the nature and circumstances of the offense, the Court finds that release of Defendant would constitute an unreasonable danger to the community and the request for release on bond should be denied.”

This ruling was predictable considering how aspects of the case have been handled so far.

While SLED was honoring FOIA requests from media sources about some of the evidence in the case, Slager’s attorneys have made numerous requests for evidence that have been ignored.

A statement from Slager’s attorneys about the decision reads:

“We share Michael’s disappointment in today’s Court decision but remain firmly convinced that following a review of all the evidence, a jury of Michael’s peers will find that he was free of any criminal intent in his actions on April 4, 2015.”

The statement is signed Andrew J. Savage III, Shaun C. Kent, Cameron J. Blazer.

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New Evidence in Michael Slager Case

New evidence has been filed with the court in the case against former North Charleston police officer Michael Slager in the shooting death of Walter Scott.

The evidence was filed yesterday in preparation for a bond hearing for Slager to be held tomorrow.

Slager’s attorney, Andrew Savage of Charleston, provided Grand Strand Daily with a copy of the Mitigation Package for Bond Hearing filed with the court.

We all know what we saw on the video of Scott running away from Slager and Slager firing his weapon multiple times killing Scott.

What isn’t nearly as evident, nor covered in most media stories on the incident is what happened before the final scene.

A hospital report on Slager and Scott’s autopsy report show bruises on both men’s bodies consistent with violent confrontation.

Gunshot residue was found on both of Scott’s hands during the autopsy. Scott’s proximity to a weapon being discharged, or firing one himself, had to have occurred before the final minutes of the incident captured on the video.

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HCSWA Info to Council Faulty

Horry County Council received faulty information about the HCSWA dealings with Charleston County during its regular meeting last week.

I do not believe the intent was to provide false information. Rather, I believe it was the result of information being provided sparingly when it should have been discussed openly and shared from a much earlier date.

Several council members were very upset about being asked to quickly consider a budget amendment for the HCSWA budget after a contract was signed and Charleston County trash was already making its way to Horry County.

Council member Johnny Vaught asked when the first contact was made between Charleston County and the HCSWA board. Authority board chairman Lance Thompson said HCSWA staff was first contacted May 28, 2015.

Vaught asked when the HCSWA board became involved in the contract decision. Thompson said a couple weeks later the board was notified, then, at a board meeting the board voted to allow staff to negotiate.

Vaught said, “Essentially negotiations had not begun until you (HCSWA board) were contacted and you guys voted to go ahead.” Thompson agreed that was correct.

Council member Gary Loftus stated he understood Sonoco, the company that was running the Charleston County material recycling facility, had given notice in December 2014 that it was considering terminating its contract with Charleston County.

A representative from Sonoco said the company informed Charleston County that it was unable to operate the Charleston County MRF economically and notified the county it would cease operations July 31, 2015 under the termination clause. In addition, Sonoco took the decision because of the limited progress made toward Charleston County’s commitment to build a new, more efficient MRF.

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Curtis M. Loftis Jr., South Carolina’s treasurer

The Tough Fight of Curtis Loftis

Despite continuing efforts to embarrass and silence him, SC Treasurer Curtis Loftis continues to criticize the SCRSIC for poor performance.

Loftis was subjected to allegations in 2011 that he and Mallory Factor were partners in what was called a “pay to play” scheme involving state retirement funds.

Despite the best efforts of members of the SC Retirement System Investment Commission, Gov. Nikki Haley, then state senator Greg Ryberg and others, Loftis was cleared of all allegations by SLED and the SC Attorney General’s office.

Currently, he is facing an Ethics Commission hearing alleging Loftis used his influence as a state constitutional officer to include a business associate and friend as a lawyer in a lawsuit against the Bank of New York Mellon.

I predict these allegations will be found just as baseless.

The good ole boys and their confederates just can’t stand a politician who looks out for the public good first.

And Loftis is not criticizing without reason. The SC retirement system is consistently among the bottom few performers of public pension funds in the nation despite paying hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars in fees and giving the underperforming staffers at the SCRSIC generous annual bonuses with more taxpayer dollars.

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Cam Crawford Newest Horry County Council Member

Cam Crawford swept through the special general election for Horry County Council District 6 Tuesday.

Crawford, who was unopposed on the ballot, gathered 240 of the 250 votes cast.

Rumors of a write-in campaign to challenge Crawford did not pan out as only eight write-in votes were cast.

Crawford can now be sworn into office in time to attend the next scheduled Horry County Council meeting on August 18, 2015.

This election brings council back to full strength, at least for the time being.

In other local election news, Republican runoff candidates Russell Fry and Tyler Servant are scheduled to face off in a debate Thursday August 6, 2015.

Fry and Servant will be opposing each other in a special Republican primary runoff election net Tuesday, August 11, 2015, to see who will be the Republican nominee in the SC House District 106 special general election scheduled for September 15, 2015.

Fry led the first round of primary voting last week with 1,152 votes to 851 votes for Servant who finished second. The winner of the runoff election will be the only name on the special general election ballot as there are no Democratic candidates in the race.

The South Strand Republican Club will be hosting tomorrow’s debate. It will be held at the Horry County Recreation Center in the South Strand government complex on Scipio Lane.

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HCSWA Taking Charleston Recyclables

The HCSWA board voted unanimously to begin taking recyclable materials from Charleston County next week.
This approval is contingent on Charleston County agreeing to the terms of a Recyclables Processing Intergovernmental Agreement approved unanimously by the HCSWA board.

Charleston County had been sent a copy of the revised agreement four hours before the HCSWA board meeting with no comment in the interim. Sentiment among HCSWA staff members was that Charleston County would agree to the terms and recyclables from Charleston County would begin to be processed at the HCSWA material recycling facility (MRF) next week.

There were some changes from the first draft proposal the HCSWA board voted to move forward with last week.

Key changes include a two year contract with up to three additional six month terms upon the agreement of both parties.

Charleston County must guarantee Horry County a minimum of 2,500 tons per month with a maximum limit of 3,000 tons per month.

A base market value (BMV) for sales of the recyclables is set at $150 per ton. There is a 10% leeway on the BMV in each direction. If the revenue from sale of the recyclables falls to below $135 per ton, Charleston County will make up the difference to the Horry County minimum guarantee of $135 per ton. The HCSWA currently is selling recyclables processed at the MRF for $134 per month.

Horry County will share profits from the sale of the recyclables with Charleston County above a market value of $165 per ton.

A 60 day termination clause upon notice of either party is now being offered. However, the way in which it was arrived at is problematic.

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