Monday, April 29, 2024
The HCSWA (Horry County Solid Waste Authority) Board of Directors spent several hours Thursday in a workshop to finalize changes to the agency’s bylaws.
One topic of discussion was how the dissolution of the authority will be handled, if it occurs. Actually, it’s not the board’s call.
Don’t you remember that county council recently passed an ordinance covering just that very situation?
It is time for Horry County Council to bring the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) more into line with the actual status of that agency.
Over the past six months, council has taken some good first steps toward establishing more control over its maverick authority on Hwy 90.
But, the work is not done.
When Rep. Tracy Edge looks back on his 2014 primary election defeat, he can thank the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA), at least in part, for the result.
According to its check register, HCSWA donated $5,000 of public money, in Fiscal Year 2013-14, to sponsor two tables at the Conservative Voters of South Carolina (CVSC) annual Green Tie Luncheon fundraiser.
CVSC targeted Edge for defeat, directly supporting his opponent Greg Duckworth.
Horry County has apparently found a way to exert the influence it desires over Coast RTA decisions with a proposed funding agreement between the county and the bus agency.
After failing for the last two years to have its membership on the Coast RTA board increased, the county will now have the ability to virtually dictate decisions to the Coast RTA board if the new funding agreement is approved by both sides.
The funding agreement goes far beyond recommendations made by a Special Committee on Coast RTA appointed by Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus. The committee deliberated through four sessions before approving a report to Horry County Council that recommended continuing funding for the agency.
After seeing notice of a proposed nominee to the Horry County Solid Waste Authority (HCSWA) Board of Directors, it appears that everything is back to normal on Hwy 90.
As we have recently seen with Coast RTA, oversight is the single most important function that an appointed board should exercise over the public agency it is associated with.
Otherwise, you can wind up owing hundreds of thousands of public dollars to state and federal agencies because of poor program management leading to failed projects.
To be fair, in the case of the HCSWA, it is much more the wasting of millions of public dollars on lobbyists, attorneys and public relations firms because the board fails to say no to wasteful management recommendations.
Horry County Solid Waste Authority officials were singing the blues at a pre-budget workshop earlier this week claiming a loss of $400,000 in revenue next fiscal year because of the elimination of construction and demolition debris from county flow control regulations.
Truth and reality rarely are factors at the HCSWA Hwy 90 headquarters and they are quickly removed if they are. There is nothing to base this $400,000 assumed loss of revenue on, but it’s being put out for media consumption.
And some media outlets in the county will play directly into the hands of HCSWA officials by spreading it.
The Horry County Council workshop last week demonstrated the new approach council is bringing to addressing issues throughout the county.
Council is taking a stronger, more hands on approach, especially with large, potentially controversial issues, before they become a divisive subject of debate on the dais mired in the morass of politics.
Of particular interest was the RIDE III agenda item where a strong majority of council voiced the opinion ‘let’s take our time and get this right with sufficient public input along the way.’
The Horry County Solid Waste Authority is looking for a way to continue lobbying activities in Columbia despite last week’s vote by Horry County Council to amend the county’s flow control ordinance.
The HCSWA Finance Committee will consider a request by HCSWA executive director Danny Knight to approve approximately $30,000 initially for continued lobbying activities.
If the committee approves the request, the HCSWA board will consider giving approval at its regular meeting in February.
In the meantime, Knight has approval of the HCSWA board to negotiate a temporary, month-to-month agreement in the $5,000/mo range.
Almost five years after solid waste flow control was made county government policy, Horry County Council moved to take control of that policy as a management tool rather than the hammer it has been until now.
By a 7-4 vote, council amended its flow control ordinance to allow construction and demolition debris to go to SC DHEC approved landfills, both public and private, outside of the county rather than mandating all C&D go to the Horry County Solid Waste Authority landfill on Hwy 90.
The final vote was not without several desperate, last minute attempts to delay it, which included the spreading of HCSWA propaganda that had become quite old.
As the ordinance to amend the county’s flow control ordinance comes up for third reading at the January 21, 2014 regular meeting of Horry County Council, the political rhetoric of garbage is reaching its apex.
Garbage has two meanings in this article – that which is buried at the Hwy 90 landfill and that which comes from the mouth of some Horry County Solid Waste Authority officials and their supporters.
The garbage that is buried at the landfill will be somewhat less if county council passes third reading of the ordinance.
While the data from the HCSWA says this will result in lost revenue of $927,500 annually, an independent study says the actual cost to the HCSWA will be a miniscule $19,000 annually.
Speak Up…