Tag: shelter and sign project

Select Committee on Coast RTA Considering Final Report

The Select Committee on Coast RTA members have until Friday to come up with preliminary statements for consideration in the committee’s final report.

Charged with assessing the failures of a shelter and sign project and an intermodal center project, the committee must conclude whether the failures of the projects point to systemic problems within the management of the agency. It must also make a recommendation on future funding of the transportation agency by Horry County Council.

During its third meeting April 21st, the committee concentrated on new information received over the last two weeks about an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Myrtle Beach, a resolution by the Coast RTA board, the Coast RTA/SCDOT shelter project contract and a contract between Tolar Mfg. and Coast RTA for the shelters and associated equipment.

Unresolved Issues Remain with Coast RTA Shelter Project

The third meeting of the Select Committee on Coast RTA will have to obtain some answers to several unresolved issues regarding the shelter and sign project before the committee can begin to finalize a report.

Despite fairly lengthy presentations by Coast RTA and SCDOT at the second meeting of the committee, held on April 7th, the number of shelters Coast RTA managed to install for use by its passengers remains in question.

While Coast RTA has maintained all along that it purchased 73 shelters total and installed 15 of those shelters, 10 shelters installed in the City of Myrtle Beach appear to be used for purposes other than those for which a $1 million grant was received by Coast RTA from the Waccamaw COG GSATS in 2005.

Coast RTA Funding Up Against Tight County Budget

Horry County’s funding for Coast RTA could be more affected by a tight county budget than by the current controversy the agency is embroiled in with SCDOT over Coast RTA’s cancelled sign and shelter project among other differences.

County staff had to cut $750,000 for dirt road paving from the budget just to present a preliminary balanced budget to county council at the council’s budget retreat this week. Coast RTA funding remained at $1.055 million in the preliminary budget.

Cutting dirt road funding has serious impacts on the citizens of at least five council districts, all of which have little to no bus service. Additionally, it has lesser impacts on five more council districts that do have some level of bus service.