The Beaufort County Finance, Administration, and Economic Development Committee met Monday, April 20, followed by the Public Facilities Committee. Below are some agenda highlights from each meeting.

Finance, Administration and Economic Development Committee

Year-To-Date Budget Update
County Chief Financial Officer Pinky Harriott gave an update on general fund expenditures and enterprise funds as the fiscal year winds up. She noted that spending in some departments is below previous years, while ad valorem tax collections are ahead of previous years. Watch her presentation here.

Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation Update
Per Council's request for quarterly updates, John O'Toole, Executive Director, shared project updates on Beaufort Commerce Park, Project Ceramic, Project Cloud on Hilton Head Island, Project Helicopter, as well as projects in various stages of development in Bluffton and Beaufort. Watch his presentation here.

Agenda Items

The following items were approved at committee but due to the dollar amount, do not need full Council approval:

• funding request from LRTA-Palmetto Breeze
• a contract to Revize for County website updates and redesign

The committee voted to move the following ordinances and contracts forward to full Council for discussion and a vote:

• consideration of helicopter acquisition for Beaufort County Sheriff's Office
• a resolution to adopt a merit pay policy and associated appendix to the Beaufort County Personnel Handbook

The following agenda items failed however will still go to Council for a vote but with a denial from the committee:

• an ordinance to appropriate funds for the USCB Convocation Center Project
• an ordinance to re-allocate funds from the 2025 Series GO Bonds to fund the USCB Convocation Project
• an ordinance to consider funding for Project Bamboo--Speculative Building Development. This item was also rejected for funding by City of Beaufort. 

Watch the full Finance, Administration, and Economic Development Committee meeting.

Public Facilities Committee

Assistant County Administrator Report
ACA Jared Fralix gave project updates on the following projects:

• Hilton Head Island Airport new terminal project--$40 million
  No County funding is involved with this, only FAA and State funding. Improvements include expanded TSA screening and expanded gate areas. The second phase will include the renovation of the existing terminal. He noted that this is the largest County project that will be completed on time and under budget.

• Station 39/EMS--$5 million
• St. James Baptist Church--$7 million three stakeholders: church, the County and the Town of Hilton Head Island, partner agreements are in process for Council consideration.
• Parks and Recreation at Buckwalter--$9 million
• Highway 278 Project--$230 million finalizing documents and working with SCDOT to finalize designs and right of way plans, anticipating right of way acquisitions to begin in June.

Watch the presentation here.

Presentation: Public Works Department Updates and Accomplishments
County Public Works Director Bradley Harriott gave a brief presentation on changes, accomplishments and responsibilities of the departments and employees in Public Works. They have almost completed the re-accreditation process, the organizational chart has been updated to reflect department growth and increased responsibilities. He noted that there has been an increase in promotions and fewer vacancies. Watch the presentation here.

Presentation: Facilities Condition Assessment Presentation
ACA Jared Fralix and County Facilities Director Frank Stroncheck presented the final report regarding the maintenance status of various County buildings. They evaluated 66 core buildings, established a baseline for capital planning, and based it all on data-driven support. They set up the timeline as a 20-year capital forecast. Overall, all facilities are operationally sound, but deferred maintenance is growing. At this time, the request is for $24.8 million, with increases over the next 20 years the amount is closer to $117 million. Major risks identified as priorities include electrical systems, HVAC, roof failures, fire alarm systems and water systems. Watch the presentation here.

Agenda Items
The committee voted to move the following ordinances, resolutions, and contracts forward to full Council for discussion and a vote:

Contract approvals
• for Public Works metal roof repairs
• to Nix Construction for Buckwalter Recreation Athletic Complex Expansion soccer fields
• to MUSCO Sports Lighting LLC for Buckwalter Recreation Athletic Complex Expansion field lighting

The following item was approved at committee but due to the dollar amount, does not need full Council approval:

• MAJ Enterprises, Inc., for Shell Point Traffic Calming Project

Resolutions
• to commission a Solid Waste and Recycling Enforcement Officer
• endorsing the updated Beaufort County Disaster Recovery Plan
• to accept a South Carolina Aeronautics Commission Commercial Airport Entitlement grant for Hilton Head Island Airport Terminal Improvement Project-Phase II
• authorizing the County Administrator to enter into an MOU with Port Royal Sound Foundation

Ordinances
• authorizing the County Administrator to execute necessary documents to accept a portion of Airport Circle
• authorizing the purchase of property from Town of Hilton Head Island for St. James Baptist Church Relocation Project
• authorizing conveyance of real property to St. James Baptist Church upon completion of relocation  

To watch the Public Facilities Committee Meeting, click here.

Note: this is a selection of items from the Council Committee Meeting Agendas. To watch the meeting in its entirety, download the agenda and packet, view minutes and more, please visit www.beaufortcountysc.gov. 

Looking for more details or a specific item not covered in this release? Check out BCTV for full meeting recordings, agendas, and other details! BCTV can be found on cable channels Comcast - channel 2; Sparklight- channel 9 and 113; Spectrum - channel 1304. BCTV also streams live on ROKU and Amazon Fire.