July 28 meeting was held at Palmera Inn & Suites at 8:00 am. It was a HYBRID meeting with 13 members attending in person and 10 members attending via ZOOM.
President Lynn King called the meeting to order.
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag.
Announcements:
USCB - awaiting more information - still operating that the first Tuesday after Labor Day will be the earliest we can meet there. Suzi Oliver stated that the school is doing a 1/3 rule and that it is not looking good to get back to USCB, might just do coffee.
President Lynn asked Dave Pierce to update us on what he has been doing. He moved a month ago from Palmetto Hall to the Cypress. Good to see you Dave.
PHF Presentation - Foundation Chair, Greg Wynn recognized Dick Storm by presenting him with his Paul Harris Fellow +3. Thank you, Dick for your support of our charity, the Rotary Foundation.
Dick offered a few comments.
Speaker
This morning's speaker was Assistant Town Manager Josh Gruber.
The first time he spoke to us he talked about the 278 corridor. He began by updating us on this project. It is a $240,000,000 project which covers the area between Moss Creek to Squire Pope Road. It is now fully funded with $120 million state grant approved; $80 million local; and $40 million SC DOT. They are still in the middle of looking at the area it will be going. DOT and contractors have narrowed it down to a preferred alternative and will present it to Town Council then there will be opportunity to comment. A third party is being considered to do a peer review and want to confirm that it is the best alternative. Being fully funded has the advantage that we can apply for Federal funding.
The Town's continued response to COVID-19 - Still in Phase 2. The Town is open for business but must have an appointment. There is concern about large groups gathering so no Special Events are being approved. The CDC does not recommend groups larger than 10. Coligny Celebrations Park is on time and on budget. Since large gatherings are not approved, there will be a soft opening (beginning of October) and the public will be able to start to use it. The playground and rest rooms will be the first to open.
Operating under emergency ordinance, and Beaufort Country being labeled a "high transmission" area, the mask ordinance will probably be extended another 60 days.
School is scheduled to start September 8 to buy time for the numbers to go down. If going to do virtual schooling it will be different. It will be much more like a virtual class room, more organized. Challenge is that not all students have internet access. The majority of the island has high speed, but rural areas do not.
The Town is finishing Comprehensive Plan - projects for the next ten years - will set the tone for the the island.
The value of real property is going up, business license revenue is expected to go down, and probably have a 5% impact. Won't know the impact of current conditions on business until business licenses come up for renewal. Fourteen restaurants have closed between March and now, however there is more spending at grocery stores.
According to DHEC, while there are significant increases in positive cases of COVID, there is not that large an increase in hospitalization.
Hurricane season - it is a significant challenge to plan to a possible storm/evacuation. The closest shelter when leaving is in Jasper County and it will not be able to take as many people.