Public news and announcements are brought to you by the Horry County Public Information Office.
On January 15, 2021 in Weekly Update
[01.15.21-Revised to include Hwy 17 bridge lane closures.]
Upcoming Meetings
Meeting attendees are encouraged to wear a face-covering when entering the building and when social distancing is not possible or practical.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday (Holiday)
Monday, January 18, 2021
All Horry County offices, except Public Safety operations, will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
Board of Fee Appeals
Thursday, January 21, 2020, 3 p.m.
Click here to download and view the agenda.
The following meetings will take place virtually and will be broadcast on the Horry County Government website as well as the Government Access Channel (Spectrum/Time Warner channel 1301 or Horry Telephone Cooperative Channel 14).
County Council
Tuesday, January 19, 2020, 6 p.m.
Click here to download and view the agenda or here for the packet.
The January 19th Council Meeting will take place virtually and will be broadcast on the Horry County Government website as well as the Government Access Channel (Spectrum/Time Warner channel 1301 or Horry Telephone Cooperative channel 14).
IMPORTANT NOTICE CONCERNING PUBLIC COMMENT FOR VIRTUAL MEETINGS
Members of the public will have an opportunity to provide public comment via telephone on the items having public hearing. You must sign up in advance to speak on public hearing by noon on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. You can sign up by calling Pat Hartley in the Council Office at (843) 915-5120, or by emailing hartleyp@horrycounty.org. You can also submit written comments to be provided to each Council member at the same email, hartleyp@horrycounty.org.
Public Hearings that are scheduled for January 19th Virtual Meeting include the following rezoning requests:
Ord 02-2021 Earthworks Group, agent for Timothy Savage
Ord 03-2021 Irish Farmer et al
Ord 04-2021 DRG, LLC, agent for John E. Taylor III
Ord 05-2021 Venture Engineering, agent for KTAD Holdings LLC
Ord 06-2021 Jean M. Davis et al
Ord 07-2021 G3 Engineering, agent for Leo Wallace
Ord 08-2021 Brian Johnson, agent for Martha Johnson et al Trustee
Ord 09-2021 Venture Engineering, agent for Black Bear Land Holding/Village at Black Bear
Ord 10-2021 Earthworks Group, agent for Lydia Edge Heirs et al
Ord 11-2021 Barry Colescott
Board of Assessment Appeals
Thursday, January 21, 2020, 4 p.m.
Lane Closures on the US 17 Intracoastal Waterway Bridge
Motorists may expect lane closures on the US 17 bridge that crosses the Intracoastal Waterway. Crews will be working on both sides of the waterway. On the coast side of the waterway, the second span from the water will be closed. On the inland side of the water, the span closest to the water will be also be closed. Depending on the weather, lane closures will continue Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for work over the water. There is the possibility of crews working on Saturdays as well. Motorists are urged to use extra caution and obey all traffic control devices.
Horry County Parks & Open Space Plan: Public Comment Period and Public Hearing Announcement
The Horry County Parks and Open Space Board, Planning & Zoning staff, and Parks & Recreation staff have been working since March to update the 2017 DRAFT Parks and Open Space Plan. The Plan was developed to serve as a comprehensive guide to acquire, develop, and expand areas of open space, significant environmental and natural resources, and recreational sites, as required by the Board in Horry County Ordinance Chapter 15, Article VII, Section 15-125.
The public review and adoption process for the Parks and Open Space Plan has commenced. The 15-day public comment period for the Parks and Open Space Plan will be open from January 15, 2020, through February 3, 2021. Horry County staff will present the Parks and Open Space Plan to the Planning Commission at their regularly scheduled workshop on January 28, 2021, at 3 p.m. The public is encouraged to virtually attend this workshop and provide comments on the plan at the Planning Commission Public Hearing on Thursday, February 4, 2021, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in multipurpose room B in the Horry County Government and Justice Center in Conway. After review and approval by the Planning Commission, the Plan will also be reviewed and considered for adoption by Horry County Council.
The Parks and Open Space Plan can be reviewed at the Horry County Planning & Zoning Department at 1301 Second Avenue, Suite 1D09, Conway, SC 29526. It is also available for review online.
Public comments may be mailed to the same address as stated above, by email, or by calling (843)915-7894.
Horry County Government COVID19 Operations Update
Following the guidance from Governor McMaster and state agencies, Horry County will allow public access to its buildings with the best safety practices being implemented. Safety measures will include:
To help alleviate crowding in public areas, Horry County encourages individuals to continue to do business online and over the phone with county departments where possible. Horry County will continue to phase into operations as conditions permit, and ask for patience if wait times exist.
Anyone planning to visit a County building should be prepared to check in with staff located at the entrance to the facility. Visitors may be asked to wait outside the office or facility depending on the capacity of the facility.
County officials remind everyone to continue to follow CDC and S.C. DHEC safety guidelines as well as Governor McMaster’s executive orders that remain in effect.
Circuit Court and Family Court cases will not be heard in person until further notice, with the exception of emergency situations.
All Summary Court (Central Traffic, Central Jury, Magistrate's, Domestic Violence Court, and Preliminary Hearings) proceedings have been suspended until further notice.
On January 13, 2021 in County News
The Waccamaw Coast Line Railroad bridge, at mile 44.4 in Conway, South Carolina will be closed to marine traffic in anticipation of high water. Return to normal operations is to be determined at a later date based on weather and rainfall.
For questions please contact Horry County’s Department of Public Works at (843) 915-541
On January 8, 2021 in County News
From the Horry County Treasurer's Office:
Conway National Bank will be accepting tax payments at their drive-thrus through January 15, 2021.
CNB can only accept payments by check, for the exact amount due, and accompanied by the payment stub from the Treasurer’s invoice. Payments by cash or credit card will need to be transacted at the Treasurer’s Offices. Payments submitted to CNB will be on a drop off basis. Receipts will be mailed from the Treasurer’s office once payments are processed. The receipt will reflect the date the payment was dropped off.
We ask citizens to use these locations in order to allow Treasurer locations to focus on the issuance of decals for vehicle payments. We are extremely grateful to Conway National Bank for assisting our citizens during this time.
On January 8, 2021 in Weekly Update
Upcoming Meetings-Revised
1/11/21-Please note that the County Council Fall Budget Retreat is now a virtual meeting.
Zoning Board of Appeals
Monday, January 11, 2021, 5:30 p.m.
The following meeting will take place virtually and will be broadcast on the Horry County Government website as well as the Government Access Channel (Spectrum/Time Warner channel 1301 or Horry Telephone Cooperative Channel 14).
County Council Fall Budget Retreat
Friday, January 15, 2020, 8 a.m.
Myrtle Beach International Airport To Host Online Public Meeting
The Myrtle Beach International Airport (MYR) has been working on a Master Plan Update that will guide development over the next 20 years. Please access the Online Public Meeting via the Airport’s website and provide your input or questions by January 15, 2021.
www.flymyrtlebeach.com/about/masterplan
[01.08.21-Please note the below changes to court operations]
All Summary Court (Central Traffic, Central Jury, Magistrate's, and Preliminary Hearings) proceedings have been suspended beginning January 11, 2021, until further notice.
On January 5, 2021 in County News
At tonight's Horry County Council meeting, Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner provided the following State of the County address.
At the start of each New Year it is my privilege to share the highlights of the year ahead with each of you.
But before we look forward, I want to acknowledge that this last year was a challenging one for our community. Our fight against COVID-19 continues and we know that we have work to do to support our local business community and our local economy. We here on this dais are united in that mission. I am optimistic about resolving the hospitality litigation with the City of Myrtle Beach and look forward to the continued partnership with all our local municipalities to achieve our goals this year and to do the best work for the citizens of Horry County.
You all know that public safety has been my priority since I became your Chairman. Together with the members of Council we have worked to increase service levels for our community and support our public safety personnel. That work will continue in 2021. We expect to find ways to improve our response times on emergency calls, increasing efficiencies wherever possible from the time a caller contacts 911 to the moment our first responders arrive on the scene. We will be looking at our recruitment efforts to continue to hire the best employees we can and at our retention efforts to keep our well trained and exceptional staff here working for you.
As we continue to face so many unprecedented challenges every day, we will continue to find ways to increase our capability to provide public safety services during times of crisis and to be able to maintain services to support our residents during disaster events. Construction on our new Emergency Operations and Communications Center is underway. All of our public safety departments including the Solicitor and Detention Center are working together with our IT/GIS department to secure a technology solution that will increase information sharing across departments and promote efficiency and accessibility.
This year we are working to upgrade and migrate our main website, with a focus on ease of use, transparency, and making more services available to you online. We are in the planning phase for the Central Coast complex, adding another precinct for Horry County Police Department and making other, critical services conveniently available. We will deploy new software for the Assessor’s office and select a new tax software for the Auditors’ and Treasurers’ offices. We remain committed to providing you with the best service possible.
The former Santee Cooper building will be finished for occupancy in 2021. The Rural Civic Center subcommittee is working diligently to identify an appropriate site for a facility that we believe will bring a real benefit to our residents and a wonderful amenity for visitors. We will also complete construction on the Longs Fire Station.
Horry County Department of Airports earned the G-B-A-C STAR Facility Accreditation Myrtle Beach International Airport. This accreditation is the cleaning industry’s only outbreak prevention, response and recovery accreditation for facilities and is the new gold standard for cleanliness. MYR was the eighth airport in the world, and only airport in the Carolinas and Georgia, to achieve the accreditation. Despite a challenging year for travel, they remain committed to the safety and wellbeing of our passengers.
The Planning department is completing a major simplification of the zoning ordinance, removing hundreds of pages of text and streamlining processes. Parks and Recreation will install new ballfield lights at Michael Morris Graham and Green Sea Floyds.
Our RIDE III program continues with many major projects underway. In 2021 we anticipate the completion of the Carolina Forest Boulevard expansion. We also expect to pave an additional 25 miles of County roadways. We will resurface 27 miles of county-maintained roads.
We are undertaking a number of drainage improvements including upgrading seven bridges. Our Stormwater department expects to complete a major drainage improvement at Grier Crossing and to begin cleaning the lower portion of Simpson Creek.
We also remain committed to addressing flooding and flood damage in our area. The flood committee will be meeting to discuss the County’s flood resiliency plan, to search for solutions, and to build relationships with state and federal partners to address this crisis. We are working to identify, secure, and award funding for flood mitigation programs, including buy outs.
All of these efforts will take hard work by Council and significant planning from the departments involved, but I know that together we can achieve great things.
I want you, our community, to stay involved. Connect with us on social media, tune in on Tuesday nights, and keep in touch about the issues that matter to you.
Thank you for allowing me this time. I look forward to our bright future ahead.
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