Public news and announcements are brought to you by the Horry County Public Information Office.
On June 19, 2020 in Closings, County News, Emergencies
Horry County Department of Parks & Recreation facilities will reopen to the public on Monday, June 22nd. This includes Recreation Centers, Community Centers, and the Cochran building. All HCPR facilities will resume their normal operating hours. Those with memberships will be refunded a pro-rated amount based on the amount of time our facilities were closed and their memberships will remain valid until the original expiration.
The Recreation Centers will be offering pickleball and basketball during designated hours only, while the walking tracks will be open the entire day. Gym schedules can be found below. Fitness classes will be offered with limited capacity, so those interested are encouraged to register online to ensure their spot. Register here: https://bit.ly/2Bo0vjE
In an effort to make our facilities as safe as possible and to stop the spread of COVID-19, our staff will be wearing masks, gymnasium capacity is limited, cleanings are being conducted more frequently, drinking fountains have been disabled, hand washing stations have been added, and social distancing markings have been placed throughout the Centers.
We appreciate your understanding during this time and ask that everyone visiting our facilities please be respectful of social distancing guidelines. We strongly encourage visitors to wear masks while in common areas and will have them available at the buildings. Please bring your own water bottles and any personal equipment needed for fitness classes.
On June 12, 2020 in County News, Emergencies, Weekly Update
Meeting attendees are encouraged to wear a face-covering when entering the building and when social distancing is not possible or practical.
Board of Architectural Review
Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 2:30 p.m.
Click here to view and download the agenda or here for the packet.
County Council
Tuesday, June 16, 2020, 6 p.m.
The June 16th Council Meeting will take place in-person in Council Chambers. Social separation protocols will be enforced and seating will be very limited. Overflow space will be available to accommodate public viewing. Attendees are encouraged to wear a face-covering when entering the building and in Council Chambers. The meeting will be broadcast on the Horry County Government website as well as Spectrum/Time Warner channel 1301 or Horry Telephone Cooperative channel 14.
IMPORTANT NOTICE CONCERNING PUBLIC COMMENT
Members of the public will have an opportunity to provide public comment via telephone on the items having a public hearing. You must sign up in advance to speak on public hearing by 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 16, 2020. 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 provide written comments to be provided to each Council member at the same email, hartleyp@horrycounty.org. The Public Input segment that is held at the beginning of each meeting remains suspended until further notice.
Public Hearings that are scheduled for June 16th include:
Welcome Back Committee-Rescheduled to 6/25/20 @ 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, June 18, 2020, 10:30 a.m.
Board of Fee Appeals-CANCELED
Thursday, June 18, 2020, 3 p.m.
Horry County to Conduct Mosquito Spraying
Horry County Government will begin aerial spraying for mosquitos next week. Aerial spraying will be conducted in the evenings usually between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and dusk, weather permitting. The locations for aerial spraying will be announced prior to spraying at https://www.horrycounty.org/Departments/Stormwater.
We anticipate an increase in mosquito population due to the recent excess rainfall and riverine flooding. In preparing for this increase we have increased our monitoring efforts through inspections and trapping and accelerated our larvacide program, especially in areas prone to high mosquito populations. Mosquito population numbers are likely to increase over the next two weeks, in line with the typical lifecycle of a mosquito. Regular ground mosquito spraying continues, weather permitting, for approximately four to five hours after dark Monday through Thursday. The addition of next week’s aerial spraying will allow us to cover a larger portion of the county.
The Horry County Stormwater Department operates the mosquito control program and offers regular service to residents in the unincorporated area of Horry County. In addition, anyone in the unincorporated areas that would like to request mosquito spraying in their area can call the Road and Drainage Hotline at 843-381-8000. To help keep our honeybee population safe, beekeepers are urged to contact Horry County Stormwater to identify the location of their colonies or fill out a no-spray zone form on our website. The chemicals used for mosquito control spraying are approved by the EPA and pose minimal risk to humans or animals. Individuals with asthma or other respiratory illness may wish to stay indoors and close windows and doors during spraying. In addition, homegrown fruits and vegetables should be washed, scrubbed, and/or peeled before eating.
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.
All Horry County Parks and Recreation centers remain closed at this time. Information about reopening facilities and resuming programming will be provided as soon as possible.
Jurors called by the Horry County Clerk of Court are excused through the end of July.
All local Magistrate Offices are open to the public for filings and court.
Central Traffic Court in Conway is open as well as is the Central Jury County. Central Jury will only be receiving guilty pleas, so the public will not be required to serve jury duty.
Preliminary Hearings will resume on June 19, 2020, and like Central Traffic Court hearings will be spaced out over the course of the entire day with all parties having a specific time to appear.
On June 12, 2020 in County News, Emergencies
For the protection of our employees and our community members, Horry County Government will be renewing protocols previously put into place to slow the spread of COVID-19. This comes after notification by S.C. DHEC of a significant increase in COVID-19 cases and potential exposures throughout our community.
Horry County Government currently has 36 employees working remotely or utilizing medical leave due to reports of possible exposure to COVID-19. In total, Horry County Government has been notified of 10 positive cases of COVID-19 among our staff. This number includes cases previously announced.
County offices remain operational; however, we encourage community members to conduct business by phone, email, or other electronic means. Call first before visiting any office in person—many departments will be working by appointment-only in an effort to limit the number of people within a given space.
Community members who must visit an office in person will be required to wear a face mask while inside the building. If you do not have a mask, one will be provided to you.
We ask our community to be patient and practice good hygiene.
County officials are continuing to monitor the impacts of COVID-19 in our community. Please be advised that conditions may change quickly requiring new or additional changes. Any updates will be provided as soon as possible.
On June 12, 2020 in County News
Congressman Rice to Host Informational Session on Floodwater Mitigation Modeling
Horry County staff have received a number of calls and emails related to the recent flooding and flood mitigation plans. Congressman Rice is sponsoring an information session with the State Disaster Recovery Office in order to provide an update directly to interested residents.
Horry County Government Resiliency Plan Update
Although no funding has yet been received for a buyout program by Horry County, the federal government has awarded $157 million in Community Development Block Grant – Mitigation (CBDG-MIT) funding to the state. Part of this funding will be allocated by the state for buyout programs to be developed at the local level. In preparation for this upcoming funding opportunity, and in order to quantify interest in a buyout program in repetitive flooding areas, Horry County began circulation of a buyout interest form in Spring 2020. As of June 10, the county has received 80 interest forms from Horry County residents related to the buyout program.
The next step will be for the County to coordinate those areas that have significant interest to solidify an Area Buyout Plan and coordinate as many contiguous properties as possible. Contiguous properties are prioritized for buyout programs as the land can then be used to mitigate flooding for the remaining parcels. In addition, the Horry County team is also working to schedule a series of virtual update sessions, so that the most current information will be available to you. We will continue to provide updates through this email list and at horrycounty.org/resiliencyproject.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us by email at resiliencyproject@horrycounty.org or call the Community Development Office Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 843-915-7033.
On June 7, 2020 in Closings, County News
2020 Summer Camps Canceled
A number of our summer camp staff members were exposed to an individual confirmed positive for COVID-19. For the safety of everyone involved, we are canceling all of the Parks and Recreation summer camps scheduled to begin tomorrow. We apologize for the short notice. We were notified of the exposure late Saturday and assessed the impacts to our programs, making the decision to cancel all of our summer camp programs for the remainder of the summer.
We know this is disappointing news for our campers and families. We are anxious to get back to normal but we will not compromise our standards of safety for our campers. We appreciate your continued patience during this difficult time.
Anyone already registered for summer camp programs will be contacted and issued a full refund. Please stay tuned to our Parks and Recreation Facebook page and horrycounty.org for updates.
Your username was successfully changed. You must now sign back into the site with your new username for the changes to take effect.