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[I. CALL TO ORDER]
EVERYONE.THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TODAY.
UM, JUST AS A, UH, SO I DON'T FORGET 'CAUSE I WILL, UH, JUST ONE ANNOUNCEMENT.
UM, THERE'S GOING TO BE AN AFFORDABLE HOUSING SYMPOSIUM ON MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH FROM EIGHT 30 TO 1230 AT THE PORT ROYAL SOUND FOUNDATION, MARITIME CENTER.
UM, SENATOR DAVIS IS GOING TO BE THERE.
UM, IT IS BEING SPONSORED AND HOSTED BY THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF THE LOW COUNTRY.
SO FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO BROUGHT YOUR CALENDARS AND INTERESTED IN THAT, UM, THERE WILL BE, UM, THE EVENT IS FREE, BUT SEATING WILL BE LIMITED.
I BELIEVE THERE WILL BE SOME, UH, INVITATIONS.
YOU HAVE, I, I EMAILED COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
THEY'RE GONNA, UH, SEND OUT AN INVITATION NEXT WEEK.
SO FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED, UM, PLEASE R S V P RIGHT AWAY WHEN YOU GET THE INVITATION.
[III.1. A 25-YEAR VISION OF BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTY ROADWAYS BY JARED FRALIX OF BEAUFORT COUNTY]
TO, UM, WELCOME AND INTRODUCE, UH, TWO OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES, UH, FROM, FROM THE STATE HOUSE, UH, REPRESENTATIVE WE WESTON NEWTON FROM BLUFFTON, AND REPRESENTATIVE BILL HAGER FROM JASPER COUNTY, UH, ALSO ENTERING.SENATOR TOM DAVIS IS WALKING AROUND THE CORNER RIGHT NOW, SO, UM, IF ANYBODY HAS A SONG THEY'D LIKE TO SING.
WELL, I'M, UH, I'M TRYING TO STALL FOR A COUPLE OF MINUTES, UH, BEFORE WE GET STARTED, BUT I DO HAVE, BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION, UH, TOM, UH, SENATOR DAVIS KNOWS MOST OF THIS ANYWAY, UM, FROM WHAT I KNOW OF LOCAL HISTORY, 30 YEARS AGO, BLUFFTON AND HARDY COMBINED WERE APPROXIMATELY SIX SQUARE MILES AND PROBABLY AROUND 2000 PEOPLE.
FAST FORWARD 30 YEARS TO TODAY, BLUFFTON AND HARDY V ARE OVER 110 SQUARE MILES AND ESTIMATED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 45,000 PEOPLE.
AND THAT DOESN'T INCLUDE THE DEVELOPMENTS THAT HAD HAD HAPPENED IN THOSE 30 YEARS, UH, IN UNINCORPORATED BEAUFORT COUNTY, LIKE SUN CITY AND THE OTHER GATED COMMUNITIES ON 2 78.
AS A RESULT OF THAT DEVELOPMENT, I'M THE INFLUX OF TOURISTS INTO HILTON HEAD AND, AND THE HISTORIC TOWN OF BEAUFORT, I'M SURE HAS INCREASED, ALTHOUGH I DON'T HAVE THOSE NUMBERS OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD.
WHAT CAME WITH THAT IS COMMERCIAL INTEREST DRIVE DOWN 2 78.
I'M SURE THAT LOOKS A LOT DIFFERENT THAN IT DID 30 YEARS AGO.
UM, AND WITH ALL THAT COMES THE NEED FOR, UM, SERVICES.
EVERYBODY WHO COMES HERE AND, UH, THEY WANT, UH, THEY WANT RESTAURANTS, THEY WANT HEALTHCARE, UH, THEY NEED ALL KINDS OF TRADES.
THAT MEANS WE, WE CONTINUE TO BUILD HOUSES TO ACCOMMODATE THAT.
AND THOSE HOUSES ALSO NOW COME WITH SCHOOL CHILDREN.
WE NEED SCHOOLS THE CYCLE OF DEVELOPMENT.
IT HAS BROUGHT TO US WHAT WE ARE TODAY, AND IT WILL CONTINUE IN THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
EVERY ONE OF THESE THINGS I JUST MENTIONED, AND WE ALL KNOW, BRING PRESSURE ONTO OUR ROADWAYS.
UM, I THINK MORE THAN ANYONE, UM, JAR FRA SEEMS TO HAVE A, A GOOD VISION OF WHAT WE WILL NEED IN THE NEXT 30 YEARS TO ACCOMMODATE WHAT'S HAPPENED IN THE PAST 30 YEARS.
AND WE'LL CONTINUE THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
SO THIS BOARD HAS ASKED JARED TO GIVE US A, HIS OVERVIEW OF WHAT THE NEEDS, THE ROADWAY NEEDS OF JASPER AND BEAUFORT COUNTY WILL BE FOR THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
THE PRESENTATION IS ABOUT 30 MINUTES.
THE QUESTION AND ANSWERS THAT WE WILL FOLLOW AFTERWARDS ARE FOR JARRET TO CLARIFY
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ANYTHING THAT'S INVOLVED WITH THIS.WE'VE INVITED ALL OF OUR, UH, STATE REPRESENTATIVES AND SENATORS TO COME AND HEAR THIS, AND IT WILL ALSO BE FILMED AND I'LL SEND IT TO 'EM AFTERWARDS.
THE PURPOSE OF THE MEETING IS TO IT'S INFORMATION.
IT'S TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE POTENTIAL NEEDS ARE.
UM, SO WE'LL, UH, KEEP THE QUESTIONS TO, TO THAT AND TO THIS SPECIFIC, UH, AGENDA FOR TODAY.
SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, THANK YOU JARED FOR, UM, PREPARING THIS FOR US AND THE REST OF THE MEETING'S.
UH, MAYOR WILLIAMS. I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO BE HERE TO PRESENT, UM, TO SO LOCO AS, AS WELL AS HAVING SEVERAL REPRESENTATIVE STATE REPRESENTATIVES.
SO, UM, TODAY I HAVE TWO GOALS FOR, FOR EACH OF YOU HERE.
FIRST GOAL IS TO EASE YOUR WORRIES.
EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM IS WORRYING ABOUT, UM, ROADS.
AND I, I'M NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT THAT PART.
ALL I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT IS THE ROADS PART, BUT MY HOPE IS BY THE END OF THE DAY, YOU AT LEAST CAN BREATHE THE SIGH OF RELIEF THAT WE HAVE A PLAN, UH, THAT WE'RE NOT WANDERING AIMLESSLY, AND THAT YOU CAN PROVIDE THAT PLAN TO OTHERS WHEN ASKED.
AND THEN TWO, I WANNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE YOU CONFIDENCE.
SO AT THE END OF THE DAY, LIKE I SAID, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A PLAN.
THIS IS OUR PLAN, UM, WHAT WE HAVE IN FRONT OF US OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS.
AND YOU'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO SPEAK TO THAT.
UH, SO WHEN A CONSTITUENT CALLS YOU OR ASKS YOU, IT'S LIKE, YES, WE DO HAVE A PLAN, AND HERE IT IS.
UM, AS I WAS PREPARING THIS PRESENTATION TODAY THOUGH, I WAS THINKING, WHAT AM I GONNA SAY TO SAY LIKE, I'M USED TO TALKING IN FRONT OF OUR COUNCIL, BUT TALKING IN FRONT OF A WHOLE BUNCH OF ELECTED OFFICIALS.
THIS IS A DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT GAME FOR ME.
SO ANYTIME THERE'S A A LIFE ISSUE, I ALWAYS GO BACK TO MISS SALLY FIELDS AND BUBBA GUMP OR MAMA GUMP AND, UM, OR MAMA, YEAH, FORREST GUMP, MAMA GUMP.
AND, UH, SHE ALWAYS HAS WISE WORDS TO SAY.
SO, UM, ELIZABETH AND JESSICA, IF Y'ALL COULD GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, OR I GUESS THAT'S ME, BUT IF YOU CAN PULL UP THE, WE'LL SEE IF THIS WORKS.
IF NOT, I'LL JUST TALK FROM IT.
I REMEMBER THE BUS RIDE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
ARE YOU COMING ALONG? MAMA SAID NOT TO BE TAKING RIDES FROM STRANGERS.
WELL NOW WE AIN'T STRANGERS ANYMORE.
ALL RIGHT, SO JUST LIKE FORREST, I FELT, UM, MAYBE THAT WE COULD INTERACT AND NOT BE STRANGERS.
SO THE BEST WAY FOR ME TO DO THAT IS TO CONVERT ALL OF YOU INTO ENGINEERS
SO WE'RE GONNA TRY OUR BEST ON THAT.
THERE'S TWO TESTS THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE TO BECOME AN ENGINEER.
THE FIRST IS AN FIE FUNDAMENTALS OF ENGINEERING.
SO YOU DO THAT KIND OF RIGHT OUTTA SCHOOL.
AND THE SECOND, AFTER FOUR YEARS OF WORKING UNDER ENGINEER AS APPRENTICESHIP, YOU CAN TAKE THE PE THE PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING EXAM.
YOU'RE ENGINEERING AND TRAINING.
HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THE ROOM? SHOW OF HANDS.
BUT UP HERE ON, ON THE, UM, DIOCESE FIRST HAVE SAID, I DO NOT KNOW WHY THERE'S NOT A STUPID SIGNAL AT THIS OR LIGHT AT THIS STUPID INTERSECTION.
NEVER SAID, OKAY, WELL I'M PUTTING STUPID IN THERE.
EVERYBODY'S LIKE, WHY CAN'T WE JUST HAVE A SIGNAL? AND A SIGNAL IS GREAT A LOT OF TIMES, BUT MAYBE IT'S NOT ALWAYS THE BEST ANSWER.
THIS RIGHT HERE IS A TWO-LANE ROAD.
CAN ANYBODY GUESS HOW MUCH ROAD TRAFFIC THAT TWO-LANE ROAD CAN CARRY? WHAT'S ITS MAX? JUST IN ROUGH NUMBERS.
WHERE'S THE WORLD GOING? YEAH, YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT.
THERE'S A LOT OF FACTORS THAT GO INTO THAT.
WELL, IN GENERAL, GENERAL ENGINEERING, 5,000 IS 20,000
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A D T, UH, EXTRA BONUS POINTS.ANYBODY KNOW WHAT A D T STANDS FOR? AVERAGE DAILY.
ALL RIGHT, WHO IS THE FIRST? I HEARD I SAID IT FIRST UP HERE.
SO TWO LANE ROAD, THAT'S OUR CRITERIA.
WHAT ABOUT THIS FOUR LANE? IT ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE A FIVE LANE.
IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE A FOUR LANE ROAD.
ANY GUESSES HOW MUCH A FOUR LANE CAN CARRY? 40,000.
MAYOR, I MEAN, UH, CHAIRMAN BASSMAN GETS A SUCKER.
ALL RIGHT, SO THIS, I'M GONNA REALLY PUT YOUR BRANCH TO TEST SIX LANE ROAD.
WAIT A MINUTE, HE'S, THIS IS, THIS IS, NO, NO.
OBVIOUSLY IT DEPENDS WHETHER IT'S A INTERSTATE AND HAS LIMITED ACCESS OR IT'S A, UM, A ROAD THAT HAS A LOT OF DRIVEWAYS, ALL THAT PLAYS INTO IT.
BUT IN GENERAL TERMS, 60,080 T WE'LL GO OVER THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, AS WE TALK TODAY.
SO THIS RIGHT HERE IS A STANDARD INTERSECTION.
YOU'VE GOT TWO, TWO ROADS OF BISECT AND ONE ANOTHER.
AND WHAT THIS IS, THIS IS A GRAPHIC, A CONFLICT, UM, A CONFLICT DIAGRAM.
SO WHAT IT SAYS, EACH.IS A DIFFERENT TYPE OF INCIDENT.
SO YOU CAN EITHER HAVE A CROSS WHERE YOU HIT SOMEBODY BROADSIDE OR YOU CAN MERGE INTO 'EM.
UM, SO YOU CAN SEE RIGHT THERE THAT THERE'S 32 POTENTIAL CONFLICT POINTS ON A REGULAR INTERSECTION.
THIS IS A MODIFIED INTERSECTION WITH NO LEFT TURNS BASED OFF WHAT I DESCRIBED.
WHICH INTERSECTION IS SAFER? THE ONE ON THE LEFT, THE ONE ON THE LEFT, THE ONE ON THE RIGHT.
ALL RIGHT, WELL, SO THE ONE ON THE RIGHT IS SAFER BECAUSE IT SAYS IT RIGHT THERE AT THE BOTTOM.
32 CONFLICTS VERSUS 18 CONFLICTS.
SO, UM, I'LL SAVE MY SUCKER 'CAUSE I KEEP HEARING CHAIRMAN, PASS HIM AN ANSWER.
ANY GUESSES WHAT THAT INTERSECTION ON THE RIGHT IS CALLED? I KNOW WHAT IT'S SAFER.
WHERE'D MICHIGAN? EVAN, I NEED TO STOP ANSWERING.
SO ENGINEERS ARE NOT THAT, UM, OUT OF THE BOX THINKERS AS FAR AS COMING UP WITH NAMES, ANY IDEA WHAT RCU STANDS FOR? R C I I KNOW, DON'T ANSWER
DOESN'T THAT MAKE SENSE? OBVIOUSLY WE'RE REDUCING IT FROM 32 TO 18.
I HEARD A LOT OF GOOD ANSWERS.
AND FOR THE REST OF THE DAY, I'M QUALIFYING Y'ALL, UM, BY PROXY AS A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER
SO NOW I FEEL A LITTLE BIT BETTER OF THIS TOPIC.
SO THE PLAN, LIKE I SAID, I'M GOING TO, MY GOAL IS TO, TO DEVELOP THIS PLAN OR TELL YOU ABOUT THE PLAN.
IT'S ALREADY DEVELOPED, BUT TELL YOU ABOUT THE PLAN AND TRY TO TAKE YOUR WORRIES AWAY.
AND I'M GONNA DO THAT BY THROWING TWO CASE STUDIES ON THE BOARD.
SO OBVIOUSLY I WAS AN ENGINEER IN COLLEGE, BUT I DID HAVE TO TAKE A WESTERN CIV CIVILIZATION CLASS.
SO I DO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY.
AND WHAT I KNOW IS THAT HISTORY DOESN'T REP RECEDE ITSELF, BUT IT DOES RHYME.
MARK TWAIN SAID THAT, OR AT LEAST THEY SAY MARK TWAIN SAID THAT.
SO LET'S THINK ABOUT, UM, THE FIRST CASE STUDY.
SO I'LL LET YOU GET YOUR, YOUR, UM, BEARINGS TO YOU.
BUT YOU CAN SEE THE PENINSULA THERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PAGE.
UM, GO TO THE RIGHT THAT IS MOUNT PLEASANT.
GO TO THE LEFT IS WEST ASHLEY, AND TO THE NORTH IS NORTH CHARLESTON.
AND EVEN BEYOND THAT IS, UH, SOMERVILLE IN NORTH CHARLESTON.
SO WHAT'S HAPPENED OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS IS SOMETHING THAT IS VERY SENSIBLE FOR US AND, AND GOOD FOR US TO WATCH.
SO OBVIOUSLY CHARLESTON HAS GROWN HEAD OVER FEET OVER THE LAST 20 PLUS YEARS.
I, UM, LET'S SEE IF I CAN GET THE POINTER TO WORK.
I HAD THE FORTUNATE OPPORTUNITY TO GET MY HIGHER EDUCATION ON THE BANKS OF THE ASHLEY RIVER AT OUR BELOVED INSTITUTION AT THE CITADEL.
WELL, WHEN I WAS THERE 20 YEARS AGO, WHICH THAT'S HARD FOR ME TO REMEMBER 20 YEARS AGO.
UM, BUT 20 YEARS AGO, I KNOW IT GETS WORSE.
Y'ALL LIKE, MAN, THAT'S, THAT'S FRESH CHICKEN.
SO 20 YEARS AGO, UM, WE DIDN'T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE CAMPUS OR DO ANYTHING EXCEPT ONE OCCASION.
WE COULD RUN OFF CAMPUS, BUT WE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO STOP WHILE WE WERE RUNNING.
AND I WAS LIKE, OKAY, THAT SOUNDS GOOD.
I CAN GET OUT, GET OUT OF THE, UM, THE BARRACKS AND GO RUN, UH, MAYBE NOT THE SAME AS DRINK BEER OR DO WHAT OTHER STUDENTS MIGHT DO ON A THURSDAY NIGHT, BUT I CAN AT LEAST GO OUT AND RUN.
SO, UM, WHAT WE WOULD DO, WE WOULD COME OUT OF THE CITADEL GATE RIGHT HERE, GO PAST HAMPTON PARKWAY, TAKE A RIGHT ON KING STREET, TAKE IT ALL THE WAY DOWN, COME DOWN TO THE BATTERY OR TO THE MARKET IN THE BATTERY, GO ON EAST BAY, BACK ON LOCKWOOD AND ALL THE
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WAY, ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE DEL, A GOOD SIX MILE RUN.SO THEY TOLD US IF YOU LEAVE CAMPUS, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO WALK.
SO YOU HAVE TO RUN THAT ENTIRE SIX MILE.
I DIDN'T REALIZE IT WAS FOR MY OWN SAFETY BECAUSE BETWEEN GETTING TO THE CITADEL WHERE IT IS, AND DOWNTOWN WAS THE MIDDLE OF THE GHETTO.
SO THEY WERE TELLING US NOT TO WALK BECAUSE ONE, THEY DIDN'T WANNA SEE US WALKING AROUND, BUT THEY REALLY PROTECTING US BECAUSE IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF THE GHETTO.
BUT WHAT'S HAPPENED SINCE I LEFT THE CITADEL, UH, THERE WAS NO UPPER KING STREET.
LIKE I SAID, THAT WAS, YOU DIDN'T GET TO CHARLESTON UNTIL YOU GOT DOWN TO, UH, TO MEETING STREET IN CALHOUN SQUARE.
THE TALLEST BUILDING AT THE TIME WAS FRANCIS MARION HOTEL, WHICH I THINK IS EIGHT OR NINE STORIES.
AND THEN AS YOU'RE RUNNING AROUND THE LOOP, YOU SAW THE HOSPITALS, WHICH THOSE WERE, NOTHING ELSE WAS GREATER THAN FOUR STORIES 20 YEARS AGO.
YOU GO THERE TODAY, THE SAME THING AT THE BRIDGE.
SO THE BRIDGE TO, UH, MOUNT PLEASANT RIGHT HERE, IT WAS A LITTLE BIT FURTHER SOUTH RIGHT HERE.
WELL, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY AS A SOPHOMORE GOING INTO MY SOPHOMORE YEAR TO WORK ON THE BRIDGE AS IT WAS BEING CONSTRUCTED.
WELL, THAT BRIDGE LOCATION WHERE IT WAS BEING CONSTRUCTED WAS RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HOOD THAT I TOLD YOU ABOUT ALREADY.
UM, TODAY, IF YOU DRIVE THE CROSS TOWN AND YOU GET ON TO 17 TO GO TO MOUNT PLEASANT, ALL YOU SEE IS TOWER CRANES.
SO WHAT'S HAPPENED IS THERE'S NO AVAILABLE SPACE IN DOWNTOWN BEAUFORT, BUT THEY HAVE REDEVELOPED, OR CHARLESTON, EXCUSE ME, DOWNTOWN CHARLESTON, BUT THEY HAVE REDEVELOPED.
AND NOW YOU SEE CRANES AND YOU SEE NINE STORY BUILDINGS ALL OVER THE PLACE.
ALSO, WHAT'S HAPPENED IS, IS MOUNT PLEASANT.
SO MOUNT PLEASANT REALLY WASN'T THAT DEVELOPED AT THE TIME.
UM, BUT THEY'VE, THEY'VE, UH, HOLD ON.
SO WHAT'S HAPPENING IN DOWNTOWN IS THEY'RE REDEVELOPING, THEY'RE TAKING THE EXISTING, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE UPDATING IT AND, AND MAKING A, A BIGGER USE OF THE EXISTING SITE.
WHAT THEY'RE DOING IN MOUNT PLEASANT IS DENSIFYING.
SO WHEN I WAS THERE, I COULD GO TO MOUNT PLEASANT AND GET AROUND AND GO WHEREVER WE WANTED TO AND MAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO, UM, THE IS OF PALMS TO, TO, THAT'S WHERE WE WENT WHEN WE WANTED TO GO TO THE BEACH ON THE WEEKENDS.
NOW IT TAKES YOU FOREVER BECAUSE IT'S SO MUCH POPULATION ON MOUNT PLEASANT.
UM, THE OTHER AREAS AROUND, SO WEST ASHLEY, THEY'VE DENSIFIED ALL THE, ALL THE DEVELOPMENT WAS THERE, BUT IT'S GETTING DENSER.
SO THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS AS, AS A COMMUNITY MATURES.
SAME THING WITH NORTH CHARLESTON.
THERE REALLY WASN'T A LOT BESIDES THE COLISEUM, BUT NOW YOU'VE GOT THE TANGER OUTLETS, YOU'VE GOT, UM, YOU'VE GOT GOLF THERE, TOP GOLF, YOU'VE GOT A WHOLE BUNCH OF THINGS.
AND NOW WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IS OTHER AREAS DEVELOPING.
SO AT THE TIME WHEN I WAS THERE, UM, DANIEL ISLAND WAS NOTHING MORE THAN WHERE THEY PUT SPOILS TO, TO DREDGE THE RIVER.
BUT NOW YOU GO TO DANIEL ALLEN AND IT IS PACKED THE SAME WITH, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY CALL THIS PART OF CHARLESTON, WEST OF WEST ASHLEY, BEES CREEK, GLEN MCCONNELL, THAT AREA.
SO ALL YOU SEE IS APARTMENTS AND EVERYTHING.
20 YEARS AGO, THIS WAS NOTHING.
UM, AND THE SAME THING WITH SOMERVILLE, UH, AND NORTH CHARLESTON.
AND EVEN, I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU CALL BEYOND MOUNT PLEASANT, I THINK
THE CENTER HUB GETS REDEVELOPED AND, AND GROWS.
YOU GO TO ANY METROPOLITAN CITY, YOU SEE BIGGER, BIGGER SKYLINE THAN WHAT CHARLESTON HAS.
BUT THIS IS THE NATURAL PROGRESSION.
UM, SO THEN THE OUTER AREAS THAT WERE NOT MUCH, THEY GET DENSER.
AND THEN THE OUTER AREAS THAT WERE NOTHING START DEVELOPING.
SO HOW DOES THIS LOOK FOR US? THIS IS SOUTH OF THE BROAD.
SO HILTON HEAD IS PRETTY MUCH BUILT OUT.
SO DOES THAT MEAN THERE'S NOT GONNA BE ANY DEVELOPMENT, UM, FOR THE NEXT 20 YEARS? NO, ABSOLUTELY.
SO IT'S GONNA FOLLOW THE SAME COURSE THAT DOWNTOWN CHARLESTON LOOKED.
NOW WHETHER WE HAVE EIGHT STORY HIGH-RISES OR WHATEVER THAT MIGHT BE, THAT'S TO BE DETERMINED.
BUT I CAN TELL YOU THERE'S A LOT OF PROPERTIES THAT ARE GONNA GET DECONSTRUCTED AND REDEVELOPED ON HILTON HEAD.
SO WE'VE HAD A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT OVER THE LAST 20 YEARS IN BLUFFTON.
UM, BUT THERE'S STILL A LOT OF PARCELS THAT AREN'T FULLY BUILT OUT.
SO YOU'RE GONNA SEE MORE DENSITY START, UM, TAKING PLACE.
ALL THOSE, ALL THOSE PUDS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE BOOKS ARE NOW STARTING TO FILL OUT.
AND THEN WHAT YOU SEE, UM, GOING WEST NOW OUT WEST HARDY V AND BEYOND, ONE 70 IS GONNA DEVELOP.
THERE'S PLANS, THERE'S PUDS, BUT IT REALLY HASN'T HIT THE ROAD YET.
SO THIS IS A NATURAL PROGRESSION.
WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT THIS IS IF IT'S REALLY A 20 YEAR TIMELINE.
SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, UH, HILTON HEAD WAS BEING BUILT OUT IN THE SEVENTIES AND EIGHTIES.
THAT'S WHEN THEY WERE GOING GANGBUSTERS.
UH, AND AT THAT TIME, BLUFFTON WAS A DOT ON THE MAP.
THERE WASN'T, WASN'T MUCH BESIDES NICKEL PUMPERS AND, AND UH, SQUAT AND GOBBLE, THAT WAS THE ONLY THING IN, IN BLUFFTON.
YEAH, A COUPLE SPEED TRAPS, PEPPERS, PORCH, UH, THAT WAS ANOTHER.
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BLUFF IN 20 YEARS, BUT IN THE TWO THOUSANDS, THAT'S WHEN YOU STARTED SEEING BLUFF AND STARTING TO DEVELOP.AND THEN NOW FAST FORWARD 20 MORE YEARS, 2020, THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE STARTING TO SEE.
SO THIS IS A NATURAL PROGRESSION.
IT'S NOT A BAD THING, IT'S JUST A THING THING.
IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH.
UH, GOING NORTH OF THE BROAD, WE'RE GONNA SEE IT, BUT JUST ON A MUCH SMALLER SCALE.
SO DOWNTOWN BEAUFORT IS COMPLETELY BUILT OUT.
YOU'LL START TO SEE SOME REGENERATION OVER THE NEXT 25 YEARS.
IT'S FULLY BUILT OUT AS WELL AS BOUNDARY STREET.
UM, THOSE AREAS ARE GONNA TURN OVER AND GET REDEVELOPED INTO HIGHER AND BIGGER USES.
UH, WE'RE ALSO GONNA START TO SEE DENSITY.
WE START SEEING THAT ALREADY WITH ON ONE 70 KIND OF NEAR PUBLIX IN THAT AREA, UM, AS WELL AS DOWNTOWN PORT ROYAL.
AS THE PORT DEVELOPS, YOU'RE GONNA SEE THAT AREA START TO DENSIFY.
YOU'RE ALREADY STARTING TO SEE THAT.
AND EVEN ON LADIES ISLAND, I KNOW THAT'S A DANGEROUS THING SAYING DENSITY ON LADIES ISLAND, BUT I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT LADIES ISLAND PROPER.
I'M JUST TALKING ABOUT RIGHT THERE, UM, AT 21 AND, UH, SEA ISLAND PARKWAY AND, AND LADIES ISLAND DRIVE.
SO THAT AREA, UH, WE'LL DENSIFY RIGHT THERE.
WE WANT OUR, OUR DOWNTOWNS TO BE DENSE.
WE WANT TO HAVE ATTRACTIONS FOR THOSE FOLKS TO COME TO.
AND THEN LASTLY, NORTH OF BROAD, THE DEVELOPER AREA.
UM, SO ONE SEVEN, YOU DRIVE ONE SEVEN AND YOU JUST STILL SEE TREES WHEN I DRIVE BY.
I'M LIKE, HOW THE HECK ARE THESE STILL TREES? SO THEY'RE NOT GONNA LAST THESE TREES FOREVER, UM, BECAUSE YOU'RE GONNA START TO SEE DEVELOPMENT AND IT'S, IT'S PROGRAMMED IN PLAN LIKE THAT, IN IN THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN, BOTH AT THE COUNTY AND AT THE TOWN.
SO, UM, THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE FOR US.
SO LET'S GO BACK TO CHARLESTON FOR A MOMENT.
SO WHAT YOU SEE HERE IS THE TRAFFIC DATA AVERAGE DAILY TRAFFIC FOR THESE ROADS.
AND WHAT I HAVE CIRCLED ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS.
SO REMEMBER OUR, OUR SINGLE TWO LANE ROAD CARRIES 20,004, LANE CARRIES 40 AND THREE, LANE CARRIES 60.
THE BIGGEST THING THAT JUMPS OFF THE MAP RIGHT HERE IS 5 26.
SO 5 26 WAS BUILT, I GUESS ABOUT 30 YEARS AGO, 25 YEARS AGO.
AND THEY BUILT IT AS A FOUR LANE ROAD.
SO FOUR LANES SHOULD BE AT 40,000.
WE'VE GOT DOUBLE THAT 80,000, 70,000.
THE WHOLE 5 26 NEEDS WIDEN INTO SIX LANES AS JUST FROM A CAPACITY.
SO THE THOUGHT THAT WE HAVE BIG PROBLEMS IN BEAUFORT AND, AND HARDY V AND BLUFFTON AND, AND HILTON HEAD PALE IN COMPARISON TO WHAT OUR FRIENDS IN CHARLESTON HAVE.
THAT COMPLETION OF WIDENING 5 26 FROM, FROM FOUR LANES TO SIX PLANES IS A $4 BILLION PROJECT.
NOW THEY'VE BEEN KICKING THAT CAN FOR A WHILE BECAUSE IT'S A HARD PROJECT, BUT THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO FACE IN THEIR NEAR FUTURE.
OTHER AREAS THAT ARE INTERESTING TO SEE.
SO MOUNT PLEASANT, MOUNT PLEASANT, AGAIN, THIS IS SIX LANES JOHNNY DODDS RUNNING THROUGH HERE.
SO WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS, HEY, IT CAN CARRY MORE THAN 60,000, BUT WE HAVE TO KEEP INCREMENTALLY DOING TRAVEL DEMAND MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES.
SO WHAT THEY'VE DONE IS THEY SAID, WE'RE NOT, WE'RE NOT WIDENING MORE THAN SIX LANES.
THEY PUT A LINE IN THE SAND, BUT WHAT THEY DID DO, WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO MANAGE IT.
SO THEY HAVE AN ADAPTIVE SIGNAL TECHNOLOGY THAT RUNS THROUGHOUT THAT CORRIDOR.
THEY LIMITED THE ACCESS POINT.
SO THEY HAVE A FRONTAGE ROAD SYSTEM AND YOU CAN ONLY GET OUT AT CERTAIN, UH, SIGNAL LOCATIONS VERSUS HAVING FREE FLOW, UH, DRIVEWAYS ON AND OFF THE MAINLAND.
SO, AND THEN THE LAST THING THAT YOU'RE SEEING, THE LAST THING THAT YOU'RE SEEING IS EVEN THIS EVENTUALLY WHEN YOU HAVE A, A SIGNIFICANT PRIMARY ROUTE, THREE LANES, UH, HEAVY TRAFFIC, A SIGNAL NO LONGER WORKS EVEN THOUGH A SIGNAL WORKS.
UM, IN MOST LOCATIONS WHEN YOU GET THIS, IT INTRODUCES TOO MUCH DELAY.
THERE'S TOO MANY MOVEMENTS, AND THE NEXT ITERATION IS UP AND OVER.
SO THAT'S WHAT YOU SEE DOWN HERE IS THIS IS AT HUNGRY NECK, UM, BOULEVARD, RIGHT BEFORE YOU GET TO THE 5 26 INTERCHANGE.
SO THE REASON IT'S CARRYING MORE THAN 62 IS BECAUSE IT HAS THE CAPACITY WITH THE OVER CHANGE.
UM, AND THEN LASTLY, KIND OF HIGHLIGHT TO POINT OUT, UM, IS RIGHT HERE.
SO THIS IS, IS THIS IS THE BRIDGE.
SO THAT BRIDGE, WHEN THEY BUILT IT AS EIGHT LANES OR FOUR LANES IN EACH DIRECTION, EVERYBODY'S LIKE, HOLY COW, WHAT? THIS IS NEVER GONNA GET FILLED UP.
WELL, YOU CAN SEE THAT IT'S ABOVE CAPACITY AND IT REALLY ISN'T ABOVE CAPACITY.
IT'S JUST THE REASON IT CAN CARRY MORE THAN 60,000 OR 80,000 VEHICLES IS BECAUSE IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY INTERRUPTED FLOW.
SO YOU HAVE A TWO MILE, THREE MILE SECTION WHERE IT'S JUST BRIDGE SO YOU CAN CARRY MORE FLOW.
SO THAT'S THE SAME ON THE INTERSTATE RIGHT NOW.
WE'RE WORKING DOT'S WORKING ON WIDENING FROM ONE OR FROM ZERO TO EIGHT ON THAT SECTION.
THERE'S 60,000 VEHICLES A DAY.
WELL, IT'S A FOUR LANE ROAD, BUT IT'S, IT'S AT, UH, CAPACITY 'CAUSE THEY'RE WIDENING, BUT IT'S NOT AS BAD AS YOU WOULD THINK BECAUSE THERE'S ONLY ACCESS AT THREE ACCESS POINTS ON THAT EIGHT MILES.
SO LET'S FAST FORWARD THIS TO US.
SO LIKE I SAID, THEY'VE GOT A $4 BILLION
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PROBLEM.AND A LOT OF IT, THERE'S THREE RIGHT HERE THAT HIGHLIGHT.
SO 2 78, UM, IS A FOUR LANE ROAD RIGHT HERE.
SO WE'VE GOT FOUR LANES CAN CARRY HOW MUCH? 40,000, RIGHT? SO, SO RIGHT HERE, WE'RE STARTING TO GET CLOSE TO THAT, BUT THERE IS STILL CAPACITY RIGHT THERE.
SO 40,000, THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF CAPACITY THERE.
SO ALL THE DEVELOPMENT THAT'S HAPPENING, THERE'S STILL ROOM FOR IT.
WHAT WE HAVE GOING ON RIGHT NOW IS INTERCHANGE AND INTERSECTIONS THAT ARE FAILING.
SO THE GOAL IS TO, TO DO SOME SHORT TERM FIXES ON THE INNER CHANGES AND INNER, UM, SECTIONS WHILE WE WORK UP THE PLANS FOR THE BIGGER ROADS.
BUT RIGHT HERE, JUST PAST THIS, SO YOU GET 34,030 7,000 COMBINED AND YOU'RE AT 65,000.
IF YOU DRIVE INTO TOWN, UM, ANY DAY OF THE WEEK AT, AT SEVEN O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING, YOU START HITTING TRAFFIC RIGHT HERE AT BUCK WALTER.
UM, SO THAT'S WHERE THE CONFLUENCE OF ALL THIS TRAFFIC IS.
THAT'S WHERE SIX LANES STARTS TO, YOU'RE STARTING TO FEEL SOME PRESSURE BECAUSE YOU'RE GREATER THAN 60,000.
AND THEN WE HAVE AN INTERCHANGE THAT IT HAS, UM, ALL THE MOVEMENTS YOU CAN ASK FOR.
SO WE'RE GONNA WORK ON A PROJECT TO, TO SIMPLIFY HOW THAT SIGNAL WORKS IN AN EFFORT TO GIVE SOME IMMEDIATE RELIEF RIGHT THERE.
AND THIS MAKES SENSE TOO, AS YOU'RE DRIVING TOWARDS, UH, THE BRIDGE, IT CLEARS UP.
THE REASON IT CLEARS UP IS BECAUSE PEOPLE GET OFF ON BUCK WALTER AND THEN THEY DRIVE ON BLUFFTON PARKWAY.
SO WHEN BLUFFTON PARKWAY WAS ESTABLISHED, IT WAS INTENDED TO BE A PARALLEL ROAD AND THAT LOCALS WOULD USE IT.
THAT'S EXACTLY HOW IT'S, HOW IT'S, UH, BEING FUNCTIONED AND HOW IT'S USED.
BECAUSE IF THIS DID NOT EXIST, YOU WOULD HAVE 25,000 ON TOP OF 48,000.
SO THIS WHOLE SECTION WOULD BE STRESSED A LOT MORE THAN IT IS TODAY.
SO THE FACT THAT WE HAVE IT AND WE'VE COMPLETED IT ALL THE WAY TO THE FLYOVER RIGHT BEFORE YOU GET TO THE BRIDGE STARTS MAKING SENSE BECAUSE NOW WE'RE AT 60,000.
SO THIS IS THE CORRIDOR PROJECT, THE $300 MILLION BRIDGE PROJECT.
IT MAKES SENSE BECAUSE WE'RE PUSHING RIGHT NOW 60,000 VEHICLES A DAY.
AND THEN ONCE YOU GET TO CROSS ISLAND PARKWAY AGAIN, IT SEPARATES.
AND THAT'S THE REASON WHEN YOU DRIVE ON THE PARKWAY, IT FEELS LIKE THERE'S NO CARS THERE BECAUSE IT'S GOT MORE CAPACITY THAN IT, THAN IT, UM, HAS VEHICLES.
AND THE SAME WITH US 2 78 BUSINESS.
SO, UM, LET'S LOOK AT NORTH OF THE BROAD, NORTH OF THE BROAD.
SO THERE ARE SOME AREAS WHERE WE HAVE SOME TRAFFIC ON BOUNDARY STREET AND THE BOTTOM SECTION OF REBO AS YOU CROSS THE BELL BRIDGE COMING INTO PORT ROYAL, BUT IT SPLITS HERE.
SO HALF THE TRAFFIC GOES TO DOWNTOWN AND HALF THE TRAFFIC GOES ON REBO ROAD.
UM, AND THEN ONCE YOU GET PAST THE MAIN INTERSECTIONS, IT STARTS DROPPING BACK DOWN TOWARDS HUNT ISLAND AND RIP ISLAND.
SO WE'VE GOT 30,000 VEHICLES ON THE BRIDGE, BUT EVEN IF THAT WAS TO GO TO 40,000, IT'S NOT THAT BIG A ISSUE BECAUSE FROM BASICALLY HERE AT OLD SAVANNAH HIGHWAY TO LEMON ISLAND BRIDGE, THERE'S NO OTHER ACCESS POINT.
SO SIMILAR THAT'S FUNCTIONING SIMILAR TO AN INTERSTATE.
SO, UM, AGAIN, NOT THAT THERE'S NOT WORK TO DO, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THE SAME PRESSURES THAT WE HAVE IN IN SOUTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND JASPER COUNTY THAT WE HAVE, UM, IN NORTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
I KNOW WE SAID QUESTIONS AT THE END, BUT IF ANYBODY HAS QUESTIONS, FEEL FREE TO TO JUMP IN.
ALL RIGHT, SO 30 YEARS AGO, WHERE WERE WE? 30 YEARS AGO AND I THOUGHT IT WAS FITTING THE LEAD FOREST GUMP UP THERE BECAUSE, UH, NEXT YEAR IT WILL BE 30 YEARS SINCE FOREST COMPANY WAS, WAS A FILM.
SO, UH, I THINK IT WAS RELEASED IN 94.
LET'S THINK ABOUT WHAT BEAUFORT COUNTY AND JASPER COUNTY AND, UM, ALL LOOKED LIKE 30 YEARS AGO.
THERE WAS NO EXIT EIGHT WE'RE WORRIED ABOUT 2 78 AND WIDENING.
THIS MEANT THERE WAS NOT EVEN AN EXIT EIGHT.
IF YOU WANT TO GO TO HILTON END, YOU GET OFF AT 4 62, AT EXIT 28 ON A TWO LANE ROAD AND YOU WENT ALL THE WAY.
DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER THAT? YES.
OKAY, WE GOT A FEW IN HERE THAT, THAT ARE, UM, HALFWAY LOCAL.
AND SO, UH, ONE 70 WAS A TWO TWO-LANE ROAD.
DOES ANYBODY REMEMBER THAT? FROM BEAUFORT? ALL RIGHT.
PARIS ISLAND GATEWAY DID NOT EVEN EXIST.
OR I SKIPPED ONE 17 WAS A TWO-LANE ROAD.
SO THAT WAS, UM, THAT WAS GOING OUT TO COL FROM JASPER COUNTY THROUGH BEAUFORT TO COLTON.
UH, PARIS ISLAND GATEWAY DID NOT EVEN EXIST.
UM, THE CROSS ISLAND PARKWAY HAD JUST, IT, I THINK IT GOT BUILT IN THE MID NINETIES, SO 30 YEARS AGO IT EITHER DIDN'T EXIST OR IT JUST GOT CONSTRUCTED.
UM, AND THEN SEA PINES CIRCLE WAS THERE, BUT IT WAS FRESH.
UM, WE PLAYED HILTON HEAD PREP, THE SCHOOL THAT I WAS UH, GOING TO.
AND I REMEMBER MY MOM GETTING TO THAT CIRCLE AND DRIVING AROUND THREE TIMES 'CAUSE SHE HAD NO CLUE HOW TO GET OFF OF THE CIRCLE ONCE SHE AND MY MOM IS A SAINT, AND SHE WAS SITTING THERE CUSSING UP A STORM
[00:30:01]
TRYING TO GET OFF THE CIRCLE.UH, NOW IT'S NOT SUCH A BIG THING.
WE SEE CIRCLES, WE USE ROUNDABOUTS ALL THE TIME.
AND THEN LASTLY, THERE WAS NO BLUFFTON PARKWAY.
SO WAS BEAUFORT COUNTY AND JASPER COUNTY A DESIRABLE PLACE TO LIVE 30 YEARS AGO? YES, IT WAS.
IS IT STILL A DESIRABLE PLACE TO LIVE? YES, IT'S, YES IT IS.
WELL, GUESS WHAT? IT IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO BE A DESIRABLE PLACE IN 30 YEARS.
THE DIFFERENCE IS, UH, ALL THESE PROJECTS GOT DONE AND IT'S THE SAME EXACT STUFF THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT TODAY.
WE JUST HAVE DIFFERENT, DIFFERENT, UM, PEOPLE IN THE SEATS AND DIFFERENT CITIZENS THAT ARE HERE.
SO ONLY A FEW OF US HAVE BEEN HERE THE 30 YEARS TO SEE THIS, BUT THE FACT THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE SAME ROADS AND THE SAME UPGRADES ISN'T A SURPRISE.
IT'S THE SAME THING WE'VE BEEN DEALING WITH FOR THE LAST 30 YEARS.
BUT LET ME GIVE YOU A VISUAL OF WHAT THIS LOOKS LIKE.
SO THIS IS, UH, BROAD RIVER BRIDGE.
SO THERE WAS SALES TAX MONEY, UH, BEAUFORT COUNTY WAS THE FIRST SALES TAX, UH, TRANSPORTATION SALES TAX ADDED IN THE ENTIRE STATE.
UH, IN 1995, IT GOT APPROVED BY STATE LEGISLATOR.
WE TRIED IT AGAIN IN 98 AND IT PASSED.
AND OUR 40 MILLION WAS THE LOCAL MATCH TO 14 MILES OF WIDENING FROM TWO LANES TO FOUR LANES AND TWO, UH, BRIDGES THAT SPANNED THE BROAD RIVER IN CHEE CREEK.
SO IN 2006 THERE WAS ANOTHER BEAUFORT COUNTY SALES TAX FOR SIX YEARS AND $152 MILLION.
SO THIS IS U S 17 AND GARDENS CORNER.
UM, THERE WAS SIX MILES OF WIDENING THERE, UH, 2 78.
SO WE HAD ALREADY WIDENED, UH, THE SECTION FROM MOSS CREEK BACK TO SIMMONS V.
BUT IN 2006, THE SALES TAX PAID FOR FROM SIMMONS V BACK TO ONE 70.
SO SIX LANES THERE, OLD SAVANNAH HIGHWAY WENT FROM TWO LANES TO FOUR LANES OR FIVE LANES.
SO FROM BROAD RIVER, UH, ONE 70 TO PARIS ISLAND GATEWAY, THAT'S PARKER'S THERE, UH, LADIES ISLAND BRIDGE, A WHOLE TWIN BRIDGE WAS ADDED, UH, AS PART OF THE SALES TAX.
ONE THAT HAS FOUR LANES AND ONE THAT HAS TWO LANES THROUGH WOODS MEMORIAL.
YEAH, SORRY, THERE'S AN ACCIDENT AND THAT'S PROBABLY NOT THE BEST PICTURE TO SHOW
UH, LADIES ISLAND FROM, FROM THE BASE OF THE BRIDGE, TWO MILES OF WIDENING FROM TWO LANES TO FOUR LANES ALL THE WAY UP TO SEA ISLAND PARKWAY BACK DOWN SOUTH.
UH, THERE WAS FOUR MILES OF WIDENING FROM ONE 70.
SO FROM 2 78 TO THE TRAFFIC CIRCLE AT 46 AS WELL AS THE PATHWAY, UH, THE BLUFFTON PARKWAY WAS FINISHED AND EXTENDED ALL THE WAY TO US.
2 78 TO FLY OVER AS WELL AS BOUNDARY STREET WAS THE LAST PROJECT AS PART OF THAT 2006 SALES TAX.
SO THAT WAS ONE AND A HALF MILES.
AND THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT BOUNDARY STREET IS WE ADDED TWO SIGNALS.
IT WENT FROM FIVE SIGNALS TO TWO SIGNALS.
UH, AND YET WE ADDED CAPACITY AND WE ADDED SAFETY BECAUSE THE REASON WE ADDED CAPACITY, JUST LIKE THE INTERSTATE, THE LESS TURNING MOVEMENTS YOU HAVE IN A ROAD, THAT'S HOW YOU MANAGE CAPACITY.
SO, UM, THE, OBVIOUSLY A LOT OF THE, THE LEFT TURNS IN AND OUT OF THE MEDIUM WERE REMOVED WITH THE LANDSCAPE MEDIAN ISLANDS.
UM, SO THAT HELPED TRAFFIC GO THROUGH.
HERE'S BONUS QUESTION, ENGINEERING EXAM.
ANYBODY HAVE ANY CLUE ON WHAT THE SPEED LIMIT IS FOR THE MAXIMUM CAPACITY OF ANY ROAD? 70 70 INTERSTATE CARRIES A LOT OF TRAFFIC.
ANY OTHERS? WHAT'S THAT? THAT'S, THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD ANSWER.
THAT THE MAGIC ANSWER IS 35 MILES AN HOUR.
AND THE REASON IS, UM, AT 70 YOU'RE TAKING A LOT OF GAP BETWEEN YOU AND THE CAR IN FRONT OF YOU.
UM, AT 20 YOU MIGHT BE A SMALLER GAP, BUT YOU'RE NOT MOVING FAST ENOUGH.
SO THE RIGHT THERE IN THE MIDDLE IS 35 MILE AN HOUR.
SO BOUNDARY STREET IS FOR 40 MILES AN HOUR.
SO IT'S BASICALLY GETTING AS MUCH CAPACITY.
SO EVEN THOUGH IT'S STILL FOUR, FOUR LANES AND WE'RE AT 37,000 CARS, IT'S GOT MORE CAPACITY BUILT INTO IT BECAUSE OF THE SPEED LIMIT, BECAUSE OF THE LIMITED ACCESS AND BECAUSE OF THE SYNCED UP SIGNALS.
UM, IN 2018, THERE'S A SALES TAX.
SO THE BRIDGE, SO, UH, I HEARD THIS INTERESTING QUOTE FROM JEFF BEZOS, THE FORMER, THE OWNER AND FORMER C E O OF AMAZON.
UM, THEY HAD JUST HAD A EARNINGS REPORT, EARNINGS CALL, AND THEY SMASHED THE ANALYST'S EARNINGS AND EVERYBODY WAS LIKE SUPER EXCITED AND LIKE, MAN, GREAT JOB JEFF.
AND, AND THEY'RE LIKE, WHAT'S WRONG? YOU DON'T LOOK HAPPY.
AND HE SAID, WELL, THAT QUARTER, WE BOOKED THAT THREE YEARS AGO.
I'M ALREADY THREE YEARS AHEAD.
HE LIVES CONSTANTLY IN THE FUTURE.
SO FOR ME, NOT TO SAY COMPARE MYSELF TO JEFF BEZOS, BUT, UH, 2 78 BRIDGE IN MY HEAD IS CONSTRUCTED.
UH, SO WHAT'S OUR NEXT PROJECTS? SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IN JUST A SECOND.
UM, ALSO LADIES ISLAND, THAT'S PART OF SALES TAX AND THEN A BUNCH OF PATHWAYS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY.
WELL, JASPER COUNTY IN 2016 PASSED THEIR OWN SALES TAX, UM, FOR 30 MILLION OVER 10 YEARS.
[00:35:01]
THAT OR COLLECTED IT FASTER.SO BOTH BEAUFORT AND JASPER COUNTIES DO NOT HAVE A TRANSPORTATION SALES TAX PENNY ON THE REFERENDUM.
AND IF THEY SO CHOOSE THAT, THAT COULD, UH, HELP FUND FUTURE PROJECTS MOVING FORWARD, BOTH IN 24.
SO THIS IS SOUTHERN, UH, BEAUFORT COUNTY AND JASPER.
I'M SURE THERE IS A MAP LIKE THIS IN NORTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY, BUT I HAVEN'T, UH, SEEN IT.
AND THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS IS TO SAY, UH, NOT TO SCARE EVERYBODY, BUT BASICALLY FROM ONE 70 TO I 95, THIS IS 2 78 AND THIS IS ONE 70.
THESE ARE ALL THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENTS, UM, AND PLANNED DWELLING UNITS IN THIS REGION.
AND TO SUM IT UP, THERE'S ALREADY 10,000 HERE.
SUN CITY'S ADDING MORE HERE AND EVEN ACROSS THE STREET HERE, THIS IS ALL A EAST AR, WHICH I THINK HAS CLOSE TO 10,000 DWELLING UNITS IN ITS OWN.
UH, THIS IS MARGARITAVILLE THAT HAS ABOUT 3000.
MORGAN TRACK HAS 6,700, AND WEST SERGEANT HAS ANOTHER 6,400.
ALL IN ALL, THERE'S LIKE PLANS FOR 40,000 MORE PEOPLE IN THIS AREA.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS TO BE WORRIED AND STRESSED ABOUT.
UM, BUT JUST LIKE OUR FOREFATHERS DID IS WE PLAN TO, TO KEEP THIS OPEN BECAUSE THIS IS THE MAJOR ARTERY FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY.
UM, SO THE LAST THING WE WANT THIS TO DO IS THE BOTTLENECK.
SO PART OF BLUFFTON PARKWAY WAS TO TAKE, UH, TRAFFIC OFF OF 2 78.
WELL, SOME WAY, SHAPE OR FORM THIS NEEDS TO CONTINUE.
SO WHAT WE HAVE IS THREE REALLY GOOD 46 BLUFFTON PARKWAY AND 2 78 THAT ARE CARRYING EAST WEST TRAFFIC.
AND THEN WE HAVE TWO GOOD PRIMARY ROUTES, ONE 70 AND BUCK WALTER THAT ARE CARRYING NORTH SOUTH TRAFFIC.
SO AS, AS THIS AREA DEVELOPS, WE NEED TO LOOK IN SOME WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM TO CONTINUE, UH, UH, EAST WEST CORRIDOR SO WE CAN KEEP THREE JUST LIKE WE HAVE OVER HERE AND THEN AT SOME FORM OR FASHION IN NORTHWEST OR NORTH, SOUTH CORRIDOR, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAVE AT ONE 70 AND AND BUCK WALTER.
SO THE PLAN, WHAT IS EXACTLY THE PLAN? WELL, THE PLAN IS CONTINUE WHAT WE'RE DOING.
I JUST TALKED ABOUT ALL THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER 30 YEARS.
THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS WE HAVE NEW PEOPLE SITTING IN THE SEATS UP FRONT AND WE HAVE NEW PEOPLE SITTING IN THE SEATS IN THE BACK.
SO THE PLAN IS EXACTLY THE SAME.
LEAN FORWARD INTO YOUR, INTO YOUR COMMUNITY, PROTECT AND IMPROVE THE MAJOR CORRIDORS.
SO FOR US, WE'VE GOT TO KEEP 2 78 IMPROVED.
SO IT'S IMPROVED RIGHT NOW ALL THE WAY UP TO ONE 70.
THERE'S GOTTA BE EXTENSIONS IN THE FUTURE ALL THE WAY TO I 95.
D O T IS COMING STRONG WITH AIR PROJECT TO IMPROVE, UH, 95 FROM ZERO TO EIGHT.
THEY'RE ALSO GOING TO HAVE A BIG IMPROVEMENT AT THE INTERCHANGE.
SO WE NEED TO ADDRESS THAT SECTION.
OBVIOUSLY WE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE TRIANGLE, UH, OR NOT, WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT IT, BUT EVERYBODY KNOWS ABOUT THE TRIANGLE.
SO 1 72, 78 AND ARGENT BOULEVARD.
THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT I'M LOOKING AT.
UH, 2 78 CORRIDOR BRIDGE PROJECT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
THESE ARE THE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE MOVING INTO FRUITION.
ONE THING TO, AGAIN, NOT SCARY, JUST THIS IS THE NORMAL ITERATION OF DEVELOPMENT.
EVENTUALLY THE SIGNALS THAT WE ARE PUTTING UP ON ONE 70 AND 2 78, THEY MAY NOT LAST, UH, SPECIFICALLY WHERE WE HAVE LARGE INGRESS AND EGRESS COMMERCIAL CENTERS AND STUFF.
UM, SO THE NEXT ITERATION, JUST LIKE MOUNT PLEASANT AND HUNGRY NECK BOULEVARD, IS THOSE SIGNALS ARE GOING TO GET REPLACED WITH OVERPASSES.
AND I KNOW THAT SOUNDS SCARY, BUT THAT'S JUST, UH, TYPICAL DEVELOPMENT AND HOW THINGS, IT DOESN'T MEAN IT HAS TO BE A MONSTROSITY, IT CAN LOOK GREAT.
UM, JUST THINK OF THE BRIDGE THERE AT SUN CITY.
THINK OF CROSS ISLAND PARKWAY ON HILTON HEAD.
YOU DON'T EVEN REALLY NOTICE IT THAT IT'S THERE UNTIL YOU'RE ON TOP OF IT.
UM, SO THERE'S WAYS FOR US TO DO INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FUTURE THAT IT'S NOT BIG AND UGLY, UM, BUT IT, IT ACTUALLY HARMONIZES WITH THE COMMUNITY THAT WE HAVE.
BUT THE, THE SIMPLE FACT IS IN ORDER TO KEEP 2 78 ALIVE, THERE'S GOING TO BE INTERCHANGE IMPROVEMENTS, UH, AT ONE 70 AND 2 78.
AND THERE'S GONNA NEED TO BE, UH, INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS TO CONTINUE TO PROVIDE THAT AS FREE FLOW ACCESS AS WE CAN.
THAT IS IN ESSENCE OUR INTERSTATE.
WE DON'T HAVE ANY INTERSTATE IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
THAT IS THE INTERSTATE TO THE REGION.
LIKE I SAID, IMPROVED MAJOR INTERSECTIONS.
SO WE KNOW BUCK WALTER NEEDS IMPROVEMENTS.
WE KNOW ONE 70 AND 2 78 THAT INTERCHANGE NEEDS IMPROVEMENT.
UM, 4 62 AND ARJUN BOULEVARD AND 2 78 AND ARJUN BOULEVARD.
A LOT OF THESE ARE ALREADY IN THE WORKS.
SO, UM, DEVELOPED FRONTAGE ROADS.
SO ON THE 2006 SALES TAX, THERE WERE SEVERAL FRONTAGE ROAD PROJECTS, AGAIN, SIMILAR TO MOUNT PLEASANT.
WE WANTED TO KEEP JOHNNY DODDS OPEN AND
[00:40:01]
AVAILABLE.AND THE WAY WE DO THAT IS NOT LET EVERYBODY HAVE ACCESS TO THE ROAD AND THEY HAVE TO GARNER ACCESS THROUGH A, UM, CONSOLIDATED DRIVEWAY, WHETHER THAT'S A A SIGNALIZE INTERSECTION OR NOT, AND THEN PLAN FOR ADDITIONAL CONNECTIONS.
SO JUST LIKE, UM, BLUFFTON PARKWAY 25 YEARS AGO, THAT WAS NOTHING.
IT WAS CONCEIVED AND WE'VE BUILT OUT OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS.
THE CONTINUATION OF THAT IN SOME FORM OR FASHION NEEDS TO CONTINUE AS WELL AS ANY OTHER CONNECTING ROADS TO RELIEVE STRESS FROM THE MAJOR ROADS AND THEN DEVELOP THE LONG-TERM LOCAL FUNDING.
WHAT THAT IS, D O T HAS STATE PRIORITIES.
THEY DON'T ALWAYS ALIGN WITH OUR LOCAL PRIORITIES.
THAT'S NOT A BAD THING, IT'S JUST DIFFERENT LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT WORKING TOGETHER.
UM, SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO, JUST LIKE WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY, BLUFFTON PARKWAY WAS FUNDED, UM, BY IMPACT FEES, GEO BONDS, AND A LITTLE BIT OF SALES TAX.
SO THOSE ARE THREE MECHANISMS THAT I THINK EVERYBODY IN THE ROOM HAS SOME FORM OR FASHION OF THOSE DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES, UM, FUTURE SALES TAX AND OBVIOUSLY ISSUING GEO BOND DEBT.
SO WHAT'S THE TAKEAWAY? YOU, WHEN YOU GET ASKED AND YOU HAVE A CONSTITUENT THAT COMPLAINS ABOUT ONE 70 OR COMPLAINS ABOUT 2 78, THERE IS A PLAN.
WHAT I JUST TALKED TO YOU IS THE PLAN.
AND I, AFTER PREPARING FOR THIS, I REALIZE, YOU KNOW WHAT, I'M GONNA WRITE THIS PLAN OUT.
THAT WAY WE CAN ALL HAVE IT IN FRONT OF US.
SO THEN, UM, THEN WHEN YOU DO HAVE SOMETHING, HERE'S A, HERE'S A EIGHT PAGE PLAN IF YOU WANNA DIVE INTO IT.
BUT THE PLAN IN ESSENCE IS MAKE OUR MAJOR CORRIDORS KEEP THOSE, IMPROVE THOSE AND KEEP THEM HEALTHY.
THE GREAT THING IS ALSO YOU HAVE A LATS PARTNER, A PARTNER IN LATS.
THIS IS NOT THE GROUP THAT HAS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ROADS.
THERE'S A GROUP THAT'S ALREADY SET UP FOR THAT AND THEY'RE WORKING THE PLAN.
ALL THE, UH, THE ROAD IMPROVEMENTS ON 2 78 AND ONE 70.
THESE ARE BEING EVALUATED AS WE SPEAK, UH, TO MAKE SURE THE NEXT ITERATION OF IMPROVEMENTS IS PLANNED FOR.
SO YOU HAVE A GREAT PARTNER IN LAPS.
YOU GUYS, NOT YOU GUYS, YOU GUYS UP FRONT.
THESE ARE YOUR TWO RESPONSIBILITIES.
THIS ONE YOU'RE GOING TO KICK ME OUTTA THE ROOM FOR SAYING SO DON'T SAY NO TO DEVELOPMENT.
DEVELOPMENT'S GOING TO HAPPEN.
WHAT YOU NEED TO SAY YES AND YES AND OR YES, BUT SO WHEN, MOST OF THE TIME WHEN A DEVELOPMENT COMES, IT'S A DEVELOPER DRIVEN PROJECT.
AND MORE TIMES THAN NOT, THEY HAVE NOT BOUGHT THE PROPERTY.
THEY'RE DOING THEIR DUE DILIGENCE, THEY'RE PUTTING IN FOR PERMITS, BUT THEY HAVE NOT, THEY WORKED THAT OUT WITH THE LANDOWNER AND HAVEN'T BOUGHT THE PROPERTY.
SO WHEN THEY COME IN FOR A ZONING REQUEST OR WHATEVER, THEY COME IN FOR, UH, MASTER PLAN APPROVAL, YOU HAVE THE OPTION UP HERE AS LOCAL GOVERNMENT TO SAY, I LIKE WHAT YOU HAVE, BUT I NEED YOU TO DO THIS, THIS, AND THIS.
AND IF THEY DON'T DO IT, THEN, THEN THAT'S OKAY.
BUT IF THEY DO IT, YOU'RE AT LEAST GETTING A REALLY, REALLY GOOD PIECE OF DEVELOPMENT.
WHAT WE DON'T WANT IS TO SAY NO.
AND THEN SOMEBODY COME BACK AND THEY BUILD SOMETHING, UH, THAT MEETS THE REQUIREMENTS, BUT IS TOTALLY NOT PART OF THE COMMUNITY.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DEVELOPMENT, THAT WE HAVE THE BEST OPPORTUNITY AND THE BEST DEVELOPMENT THAT'S AVAILABLE.
SO PRACTICE SAYING YES AND THEN USE SOME FORM OF CONJUNCTION AND BUT, UM, AND GET THEM TO, TO DO MORE.
AND THEN SECONDLY, THIS IS THE TALL TASK IS ALL THIS IS GREAT TO HAVE A PLAN, BUT UNLESS THERE'S MONEY TO GO WITH THAT PLAN, IT'S JUST TALK.
UM, SO LIKE I SAID, I MENTIONED THREE SOURCES OF FUNDING ALREADY.
DEVELOPMENT FEES OR IMPACT FEES, GEO BONDS AND SALES TAX.
THOSE ARE THE THREE BIGGEST TOOLS IN THE TOOLBOX, UM, TO DEVELOP PROJECTS.
THEN YOU CAN GO AFTER SPECIFIC STATE GRANTS OR FEDERAL GRANTS, BUT THOSE AREN'T THE ONES THAT ARE LEADING INTO THE PROJECT.
SO YOU GUYS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING THIS FUNDING PLAN, WHICH IS A REALLY HARD TASK.
UM, BUT THAT, THAT'S WHAT YOU GUYS, UH, GET PAID THE BIG BUCKS FOR.
SO JUST BEING HERE FOR SO LONG, I LOVE MY, I LOVE MY SURPRISE ANYWAY.
SO YOU'RE WHAT I'VE SEEN OVER YEARS WITH OUR TOWN.
WE HAVE ENGINEERING SIDE, WE HAVE PLANNING SIDE, AND THEN WE HAVE A COUNCIL THAT HAS TO LISTEN AND CAN'T NEGOTIATE FROM THE DAIS, UM, DEVELOPERS.
SO IF WE ALL, AND SO MUCH MONEY GOES INTO COMP PLANS, IF WE ALL JUST STUCK BY THE COMP PLAN AND WHAT ALL THE WORK THAT THE KEVINS AND HEATHERS OF THE WORLD AND EVERYONE ELSE LIKE THAT, AND THE SEANS, IF WE STICK WITH IT, WOULDN'T YOUR JOB BE A LITTLE LESS STRESSFUL? SO YOU DO SAY, SAY YES, BUT IF WE JUST STICK WITH WHAT A LOT OF HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS HAVE TOLD US WHAT TO KEEP, WELL, YOU KNOW, JUST DON'T COME AND TRY TO PUT A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE.
[00:45:01]
SO THAT, I JUST WANNA COMMENT ON THAT.AND I'M NOT SAYING SAY YES TO EVERYTHING THAT COMES AT YOU.
THAT'S WHY WE HAVE A COMP PLAN.
UM, AND JUST, JUST LIKE, UM, ONE 70 IN THE BROAD RIVER BRIDGE, THERE'S NO PLAN THAT I CAN FORESEE IN THE NEXT 25 OR 30 YEARS WHERE THAT NEEDS TO BE WIDENED BECAUSE WE'VE GOT SO MUCH PRESERVED IN THAT AREA, THERE'S LIMITED ACCESS.
SO, UH, IT CAN CONTINUE TO GROW IN TRAFFIC AND STILL BE ABLE TO TAKE ON THE TRAFFIC THAT IT HAS AS DEMAND.
UM, WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO NOW, AND SINCE WE STARTED, I WANNA WELCOME SENATOR TOM DAVIS.
UH, THANK YOU SENATOR FOR JOINING US.
UM, WE WE'RE GONNA PROCEED WITHIN THE TIMEFRAMES THAT WE HAVE.
FIRST OF ALL, THIS IS FOR OUR STATE DELEGATION TO HEAR.
[III.2. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS]
I'M GONNA OPEN UP THE QUESTION TO THE THREE OF YOU IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF JARED.UH, I WILL ALSO, THE, THIS IS FILMED, SO WE'LL SEND THIS ON TO YOUR DELEGATION SECRETARY SO YOU CAN SHARE IT WITH YOUR COLLEAGUES.
UM, AND THEN AFTER WE'VE EXHAUSTED THE QUESTIONS FROM, UH, OUR STATE REPRESENTATIVES HERE, THEN I'LL OPEN IT UP TO THE BOARD AND IF WE HAVE TIME, WE'LL GO TO THE PUBLIC.
SO, UH, SENATOR DAVIS REPRESENTATIVES.
UH, THERE'S, WE WE'RE SHARING MICROPHONES MENTIONED IN TERMS OF THE, THE FUNDING.
UM, YOU MENTIONED ESSENTIALLY THREE LOCAL FUNDING SOURCES, IMPACT FEES FROM DEVELOPERS, UH, GO BONDS, AND THEN ALSO THE SALES TAX, WHICH COULD EITHER BE STRAIGHT UP OR LEVERAGING REVENUE BONDS.
UM, TO WHAT EXTENT HAS CHARLESTON USED THOSE LOCAL REVENUE SOURCES TO GET STATE, UH, REVENUES LEVERAGE, LIKE SIB GRANTS OR S E D O T PRIORITIES AND, AND HOW DO WE GO AHEAD AND TAKE THOSE LOCAL DOLLARS AND LEVERAGE IT INTO STATE FUNDING? YEP.
OR HAS CHARLESTON DONE THAT AND PROVIDE A ROADMAP FOR THAT? YEAH, CHARLESTON, SO THE BIGGEST SOURCE OF STATE FUNDING IS SIB FUNDING STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.
UM, SO THEY'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT.
UM, THERE'S SOME OTHER FUNDING EITHER THROUGH D O T OR SOME COMPETITIVE GRANT STUFF, BUT THE BIGGEST FUND OUT THERE IS STATE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE ON 2 78 PROJECT.
UM, THEY'VE ALSO WORKED, SO THEY'VE, CHARLESTON COUNTY HAS A 25 YEAR SALES TAX, TRANSPORTATION SALES TAX.
THEY ACTUALLY, UM, WHEN THEY DID IT IN 2004, THEY WERE THE SECOND COUNTY BEHIND BEAUFORT COUNTY TO DO TRANSPORTATION.
THEY DID A HALF PENNY FOR 25 YEARS.
THEN IN 10 YEARS LATER THEY DID A COMPLETE THE PENNY.
SO THEY DID ANOTHER HALF, UH, PENNY FOR ANOTHER 25 YEARS.
SO THEY HAVE A 35 YEAR ROLLING IN PLAN.
SO THEY HAVE A LOT OF FLEXIBILITY IN THEIR SALES TAX.
SO IF THERE'S UNFORESEEN DOLLARS THAT COME DOWN FROM D O T, THEY CAN BE NIMBLE ENOUGH TO ASK FOR IT BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE MATCH AT THE LOCAL GRANT.
SO THEY USE THAT SALES TAX AS THEIR LOCAL MATCH ON MOST ANY AND ALL TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS.
I'M NOT SURE WHAT THEY DO WITH THEIR GEO BONDS AND THEIR IMPACT FEESS, BUT DEFINITELY WITH SALES TAX, THE $4 BILLION PLAN, UM, FOR 5 26, THEY WILL LEVERAGE THEIR LOCAL FUNDS, STATE D O T FUNDS AND MAKE A, PRESUMABLY A ASK TO SIB FUNDS AS WELL.
AGAIN, THAT'S A $4 BILLION BEAR THAT THEY HAVE.
UM, BUT THEY DO HAVE LARGER FUNDING SOURCES THAN WE DO.
ONE, ONE MORE QUESTION IN REGARD TO THE LOCAL ASPECT, THE IMPACT FEES.
AND I'VE, I'VE TALKED IN THE PAST WITH PAUL SOMERVILLE ABOUT THAT, AND HE'S APPARENTLY TRIED FOR YEARS TO GET THE MUNICIPALITIES AND THE COUNTIES TO WORK TOGETHER ON IMPACT FEES THAT MORE CLOSELY CORRESPOND WITH THE COSTS IMPOSED BY DEVELOPMENT.
WHAT, WHAT ARE THE OBSTACLES IN THE WAY OF GETTING IMPACT FEES THAT THAT DO IN FACT, UM, COMPENSATE FOR THE, FOR THE DEMANDS PLACED BY DEVELOPMENT? YEAH, SO IMPACT FEES ARE NEVER GONNA PAY FOR THE ENTIRE PROJECT.
BUT WHAT THEY DO, UM, THE WAY THEY'RE SET UP BY STATUTE IS THAT THEY CAN ONLY BE ASSESSED ON THE, UH, ON THE ADDITIONAL, UM, EMERGING NEEDS EMERGING.
THE DEVELOPMENT THAT COMES, THEY, THE EXISTING SYSTEM, IT CAN'T BE FUNDED TO REPAIR OR MAINTAIN THE EXISTENCE.
IT'S ONLY FOR NEW INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO, UM, IF YOU HAVE A WIDENING PROJECT, A LOT OF THAT MAY BE DUE TO THE NEW DEVELOPMENT AND THE IMPACTS, BUT THE COST OF THAT WIDENING IS GOING TO OUTPACE THE COLLECTION AMOUNT THAT YOU'RE GONNA GET FROM IMPACT.
WELL, IMPACT FEES HAVE BEEN REALLY GOOD FOR IN, IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, HOW WE'VE USED THEM IS TO GET A PROJECT STARTED, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE SOME MONEY TO START THE DESIGN AND, AND PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING.
UM, SO IT'S BEEN A REALLY GOOD SOURCE OF THAT.
UH, JASPER COUNTY I KNOW IS WORKING ON THEIR, UH, UPDATING THEIR DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES AND BEAUFORT COUNTY JUST RECENTLY UPDATED THEIRS.
THE OTHER CAVEAT ON IMPACT FEES IS IF YOU DON'T HAVE IT ON THE LIST, WHEN THE IMPACT FEE IS CREATED, THEN YOU CAN'T USE IT.
UM, SO THERE'S A LITTLE BIT OF STRINGS ATTACHED TO THAT AS FAR AS THE USES OF IMPACT FEES, BUT AT LEAST LOCALLY, BEAUFORT COUNTY'S RECENTLY UPDATED AND JASPER COUNTY I KNOW IS WORKING THROUGH THAT PROCESS.
[00:50:02]
THANK YOU.CAN YOU HEAR ME? OBVIOUSLY YOU'RE NEXT TO ME.
UM, THE, AS IT RELATES TO IMPACT FEES, WHEN YOU SAY BEAUFORT COUNTY RECENTLY UPDATED, DOES THAT MEAN ALL THE MUNICIPALITIES IN BEAUFORT COUNTY AND THE AFFECTED AREA ARE ON BOARD IN COLLECTING THAT SAME IMPACT FEE IS JASPER COUNTY AND HARDY OR THEY, I, I MEAN, I GUESS WHAT I'M STRUCK WITH IS THIS IS A GREAT PLAN.
IS IT A PLAN THAT ALL THE MUNICIPALITIES, UM, AND THE TWO COUNTY GOVERNMENTS HAVE ALL BOUGHT INTO? IS THERE A COLLECTIVE APPROACH TO SAY THE PRICE TAG FOR THIS PLAN IS X AND WE'RE GONNA DIVIDE THAT INTO, INTO BITE-SIZE, UM, PIECES THAT WE CAN TAKE A, TAKE A WHACK AT, WHETHER IT'S LIKE WE DID, UH, ABOUT 2 78 IMMEDIATE, SHORT AND LONG TERM YEP.
NEEDS, I MEAN, SOME OF THIS STUFF'S NOT NEEDED OR WILL BE A 30 YEAR AS THERE'S ALL THE BUILD OUT THAT'S GOING ON, BUT IS THAT GOING IS IS THE, THIS NOTION OF HAVING IMPACT FEES RELATIVE TO ALL OF THAT, IS THAT IN PLACE TODAY? YES.
IN, IN AGREEMENT WITH ALL THE MUNICIPALITIES AND BOTH OF THE GOVERNMENTS AND IN BEAUFORT COUNTY.
YES, IN JASPER COUNTY, THERE IS NO, UH, COUNTY IMPACT FEE TO DATE.
AND THEY'RE WORKING THROUGH THAT.
ALL THE MUNICIPALITIES HAVE AN I G A IN BEAUFORT COUNTY WITH THE COUNTY.
SO THEY, AS NEW DEVELOPMENT COMES WITHIN THE JURISDICTION, THEY'RE ASSESSING THE FEE IS A COUNTY COLLECTED FEE.
SO THEY'LL EITHER, HOWEVER THEY DO IT ADMINISTRATIVELY WILL COLLECT THAT FEE AND IT WILL GO TO BEAUFORT COUNTY TO ADMINISTER THE PROJECTS.
BUT THAT PROCESS, UM, WAS COORDINATED WITH THE MUNICIPALITY.
SO THE ROADS WITHIN THEIR JURISDICTIONS ARE INCLUDED, ARE THAT CAPITAL PROJECT LIST TO SPEND FUNDS ON.
SO THE RESPONSE, UH, OF THE COLLECTIVE ENGINEERING APPROACH, UM, AND RECOMMENDATION TO DEVELOPMENT, NOT NO, BUT YES.
AND DOES, DO ALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS ARE, ARE ALIGNED IN WHAT THE, AND IS WHAT, WHAT OUGHT TO BE REQUIRED FROM DEVELOPMENT, WHETHER IT'S WIDENING OF THE ROAD OR THE TRAFFIC IMPACT STUDIES OR THE, UH, INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS OR WHATEVER THOSE CONTRIBUTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS ARE? NO, NOT, NOT A HUNDRED PERCENT.
SO RIGHT NOW, UM, WE'RE WORKING, WE'RE GONNA BRING IT THROUGH LATS.
SO WHEN A DEVELOPMENT COMES IN AND THEY HAVE A IMPACT ON TRAFFIC, THEY HAVE TO HIRE A TRAFFIC ENGINEER, DO A STUDY THAT STUDY A LOT OF TIMES, UM, TRAFFIC IMPACT ANALYSIS, TRAFFIC IMPACT ANALYSIS, T I A.
SO WHAT THEY DO IS THEY'LL LOOK AT THEIR TRAFFIC AND THEN JUST ONE INTERSECTION UP AND DOWN FROM THEIR TRAFFIC.
WELL, THEY MIGHT INTERSECT, THEY MIGHT AFFECT TWO OR THREE TRAFFIC SIGNALS DOWN.
AND THEY'RE NOT LOOKING AT THAT BECAUSE THEY'RE REPRESENTING THEIR CONTRACT OR THEIR, UM, THEIR OWNER.
SO THE PROPOSED T I A ORDINANCE IS THAT WE HAVE A COLLECTED TWO OR THREE, UM, UM, ON-CALL CONSULTANTS.
SO WHEN, WHETHER IT'S A JASPER COUNTY OR HARVILLE OR WHOEVER DEVELOP, THEY CAN EXERCISE THAT ON-CALL LIST AND HAVE OUR LOCAL ENGINEER REVIEW IT THAT HAS THE BROADER SCOPE OF ALL THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO THEY CAN SAY, NOT ONLY ARE YOU AFFECTING THIS SIGNAL, YOU'RE AFFECTING THE NEXT THREE BECAUSE THIS DEVELOPMENT'S SO HUGE.
SO THERE'S NOT A OVERALL PLAN TO DATE THAT SAYS THIS WILL NEED TO BE EXACTLY THIS, THIS, AND THIS.
UM, THERE'S FOUR ACCESS MANAGEMENT STUDIES THAT ALS IS WORKING ON NOW.
ONE ON THE LOWER SC, UM, FOUR SC THREE 15, WHAT'S THE WORD? I'M MESSING THE 3 46, 3 15 AND ONE 70 IN THE LOWER PART OF JASPER COUNTY AND BEAUFORT COUNTY, UM, 2 78 FROM I 95 TO SEA PINES PER CIRCLE.
UM, ONE 70 FROM 46 CIRCLE TO BOUNDARY STREET AND BEAUFORT, AND THEN BLUFFTON PARKWAY ITSELF.
AND SO THAT, THOSE STUDIES ARE GOING TO BE THE GROUNDS WORK TO WHAT YOU JUST ASKED, SAID.
SO WHEN THE COMMUNITY COMES IN AND HAS A DEVELOPMENT, THEY CAN LOOK ON THAT STUDY THAT'S BEEN ADOPTED BY LATS AND THEN HOPEFULLY ALL THE MUNICIPALITIES SIGN OFF ON THOSE STUDIES AND SAY, OKAY, WELL IT SAYS YOU NEED TO DO THIS IMPROVEMENT.
AND SO THAT'LL BE ANOTHER WAY TO HOLD THE DEVELOPERS FOR, FOR WHAT IMPACT THEY HAVE ON OUR SYSTEM.
CAN YOU TELL THEM WHERE WE'RE RIGHT NOW? BECAUSE WE'RE HUNG UP ON ALL THOSE STUDIES BECAUSE THAT'S OUTSIDE OUR YEAH.
SO THIS IS A ASK TO OUR STATE DELEGATION.
SO WE ARE WORKING THROUGH TO GET THEM FUNDED THROUGH GUIDE SHARE FUNDS.
UM, AND WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THE PROCESS WITH D O T, THAT PROCESS, AND STEPHANIE CAN CONFIRM, HAS BEEN PAINSTAKINGLY SLOW.
SO EVEN THOUGH WE HAVE GOOD INTENTIONS, DEVELOPMENT'S COMING AND WE CAN'T EVEN GET THE STUDY, UM, APPROVED AT D O T BECAUSE OF THE MINUTIA, UM, THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH.
SO IF WE CAN GET THAT STUDY EXPEDITED, THAT WOULD HELP US HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE SO WHEN THE NEXT DEVELOPMENT COMES, WE CAN SAY, THIS IS WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO, MR. DEVELOPER.
BUT RIGHT NOW IT'S TIED UP IN, IN D O T, UM, TO GET THE FINAL APPROVAL TO GET THIS PLAN STARTED.
IS IT TO GET THE STUDIES APPROVED OR GET FUNDED? WELL, THE MONEY TO DO THE STUDY, YEAH.
THE MONEY'S THE MONEY, THE MONEY'S APPROVED, BUT IT'S GOTTA BE ALLOCATED IN THE TIP, UH, TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PLAN.
[00:55:01]
WE'RE WORKING THROUGH D O T STAFF TO GET THEM TO AUTHORIZE THE RELEASE OF THE MONEY THAT'S ALREADY ALLOCATED FOR THIS PART OF THE WORLD.ALRIGHT, WELL IF Y'ALL CAN SEND US A MEMO I, WE'LL, YEAH.
TRY TO HELP TAKE CARE OF THAT IN THE NEXT HANDFUL OF DAYS.
SO STEPHANIE'S BEEN WORKING THROUGH, UH, LYLE LEE, WHO'S IN THE, LYLE LEE IS THE PROJECT.
THERE'S THE STAFF LEVEL, UM, LIAISON THAT IS WORKING DIRECTLY WITH LATS, M P O AND STEPHANIE.
WELL, YOU SEND US A, A, A BRIEF MEMO.
SUSPECT WE CAN HELP COORDINATE AND TRY TO MOVE THAT FORWARD TO GET TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION.
WOULD WOULD BE HELPFUL AND WE CAN COORDINATE NEXT THEN WITH REGARD TO THE IMPACT FEES AS A COMPONENT OF THE FUNDING.
YOU REFERENCED A COUPLE OF TIMES, THE 5 26, UH, ESTIMATES $4 BILLION.
WHAT'S THE NUMBER ON THIS, THE PLAN? ON THE PLAN? UH, WE DON'T HAVE THE PLAN IS EVERYTHING THAT YEP.
WE DON'T HAVE AN OVERALL NUMBER.
I WOULD SAY IT'S A BILLION PLUS, BUT, UM, IT'S NOT 4 BILLION.
IT'S PROBABLY IN THE 1 BILLION, ONE AND A HALF BILLION, UM, OVER THE NEXT 20 YEARS.
AND I, I'M, IS THAT, ARE Y'ALL CONTINUING TO WORK THROUGH AND TRY TO IDENTIFY, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY SOME OF THESE PROJECTS ARE COUNTY ROAD PROJECTS THAT ARE NOT GONNA BE ELIGIBLE FOR SOME LEVEL OF STATE FUNDING.
I MEAN, THE MORE YOU KNOW THAT Y'ALL BEGIN TO CONTINUE THIS ACTIVITY, THE MORE THAT WE CAN BECOME ENGAGED AND START LOOKING AT WHAT WE CAN TRY TO, UM, DO TO MAKE SURE WHETHER IT'S FUNDING THE INFRASTRUCTURE BANK AND THEN GOING AND PURSUING THE FUNDS, UM, OR, UH, YOU KNOW, MONIES DIRECTLY FROM D O T.
SO WE'RE STARTING, JUST LIKE YOU MENTIONED, THE SHORT TERM MIDTERM, LONG TERM.
WE'RE DOING THAT ON EVERY PROJECT NOW.
SO JUST LIKE ONE 70, WE JUST RELEASED A CONTRACTOR TO CONTRACTOR TO SHORT TERM PROJECTS, UM, AT THE INTERCHANGE AND AT 4 62 IN ARJUN BOULEVARD.
UM, WE'RE GONNA DO THE SAME THING EVEN FOR THE TRIANGLE PROJECT.
SO THE TRIANGLE PROJECT WAS PRIORITY NUMBER ONE, UM, BUT IN TALKING WITH HARDY 2 78 IS RIGHT UP THERE.
SO NOW WE HAVE A ONE A AND A ONE B.
SO WIDENING FROM I 95 TO ONE 70 ON 2 78, THERE'S A COUPLE SPOT IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE CAN DO AHEAD OF THE BIG PROJECT WHILE IT'S GETTING, UH, APPROVED AT D O T AND DESIGN AND PERMITTED AND ALL THAT.
SO, UM, WE'RE GONNA ATTACK EVERYTHING WITH A SHORT TERM, MIDTERM LONG-TERM APPROACH.
AND, AND WESS TO YOUR QUESTION, THE, UM, STEPHANIE WHO HEADS UP, UH, SHE'S OUR LOW REPRESENTATIVE WHO HEADS UP FOR AT LATS.
UM, EACH ONE OF THESE INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS HAVE, HAVE A PRICE TAG TO IT, SO WE COULD SEND THAT TO YOU AS WELL.
THE TRIANGLE HAS A PRICE TAG, 2 78 HAS A PRICE TAG AND ALL THE THINGS ON, ON LATS THE TIP ALL HAVE A, A PRICE TAG, RIGHT.
SO, UM, THE LONG RANGE PLAN, WE CAN SEND YOU THAT TOO.
IT'S MAYBE NOT PRIORITIZED AS AS MUCH, UM, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE IT TO THE TRANSPORTATION PLAN, THE TIP UNTIL IT'S FINANCIALLY CONSTRAINED, UNTIL YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO SAY YOU CAN ACTUALLY DO THE PROJECT.
IT CAN'T MAKE IT AND THUS CAN'T GET FEDERAL FUNDING.
THE GREAT THING, THIS IS THE GREAT THING BETWEEN JASPER COUNTY SALES TAX PROGRAM AND BEAUFORT COUNTY'S TRANSPORTATION SALES TAX PROGRAM, BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN PREVIOUS, UM, REFERENDUMS, D O T AND FEDERAL HIGHWAY VIEWS, EVEN THOUGH WE DON'T HAVE THOSE REFERENDUMS IN PLACE, THEY VIEW THAT AS REASONABLE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.
SO IF WE HAVE A $200 MILLION PROJECT FOR THE TRIANGLE ON THERE, WE DON'T HAVE $200 MILLION IN THE BANK, BUT WE CAN STILL AT LEAST GET IT TO THE TABLE TO TRY TO PAIR UP FUNDS BECAUSE WE CAN SAY THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE LOCAL FUNDS THROUGH A SALES TAX.
WELL, YOU KNOW, I, I NEVER PURPORT TO SPEAK FOR THE DELEGATION, BUT WE ARE HERE TO HELP.
AND SO WHEN YOU ALL HAVE BUREAUCRATIC BUMPS IN THE ROAD WITH D O T AND RELEASING GODS SHARE, I MEAN, IT, IT'S A BIG DEAL.
A DELAY IN, IN TRYING TO GET AHEAD OF SOME OF THIS STUFF CLEARLY.
UM, WHERE WE'VE BEEN IN THE PAST TELLS US THAT REACH OUT.
I MEAN, I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE ALL HERE TO, TO TRY TO SAY THAT, THAT I, I MEAN, I APPLAUD YOU ALL'S COLLABORATION QUITE FRANKLY BECAUSE, UM, YOU KNOW, HAVING BEEN A PART OF COUNTY COUNCIL IN THE, IN THE, THE LATE NINETIES WHEN WE FIRST STARTED DOING THE THINGS THAT YOU PUT UP ON, ON THE SCREEN EARLIER, D O T DIDN'T HAVE AN IDEA THAT US 2 78 WOULD NEED ANY IMPROVEMENTS FOR 25 YEARS.
IT WASN'T ANYBODY ON ANYBODY'S RADAR SCREEN.
YEAH, WE'VE ALWAYS KIND OF BEEN OUT OF, OUT OF MINE IN COLUMBIA 'CAUSE WE'RE SO FAR AWAY DOWN HERE.
UH, WE SEE THAT EVEN WITHIN THE POWER COMPANY, IT'S JUST, WE'RE KIND OF THE REDHEADED STEPCHILD DOWN HERE.
AND SO I DON'T KNOW OF ANYTHING I CAN ADD.
UM, I, UH, I'VE BEEN HERE A LONG TIME.
UH, ALL THESE WIDENING PROJECTS JARED'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT I WAS INVOLVED WITH OVER THE YEARS, SO I'M VERY FAMILIAR WITH OUR ROADWAYS AND OUR SYSTEMS, SO I'M GLAD
[01:00:01]
TO HELP ANY WAY I CAN, BUT I, UH, MOST OF THE QUESTIONS I HAD HAVE BEEN ANSWERED WITH ALREADY ASKED.AND IF THERE'S EVER ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION THAT YOU WANT, WE, WE CAN MAKE SURE WE GET IT TO YOU, UH, AND ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE DELEGATION WHO AREN'T HERE TODAY.
SO NOW WE'RE GONNA OPEN IT UP TO THE BOARD, UM, AND WE'LL TAKE THAT AS LONG AS YOU ALL WANNA STAY.
SO, JARED, YOU KNOW, THE ONE THING I DIDN'T HEAR, ONE THING I HEARD WAS 40,000 PEOPLE.
UM, WHAT I DIDN'T HEAR WAS A, A CORRELATION BETWEEN THE A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN THE GREEN SPACE AND TRYING TO ELIMINATE SOME OF THAT 40,000 THAT WOULD HELP WITH THE TRAFFIC IMPACT.
WAS THAT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION? UM, NOT ON WHAT I PRESENTED FROM, UM, BUT IT DEFINITELY CAN BE.
UM, SO THE GREEN SPACE, I BELIEVE JUST GOT APPROVED LAST NIGHT AT COUNCIL.
UM, SO IT IS OPEN AND READY TO ACCEPT APPLICATIONS.
UM, AND SO WHETHER THAT'S A FULL PURCHASE OF PROPERTY OR A, A BUYING THE DEVELOPER RIGHTS, UM, SO APPRECIATE THE, THE SENATOR DAVIS LEADING THAT COST AND HAVING THAT.
AND SO IT IS A TOOL IN THE TOOLBOX, MUCH LIKE IMPACTS FEES OR, OR SALES TAX.
SALES TAX AND GREEN SPACE IS NOT A SHORT-TERM PLAY.
IT'S PART OF THE LONG-TERM PLAY.
SO WE STILL MAY NEED A SHORT-TERM INTERSECTION OR A LONG-TERM CORRIDOR, BUT THIS IS JUST, IT HELPS SUBSIDE.
BUT, BUT, BUT IN, IN PROTECTING AND NOT HAVING CONCRETE EVERYWHERE, YOU KNOW, HOW DOES THAT COME INTO PLAY AND HOW CAN, CAN THAT PROTECT OUR, OUR ENVIRONMENT? UM, I ALSO DIDN'T HEAR ANY MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT PARKING RIDES, UM, OR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
WE HAVE A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM RIGHT NOW WITH PALMETTO BREEZE.
THE ISSUE WITH OUR TRANSPORTATION IS WE DO NOT HAVE DENSITY.
AND TO MAKE TRANSPORTATION PUBLIC TRANSIT REALLY WORK, YOU NEED TO HAVE SOMEBODY THAT DOESN'T HAVE THE DESIRE OR THE NEED TO HAVE VEHICLE.
SO THEY HAVE TO BE IN CLOSE ENOUGH QUARTERS WHERE THEY CAN WALK TO EVERYTHING THEY NEED TO, WHETHER IT'S GROCERIES OR JOB OR WHATEVER, AND THEN THEY CAN GET TO THE BUS STOP AND RIDE IT.
RIGHT NOW, WE DON'T HAVE THAT DENSITY.
SO AS CHARLESTON COUNTY, WHAT THEY'RE DOING RIGHT NOW IS THEY'RE DOING A BUS RAPID TRANSIT, 1.2 OR $3 BILLION PROJECT.
SO IT'S FROM SOMERVILLE ALL THE WAY TO DOWNTOWN.
UM, CHARLESTON, THE GREAT THING IS THEY'RE, THEY'VE GOT THE NEED FOR IT.
THE BAD THING IS THEY DIDN'T PLAN IT 20 YEARS AGO.
SO WHERE WE ARE, WE'RE AT THE OPPORTUNITY WHERE WE'RE NOT BEYOND OUR NEEDS FOR PUBLIC TRANSIT, SO WE CAN PLAN IT AND HAVE IT READY, BUT IT MAY NOT ACTUALLY BE FULL SERVICE UNTIL WE GET MORE DENSITY DENSIFIED AREAS.
AND LASTLY, I'LL SAY, I WAS UP IN CHARLESTON THIS PAST WEEKEND AND IT WAS A NIGHTMARE TO DRIVE AROUND CHARLESTON, BUT ONCE WE HIT MOUNT PLEASANT AND WE HIT THE INTEGRATED LIGHTS, IT WAS A GAME CHANGER.
AND WE'LL, HOPEFULLY OURS WILL BE UP AND RUNNING BEFORE THE END OF NOVEMBER.
UM, BUT THAT REALLY DOES MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE.
ON THE BROAD RIVER BRIDGE, YOU SAID THERE'S, COULD BE NO MORE IMPROVEMENT NEEDED FOR THAT.
UH, WHAT'S THE LIFESPAN OF THE BRIDGE? D O T TYPICALLY DESIGNS ON A 75 YEAR LIFESPAN.
OKAY, SO THAT ONE'S DONE ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO, SO THERE'S STILL SUFFICIENT LIFESPAN IN THE BRIDGE.
ANYONE ELSE? OKAY, UH, IN KEEPING WITH OUR TRADITION OF SO LOKO AND OF ONE HOUR, WE, WE HAVE HIT THAT.
SO, UM, IF THERE, I'M, I'M NOT OPENING IT UP TO THE PUBLIC, BUT IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS, UM, CERTAINLY YOU CAN EMAIL ME, TELL ME AFTERWARDS, AND, UH, WE'LL GET YOU SOME ANSWERS.
UM, JARED, ONCE AGAIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE PRESENTATION, GENTLEMEN, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
UH, HOPEFULLY IT WAS INFORMATIVE.
UH, WE'RE TRYING TO LOOK AHEAD AND, AND SEE WHAT WE NEED THAT OBVIOUSLY IT'S NOT A, A MEETING TODAY FOR SOLUTIONS.
IT'S A MEETING FOR LOOKING AHEAD AND, AND UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE DO NEED TO SOLVE.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR, FOR JOINING US TODAY.
THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR COMING.