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Since May 2005 • Volume 20 • Issue 4 • IslandEyeNews.com
IOP Council considers City Hall upgrades By Brian Sherman For The Island Eye News The Isle of Palms Council recently got a look at what it might cost to replace or renovate the current City Hall building, and the estimated price tag ranges from just over $3.6 million, all the way up to $14.5 million, depending on which of the options city officials eventually choose. After a presentation by representatives of Trident Construction Company (Continued on page 8)
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Sullivan’s, CWS reach agreement on water service
Photo by Bennett Coleman.
The Law Enforcement Neighborhood Support Annual Banquet was held May 15 at the Citadel Beach Club. Left to right: Explore Charleston CEO Helen Hill; former Isle of Palms Mayor Dick Cronin; Mark Mitchell; Linda Mitchell; and Kathy Bustos. More photos on page 17.
Burying Sullivan’s Island electric lines could carry a hefty price tag By Brian Sherman For The Island Eye News A plan to bury almost 16 miles of overhead electrical lines on Sullivan’s Island might cost in the neighborhood of $60 million and could face a few difficult hurdles before work on such a project would be able to get underway. Dominion Energy spokesperson Paul Fischer said May 23 that the $60 million figure was a “ballpark” number based on similar projects the power company has completed, two days after a presentation by two Dominion representatives – Bill Turner, general manager, electric distribution operations, and Danny Kassis, general manager, new business and customer solutions – at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Sullivan’s Island Town Council. The plan to at least look into the possibility of burying the remaining 15.91 miles of overhead lines – 7.42 miles were buried in 2006 and 2012 – was placed on the Council’s list of priorities as a result of the controversy surrounding the cutting of a large number of trees and the planned removal of more than 500 palmettos that Dominion said were interfering with its lines. Fischer pointed out that a major challenge the town
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might face if the Council moves ahead with plans to bury the lines is obtaining easements from property owners to do the necessary work. “There still would be pieces of equipment above ground. We would need easements from all property owners, and that can be a challenge. Sometimes acquisition of easements can delay projects for years,” he said, noting that, in one case, the placement of one piece of equipment was negotiated for more than a decade. Fischer said it’s now up to the Council to take the next step in the process by defining the scope of the project and its priorities. Will all 15.91 miles be buried or only smaller sections, and will the work be completed all at once or in stages? Answering these and other questions will determine how long the project will take and how much an engineering study will cost – and how close to that $60 million estimate the actual price tag will be. When the lines were buried on the east and west ends of the island, the work was paid for by South Carolina Electric & Gas, which merged with Dominion in 2019. “To ensure continued safe and reliable operation of our system, portions of Sullivan’s Island were converted to underground. This engineering (Continued on page 10)
Extreme weather on the way Page 5
Trapping coyotes is the best option Page 7
By Brian Sherman For The Island Eye News The Charleston Water System apparently won’t be shutting off the faucets on Sullivan’s Island after all. The municipality’s Town Council has taken a significant step toward resolving what could have been a major issue with the entity that has been supplying its water for the past three decades, unanimously authorizing Mayor Pat O’Neil to execute a memorandum of settlement with CWS. “This is the result of many, many, many hours of work by a lot of people in mediation, so I’m glad to see us get to a point of potential resolution,” said O’Neil, after the Council discussed the matter for nearly an hour in executive session at the end of its regularly scheduled May 21 meeting.(Continued on page 5)
IOP will test new noise law for six months By Brian Sherman For The Island Eye News After more than two-anda-half years of discussing and dissecting the pros and cons of revamping Isle of Palms’ noise ordinance and with input from the city’s Planning Commission, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee and local residents, the Council has finally come up with a plan that will be embraced by the hospitality community inside and outside the gates of Wild Dunes, (Continued on page 6)
A taste of Sullivan’s Island Page 11