Initiative will collect data along with litter
Initiative will collect data along with litter
It’s in the pluff mud. In the ocean. In the stomachs of sea turtles and aligators. In the bodies of humans. Plastic is everywhere. A three year project underway in Murrells Inlet wants to identify exactly where the plastic is and where it came from. The goal is to reduce the amount that ends up […]
Plan to upgrade boat landing brings call for more dock space
Georgetown County’s plans for a $1.5 million renovation of the Murrells Inlet Public Landing to go along with the realignment of the access road were stopped dead in the water by state lawmakers who say the landing’s biggest need is more dock space. “It’s horrible down there in the summertime. There are fist fights,” state […]
Elliott says work will continue to cut density
Once the goals of Georgetown County’s newly-adopted future land use plan are implemented through an updated zoning code, the future residential density in the Murrells Inlet area will be cut in half, County Council Member Clint Elliott told constituents at a drop-in event. “The problem with Murrells Inlet, the whole Waccamaw Neck, is it was […]
Scientists highlight impact of pet waste on shellfishing
Nearly a third of the shellfish beds in the state’s seafood capital are closed to harvesting because of high levels of bacteria in Murrells Inlet. Many residents say that is the result of development that has increased stormwater runoff. A researcher says it’s poop. “Most of the bacteria coming into the estuary is coming from […]
Inlet charter captains seek a little extra space
A group of Murrells Inlet charter boat captains says Georgetown County’s plan to allow limited commercial activity at its boat landings comes up short. For John Sconyers, that’s 4 feet short. “It’s the length issue for us,” he told County Council last week. The council deferred final reading on an amendment to its boat landing […]
Board denies approval to cut oak for townhouse project
Members of the county’s Board of Zoning Appeals last week denied a request to remove a water oak to allow two additional townhouses to be built in the Majestic Oaks development in Murrells Inlet. There are already three clusters of townhouses on the property – and fourth about to be completed – and the request […]
Fire district sees cut in water rescue funds as result of tax increase
The Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District’s plan to expand its Marine Safety Initiative next summer is now on hold after Georgetown County cut its accommodation tax grant. “That is something that is directly tourist driven [and] difficult for us to offset through any type of tax revenue or impact fee. That’s why A-tax funding is […]
Federal channel is just the start for dredging projects
A pair of dredges was expected to arrive in Murrells Inlet this week to start work in the federal channel, the first of three proposed projects to improve navigation through the estuary. Dredging in the federal channel was last done by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2017. The current project received funding from the […]
Water rescue team essential in community surrounded by water
Two visitors to the Waccamaw Neck’s beaches lost their lives in June trying to help swimmers in distress. Unfortunately, it’s something firefighters see all the time. “If you’re not trained to perform the rescue don’t try to do the rescue because there’s a higher probability and a chance you will become an additional victim,” Capt. […]
City’s tour boat crackdown leads to tickets at county landing
A complaint by the city of Georgetown against a tour boat operator has sent ripples across public boat landings in the county. Deputies have started ticketing commercial fishing guides at the Murrells Inlet boat landing, and commercial activities at other landings could also face citations, Sheriff Carter Weaver said. “You had charter boats that were […]
Voters favor fire tax increase by 4 to 1 margin in light turnout
Voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to increase property taxes from 14 to 28 mills for the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District this week. The vote was 2,102 for and 455 against. Turnout among the 8,579 Georgetown County voters and 19,294 Horry County voters in the district was 9 percent. A mill of property tax equals […]
Voters will decide fire district tax increase
Voters in Murrells Inlet go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to raise property taxes for fire and emergency medical services. The Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District board voted earlier this year to seek voter approval to raise the tax rate in the special-purpose district from 14 to 28 mills. It plans to add […]
Campaign for fire tax increase sees no opposition ahead of July vote
Voters in Murrells Inlet will go to the polls July 25 to decide whether to raise property taxes for fire and rescue services. The referendum comes four years after voters rejected a similar measure. “I haven’t detected anyone who is opposed. Hopefully, it will stay that way,” said Tom Swatzel, a political consultant and former […]
Inlet fire district seeks phased-in tax increase from voters
Voters will be asked in July to double the tax rate for the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District over the next five years. The district board, which voted earlier this month to hold a referendum, this week decided to ask for an increase from 14 to 28 mills that will be phased in. The board […]
Fire district board awaits audit to set amount for tax increase
A referendum will be called this summer to raise the property tax cap for the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District. But after agreeing last week to bring the issue to a vote, the district’s board decided to wait until it receives its 2022 financial audit before deciding how much of an increase it will seek. […]
Fire district taxes must double to hit study’s staffing level
The property tax rate will need to double for the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District to meet the staffing levels recommended in a consultant’s report. Raising the rate by 50 percent will allow the district to raise pay to boost hiring and retention of current employees, but won’t allow the district to keep up with […]
Critics of failed fire tax vote waiting to see new numbers
A consultant’s report lays out a case for the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District seeking voter approval to raise property taxes. The report that Tom Swatzel is waiting for is the district’s annual financial audit. “I think that’s critical,” he said. Swatzel started the Friends of the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District in 2014 to […]
Fire district makes plans for vote on tax increase
One of the three ambulances that serves the Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District stopped running just before the weekend. The problem wasn’t the vehicle. The district didn’t have enough people to staff it. More than 200 times a year, the district doesn’t have an ambulance available due to its call volume and the number of […]
Weather held off, folks still got wet
Mother Nature rained on the Murrells Inlet Boat Parade on Monday, but not enough to dampen the enthusiasm of participants and spectators. “The parade went great. The participation numbers were higher than what I thought we would have, considering the forecast,” said Lee Hewitt, who co-chairs the parade committee. “The boats were loaded with kids […]
State budget includes funds to restore bike path parking
A “no parking” zone along the Bike the Neck route in Murrells Inlet will be replaced with 13 parking spaces using funds included in this year’s state budget. The parking area on the west side of Business 17 across from a wooden bridge over the marsh was a popular spot for people who wanted to […]
Corps will repeat 2017 dredging project with infrastructure funds
A $6.1 million allocation of infrastructure funds will allow the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the federal channel at Murrells Inlet and place sand on the beach, a project last done in 2017 and funded by Georgetown County’s capital projects sales tax. No timetable has been set for the work. “We anticipate basically repeating […]
Initiative will collect data along with estuary’s litter
On a Sunday morning in November, Sandra Bundy spent half an hour picking up trash along the Marshwalk. She collected five plastic bottles (including Hunt’s Ketchup), seven aluminum beer cans (all different brands), a plastic shopping bag and four pieces of styrofoam. It was one of nine cleanups that Bundy documented with a citizen science […]
Students assess need for sustainable growth
More data is needed to assess the threats to Murrells Inlet, and more cooperation among residents is needed to help mitigate those threats, according to a study by students at Coastal Carolina University. The findings were the result of a project by the first class in the university’s new major in sustainability and coastal resilience. […]
New director will guide community group’s return to normalcy
As the new executive director of Murrells Inlet 2020, Stacy Johnson is getting to meet a lot of visitors to the area. The nonprofit’s office on Highway 17 Business has become a kind of visitors center. “People come in and ask for hotel recommendations, or what’s the best restaurant on the Marsh Walk,” Johnson said. […]
Dredge study looks at disposal sites offshore
Dredging is needed to remove about 750,000 cubic yards of material from creeks in Murrells Inlet to make its waterways navigable, according to engineers hired by Georgetown County to complete a master plan for the work. But before that can be done, the engineers say, the county has to find a suitable place offshore to […]
A day for the inlet, a year in the making
After skipping the annual community cleanup during the pandemic year, there was plenty of trash for volunteers to collect at this year’s Spring Tide. Yet they also found time to focus on what was lost as well as what was found. The names of a dozen volunteers and supporters who died over the past year […]
Award will honor June Jordan, 82, artist who was a steward of the inlet
When June Jordan, 82, passed from this world at a local hospital on the morning of April 7 after a protracted battle with cancer, the community of Murrells Inlet lost one of its brightest flowers and most ardent – though mostly unsung – supporters and environmental advocates. She was to be honored with the Murrells […]
Residents see possibilities in land the county doesn’t want
Hickory, poplar and pine trees rise overhead. Empty beer bottles, old tires and chunks of concrete are underfoot. But whichever way you look, the 13 acres in Murrells Inlet belong to the public. Area residents want the property to stay that way, and last week convinced Georgetown County Council not to declare the tract as […]
Deal finds $638K in bike path funding
An extension of the I2I bike route in Murrells Inlet is getting top priority for federal funds as part of a compromise among the officials who allocate money for regional transportation projects. The Inlet to Intracoastal project sponsored by Murrells Inlet 2020 will get $638,000 over two years if its application receives approval next month […]
Pandemic could scuttle July 4 boat parade
The theme is “Independence Day the Inlet Way.” There is a logo ready to be printed on posters and T-shirts. But the fate of the Murrells Inlet Fourth of July Boat Parade remains uncertain. “I have applied to DNR with my permit. At this time, they are not issuing permits because of the governor’s order,” […]
Fire chief stepping down after 40-year career
Responding to his first structure fire as a rookie firefighter in 1979, Norman Knight was so nervous that his leg was shaking and banging on the steering wheel of the fire truck. When he arrived at the scene and tried to walk, he thought he had broken his kneecap. Forty years later the adrenaline of […]
Garden on small lot blooms with 20 years of work and love
To hear Cathy Smith talk, you would think her interest in gardening grew out of nowhere – just like a bad weed. “I really have no idea where my interest in gardening came from,” Smith said as she strolled through the yard of her 60-foot-wide lot near the waterfront in Murrells Inlet. That’s not quite the […]
Lawmakers and board still at odds over fire tax increase
Voters in Murrells Inlet and Garden City will go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether they and their neighbors should pay more for fire and EMS services. The Murrells Inlet-Garden City Fire District wants to increase its property tax rate from 14 to 19 mills starting this year. A mill is equal to $1 […]
New magistrate started work busing tables at Oliver’s Lodge
Kin McKenzie moved to Murrells Inlet about 10 years ago, but he grew up spending summers on the creek where his father built a house in 1960. “I’ve been coming here all my life,” he said. “I bused tables summers at Oliver’s Lodge.” He sat up late talking with Roosevelt Pickett, the creekman who worked […]
County study won’t arrive before newest restaurant
A proposed study of parking along the Murrells Inlet waterfront will have to wait until Georgetown County planners complete an update of the future land-use plan, or even longer if the county decides to outsource the work. Such studies “are a little more complicated than I thought,” Boyd Johnson, the county planning director said. Earlier […]
Rising costs keep I2I project 1,400 feet short of destination
The first phase of the Inlet to Intracoastal path through Murrells Inlet will stop 1,400 feet and about $114,000 short of its goal. The project, known as I2I, is a partnership between the Murrells Inlet 2020 revitalization group, Tidelands Health and Georgetown County. The first phase was due to run from Business 17 west on […]
Land swap prompts work on new design for boat landing
State engineers are working on a plan to reconfigure the parking lot and driveway at the Murrells Inlet Boat Landing to allow Belin Methodist Church to consolidate property to expand its facilities. “We’re hoping to make it better,” Andy Wicker, chief engineer for the state Department of Natural Resources, said. “It will never be perfect.” […]
Tweak in landscape rule brings call for parking study
An effort by restaurant owners to squeeze a few more parking spaces out of land along the creek at Murrells Inlet led the Georgetown County Planning Commission last week to call for a study of parking in the area. Although the amount of seating for restaurants is tied to the parking they provide, no study […]
Plan will tear down a bar and put up a parking lot
A plan to replace a bar in Murrells Inlet with a parking lot hinges on a request by the property owner to change the way Georgetown County requires parking lots to be landscaped. It may also lead to a review of how much parking is available in the restaurant district along the waterfront. Sandeep Patel, […]
Troubled intersection still four years away from fix
The backups on Bypass 17 caused by traffic trying to turn onto Tournament Boulevard have reached Pawleys Island, at least by word of mouth. “I have people tell me all the time how bad it is,” Pawleys Island Mayor Jimmy Braswell said. He joined the chorus of officials who pressed the state Department of Transportation […]
Restaurant seeks variance to variance for deck
A Murrells Inlet restaurant owner will get another chance to change the conditions on a variance that was issued 11 years ago after three hearings by Georgetown County. The owner of the former Capt. Dave’s Dockside wants to be able to build a deck between the restaurant and the Marsh Walk in an area that […]
Council approves new Marlin Quay plan as lawsuit heads to Appeals Court
Plans for a new marina store and restaurant at Marlin Quay received final approval from Georgetown County Council this week. But the project continues to move through the courts with the marina owner seeking to overturn a Circuit Court ruling that limits the footprint of the new building. The original building was torn down in […]
Fear of storm debris raises objections to fence
Fears that portions of a proposed fence at a home on Murrells Inlet would become storm debris prompted neighbors to oppose the owner’s request to allow a structure 2 feet higher than the county allows. Members of the Georgetown County Board of Zoning Appeals last week denied the request from Terry and Sarah Burdick to […]
LOCAL EVENTS
Meetings
Georgetown County Board of Education: First and third Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Beck Education Center. For details, go to gcsd.k12.sc.us. Georgetown County Council: Second and fourth Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, 129 Screven St., Georgetown. For details, go to georgetowncountysc.org. Pawleys Island Town Council: Second Mondays, 5 p.m. Town Hall, 323 Myrtle Ave. For details, go to townofpawleysisland.com. , .
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