Jasper port panel meeting on Hilton Head in apparent violation of state law

The bi-state entity charged with developing a port for Georgia and South Carolina to share in Jasper County began a closed, two-day strategic workshop with planners and legal advisors Wednesday on Hilton Head Island.

A one-paragraph public notice of the workshop said the board of the Jasper Ocean Terminal Joint Project Office is meeting in executive session to discuss competitive, contractual and legal matters.

The notice did not specify what those matters are, and no agenda was provided.

The meeting is being held at 2 Grasslawn Ave., the address of the Westin Resort.

Chairman Bill Bethea of Bluffton said the group met primarily for two reasons -- to discuss contracts related to Moffat & Nichol, a consultant managing the development of the proposed port; and to get legal advice related to the drafting of an interstate compact that would specify how the proposed port would operate.

The compact is the main focus of the meeting, Bethea said. The group must deliver a draft compact to both state's legislatures by January, and Bethea hopes to have one by next week, he said.

Jay Bender, an attorney for the South Carolina Press Association, said it appears the meeting violated South Carolina's Freedom of Information Act because:

• No meeting time or agenda were provided in advance. The act mandates in part: "All public bodies shall notify persons or organizations, local news media, or such other news media as may request notification of the times, dates, places, and agenda of all public meetings."

"They've violated an important aspect of the law from the get-go," Bender said.

• The notice did not specify why the meeting needs to be closed.

The act states specific purposes shall be announced before a closed session begins.

"What they have said in that notice does not constitute a legitimate reason to go into executive session," Bender said.

Bethea admitted the notice was not as specific or timely as it should have been.

He said he let the administrative responsibilities of his chairmanship lapse because he was focused on the complex matter of the compact and expected the discussion to be "tedious."

He apologized and pledged to provide more advance notice of meeting times and agendas with more specific reasons for closed sessions in the future.

"I'll not make that mistake again," he said. "I consider myself admonished."