Daufuskie residents to revamp island council, elect new members

Daufuskie Island residents and property owners will elect a nine-member council in February to serve as a liaison between local, state and federal governments, residents said Monday.

The Daufuskie Island Council will not have the powers of a government, but it should enable people with an interest in the isolated, sparsely developed 5,000-acre island to express their opinions on issues such as sewer and ferry service and road maintenance, election organizer Aaron Crosby said.

"This organization can then make decisions and represent those decisions as being the voice of the island," said Crosby, who is considering running for a council seat. "What we can do is address these issues internally and then go to Beaufort County."

Daufuskie is south of Hilton Head Island, accessible only by boat and home to about 600 full- and part-time residents. Including property owners, about 1,500 people will be eligible to vote, Crosby said.

The new council will replace the Daufuskie Island Community Leadership Council, a nonprofit group formed about four years ago that includes appointed representatives from dozens of Daufuskie organizations, president Chuck Henry said.

Henry said he supports the election, scheduled for Feb. 13, because participation in his group has dwindled. Any member of the new council who does not attend at least 75 percent of the meetings will be dismissed.

"What we're doing now is trying to invigorate it," said Henry, who has not decided if he will run for a seat on the new council. "We need to do a better job of speaking with one voice."

Interest in revamping the current council coincided with a county planning department effort to create a new comprehensive plan for the island. That plan calls in part for an organization of people with interests in the island to advise the county on Daufuskie-related matters ranging from economic development to preservation, county planner Brian Herrmann said.

"I think they're dying to do that," Herrmann said.