Vote on Port of Port Royal sale again stalled by governor

The S.C. Budget and Control Board's vote on a $16.75 million contract for the Port of Port Royal -- originally scheduled earlier this month -- likely won't come until at least August, officials said Wednesday.

The board was scheduled to consider it June 15, but that meeting was pushed back to June 17 and then delayed again until Wednesday.

Gov. Mark Sanford, who sits on the five-member board, asked that the item not be included on the group's Wednesday meeting agenda, according to Delbert Singleton, the board's secretary. None of the board's members objected, Singleton said.

Sanford has expressed concerns that the prospective buyers did not include a 10-acre waterfront park in their preliminary development plans for the 51-acre, state-owned property.

Sanford also has said he worries the contract's split of the sale into two, $8.375-million phases -- the first for property along deep water, and the second for marsh-front and interior land -- gives the buyer an option to back away from the second phase after completing the first, leaving the state holding the remaining property.

The board must approve the sale before negotiations among the unnamed prospective buyer from Charleston, S.C. State Ports Authority and town can move forward.

Town officials have said they worry lengthy delays might frustrate the buyer and jeopardize the sale.

The next board meeting is scheduled for Aug. 10, Singleton said.