Beaufort County Council's Finance Committee will discuss funding for two incomplete sections of Bluffton Parkway, including the estimated $45 million flyover project, this afternoon.
The committee also is expected to discuss funding methods for the proposal to create a new, straighter parkway section between Buck Island Road and Buckwalter Parkway. This project is known as Phase 5B.
"The combination of the two projects is about $70 million. I just want to make sure everybody understands what is funded and what is not funded," Councilman Stu Rodman, who chairs the committee, said Monday morning.
County finance officials believe they have enough money to build the flyover bridges, which will connect the parkway with U.S. 278 near the bridge to Hilton Head Island. It's not clear, however, where money for the Phase 5B project would come from.
The committee also is expected to endorse several county purchasing contracts and discuss a proposal allowing the Bluffton Township Fire District to participate in the South Carolina Deferred Compensation retirement program.
The committee also will consider a proposal to refinance up to $40 million in existing long-term bonds that have interest rates ranging from 3.5 percent to 8 percent, according to county documents.
The projected interest rates for the new bonds, which would be used to pay back that existing debt, is estimated at three-tenths of a percent and 2.33 percent. The proposal is expected to save the county about $1.5 million over a decade.
The committee meets at 2. p.m. at the Beaufort County Administration Building, on Ribaut Road in Beaufort. The road funding discussion is planned for 3 p.m.
For more, check back with The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette later today, and rollow reporter Casey Conley at twitter.com/IPBG_Casey.
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