After years of cold shoulder, Daufuskie Island getting its due from county, residents say

Daufuskie Island has abandoned its plans to incorporate as a municipality because residents say they are finally getting the attention they deserve from Beaufort County officials, island leaders said this week.

Daufuskie's about 400 residents have long felt neglected and spurned by county government. But they say they have a renewed sense of optimism after a first-of-its-kind trip this week in which more than a dozen top county administrative officials, two state legislators and nine of the 11 County Council members spent an entire day touring the bridge-less island just southwest of Hilton Head.

Never before have so many county and elected officials visited Daufuskie at one time, and island leaders hope that seeing firsthand the problems that have dogged the island for years -- even decades -- will mean they finally get the attention they need.

"It's absolutely a tipping point," said Chuck Hunter, a member of the Daufuskie Island Council, a group of Daufuskie community leaders.

"There are, in many cases, people who feel resentment toward our county government about neglect with our county taxes or that they haven't done their part," Hunter said. "Now (with this visit), they've shown they're going to embrace us and work with us on this. I think it's fantastic they're here ... and I'd like to have a very positive process going forward."

The council itself is a response to the sense of county neglect.

Over the past 12 to 18 months, it regrouped to give Daufuskie's residents a stronger and unified voice on long-standing island issues such as trash disposal, expanded ferry services and beach erosion, said Hunter and council member Charlie Small. The council holds regular public meetings and town halls, and has created a communication network for residents through The Daufuskie Front Porch email newsletter and council website. It has also surveyed residents on their top concerns.

The council's frustrations with the county's lack of work on the island culminated earlier this year, when leaders suggested Daufuskie Island consider incorporating as a town to take back control -- an idea the group has since abandoned.

But all that clamor has finally gotten leaders' full attention, said County Councilman Tabor Vaux, state Rep. Jeff Bradley and state Sen. Tom Davis, all Republicans whose districts include the island.

"I think this (visit) was critical for the island," Vaux said. "As far as anyone can remember, this kind of thing has never happened before. But now everyone can see it, they actually know who and what we're talking about when we're dealing with Daufuskie issues."

"Coming out here really makes a difference," Davis added. "Conceptual is one thing, but experience is another. If it becomes real for you in that way; it becomes a more important part of your policy."

Now the county and Bradley have secured a 12-month extension on a state grant to improve Daufuskie's public park, a project that's been 20 years in the making, residents say.

Davis is working to get the attention of U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford to push for changes to a federal designation that prevents the island's ability to renourish its eroding and ailing beaches.

And county administrators are working with the island council to improve public restroom facilities on Daufuskie beaches and boat landings and to rethink the island's public waste center. Often the subject of Daufuskie complains, the waste center is plagued with illegal dumping and garbage often piles up outside the dumpsters to the point that County Public Works Director Eddie Bellamy has called it an embarrassment.

"This is huge. I think things are really going to start changing," said Aaron Crosby, the new and energetic pastor at the First Union African Baptist Church, the only active congregation on the island. "That critical mass has been reached."

After a full tour of the island on Tuesday, more than 75 residents came out to meet and talk with the county and state leaders at a town hall meeting.

The tenor of the residents comments was not one of resentment, though. Instead, several islanders and group leaders expressed their gratitude and stressed hosting more workshops to address critical ferry and trash concerns.

"We're not going to sit down. We're gonna have to keep pushing, and I hope we do," said James Curtis Hudson, a Daufuskie property owner whose grandfather was a freed slave who settled on the island. "They haven't been paying much attention, because if they were, we'd be much further along than we are now. Maybe this sparks them to pay some attention. I hope it does."

Follow reporter Zach Murdock on Twitter at twitter.com/IPBG_Zach and on Facebook at facebook.com/IPBGZach.

Related content:

• Daufuskie Island residents to be surveyed on incorporation, other priorities, March 27, 2015
• 'Town of Daufuskie Island'? Residents should at least consider it, leaders say, Jan. 6, 2015
• Daufuskie Island makes 'most stressed' list, but residents beg to differ, Nov. 28, 2014
• Daufuskie water utility stuck trying to reclaim its own land, equipment, Sept. 12, 2014

This story was originally published September 17, 2015 at 9:19 PM with the headline "After years of cold shoulder, Daufuskie Island getting its due from county, residents say."