Federal money was budgeted to pave Hilton Head roads. Here’s how it may be used instead
For the second time this year the Town of Hilton Head Island is planning to redirect money that was supposed to be used to pave dirt roads. In the latest case, the federal money is slated to be spent instead on a playground and a pavilion miles away.
Rather than using around $300,000 from a 2018 grant to pave a 0.3-mile section of Murray Avenue — a dirt road on the island’s north end — town staff is proposing to spend the money on a shade pavilion at the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island and a playground off Marshland Road, according to a town announcement.
The projects will be paid for with a community development block grant issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Such grants target low- to moderate-income areas through a five-year plan, according to the HUD website.
Although the funds may be split among various projects, the HUD grant must benefit people on Hilton Head Island who earn low- to moderate incomes. If the new proposal passes, the playground and pavilion may benefit more people than the road paving project.
Supporters of the Boys & Girls Club filled a town council meeting earlier this year to request money from the grant. The club serves about 750 children each year, and the outdoor pavilion could provide services for 50 more each day, according to a presentation by Randy Brooks, attorney and researcher for the club.
Brooks said about 40% of the kids at the club come from single-parent homes.
To change how the town will spend the money, town staff must submit an official amendment to the plan, which has already happened once this year. In February, town leaders voted to pay for a playground at the Island Recreation Center instead of paving Cobia Court, another dirt road on the north end.
Engineering staff told The Island Packet that the Cobia Court paving project was not ready because staff had trouble getting residents on the street to sign onto the project.
Senior grants administrator Marcy Benson said a similar issue arose with the Murray Avenue project.
‘Knock on our doors and ask us’
Locals don’t necessarily agree that they’ve been part of the process.
Tracy Mitchell, who lives at the end of the road with four generations of her family, said she’s never heard of the plan for paving, much less attempts to defund it.
On Friday, she said she was unaware of any attempts by the town to reach her or her father, who owns the property.
“I’d rather pave the road than replace my tires every year,” she said. “If you want to know how we really feel, knock on our doors and ask us. We’re here.”
Mitchell said she thinks both projects are worthy of funding, and that her granddaughter goes to the Boys & Girls Club, but, “I feel a little bit uneasy about grant money being used for something other than it was allocated for.”
Mitchell acknowledged the difficulty of getting right-of-way agreements for heirs’ properties, which are often owned by several members of a family without a written title.
“I really wish the town would consider the historic neighborhoods,” she said. “A lot of times the Gullah- Geechee community in this area on Hilton Head has been left behind in modernization.”
Marc Grant, who represents many native island neighborhoods on the Hilton Head Island Town Council, said he supports the new direction for the funds because not all residents want to give the town the right-of-way on their property to widen the road.
“We’re taking away people’s land to do the road,” he said. “We have to come up with something to fit the community.”
He suggested making paved roads more like the single-lane dirt roads that already exist in places like Murray Avenue.
Mitchell said she agrees.
“We’re not asking for a two-lane road,” she said. “Rarely do we have two cars trying to go on the road at the same time. It’s not feasible once you get past a certain point on Murray because there’s a tree there.”
What’s next?
Interested citizens can attend a public hearing on the plan’s changes at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at Town Hall on Hilton Head. Benson said the council is scheduled to vote on the amendment Nov. 5.
This story was originally published September 1, 2019 at 2:00 AM.
