Hilton Head mayor changes course: Town will televise council’s public workshop in Beaufort
The Hilton Head Island Town Council will record and post its end-of-the-year public workshop after scrutiny from residents, Mayor John McCann announced Tuesday evening.
A televised feed of the Dec. 5-7 workshop may be some constituents’ only chance to see the discussions that shape the upcoming year for the council. McCann moved the workshop 41 miles away from Town Hall to the Best Western Sea Island Inn on Bay Street in Beaufort.
“I wanted to let you know its being televised, which is the most important thing,” McCann said at the standing-room only town council meeting.
The Island Packet first reported the change in venue Oct. 22. For the past three years, the workshop has been held on Hilton Head, and dozens of community members have attended. McCann said he was moving the workshop back to Beaufort to put the focus on fostering relationships among the council members.
McCann appeared to hold that line Tuesday, when he reminded the public there will be “no interaction between the community and the council,” and that the workshop “is for the council.”
The City of Beaufort, by comparison, holds its retreats 9 miles away at the St. Helena Library conference room. The Port Royal town council meets for its retreat in its regular council chambers. In recent years, the Town of Bluffton has held its workshop at the Rotary Community Center and Oscar Frazier Park, both in Bluffton.
Although the council does not take any formal votes at the workshop, the discussions there often direct the following year’s policy priorities. In the past, leaders have made bold statements on beach parking, workforce housing, and one-time tourists whom they called “day-trippers.”
Costs of moving back to Beaufort
This year’s three-day workshop is also likely to be more expensive, The Island Packet has reported.
The Best Western in Beaufort hosted the council from 2011 to 2015. Prior to that, the workshop was held at Honey Horn on Hilton Head, according to town meeting minutes.
When the workshop was held at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa in 2016, the town spent $20,319, according to finance director John Troyer. That was nearly $5,000 under budget.
This year, the town has budgeted $45,000 for the meeting in Beaufort. When the workshop was last held there in 2015, it had a $40,000 budget and actually cost $500 more than that.
Council members will be reimbursed for their mileage to Beaufort, and members and their spouses have been invited to stay overnight on Thursday and Friday on the town’s dime.
Rooms have been reserved across the street from the Best Western, at the Rhett House Inn bed and breakfast, which costs between $177 and $245 per night, according to the inn’s website.
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The Best Western costs about $148 per night for the weekend of the workshop.
McCann said hosting the council at the hotel “keeps the council together for two and a half days,” which he said is a benefit.
He said people will still drive to Beaufort for the workshop.
