Why not charge per use instead of an annual fee for the Beaufort County trash dump?
Trash dump fees
As soon as I heard decals would be required to use the trash dumps, I knew fees would be next. It would seem to be more fair, if they are going to charge fees, to charge you each time you use the dump instead of one fee for the year. Some people may use it one time a year while others may use it 50 times a year. Then, there will be those who dump their trash illegally at other locations so they can avoid the fee altogether. Are we to believe that our property taxes will go down if we are not paying the solid waste fee anymore?
Wayne Wicker, Beaufort
Beaufort development
As a 25-year resident of Mt. Pleasant who relocated to Beaufort to escape the out-of-control development, I beseech you all to research and pay attention to what killed quality of life in Mt. Pleasant. Please learn from their dismal failure to keep the features that brought so many there in the first place. Ask Mayor Will Haynie about the prior administration, who believed they would be remembered as heroes for such nightmares as the parking garage on Shem Creek and “The Boulevard” project on Coleman Blvd. That administration left in shame, and the whole beautiful nature of that once-great town is lost forever. Are you people aware of how many of us Mt. Pleasant runaways came here to find what we all crave? Trust me. If you let the genie out of the bottle, the last thing anyone will remember you as is heroes.
We visited family in Mt. Pleasant today and were shocked at the changes even since we left in 2019. My son is selling the family home and heading for a quieter McClellanville.
Laurence Mahorney, Beaufort
Racism
The recent killing of Americans because of their heritage is just another indication of the systemic racism and hatred in this country. These types of incidents are only the most visible, but every day there are hundreds of situations wherein Americans who are not White are intimidated, harassed, beaten, shot or otherwise belittled in some manner. Racism in all forms is wide-spread and is indicative of the culture that was spawned many years ago, but exacerbated by the last four years.
I know many are in denial of this, believing that it is overstated. But weekly, and sometimes more often, there is a significant incident in the country and hundreds (thousands?) of lessor situations that are indicative of racism and hatred. We can be better than this. We all recite this periodically, but many do not take the words to heart. “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America; and to the Republic, for which it stands, one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Apparently only those that are White?
Richard Hammes, Hilton Head
Artificial reef
Something very positive is being done to improve both future fishing opportunities and catches of snapper and grouper throughout the region. The South Carolina Memorial Reef plans to recycle an outdated swing bridge (The old Harbor River Bridge on Highway 21) by dropping it into an artificial reef.
The bridge will attract large fishes as any artificial reef would do, but, and here is the great part, when the bridge is placed in the Charleston Deep Reef Marine Protected Area, no bottom fishing (only fishing at the surface) will be allowed. This regulation will ensure that those large fish will be protected to spawn repeatedly for the rest of their lives, thereby contributing to the supply of eggs and larvae (and eventually adult fish). Learn more at scmemorialreef.com/projects.
Charlie Barans, retired SCDNR Senior Marine Scientist
Sea level rise
A recent article in Island Packet reported that a climate advocacy group expects flooding for thousands of homes in Beaufort County in 30 years because of rising oceans. However, the article did not include the important information that at the current rate of rise, our adjacent ocean will rise less than 4 inches in the next 30 years! Perhaps residents have more important concerns than flooding.
NOAA has a tide gauge just south of Hilton Head (Ft. Pulaski gauge). The current rate of rise is a little over 1 inch every 10 years. This rate has been very constant for the past 100 years, as shown on the NOAA graph. The Packet article did correctly report that FEMA recently modified our flood zone maps to reflect a lesser risk than previous maps.
Tom Tomfohrde, Hilton Head