NEWS BRIEFS: I-526 extension up for debate this week

Staff reports  |  Contributing editor Fred Palm of Edisto Island reminds us that the Due Diligence Subcommittee of the S.C. Joint Bond Review Committee will discuss an agreement to build the proposed I-526 extension and whether to lock in the state’s $420 million contribution.

“The first review addresses the capacity of Charleston County to carry the fiscal burden of paying for all the additional costs beyond the state’s capped contribution. Then it goes for the full board for approval to issue the state’s bonds for its part. The county’s decade-long build is just beginning.”

Palm, who has written about the issue several times in the past, said alternatives are smarter and more appropriate for several reasons:

Unnecessary tax burden.  The current county-funded portion is a guesstimate of $310 million and may grow more.  It would handcuff the county with a huge tax burden for years, he said.

Appropriate road.  If a flyover road to Johns Island from U.S. Highway 17 doesn’t cut traffic, an appropriate, less-costly road is an option.

Flood controls.  A lot of the $420 million could be used, instead, for real flood runoff controls to deal with large-scale flooding, he said.  “It’s the Charleston delegation’s job to secure the funds for flood runoff control as this is the first line of defense that we lack. We need that team to go beyond ditches and unconnected lengths of pipe.”  Flood control, he said, is what the county should be concentrating on.

Also in Good News:

Good work.  Water Mission, a nonprofit Christian engineering organization, is delivering safe water to southeast Africa in response to the widespread flooding and devastation caused by Cyclone Idai.  According to a press release, the organization is currently preparing disaster response shipments to provide critical supplies that will support the crisis response. This initiative will build on the safe water solutions that Water Mission installed after a series of dangerous floods in 2015, which also affected southern Malawi. At the time, Water Mission served more than 84,000 people through 15 safe water projects.

Civil rights exploration.  To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the hallmark Supreme Court decision Brown vs. Board of Education, Millicent Brown and Caroll Y. Turpin will share their experiences as children who desegregated South Carolina’s public schools in the 1960s during a forum at the College of Charleston at 6 p.m. March 27. The free event will explore the history-making Supreme Court decision that ended segregation in American schools, the subsequent decade of court battles and protests, and the impact and legacies of desegregation. It will be held in Alumni Hall within Randolph Hall on the college’s campus.

Good idea:  Library offers checkout-able hotspots.  The Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) is working to help its community get digitally connected by providing mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, which are now available for checkout. Library cardholders can access one of these hotspots to connect their smartphone, tablet or laptop and get internet access to do homework, apply for jobs, communicate with friends and family, access the library’s digital collections and more.

How to keep up with 2020 news.  If you’re a news junkie and want to keep up with the latest about what’s happening in the 2020 presidential election, particularly with relation to what’s happening in the early voting Palmetto State, visit 2020EarlyStateNews.com, a new sister publication.  It’s free and published every business day.  Sign up.

Solar bill pushes forward.  Lindsay Street reports in our sister publication, Statehouse Report, that a bill to make solar power more accessible for residential and other rooftop systems is moving forward with only one major hurdle.  Learn more about the proposed Energy Freedom Act in this story.