Before, During and After the Rain
Lowcountry Supper
at the 60th Annual 
Beaufort Water Festival

For Event Schedule:



 And don't miss the Dragon Boats, Sat 8am - 4pm

And the Grand Parade, Sat 10 am - 12 pm

Billy Keyserling

Events in and around Beaufort


 

Where should the day dock be located?


 
Finally, after twenty three or maybe it is twenty four years by now, what was launched as a recommendation for additional parking by Main Street Beaufort when I chaired the parking committee, an appropriate Day Dock downtown is nearing reality. 


 

A small amount of money set aside by the City leveraged enough Federal and State dollars to launch this new community asset that will be good for residents and visitors making our waterfront more safely water accessible and friendlier to boaters while convenient for residents.

The outstanding questions is location. 


 
Over the years, volunteer task forces, called temporary waterfront commissions, one led by Marvin Dukes, Jr. and another by Steve Tully, recommended the facility. Mainstreet Beaufort, The Chamber of Commerce, the Sail and Power Squadron, Dragon Boat supporters and many citizens recommended this project.  The City Redevelopment Commission, followed by City Council,  incorporated it into The City's Civic Master Plan which is an amendment to our state required Comprehensive Plan.


 
After careful study, each of the groups recommended it be placed at the west end of the Henry Chambers Waterfront Park, closer to the marina, in response to those who did not want the structure and the boats moored in the center where they might block the view from the park. 


 

With funding now in hand, there are new suggestions and unanswered questions.


 
There is concern from the city marina operator and some merchants that placing a 200 foot day dock at the west end would encroach on space from the cruise ships that bring visitors to Beaufort.  


 

Some who have expressed concern about an unsightly day blocking blocking the view while others have complained that the cruise ships not only block the view and create a wall that prevents the breezes from cooling the park? 


 

There is also the question as to when the Henry Chambers Waterfront park might be extended westward into the marina parking lot,  when more modern restrooms will be installed at the west end and whether we will one day have storage for non-motorized watercraft at the west end.  


 
As an alternative to the planned west end, some are recommending the day dock be placed at the east end of the park near the bridge.  It is suggested that the east end provides better proximity to rest rooms and eight public parking spaces at the children's playground.  (The remainder of the spaces at that end of the park are privately owned and not available to the public). 


 

No one has yet raised the question as to whether a day dock might encroach on he playground. 


 

No one has yet to mention that historically people fish, crab and cast for shrimp at the east end of the park.  This should be a consideration.


 
While I hope and believe water depths, public safety and convenience will drive the decision, the City Manager and consultant, who has been working on marina repairs and improvements (also paid for with Federal dollars), have been tasked by City Council with making a recommendation very soon.  


 
There are a lot of valid questions that must be answered once the technical data is in and the City Manager makes a recommendation. We must answer them soon.  


 
If you have substantive suggestions, the time is now to share them with the City Manager and members of Council. 


 
The long awaited outside funding for this project is in the bank and many residents are anxious to get this project underway.

 

Please take the time to weigh in, but remember the issue is about placement and not whether or not we will have a day dock. That discussion ended when City Council accepted the recommendations of the two task forces and the Civic Master Plan.


 

It is time to move forward, but let's make sure we do it the right way and sooner the better.

 

 

NEWS RELEASE

Beaufort Waterfront Park day dock project presented to City Council

With a federal grant covering most of the costs, a day dock in downtown Beaufort's Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park is closer to construction with the goals of increasing boater access to downtown shops and restaurants.


 
Engineer David McSweeny presented initial design ideas to the Beaufort City Council Tuesday during a work session.


 
"There's a large element in the public that's been waiting to see this happen," Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling said at the meeting. "I don't want to see us slip backwards" with endless debate about where along the almost 1,000-foot seawall to build the day dock.


 
While no formal action is taken during City Council work sessions, Keyserling asked City Manager Bill Prokop to prepare recommendations on next steps, including siting, for the July 28 meeting.

 Several people spoke in favor of building the 200-foot by 10-foot structure at the east end of the park, near the playground, public restroom and parking. Mike Sutton, a former Beaufort City Councilman, said having a day dock there wouldn't block views of the river, would be convenient to amenities and is closest to the core commercial district and restaurants.


 
To comply with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, there will be an 80-foot ramp leading from the seawall to the floating day dock.


 
Conversation touched briefly on whether the day dock should be built at the western end of the seawall, near the Waterfront Park pavilion and the Downtown Marina. While water is deepest there, the current also runs strong - plus it's the favored docking site for cruise ships that ply the Intracoastal Waterway, noted Rick Griffin, who manages the Beaufort Downtown Marina.


 
A federal Boating Infrastructure Grant awarded to the city in February will help fund the project's cost, McSweeny said.


 
The day dock is a focal point of Beaufort's Civic Master Plan. It will serve day-use boaters who could enjoy the park and patronize adjacent downtown businesses through this facility.


 

 "Right now, there's no safe way for me to take people on my boat to go downtown for cocktails and dinner, because there's no place to tie up my boat," Sutton said. He pointed to the hundreds of boaters in Beaufort, Lady's Island, Dataw and surrounding areas who are potential downtown customers if access from the river can be arranged.


 
The City of Beaufort, through a series of other grant and local funding sources, set aside in prior years $300,000 toward the $500,000 budgeted project, said Kathy Todd, finance director for the city. In addition, the City has welcomed two public partners: Main Street Beaufort and Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce. These partners pledged a combined $22,368 toward actively marketing the day dock to transient boaters on a local, regional and national scale.


 
The Downtown Marina has emerged as the largest market opportunity for improving revenue from tourism. Transient boaters represent a demographic of above-average disposable income and are a substantial opportunity for economic development in Beaufort's core commercial area.

 Dozier's Waterway Guide, an authoritative annual publication for Intracoastal Waterway boaters, estimates the typical transient boater has an above average income and eats in restaurants 33 percent of the time they are boating.


 
Then there are the long-term benefits: Beaufort leaders wrote in the grant application that they expect the attractiveness of day dock facilities and access to the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park will influence some transient boaters to consider relocating to Beaufort.


 

If Beaufort captures just four boaters over five years as permanent residents and they build typical infill housing in the City's historic core, then the resulting economic activity will be between $1.5 million and $2 million.


 
The Boating Infrastructure Grant program is funded through the Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund from excise duties charged on fishing tackle and equipment, motorboat fuel and import duties on recreational boats and fishing equipment. It is a "user-pay" system. The program was created to develop and maintain boating infrastructure facilities such as docks, and mooring buoys for transient, non-trailerable recreational boats 26 feet or longer.


 
According to the City's federal grant application:


 
The waterfront park seawall is approximately 1,015-feet long with water depths ranging between 10 and 15 feet at low tide. The seawall is able to moor small cruise ships; however, docking of smaller vessels doesn't work due to the tidal variation, the tall vertical face of the seawall, and heavy marine growth. A floating day dock located along the seawall would provide convenient access to boats without hindering small cruise ship docking.


 
Existing geotechnical information from borings performed in 2001, as well as previous underwater investigations, indicates this is an ideal location for a transient boating facility that would connect boaters directly to the park, as well as surrounding retail shops, restaurants and historic attractions

.

Tentative specifications call for a 200-foot long by 10-foot wide heavy-duty floating dock likely placed about 500 feet from the edge of the navigation channel. Gangways that meet federal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act will connect the floating dock to the existing seawall.


 
Environmental impacts are minimized by not offering fueling and pump out services at the day dock and by incorporating solar lighting.

 

 

 

 

  

Exhibit Associated with the National Endowment/USCB Teachers Institute on Reconstruction.  The Public is invited to see the exhibit and meet institute participants who may be there.

 

Beaufort's Jim Gibson Cooks Whole Hog on Cooking Channel. 


 

In January The Cooking Channel asked Beaufort attorney Jim Gibson to cook whole hog BBQ for a segment of a cooking show called Man,Food and Fire. The Segment was taped in March and be aired on the 


 

Cooking Channel on July 28 at 8:00 pm as part of season 4 of Man ,Food and Fire "Low Country Cooking". 


 

It will be shown again at midnight that same day and then again on Aug. 2.

 






 


 

 

TRAFFIC NOTICE:

SC Highway 170 Lane Restrictions

SC Highway 170 Widening Project


 

According to a news release from Cleland Site Prep, both the northbound and southbound lanes on SC Highway 170 will have lane restrictions between the intersection of SC Highway 170/US Highway 278 to the SC Highway 46 traffic circle, Sunday, July 26, 2015 to Friday, July 31, 2015, from 4 p.m. to 7 a.m.  These lane restrictions are necessary for the Contractor to place the final asphalt surface course.

 

Drivers traveling near the project's construction zone are asked to be aware of equipment and crews working in the area at all times. The public is also asked to notice traffic control signs, reductions in speed limit, and message board information.  All road work is dependent on the weather.  The traveling public should expect delays.


 

Please direct questions regarding these restrictions to Cleland Site Prep at 843-987-0500. 



 


 

New Beaufort fire station 

on schedule, on budget


 

Beaufort's new Ribaut Road fire station is on schedule for completion by December and is within budget at the halfway point, city leaders said.


 
As of mid-July, the heavy steel framing is complete, the electrical and plumbing rough-in installations are underway, site drainage and the site sewer system are about 90 percent done and the water system connections are about 75 percent complete.


 

 "Even with our almost daily thunderstorms and occasional heavy rain, the crews have done a great job to keep this project moving forward," Beaufort City Manager Bill Prokop said. "It's a much-needed project and we are looking forward to making it operational."

 

In coming weeks, roof sheeting will be installed and brickwork will begin. An access road will be rough-graded. The site is geographically positioned between Port Royal's main station and Beaufort's current Fire Headquarters near the intersection of Ribaut and Boundary Street.

 

The total cost of the project, including land, furnishings and technology, is $3,299,837. Costs include stormwater improvements for the immediate area.

 

The Beaufort City Council in January agreed to move forward with construction of the new Beaufort Fire Station at 1120 Ribaut Road. The new facility will replace the outdated one beside Beaufort Middle School and across from Mossy Oaks Elementary on residential Mossy Oaks Road. City Council hasn't decided what to do with that property after the new facility opens.


 

 "The location of this new fire station will provide seamless coverage between the main Beaufort station and our main fire station in Port Royal," Port Royal Town Manager Van Willis said. "It's good to see the project rising up so fast."


 

 When the new station is completed, firefighting equipment will be moved from the Mossy Oaks Road. Fraser Construction is leading the work on the new facility.

 "Fire protection is such an important service for the residents of Beaufort and Port Royal, and building this new station is essential to the Beaufort-Port Royal Fire Department. So far we are very pleased with the progress," said David Coleman, senior projects manager for Beaufort.


 

 In the time since the city bought the original property at 1120 Ribaut Road property in September 2013, it also acquired a smaller parcel adjacent the Love House Ministries' bowling alley. The additional land addresses road access, stormwater management and other site conditions. The fire station will be accessible from Bowling Alley Lane, a street to the rear of the property.


 

 Beaufort Fire Chief Sammy Negron said the new Ribaut Road location offers:

  •        Direct access to the main artery between Beaufort and Port Royal
  •        Easy and efficient travel times to the entire coverage area for this fire                         station 
  •         Excellent geographical positioning to reinforce and enhance the ISO 2 rating                that helps reduce commercial fire insurance premiums
  •        Limited impact on neighborhoods
  •        Greater distance from large schools than the current Mossy Oaks station
  •        Smooth traffic flow for fire vehicles, including direct access to the rear of the               facility (eliminating fire trucks having to back into the bays).

We are not a big city and some is not relevant, but it is an interesting read

 

How and Why Cities Are Catering To Bicyclists

in Community Development


 

Extracted from Efficient Gov

 

A growing number of cities across the country are not only building bicycle-friendly infrastructure to meet growing demand, but also experimenting with new technologies to make cycling and alternative transit more appealing.

The goals of these efforts include:

 

Strengthening bicyclist and pedestrian safety

 

Increasing use of alternative/active transportation

 

Reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions

 

Boosting public health, wellness and quality of life

 

According to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration, state and federal investment in bicycle facilities between 1999 and 2011 has exceeded $7 billion. To ensure this money is used efficiently, cities are searching for bicycle-friendly best practices.

 

Where To Start?

Municipalities of all sizes should understand the needs of local residents who opt to get around via bicycles rather than personal cars. As more people become less car-dependent, the makeup of the community shifts to favor cyclists and pedestrians not cars. Therefore, the responsibility to protect these populations falls on city planners.

Wendell, for example, recently received a $32,000 Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning Grant from the North Carolina Department of Transportation. One of 10 cities statewide awarded the financing, Wendell will use the grant to plan much-needed sidewalk improvements and expand local pedestrian opportunities, News Observer reported.

 

The city will leverage the funding to:

Examine the existing pedestrian system throughout the entire jurisdiction

Identify any gaps or obstacles standing in the way of improvement

Lay out future extensions and projects to support a growing pedestrian population

Create a strategy to ensure future grants are acquired to keep the projects moving forward

 

The goal of the state grant program is to provide funding for a variety of pedestrian and bicyclist focus strategies that include facility upgrades/construction, safety services and regulations, and public awareness programs, News Oberserver reported.

 

What To Consider?

To encourage more residents to bicycle around the community - or provide the necessary amenities for an already robust cyclist population - cities must promote strong bicycle networks that make alternative transit easy, safe and efficient.

According to a recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota, two factors are key in predicting bicycling commuting success: connectivity and directness. While previous research found correlations between quantity of bicycle infrastructure and community ridership numbers, little was understood as to how the quality of a bicycle network directly impacts riders.

 

To determine how quality affects ridership, the researchers evaluated existing bicycle networks in 74 municipalities and tested the relationships between network analysis and the number of cycling commuters in the city. The goal was to see if detours and gaps in a bicycle network that require riding through uncomfortable conditions would impact ridership.

 

The study found a city's bicycling commuting rate is associated with a number of bike network quality measures including:

Network density

Connectivity

Fragmentation

Directness

 

Density had the greatest impact on the level of bicycle commuting. Therefore, cities should consider increasing the density of a bicycle network to maximize its impact on ridership before expanding its breadth. Planners should also be conscientious of excessive small fragments of bike facilities that can damage ridership volumes.

Furthermore, the U.S. Federal Highway Administration has created a Separated Bike Lane Planning and Design Guide to provide insight on how to build bicycle infrastructure and what key missteps to avoid.

 

What's New?

For cities already full of bicyclists and infrastructure to support them, the next best thing is adding new technology to further drive safety and efficiency.  In New York City, for example, the Citi Bike bike-sharing initiative is working on a new smartphone app that will provide riders with new information and capabilities.

The revamped app will allow riders to access detailed fitness stats while they are using the bicycles, such as how many calories they have burned or miles traveled on their trip. The app can also be used to report a variety of issues regarding the bike-share program including flat tires, broken seats or other complaints.

In Boston, the city's Transportation Department, Department of Information Technology and its New Urban Mechanics group are analyzing citizen-reported data from Waze, a crowdsourced traffic app. The goal of the data mining effort is to find streets where double-parked and illegally-standing cars are most prevalent throughout the city, GCN reported.

 

Once the city has identified the problem areas, bike-riding parking enforcement officers are deployed to get the cars moved and out of the way. Because double-parked cars create traffic congestion, they also increase public safety concerns for both pedestrians and cyclists on the road.

 

Likewise, Houston Ghost Bike has promised the city's police department with a free device used to monitor the distance between cyclists and passing cars. Placed on the handlebars of police bicycles, the devices utilizes lasers to determine whether cars leaving at least 3 feet of space between them and bicyclists - as is required by city ordinance. The goal is to make local police more aware of dangerous driving habits that can lead to increased bicycle crashes, injuries and fatalities, Houston Press reported.

 


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