Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to First Friday with Georgetown County. I'm your host, Jackie Broach, public information officer for Georgetown county government. And today we're bringing you a special edition of the podcast our Year in Review, where we look back at everything that happened in 2025.
[00:00:27] Speaker A: And I'm Randy Akers. This is one of my favorite episodes of the year because so much happens across Georgetown county, and unless you're following every department, every committee, every project, it's easy to miss just how much progress is being made.
[00:00:42] Speaker B: That's exactly right. 2025 was a year of planning, growth and investment.
We laid the groundwork for projects that will shape this county for decades.
So today we're taking a deep dive across infrastructure, public safety, recreation, technology, and everything in between.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: And don't worry, we'll keep it conversational. No spreadsheets required.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: Let's start with the big picture. Georgetown county supported more than 65,000 residents this year with a $121 million budget. And thanks to strong fiscal discipline, the county continued its streak of excellence, earning the eighth consecutive national award for financial reporting.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: And 2025 was also the first year of revenue from the capital project sales tax, or CPST, which voters approved in 2024.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: That's right. Those revenues are already earmarked for major projects, including the emergency operations center and 911 communications complex, drainage improvements, recreation upgrades, and transportation improvements.
[00:01:46] Speaker A: And I think it's important to remind folks that these CPST projects don't happen overnight.
Phase one is always planning, engineering, design, environmental review.
All of those unglamorous steps that go on behind the scenes.
[00:02:01] Speaker B: Exactly. But those steps set the stage for construction in 2026.
And that's when residents will start seeing visible progress. That's the exciting part.
Public safety really stood out this year. Let's start with emergency services.
Emergency management pushed full forward with their design of a new emergency operations complex and 911 communications center, which will move these operations into a new state of the art facility that has room for growth.
Emergency services also increased community outreach this year, hosting preparedness education sessions and working closely with fire and rescue partners.
[00:02:38] Speaker A: Now over to the sheriff's office.
Probably one of the most innovative years we've seen.
First, they maintained their dual accreditation. That's a big deal.
And second, they rolled out Overwatch biometric monitoring in the detention center.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: We were the first county in South Carolina to implement that technology.
It allows staff to detect medical emergencies like overdoses or cardiac events faster. It's a huge safety improvement to make sure that people in our detention facility. Stay safe and healthy.
[00:03:07] Speaker A: And of course, the reentry program continues to succeed beyond expectations.
Over 200 graduates now and a recidivism rate under 2% that is almost unheard of.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: One of the biggest stories of 2025 was infrastructure. Our public services department had more than $40 million in active projects. Let's start with drainage.
[00:03:29] Speaker A: The Andrews Drainage phase two. That alone was huge.
They hit nearly 50% completion this year. And that project is going to make a real difference in how water moves through that community.
[00:03:41] Speaker B: And they didn't stop there. They advanced drainage projects in East Andrews, Spring Gully, Brick Chimney Road, and corridors along Highway 17.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: Then there's work along the coast. The Murrells Inlet dredging project is moving through engineering and environmental analysis. When complete, it'll improve water flow, protect habitat, and support boating and fishing access.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: And the county continued updating the beach management plan, a key tool for shoreline protection, storm response and and beach access planning.
[00:04:12] Speaker A: If you spent time at a park, beach, playground or recreation center this year, you benefited from a ton of behind the scenes work.
[00:04:21] Speaker B: Absolutely. Parks and recreation managed more than 2,000 acres of parkland, 40 plus miles of trails, 79 athletic fields, 30 tennis courts, and 67 beach accesses.
[00:04:34] Speaker A: They upgraded playgrounds, resurfaced courts, added pickleball spaces, and expanded outdoor recreation options. At Rocky Point Community forest, more than.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: 1600 youth athletes participated in county sports programs this year. I'm talking everything from tackle and touch football and basketball to track and volleyball.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: And the senior services program was hugely impactful. 60,000 transportation trips, nearly 20,000 congregate meals, and more than 43,000 home delivered meals for older residents.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: Our library system also had a banner year offering literacy programs, technology assistance, early learning activities, cultural workshops, and partnerships that deepen community engagement.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: The MIS department, the county's technology backbone, had one of the busiest workloads of any department this year.
[00:05:28] Speaker B: They upgraded major firewalls, modernized meeting room technology, restored fiber lines damaged by storms and construction, and resolved more than 7,000 help desk tickets.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: They also supported more than 6,500 website updates, live streamed dozens of public meetings, and improved cybersecurity protections across all county offices.
[00:05:50] Speaker B: It's also worth mentioning that we're hoping to start live streaming some more meetings this year.
[00:05:54] Speaker A: Yes, our planning commission meetings should be live streamed in 2026. Check back with us soon for more.
[00:06:00] Speaker B: Anyway, those updates helped the county bring home national awards for digital communication, transparency and public outreach.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Planning and zoning stayed incredibly active, as they always do. The blight removal program entered phase three removing 14 more unsafe structures for a county wide total of 36.
[00:06:21] Speaker B: That's right. They also supported open space protections at Litchfield Country Club and Founders Club, ensuring those areas remain as recreational lands.
[00:06:29] Speaker A: And they worked with developers, homeowners and HOAs on rezonings, subdivision approvals, site plans and building code compliance, more than 20 rezoning cases alone.
[00:06:42] Speaker B: They also began work on the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance Update, a major project that will shape future development across the county.
[00:06:50] Speaker A: Your office had a big year too, Jackie. The PIO team earned multiple state and national awards for writing, photography, podcasting, design and digital outreach.
[00:07:02] Speaker B: And you of course are part of that team. So thank you for all of that. And to Maya Morant, who is a big part of that team, we have several people, Heather Pelham, who really do great work in our communications department and I'm very proud of that.
So thank you Randy. We also redesigned our monthly newsletter, expanded our Taxpayer Academy, supported emergency messaging, updated the website, and increased transparency around county decisions and capital projects.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: And this very podcast, First Friday with Georgetown county continues to grow in listeners and engagement. So thank you to all of you who tune in and watch our podcast every month. We certainly appreciate it.
[00:07:41] Speaker B: Veterans affairs welcomed new staff members this year and expanded outreach at parades, civic clubs and community events. They're also planning a large Veteran Services Fair for 2026 and a lot of that is thanks to our New Veteran Services vs. Manager Paige Sawyer, who is of course a well known figure in our community and very active with veterans causes. He is of course a veteran himself.
[00:08:05] Speaker A: Their work supporting benefits processing and claims assistance continues to be invaluable for veterans and their families. And I know that local veterans especially appreciated the communication during the recent government shutdown this year.
[00:08:17] Speaker B: Absolutely.
This year also brought changes in leadership.
We said farewell to several long serving employees who shaped this county for decades, including Ray Funney, who was our very first Public Services Director and served for over 30 years.
Another long timer, our beloved Clerk to County Council, Teresa Floyd, our Finance Director Karis Langston and then our Human Resources and Administrative Services Director Walt Hackerman.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: And we also welcomed new leadership including Carla Harvey as our new Public Services Director, the Megan Colgrove, our new Finance Director and Alma Sierra, our new Clerk to Council, along with of course several new employees across multiple departments.
[00:09:00] Speaker B: Alma D. Sierra, to avoid confusion because of course her mother Alma Sierra is also a beloved long term employee at our Sheriff's office.
[00:09:07] Speaker A: That is correct.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: They get a lot of each other's emails.
So what can residents expect next year?
[00:09:15] Speaker A: Construction and lots of it.
CPST projects will begin hitting the ground, drainage, recreation, public safety facilities, and multimodal improvements.
[00:09:27] Speaker B: We will also see continued improvements in transparency, public involvement and service modernization, from digital tools and payment systems to facility upgrades and outdoor recreation access.
[00:09:39] Speaker A: And, of course, ongoing work to protect our natural resources, support public safety, and strengthen economic opportunity.
[00:09:47] Speaker B: Well, that wraps up our 2025 year in review. Thank you all for joining us and for supporting the work that Georgetown county does every day. We could not do it without you.
[00:09:55] Speaker A: That's right. We truly appreciate every resident, every business, every community partner. It takes all of us working together to help move this county forward.
[00:10:05] Speaker B: We hope you had a safe, joyful and restful holiday season.
[00:10:09] Speaker A: Welcome to 2026.
Tune in every month right here on First Friday with Georgetown county, and we'll do our best to keep you informed.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:10:18] Speaker A: Thank you.
