[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to first Friday with Georgetown county. Thank you for joining us this month. We have lots to talk about, and our first guest today is Walt A. Who if you've been listening to this for a while, you've definitely met before. Walt is our director of administrative services and human resources. And Walt, you are going to talk with us today about the capital project sales tax, which was approved by voters last November and it is about to go into effect. Well, actually it went in effect yesterday, so we are now seeing the collection of that. Talk with us a little bit about what that means for residents here and businesses.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: So it's the beginning of a long process.
The South Carolina department of revenue has been in the process of notifying all of our retail establishments that the tax will begin being collected. The additional $0.01 sales tax on certain items will have been started collecting yesterday. And the process then goes.
The month of May will be the first month of collections, and tax returns are due to the state by June 20th. So they will remit the collections by June 20th to the state. And then in July, the county will get its first capital project sales tax monies that will be for what was collected in May, and then additional monies are turned over on a quarterly basis. So this is just. It'll be a very small check to start with, and then the check in October will be for three full months. And then at that point in time, we should actually start being able to start letting people begin projects.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: That's great.
[00:01:51] Speaker A: So I'm hoping big things are coming.
[00:01:54] Speaker B: So just as a refresher, we've talked about this, of course, previously, you know, when it was on the ballot, but there is a long list of very important projects that are going to be completed with this funding, which will be collected for a total period of 8 years. Talk with us a little about some of the first projects that we're likely to see completed.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: So the very first project on the list is a super important project. It is a bright Browns Ferry water system extension and upgrade.
It's going to cover a huge area up in the Browns Ferry water district.
Part will be new lines going down. Part will be upgrade of existing lines and systems that will not only increase service delivery to additional homes, but also increase fire protection capacity in that area. That's about a $3 million project. So the check that we get actually in October won't fully fund that project, but will allow them to get started.
Project number two on the list is a little over a million dollars for the Black river road realignment and widening project. And that's, remember, that's a grant match. It's a $6 million project, $1 million funded by CPST money. So I would think that by springtime of 20, you're in 25, spring of 26, that should be fully funded as well. And they can, you know,.it says actually a dot project, but coinciding with the city and the city and DOT should be able to get that project started pretty rapidly as well. And then there's some other pretty exciting projects coming along behind that. So we should start seeing a lot of activity very, very soon.
[00:03:43] Speaker B: And we're actually bonding our new emergency operations center. Right. So that's another one that should be down the pipeline.
[00:03:50] Speaker A: Yeah. And we'll actually get started on that even before issuing that money.
The county has some reserves that it can use for the initial engineering and some little bit of site prep work and things like that. And so we'll, we'll get started on several of the county projects even before we bond the money doing all of the permitting and legwork and that type thing. That takes forever.
[00:04:18] Speaker B: So hopefully businesses have already had communications with the Department of Revenue. They're all set. And for residents, this just means that on, as you said, certain purchases, they'll pay an extra 1% sales tax at the cash register. And talk to us for just a minute about what those items are that are not taxable.
[00:04:37] Speaker A: Yep. So it's non food items, non grocery items, prepared food would be taxable, but, you know, if you go and buy a pack of chicken legs, not taxable. If you go to the gas pump and get gas, there's no additional tax on gasoline. If you go to the pharmacy and buy your medication, your prescription meds, no additional tax on those things. So anything that you're not currently paying the sales tax on, you wouldn't pay sales tax on later. So it's going to be things like shoes and clothes, furniture, appliances.
Cars are currently taxed with a sales tax, but it's capped at $500. So there's no. Will be no additional sales tax on, on a car who hits that cap.
[00:05:24] Speaker B: But so the expectation is that a lot of this money will end up being paid by visitors.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:05:31] Speaker B: The benefit for us, obviously, is that we are getting some, some really valuable projects for quality of life here from this.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: Absolutely. You know, we have a lot of folks who visit our area. They consume these services.
You know, water and sewer projects, road projects, fire protection, emergency management. You know, our visitors use these things as well. And we're going to allow them to pay for a portion of these projects for us.
[00:05:58] Speaker B: Okay, Sounds like a good deal to me. So do you have anything else to.
[00:06:02] Speaker A: Add on the capital project sales tax? No, but I'm hopeful that in 2026, we'll be able to reconsider the local option sales tax, which will give residents a credit back on their property taxes, homes, boats, cars and the like. So.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: So when do you think that's something that County Council will take up discussing whether to put that on the ballot again?
[00:06:23] Speaker A: I would assume towards the end of this calendar year or maybe very beginning of the next calendar year to start some information campaigns again, let people know what it's all about, you know, towards the summertime of 26, you know, ahead of the election.
[00:06:41] Speaker B: So, for those who may not remember, of course, the local option sales tax was on the ballot also, and it fell by like 30 votes or something.
[00:06:49] Speaker A: Yeah, it was something crazy. Yeah.
[00:06:51] Speaker B: But just remind people what the local option sales tax does.
[00:06:54] Speaker A: So much like the capital project sales tax, it's an additional $0.01 sales tax collect on certain goods. A lot of this money is going to be paid for by people who don't live here. But all of the money collected, well, 71% of the money collected goes as a direct credit against your property taxes. So it's a tremendous help to anybody who pays property taxes. And pretty much everybody pays some form of property tax in Georgetown county because.
[00:07:23] Speaker B: It'S not just your, your home or your business.
[00:07:26] Speaker A: It's your boat, your business, personal property, your airplane, if you have one, your mega yacht, you know, whatever the case.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: May be, a lot of those registered in Georgetown county, mega yachts.
[00:07:38] Speaker A: And I don't know about mega yachts, but there's quite a few yachts down on Front Street. So I was just using that as a joke. But. But yeah, there's a significant amount of items that are subject to property tax in Georgetown County. It pretty much touches all of our citizens, and everybody could reap the benefit through the local option sales tax.
[00:07:58] Speaker B: I guess we will see what the voters say in 2026. Thanks for joining us.
[00:08:02] Speaker A: Thank you. Appreciate it.
[00:08:04] Speaker B: Our next guest today is Robin Mears. He is with our Georgetown County Stormwater Department and Mosquito Control Division. So it's getting ready to be a busy season for y'all. You're getting ready to start spraying this Monday, right?
[00:08:18] Speaker C: Right, yeah, that's what the plan is.
[00:08:22] Speaker B: So what have you guys been doing in the meantime?
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Well, ready, we've been servicing the spray trucks, but more importantly, we've actually been upgrading the sprayer systems so that they would be a little bit more efficient and they'd be a little bit easier for the drivers when it comes to the routes that they do.
Plus, it includes some software that helps us when it comes to keeping track of where the big problems are. So where we should be spraying, that kind of thing. So we've been doing a lot in the off season as far as software upgrade and systems upgrade and. And just servicing the trucks. And then the other thing that hopefully folks will notice is that, you know, we. You see our trucks out on the side of the road a lot of time, and you'll see a guy out at the ditch or at one of these storm drains, and what he's doing is he's putting something called larvae side in there. Because one of the things we're really trying to do more of is what I would call preventative maintenance, which is we're trying to control the mosquitoes in their larva stage before they get to the adult stage. And there's some new products on the market that kind of fall in line with our idea of being safer for the environment and yet more effective. These are. These are actually tablets that we can put into storm drains, and they last anywhere from five to six months as far as killing larvae.
[00:09:58] Speaker B: So that's great.
[00:09:59] Speaker C: Yeah, we've been, you know, even though there's only a few of us, you know, we've been out trying to get that out. Plus, folks may have noticed around the end of March, beginning of April, there was a plane flying and spraying. But he was not spraying to kill mosquitoes. He was spraying larvicide along the Santee.
[00:10:21] Speaker B: Oh, great.
[00:10:22] Speaker C: Because. Which is where we find is our biggest problem for the most part. That's where we. A lot of our mosquitoes come from, the Santee area. So he. He sprayed that. He did it last year, too. And we felt like it was extremely beneficial.
[00:10:39] Speaker B: Now, you mentioned, you know, being environmentally friendly. We did switch, I think it was two years ago now, to a more environmentally friendly spray that is not supposed to be harmful to beneficial insects. Do we have any other changes that are coming up for. For this coming spring season?
[00:10:56] Speaker C: Not really for this year. Most of what we're using we also used last year. But there, like I said, there's two or three products that we've gone to. In fact, the larva side, One of the larva sides that we started using last year, primarily for small ponds or large ditches that have water in them.
It's funny, the name of it is called Skeeter. But it's, it's a larva side that includes the garlic oil, which is what one of our other products includes. But it also has nematodes. And for folks that are not familiar with that, these are microscopic organisms that eat. They've been bred to do different things. And the particular ones that we're using are, are bred to eat mosquito and fly larvae. So as long as they've got the larva to eat, they'll continue propagating.
And that's why this is great for like a small pond or a large ditch. But it's also very environmentally friendly. It's starting to catch on in the industry.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: So obviously you can't spray everywhere every day. You have to get all around the county. What can residents do around their properties in the meantime between sprays to, I guess, kind of cut back on, on mosquito breeding and mosquito population?
[00:12:26] Speaker C: Well, that's, that's one of the things that we'd like to step up is our education to the folks, because this is, this is what happens. And, and we've got a tremendous amount of research to back this up.
80 to 90% of the mosquitoes that are bothering you on your property are coming from your property. Mosquitoes don't travel very far. So if you have a storm drain in your yard or if you have, you know, the worst thing we find is a lot of people with children's swimming pools with little amounts of water in them. Flower pots, wheelbarrows, you know, whatever, anything that can hold water.
You know, like we told you before, mosquitoes only lay eggs in or around water. And so. And they don't have to have much. I mean, a bottle cap full is enough for them to lay their eggs. So we're trying. We've actually got a couple of flyers that we're getting ready to put up on our website, and it gives you a whole checklist of things to look for that could be harboring mosquitoes.
The mosquitoes that are the worst in our area that the dph, formerly known as dhec, that they actually test for are mosquitoes that come out of these storm drains, catch basins, things like that. Those are the mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus. So those are the ones that we're most concerned about. So if you have a storm drain in your yard or if, if there's a storm drain near you, you know, you feel free to contact us. We may have already treated it, but, you know, we may not. And once again, we've got some products that we can give you if you have these drains in your yard, like French drains is a good example. It's not something we're going to go treat because it's on your property. But like I said, we do have some products that we can give you that you can put in there. And again, it'll kill the larva because I can guarantee you if there's water, there's, there's mosquito larva. I mean, that's just one of the, you know, things that we deal with here in the low country.
[00:14:48] Speaker B: So if somebody's interested in that, how do they go about getting those resources?
[00:14:52] Speaker C: Just call our hotline and, and just tell us that that's why you're calling is that, you know, you wanted to get, you wanted to look at some, you wanted us to come take a look to see if you needed to get some products to treat your own yard. But once again, the thing we're trying to emphasize is that's where the majority of the mosquitoes are coming from. They're coming from right next to your home. And you know, there are a lot of things that you can do to kind of mitigate that.
[00:15:23] Speaker B: Okay.
So I'm glad you mentioned our website because that is also where people can see the routes you're going to be taking from week to week and figure out when their area is going to be sprayed.
[00:15:35] Speaker C: That's right. We probably starting hopefully by Monday afternoon we'll have the new, the first schedule for this upcoming week. And, and again, the schedule is laid out in a way that you can their links so you can simply click on the link and that will bring up a map of where the guy's going to be spraying that particular night. Now you also have to understand we don't adhere to the schedule perfectly for a lot of reasons. Number one is weather. Number two, the drivers sometimes get sick. And then the other thing is sometimes we'll get a last minute phone call and there's a, what we would call an outbreak in another area. And we feel like, you know, we need to go take care of that as opposed to what we're doing. But we really try hard to stick to the schedule and we're emphasizing that a little bit more to our drivers this year that they need to.
Because people look at, people are starting to look at it more and more and you know, they expect us to come by a certain time.
[00:16:44] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:16:44] Speaker C: Now.
And I'll take the time right now to say a lot of folks tell us they want the schedule because they want to be inside when we're spraying. And I Just want to emphasize that the product we're using these days is essential oils.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: It smells really nice.
[00:17:00] Speaker C: Yeah, it's not a, it's not a pesticide and we, you know, so. And the EPA has deemed it not harmful to pets or humans. So that, you know, we feel pretty confident that it would be a very rare case where someone would be allergic. I guess so.
[00:17:24] Speaker B: At our house, we haven't had any issues with mosquitoes yet. I know it's common, but we are having no CMS. Does this stuff work on no SAMs?
[00:17:33] Speaker C: Well, I've had a lot of calls and one thing that any of us that have lived here for any length of time was there is almost nothing that we can use against no sam's on a broad basis. Now the product that we use has a little bit of a repellent effect, but it has to be almost immediate. And we don't really spray it in a thick enough or a heavy enough dose that it's going to affect the no seems. But I have heard people say that, you know, once we spray, it does help with them. So that's fingers crossed. Yeah. You know, we advise the same old thing that we've everybody advises and that is, you know, Avon skin so soft or dryer sheets in your collar. Oh, well, that's interesting.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:18:25] Speaker C: Yeah, we tell ball players, yeah, the ball players, we tell them, you know, put one in your hat, you know, when you're out on the ball field. So. And that does seem to work. Hunters have used that for years, but there's nothing that we are aware of that will kill those things.
[00:18:41] Speaker B: Well, is there anything as we move toward the first day of spring, anything else you'd like to tell people?
[00:18:49] Speaker C: Well, I just want to. When it, when we start spraying next week, one of the things we want to emphasize to folks is that these drivers, they all have job. They're doing this part time, they're doing this after hours. Most of the time when they're spraying, it's around dusk and they have a hard, you know, they don't necessarily have a hard time seeing because of that. But we really want to discourage folks from walking up to their trucks or stepping out and trying to flag them down. They've basically been told not to answer any of your questions, just to simply give. Some of them have cards in there that have our number on it. If you have any questions about mosquito control, you need to call our office because those gentlemen, number one, a lot of the questions that they're being asked, they really don't have the information to answer it. And then second of all, you know, they have a job to do. So we.
[00:19:46] Speaker B: They have to stop 20 times to talk to people. As much as we enjoy talking to people, they aren't getting stuff sprayed. And that, of course, is right what the main thing that we want them to be out there doing.
[00:19:56] Speaker C: And one thing they can't do, they cannot spray in driveways and own private property. Just people please understand that that is one of our ordinances that has been developed over the years. And again, it's because they'd never get finished with their routes if they, you know, if they had to do that.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: All right, well, Robin, thank you so much for coming on to talk with us about this, and thank you for what you do. We would certainly be a lot itchier and more unhappy without you.
[00:20:24] Speaker C: Yeah. And once again, we. We spray to keep disease down. Yes, that's our main purpose.
[00:20:31] Speaker B: All right, well, thanks, Robin.
[00:20:32] Speaker C: You're welcome.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: We have a very special guest with us today, Antoine Maybank. If you guys were watching about this time last year, he was on with us previously. Antoine is a. An Olympic gold medalist in track and field. And we like to celebrate Antoine about this time every year over at the a track field named in his honor at Beck Recreation Center. So this weekend we will be having Antoine Maybank weekend. And Beth, can you tell us just a little bit about that real quick before we. We ask Antoine for some. Some thoughts and comments?
[00:21:09] Speaker D: Absolutely. So we love this time of the year. Antoine Maybank, his official weekend is. Is technically in April, the third weekend in April, but that coincided with spring break. So he was gracious enough to let us move. Move that. And we moved all of the other activities that surround this wonderful weekend as well. So he will be joining us for our senior sports classic. So that will be today taking place for about half the day. And we'll have seniors from Georgetown, Horry and Williamsburg county competing in track and field events.
[00:21:45] Speaker B: And what time does that start?
[00:21:47] Speaker D: That'll start around 10. On the track.
We love having Mr. Maybank with us. Our seniors really enjoy his motivation and inspiration and they really enjoy just hanging out with him. And he's so gracious to all of them. So we do that. We also, on the Saturday, always do a youth track expo so that he can see our track participants in our track program. So this year we've got a bigger crowd than ever. Over 300 runners are in our program this year. Addition, Charleston county and Williamsburg county are bringing their runners to participate with us this season. So they're all excited as well about meeting Antoine, as are our runners. And then we added a special event this year as well. Antoine hasn't in person been able to join the goatherd, but he, he has virtually and yes. So we have a special event Friday afternoon at 3:00 open to everybody to meet at the Scriven Street Courthouse and do about a mile hike on our historic District trail.
[00:22:59] Speaker B: And anybody is welcome to come out and join that.
[00:23:01] Speaker D: Anybody's welcome to come out and join that. Meet Antoine and he'll be on his first goat hike with the group. I know the Golden Goats are excited so they're going to be there to join him as well.
[00:23:11] Speaker B: For the uninitiated, tell us what the Golden Goats are.
[00:23:13] Speaker D: So our goat program is our Georgetown Outdoor Adventure Trails program. And we have challenges, organized paddles, organized hikes, bike rides, things going on throughout the year to get people out in nature enjoying being active in the outdoors.
Our goat program started and then we had a group of seniors that were starting to walk. They started on the Historic District Trail. We're doing a mile down there in a slow manner now. They're doing about two and a half miles a day. They're going all over the county. They're out in the woods, they've learned to swim, they're paddling. So they decided they needed their own goat group. So it's a kind of a spring off of the initial goat herd and they're called the golden goats.
[00:24:06] Speaker B: So Mr. Maybank, you're going to have your first in person goat experience this weekend, huh?
[00:24:11] Speaker E: I am extremely excited because one of my passions is hiking. So the ability to even come out and hike with everyone in the community, especially based on the numbers that you just gave each year, just seems to be getting larger and larger. And I even more excited each year that I come out to see the popularity of all the work that everyone's putting into it down in Georgetown county in parks and recreation. So it's truly an honor and a pleasure to make an appearance each year. And it's even more humbling for the fact we even be asked to participate in the activities, especially the hype this year now.
[00:24:50] Speaker B: Fitness and community health. I guess we'll say community fitness and health, those are passions of yours, right?
[00:24:57] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:24:58] Speaker B: So go ahead.
[00:25:01] Speaker E: That's what I've been doing for many, many years now. Since 2010, it's been my company that I've been working within my community by my state and other federations, creating the environments of how changing our lifestyle can make us More happier overall, increase our longevity, make us healthier, and bring so much happiness and joy to our life by creating a different community around us that it's just. It's always been something that I loved and I love the impact that it has on the people that surround me. Because happiness and health is contagious once you start. Everyone else wants to be a part of it.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: So I know that you are going to be talking with all of the young people who are running track and field and of course, anybody else who is around on Saturday. Is that some of the message that you'll be giving to them on Saturday?
[00:25:57] Speaker E: Absolutely.
My goal is doesn't matter what you would like to do, as long as you're passionate about it and you enjoy it. It's never something you see as difficult and hard. It's what you go to as you're relaxed and your release. And for me, being active and having a lifestyle like I have, it could be running, swimming, biking, it gives me that release and stress and tension of the. The normal workday. And at the same time, I'm able to go in and spend more time with a different community, my workout community, my workout family. So it's where you meet most of your new friends at the same time when you go out and enjoy yourself on a hike or jog or walk.
[00:26:40] Speaker B: I hope that you've made some new friends through the programs here. And of course, you already had friends in Georgetown because this is where you're from.
So tell me, what's it like to. To talk to all these kids? I think we've got several hundred this year who, you know, look at you as the.
The epitome of what they would like to be someday.
[00:27:01] Speaker E: I always say the same thing to a bunch of kids that I meet with here in this area, which is no one actually achieves success or claim or reaches their goals without others coming to help them. And I feel the people who's helped me growing up in Georgetown, I should do the same thing for the kids in my community to come back so that any goals or expectations they are trying to attain, they've got someone who's from their own town who's actually achieved some success and is willing to share their passion and their experiences with them so that they can reach that same goal. So it's always enlightening to be able to just share some of my experiences with the kids from my hometown.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: So you'll be talking with kids and then you'll be talking with the senior citizens and our guacamole sports Classic. And they do always so love talking to you and hanging out with you. Beth, what else would you say to people who are planning to come out this weekend?
[00:28:05] Speaker D: So we also neglected to mention the highlight of the weekend. Antoine has been gracious to approve a rematch with Forest the squirrel. So that will take place also on Saturday.
Forest has been working out, so I don't know, it might be looking good for the squirrel this year. But, but Anton, you are such a good sport and that he is. And that's, I mean, that's just one of the things that makes him so special and that I hope people come out and meet him. Everything we throw at him, he's like, oh, sure, I'll do that. Oh sure, you know, I'll go hike, I'll go do whatever. So next year, who knows, we might add a paddle to the advent.
But he's just so gracious to everybody and, and so wonderful to work with and just hope people will come out and embrace him as he has done.
[00:28:53] Speaker B: Our community and the kids do so love that race. They love to see Mr. Maybank race that squirrel.
So please, everybody, come out this weekend. You don't have to to be an athlete. You.
It's a good family event. It's good for all ages. Good for anybody who just wants to come out and have a good time and meet one of Olympic heroes. So, Beth, do you have times and any other details you'd like to share?
[00:29:22] Speaker D: So, yes, Xander, Sports Classic will get underway around 10:10am on Friday. Today, the hike will be this afternoon, 3:00, Scriven street courthouse parking lot. And then the track and field event will start at 9 on Saturday.
[00:29:39] Speaker B: Okay, and how long is that going to run? If people just want to drop in, can't maybe make it out right at nine.
[00:29:45] Speaker D: We'll be on the track for several hours because we've got several special relays that we like to do. Our kids really like to, to hear from Mr. Maybank. Of course, he's going to be giving them some motivational talking and, and some tips, hopefully. And then of course, we'll have the, the race with Forest a little bit later in the morning, but several hours, so stop.
[00:30:09] Speaker B: Who knows, maybe one of those kids is our next Olympic gold medalist.
[00:30:12] Speaker D: Might be.
[00:30:12] Speaker B: It could happen.
[00:30:13] Speaker E: Absolutely.
[00:30:15] Speaker B: All right. Well, Antoine, thank you so much for joining us today. I look forward to seeing you around and about today and tomorrow.
[00:30:23] Speaker E: Thank you. I look forward to seeing you soon.
[00:30:28] Speaker F: That's it for first Friday with Georgetown County. Thank you for listening as always. I'd like to wrap up with a few important dates for things that are happening throughout this month.
Today at 1pm at the Georgetown Airport, we'll have a groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of our secondary Runway. On May 9, we'll have a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Murrell's Inlet Boat Landing. This event begins at 11am on Saturday, May 10, we'll have our annual Take a Kid fishing event at Eight Oaks Park. This event is from 9am to noon and is great for kids of all ages. Bring the whole family. Fishing supplies will be provided. County Council meetings this month will take place at 5:30pm on May 13 and May 27 in County Council Chambers.
The Planning Commission meets this month on May 15th at 5:30pm also in council chambers on May 7th at the Georgetown Library Auditorium. The library will host a special Mother's Day Tea. This event is great for moms with little girls and it's free. Registration is required.
The event begins at 10:30am on May 20th. Georgetown County Parks and Recreation will team up with the Waccamaw center for Mental Health to host the annual Mind and Body Health and Wellness Fair at Howard Auditorium. This event is from 9am to 2pm and is free for anyone to attend.
Find more events that are taking place this month on our website
[email protected] we always have lots going on. Also in between podcasts, keep up with us via our newsletter and our website. You can find recent news
[email protected] newsroom once again, thanks for listening to First Friday with Georgetown County. We hope to see you next month.
