SOS – LAST CHANCE FOR FAIR YARDSTICK

We have been working for over 2 years to insert science, economics, transparency, and fairness into the Route 278 Corridor Project. It has not been an easy job, since egos, politics, and backrooms frequently dominate. The almost 4700-member Petition group has been enormously helpful.

One of our big wins is pushing for an Independent Engineering Review of this project. A statement of Work (SOW) for that passed County Council last week and is due for approval at Town Council this Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020, at 4 PM.

But a key section of that review keeps getting left out!

That section contains words as shown below that ensure that all alternatives must be measured over the same area, with the same fair yardstick.

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Corridor Definition: Endpoints are from the Moss Creek lights to an efficient connection with the Cross-island Parkway.

Measures:

-        Estimated Total Cost including construction, mitigation of concerns in Stoney, land acquisition, environmental mitigation, aesthetics, etc.

-        Performance: End-End delay, Capacity at a given Level of Service (as determined by computer simulation)

-        Issues, Pros, Cons

The alternatives to be measured may come from the Community, Local officials, SCDOT, or Consultant recommendations. But no matter where they come from, they must all be evaluated and reported using the same yardstick measures above.

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This is not a perfect system. But using it, including close public scrutiny, we can raise the odds that all plan costs, performance, and issues are fairly reported to us and that we can find and question errors and omissions that might bias one plan over another. After over 2 years, we have none of this today.

This was always a goal of the Independent Engineering Review. Stating this clearly and unambiguously in the SOW is essential, and will head off later arguments regarding interpretation.

Don’t let anyone kick this can down the road again, or differ it to some later Committee. That raises the odds of dilution and manipulation.

Without an independent fair and complete yardstick applied equally to all alternatives, we are all just wasting our time and money.

Please Email or call your representatives (see list below) to unambiguously add the Fair Yardstick words above to the Town’s Statement of Work at their Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2020 session. This is our last chance.    Thanks!

John J. McCann, Mayor

Cell: 843-422-3607
Fax: 843-342-6825
Email: JohnM@hiltonheadislandsc.gov 

Marc A. Grant, Ward 1

Cell: 843-368-1436
Email: MarcG@hiltonheadislandsc.gov 

William (Bill) D. Harkins, Mayor Pro-Tem, Ward 2

Cell: 843-301-0254
Fax: 843-681-4689
Email: WilliamH@hiltonheadislandsc.gov 

David Ames, Ward 3

Work: 843-686-3810
Cell: 843-816-2067
Email: DavidA@hiltonheadislandsc.gov 

Tamara Becker, Ward 4

Cell: 843-816-6372
Email: TamaraB@hiltonheadislandsc.gov 

Thomas W. Lennox, Ward 5
Home: 843-363-5790
Email: TomL@hiltonheadislandsc.gov 

Glenn Stanford, Ward 6

Cell: 843-338-1238
Email: GlennS@hiltonheadislandsc.gov   

Senator Tom Davis   

Email: tom@senatortomdavis.com   

ELECTRONIC COMMENTS

Public comments concerning agenda items can also be submitted electronically via the Town's Virtual Open Town Hall portal at https://hiltonheadislandsc.gov/opentownhall/  The portal will close 2 hours prior to the start of the scheduled meeting. This is agenda Item 12a: Discussion of the Independent Engineering Review of the U.S. 278 Gateway Corridor Project.

ADDRESS TOWN COUNCIL

Citizens who wish to address Town Council during the meeting by phone must contact the Town Clerk at 843.341.4701 no later than 12:00 p.m. the day of the meeting. Citizens speaking during the meeting will limit their comments to no longer than three (3) minutes and will conduct themselves in a manner appropriate to the decorum of the meeting, refraining from the use of profane, abusive, or obscene language.