City of Myrtle Beach - State of the City Address

It is my pleasure to report to you that the City of Myrtle Beach is doing very well on this, its 70^th birthday. I thank you for the opportunity to serve as your mayor for the past two years. It has been more exiting than I expected, and I believe you will agree that, together, we have accomplished much in a very short time.

On behalf of the entire City Council, may I say how grateful we are to you for giving us this opportunity to serve. We have a good team in place on Council, and the City Manager and his staff bring experience, talent and dedication to the table. They really take that “first in service” pledge seriously, as you know if you’ve had the opportunity to work with them.

I hope you will agree that we are headed in the right direction and that the City of Myrtle Beach is prospering. After all, we live, work and play where the rest of the country comes to vacation! We have the best of both worlds, and I hope you love living here as much as I do.

Let’s talk about the state of Myrtle Beach today. We are on the edge of a new era, thanks to the groundwork put in place by this council, this staff and you, the residents and businesspeople of Myrtle Beach. If you are like me, you look around at the new projects, the new public facilities, the new roads, the new trees, the new parks, and say, “Wow!” Myrtle Beach is doing great. Let’s take a quick tour and list just a few of our accomplishments and successes.

Underground Utilities… Ocean Boulevard, Mr. Joe White Avenue, Kings Highway, Harrelson Boulevard, Grissom Parkway, 21^st Avenue North. Thanks to a first-in-the-state partnership with Santee Cooper, the City of Myrtle Beach is leading the way when it comes to placing utility lines underground.

And what a difference it makes! Drive down Ocean Boulevard or Grissom Parkway and notice how uncluttered they are without the overhead lines. This city made that happen, and we thank our utility partners, especially Santee Cooper.

Our Fire and Police Departments… The Myrtle Beach Fire Department operates six fire stations and is one of only 50 departments in the nation with a full ISO 1 rating. Your fire insurance rates are lower because of that rating, but the firefighters don’t do it alone. That excellent rating is also based on our fine Public Works staff and their water distribution system, as well as on the speedy service of the telecommunicators in the Police Department.

The men and women of the Police Department handle every situation with great dedication and professionalism. Let’s face it, we have a very busy community – the population increases 10-fold during the summer months – and our Police and Fire Departments offer top-notch service year-round.

Recreation Centers… In the last few years, Pepper Geddings Recreation Center has been remodeled and expanded, Canal Street Recreation Center has been remodeled and expanded, and the Base Recreation Center has been remodeled. Our fourth recreation center, Crabtree Gymnasium, is in the midst of a 6 million dollar makeover and expansion that will re-open this fall overlooking the beautiful Grand Park Lake and the new Market Common.

Just think about our parks and recreation offerings! We have four recreation centers, two indoor pools, a tennis center, a public golf course, nearly a dozen ball fields, some four-dozen landscaped parks, and even a park for dogs. Oh, and we maintain nine-and-a-half miles of beach every day, too.

New roads… Farrow Parkway, Grissom Parkway, Harrelson Boulevard, and Mr. Joe White Avenue. These were much needed additions to our transportation network, and they tie in nicely with projects west of the Waterway, such as Carolina Bays Parkway and Veterans Highway.

Next year, the Fantasy Harbor Bridge will open, connecting Harrelson Boulevard to 501, and design work is underway on a new interchange at US 17 Bypass and Farrow Parkway. Between the city, the county and the state, this region as a whole has spent well more than a billion dollars on new roads in the last decade, with more on the way.

The Market Common… In just three weeks, we will cut the ribbon on a beautiful new urban village, right in the heart of what once was the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. Who knew in 1993, when the old Myrtle Beach Air Force Base closed, that it ever could be transformed into such a magnificent destination?

I’ll tell you who knew…. The Myrtle Beach Planning Department knew, and the Myrtle Beach City Council believed in that dream. City Council held fast to the vision for 15 long years, and now that dream is coming to life between the old Front Gate and the old Back Gate.

City Council and the planners had partners in that dream, namely the Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority. They, too, believed in it for many long years and worked to make it real. More recently, developers like Dan McCaffrey and Rob O’Neal – better known to you as “Mr. Market Common” and “Mr. Withers Preserve” – took hold of that dream.

In early April, we will awaken to a new Myrtle Beach destination with the opening of the Market Common. You will have a chance to see the beautiful parks, the new facilities, and the new “live-work” atmosphere that we’ve talked about for so long.

This new era I’m talking about includes Coastal Grand Mall, Grande Dunes, the Cal Ripken Experience, even the Sheraton Myrtle Beach Convention Center Hotel. All of these are part of the new Myrtle Beach that we enjoy and appreciate.

Neighborhoods and shopping centers, residents and businesses, locals and tourists… Keeping these competing forces happy is one of our biggest challenges. As a Council and a community, we must constantly strike a balance between residential and commercial, because that duality is what we are.

Myrtle Beach is a small Southern town with a great beach that welcomes millions of visitors every year. Those visitors are the reason we residents have so much from which to choose. And our residents are what make Myrtle Beach so inviting for all those visitors.

Maintaining that balance, addressing those different yet interconnected needs, is the purpose of our Comprehensive Plan, and the Comprehensive Plan is one of the reasons we are gathered tonight. Here are a few facts and figures to help put today’s Myrtle Beach into perspective.

Economic Development and Tourism… Each year, the city provides $2.6 million in accommodations tax revenue to the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce to market the Grand Strand and bring more visitors to our area. Sports tourism continues to grow, and we now have 45 weekends of baseball and softball tournaments each year.

The Beach Ball Classic, which I know very well, brings thousands of visitors to the area to watch 32 of the nation’s best high school teams compete in basketball. More than 10,000 people competed in the Myrtle Beach Marathon this past February, and it’s growing every year!

This year we were honored to host not one, but two presidential debates, and the sand sculptures of the candidates were on the front page of 43 major newspapers across the country. Myrtle Beach was on the national stage in a new way.

Your City Council and staff, together with the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, local businesses and volunteers, and our state and national representatives, made that possible. New eyes were looking at Myrtle Beach and all that we have to offer during those debates, and we will realize the benefits for years to come.

Housing… The city participates in the Total Care for the Homeless Coalition and helped create Home Alliance, Inc., a non-profit corporation dedicated to finding solutions for homelessness. We have helped create the Alliance Inn, which provides transitional housing, as well as Balsam Place, a 25-unit facility for those with even more challenges than just being homeless.

We assist our residents in finding work, as well as counseling for drug, alcohol or mental health needs. The “Help Us Help You” effort, started by our Police Department, is proving successful, too.

Neighborhoods… Many of you took part in the Working to Improve Neighborhoods, better known as “WIN program,” and we definitely are Working to Improve Neighborhoods today.

In the Canal and Nance Street area, we’ve created a neighborhood plan, changed some zoning to give property owners better tools, and appropriated money to help bring houses up to code. Increased attention to code enforcement and property maintenance is a direct result of your feedback. And the neighborhoods look better already.

We’ve also established eight Neighborhood Watch programs to help you help your neighbors. These Neighborhood Watch groups are becoming more than just crime watches. They are – and should be – ongoing neighborhood support groups.

Community Facilities… Chapin Memorial Library is the only city-owned library in South Carolina. It’s a great resource, providing access to both books and computers, as well as offering an after school “homework help” program for children.

Last year, the Myrtle Beach Convention Center hosted 42 conventions and trade shows, 36 corporate or public events, 26 competitions and concerts and another 50 meetings or events. In all, more than 546,000 people attended an event at the Convention Center.

More good news! The Sheraton Convention Center Hotel has recovered from a slow start and is doing quite well today. We are very optimistic about its future and its profitability.

The city’s tax rate has remained unchanged for five years in a row, and this past year, we managed to lower the water and sewer bills for nearly a quarter of our customers – many of them senior citizens – by restructuring the rates.

Stormwater lakes and ponds are incorporated into our parks and public projects. We require commercial developments to incorporate stormwater management into their projects, too. The city has implemented a rigorous stormwater maintenance program to address both flooding and water quality.

We have constructed three deep-water ocean outfalls – one at 25^th Avenue South, one at 14^th Avenue North and one at 52^nd Avenue North – to provide much needed stormwater drainage. In the process, we’ve removed unsightly pipes from the beach.

These outfalls are expensive, but necessary, with an average cost of $10 million each. Fortunately, our lawmakers in Congress are ready to help, thanks to an 18 million dollar authorization for more stormwater work.

On behalf of the city, I extend our thanks to South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Congressmen Henry Brown and James Clyburn for their help in securing this much-needed federal support.

The city has built new neighborhood sidewalks along Pridgen Road, 67^th Avenue North, 76^th Avenue North, Pine Lake Drive and other residential streets. On Ocean Boulevard, bigger and better sidewalks are a major benefit of the oceanfront Planned Unit Developments. Those sidewalks, along with the underground utilities, have transformed the Boulevard.

Myrtle Beach is actively involved in the East Coast Greenway Project stretching from Maine to Florida. So we have provided bicycle lanes and multi- purpose paths along major roads to accommodate cyclist, walkers and runners. Seven miles of bicycle paths have been completed, and five additional miles are on the drawing board. Grand Park, with its wide multi-purpose paths, will be the crown jewel in the city’s park system.

We also work with the schools to help direct traffic and enforce speed limits in the school zones. At the request of several neighborhoods during the WIN process, the city paid for 10 solar-lighted bus shelters to keep our school children safe and dry. Coast RTA also has a new transfer station on 10^th Avenue North, near the Farmers Market, for locals and visitors to use, thanks to the city’s partnership.

Speaking of cooperation, the city is part of the new Coastal Alliance, a working group of mayors and top officials from along the Grand Strand. We also partner with the Horry County League of Cities, the Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments, the State Housing Authority, our local higher-education institutions, the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and the Hospitality Association.

I welcome a closer working relationship with the Horry County Council and with our Legislative Delegation, and I know the Council members do, too. We look forward to improved air service at Myrtle Beach International Airport and to the construction of Interstate 73/74.

Recreation… I’ve mentioned our parks and recreation centers, but please know that the city is actively protecting our natural resources. During the past decade, the city has strengthened its tree protection ordinance and its landscaping requirements. We planted 520 new trees last year on public property and maintained nearly 2,000 more. Myrtle Beach is proudly celebrating its 11^th year as a Tree City USA.

We are maintaining and rebuilding our dune walkovers, increasing our handicapped accessibility, participating in a multi-million dollar beach renourishment project this year, and picking up litter wherever we find it. Our crews in Cultural and Leisure Services and Public Works are the unsung heroes, for they keep Myrtle Beach looking good.

Part of that well-maintained city image involves attractive signage, architectural design and landscaping. Our local volunteers on the Planning Commission, the Community Appearance Board and other committees provide an outstanding service.

Even our street name signs are going through a facelift, thanks to the WIN process. We are adding neighborhood names, as well as number ranges, to make it easier to find your destination.

Preserving our history is important, too. The Chapin Foundation and Chapin Memorial Library helped produce a Myrtle Beach history book and a DVD of our community’s early days. The city, the private sector and several dedicated bands of volunteers have preserved two important structures, the Myrtle Beach Train Depot on Broadway and the Colored School Museum and Education Center on Mr. Joe White Avenue.

The history of the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base will live on through historic markers, museums, a walking trail, a Purple Heart monument and a memorial wall of service. By the way, that memorial wall will be available to recognize any military and civilian personnel who worked at the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. Of course, the historic planes that flew from the base are now on display at Warbird Park. If you haven’t seen these jets in person, be sure to stop by.

Let me take a moment to thank our partners. I’ve mentioned the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority Board and its executive director, Buddy Styers. The Board is a great financial supporter of Myrtle Beach and has helped transform the Air Force Base into what you see today, and what you will see tomorrow.

The Redevelopment Authority has pledged $6 million toward a seven-field recreation complex near Grand Park, along with three $3 million toward the Crabtree Gym expansion project.

The remaining $3 million for Crabtree Gym is coming from the private sector, namely the three main developers, McCaffrey Interests, RWO Acquisitions and Lennar. They see the value of investing in their community, and I genuinely appreciate their support.

I am confident that we have an additional 10 million dollar private-sector commitment for a natatorium – that’s an Olympic-sized swimming pool – and I look forward to ironing out those details.

We have other partners, too. The Horry County Schools have been a partner for many years. The Tennis Center is a joint effort, as is the Historic Myrtle Beach Colored School Museum and Education Center.

This year, the school district and the city have agreed to share ownership of Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium so that, together, we can make $3 million worth of improvements. These include a new artificial playing surface, a state-of-the-art eight-lane rubberized track, new visitors seats and new team facilities. That’s what I call teamwork.

We also are partnering with the Grand Strand YMCA on a new facility built on city land across the Bypass from 62^nd Avenue North. It will be a full-service recreation center, and city residents will receive a 25-percent discount on membership. The 12-acre site will feature a north-end dog park, like the extremely popular Barc Park on Mallard Lake Drive.

City Council and senior staff will hold their annual budget retreat later this month, and one of the big projects we will discuss is a performing arts center. I look forward to working with the arts community to make this center a reality. We have a good option available to us with the Convention Center plan, and I hope that the arts community will find the funding it needs in the very near future.

Speaking of projects, like you, I eagerly await what one of our biggest partners will do on two of the city’s most prominent sites. We encourage Burroughs & Chapin Company to bring forth its plan for the former Pavilion property and the former Myrtle Square Mall.

These two prime locations provide opportunities very much like the success we have witnessed on the Air Force Base. I look forward to reviewing their proposals and ideas.

Myrtle Beach does face a few challenges. I don’t want you to think everything is perfect, so here’s a short list. First, we need support from our lawmakers in Columbia. Let us have Home Rule, and let local governments across South Carolina make decisions for themselves.

Myrtle Beach is the backbone of South Carolina’s largest industry: Tourism. The lawmakers need to be part of our economic team. I ask the legislators, please do not try to run our cities and towns and counties and schools from Columbia.

Let the local elected leaders and the local voters do their jobs. And let cities annex those urban areas immediately around them so that we may grow and in turn help South Carolina grow. Our cities are our business incubators. Strong cities make for a strong state.

Second, we must continue to provide a consistently high standard of service at the lowest possible cost to you, our taxpayers. Myrtle Beach runs a tight ship. We are very conservative, budget-wise, and I’m sure you appreciate that. But I know that you also want more services and more facilities.

Our challenge, as a Council and a city, is to work together to find the funding to make those improvements and enhancements. Our quality of life is good, but it could be so much better with more corporate participation.

I encourage the companies that thrive here to follow the lead of McCaffrey and RWO and Lennar. One of those projects ready for private participation is the Boardwalk, which would stretch from the 14^th Avenue Pier to the Second Avenue Pier.

The city is fortunate to own that land on the oceanfront, and we have a design in hand. The Downtown Redevelopment Corporation is working on ways to fund what certainly would be a tremendous asset. That boardwalk is a great opportunity for the time-share industry to participate in.

Third, we must maintain a balance between our residents and our businesses, between our neighborhoods and our commercial districts. The city is in the midst of a zoning re-write that will address this balancing act and, I hope, smooth the way.

But I ask you to understand, too, that Myrtle Beach really is both of those things. We are a residential community, with neighborhoods and parks and schools and playgrounds, just as we’re also a tourism destination, with high-rise hotels and stores and shops and restaurants. Myrtle Beach is all of this, and our challenge is to recognize that fact and embrace it.

Finally, I want to ask two things of you, and I hope these are easy things. First, our recycling program is changing soon. We will be distributing free recycling bins to replace the blue bags, and I ask each of you to recycle. If you are recycling already, that’s great. Keep it up! If you haven’t been recycling, now is the time to start.

And the second thing is to ask that you participate in the 2010 U.S. Census when it arrives. Stand up and be counted! The Census is completely private. Your information will not be shared with anyone. But only with a full and accurate count will Myrtle Beach receive the state and federal financial support that it deserves.

You talked, and we listened, during the 1999 Comprehensive Plan re-write. I am proud to report tonight that we have addressed 510 of the 589 objectives and strategies in the Comprehensive Plan, and I have touched on many of those accomplishments this evening.

I now ask for your involvement and commitment in the 2009 Comprehensive Plan rewrite. Come to the public meetings. Be part of the process. Help build on the success that we call Myrtle Beach.

Thank you for listening to this first ever State of the City address. City Council and I welcome your feedback and your ideas. We want to hear from our residents and our neighbors and our visitors, and we want to hear from our businesspeople…. The merchants, restaurateurs and hoteliers.

My message tonight is that Myrtle Beach is very good and getting even better, and we need your input to help make Myrtle Beach the very best it can be.

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P.O. Drawer 2468

Myrtle Beach, SC 29578

Phone: (843) 918-1000

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e-mail: info@cityofmyrtlebeach.com