Here’s how Beaufort Co. plans to spend $2.7 million in Alljoy. ‘They’re not working for us’

Beaufort County plans to spend $2.7 million on infrastructure improvements in the Alljoy community of Bluffton, but not to fix the chronic drainage and flooding problems that have plagued the area for years.

The County Council has passed an ordinance, on first reading, authorizing purchase of a parcel of land, for $1.93 million, to expand the parking and provide a public access pier at the Alljoy Boat Landing. The county, which owns the landing, would pay for the three-quarters of an acre next to it with money from the General Fund.

All of this is not sitting well with some residents, who’ve been asking for help to alleviate flooding for years.

“They’re not working for us, it’s almost like they’re working against us,” said Bob Williams, who has lived in Alljoy for nearly two decades. “The same people that are saying they’re protecting our waterways are actually destroying them.”

County Councilman Mark Lawson, who represents the Alljoy community on the council, described the purchase as a “once in a lifetime opportunity,” when he voted in favor of the purchase.

The $1.9 million will not only buy the land that’s for the sale, but the house that sits upon it as well. The current owners contacted the county when they decided to sell, knowing the county could use the land to improve the landing, Lawson said.

“It [the house] hasn’t been up for sale for 53 years,” Lawson said. “So it’s once in a lifetime, if we really want to try to improve and expand the landing. If we didn’t purchase it now and it sold to somebody else, it might be another 53 years before that opportunity comes up.”

The county would also use $750,000 of the 2018 infrastructure sales tax to add a sidewalk along Alljoy Road going from Burnt Church Road to Thomas Lawton Drive.

The flooding in the area sometimes gets so bad it overfills drainage ditches and makes its way onto the road and into the May River. Even worse, sometimes that water is filled with waste from inundated septic tanks.

Residents feel the county is ignoring the flooding and instead using money in the area to attract tourists. Many have said they would rather see the money go toward fixing the drainage issues.

“There’s certain things that are seriously priorities here and it’s not putting in pavement to encourage more people to come down,” resident Laura Wilson said.

“I walk three miles every day,” said Tammy Ray, another longtime Alljoy resident. “It’s peaceful, a natural, beautiful place to walk and I just feel in my heart that if they try to concrete it down, this huge pathway, it’s not going to be that way anymore.”

There’s also fear by some that the addition of more impervious surfaces, such as concrete or asphalt, will make the flooding worse.

Deputy County Administrator for engineering Jared Fralix said he is confident the county’s work won’t make things worse because of the direction the water flows. The county also has not decided whether the improved lot will be paved, he said.

Minor storm water improvements will come with the parking improvements, Fralix said, but any major improvements would required more engineering work.

When will flooding be addressed?

The county is in the early stages of handling the flooding problem, Fralix said.

The first step would be to conduct a study of the area, which could take anywhere from six to 12 months, according to Fralix. Then, the engineering design and permitting process would need to be completed before construction could begin, meaning any solution to the issue is well well into the future.

“Nothing’s perfect, but we are making progress,” Lawson conceded. “Give us a little more time and I think they’ll look back and see that we were on the right track and things will be different in years to come.”

Without the initial study, there’s no estimate for how much it would cost to fix the flooding in Alljoy, Fralix said.

Before any changes are made to the property, a proposal would be presented to the community, county spokesman Chris Ophardt said. The county will use feedback from the community before submitting an improvement plan to the County Council, he said.

Fralix said the county can address both issues at the same time.

“Just because we’re working on one project doesn’t mean that we don’t have the attention to work on multiple projects concurrently,” he said.

Lawson agreed.

“Nothing’s perfect, but we are making progress,” he said. “Give us a little more time and I think they’ll look back and see that we were on the right track and things will be different in years to come.”