Plumbers in Johns Island, SC

The $75 million in funding that Charleston County Council approved for the Mark Clark extension project last week has the potential to be transformative for Charleston County and Johns Island in three ways, but not in ways council members or residents may think.

First, the project could be financially transformative in the short-term because it could be the largest county financial debacle since the millions “invested” in the former Naval Hospital.

Why? Because council is betting taxpayer money that a slew of low-probability events take place that make this $75 million bet a sure winner.

These events include betting that:

These bets don’t even include the bet that the state Joint Bond Review Committee will shirk its fiduciary responsibility and approve the infrastructure bank’s request for matching funds. This despite Charleston County having no real plan to raise the additional funds needed for the project.

If this low-probability bet is lost, county taxpayers will not only be out $75 million, but they also would have to reimburse the infrastructure bank for 50% of all funds it provided. And we would have lost $75 million that could have been spent on making much-needed improvements to our roads now.

Second, the project could be financially transformative for Charleston County in the long-term since the true cost of the project will likely be much greater than $2.2 billion.

Why? Because of the intergovernmental agreement Charleston County signed with the infrastructure bank and the state Department of Transportation, the county is solely responsible for all additional costs. These costs include any cost overruns and lawsuits; funds for bond servicing; and the cost to upgrade River Road to accommodate the traffic from this project.

These costs could easily add up to an additional several hundred million more dollars. Just imagine how the bond rating agencies will assess the county’s creditworthiness with this unbounded financial obligation.

Third, the project could be transformative to Johns Island because the Lowcountry character of the island would be lost forever.

Why? Because large road projects like these attract large “Anywhere USA” residential developments with their multitude of cars, big box stores and national franchises that push out local businesses. They also dislocate long-time residents. All of this would greatly and adversely impact our quality of life and worsen traffic congestion.

If you need some examples of this, just look to Mount Pleasant and the Cainhoy Peninsula.

Once the Ravenel Bridge was completed, growth in Mount Pleasant exploded. The town is now grappling with its growth and congestion at nearly every Town Council meeting. For example, the town recently announced it will perform an in-depth study to see what can be done to reduce the number of vehicles traveling on roads throughout the town. The study is not about building new roads but managing traffic on existing ones.

Without Interstate 526, the Cainhoy Peninsula was not attractive to developers. Now, there are plans to build 9,000 homes there and to fill vast stretches of wetlands — not to mention the eventual dislocation of long-time residents.

Even without the 9,000 Cainhoy houses, I-526 is currently so congested that the state and federal governments (not Charleston County) are looking to spend billions of dollars to try to relieve this congestion.

This is not the future Johns Islanders want.

There will be those who say that this is a much-needed project. This despite effective lower-cost alternatives that do not alter our island forever.

There will be those who say that residents are overwhelmingly in support of this project. This despite the latest DOT survey showing that fewer than half of them support the project.

There will be those who say that we need a third way on and off the island. This despite, in comparison, that we have only 10% more daily traffic than Hilton Head on our bridges. Yet we have two bridges with eight available lanes, while Hilton Head is about to spend millions to expand its single bridge from four to only six lanes.

Do we need to improve safety and reduce congestion on our roads to improve our quality of life? Yes.

Is betting the county’s short-term and long-term financial future, losing the soul of what makes Johns Island who we are, ignoring effective lower-cost alternatives and ignoring the desires of the majority of the residents the way to do it? No.

So what will happen?

The county could be saved from itself if the Joint Bond Review Committee votes against authorizing the matching funds. Then we can get back to the business of improving safety and reducing congestion on our roads.

John Zlogar is a cofounder of Rational Roads for Johns Island.

JOHNS ISLAND, S.C. – Matthew Doyle and Garrett Risner both tied for seventh on the individual leaderboard as the Elon University men's golf team finished in eighth place at the Battle at Briar's Creek on Tuesday. College of Charleston hosted the event at the par-72, 7,175-yard Golf Club at Briar's Creek.

FINAL RESULTS

"It was nice to get the spring season started," head coach Don Hill said. "Briar's Creek is a wonderful golf course, and the College of Charleston was a fantastic host."

Doyle completed the final two holes of his second round this morning and posted the low round of the tournament with a 66. Doyle and Risner both finished with a 54-hole total of 215, eight shots behind Wake Forest's Mark Power, who won the individual competition by four shots with a 54-hole score of 207.

Elon carded a 6-over par 294 in the final round to finish with a 54-hole total of 882 (+18). Wake Forest won the event with a total score of 851 (-13), while Memphis placed second and was the only other team to finish under par with a 54-hole score of 860 (-4).

"We did a lot of good things physically this week moving the ball from point A to point B. Our ball striking was better than anticipated for the first event in three months. However, our short games and putting left a lot to be desired," Hill continued. "We look forward to getting back home and getting some work in for a couple of days before we leave for Florida."

HIGHLIGHTS

2023 Battle at Briar's Creek Feb. 6-7 | Johns Island, S.C.

Team Standings 1. Wake Forest (291-282-278--851) -13 2. Memphis (289-285-286--860) -4 3. UNC Wilmington (292-279-294--865) +1 4. Kentucky (290-286-291--867) +3 5. Virginia Tech (290-294-287--871) +7 6. Campbell (287-296-292--875) +11 7. Lipscomb (289-300-290--879) +15 8. Elon (297-291-294--882) +18 9. Augusta (304-290-291--885) +21 10. Boston College (302-295-290--887) +23 11. College of Charleston (298-295-295) +24

Individual Standings T7. Matthew Doyle (75-66-74--215) -1 T7. Garrett Risner (69-73-73--215) -1 T48. Juan Callejo Ropero (78-76-71--225) +9 T59. Oliver Rotermund (77-76-78--231) +15 T62. Timmy Gannon (76-80-76--232) +16

--ELON--

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) -Thursday a resolution was filed that could begin an impeachment inquiry after a $3.5 billion accounting.

Representative Gil Gatch (R-Summerville) filed the resolution directing the South Carolina House Judiciary Committee to begin an inquiry into if South Carolina Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom should be impeached.

Eckstrom told the Senate Finance Committee in February that the state’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Reports have overstated how much reserve cash the state had. The error accounted for $3.5 billion over a ten-year period.

After the error was reported, a dozen Democratic state representatives filed a letter requesting an audit and further inquiry into the error.

Rep. Gil Gatch said, “This is a grave miscarriage of the public trust. If there was ever a reason for which the House should act on our authority to impeach, this rises to the top. At the end of the day, this is a $3.5 billion error, and we must hold the responsible parties accountable.”

Co-sponsors on Thursday’s resolution included Rep. Heather Bauer (D-Columbia) and Rep. Matthew Leber (R-John’s Island). Bauer was among the representatives that filed the earlier audit letter.

Bauer said, “I’ve asked for a full audit, and I got a meeting” She continued,“This has happened before, and he was warned. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t resigned yet. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

The South Carolina Constitution gives the SC House of Representatives the ability to impeach statewide officials for ‘serious crimes or misconduct in office.’ If the request is approved by two-thirds of the House of Representatives the question of impeachment would head to the South Carolina Senate.

Rep. Gatch said, “South Carolinians deserve better. We must demand transparency and accountability from our elected officials.”

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THIS WEEK The University of Iowa women’s golf team heads to the Sunshine State for the Momentum Transportation UNF Collegiate from March 6-7 in Jacksonville, Florida. The 54-hole tournament will be played at the Jacksonville Golf and Country Club with a 36-hole shotgun start on Monday followed by the final 18 holes on Tuesday.

FOLLOW LIVE Fans can follow the tournament via live scoring at www.Golfstat.com.

THE LINEUP The Hawkeyes will send five golfers to Florida for the tournament. Iowa’s lineup will include freshman Madison Dabagia, freshman Riley Lewis, freshman Shannyn Vogler, sophomore Paula Miranda and senior Jordan Amelon.

THE FIELD Iowa will compete against a field of 17 teams that includes: Arkansas State, Dayton, East Carolina, Charlotte, Eastern Kentucky, Furman, Iowa, Jacksonville State, Kennesaw State, Memphis, North Florida, Oral Roberts, Penn State, Sam Houston, South Alabama, Western Kentucky and Xavier.

THE COURSE The Jacksonville Golf and Country Club is located near the Jacksonville beach on the Atlantic Ocean. The course received Jacksonville’s best golf course three years in a row and has received five stars on Golf Pass. The course features pristine fairways and immaculately maintained greens to present a great opportunity for all skill levels throughout the 5,964 yards, par-18 layout. The featured hole of the course is the 425-yard 18th hole with water and bunkers surrounding most of the green. The course was designed by Clyde Johnson in 1989.

LAST TIME OUT The Hawkeyes competed at the Westbrook Spring Invitational in Arizona, where they placed 12th out of 14 teams on Feb. 26-27. Iowa fired a 288 final round score — the team’s second-best round of the season — and the 879 total is just three shots off a season best. • Freshman Madison Dabagia led the team, firing a 216 total (72-73-71) to tie for 20th-place. The 54-hole score was the best of the Indiana native’s career. • Freshman Riley Lewis was the second highest finisher, tying for 29th place with a 218 (75-72-71). Lewis’ final 36 holes of the tournament was her second-best two-round total (143) behind her 139 at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate.

FRESHMAN DOMINANCE A trio of Hawkeye freshmen – Madison Dabagia, Riley Lewis and Shannyn Vogler – are three of the team’s top golfers this season. • Dabagia, who had a career-best eighth place finish at the Tulane Classic, leads the team with a 73.67 scoring average this spring over six rounds. The Indiana native has led the team in both spring events, posting a pair of top-20 finishes. • Lewis has posted back-to-back top-30 finishes en route to her team-best 74.83 scoring average over 15 rounds in 2022-23. The Illinois native has tallied 18 birdies this spring and she had a hole in one at the Tulane Classic on hole 17. • Vogler has 16 birdies over six rounds where she has posted a 76.16 scoring average. The Moline, Illinois, native has a 75.71 scoring average over 17.5 rounds this season.

LOOKING AHEAD Iowa will head to the East Coast from March 13-14, traveling to Johns Island, South Carolina, for the Briars Creek Invitational.

Golfstat Leaderboard

HOUSTON – The Illinois women's golf team recorded a 10th-place finish at the ICON Invitational after carding a final round 293 (+5). The Fighting Illini ended the tournament as a team at nine-under, tied for the sixth-lowest 54-hole tournament total in program history.

Isabel Sy shot a final round 74 (+2) to finish fifth, a career best. It was Sy's second Top 5 finish, and third Top 10 finish, of the season. Her tournament total of nine-under was also a career-low mark for a 54-hole event. The junior's 17 total birdies were tied for third-most in the tournament.

Crystal Wang finished tied for 30th at one-under after her even-par final round of 72. Wang collected 40 total pars during the tournament, tied for fourth most among the field. The Diamond Bar, Calif., native has placed in the Top 30 in 10-straight events.

Siyan Chen fired a final round 74 (+2) to finish tied for 48th, Mattie Frick posted a third round 73 (+1) to place tied for 51st and Anna Ritter shot a 75 (+3) to end tied for 55th.

Texas A&M took home the team title with a 54-hole total of 830 (-34). The Aggies' Zoe Slaughter captured the individual crown with a tournament total of 198 (-18).

The Illini will be back in action on Monday, March 13, where they begin play at the Briar's Creek Invitational in Johns Island, S.C., hosted by the College of Charleston.