Plumbers in North Charleston, SC

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - As the City of North Charleston grows and leaders work to rebalance the city’s districts, they want the public to get involved.

The city is holding a public meeting Tuesday and city leaders are encouraging residents to come look over the plan and share their thoughts or concerns. Redistricting is meant to make sure that each vote is counted equally throughout the city.

The population of North Charleston jumped more than 20% from around 97,000 in 2010 to around 117,000 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Ryan Johnson, the Public Information Officer for North Charleston, said every district will be affected.

Johnson said specifically, there has been a lot of growth along Dorchester Road, and he said expects the districts that fall within Dorchester County to be drawn smaller to account for population changes.

He said community input in this process is essential because these districts will determine the council member’s areas that will represent the public.

Click here to view the proposed maps and other data and reports from the City of North Charleston.

Tuesday’s public meeting starts at 5 p.m. and will be held on the third floor of North Charleston’s City Hall, located at 2500 City Hall Lane. The meeting can be viewed online here.

Johnson said residents who are unable to attend today’s meeting can submit comments online, or email written comments to [email protected]. The maps will also be on display at the Gethsemani Community Center, the Perry-Webb Community Center, the North Charleston Athletic Center and the north Charleston Aquatic Center for the next two weeks.

“We just want to encourage people to look at the new maps, look at the data, and all that’s been involved in that, and give us your opinion and your feedback,” Johnson said.

He said the city may make changes to the proposed draft after receiving public input.

From there, the map will go through the typical ordinance process, requiring a couple of city council readings before being officially adopted.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

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Teams looking to get hot at just the right time meet when the Charleston Southern Buccaneers face the High Point Panthers in the first round of the Big South Conference Tournament on Wednesday. The Buccaneers (9-20, 5-13 Big South), who last won the conference tournament in 1997, is just 2-11 in their last 13 games. The Panthers (14-16, 6-12), who have never won the Big South Conference Tournament, has finished second twice, the last coming in 2004. Charleston Southern is coming off an 85-59 win over Presbyterian on Saturday, while High Point dropped an 84-78 decision at Winthrop that same day.

Tip-off from Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina, is set for 6 p.m. ET. The Panthers are 2.5-point favorites in the latest Charleston Southern vs. High Point odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while the over/under is set at 153.5. Before making any High Point vs. Charleston Southern picks, be sure to check out the college basketball predictions and betting advice from the SportsLine Projection Model.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every Division I college basketball game 10,000 times. The model enters Week 17 of the season 76-46 on all-top rated college basketball picks this season, returning more than $1,600 for $100 players. Anybody who has followed it has seen huge returns.

Now, the model has set its sights on Charleston Southern vs. High Point and just locked in its picks and CBB predictions. You can visit SportsLine now to see the model's picks. Here are the college basketball odds and betting lines for Charleston Southern vs. High Point:

Featured Game | High Point Panthers vs. Charleston Southern Buccaneers

Moneyline

Spread

Total

HIGHPT

-155 BET NOW -2.5 -110 BET NOW o153.5 -110 BET NOW

CHARSO

+135 BET NOW +2.5 -110 BET NOW u153.5 -110 BET NOW

Why High Point can cover

Sophomore Abdoulaye Thiam has been red hot of late. He is coming off a near double-double in Saturday's loss at Winthrop with 14 points and nine rebounds. He also scored 24 points in an 81-66 win over South Carolina Upstate on Feb. 18. In two games against Charleston Southern, Thiam is averaging 13 points and 5.5 rebounds. He is averaging 13.7 points, four rebounds and 1.5 assists per game on the year.

Senior Bryant Randleman is also on a bit of a roll, scoring in double figures in three of his last four games. He scored 10 points and dished off five assists against Winthrop. Prior to that, he scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds in a 69-64 win over Radford on Feb. 22. For the season, Randleman is averaging 8.6 points, 3.2 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals.

Why Charleston Southern can cover

Sophomore guard Claudell Harris Jr. helps power the Buccaneers. He is averaging 17.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. He is connecting on 47.3% of his field goals and 79.6% of his free throws. Harris has been dominant in the two games against High Point, scoring 34 points and grabbing seven rebounds on Jan. 11, and scoring 18 points and dishing out five assists in the Feb. 4 meeting.

Junior guard Tahlik Chavez has also been dominant in the two games against High Point. After scoring 16 points in the 37-point win, he followed that up with 31 points before fouling out in the Feb. 4 matchup. He is coming off a 19-point and four-assist effort against Presbyterian on Saturday. For the season, Chavez is averaging 11.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists, and he is connecting on 80.7% of his free throws.

How to make Charleston Southern vs. High Point picks

SportsLine's model is leaning under on the point total, projecting the teams to combine for 145 points. It also says one side of the spread hits in nearly 60% of simulations. You can only get the model's pick at SportsLine.

So who wins Charleston Southern vs. High Point? And which side of the spread hits nearly 60% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Charleston Southern vs. High Point spread to jump on, all from the advanced model that has returned more than $1,600 on its college basketball picks this season, and find out.

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The changes to the projected NCAA Tournament bracket today are all at the bottom. Rutgers, Wisconsin and Michigan lost on Thursday night, causing a shakeup around the cut-line.

Wisconsin's loss to Purdue at home -- the Badgers' sixth home loss of the season -- has knocked them off the bracket for now. Wisconsin is the first team out this morning, and as a result, have been replaced by Penn State, which also moved past Michigan after the Wolverines lost at Illinois in double overtime.

Rutgers dropped into the first four after a loss at last-place Minnesota, the Scarlet Knights' fourth Quad 3 loss of the season. In fact, the last three teams in are from the Big Ten.

After losing four of its last six, Purdue got its first win in a row Thursday night at Wisconsin. The Boilermakers also clinched the outright Big Ten championship, but that did not happen with the win -- the clinch came earlier in the evening when Michigan lost at Illinois.

Bracketology top seeds

Check out Palm's latest bracket, full field of 68 and all the teams on the bubble on the Bracketology hub.

The Big Ten standings have looked like an 11-car pileup behind the Boilermakers for most of the season. As of this morning, teams 2-12 in the conference standings are between 11-8 and 8-11. Six of those are tied for second place. Whomever is in charge of figuring out tiebreakers for the Big Ten tournament is going to have their hands full.

All of the major conference titles are set now except the ACC. UCLA was the first to clinch when Arizona lost to Arizona State on Saturday. Marquette was not the choice of many to win the Big East, but win it the Golden Eagles did. Alabama locked up the SEC with its win over Auburn on Wednesday. Bill Self won his 17th Big 12 championship in 20 years this week, which is just a remarkable run.

The ACC champion will be decided this Saturday when Pitt plays at Miami. Virginia can also tie for the title but does not win a tiebreaker with either the Panthers or Hurricanes.

As North Charleston continues to grow and become more dense, it will be increasingly important for the city to create desirable public oases and amenities that offer more space to play, relax and just get away from it all. That’s why we’re encouraged by the city’s decision to create what is expected to be its largest passive park.

Last month, City Council approved moving forward with purchasing 440 largely undeveloped acres, pulling together eight adjoining parcels roughly bounded by U.S. Highway 78, Interstate 26, Ingleside Plantation Road and Ingleside Boulevard on the city’s northern end. Also known as Blue House Plantation, the property has about 200 acres of highlands and 240 acres of wetlands. The city has received $1 million from the S.C. Conservation Bank and a $1 million U.S. Fish & Wildlife grant toward buying the site, and the Charleston County Greenbelt Program has contributed about $4 million, with the property owners, two LLCs, discounted the sale price of the land by several million dollars.

We urge the city to close on the property as soon as possible — its goal is to do so by June 1 — and begin seeking public input on what this park, tentatively known as the Ingleside Weber Park System, should look like. The possibilities are huge: The combined acreage is about seven times as large as Charleston’s Hampton Park, and the chairman of the S.C. Conservation Bank has said the park has the promise of becoming North Charleston’s version of Central Park.

The potential is indeed significant, but buying the property is just the start. The city will have to create a beautiful, functional network of trails, greenways, picnic areas and interpretive areas, particularly around any visible historical remnants, plus walking and biking connections to nearby developments and also across I-26 to Charleston Southern University’s campus and on to the county-run Wannamaker Park.

Fortunately, the seller already has trail easements on commercial, industrial and residential parcels that were previously sold off from the larger tract with the intent of creating a planned trail system and park.

The city’s move is smart in part because much of this acreage is low-lying and because the size of the undeveloped property should provide meaningful wildlife habitat in a bustling part of the metro area that’s under increasing pressure from development. It’s currently home to deer, wild boar and an active woodstork rookery.

North Charleston has created some first-rate public recreation sites, such as its new aquatics and athletics centers, but the city has been less proactive about creating new parks, particularly of any significant size. This is partly due to the city’s relatively young age and its traditional focus on development and expansion. But as we’ve noted, the city also has been turning inward toward quality-of-life issues, and more changes are ahead in part due to a planned bus rapid transit line to be built through the spine of the city, linking its northern end with downtown Charleston.

That line is expected to make property along University Boulevard and Rivers Avenue more appealing for new dense development, which will enable more residents to get to the region’s major employment centers and shopping hubs. That also will help meet the needs of a growing regional population while easing pressure to develop land at our rural edges.

As the population and density of a city increase, its residents rightly expect more and better green space set aside for their recreation and enjoyment, which is often beyond what the free market creates on its own.

With North Charleston at an important point in its evolution as a city, the Ingleside Weber Park System project represents a rare opportunity to establish such a place that will enhance the quality of life for residents. That is encouraging progress.

A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would remove North Charleston from the Charleston County School District and create a new district.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - A state lawmaker is proposing a bill that would remove North Charleston from the Charleston County School District and create a new district.

District 113 Rep. Marvin Pendarvis filed the bill Wednesday afternoon, saying that needs are not being met in the city of North Charleston.

“We’re here because we care about the quality of education in our schools,” Pendarvis said. “We’re here because the city of North Charleston, there’s a number of underperforming schools that lie within the City of North Charleston. We’re here for good reason, and I hope through collaboration and continuing the conversation we’ll be able to get something done.”

State law lays out how school districts can be formed and broken up.

According to 59-17-20, only an act from the state legislature or by authorization of the county boards of education can break up a district. Even then, the boards of education still need to meet certain conditions.

In a statement from the office of Attorney General Alan Wilson those conditions are as follows:

In (b), both districts involved would have to have a petition signed by at least four-fifths of the registered voters in the district. In (c), the districts would need only one-third of the voters to sign a petition but would then also have to have a vote on it called by the county board of education.

Earlier in the day, North Charleston’s mayor confirmed the city is exploring what would be required to withdraw schools in the city from the Charleston County School District.

Mayor Keith Summey said on Wednesday morning North Charleston City Council will explore breaking away from the school district to create their own.

“I think council is concerned about the number of failing schools that we have and what we can do generate more opportunity for the kids coming up in North Charleston,” he said. “It’s not anything that’s in concrete. It’s something that we’re looking at the possibility of.”

The effort, he says, is in a research phase to determine if the idea of pulling schools from the Charleston County School District is feasible, adding it would not be a “fast-paced” project.

Summey said he believes the city contributes more than what they are getting from the school district. He said the majority of failing schools in the district are in North Charleston.

“A community, at the end of the day, is only as strong as the education we can provide for our children, and we just want to make sure that our kids are getting the top chance that they can to get that education,” he said.

Summey said his vision would be for the schools to become a department within the city. He says he believes it would ultimately take a voter referendum, likely in 2024, for the change to happen.

North Charleston Mayor Pro Tem Jerome Heyward said he does not see one member on council not standing behind mayor in support of this.

“The city of North Charleston has been left out of the equation,” Heyward said. “Academic wise, we suffered over here because 30 of our schools are failing. It’s time for us to fix our schools.”

Summey said he has not yet heard from the school district, adding he would like to sit down with them.

“We’re just interested in making sure that children in North Charleston have the same opportunities as children in the entire county to get the best possible education that they can, and that’s not to say that the school district is not making effort,” Summey said. “It’s saying we don’t believe that effort to date has been successful.”

Charleston County School Board Chair Pam McKinney says she has not heard a single word from Summey or the city since she took office. She claims she learned of the mayor’s plan from news coverage.

“CCSD is proud to serve students from every corner of Charleston County,” McKinney said. “It is a priority for the board to ensure every child has access to a high-quality education. North Charleston students deserve a great education and that is exactly what we are working to deliver.”

The Charleston County School District provided a response to the city’s plans, saying the proposal to withdraw would duplicate administrative costs and result in less funding per pupil.

Mayor Keith Summey’s proposal to withdraw North Charleston schools from the Charleston County School District (CCSD) and instead house them in a department within the City of North Charleston would fail students. Such would duplicate administrative costs and result in less funding per pupil for both academic support and capital improvement.

Mayor Summey’s assertion that the City contributes more than what it receives from CCSD is untrue. In fact, North Charleston has historically received well above the CCSD average funding for construction and facilities maintenance.

North Charleston’s schools currently account for 30.32% of the District’s total student population yet receive approximately 35.6% of funds allocated for schools. In addition, the average budgeted per-pupil allocation in FY2023 for North Charleston schools was $16,645.18 compared to that for all other CCSD schools at $14,171.06; isolating North Charleston’s schools served through Acceleration Schools boasts a $19,532.61 per pupil allocation.

Claims that academic efforts in North Charleston schools have not been successful are also misleading. Most recently, for example, three North Charleston schools were removed from the state improvement designation list while others made significant gains.

Rather than benefiting students, withdrawing schools from CCSD would exacerbate educational disparities between geographic areas that CCSD has worked to address. Likewise, the assertion that creating a smaller district would ensure children in North Charleston have greater opportunities is simply misguided. Smaller schools and smaller districts have historically been less-able to offer such access and opportunity.

The District calls on Mayor Summey to address his concerns directly with CCSD leadership so that adults can avoid negative outcomes for students, parents, and educators. The Mayor has not reached out to the District directly since February 2022, after which he and Superintendent Kennedy met with other District and City officials.

The city refutes this, claiming the mayor reached out in May 2022 about an educational program.

Summey reaffirmed Wednesday morning he has not yet decided if he will seek re-election but expects to do so within the next 30 days.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The City of North Charleston will consider an ordinance creating a new zoning district Thursday night at the site of a former Navy Base.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of North Charleston will consider an ordinance creating a new zoning district Thursday night at the site of a former Navy Base.

The Navy Base Redevelopment District would establish a mixed-use urban area that will provide office, retail, entertainment, civic and public uses, as well as a variety of urban housing choices for the region.

Then, the council will consider rezoning 89 parcels of land to be a part of the NBRD. The city of Charleston, the South Carolina Ports Authority and the South Carolina Department of Commerce Division of Public Railways own most of the land.

One parcel included in the zone is the non-profit Water Mission. The team of engineers, marketers, implementers, fundraisers, volunteers and donors works to create clean water systems for those who need them.

They recently sent a relief team to Turkey following the earthquakes.

Related: Water Mission to deploy to Turkey, Syria to aid earthquake recovery efforts

Water Mission owns about 10 acres on the northernmost part of the former base. Founder and CEO George Greene says he enjoys the history of the area.

“Personally, growing up in Charleston; you know, I remember being out in the harbor and on boats and nuclear submarines coming and going and just kind of, you know, looking back on it, that was the middle of the Cold War,” Greene remembers.

He says he is excited about the potential for development along the old Navy Base since it will bring people to the neighborhood.

“As we look at more and more people coming into this area, whether it’s for a concert or whether it’s because it’s where they want to live or it’s where they want to go grab a meal,” Greene says. “There’s just some really neat things that are coming down the pipeline that are just going to make it an even more desirable place to be.”

The land is currently zoned with light or heavy industrial. The Planning Commission held a public hearing on Jan. 9, 2023, and voted unanimously to recommend approval.

“It’s just kind of crazy to think about how much growth we’ve had already been experienced and seen, and I think all that’s tied to everybody understands how valuable the location is,” Greene says.

The ordinance includes requirements for use, setbacks, street standard and streetscape use, all defined in its writing. You can read the details of the proposed NBRD here:

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.