Beaufort County Council appoints 15 to transportation advisory committee, names leadership
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Summary
Beaufort County has appointed 15 residents to a new transportation advisory committee and chose Lisa Sulka as chair, Glenn Stanford as vice chair and Joy Ko as secretary. The committee will develop project priorities, work with an engineering firm on estimates and may recommend projects for a fall referendum.
Beaufort County Council announced the appointment of 15 residents to a new transportation advisory committee and, at the group's first meeting, selected Lisa Sulka as chair, Glenn Stanford as vice chair and Joy Ko as secretary.
County officials said the committee is a community-led body charged with identifying transportation projects that address growth while protecting public land and community priorities. An unidentified speaker at the meeting said the group will work with an engineering firm the county has hired to prepare cost estimates and "will end up recommending to be on the referendum in the fall." The speaker emphasized the work will include determining what projects to prioritize and where they would take place.
The committee represents all 11 Beaufort County council districts and the four municipalities within the county: the City of Beaufort, Town of Port Royal, Town of Bluffton and Town of Hilton Head Island. Committee members are expected to meet locally with municipal officials and to act as "consensus builders" in their communities, an attendee said, stressing the need to both gather broad input and produce a finite list of projects the council can support.
Meeting materials and announcements said all committee meetings will be public and broadcast on BCTV; press releases will follow each meeting. The next meeting was announced for Feb. 18 from 1 to 3 p.m., and the meeting materials included a website for updates as provided in the transcript (listed as "www.bufortcountypenny.com").
Speakers at the meeting also pointed to previous county transportation efforts in 1998, 2006 and 2018 as precedents for selecting projects that can deliver near-term benefits and build public trust. Organizers urged clear public education about planning terms referenced by participants, including long-range transportation planning acronyms mentioned in the meeting record.
The committee will produce recommendations and cost estimates for the county to consider placing before voters in a fall referendum, according to the meeting. Officials said they will publish future meeting notices and supporting materials as the group develops its list of proposed projects.
