Parks director details FY27 staffing requests and multiple capital projects, including Buckwalter fields and new community centers

Terry Brown, Beaufort County parks director, on Jan. 8 told the county Parks and Recreation advisory board that staff will request new positions in the FY27 budget and walked the board through a slate of capital projects and bids slated for 2026.

Brown said the department is requesting three part-time aquatics staff and three part-time water‑safety instructors for aquatics, one additional full‑time athletics supervisor, two part‑time recreation aides for recreation and three part‑time recreation aides for the seniors program as part of FY27 planning. "We are requesting 3 part time staff for aquatics and 3 part time WSI for aquatics," Brown said during the presentation.

Brown also outlined multiple facility projects and near-term procurement steps. He told the board the bid process will close Jan. 16 for the Buckwalter Recreation Athletic Complex project — the four new fields he referenced include additional parking — and said groundbreakings for the Wesley Phillips and Agnes projects had recently taken place or were scheduled. "Those those 4 fields I told you guys about and then additional parking," Brown said, noting the parking additions will accompany the new fields.

On other facilities, Brown said the county will reissue a bid for the Scott community center refurbishment and that the Lynn Brown facility needs electrical work and a new floor; that work will require a temporary closure. He said Port Royal is under construction and will receive a new parking lot on Port Road, and that the county is moving forward with a bid process for a new Daufuskie Island community center. "A bid process is actually going out for a community center to actually go up in Daufuskie," Brown said.

Brown was also clear about timing and funding: some projects hinge on pending funding sources and bid outcomes, and he said he did not yet have a single aggregated dollar total for all submittals because funding could come from different sources (general fund, grants, or project-specific accounts). "I don't have a dollar amount for the total on those," he said.

The parks director briefed the board on staffing and on the department's approach to training and branding, noting staff attended national and state conferences and the department is conducting regular training to reduce outstanding modules by over 60 percent.

Next steps: Brown said the FY27 submittals were underway and that the board would see formal budget requests soon. The board's next meeting is scheduled for March 5 in Bluffton; staff will return with further details and dollar estimates as bids close and funding is confirmed.