Operations committee recommends superintendent negotiate Novant Health easement, including teacher‑housing and school partnerships

Novant Health representatives presented a proposal for a freestanding emergency department and small primary care clinic on a roughly 15‑acre parcel immediately south of Robert Smalls International Academy and asked the committee to authorize the superintendent to negotiate an easement agreement across a narrow strip of school district land to connect the site to WK Austin Drive.

Joel Taylor, market president for the Novant Health Hilton Head market, said the system would offer career‑awareness programs, paid work‑based learning and accelerated certification pathways with Beaufort County Schools. "We routinely hired certified nursing assistants, and we can assist any interested parties in that path," Taylor said. Engineer Connor Blaney described traffic and safety measures the applicant has added since an earlier meeting, including sidewalks, speed‑calming humps, a landscaped median, and an expanded traffic study to account for the 4,000 Margaret apartment complex and other trip generators.

Committee members pressed for operational clarity and traffic and drainage assurances. The district’s transportation chief described bus‑loop and entrance configurations and recommended extending right‑turn lanes and adding crosswalks where needed. Novant’s team said they had expanded the traffic study to include more intersections and would provide the district’s traffic office with the updated analysis. Novant’s presenter also described typical freestanding emergency department operations as modest in staff and patient volume compared with a full hospital.

A member asked Novant to provide written confirmation that proposed drainage changes would not back up water into the school pond; the Novant engineer described a plan to redirect runoff downstream of the pond and agreed to provide documentation. Novant also said it is partnering on a separate workforce housing project of 114 units (approved by Hilton Head rezoning), and that Novant’s share would be about one‑third; representatives said some units could be designated for district staff or otherwise used to support the partnership.

The committee moved that operations recommend the superintendent negotiate an easement agreement with Novant Health to include teacher housing and teacher partnership elements and to return the final agreement to the full board for approval. The motion was seconded and passed on a voice vote. The full board will receive the negotiated agreement and supporting documents, including the traffic and drainage analyses, before any easement is executed.