Beaufort County transportation committee approves inspection and pavement-rejuvenator contracts, reviews finances

The Beaufort County Transportation Committee on Jan. 15 approved two contracts and handled routine governance and finance items.

What passed: Committee approved a construction-inspection contract tied to the US 278 resurfacing project (the inspection portion was discussed in the meeting as approximately $120,000–$122,000) after staff explained that Mead & Hunt submitted a CEI proposal to provide on-site inspectors and engineering management. The chair called for a motion; a committee member moved, a second was given and the motion carried by voice vote.

The committee also approved a $440,000 Rejuvenator contract to apply pavement rejuvenation materials on a set of local roads. Staff noted that three roads near water are proposed for a titanium‑oxide treatment (initially quoted at $2.30 per square foot and then corrected on the record to $2.30 per square yard); an alternate product (listed as "Reclimate") was quoted at about $1.23 per square yard. Committee members asked about inclusion of specific local roads (one member noted Marshland Road was not visible on the list and requested staff check its status). A motion to approve the $440,000 contract was made, seconded and approved by voice vote.

Governance and finance: The committee approved meeting minutes from Sept. 18 by voice vote. Members nominated and re-elected a chairman (named by voice vote) and approved a vice chairman nomination. The chair announced the continuation of Jim Bakker as treasurer; the committee then heard a treasurer’s report summarizing revenue sources and balances: a starting fiscal-year balance of about $6,000,000 and a current fund balance approaching $11,000,000, including a one-time state allocation of $44,600,000 referenced for fiscal year '24 accounting (the treasurer noted purchase orders for several projects have not yet been issued).

Contractor recognition and next steps: SCDOT staff and committee members gave public recognition to contractors Blythe and APAC for work on Holly Hall and Lands End projects. Staff also said APAC is scheduled to start some traffic-signal upgrades in early May and that several resurfacing and Bluffton Parkway bids are due in late January; a full retreat and business meeting are planned in early February to review bids and approve purchase orders as needed.

Attribution: direct quotes and attributions in this article are taken from committee members and staff who spoke at the Jan. 15 meeting; where a speaker’s full name was given in the transcript, the article uses that name and role (for example, Tracy Bruton, RCE, SCDOT). Many voice votes were recorded without named roll calls in the transcript; results are reported as voice-approved motions where the transcript shows the motion and the chair’s announcement that it carried.

Ending: The committee scheduled a retreat in early February for detailed bid review and asked staff to include the inspection item on future agendas so members can review contract scope and budget details.