Public commenter urges completion of I‑73, alleges council conflict of interest

Donna Kaloz, who said she worked as a project coordinator for the national I‑73/74/75 corridor association, told the Horry County Council she has been warning officials about the need for I‑73 since 2019 and urged the county to finish the road to improve hurricane evacuation and public safety. "I 73 is an important note, especially when the hurricanes come, and our people matter," she said, arguing the route is already permitted and "shovel ready." Kaloz emphasized safety statistics, telling the council that Horry County is "2nd place for traffic fatalities" among South Carolina's 46 counties and urging officials not to leave residents as "statistics."

Kaloz also accused an infrastructure committee chair of profiting while in office, saying that the chair's business had received multiple county checks totaling "at least 1,700,000 Horry County dollars" and that "one alone was for over 369" thousand dollars. The council chair interrupted at one point to remind Kaloz to keep her remarks on the I‑73 matter; the allegation was not substantiated or answered during the public‑comment period. The meeting record shows no immediate response from the named official and no committee direction to open an investigation or referral based on Kaloz's statements.

Why it matters: Kaloz framed I‑73 as both an infrastructure priority for evacuation and a public‑safety measure tied to traffic fatalities; she also raised a corruption‑adjacent accusation that, if pursued, would require formal investigation or ethics review. The council did not take public action on the claim during the meeting; instead, it proceeded with its agenda.