Horry County seeks residents to serve on boards

Horry County is looking for a few good men and women to serve on a variety of boards and commissions.

There are 15 vacancies on the county’s 17 boards and commissions, and Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus asked Pat Hartley, clerk to the council, to prepare an advertisement to find those who would want to serve.

“Because we haven’t stepped up and filled these vacancies, we’re going to let the citizens know that these vacancies are there and there may be someone who wants to serve in those capacities,” Lazarus said. “We’ll be distributing those to council members and in a very timely fashion we ask you to please submit who you would like to serve on these boards for your district.”

The county’s Parks and Open Space Board has the most vacancies with four people who must come from Districts 5, 6, 9 and 10. The Affordable Workforce Housing Commission has three vacancies for people from Districts 1, 6 and 10, and the Board of Assessment Appeals seeks representatives from Districts 3, 7 and 10. The Stormwater Advisory Board has vacancies in Districts 1 and 10, and the following boards and committees are searching for one representative each: Board of Architectural Review (countywide), Vereen Memorial Gardens board (countywide) and a representative from District 10 on the Airport Advisory Committee.

Those needing to find out what district they live in can log on to www.tinyurl.com/HorryDistrictMap. Anyone interested in serving on a board can call the council office at 915-5120.

Councilman Paul Prince said it can be a challenge to fill the vacancies.

“It takes time to do this,” he said. “It’s also taking money from them. A lot of people say they can’t afford to do it.”

Lazarus said that is why he’s putting out an alert in the hopes of finding people who are passionate about issues impacting Horry County.

“We’ll open it up and let more people know about it,” Lazarus said. “We’ll do that and we’ll see who responds and we’ll get on top of this, because we’re really not doing our service if we’re not putting people on these boards.”

District 1 includes the North Strand in the areas of Little River and North Myrtle Beach. District 2 includes as far north as S.C. 22 and south as U.S. 501. District 3 is the rural areas around Myrtle Beach. District 4 rides along Highway 17 Bypass south, but skirts around Garden City Beach. District 5 includes the Garden City Beach area. District 6 is west of the Myrtle Beach International Airport to the area of S.C. 544. District 7 encompasses the rural area around Conway and south to the Georgetown County line. District 8 straddles U.S. 501, south of Conway and north of Myrtle Beach. District 9 is the northern part of the county, which borders North Carolina, and covers areas around Loris and Longs. District 10 is a large district that stretches the mid-section of the county from just north of S.C. 31 to the state and county lines, and District 11 rides the west and southern border of the county, covering areas around Aynor and Galivants Ferry.

Airport makes progress on filling one vacancy, waits on another

Myrtle Beach International Airport is set for some changes as two key positions in the county’s Department of Airports needs to be filled.

County officials said the search for a new director, which came from the departure of Mike LaPier after his firing Sept. 13, won’t begin until 2014. That hire comes at the hands of Chris Eldridge, county administrator.

Pat Apone, who has worked at the airport for 17 years, is filling in as the interim director until a replacement is hired.

“Chris [Eldridge] plans to advertise for the Director of Airports position around the first of the year,” said Lisa Bourcier, spokeswoman for Horry County.

Airport officials have made progress in filing the director of general aviation vacancy left by Bob Wernersbach, who left this fall.

The director of general aviation is responsible for overseeing the operation and development of the county’s four airports: Myrtle Beach International, Grand Strand Airport, Conway-Horry and Loris-Twin Cities. This position helps develop working relationships with airport tenants, and works with the marketing team to develop marketing activities to attract new tenants.

Eldridge said Apone has received a good response of qualified candidates for the director of general aviation position, which closed applications Nov. 9. Apone could not be reached for comment Wednesday or Thursday.

Airport courting grants with kindness

Prompted by Horry County Airport Advisory Committee Chairman Chuck Martino, the airport is now sending thank you notes to government agencies when it receives a grant. Martino made the suggestion in October and Apone began implementing the suggestion immediately. Martino has said it’s a way to express gratitude, but also a way to stand out in the eyes of those issuing grants.

“When we get grants, we’ll send them out on behalf of the advisory committee and the council,” Apone said at an advisory committee meeting earlier this week.

This story was originally published November 14, 2013 at 4:21 PM with the headline "Horry County seeks residents to serve on boards."