Horry County Council spent $6,400 on first out-of-county retreat in seven years

Horry County spent a little more than $6,400 for 37 county employees and council members to attend a three-day retreat at the Wampee Conference Center in Pinopolis in March.

Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus, who decided to take the budget retreat out-of-county for the first time in seven years, defended the spending and said the off-site meeting helped diminish distractions.

Each year, Horry County Council conducts two retreats: one in the spring and one in the fall. In recent years, the county has had its retreats at C.B. Berry Recreation Center in Little River.

Lazarus said when he first was on council, which was between 2001 and 2006, the retreats were in Pinopolis at least twice.

“I felt that it was needed. It gets us away,” Lazarus said. “When you’re sitting at one of these other local areas, I tended to have council members in and out quite a bit, a lot of staff in and out, people on their phones and people just not engaged and then it gets toward the end of the day and then boom, everybody’s gone.”

The Sun News filed a Freedom of Information Act request for receipts from the trip.

The retreat, which ran from March 24 to March 27, cost the county $5,715 to use the Wampee facilities — $2,225 for meals, $3,090 for overnight lodging and $400 to rent the meeting room.

The following councilmen also filed for mileage reimbursement to and from the retreat: Bill Howard was paid $87.36, Johnny Vaught was paid $80.06, and Al Allen received $92.40. The county also spent $268.68 for two hotel rooms one night of the retreat for Horry County Fire Rescue staff and $163.38 for mileage reimbursement for county employees who took their own vehicle. Many used county vehicles to attend the retreat, said Lisa Bourcier, spokeswoman for the county.

Lazarus said the $6,406.88 spent on the retreat was worth it and got department leaders and councilmen to talk with “no limits.” He said he received more good comments from council members about the retreat.

“The cost factor is minimal,” Lazarus said. “For what it cost for us to go to Pinopolis and what Santee Cooper provides for us, it provides a great setting, a great atmosphere and I think it was a good session for us.”

- Jason M. Rodriguez, jrodriguez@thesunnews.com

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Horry County Council spent $6,400 on first out-of-county retreat in seven years."