I-73 Update: Horry County Council decides the fate of SCDOT contract

Horry County Council is willing to contribute to building Interstate 73, but it first wants guaranteed help from local municipalities.

Council voted 9-1 on Wednesday to postpone its decision to completely cancel its contract with the S.C. Department of Transportation to begin designing and building the county’s portion of the interstate.

However, on Wednesday, Horry County Chairman Johnny Gardner introduced a resolution that will cancel the agreement if Myrtle Beach and other municipalities do not join the contract and contribute their fair share. Council unanimously voted in support of the resolution.

If Myrtle Beach does not contribute within the next 90 days, council will cancel the contract.

“As an interim measure, that’s better than canceling the contract,” Myrtle Beach city spokesperson Mark Kruea said. “Both governments want I-73, and we need to find a way to make that happen.”

Delaying the decision hopefully allows more time for an agreement to be made so I-73 can be built with hospitality fee money and federal support, Gardner said, like a pending grant application that would bring millions of dollars for the interstate project.

“We want Myrtle Beach to know we are still willing to make this happen with some caveats. One of them is they have to have some skin in the game,” Gardner said.

US House Rep. Tom Rice, R-7, said I-73 is long overdue and is costing the whole Pee Dee Region’s economy in terms of growth and ease of transportation. He said state and federal leaders support the project but have been frustrated by the bickering going on between Myrtle Beach and Horry County.

“These guys want to step in, they want to help, but they’re frustrated that when they try to help and they’re turned away. It’s a huge problem,” Rice said. “It just boggles my mind we’re not fighting tooth and nail to get this road.”

Rice considers building the road to be among the most important issues facing the region and does not want to see local infighting leading to Horry County not being connected to the interstate system. He encouraged residents to speak out if they support I-73 by calling the elected representatives or even writing letters to the newspaper.

Rice is not alone among local leaders who have wanted I-73 for decades, but no progress has been made on actually building the road. If Horry County pulls the plug on the agreement, I-73 is once again without a major source of funding.

The contract with SCDOT was entered into last summer when the county decided it would devote hospitality fee revenue to build the portion of I-73 within Horry County. County Council agreed to spend more than $20 million a year on road construction.

SCDOT was contracted to handle the logistics of getting the road designed and built, but no money ever changed hands in the process. Previous calls to cancel the contract proved to be unsuccessful.

The money to fund the project was called into question after Myrtle Beach sued Horry County over the collection of the hospitality fee inside municipal borders. A judge later granted all municipalities within Horry County the right to collect the fee in escrow until the lawsuit is concluded.

Horry County is currently appealing the decision. Gardner previously said that without the hospitality money to fund the SCDOT contract, the current I-73 plans were dead.

Municipal leaders have denied their actions killed I-73. Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said in May that the city’s actions are about protecting its taxpayers’ interest, and the city still supports I-73 being built.

Kruea said in a Tuesday news release that the city does not want to kill I-73 and is willing to contribute funds.

Gardner said he hopes after Wednesday’s decision the county and city could renew talks that hopefully lead to an end of the hospitality fee lawsuit. Although two days of mediation between Horry County and Myrtle Beach earlier this month did not result in an agreement, Gardner is still hopeful a compromise can be reached.

But a compromise would include the municipalities being legally obligated to contribute money to build I-73, he said.

“If Myrtle Beach said they’re willing to commit $7 million, we don’t have that in writing,” Gardner said. “What we have is a lawsuit filed by Myrtle Beach … it’s going to kill I-73 if we don’t work something out.”

The hospitality fee lawsuit currently is in the appeals court. Once the appeal is over, it’ll go back in front of a judge for the main trial.

— Reporter Anna Young contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 4:21 PM.