Surfside Beach rescinds pier construction bid amid ongoing lawsuit, infighting
A vote taken to appoint a company to restore the Surfside Pier was nullified as an ongoing lawsuit between council members asserts the original decision had been made illegally.
Surfside Beach Town Council unanimously approved a motion during a special meeting Monday to rescind a July 1 vote that awarded the pier reconstruction project to Orion/FBi. The decision to restart the bidding process comes a week after Mayor Bob Hellyer and two council members sued their colleagues over the legalities of that vote.
“The main reason that we’re rescinding the vote is because the bid process was defective,” Hellyer said. “It has nothing to do with the lawsuit, it has nothing to do with anything else.”
The decision will now result in the pier restoration project opening up for rebid for 10 days. When the window closes, council will evaluate the new bid submissions and move forward. Furthermore, officials agreed to apply for an extension for the FEMA grant the town received to rebuild the pier.
As it currently stands, construction on the pier must start before Oct. 15 or the town will lose the funding.
The controversy began when officials met in a special meeting on June 30 to interview three bidders seeking to reconstruct the town-owned pier destroyed in 2016 by Hurricane Matthew. Another special meeting was held on July 1 to discuss the project with the architects and engineers, with no vote listed on the agenda, only an executive session to receive legal advice an discuss negotiations.
Council members Debbie Scoles, David Pellegrino and Paul Holder, who are all defendants in the lawsuit, voted in favor of entering into executive session, while Hellyer and Councilwoman Cindy Keating, a plaintiff, opposed.
Upon returning to open session, Scoles made a motion to award the pier bid to Orion/FBi and to authorize Town Administrator Dennis Pieper to execute any agreements so the project could move forward.
The vote passed in a split decision with Hellyer and Keating voting in opposition urging the public needed to be privy to the bidding process before a decision could be made. A lawsuit was filed by Hellyer, Keating and Councilman Michael Drake against Pellegrino, Scoles, Holder and the Town of Surfside Beach on July 27.
The trio claims council violated S.C. Freedom of Information Act law when they retreated into executive session, and subsequently awarded Orion/FBi the pier job. There was no vote listed on the agenda, according to the lawsuit, which added there was an understanding an official vote would be taken during a July 3 meeting, according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims the vote was “illegally” taken, and states the agenda needed to be amended prior to the vote. It further notes the action denied the public the opportunity to comment and “to observe the performance of the public officials.” Additionally, the trio violated FOIA’s notice provisions by exceeding the specific purpose of why the meeting was held.
The suit asks for a judge to invalidate the vote and declare the defendants’ conduct unlawful and in violation of that state’s FOIA laws. The mayor and two council members also asked the judge to prevent further FOIA violations.
While several resident spoke out during Tuesday’s meeting either strongly opposing or defending the current lawsuit, Drake stressed the decision to rescind the vote was needed “desperately” to ensure the town is in compliance with state law. He noted that the pier needs to be built, but the process should be done the right way.
“The system has got to get fixed,” he urged.
Pellegrino, who initially told The Sun News council did nothing wrong after the lawsuit was filed, said he agreed to vote in favor of reversing the vote because the town didn’t go through the proper channels to notify the public of the July 1 meeting. He said it was a mistake, but nothing done intentionally to be deceitful.
Keating added that officials need to do their due diligence, while remaining open and honest with the community about what they’re doing and the decisions being made. She cited a previous time where a vote was taken wrong that required council members to back-pedal.
“I think we really as a council need to come together and understand what is right and what is wrong, and do what’s right and not for other personal agendas,” Keating said. “We need to get it right and we need to get it right the first time.”
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 8:00 AM.
