How Surfside Beach just got one step closer to making new pier come to fruition
After much discussion, a nullified vote and extensive infighting among town council members, Surfside Beach Town Council voted unanimously to select Consensus Construction to construct the new Surfside Fishing pier, which will replace the previous structure damaged in Hurricane Matthew in 2016.
The town-owned pier is expected to be a concrete structure set 10 feet higher than the former wooden structure. If all goes as planned, construction will begin by Oct. 15, according to Mayor Bob Hellyer, who pointed out there’s more negotiations to take place before they can break ground.
Town Council met in a workshop meeting last Thursday to discuss the pier project with their consulting engineer and architect.
“This has been quite the project, but the hard work starts now. I don’t wnt people to breathe too big of a sigh of relief because we still have a lot of work ahead of us,” councilwoman Cindy Keating said.
Councilman David Pellegrino commended his fellow council members for getting past the issues surrounding the pier bid and multiple council members pointed out that reaching a bid is a success, but the hard work is yet to come.
“This is a big step forward for the town for the second time, but we got it for good this time hopefully,” Pellegrino said.
The vote comes after much controversy within council surrounding the pier construction. Originally, Orion Marine Group and FBi Construction were awarded the project in July. But that vote was nullified shortly after as three council members questioned the legality of that vote in a lawsuit against the town and other council members.
The lawsuit says the vote was “illegally” taken, and council voted to rescind the approval of Orion and FBi, restarting the bidding process. Hellyer, Keating and Councilman Michael Drake filed the suit against the town of Surfside Beach and council members David Pellegrino, Debbie Scoles and Paul Holder. The plaintiffs argued the defendents violated the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act law when they voted to go into executive session to discuss the pier project, meaning the public wasn’t privy to the conversation.
Tuesday’s vote took place against the backdrop of a tight time constraint: a grant given to the town by the Federal Emergency Management Agency indicates construction on the pier must begin Oct. 15. Officials have said they requested an 18-month extension on the grant, but the request has yet to be approved.
The construction is set to cost more than $16 million, according to figures from Surfside Beach Director of Finance Diana King. Nearly $10 million of that money comes from the FEMA grant, while the town plans to pay for the rest using parking meter revenue, cash bail and a town reserve fund.
This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 7:03 PM.