Surfside Beach pier approved for long-term restaurant contract amid transparency concerns

The Surfside Beach Town Council approved a 30-year lease agreement with Atlantic Restaurant Group for the town’s fishing pier, despite some council members’ concerns about transparency and negotiations made in executive sessions that were closed to the public.

The second reading of the contract agreement passed with a 4-3 vote Tuesday.

Several Surfside Beach residents and council members, including Mayor Bob Hellyer, voiced concerns about how the terms of the lease were discussed in closed session. Critics argued that the public would not have enough information about the fate of the town-owned fishing pier until the contract is approved.

Council members Paul Holder, Bruce Dietrich, David Pellegrino, and Debbie Scoles voted to approve the second reading of the restaurant contract agreement. Cindy Keating, Michael Drake, and Mayor Hellyer voted against.

Keating moved to table the vote on approving the contract until the council waives the confidentiality of the executive sessions. She said she wanted to freely discuss the contract and hold another public hearing. It’s important that residents understand the terms of the contract that would last 30 years, Keating said.

“I think it’s totally unconscionable for this council to proceed forward, committing the town to 30 years of an agreement that no one in this town — business owners, property owners, any stakeholders whatsoever — know anything about, other than by rumor,” Keating said.

South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act allows public bodies to close meetings for the discussion of contract negotiations and the sale of property. The law states that decisions cannot be made during a closed meeting. A public body’s votes must take place in front of the public. Keating said after the meeting she did not believe any Freedom of Information Act laws were violated by holding the executive sessions to discuss the contracts.

“The bottom line is the residents deserve to know what’s in this lease that we are committing to,” she said. The contract does not become available to the public until it is approved.

The motion to table the second-reading vote in favor of waiving the confidentiality of the executive meetings failed to gather the required two-thirds majority. Council members Keating, Pellegrino, Drake and Hellyer voted to table the vote on the contract and waive the confidentiality of the executive meetings. Council members Holder, Dietrich, and Scoles voted against.

“No one knows the details of the contract. So our public hearing was a joke,” Drake said, referring to an Oct. 13 town council meeting. “And we’re asking, and everybody here tonight, everybody listening tonight, wants to know what the details are.”

Drake said the appraised property value of the pier is “nowhere near what it should be, and that’s why I’m against it.”

One Surfside Beach resident asked about the pier’s appraised property value. The town council could not answer the question because the discussions held in executive sessions remained confidential.

Surfside Beach resident Judy Henion expressed concerns that the second reading was a “rubber stamping” of the 30-year restaurant contract.

“There can be no discussion, questions, nor comments when the audience has been denied the subject material,” Henion said. “Now despite those failures, council proceeded with the first reading followed by a vote. And tonight the obvious intention is to repeat the same performance. That’s not acceptable.”

Henion urged council members to “do the right thing and start acting on the town’s best interest instead of your own.”

Hellyer said he voted against the contract because toward the end of discussions, “Negotiations broke down. The final product has some flaws, and is not in the best interest of the town.”

“I think what was violated was the essential purpose of a public hearing,” Keating said. “There’s an essential purpose of a public hearing, and that is to get public input about an important decision you’re about to make. Well, how can they do that if they don’t know what the decision is about?”

The Surfside Beach fishing pier, which is owned by the town, was partially destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016.

Town officials asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for an 18-month extension for the nearly $10 million grant that was awarded to the town to help repair the Surfside Fishing Pier in 2018. The town was approved for a 12-month extension.

Plans are in the works to rebuild the wooden fishing pier into a concrete structure that will be raised 10 feet higher, providing more protection from storm surges.

This story was originally published October 23, 2020 at 11:33 AM.