The Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration will bring its satellite voting unit (SVU) to Seabrook Island prior to the town’s general election in November. Registered voters who meet the qualifications for voting absentee may vote at the SVU at following date, time and location:

• Date: October 22, 2021
• Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM
• Location: Seabrook Island Town Hall – Parking Lot (2001 Seabrook Island Road)

Individuals who wish to vote absentee must be a registered voter and meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Students, their spouses and dependents residing with them
• Members of the Armed Forces, Merchant Marines, Red Cross, USO, government employees, their spouses and dependents residing with them
• Overseas citizens
• For reasons of employment will not be able to vote on election day
• Physically disabled persons
• Persons on vacation
• Persons age 65 or older
• Persons admitted to the hospital as emergency patients on day of election or at least four days prior to the election
• Electors with a death or funeral in the family within 3 days before the election
• Persons confined to a jail or pre-trial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial
• Persons attending sick or physically disabled persons
• Persons serving as jurors in a state or federal court on election day
• Certified poll watchers and poll managers

Voters do not need to complete an application prior to arrival at the SVU. 

For more information, please contact the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration at (843) 744-VOTE (8683). 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration will conduct a General Election on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 to fill one (1) seat for the office of Mayor, four (4) Town Council seats, and one (1) seat for the office of Utility Commissioner. This is a nonpartisan, at-large municipal election. Election results for each position will be determined by the plurality method. The term of office for the Mayor and members of Town Council will begin in January 2022 and expire in January 2024. The term of office for the position of Utility Commissioner will begin in January 2022 and expire in January 2028. 

The last day that persons may register to be eligible to vote in this election is October 2, 2021. If submitting a registration by mail application, it must be post marked no later than October 2, 2021.  

A Statement of Economic Interest form must be filed electronically (on-line) at http://ethics.sc.gov prior to filing a Statement of Candidacy and or Petition. Those requiring electronic filing assistance may contact the South Carolina State Ethics Commission at 803-253-4192.

Candidate filing opens noon on Wednesday, August 4, 2021 and closes 12:00 noon Friday, September 3, 2021. There are no filing fees for the office of Mayor, Town Council and Utility Commission. 

Residents desiring to file as a candidate for the office of Mayor, Town Council and Utility Commission must file a Statement of Candidacy with the Town Clerk/Treasurer at Seabrook Island Town Hall, 2001 Seabrook Island Road, Seabrook Island, SC. Additional information may be obtained by calling 843-768-5320. Office business hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

Registered voters who cannot vote in person may be eligible to vote by absentee ballot. Absentee ballots may be obtained from the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration.  You may call 843-744-8683 or send an email to absentee@charlestoncounty.org to inquire about the availability of absentee ballots.  

At 9:00 a.m., on Election Day, the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration will begin the examination of the absentee ballot return envelopes. This process will take place at the Board of Elections office, 4367 Headquarters Road, North Charleston, SC.  

On Thursday, November 4, 2021 at 9:20 a.m., the Charleston County Board of Canvassers will hold a public hearing at the elections office, 4367 Headquarters Road, North Charleston, SC, to determine the validity of all ballots challenged in this election, and certify election results.    

This municipal election will be held under the new rules for providing Photo ID at the polling place fixed by law in this county. The following precinct and polling place will be open from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.:     

Are you interested in serving on a town board, commission or committee? The Mayor and Council are currently soliciting applications from citizen volunteers for appointment to the following bodies:

​Applications will be kept on file with the Town Clerk for a period of two years. ​​​If you have any questions about volunteering with the town, please contact us by phone at (843) 768-9121 or by email at info@townofseabrookisland.org.

The Town of Seabrook Island values equity and inclusion and seeks to appoint board, commission and committee members that reflect the diversity of our community. The Town of Seabrook Island does not discriminate on the basis of genetic information, age, race, color, national origin, religion, military/veteran status, or disability.

On January 10, 2019, Mayor Ron Ciancio administered the oath of office to Annie Smith-Jones, who was recently appointed by Town Council as the newest member of the Seabrook Island Utility Commission. 

Ms. Smith-Jones replaces Jim Bannwart, who resigned his position in late 2018 upon moving outside the town limits. She will serve for the remainder of Mr. Bannwart's term, which will expire in November 2023. She joins fellow commissioners Tim Morawski and Lee Vancini, and is the first female commissioner in the SIUC's history, 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD) have received an application for Federal grant funding through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). Funding for this grant was made available after the 4346 Presidential Declaration was made regarding Hurricane Irma of October 2017. Funding for the proposed project will be conditional upon compliance with all applicable federal, tribal, state, and local laws, regulations, floodplain standards, permit requirements, and conditions.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal actions must be reviewed and evaluated for feasible alternatives and for social, economic, historic, environmental, legal, and safety considerations. Under Executive Order (EO) 11988 and EO 11990 FEMA is required to consider alternatives to and to provide public notice of any proposed actions in or affecting floodplains and wetlands. EO 12898 also requires FEMA to provide the opportunity for public participation in the planning process and to consider potential impacts to minority or low-income populations.

Applicant

Town of Seabrook Island

Project Title

Seabrook Island Pump Station Emergency Generators

Project Description

The Charleston Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan (2016 Update and current 2016-2017 Draft) lists the retrofitting critical facilities or infrastructure to enhanced hazard resistance in accordance with the County of Charleston Facilities Master Plan Update “Building Utilization and Needs Survey” or other applicable plans as a top priority for Seabrook Island.

This project directly addresses this mitigation action by providing permanent auxiliary power to six (6) of the main Seabrook Island sewer pump stations (PS #3, PS #10, PS #11, PS #18, PS #20 and PS #22). Mobile emergency diesel generators were required in all of the most recent storm events to include Hurricanes Irma (2017) and Matthew (2016) where power has been lost due to wind and flooding.

Project Location

This project includes the addition of stand-by diesel emergency generators at the six (6) of the main pump stations for Seabrook Island. These stations serve the majority of the SIUC sewer service area and keeping these stations operational during major storm events is critical to public health and environmental protection. They are located across Seabrook Island and are shown on an attached overview map. The project to add generators to these six (6) pump stations will conform to all applicable federal, tribal, state and local laws, regulations and floodplain standards and permit requirements and conditions.

All of the stations are located within the AE flood zone and, therefore, a portion of the project must be located within the AE flood zone. Locating it to another site outside the AE flood zone would not meet the intended purpose of the project, which is to provide an emergency power source for six of the main SIUC pump stations. The design of the project will include an evaluation of the height of the generators, the generator pad and control panels to limit any possible flooding of the generators and panels themselves during future storm events. In addition, very limited land disturbance will be required and will be confined to a previously disturbed site; therefore, no impacts to the floodplain or any wetland areas are anticipated. Based on discussions with the Charleston County Floodplain Manager, the design of this project will conform to all applicable state and local floodplain protection standards. The Charleston County Floodplain Manager will review the final plans prior to construction and any required modifications will be made to ensure compliance with all applicable state and local floodplain protection standards. See attached location map.

Alternatives Considered

Alternatives to the stand-by diesel generators that were considered include: No action where no auxiliary power would be provided at these stations; and, the elimination of the pump stations and convey the wastewater using gravity sewer mains in lieu of force mains. SIUC would have to retrofit large portions of the wastewater collection system to install gravity sewer mains to convey the wastewater to one or two large regional pump stations or directly to the treatment plant. This alternative would include deep excavations and would likely require tunneling to cross wetlands and other water bodies. The one or two large regional pump stations would have to be upgraded to pump the larger volume of flow. Eliminating these pump stations would reduce, but not eliminate, the threat of power outages caused by hurricanes and other high wind weather events by decreasing the dependence on electric pumps in SIUC’s system. The No Action alternative was not considered to be feasible because it doesn’t meet the intent of the current Charleston Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan and would result in a high probability of sustained sewer system issues due to a power outage during storm events. The alternative to eliminate these six pump stations was not considered to be feasible due to cost (in excess of $3,000,000); environmental impacts; lack of suitable land; and, it would not eliminate the possibility of sewer system issues from power outages because some pumping would still be necessary.

Comment Period

Seabrook Island Utility Commission will be responsible for facilitating and monitoring the proposed project. Interested persons may direct any comments or questions to Tommy West, Manager at 843-768-0102 or twest@siuc.org. These are due within 15 days of this notice.

Seabrook Island Utility Commission
Immediate Reduction in Water Usage

The Charleston Water System has experienced a failure in its major supply line impacting a large portion of its system, including the feed to Johns Island and St. Johns Water Company. As St. Johns Water Company is our water provider, this failure has created an impact to the supply flow to Seabrook Island.

The staff at the Seabrook Island Utility Commission (SIUC) has made adjustments to maximize our storage tank levels. At this time, however, we are only getting a minimal flow coming from St. Johns Water Company.

We are asking for an immediate reduction of water use by all Seabrook Island customers, and for a full restriction of ALL non-essential water usage such as irrigation, for at least the next 36 hours. We need your help to insure that we are able to maintain an adequate supply of water for emergencies.

We request that you not contact the office looking for status updates. We will provide information as it becomes available, no later than 9:00 am, Tuesday, July 17th, 2018.

The Commission would like to thank all its customers in advance for complying with this request.

Seabrook Island Utility Commission