Junk Removal in Isle of Palms, SC

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - A volunteer organization is encouraging others to help with litter removal on Isle of Palms.

The Isle of Palms Cleanup Crew will be holding its first of six litter cleanups, the Spring Litter Sweep series, on Monday and they’re encouraging others in the community to participate.

Co-founder Susan Hill Smith said volunteers collected 60,000 pieces of litter during cleanups last year. That’s a 130% increase over 2021.

She says common litter items found on the beach and commercial areas are plastics such as bottle caps, food wrappers, lids, and straw wrappers.

Smith said one litter item remains at the top of the list even though it is prohibited and that is cigarettes.

Organizers say 44% of litter items collected on the beach, streets, sidewalks, and parking lots last year were smoking-related litter items.

“Cigarette litter is our number one both on the beach and on the streetscape even though on the beach the city council passed and adopted in 2020 a law against smoking on the beach,” Smith said. “We’ve seen a decrease in cigarette litter as far as our totals. But that’s still cigarette litter is still our number one and that has both toxic chemicals and plastic threads in it.”

The group has entered a partnership with the South Carolina Aquarium to document their litter data through the aquarium’s Citizen Science app. The app allows citizen scientists to document observations in the area. They said the aquarium reports at the turtle hospital showed a remarkable increase in the amount of plastic they’re seeing ingested by their patients.

Smith said the crew was founded in 2018 after concerns about litter and pollution problems on the beach and how that was affecting both the beach and ocean ecosystems as well as public health and really just wanted to help keep their islands beautiful and protect the area.

Smith encourages avoiding bringing disposable items to the beach and keeping track of beach ordinances prohibiting single-use items.

If you are interested in joining the clean-up crew the first meeting is 5:30 p.m. Monday at 1100 Ocean Boulevard.

More information on the group and future cleanup dates can be found on their Facebook page.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.

The South Carolina Department of Transportation is asking residents to weigh in on a preferred concept for the Isle of Palms Connector restriping project. At the transportation committee meeting on Feb. 6, Mount Pleasant council members discussed a new alternative concept presented by town staff that includes a larger multiuse path compared to SCDOT’s concepts.

The Town’s concept includes a 14-foot multiuse path on the south side of the bridge (left shoulder when facing Mount Pleasant) with designated bike and pedestrian lanes, a four-foot buffer between the path and traffic and two 11-foot vehicle lanes with an 11-foot median in the middle. The median provides space for emergency vehicles to pass through, and it could be used as an additional westbound lane off of the island for planned special events or evacuations.

“The main change that was proposed as part of that concept was actually to provide a wider pedestrian lane and a wider bicycle lane, separating those uses,” said James Aton, the deputy director for capital projects and transportation for the Town.

At the base of the connector on the Mount Pleasant side, there’s an option to restripe the road to include two westbound lanes leaving the island.

The Town’s concept is similar to SCDOT’s Concept 3, except SCDOT proposes a 10-foot multiuse path with a six-foot buffer and the median between the two travel lanes is 10 feet. SCDOT’s Concept 4 is a mirror of Concept 3 with the bike and pedestrian lane on the other side of the roadway. However, both municipalities favor the bike and pedestrian lane on the south side of the bridge – in Mount Pleasant it allows cyclists and pedestrians to easily access shopping, restaurants and nearby apartments and the Isle of Palms has infrastructure in place to gather pedestrians on that side.

SCDOT presented five concepts in front of the Isle of Palms city council on Dec. 13 and the Mount Pleasant transportation committee on Jan. 3.

SCDOT’s Concept 1 includes a 10-foot bike and pedestrian lane on the south side of the connector, a six-foot buffer, two 11-foot travel lanes with a four-foot paved median in the center and a 10-foot shoulder on the north side of the bridge. Concept 2 is a mirror of Concept 1.

The first four concepts presented by SCDOT do not add capacity to the connector. On a typical travel day, the center median lane or shoulder lane would be used in emergency situations, whether its drivers pulling over for an emergency vehicle or first responders moving an accident out of the way. It would not be used for travel except for planned special events.

Concept 5 presented by SCDOT creates two westbound travel lanes leaving the island to help reduce travel time on the bridge, especially during the busy summer months. This concept includes the 10-foot multiuse path with a five-foot buffer area on the south side of the bridge.

Another option is to leave the current configuration as is. The Isle of Palms Connector was restriped early 2021 to provide more safety for cyclists and pedestrians. The existing configuration includes bike and pedestrian paths on each side of the bridge in a single direction with a 3.5-foot buffer on each side. There are two 11-foot travel lanes with a 4-foot paved median in the center. Additionally, the speed limit went from 55 to 45 mph.

“The benefits of that [configuration] is you’re separating direction of travel for bikes and pedestrians, sort of improving the overall safety of the interaction of those users,” said Aton.

The main goal for revisiting the restriping, initiated by the City of the Isle of Palms, was to assess emergency vehicle response times and find a solution for traffic leaving the island. Police and fire chiefs for both Mount Pleasant and the Isle of Palms said there have not been any issues getting emergency vehicles through the connector and there have not been any delays in response times.

“It’s not something we’ve seen as an issue,” said Mount Pleasant Fire Chief Mike Mixon, “but [a median lane] would keep the cars from having to move to the side.”

The SCDOT survey opened Jan. 17 and closes after 30 days. To provide input on SCDOT’s five concepts, visit http://bit.ly/3YJMtOZ.

Seven Lucy Beckham High School student athletes signed letters of intent to play their sport at the collegiate level.

“I have the privilege to be around these student athletes who have worked hard at all those practices,” said Athletic Director Scott McInnes at the signing ceremony on Feb. 9. He acknowledged the sacrifices the parents of student athletes make throughout the four years.

Each coach shared a few words about the athletes, plus the athletes had an opportunity to thank family and friends for helping them reach this goal.

Baseball

Lane Lockhart — University of South Carolina Union

Football

Malachi Coakley — Union County

Tierell Milligan — St. Andrews University

AJ Kut — The Citadel

Jack Weil — The Citadel

Track & Field

Allison Kammer — University of South Carolina Upstate

Sam Seifert — The Citadel

Bishop England High School hosted a signing day ceremony on Feb. 1 to celebrate nine athletes who committed to playing sports in college. The student athletes took the stage individually with their parents and coaches as their high school sports accomplishments were recognized.

Swimming

Lindsay Burbage — University of Massachusetts

Matthew Piccard — Virginia Military Institute

Softball

Adelaide Coyle — Erskine College

Football

Tommy DiLiegro — Wofford College

William Poole — Gardner Webb University

Charlie Ranney — Bates College

Track & Field

Maggie Long — Anderson University

Rowing

Sophia Savage — Fairfield University

Baseball

Asher Western — University of South Carolina Beaufort

Football

Zach Hagedon — Old Dominion

Timmy Castain — North Greenville

Swimming

Ben Hutson — Converse College

Gabe Grimm — Lees-McRae College

Soccer

Beck Dean — Furman University

Soccer

Turner Orvin — Johns Hopkins University

Soccer

Maile Merklein — University of South Carolina Lancaster

Three more Mount Pleasant high school athletes committed to play college sports on Dec. 21 by signing their letters of intent.

Wando High School’s Mikey Rosa committed to playing football at the Citadel. The team captain and linebacker was selected to play in the 2022 Shrine Bowl and was named the 2022 Shrine Bowl Defensive MVP.

“Mikey is a remarkable young man. He checks all the boxes when it comes to character, leadership and being a teammate. Mikey is a leader on the field and off always willing to lend a hand to whoever may ask,” said Wando coach Rocco Adrian.

Two Oceanside Collegiate Academy football players also signed their letters of intent. Vaugh Blue signed with Liberty University, and Monroe Freeling committed to the University of Georgia. Freeling is the number one college prospect in the state for the class of 2023.

This post represents the first installment in a DawgNation series this spring featuring the “Next Generation” of Georgia football players from the 2023 signing class. 5-star Monroe Freeling ranks as the nation’s No. 5 OT and the No. 33 overall prospect for 2023 on the 247Sports Composite ratings and the On3 Industry Ranking.

==========================================

It is a fall Friday night in coastal South Carolina. The palms in the Palmetto State are swaying. There’s a blissful breeze drifting inland.

Oceanside Collegiate Academy is coming out for the second half. We fix our eyes on a Bunyanesque offensive tackle walking out.

Monroe Freeling offers a unique visual. His weight ranged between 290 and 295 pounds for his senior season.

South Carolina measured Freeling at 6 feet, 7 inches with no socks on. The Gamecocks offered him before he played his first varsity game as a sophomore.

He’s big and long and lean. Like a walking parenthesis in size-16 cleats. Freeling will not take up a lot of space. But he’ll eclipse everything in front of him.

With that second half about to follow, we keep our eyes on Freeling.

The rest of the team is getting warm. Running in place. He had to hang back a bit from the rest of the team. Probably needed more tape. That’s what head coach Chad Wilkes thinks.

Those two have a quick word.

“Alright Monroe,” Wilkes says. “Go stretch.”

“Do you mind if I just do yoga?” Freeling replies.

Wilkes did not. His 4-star OT can indeed do yoga if that’s what he needs. As long as he goes back out and physically dominates opponents and finishes every block with domination on his mind.

It was no random request. Freeling’s mother, Brandy, had established a tradition of doing yoga with the team on Fridays in the season. She started Monroe on yoga after his freshman season.

“It is all about knowing your body coach,” Monroe Freeling said to Wilkes at the moment.

Freeling takes that discipline very seriously.

“It helps a lot,” Freeling said this past season. “Even if you don’t really do it that often. Even if you just kind of get in a little rhythm of it. You can know exactly where your body hurts and how to fix it. That’s the biggest thing because a lot of players will hurt and go to a trainer and will say they are hurting. This way, a lot of the time I can just go ‘Hmm I know where I hurt. I know the way I hurt my body. I know how to fix it and I can stretch it out’ and then coordination-wise and obviously flexibility wise it helps a great deal, too.”

“But for me, the biggest thing was body awareness and knowing where I hurt and how I can stay healthy for a long time.”

Get you a Left Tackle that can lead a yoga session after a long road trip!!! pic.twitter.com/CuOhv21y4L

— Chad Wilkes (@CoachChadWilkes) November 25, 2022

It’s a tool for him to succeed.

“I do love it,” he said. “It kind of locks me into breathing and into the sense of your mind even in a football game.”

Senior Season Highlights OL/DL

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‘Southern Charm’ Drama: Austen Kroll Hooks Up with Shep’s Ex Taylor Ann Green

Southern Charm stars, Taylor Ann Green and Austen Kroll, hooked up “at the start” of filming Season 9.

“Taylor has almost gone through the whole cast, minus Craig,” one source dished to Page Six.

Insiders told the outlet that Austen and Taylor are going to “try and say they only made out,” but as the season unfolds the steamy encounter will be “revealed to be more than that.”

Austen dated Taylor’s close friend, Olivia Flowers, for about six months, and fans know that Taylor, 28, was involved in an exclusive relationship with Austen’s buddy and co-star, Shep Rose, for two years.

“[Season 9] is gonna be about her,” the snitch dished.

The source alleged that Taylor was “screaming and crying and yelling in front of all the guests” during one cast gathering.

Shep, 43, is reportedly “fine” with Taylor hooking up with his best pal and is even “defending” his ex amid the Charleston chatter. Taylor and Shep’s relationship ended at the conclusion of Season 8 filming season, after Shep refused to let go of his bachelor lifestyle.

“[He] refused to commit to Taylor, telling her that he doesn’t want to be with just one person and change his lifestyle,” an insider told People, last summer.

Olivia, 30, who shares a close relationship with Taylor, is “aware [of the situation], but she’s had bigger issues to deal with,” the source said, making reference to the tragic death of her brother, Connor Flowers, last month.

Flowers, 32, passed away on January 30, at his Isle of Palms residence, outside Charleston, SC. Olivia appeared to share a close relationship with her brother, as each shared photos of the other on their respective Instagram pages.

The outlet’s sources hinted that the other women on the cast are trying to distance themselves from the drama surrounding Taylor, as filming season rolls on.

“The girls don’t f–k with her because they know she’s crazy and will do anything to climb the ladder,” an insider claimed.

There are other circulating rumors alleging that Taylor also hooked up with Southern Charm creator and cast member, Whitney Sudler-Smith.

Austen, Taylor, Whitney, Olivia, Craig and Venita Aspen recently took off for Jamaica—but it appears that Shep stayed behind. Olivia shared a video of Austen, Whitney and Craig on train during the cast getaway.

Austen was asked if he would ever consider dating Shep’s ex, in an October interview with Us Weekly.

“I mean, I love Taylor to pieces, and I cherish her friendship, and we’ve gotten very close,” he said at the time. “She’s an important person in my life, and I wanna keep it that way.”

“I just think that would be crossing a whole bunch of lines, and a bunch of friendships would really be affected by that. I’m telling you that would be a fricking [sic] bomb to drop, that is for sure,” he added.

Officials said the 19-year-old also spoke about her alleged cancer journey at universities and on a podcast.

ISLE OF PALMS, S.C. (WCSC) - The Isle of Palms City Council hosted two special workshop meetings to talk about short-term rentals in the month of January. The meetings offered a period for citizen comments where people could sign up to speak for three minutes each, followed by discussion between council members.

Councilman Blair Hahn says the meetings are to formally establish facts and hear from people.

“There was a lot of confusion about how many actual licenses are out there on the licenses that have been issued, how many of them are active, and where they were. And we agreed as a council on a set of numbers,” Hahn said.

In early December, the city council voted against a short pause on issuing short-term rental licenses.

Hahn is one of the members who did vote against the pause and says the city is still working to achieve a balance using other measures like noise and traffic enforcement to maintain the livability on the island.

He explains there are two types of short-term rental properties for single family homes on the island. One is people that live in the house being rented out. They are referred to in documents as 4% residents because they’re permanent residents on the island and they can rent their houses up to 70 days a year and still keep their residence status for tax purposes. The other group is 6% renters who are property owners and are not permanent residents of the island.

“And so we are now looking at whether or not to limit both groups or limit just one group. And if so, how do we limit that group? And those are the issues that we’re currently grappling with. How it turns out - I don’t know right now. I can’t see any way where we would limit 4% rentals on the island. Whether or not we limit 6% rentals, I think is yet to be seen,” Hahn said.

Tony Santiago lives on Isle of Palms, and he says the city needs to diversify its assets which includes having residents and rentals. But he says the council ultimately should serve the interests of the people who live there full-time.

“We need short-term rentals to what degree we need commercial resort properties to a degree They’re here already. We’re not going to get rid of them. The question is in whose best interest. We’re a municipality. The voting residents should be the number one priority. That’s just that simple.

The City of Isle of Palms uses the technology company Granicus house digital records and streamline local government services. As of Jan. 6, 2023 Granicus research shows Isle of Palms has 1,539 rental properties with an active profile online for renting. Of that number, 1,216 have had a documented stay within the last year, according to Granicus.

Santiago calls the relationship between residents and renters symbiotic, like in nature. He acknowledges they need each other but says the people who live there are the soul and essential part.

“That’s what it was like in resort towns like we’re a symbiotic relationship, and we have to live to each other. But the primary core organism is the residents in the voting jurisdiction,” Santiago explains.

The data also shows there are 56 properties actively advertising and renting without a license. In the agenda for the special meeting workshops, the city says it is pursuing compliance with these property owners and 8 have pending short-term rental licenses. The city says there are 34 pending short-term rental applications and of those, 27 have been pending for a month or more.

Santiago wants to see a limit on the number of short-term investment rentals.

“They do not want us to be the only community in the area without any type of restrictions on short-term rentals. Everybody will flood to us. And eventually the quality of the life, the livability, why people came to the islands will be deteriorated,” Santiago says.

Hahn says the council may or may not take any official action at upcoming meetings about short-term rentals, but called the special workshops helpful because they showcased information.

You can read the breakdown of 2022 STR license and activity on Isle of Palms here.

Copyright 2023 WCSC. All rights reserved.