How do we get it done?
Written by Charlie Wetmore
want you to think of
someone close to you. Think of a spouse, child, sibling or someone else you love. Got it? OK, now answer a question
for me: If you want to do something, and you need this person’s help to do it, how are you going to approach
this person? Will you confront them and try to guilt them into doing it? Will you yell at them until they help you?
Or will you ask and try to persuade them to help you? Which way do you think is most effective?
We have found that, as a Town, Bluffton needs to approach her siblings (Hardeeville and Hilton Head), parent (Beaufort County), and extended family (Jasper County, the State of South Carolina and the Federal Government) in the same way. Sometimes we see something that needs to be done and we try to charge ahead like a bull in a china shop to get it done. We end up destroying almost everything around us. Other times we take the time to do our homework and to do things right, ending up with spectacular results.
We have some things that we would like to see done in Bluffton and the surrounding areas. Things like protecting the May River and limiting development in sensitive areas. Things like bringing businesses/industry to the Bluffton area. Things like building infrastructure to handle our growth. Almost everything we do will go better with the help of others. And that is what we are working on. Let’s take a look at the three examples mentioned above.
Protecting the May River and limiting development in sensitive areas: We have recently enacted a new storm water management plan in Bluffton. In my opinion, it will do a great job to ensure Blufftonians do not pollute the local waterways. However, there are significant areas that front these same waterways that are NOT in the Town of Bluffton. As a matter of fact, most of SC46 is in the County, not the Town. Also, the waterways themselves are under DHEC and OCRM’s jurisdiction. So, what are we doing? We are working with the County, DHEC, OCRM, Friends of the Rivers, the Watershed Advisory Committee and others to come up with a plan that will, hopefully provide guidelines for the entire area and protect the May River and our other waterways. Without getting into too much detail - there is a group that is meeting to recommend actions to the Town and County governments: actions that will help to protect our valuable resources.
Bringing businesses/industry to Bluffton: Have you ever asked yourself what Bluffton will look like in twenty years? What will she look like after all of the houses are built and the construction companies move on? Where will the high paying jobs be? That is the rationale behind the Technology Park on Buckwalter Parkway. It was created to help lure higher paying jobs to the area. The Town, County and the State have all committed resources to it. It has been good, but more needs to happen. We need to turn it into a multi-County industrial park (MCIP).
Beaufort County, Jasper County and Bluffton all need to agree to create a MCIP. Why bother? Because MCIPs allow us to give incentives at a State and local level to draw companies here. Companies that are also looking in neighboring States and counties. A MCIP also allows for us to get funds from the companies themselves to pay for the infrastructure needed. Along those lines, we need to be looking at where we can locate our next MCIP. We need to have the space for the companies to locate here – companies that have clean, high tech, high paying jobs for our citizens.
Building infrastructure to handle our growth: This is the one that needs the most work, in my opinion. The Town, County, State, Federal and School District need to communicate often and thoroughly to make sure that roads are widened when they need to be, schools are located where they need to be and are built as they are needed, intersections are built and/or expanded as they are needed and so much more. We need to listen to local citizens when we are thinking about expanding or changing a certain area. Often, the people who live in an area can bring insight to an issue that will not be gained otherwise.
So much can be accomplished when we all choose to work together instead of taking stands against
each other or blaming each other. We have seen roads widened, schools expanded, pathways built, parks built, waterways
protected and more due to working together. Hopefully we can strive to ask and persuade others to help us continue
to make Bluffton one of the best places to live. That is what will bring the best results in the long run.