At the June 25 Beaufort City Council meeting, Conway G. Ivy presented a passionate public comment regarding the controversial Downtown/The Point Drainage Project. Mr. Ivy emphasized the community’s concerns about the proposed placement of a pump station in Charlie Knott Park. In a bold move to seek an alternative solution, Ivy offered to match the city’s cost for a new engineering study dollar for dollar, up to $50,000. The city sent Mr. Ivy a letter in response to his offer late on the afternoon of June 24. On behalf of the city, City Manager Scott Marshall, refused Mr. Ivy’s offer citing the city’s procurement ordinances.
In a conversation with Beaufort Insider, Ivy said he made the offer to let the city know, “I’m serious about this. I’m not making a frivolous suggestion.” Ivy emphasized that he wants to open a dialogue with the city and was hoping for a non-binding letter of intent by his deadline.
Marshall shared the following comment with Beaufort Insider, “The offer to match Mr. Conway at $50,000 on a three-day deadline is incompatible with our procurement guidelines and budgetary process. The ability to accept the offer is not realistic, of which I believe Mr. Conway is fully cognizant.”
Speaking for himself and many other residents of The Point at the June 25th meeting, Ivy’s primary objection is the potential destruction of Charlie Knott Park due to the planned placement of a pump station and related structures. He argued that a properly functioning gravity system would resolve the drainage issues without compromising the park’s integrity and historical significance.
Despite several public sessions and proposals from Davis & Floyd, a Greenwood, SC based engineering firm, Ivy noted that the updated plan presented at the council’s work session did not address the community’s core concerns. Residents, including Ivy, have consistently advocated for the consideration of a gravity system instead of the intrusive pump station.
Drawing from the successful implementation of a gravity system in the Mossy Oaks area, Ivy proposed engaging the same engineering firm, Infrastructure Consulting and Engineering, to develop an alternative plan for The Point. Ivy stated, “It is incumbent on Council to have two alternatives to consider. This is particularly true since the pumping station cost is $6.8 million of the $9.5 million total project cost. This is aside from the irreversible destruction of the Park.”
To support his proposal, Ivy offered to financially back the gravity system study by matching the city’s expenditure up to $50,000. His offer included specific conditions: the study must be conducted by Infrastructure Consulting and Engineering, he must collaborate with the city’s engineering department to determine the study’s scope and monitor its progress, and a final legal agreement must be executed with appropriate conditions. This offer remains open for acceptance in principle until 5:00 PM on Friday, June 28. The city’s refusal letter stated that they were not able to meet any of Mr. Ivy’s conditions.
Assistant City Manager JJ Sauve shared three options the city is considering:
“The first path forward is to proceed with the current engineered system that requires some configuration of underground conveyance, a pump station, and a control housing. There is some room for aesthetic changes and features such as removing the generator housing, adjusting height and design of the control station building, taking ownership of Federal St from SCDOT and placing the pump station under Federal St, or moving to another pump design that could lower the outfall height by approximately two feet. This path keeps the project on-schedule with the grant requirements, and is the path recommended by the engineering team, but is not favored by the public.
The second path forward would require a change order in the engineering process, and approval by the grant authority, and may push the project timeline to no longer align with the grant funding requirements. This path would be to direct Davis and Floyd to go back to the original engineering design for the conveyance system and determine if a completely different design could achieve the desired stormwater drainage results without the use of a pumping station. This was discussed by Davis and Floyd, and achieves the same results as Mr. Ivy’s
proposal, but would not run afoul of local, state, and federal procurement requirements. This path could also explore other alternatives as requested by Council, such as the incorporation of green infrastructure as discussed by Councilmember Scallate. This approach could really be classified as a back to the beginning or back to the drawing board approach but there is no guarantee that the desired conveyance system only design is possible from an engineering and regulatory standpoint.
The third option is for Council to pause things and re-assess the priority of the King St. Stormwater Project. This could be accomplished by providing notice of termination of the design contract and following that procedure or allowing the design and permitting process to be completed and then shelving the project for future review. Either way Council would have the opportunity to re-assess the need and priority of the project at next year’s strategic planning session, and in future Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) planning sessions.”
Mr. Ivy told Beaufort Insider, “I want to see if the city wants to engage. The flooding issues they’re talking about really don’t exist.” Ivy also emphasized that it’s “important for Council to have alternative options” and that he wants the city to be “responsible in the way we spend any money, whether it’s a grant or not.”
The community now looks to the City Council for a decision about how to proceed. A decision that could significantly influence the future of Beaufort’s historic neighborhood and its park. Ivy’s substantial offer demonstrates The Point’s commitment to preserving Beaufort’s historical sites while ensuring effective and sustainable infrastructure solutions.
At Mr. Ivy’s request, the full contents of his comments to the City Council on June 25 can be found HERE.
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