The Strom Thurmond Institute at Clemson University may be tapped to help shape Daufuskie Island’s future, as property owners on the bridgeless island consider taking steps toward wielding more control over their quality of life and property values.
The Daufuskie Island Council’s December meeting agenda included a proposal for a governance option study, a project that would cost about $15,000.
“The proposal was submitted and we are waiting to hear back from the folks on Daufuskie,” said William Molnar, visiting lecturer at the Clemson Institute for Economic and Community Development.
Robert Carey, director of the Regional Dynamics & Economics Laboratory at Clemson, is also named as part of the research team on the statement of work from last month’s meeting.
Andy Fulghum would work as a collaborator with Molnar and Carey on the report. Fulghum said his role in the potential study is unrelated to his county government position, and he is not participating in his official capacity Jasper County administrator.
The study would take about 10 weeks to complete and would include a review of past studies, the current state of taxes and services, and other factors related to self-governance. It would also outline different possibilities for the eight-square-mile island between Tybee and Hilton Head islands.
Among them: Incorporation, annexation and the creation of service districts. Some have wondered whether Daufuskie Island, which has about 400 residents, would meet the population-density requirements for incorporation.
The goal, as described in the statement of proposed work, is for “greater representation in local financial and service matters.”
As property owner Don Newton, who supports incorporation, put it last month: “We will get a better return on our dollars if we are leading it ourselves and managing it ourselves.”
Newton and others who have sought greater self-determination for the island were left looking for new avenues after the U.S. Department of Transportation opted not to award a $325,000 grant for a feasibility study of a comprehensive public ferry system.
Some islanders feel their needs have been overlooked by Beaufort County officials, in part, because of the remoteness of the island and its relatively small population.
Abandoning its rural form and becoming its own municipality would not deprive Beaufort County of any significant revenue, according to Bill Taylor, field services manager for the Municipal Association of South Carolina, which has been involved in the discussion.
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