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Grant Opportunities

2006 Coastal Access Improvement Grant Awards

The City of Folly Beach

The city will receive funding to further its MAPP (More Access and Public Parking) program to improve public access and add parking spaces at two sites. At the 6th Street West walkover the city plans to shorten and renovate the existing walkover, clear the 50' right of way of brush, resurface, and designate 15 to 18 parking spaces. The city will do the exact same work at the 4th Street East walkover.

The City of North Myrtle Beach

The city will receive funding to construct its fourth handicapped accessible ramp. The site is the 50th Avenue North beach access. Modeled after a beach access on Hilton Head Island, these handicapped-accessible beach accesses provide built-in seating, railings that can be used as grab bars, and ramps that extend beyond the dunes so wheelchairs can roll out onto relatively hardened sand.

Georgetown County

The county will renovate the area leading up to the dune walkover at Public Access #12 at North Litchfield Beach. Currently, the sixty-foot wide access has been narrowed to a dirt entry road with heavy vegetation encroachment on either side of the path. The project will remove existing overgrowth, grade the full width of the beach access area to allow increased parking capacity, resurface the entire area leading up to the dune walkover with a pervious stone material, and place landscape timbers to redefine parking spaces and property boundaries.

The City of Georgetown

The city's Morgan Park has a white sand beach and is the only public beach access in the city. For its project the city will contract with consultants to develop a conceptual design for improvements to the park. The consultants will study potential park uses and amenities, such as restroom facilities, access to fishing from piers or the shore, and environmental and historical assessments and technical studies, as needed. A survey of Morgan Park will provide information on topography and locations of existing roads, parking, picnic shelters, possible historic sites and significant vegetation. The final report will provide a conceptual plan to city council for immediate and long-term management of the park.

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2005-2006 Coastal Community Environmental Assistance Grant Awards

OCRM is pleased to announce the following Local Government Assistance Grants to improve environmental quality in the coastal zone. The goal of the grant program is to increase public awareness of innovative technologies that improve coastal water quality.

City of Charleston

The City of Charleston, Department of Public Service will construct a permanent drying bed for the vacuum truck operation in the western portion of the Operations Yard at the Milford Street Facility. The drying bed will consist of a 30' x 40' concrete pad with a concrete block masonry wall on three sides. The fourth side will consist of a raised curb to prevent additional stormwater runoff from entering the area.

The drying bed will accept material (soil, stormwater and general debris) collected from the cleaning of stormwater system pipes and inlets, and from street sweepers. It allows water collected in the material to percolate, evaporate and/or sheet flow through a series of barriers and ditches to a detention pond. Additional sediment control devices such as Gutterbuddy (R) filters and silt fencing, along with best management practices will be employed to decrease sediment loads on the stormwater conveyance system. Materials from the drying bed will be hauled from the pad by dump trucks, as needed, and taken to the area landfill for disposal.

City of Conway

The City of Conway will install a StormTreat (TM) stormwater filtering system at the Second Avenue outfall to treat stormwater runoff and remove pollutants currently being dumped into the Waccamaw River.

The Waccamaw River is part of one of the largest watersheds on the East Coast. It is entirely confined to the Coastal Plain of South Carolina, making for very slow river currents and flushing effects. Therefore, the watershed is more vulnerable than quicker flowing rivers to degraded water quality due to pollution. Non-point sources provide the most significant basis for water quality impairments in the City of Conway.

Installation of the StormTreat (TM) filtering system at the Second Avenue outfall will help reduce pollutants affecting the Waccamaw River. The system incorporates pretreatment of stormwater runoff by removing total suspended solids prior to infiltration. It also reduces the amount of land needed for large detention facilities. Pollutants removed by this system include bacteria, heavy metals, nutrients, petroleum hydrocarbons and suspended solids. The StormTreat(TM) system captures and treats the first half-inch of runoff from routine storms and the first flush from larger storms.

Town of Mount Pleasant

The Town of Mount Pleasant will restore a former wetlands area located along the golf course fairway within Snee Farms. This area was once saltwater marshland of the upper reaches of Boone Hall Creek. The area was originally converted in the 1970s prior to stormwater regulations. During restoration, the channel will be widened to serve as a pollutant-filtering device to protect the water quality of the surrounding area. This channel is part of a drainage system that services approximately 200 acres of the Wando East Subdivision, 38 acres of commercial land (including Highway 17), and 49 acres of the Snee Farm Subdivision.

Water sampling will be conducted prior to and at completion of the restoration project. Sampling will test for biological oxygen demand, bacteria, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, oil and grit, and suspended sediments.

City of Myrtle Beach

The City of Myrtle Beach will install two CrystalStream(R) Technologies in-line stormwater treatment units at the outfall of two stormwater basins within the City. These units are designed to treat a flow of 36 cubic feet per second (cfs) and will remove pollutants including sediment and grit, vegetative material, biological oxygen demand, trash, debris and hydrocarbons within the stormwater systems.

After installation, the City will evaluate the removal efficiency of the CrystalStream(R) Technologies units by measuring the volume of solids collected.