Eye on Hilton Head

Tuesday's Hilton Head Island Town Council meeting was lively and packed with agenda items.

Most notable, council voted 6-1, with Bill Ferguson against, objecting to a proposed Indian casino in Hardeeville.

Here are other items from Tuesday's meeting:

HILTON HEAD JOINS ECONOMIC ALLIANCE

By unanimous vote, Council joined the Lowcountry Economic Alliance after hearing a presentation from out-going executive director Kim Statler.

Hilton Head Regional Habitat for Humanity honored the work of volunteers and raised the first wall on its 62nd home in Brendan Woods in Bluffton on Tuesday.

Volunteers gathered at the Brendan Woods Community Center where 59 of them received the (plastic) “Golden Hammer” in recognition of performing more than 100 hours of labor on Habitat homes or in the Habitat ReStore.

Town of Hilton Head Island Fire & Rescue Division paramedics were recognized Tuesday for using new tools to help victims of serious heart problems survive and recover.

The International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) presented the town with its Heart Safe Community Award for “creative efforts” to prevent and treat serious heart problems, including sudden cardiac arrest.

Hilton Head Island Mayor Drew Laughlin presented 47 island middle and high school students with the Mayor's Youth Volunteer Service Award at a special ceremony at Town Hall on Monday.

"The ceremony presented a way to thank and honor these students, who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspired others to engage in volunteer service and who have given their valuable time and effort into making a difference in our community," according to a statement from the Mayor's Office.

By most accounts, Barry Ginn should be dead. Fortunately, the Hilton Head Island resident has several guardian angels watching out for him.
Ginn survived a rare bacterial infection that attacks soft tissue and muscle, often leading to amputation and, in some cases, death.

In February, Ginn had severe pain in his shoulder and a fever. He thought he had torn his rotator cuff again and went to the doctor.

Instead, he learned -- nearly too late -- that bacteria was ravaging his body, eating him from the inside out.

Palmetto Electric Cooperative will work on overhead distribution lines on the east side of Spanish Wells Road at the Jarvis Creek Bridge on Monday, May 14, weather permitting, according to the Town of Hilton Head Island.

The work will require the closure of the northbound lane on Spanish Wells Road from 8 a.m. to noon. A crew will direct alternating traffic through the southbound lane during work.

Delays should be expected and motorists are urged to use caution when taveling through the area. Traffic, though, will remain open in both directions.

Hilton Head Island Town Council next week will consider joining the dysfunctional Lowcountry Economic Alliance, opposing a proposed Indian Casino at Hilton Head Lakes in Hardeeville and approving funding for the Chamber of Commerce Visitor and Convention Bureau and other agencies.

Here's the latest on the casino and the Lowcountry Economic Alliance.

Forty-seven Hilton Head Island middle and high school students will receive an award Monday from Mayor Drew Laughlin for completing at least 50 hours of community service between May 1, 2011, and April 30.

Laughlin and South Carolina Yacht Club founder Leslie Richardson unveiled the Mayor’s Youth Volunteer Service Award in October to encourage students to give back and entice nonprofit groups to join with schools to provide volunteer work for students.

The 2012 Chamber Leadership Hilton Head Island - Bluffton class will hold a ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) to unveil their class project — an informational kiosk on the grounds of Mitchelville Preservation Project at Fish Haul Creek Park near the end of Beach City Road.

The kiosk tells the story of Mitchelville in commemoration of the nation's first village for freed slaves.

Details: Go to www.mitchelvillepreservationproject.com or visit the project’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/mitchelville.

Five young bluebirds took to the sky Tuesday leaving behind their nest in the Sea Pines Forest Preserve.

It was a proud moment for Sea Pines volunteers and Eagle Scout Jackson Henz, who had been monitoring more than 60 bluebird boxes as part of a research project.

With the help of Boy Scout Troop 245 and a wildlife biologist with Community Services Associates Inc., Henz installed the boxes in Sea Pines, CSA spokesman Michael Connolly wrote in an email.