Eye on Hilton Head

TOWN OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND

TOWN COUNCIL: 4 p.m.; Benjamin M. Racusin Council Chambers at Town Hall, 1 Town Center Court

African American historians and Civil War scholars from across South Carolina and the U.S. will discuss issues and stories related to Mitchelville, the nation’s first freedman’s village.

The forum, “Unheard Voices at the Dawn of Freedom,” will be from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort & Spa.

Mitchelville was created for freed slaves in 1862, a year after Union ships drove Confederate troops from Hilton Head Island. They were given a plot of land and allowed to govern themselves and learn self-dependence.

Hilton Head Regional Habitat for Humanity will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. Friday to celebrate building at least 19 new houses on Hilton Head between Leg O Mutton Road and Mathews Drive.

The Town of Hilton Head Island donated the land to Habitat in return for Habitat’s commitment to provide a road and utilities to the houses it will build. The paved road and water, sewer and electric services will be made available to those families whose land abuts the Habitat property along Alex Patterson Drive.

Details: Call 757-5864.

Hilton Head Island Town Council's Planning and Development Standards Committee meets Monday afternoon to discuss outlining an economic development strategy for the island. The meeting agenda was released today.

MONDAY, Oct. 17
Town of Hilton Head Island
Planning and Development Standards Committee: 2 p.m.; Benjamin M. Racusin Council Chambers at Town Hall, 1 Town Center Court

Here's a link to the agenda, which includes the Master Plan review of the enhancement/expansion of the Island Rec and SHARE centers.

The Town of Hilton Head Island
Regular Town Council Meeting
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
4:00 P.M.
AGENDA

1) Call to Order

2) Pledge to the Flag

3) Invocation

4) FOIA Compliance – Public notification of this meeting has been published, posted, and mailed in compliance with the Freedom of Information Act and the Town of Hilton Head Island requirements.

5) Proclamations and Commendations

6) Approval of Minutes
a. Town Council Meeting – September 20, 2011

7) Report of the Town Manager
a. Semi-Annual Report of the Parks and Recreation Commission, Marc Stuckart, Chairman

Hilton Head Regional Habitat for Humanity and Lowcountry Habitat for Humanity will join in celebrating completion of the 500,000th Habitat house and construction of the 500,001st house Monday for World Habitat Day.

In Kenya on Monday, Habitat for Humanity will complete house No. 500,000 in a partnership with families who were displaced after post-election violence erupted in the country in late 2007. That same day, volunteers will raise the walls on No. 500,001 in Paterson, N.J., according to a news release.

S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley will present the opening address at the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce’s 16th annual State of the Region Breakfast Oct. 12 at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort Spa.

Haley will be the keynote speaker, followed by a Q&A with Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton, Hilton Head Island Mayor Drew Laughlin and Bluffton Mayor Lisa Sulka, according to the chamber.

The public is invited, but seating is limited. Attendees can submit questions for the elected officials ahead of time via text or email at hiltonheadchamber.org.

Beginning Thursday, the western leg of Dunnagans Alley, adjacent to Paulie's Pizza and St. Luke's Thrift Shop, will be closed to through traffic at the intersection with Arrow Road.

The road will be closed to accommodate storm drainage construction associated with a new roundabout, according to the Town of Hilton Head Island.

The work will be performed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday.

Traffic wishing to pass through this intersection should use William Hilton Parkway as an alternate route. Dunnagan's Alley will be open to traffic at night and during the weekend.

A struggling economy and growing federal deficit have caused significant scrutiny of the U.S. government’s bond rating, resulting in downgrades, negative outlooks and credit watches.

For the Town of Hilton Head Island, that’s created the impression the decline in the federal rating will “trickle-down” to the state and local levels, said finance director Susan Simmons.

That’s not the case, Simmons said.

Standard & Poor’s announced in August “cities and states may keep their AAA bond ratings despite the recent downgrade of the U.S. federal government.”