Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

North Myrtle Beach keeps mayor, council

The face of the North Myrtle Beach City Council will remain the same with the re-election of Marilyn Hatley to her third term and the return of three incumbent council members.

Hatley defeated her three opponents: Gary Montgomery Stephens, C. Gene Sheppard, and Dawn M. Lampen. Council member Gregory Duckworth defeated his opponent James Blaine Robertson for the Windy Hill seat.

Terry White and Robert Cavanaugh ran unopposed for the Ocean Drive seat and an at-large seat, respectively.

The vote totals will be certified Thursday.

The nonpartisan election drew 2,782 voters in this town of more than 9,000 registered voters. The city's population is about 15,000 residents.

"North Myrtle Beach is a wonderful community to live, and work and recreate in," Hatley said after Tuesday's election. "We have a fantastic group of people who live here that help in so many ways. And I'm looking forward to working with every one of them to move our city forward."

The unchanged council plans to continue with work on road improvements, park areas, and recreation facilities in the city, and have said they will also continue to do more to lessen the possibility of future wildfires, particularly following the blaze destroyed 76 homes in Barefoot Resort this year.

Since the April wildfires, the North Myrtle Beach City Council has looked at becoming a firewise community, passed an open-burning ban ordinance and launched a free service that would allow residents and visitors to receive alerts via text message or e-mail about such things as major traffic crashes, road closures and evacuations.

"We will do everything to ensure safety in our community," Hatley has said.

Duckworth has said that the city and residents can learn from history, and should be diligent so the city doesn't face a similar situation.

Some Barefoot Resort residents have criticized city officials on how much notice residents were given to evacuate their homes during the wildfire.

Some critics, including Sheppard and Robertson, have also disagreed with the city's spending on facilities such as the North Myrtle Beach Aquatic and Fitness Center.

Cavanaugh has said that the city has been doing an excellent job in fiscal responsibility.

He wants to see the city expand its recreation facilities for the growing number of children and adults in the area.

The city recently completed additions and renovations to the J. Bryan Floyd Community Center on Possum Trot Road.

The long-awaited Robert Edge Parkway, also known as the Main Street Connector, was also recently completed and opened to the public.

Council members said the area continually needs road improvements and that the city is working toward such improvements such as upgrading U.S.17 in the city.

"I think there is always a need for improvements on roads," White has said. "They are much better than in the past. I'm always looking at ways of better transportation."