Committee endorses logo, tagline and recommends IGA with Hardeeville to fund Palmetto Electric relocation

The Jasper County Transportation Committee voted to accept recommendations to adopt a new program seal and the tagline “your penny, our roads, our green future” and to ask County Council to sign an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the City of Hardeeville to pay for a Palmetto Electric utility relocation tied to a new traffic signal at Argent and Shortcut Road.

Chair (the meeting’s primary presenter) told the committee the program’s hotline and website are operational and that the group had drafted taglines and a logo to help promote the sales‑tax roads program. He said the committee intends to present the logo and tagline to County Council at its second meeting in February for formal action. “I recommend the tagline for county council, to be your penny, our roads, our green future,” the Chair stated when laying out his recommendation.

The chair reported that Hardeeville has retained Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for engineering work ($935,299) and that Nandino completed survey work for $23,500. He said the county finalized an IGA for engineering (named in the meeting as an IGA with 'Veil') and that staff met with SCDOT to coordinate timing and project sequencing at the John Smith intersection; soil borings were expected in the coming months.

On utilities, the chair said the total estimated cost to relocate Palmetto Electric infrastructure is $707,909 and that the county expects to use sales‑tax program funds to cover a portion of that work. He said the county’s anticipated share would be “no more than $217,472” and that the IGA would include a provision for Hardeeville to reimburse the program if the utilities must be relocated again as part of the later Argent Boulevard project.

Committee members recommended using the logo, hotline and website on project signage and social media to publicize the program when County Council approves the recommendation; one member suggested announcing the rollout at the March 11 state‑of‑the‑county address to maximize exposure. A motion to accept the recommendations presented by Mr. Iowenicki was made, seconded and carried by voice vote. The record shows affirmative responses from multiple members on the record.

Separately, the chair said he has requested $12,000,000 in federal construction aid for Argent Boulevard (FY2028). He said the LATS technical committee will review the TIP change in mid‑February and the recommendation would move to the policy committee (likely late March) for a formal vote on any TIP amendment.

The committee asked staff to plan traffic control around lane reductions during construction, and the chair said a signal at John Smith should help manage some of the traffic but would not eliminate all backups. He also noted staff sent a letter asking SCDOT to waive standard review fees so more funds can go to construction; a response was expected in about a month.

The committee will forward the logo/tagline and the IGA recommendation to County Council for final action. The chair said he would be available after the meeting for follow‑up questions.

The next committee meeting was set for March 13 at 10 a.m. at the County Building in Ridgeland.