If you’d been watching the door to the Holiday Inn Express on March 31, you’d have seen many of our local business leaders, including yours truly, arriving. We wouldn’t have been in our usual workday garb, but in the grungiest clothing we owned.
During a meeting of the newly formed North Summerville Area Council for the Greater Summerville/Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce, the subject of the less than fantastic portal into Summerville from I-26 (better known as exit 199) came up. The result was the organization of a cleanup of the area. The Flowertown Festival was coming up and this quick fix got a lot of support with many volunteering their morning to help.
But it was not to be. As we all gathered, we were informed we were not, as private citizens, allowed on the interchange.
That’s when our legislators stepped in to help. Rep. Jenny Horne called Tony Pope to find out why he wasn’t attending State Farm day in Columbia. A disappointed Tony told Rep. Horne he had volunteered for the cleanup, which now could not be held. She replied that she didn’t know why we couldn’t get a cleanup crew from the prison to clean the area instead. She told him to let her call Rep. Annette Young. Horne said she’d get back to him.
One short phone call later to Rep. Young and the problem was solved. Within a half hour, these two women were able to obtain a promise to get the interchange cleaned and spruced up by a prison crew – and before the Flowertown Festival, which was only four days away. DOT was enlisted to cut the grass.
So, the deepest thanks goes out to these fine Representatives for taking the time to solve a problem that benefited all of Summerville that weekend.
A long-term solution to the interchange problem has not yet been found. However, the North Area Council is working with the Town of Summerville, SC DOT, and Berkeley County officials to find one. Tony Pope, a member of Town of Summerville’s Exit 199 committee is working as liaison to make this happen. We have someone who has volunteered to donate plants, an architect willing to layout a design, and many business leaders who are very interested in fixing the problem. Surely with this many good folks involved, we can spruce up this bland, often overgrown portal to Summerville and make it represent the community those coming off the highway are about to enter. This issue affects the Town of Summerville, but it also affects both Dorchester and Berkeley Counties.
For those of you interested in joining the North Area Council, we meet next on May 6 at 8 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Express in Summerville. If you own or manage a business in the area, or just do business in the area, feel free to join us. We want to hear your ideas and your concerns.
Sharon Laney, Account Executive for Insty Prints serves as Chair; Cristy Sanders, General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express serves as Vice-Chair; Michael Colucci, owner of Colucci’s Jewelers serves as Secretary/Treasurer; Marlena Franklin, Coldwell Banker Commercial and myself are board members at large. Contact any of us if you have any questions. But most of all, feel free to come to the meetings, held on the first Wednesday of each month at the Holiday Inn Express.
The more good concerned people we have attending, the more issues we will address and solve.