MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Council members decided to defer a vote on whether to extend Horry County’s state of emergency declaration.
The county’s state of emergency was declared on March 14 and will expire at noon on Wednesday. After more than a 90-minute discussion on Tuesday, council members could not decide on a motion. One council member said he did not think council had a good, solid hand on what they were considering.
Council members said they should not renew the state of emergency declaration, sending a message out that the county is “open for business.” The motion would need to have two-thirds of the votes.
Eventually, a motion was made to amend the ordinance so as not to continue with the state of emergency, but still allow the administrator to open up county facilities in phases. The amendment also would suspend transactional fees for resident and allow them to pay online.
Council decided to defer the motion and to reconvene at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, two hours before the declaration expires.
Other municipalities in the Grand Strand area have voted to extend their emergency declaration in order to allow businesses to defer payments on some fees or to enforce hygiene practices.
Horry County’s declaration was set to allow the county to close certain facilities, postpone events, and modify employee work plans to better protect residents and visitors from spreading the coronavirus.
“My personal feeling is that it’s time we ease back into this thing and get business going again,” said Horry County councilman Johnny Vaugh. “We’re starving people and I mean almost literally because these small businesses…things just can not continue to go on without being able to conduct business.”
Vaught also told News13 council members would consider the current status of revenue for the county.
