It’s Friday! What a challenging (and, let’s face it, stressful) week we have all had. We hope our residents are practicing their social distancing skills. Our thoughts are going out to everyone in our community who is being impacted (and that’s all of us) by the new requirements of living in the age of coronavirus.
We’ve been putting out a lot of information on social media each day to keep our residents, businesses, and visitors current with the latest information from the City, as well as sharing information from South Carolina, Beaufort County and others. Now we’ll add a daily evening update Monday-Friday (and weekends as necessary) to summarize what we in the City of Beaufort are doing, and what other relevant stakeholders are doing.
SOUTH CAROLINA: DHEC reported today (Friday) that the state had a total of 125 positive cases of the coronavirus. Of that, 8 are in Beaufort County.
See DHEC map showing where cases are.
DHEC’s main page has a wealth of information.
CITY OF BEAUFORT: Our offices will be closed to the public beginning Monday, March 23. All public safety personnel will work their normal shifts and schedules.
Some details:
- Transactions will be conducted online. Payments can be made online (www.cityofbeaufort.org) or via mail (1911 Boundary St., Beaufort, SC 29902).
- Some employees will be working in offices; many will be working from home. Phone calls and emails to city offices will be answered during business hours.
- Beaufort City Hall will have drop-off boxes in the lobby for plans and permits to be left.
- Community Development (Planning Office) has enlarged its online Dropbox to accept larger files.
- Building, Fire, and Code enforcement activities will continue as normal with social distancing applied to all interactions.
City Council will NOT be meeting on Tuesday, March 24.
At an emergency meeting on March 19, City Council voted to waive certain fees temporarily, recognizing that many local businesses are adversely affected by restrictions placed on them. Read about that here.
RESTAURANTS: Support our restaurants by ordering to-go.Downtown restaurants have set up curbside pickups downtown. Find map here.
BEACHES: The Town of Hilton Head closed all of its public beaches (and public parking at the beaches) effective Saturday. Hunting Island State Park is still open (indoor spaces are closed) but gatherings of more than 10 people are not allowed.
AND FINALLY: Remember, we all have a responsibility to do what we can to prevent this disease from spreading. Wash your hands, take wipes with you, clean your counters at home, and keep your (social) distance from others.
But we are fortunate – we live in a community with beautiful neighborhoods and natural wonders. Take a walk, ride your bike, go to our parks, garden, kayak – just get some fresh air. You’ll feel better.
#togetherbft