Board delays auction plans for Sullivans Island land
Published May 17th, 2006
A planned auction of land on Sullivans Island pushed by Gov. Mark Sanford is on hold for a month.
The Budget and Control Board on Tuesday said it would delay action on the property the Town of Sullivans Island wants for its municipal operations.
Sanford chairs the board and lives on the island. He said he would continue to support auctioning the land to the highest bidder.
In 1949, the federal government gave the state the property for free. It had been used since 1915 as part of the Army’s operations at Fort Moultrie. There are two pieces of property: a rundown dock with a dock house and a warehouse on a neighboring parcel of land.
Sullivans Island has its town hall and police offices next door and has been leasing space at the warehouse for storage.
Sullivans Island Mayor Carl Smith told the board it really doesn’t want the expense tied to dealing with environmental and upkeep problems with the dock. But Smith said the town would take it, too, if that’s the deal the state wants.
The state has said the property is worth $2.8 million. But Smith and others say that’s not a fair estimate.
