Shrimp Dock and a mile of sidewalks, what else is Port Royal going to do with $5 million?

Karl Puckett
·4 min read

A new shrimp dock. Extending the Spanish Moss Trail. A mile of new sidewalk. Resurfacing downtown roads.

Port Royal’s about to go on a spending spree to improve its public facilities.

“We’re due,” Town Manager Van Willis says.

The Town Council is reviewing a long list of projects in its proposed $5 million capital project fund for 2024.

In 2023, the town budgeted $500,000, making this year’s proposed spending a 900% increase.

“It’s probably the biggest we’ve had in decades,” Willis said of projects earmarked for funding in the town’s capital fund, which still needs approval by the Town Council.

Here’s the preliminary plans:

▪ Demolishing the rickety shrimp dock on Battery Creek and building a new dock where commercial shrimp, tuna and swordfish boats can offload. Over the last several months, the town has worked through federal courts to remove derelict boats from the crumbling dock to prepare the way for a new dock, with the aim of preserving the town’s deep ties to fishing.

A shrimp and a sail boat are the sole remaining vessels as seen on Sept. 21, 2022 at the Town of Port Royal shrimp dock on Battery Creek. The town expects to demolish the dock this year and build a new one, in additional to a seafood processing facility.
A shrimp and a sail boat are the sole remaining vessels as seen on Sept. 21, 2022 at the Town of Port Royal shrimp dock on Battery Creek. The town expects to demolish the dock this year and build a new one, in additional to a seafood processing facility.

Construction of a new seafood processing plant also is planned. In May 2021, the town suspended seafood processing, until new facilities could be constructed, because of financial losses incurred subsidizing operations. The town has $1.9 million from state grants in addition to $600,000 from an insurance settlement to pay for the work. The insurance money came from a settlement paid after a July 2015 fire burned down a sea market at the site.

“We’ll make some changes to the configuration so it’s more accommodating to the shrimp boats,” Willis said of the shrimp dock.

A day dock will be built as well to provide a place to tie up boats while visiting the Fishcamp on 11th Street restaurant, the Shellring Ale Works or downtown, Willis said.

Demolition estimates are being gathered now, Willis said, with the work expected to begin in 2 to 3 months.

▪ Extending the Spanish Moss Trail from the Bluff Neighborhood to Fischcamp on 11th St. Funding will come from an $800,000 grant. In April, the South Carolina Department of Transportation OK’d a permit to extend the trail from Smilax Road to Ritter Circle. That $600,000 project includes a signal for safely crossing busy Ribaut Road, a major cog in the popular biking and pedestrian trail stretching from Beaufort to Port Royal. The project funded in Port Royal’s capital budget through the Bluff Neighborhood to Fishcamp will get riders and walkers to Sands Beach and downtown Port Royal.

An expansion of the Spanish Moss Trail will start near this location at Smilax Road where the current trail ends and cross Ribaut Road with a pedestrian-controlled stop light. Once the trail is across Ribaut Road, the town of Port Royal is planning to extend it through the Bluff neighborhood to Fishcamp on 11th Street.
An expansion of the Spanish Moss Trail will start near this location at Smilax Road where the current trail ends and cross Ribaut Road with a pedestrian-controlled stop light. Once the trail is across Ribaut Road, the town of Port Royal is planning to extend it through the Bluff neighborhood to Fishcamp on 11th Street.

▪ Resurfacing all of the downtown roads for $2.3 million. Paris Avenue, the main street, is a separate project that is still in the planning stage.

▪ Building about 1 mile of new sidewalk.

▪ Stormwater improvements in the downtown and Casablanca neighborhood.

▪ Remodeling the second floor of the police department.

Including the work in 2024, the town is expecting $8.5 worth of capital projects in the next few years, Willis said.

The town is able to finance more public projects these days, Willis said, thanks to COVID-19 and the town’s growth.

The town received $5.4 million in federal COVID-19 relief from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act, which provided $350 billion in additional funding for state and local governments.

And with the town’s property tax base expanding, its borrowing capacity has increased, too, Willis says. Port Royal’s population grew by 10,678 residents to 14,220 between 2010 and 2020, or 33%.

The capital budget is separate from the town’s proposed 2024 spending and revenue budget, which also is being reviewed now. That proposed budget is $9.1 million, a $5.8% or $470,000 increase.

Much of the increase is related to a 5% cost of living raise for employees and hiring additional employees: Code enforcement officer in the Planning Department, police officer, administrative staff member for the Building Department and a Public Works Department employee. Salary increases also are planned for police command staff. The town shares fire services with the city of Beaufort. Because of a cost of living adjustment for those employees, Port Royal’s contribution to fire services also is increasing $33,000, or 1.3%, to $2.5 million

Because of the reassessment, and growth in the town, the value of one mill is expected to increase from $58,000 to $66,500, Willis said. That will result the town levying fewer mills, he said.

A mill is equal to $1 in taxes per $1,000 of property value, with property taxes calculated by multiplying the assessed property value by the mill rate and dividing that number by 1,000.