Berkeley County to decide how they will spend some accommodation fee dollars

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Berkeley County Council will decide Monday how to spend some of their accommodation fees dollars.

The fees are collected by the county which must be spent on things that will be used in relation to tourism.

Lisa Jennings, vice president of the Berkeley County Historical Society, was standing in a one-room schoolhouse where her great-aunt once taught her father.

“He was in fifth grade and the family story is that Aunt Annie told him well, now when you’re in school Bob, you have to call me Miss Falz. But when we’re not in school. I’m back to being Aunt Annie.”

It’s stories like this that the Berkeley County Historical Society tries to keep alive.

The school was moved from Highway 17-A to near the Berkeley Museum at Santee Canal Park; it is the home of the Historical Society.  Right now, they have a small wooden sign that hangs on the side of the building, but Berkeley County Council will decide to approve about $1,400 in accommodations fees money so they can build and install a nice sign out in front of their facility.

“Our sign is not very noticeable. But we have put in for a grant with the county and hoping that that grant will be approved. Because we need a new up to date, 21st-century sign that’s in keeping really with the park, the museum, so that people can find us easily,” said Jennings.

Other applicants for some of the funds include the Berkeley Soil and Water Conservation District. They applied to the county for close to $74,000 to implement a marketing plan for many of the county’s waterways and outdoor assets. 

The Goose Creek Rural Fire Department is asking for $441 to create multilingual flyers and to install smoke detectors in a complex where a fatal fire happened earlier this year. 

County Council is expected to decide how to spend the money, and which projects to approve at their meeting Monday night. The regular council meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:15 p.m.