“A couple of us, including Josh, formed a committee called the Southern Low Country Advisory Board in 2017,” Mayor Williams explains. “August will be our eighth anniversary. And that board consists of all the mayors in the area, both counties and their chairs. The administrators all meet once a month, every month for eight years. And we talk about regional problems.”The consistent monthly meetings have created institutional knowledge and personal relationships that enable rapid response to shared challenges like housing shortages, transportation bottlenecks, and workforce development needs. The board’s most successful initiative created the Beaufort-Jasper Housing Trust, which pools resources from eight jurisdictions to fund affordable housing projects across county lines. Hardeeville’s Harvey Place housing development received funding from this regional trust, showing how collaborative governance can leverage limited municipal resources for greater impact.The trust operates independently of individual city budgets while maintaining Building Relationships & Solutions for Success ENGINEERING | SURVEYING | LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE | GIS | CONSULTING 10 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 09
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI5MjAx