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BCD … what? COG leaders help clear things up at latest “Demystify” event

Written by Daniel Brock, Regional Strategist, with the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments

If we told you one tri-county agency is involved in major transit and transportation projects, regional workforce development, the recently completed North Charleston comprehensive plan and now small business loan administration, would you know what group we’re talking about?

For many, the answer would be, “Huh?”

That’s one reason the Chamber hosted leaders from the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments as part of its latest Demystifying webinar series on July 29.

“(BCDCOG) is a group of experts that are truly touching and shaping our region in a unique way, each through a different pursuit, but all through one sort of collaborative, multi-county effort,” said Senior Vice President of Leadership and Chamber Programs Adrian Cain said as part of his welcome.

Despite a membership that includes 30 local governments, many don’t realize all that the council’s work entails. From comp plans and public transportation to job training and wastewater infrastructure, BCDCOG often plays an unheralded role in some of the region’s most important and far-reaching initiatives.

“A lot of the projects that we take on don’t respect municipal or county boundaries,” said BCDCOG Executive Director Ron Mitchum.

An example: In 2015, BCDCOG was asked to take on administration of the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority (CARTA), which at the time was on the verge of bankruptcy. BCDCOG leadership worked with Charleston County Council to get and keep the authority out of debt, and COG staff has secured more than $40 million competitive grant funding to replace nearly all of what was once the nation’s oldest bus fleet.

BCDCOG staff also administers SC Works Trident, the regional arm of the statewide SCWorks program, which has faced a surge in demand related to COVID-19 as both job seekers continue to struggle. Since March, staff and partners at the SC Works centers in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties have provided more than 64,000 services ranging from unemployment insurance assistance to resume preparation.

Elsewhere, BCDCOG’s planning department — which includes a mix of land-use, environmental and transportation planners as well as engineers and GIS mapping specialists — is keeping busy as the region booms. For instance, the group has recently completed, or is currently working on, a half-dozen comprehensive plans for governments including the Town of Ravenel, City of North Charleston and Berkeley County.

And that’s just a fraction of the work that includes extensive transportation planning, regional air quality and water quality planning and administration, interfacing with Joint Base Charleston, myriad special plans and projects, and grant writing.

Pertaining to the latter, BCDCOG recently received more than $600,000 in COVID-19 recovery and resiliency funding from the U.S. Economic Development Administration that will be used to set up a revolving loan fund for local businesses coping with the ongoing pandemic. Details of that program will be available soon.

“If there’s a project out there that we can fund with grant money … we will seek that funding,” said BCDCOG Planning Director Kathryn Basha.

“We always welcome the opportunity,” Mitchum added. “Because, quite frankly, a lot of times we can find projects where we’re able to help identify dollars and solve problems.”

Mitchum noted that across its work, BCDCOG believes that the more people who participate and engage, the better the opportunity is to find consensus and achieve things together.

The most high-profile of those efforts is Lowcountry Rapid Transit, the nearly $400 million mass transit project connecting Charleston, North Charleston Summerville. BCDCOG leadership and the project team will sit down with the Chamber’s government relations staff this month to map out a plan of action to seriously engage Chamber members as LCRT moves through Phase 2 and toward a critical project approval deadline in September 2021

“One of things that we hope that we can work with Scott (Barhight) on is continuing to involve people from the private sector,” Mitchum said. “We’re always open to participation from folks who have an interest in a particular area.”

Ultimately, and perhaps as succinctly as possible, it all ties back to BCDCOG’s tagline of “Planning, Partnership & Prosperity.”

“We try to include all levels,” Mitchum said. “Really take advantage of the opportunity to get together and take care of some of these problems jointly.”

“We try to include all levels,” Mitchum said. “Make sure that we’re not … doing things that create challenges but, really, take advantage of the opportunity to get together and take care of some of these problems jointly.”

Anytime we get the opportunity to explain a little bit about who we are and what we do, we certainly want to take advantage of that.

Every municipality and county in the state belongs to and is represented by a council of governments. Several iteration

Funding?

We don’t believe in excluding folks. We believe the more people who participate and engage, the better the opportunity is to find consensus and common ground on the things we can accomplish.

The most high-profile of those efforts is Lowcountry Rapid Transit

The project team will be sitting down with the Chamber’s government relations staff this month to map out a plan of action as LCRT moves through Phase 2 and to a critical deadline in September 20201

“One of things that we hope that we can work with Scott (Barhight) on is continuing to involve people from the private sector,” Mitchum said. “We’re always open to participation from folks who have an interest in a particular area.

“It’s great to have that many members because no one gets left out. We have state representatives, state senators. We have small-town mayors, small-town councilmembers.”

Fit with trans, waste water feeds into the larger county or regional plan. Fits in with our transportation plan, our wastewater plan, our economic development plan. We always welcome the opportunity because, quite frankly, a lot of times we can find projects where we’re able to help identify dollars and solve problems for small towns and even larger cities.

Land-use, environmental and transportation planners and engineers
Data research and mapping

About BCDCOG

  • 30 Member Governments:
    • 27 municipalities
    • 3 counties
    • State level and public service district representation
  • 57-member Board of Directors

Mission: To support member governments in their efforts to preserve and enhance quality of life for the citizens of the BCD Region.

Posted on
August 5th 2020
Written by
Charleston Metro Chamber
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