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Beaufort fire chief named assistant city manager City Manager Bill Prokop announced Friday, Jan. 31 that Beaufort Fire Chief Reece Bertholf is assuming the responsibilities of assistant city manager. Bertholf, 41, will keep his position as fire chief, and also perform the professional, administrative and managerial duties required to assist the overall operations of the City of Beaufort. He will work on
special projects to ensure they are in concert with the policies and goals of the city manager. Reece Bertholf’s tiBertholf tle will be Fire Chief/Assistant City Manager. “In my absence, Reece will act as the city manager, with
full authority to make decisions and sign contracts,” Prokop said in a release. Bertholf joined the Fire Department in 2001 after serving four years in the U.S. Marine Corps and achieving the rank of corporal. He worked his way up the department ranks and became chief in 2015. In the last several years, Bertholf has assisted Prokop with several projects
and initiatives. Bertholf earned a Bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina Beaufort, and a Master of Business Administration from The Citadel Graduate College. He graduated from Leadership Beaufort, Leadership South Carolina and the Riley Institute at Furman’s Diversity Leader Initiative. He was in
the inaugural class of the Local Government Leadership Institute, a program of the Joseph P. Riley Jr. Center for Livable Communities at The College of Charleston. Bertholf and his wife, Mikie, have two children, Kiwa and Kai, who attend Beaufort High School and Riverview Charter School, respectively. He is active in community and school activities.
“I am very proud to have talent within our organization, like Reece, to afford me the opportunity to promote from within,” Prokop said. “I look forward to working closely with Reece on many of the plans and programs we have for the growth of our City in the years ahead. Please join me in congratulating him on the expansion of his duties and responsibilities.”
Council letting it cool off
HEROES VS. CARDINALS
First responders take on elementary school students
Historic Beaufort Foundation still has seat on board – for now By Mindy Lucas The future of a local historic preservation group’s seat on Beaufort’s Historic District Review Board remains to be seen, while officials with both the group and the city say it is still there – for now. The removal of Historic Beaufort Foundation’s (HBF) longstanding seat was first broached in November as editorials both for and against the seat’s removal ran in The Island News and a city council meeting brought out impassioned members of the community on both sides of the issue. While council members voted 3 to 2 on first reading to remove the seat at the council’s November meeting, in an abrupt turn of events members voted to table the issue just two weeks later. At that same meeting, Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling, who earlier had been in favor of removing the seat, announced the appointment of a panel to study the issue. The panel was also to discuss other topics such as training and improved standards that would simplify the process for applicants going before the review board, the mayor said. That panel has since formed and met three times, though what action will ultimately be taken on the status of HBF’s seat on the Historic District Review Board has yet to be determined. Asked if the issue had been discussed, HBF’s Executive Director Cynthia Jenkins who was appointed to the panel
Karin Bennett, St. Peter’s physical education teacher, was the pitcher for both teams to keep things even.
Michael Chisholm of the Lady’s Island/St. Helena Fire Dept. tries to catch a fly ball during the third annual Heroes vs. Cardinals kickball game. The ball however bounced off Chisholm’s chest and fell to the ground, loading the bases. By Bob Sofaly It was Beaufort County first responders taking on the students of St. Peter’s Catholic Elementary School for the epic third annual Heroes vs. Cardinals Kickball Game on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at the school’s soccer field. The game was in conjunction with National Catholic Schools Week.
The contest was started as an idea to involve the local fire fighters who work with the schools throughout the year with training and fire drills. “Last year we included not just Lady’s Island/St. Helena fire department, but opened it up to all the other local first responder agencies including those from Bluffton,” said Jessica Green of St. Peter’s. First responders and students
were divided up equally so as not to give the students too much of an advantage. During the second-inning stretch, both teams took a quick sprint around the soccer field to stay loose. Atziry Benaridez, a 2nd-grader at the school, beat everyone. Later it leaked that she is also on the school’s cross country team. The score ended tied at 8.
Second-grader Frankie Arvizu cheers his team on. Photos by Bob Sofaly.
City seeks input on new playground equipment at Waterfront Park By Mindy Lucas What kind of playground equipment would you like to see in Beaufort’s Waterfront Park? That’s what city planners would like to know. The city will be replacing the park’s aging playground equipment
soon and is seeking input on what parents and community members would like to see as its replacement. The equipment that is there now was installed in 2006 and is either wearing out or has parts that are nearly impossible to replace, said
Downtown Operations Director Linda Roper. The new equipment is expected to cost $250,000 to $300,000. As of Thursday, Jan. 30 the city had already heard from 394 participants in the survey, and was plan-
ning to leave the survey posted for one more week. If you’d like to give your feedback, you can find the survey on the city’s website and social media accounts or at www.surveymonkey.com/r/ TPXHSK9.
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Crowd gets their beach boogie on at Beaufort Beach Ball event.
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