County May Delay Funding Nursing School

Building a new detention center to save costs on public safety, building a new main library branch to serve county residents and relocating EMS centers for better response time are all expenses that can't wait, according to some members of Dorchester County Council. 

This is why the $3.6 million slated for Trident Technical College's Nursing and Science building in North Charleston should be reallocated to county projects, they said Tuesday during a special meeting of council. 

A public hearing must be called if payment is deferred, according to council members. 

While stressing that it wasn't a slight against the school and that it was doing a fine job, council members David Chinnis, Willie Davis, George Bailey, Bill Hearn and Jay Byars said the county should defer payment. 

"To try to frame this as we think they're doing a bad job is disingenuous at least," Hearn said, looking over his shoulder at the media present. "We think they're doing a great job."

Dorchester County joined Charleston and Berkeley counties to help fund the new building. While Charleston County bonded the expense, Berkeley and Dorchester appropriate funds each year. And Berkeley County has yet to allocate funds to the project this year, adding to uncertainty of the councilmen wishing to put off funding. 

Councilmen Larry Hargett and Richard Rosebrock stood in opposition. 

"We made a promise," Hargett said, angered at the prospect "going back on our word." 

Hargett argued that the college's building was an "economic development piece" and helped to draw business to the community with a thriving and prepared nursing population. 

"We vetted this out years ago," Hargett said. "I don't care whether Berkeley does it or not, it's our promise to them."

But the two-year nursing program and the increase in number of nurses in the area made Hearn question the vitality of the program. He said for every nursing job, there are 18 candidates for the job. He also said that many nursing jobs are looking for four-year nursing graduates, something the college doesn't produce. 

Chinnis suggested Dorchester's funding should be contingent upon Berkeley's funding. Chinnis called the $3.6 million "two and a half EMS stations." 

Byars suggested spreading the millions out over 10 years so that the county could have projects in its "backyard." Bailey agreed with that suggestion.

"This should not be a contentious issue for us," Byars said. "We have plenty of politicians that want to get elected and do the easy votes. Our job is to do the tough votes … Maybe we go back and say, hey, every year it's got to pass the litmus test."

No action was taken during the special meeting on this issue.