Mount Pleasant Magazine Jan/Feb 2015

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streets, replace storm water lines and
pay for other projects necessary to
maintain the infrastructure of a grow-
ing municipality.
“I’m proud of our council for
addressing hard problems with our in-
frastructure,” DeMoura commented.
“That’s important.”
While residents of Mount Pleas-
ant probably appreciate freshly-paved
streets and better drainage, DeMoura
has had to make more than a few
unpopular decisions to maintain the
town’s fiscal integrity. For example, he
changed the way Mount Pleasant was
paying for health insurance benefits
for retired employees.
“That was $12 million we didn’t
have,” he explained. “We were as fair
as we could be, but it was painful.
Today we are fully funding all the
promises we made.”
Mount Pleasant drivers can expect
to share some pain regarding traffic
issues during the next year-and-a-half.
Ground on several projects will be
broken this year, but, when the dust
settles and work is completed, town
residents will have an additional fire
station, a new park, a new city hall, an
enhanced Memorial Waterfront Park
and a good start on a third north-
south road. In addition, seven or eight
streets will be resurfaced and Coleman
Boulevard will get a major facelift.
Here, according to DeMoura, is what
Mount Pleasant residents can expect
to see between the beginning of
2015 and the middle of 2016.
n The land has been cleared for the
town’s sixth fire station. Located in
Carolina Park on the north side of
Mount Pleasant, it is scheduled for
completion in September 2015.
n Work is expected to begin on the
second phase of Memorial Waterfront
Park in mid or late 2015.
n Design work will get underway
soon on a 250-acre park on Rifle
Range Road. A joint project with the
Charleston County Park and Recre-
ation Commission, it is scheduled for
construction late in 2015.
n Construction on the new city hall
is slated to begin in March 2015. The
three-story, 90,000-square-foot build-
ing will be located at the current mu-
nicipal complex on Houston North-
cutt Boulevard. When completed, it
will bring most of the town’s adminis-
trative services under one roof.
n Hungryneck Boulevard will be
extended to the northeast in two
phases, first connecting Porchers Bluff
with Hamlin Road. This section will
be completed when the new Jennie
Moore Elementary and Laing Middle
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