Myrtle Beach’s far away budget retreat raised concerns. Will anyone pay for public to go?

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The City of Myrtle Beach is gearing up to host their annual budget retreat.

According to an email sent to local media members on Feb. 10, city spokesperson Meredith Denari said the budget retreat would once again take place at Santee Cooper’s Wampee Conference Center in Pinopolis, SC from March 12 through March 14.

According to Google Maps, the fastest route from City Hall in downtown Myrtle Beach to the conference center is two hours and seven minutes. That means the budget retreat is significantly closer to Charleston than to Horry County.

This sparked concern among some Myrtle Beach constituents who took to Facebook to express their feelings about the budget retreat being held so far away.

The retreat is open to the public and local media, according to the city.

In response to some of the criticism, council member Bill McClure responded to comments saying he would get them a free hotel room.

“The offer is . . . if you folks are willing to sacrifice your personal time, I’m willing to cover your hotel room,” McClure wrote. “Why speculate what happens when you can see what happens.”

Initially, it was unclear who would pay for the hotel rooms.

On Friday afternoon, McClure confirmed that it was a genuine offer.

“Absolute genuine offer and of course, the money would have come from my personal funds,” he wrote in an email to The Sun News.

According to Denari, who said she also saw the post, McClure posted that on Facebook on his own accord.

“The city would not pay for a member of the public’s hotel room and I’ve never heard of a council member offering to do that before,” she said. “The city has never paid for a member of the public’s hotel room to attend Budget Retreat.”

Denari said she believed McClure meant he would pay for it with his own money, not that the city would fund it.