At the request of The Dominion Post, BOPARC Executive Director Melissa Wiles addressed accusations pointing to a Sept. 29 legal advertisement listing BOPARC vendors and expenditures.
In particular, questions were raised about funds spent at Pro Performance ($24,635), Sandy Beach Resort ($12,035), Rioz Brazilian Steakhouse ($1,607) and Enterprise ($46,000).
Wiles said the idea that these expenditures indicate misuse of funds is a “wildly inaccurate, false narrative being circulated.”
She said the money paid to Pro Performance was for rental fees for a facility large enough to host a camp series for kids.
Further, Wiles explained the expenditures to the resort and restaurant were for an annual trip to Myrtle Beach for senior citizens through BOPARC’s senior center.
“The payment of Pro Performance would have been for the camp that took place the summer of 2019 and the payments to Sandy Beach and Rioz would have also been for the trip that took place in 2019,” Wiles said. “That’s how the list works — it is retroactive for the prior fiscal year.”
Wiles said the summer-long sports camp normally lasts 10 weeks and serves more than 400 kids. Registration fees are used to offset associated costs, including facility rental.
The expenditure with Enterprise reflects BOPARC’s fleet management agreement with the company.
BOPARC’s original planned budget for 2021 was $4,697,671.
In April, the city adjusted its $39.7 million budget down by just over $3.1 million due to COVID-19. That initial round of cuts dropped BOPARC’s budget by nearly 11%.
The agency is in the process of forming a nonprofit BOPARC Foundation to serve as a fundraising arm of the city’s park system due to aging facilities that cannot be addressed through self-generated revenue.
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