Beautify CF leader quits amid fight over signs – Myhorrynews

Richard Skrip cleaned up Carolina Forest.

Now the beautification group he founded will have to carry on that work without his leadership.

Skrip resigned as president of Beautify Carolina Forest last month after a heated dispute with local real estate agents over open house signs, the groups volunteers said.

The disagreement grew so intense that someone went to Skrips house on July 24 and yelled at him for picking up the signs, according to an Horry County police report.

Skrip told the officer he and other Beautify Carolina Forest volunteers had removed the signs because they were illegally placed in the right of way, the report said. The other person involved was not identified in the report.

No one was arrested in the incident and the officer said he would look into whether any county policies were violated.

In an email to the Chronicle, Skrip did not elaborate on his reasons for leaving the organization he built, though he offered encouragement for those still involved with it.

The volunteers deserve support from the community and its leaders to continue beautification efforts, Skrip said.

I believe we set the groundwork over the past three years to improve the appearance of Carolina Forest and hope that others have been inspired to continue to beautify this community.

The remaining members said the departure of Skrip, who had been the groups president, and his wife Cindy will leave a tremendous void.

Rich and Cindy have made Carolina Forest a better and cleaner place to live with their tireless work, said Betsy Fay, one of the volunteers with Beautify Carolina Forest. They will both be missed, and I hope in the future they will be back as volunteers.

The Skrips started mowing the grass around the medians on Carolina Forest Boulevard after the local property owners association dissolved, Fay said.

Initially, they worked alone. But when people began asking questions about the couple cutting the grass, other volunteers came forward.

In 2014, the Skrips formed a beautification committee for the Carolina Forest Civic Association. Eventually, they founded the nonprofit, Beautify Carolina Forest.

The organization began hosting monthly litter cleanups, obtained state grants for planting crape myrtles, replaced the lighting on the big green Carolina Forest sign, and began sprucing up the communitys neglected gateways.

Through all this, Richard and Cindy were there, said Beautify Carolina Forest volunteer Dan Kniola. Without their diligent scheduling and messaging, this effort might have fallen apart.

Kniola met Richard Skrip through the civic association. Like Skrip, he was a retiree and he agreed picking up litter would be a worthwhile use of his time. He was impressed with Skrips organizational skills, how he sent out reminders, made sure there were always enough gloves, vests and bags for everyone, and made sure new volunteers signed the proper forms.

He watched as the organization grew to more than 70 volunteers.

Richard is driven, Kniola said.

Carol Franceski, Beautify Carolina Forests secretary, agrees. After Skrips resignation, she posted her praise on Facebook.

I am sure most [people] dont know what goes into dealing with the county to get things accomplished and approved,she wrote. It is a head banging job.

Franceski credits Skrip with highlighting the appearance problems in Carolina Forest.

The biggest accomplishment is making all the residents of CF aware of our area and the need to keep it clean and beautiful, she said.

Skrips effort to clear up illegal signs had been going on for years. Small markers would litter medians and get shredded by lawnmowers. Some ended up in the street.

County policy prohibits those signs from being left in the right of way, but county leaders have allowed real estate agents to put up open house signs on the weekends as long as they remove them before the work week begins.

It was just an unwritten rule: If yall pick them up after youre done with them on Sundays, we wont give you a hard time about it, Horry County Councilman Johnny Vaught said. Live and let live.

Vaught had hoped there could be a compromise.

Per county policy, the county should have been removing the signs, not the volunteers.

Vaught said he wouldnt have cared if the volunteers had hauled off the signs on weekdays, but the problem was county officials had given permission to real estate agents to place the signs on weekends, the same time the cleanup groups were out.

They were both doing what they thought they could do, he said.

Some of the remaining Beautify volunteers are upset with the way the county handled the situation. Theyre also disappointed about losing Skrip.

It is sad that a resource valuable to the county and the community is struck down while beraters become the apparent winners in a game where presumably all residents should win, Kniola said. If we can hold this together, it wont have the impetus it once did.

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