Bluffton Packet

Sterling Helicopter is expanding in Bluffton. Sterling Helicopter/Facebook Bluffton Sterling Helicopter has selected a Bluffton site for its newest operation making and selling helicopter parts, the Beaufort County Economic Development Corp. (BCEDC) said Tuesday. Sterling Helicopter is a helicopter repair, maintenance, and manufacturing facility based in Croydon, Pennsylvania.

The Bluffton Town Council recently doubled its own pay. Why? Sebastian Lee slee@islandpacket.com The Bluffton Town Council has more than doubled the annual salaries of its members over the past two years, according to data from Municipal Association of South Carolina. As of January 2026, Bluffton’s four town council members each receive $25,000 in yearly compensation, while the mayor receives $35,000, according to MASC.

Bluffton Tiny fish fly out of the water in a flurry of action along the shoreline before flopping onto the land. Four bottlenose dolphins were right on their tails. Soon, lunch was served on a Bluffton marsh bank for the crafty dolphins, who had teamed up to execute a complex and fascinating feeding tactic known as strand feeding that is peculiar to local salt marsh dolphins.

The BJWSA responded to a wastewater spill in Bluffton Saturday. BJWSA Bluffton A second major wastewater spill in less than a month has occurred in Bluffton. Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) estimates that 70,000 gallons of wastewater was released west of the intersection of Highway 170 and Bluffton Parkway on Wednesday. Previous damage to a force main resulted in a rupture, BJWSA said.

Bluffton Lauren Puryear, a Bluffton teacher, missed school Friday to hang out with Mickey Mouse and his friends in Florida at Walt Disney World Resort. She was joined by her fellow teachers from across the country. It was Puryear’s work in the classroom that earned her the trip to The Vacation Kingdom. The Bluffton Middle School science teacher was among 15 educators who were recognized at Disney World for their creative teaching methods.

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Staff and community members stepped in to keep the manatee stable when it was stranded at Hole 9 at Crescent Pointe Golf Club. Courtesy of Crescent Pointe Golf Club What started as a routine Saturday round of golf at Crescent Pointe quickly turned into a wildlife rescue story the community won’t soon forget. Two golfers, teeing off on Hole 9 on Nov. 22, spotted something no one expected to see beached along the shoreline: a manatee.

Bluffton considered rules for golf cart usage at a workshop on Tuesday night. Karl Puckett kapucket@islandpacket.com Bluffton The sight of a golf cart driving on the road next to cars in Bluffton is a signal to newcomers that this is a relaxed, outdoorsy place to be. The low-speed vehicles are so common across the Lowcountry that they’ve evolved into a preferred method of transportation for visits to friends or restaurants.

Bluffton A representative for the owner of the Pinecrest Golf Club said the course is not financially sustainable, and ownership is seeking a solution that will generate income and satisfy upset neighbors. Paul Puma, senior advisor with commercial real estate firm SVN, said that course owner Topper Golf World would like to keep the facility open beyond the expiration of its operating covenant this fall. However, Puma said the course currently operates at a deficit and can’t sustain itself.

Bluffton is hosting a public workshop to discuss new golf cart regulations. Karl Puckett kapucket@islandpacket.com Lowcountry residents love their golf carts, and whether or not they’ll be able to drive them at night is one of the issues up for discussion at a Bluffton Town Council public workshop next week.