Haley pledges additional officers, state resources for Bikefest in coming years

Gov. Nikki Haley pledged Friday to continue to send 600 officers to the Grand Strand for Memorial Day weekend, but she said officials will reach out to Atlantic Beach town officials, who host the weekend’s annual Bikefest, and offer assistance to boost their tourism throughout the year if they will cancel the festival.

Haley and executive state officials were in Conway to talk about hurricane preparedness Friday morning. She and other local officials took the time to address how the Atlantic Beach Memorial Day Bikefest went and what preparations are underway for next year.

“We had the whole team come together and say ‘how are we going to handle this?’” Haley said.

Horry County Council’s Chairman Mark Lazarus said Friday a year ago to the day, officials had their first conversation about changes that needed to be made to the weekend. Last year, he said officials were on the “edge of the seat” and this year they were being thanked for their plans.