After months of delays on a project to build a new terminal at the Myrtle Beach airport, the Horry County Council decided on Friday to delay some more.

But, supporters say, at least the nearly $229 million project's not dead.

The council voted 7-4 Friday to work with a city review board to come up with an acceptable design and proposal for the new terminal.

The vote kicks the fate of the project back to the Community Appearance Board, a volunteer group that must approve all projects within city limits before they receive building permits.

"I have dodged another one," Liz Gilland, the council chair and the project's biggest public supporter, said after Friday's vote.

Though the beleaguered project is alive for now, the county has lost a guarantee that construction costs will not exceed $183 million. That figure does not include the costs for financing and design.

Council members who voted for the extension said the benefits outweighed the costs of cutting and running now.

"This project is just too important to the people of Horry County to rush into," Councilman Bob Grabowski said. "This is our opportunity to be proactive and not reactive, and so many times things happen so fast in Horry County that we're just trying to be reactive and catch up. And it's easy to make mistakes that way."

The county will pay for construction mainly with money generated by the airport, not local property taxes. The county also has secured about $43 million in federal funding and $10 million from the Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority. Gov. Mark Sanford also said he would try to secure $15 million in state money.

The county's angst over starting construction as soon as possible has been partially quelled by stagnating construction prices, County Attorney John Weaver said.

The Appearance Board has broad powers and judges projects based on aesthetics and their effect on the community.

If the county satisfies the board, officials will ask the project's lead contractor, Skanska USA, for an updated price quote. Then County Council will vote again.

Community Appearance Board Chairman Larry Bragg said Friday he did not know when the next meeting would be.

"We have been put through the wringer already, and we have regular CAB meetings coming up," Bragg said. "The board is, quite frankly, emotionally and physically drained."

The council's decision Friday prolongs an awkward dance between the county and city. The two governments have been wrangling over the project since its inception, but the county hit its most recent roadblock in December when the city board rejected initial plans for the terminal.

The county asked for, and received, another chance.

On Thursday night, faced with thousands of pages of freshly completed plans, the board voted to downgrade the project to conceptual, meaning it would not approve or deny the project without more work.

Several board members said they felt the county was dumping the project back on them to avoid the blame if it fails.

"Why should we take the brunt of them spending [millions] and then blaming it on us, that we killed it?" board member Jeff Edens said. "If they can answer the aesthetics part, if they can answer the access part - if they want to spend a quarter of a billion dollars, that's their baby."

The county has spent at least $14.5 million from the airport on the project so far, as well as other funds from grants.

Some board members said they could vote for the project with changes, but others said they weren't sure.

One of the biggest sticking points is a plan for traffic flow into the airport. Currently, the only entrance is off of Farrow Parkway on the former Air Force Base. Board members have also said they do not think a new terminal is needed.

The county is not too worried that further delay will cause the price to spike. Construction costs are stagnating or even falling, said Weaver, who has been the county's spokesman for the project since the summer.

In addition, Skanska will try to maintain the previous price, he said.

The cost of the extra architecture work needed would be "nominal" and fall within the $18.5 million the council has approved, Weaver said, though he could not give an estimate.

Skanska spokeswoman Jessica Murray said the company could not predict what would happen with prices of materials.

"Horry County is an important client, and we'll continue to be flexible as the process continues," she said.

Weaver said he believed the Appearance Board acted in good faith, not influenced by any politics.

"I can smell a rat," he said, explaining that he had a long career as a trial lawyer. "If there was a rat, this is the slickest rat I've ever seen."

Gilland, who was ready to "throw in the towel," on Thursday night, said Friday she is keeping her hope alive.

"My biggest hope for the project is that the CAB would embrace the project and help us make it better instead of questioning the need for it," Gilland said after the council vote.

Horry County Council voted 7-4 to give architects more time to work with a city review board saving the project from the scrap heap.

What's next

The county will work with the Community Appearance Board to produce acceptable plans for the terminal. After the county receives a revised construction price, the council will take a final vote on whether to build the terminal.