Below are highlights of the SIPOA Board meeting on January 9, 2017. Official minutes of the meeting will be published to the SIPOA website following their approval at the February Board Meeting.
Treasurer’s Report (John Feldman): There was nothing to report, as financials for December are still being completed. The Finance Committee will meet in two weeks to review the data.
Executive Director’s Report (Heather Paton): Gate House construction is proceeding on schedule. Please remember to watch your speed as you drive by the site, as the crew must work very close to the road and might sometimes have to quickly step into the driving lane. SIPOA’s administrative staff is currently focusing on completing the Annual Meeting packets for mailing. ARC statistics for December include: 13 new applications pending, 3 applications approved/not yet started, 23 homes under construction, and 48 maintenance requests processed.
Committee Reports
Environmental Committee (Michael Orris): Environmental has formed a subcommittee to look into the complaints received about “extreme” vegetation trimming around the lakes following Hurricane Matthew. The group has toured the affected areas, and they plan to learn about two aspects of the issue—where property boundaries are and what rules exist to govern trimming. Regarding rules, they will identify current rules, modify them as deemed appropriate, and investigate whether the guidelines are being followed. Property Owners may send questions/comments directly to Mr. Orris or to publiccomment@sipoa.org.
Architectural Review Committee (Bill Bane): No report, as there has been no meeting since the last Board meeting.
Legal Committee (Ed Houff): No report, as there has been no meeting since the last Board meeting. However, Legal has been doing a lot of work with Annual Meeting ballot items and the property owner petition.
Communications Committee (Ed Jones): The next joint meeting with the Club Communications Committee will take place soon after the Annual Meeting. The SIPOA Committee has been meeting every two weeks with representatives of the Lou Hammond Group (the marketing firm hired by SIPOA, Club, and Town), primarily to work on design of the new website “common landing page” for all three entities. The design will be unveiled at the Annual Meeting.
Safety & Security Committee (Dennis Nagy): Most of this month’s meeting was dedicated to hearing assessment appeals, with some work also done to finalize a motion to revise the assessment structure for dumping trash at the SIPOA Maintenance Area (see the Trash Dumping item below).
Activities Committee (Julie McCulloch): No report, as there has been no meeting since the last Board meeting.
Ms. McCulloch gave an update on status of forming SIPOA’s Emergency Preparation Task Force. Twenty-two property owners, a mix of villa owners and home owners, have responded to SIPOA’s request for volunteers, and she is now starting to contact the applicants.
General Operating & Maintenance Committee/GOMC (Guy Gimson): GOMC has evaluated the effectiveness and price of several types of materials appropriate for use on our boardwalks. While the pressure treated lumber that is currently installed has a useful life of about 8 years, products such as IPE (a tropical lumber) and composites (e.g., AZEK and Trex) have an expected life of about 25 years. IPE and composites are similar in cost, although more expensive than pressure treated lumber. The committee decided that Boardwalk #1 will be rebuilt using IPE. They plan to test effectiveness of composite products, probably as part of rebuilding Boardwalk #3.
GOMC has been working with Berkeley Electric to determine the cost of replacing the island’s 157 streetlights with LED bulbs. They learned that the conversion cost would be $30/lamp post and would lead to an increase in the ongoing cost of the contract. They also learned that the replacements would not be dark sky compliant and would use bright white bulbs. For these reasons, GOMC does not see a benefit in having Berkeley perform the replacement. Instead, they will work with the Environmental and Architectural Review Committees to develop a long-term strategy for street lighting.
GOMC has also been reviewing placement of bicycle STOP signs. They found five properly sited and one incorrectly sited (to be moved), and they decided to add signs at Seabrook Village Drive and at Royal Pine.
Long Range Planning Committee (Dan Kortvelesy): It is important for Seabrookers to attend the Community Meeting on January 12 (5pm-6:30pm) where topics important to the island’s Sustainability Initiative will be discussed. Focus of this third meeting under the Audubon International Sustainable Communities Program (AISCP) will be on Environment and Agriculture, Public Safety and Emergency Management, and Communications.
Nominating Committee (Greg Henry): It is important for Seabrookers to attend Meet the Candidates Night on January 9, 5pm-6:30pm at the Lake House. Candidates for Nominating Committee and Board positions will give brief talks, and then there will be an opportunity for Property Owner Q&A.
Business and Motions
Report of the Special Committee Relating to Trash Dumping at the SIPOA Maintenance Area (Phil Squire): The special committee recommended changing the existing $200 assessment to a two-level fine. They would charge $50 for a first “dumping” offense and apply the full $200 assessment for any subsequent violations. The full $200 assessment would still apply to first offenses that are “egregious violations.” The recommendation was unanimously accepted by the Board.
Housing Subcommittee Update (Julie McCulloch): The committee’s initial research is complete and initial recommendations have been compiled. Ms. McCulloch has reviewed the material with Ms. Paton (as SIPOA Executive Director) and with current and former COVAR leaders to get suggestions and, if needed, corrections. Content of the Housing presentation will soon be published for community review and comment.
Motion to Extend the Recycling Agreement with Charleston County (Michael Orris): The Board unanimously approved extending the current recycling agreement for another year. We will continue to pay $52/ton for processing of our recyclables. It was noted that Seabrook Island generates 20-25 tons of recyclables/month.
Other Business:
· The Board agreed to defer action on a request to restore two combined lots to their original configuration.
· The Board approved a request to purchase for $6300 a sign for the Lake House that is similar in style to what is in place for Racquet Club, Equestrian Center, etc. It was noted that the Lake House is the only major building on the island that is not identified with such a sign.
-Submitted by Tidelines Editors