25th Annual Meeting of the EBPOA
April 25, 2009

President Cannon welcomed the members to the  25th  annual meeting of the Edisto Beach Property Owners Assn.! 
John Morgan, our Vice President opened with a word of prayer.
Minutes – were sent out after the last annual meeting.  The minutes were unanimously approved as distributed.
Financial Report:  Mr. Larry Tilby, our new Treasurer, taking the place of  Rosa Bresnahan who served as Treasurer faithfully and well for many years with assistance from her husband, Joe Bresnahan.  Joe is recovering from a broken hip at present and Rosa also has health problems.  We wish both a speedy and complete recovery.  They have both been pillars of this Association. I will introduce a motion to name Rosa the Treasurer and Annual Meeting Arranger Emeritus at the next Board Meeting.
Treasurer’s Report Here
As you can see we are in good financial shape due to a fine job by Larry.
The Lobbyist Fund is being accounted for separately and checks are being cosigned by Ed Winslow.  The fund had a beginning balance of $1,427.24.  We took in $850.00 in donations, we had $400.00 in expenses leaving a balance of $1,877.24.  Basically, we have spent the money as follows: $400 on mileage to Columbia for NoHomeTax meetings,

Property Tax Limitation  To bring you up to date on property tax issues. The bill we backed in 2008, Bill 4784, that proposed another cent of sales tax in exchange for elimination of property tax for homeowners over 65 and an approximate 30% reduction in property tax on business properties and second homes really never got going.  My impression is that more sales tax is not going to fly.  This year the big issue is “point of sale” reassessment.  Tacked onto the 2006 legislation that reduced property tax and added a cent of sales tax was a provision that if a property was transferred to anyone other than a spouse to include a sale or inheritance then the property was immediately reassessed at market value.  This has resulted in property taxes doubling and tripling on property that was inherited.  This has also resulted in buyers backing out on sales when the “sticker shock” of the higher property tax was revealed.  There are bills in the House and Senate to eliminate “point of sale” reassessment on the first sale after 2006 but not the subsequent sales.  It is not a sure thing that a bill will pass this year.  The much amended House bill, 3272 now does not eliminate “point of sale” but delays it until the next reassessment cycle and has been passed and sent to the Senate. The Senate bill 435 appears to offer the only hope to eliminate “point of sale” reassessment in that it allows only a 15% jump in value at the first transfer after 2006.  Any subsequent transfer is subject to assessment at market value.

At this time I would like to recognize our Board of Directors.  Please stand and remain standing until all are named.

Website
EBPOA has started a website, ebpoa.org, where we are posting Town Council minutes, Planning Commission minutes, minutes of the Bell Property Committee, Calendars of Events, EBPOA newsletters, copies of pending ordinances and legislation and announcements.  Please take a look.  It’s ebpoa.org.

The Bell Property Park is in the process of demolishing the old seafood building because the cost of renovation would have exceeded 50% of its value and necessitating a complete rebuild up on  pilings.  This would have completely changed the appearance of the building and the decision was to let it go.  The four bay garage building is in the bidding process for updating to serve as a farmers market and art display area.  The pier is in the bidding process for repair and renovation to make it suitable for public use. 
Sand Fencing  Many of you have volunteered to put up sand fencing on the beach and the effort is paying off.  Much sand has been accumulated over the winter; some are ¾ buried with sand.  The Town has contracted to have grass planted and that has been largely finished.  Two weeks ago volunteers constructed another twenty fence units and more are in the works.
Fishing Pier.  The last hurdle appears to be the Pier securing a letter of intent from a lending institution or a completion bond. This requirement is to insure that the pier is completed.  All other issues have been resolved.

Election of Trustees –
The Nominating Committee, consisting of the three past Presidents of the Association, has recommended re-election of the 2008 members of the Board of Trustees whose term has expired plus a replacement for Jacque Cox.  In addition, nominees from the membership at large are on the ballot.
There has been a complaint about the requirement for signing the ballot.  Since we have no means of checking registration cards as we do in a ballot box election we require signatures to prevent multiple or bogus ballots.
Andy Cook, a local CPA, has been retained to receive and count the ballots and is the only person to see the ballots.  The ballots are destroyed following the election.
We have received 279 ballots. certify the ballots.  The results, certified by Andy Cook, are as follows:
The Nominating Committee’s recommended nominees were elected by  a minimum of 197 votes each and the highest at-large nominee vote was 57.  Those elected for a term of 3 years are: Mickey VanMetre, Patsy Cannon, Lois Morgan, Greg Smith, Bill Swygert..
Congratulations
Now for the Program
WHIG A group from Seabrook Island has instituted WHIG, Wind and Hail Insurance Group, and as the name suggests they are intent on doing something to reduce the Wind and Hail premiums that have escalated drastically this year.  My wind and hail alone this year is almost as much as my last years Homeowners which included wind and hail plus I have to pay Homeowners. WHIG members present, please stand as you are recognized,  Peter and Roberta Boatti, Peggy Johnson, Terry Ahearn, Roy Mathis.  They have a presentation on WHIG’s aims and activities. EBPOA has joined this effort to reduce our premiums along with groups from Kiawah, Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach.

Molly Flowers  Is a graduate student at USC pursuing a Master of Earth and Environmental Resource Management.  She is initiating a survey to determine the degree of support for a bridge in our current causeway to allow flow through the causeway.  Polly will explain her project.

Joe Mole  As this is our 25 th year in existence! We thought it appropriate that we review our history and accomplishments and reflect on whether we have been true to our stated goals.
Joe first started coming to Edisto Beach in 1935 when his father built a house on the front beach.  In 1994 he became a permanent resident upon retiring from Westvaco as Engineering Services Manager.  He was an EBPOA board member for 5 years and served on the Planning Commission for 10 years and was Chairman for the last 3.  He is currently Chairman of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
Joe Mole’s History Here
You’ve heard Joe recount the accomplishments of the EBPOA in its 25 years.  You only have to look around you to see the result of our efforts.  No high rise hotels, no condos, no motels, no stop lights, no amusement parks, no gambling boats; just a gradual replacement of older homes.  But we have been working hard to this end.  We are sometimes accused of being the association of “No”.  Well, there’s a good side to saying “No” to the negatives of overdevelopment.
We can’t take total credit for keeping Edisto Beach like it was, of course; a cooperative Planning Commission and Council deserve a lot of credit.
The thing that will kill our quality of life the quickest and surest is over-population.  Too many people jamming the beaches, the Pig and the roads.  Our answer is to continue to develop Edisto Beach the way its always been developed, in single family residences.  That’s the surest way to preserve the family atmosphere that  Edisto Beach is known for and the atmosphere that drew us to Edisto Beach  in the first place.

There are four ordinances on the Edisto Beach books that holds down population density here.  I call them the four pillars of preservation.

1)  The height ordinance with its 40 foot limitation.  This ordinance was enacted in 1980, before EBPOA was formed, but which has been defended against variances ever since by EBPOA.  This ordinance essentially limits houses to 2 or 3 floors and prohibits high rises.

2)  The 3,800 square foot ordinance.  This ordinance was triggered by the construction of a 5,200 sq. ft .building with 6 bedrooms and 7.5 baths.  Definitely not single family dwelling, at least for families since birth control became available.

3) The conversion of the R2 (Duplex) district to R1.  Lots in the old R2 district are grandfathered in that duplexes can still be built on vacant lots but existing single family residences cannot be replaced with duplexes. Obviously, the population density of duplexes is twice that of single family.

4)  The elimination of the R7 option in a commercial district.  R7 zoning allows 7 housing units per acre vs. about 4 in an R1 district.  R1 zoning is still allowed in the commercial districts and much of the commercial districts have been developed in single family residences.

I’m not saying the EBPOA can take total credit for passage of these ordinances.  Of course, they have been promulgated by the Planning Commission and passed by the Town Council.  But I am saying that you members have promoted them in your letters, in surveys and by your membership fees and contributions.

Edisto Beach is really unique on the coast of SC in our low profile development.
During the last renourishment episode I went out on the beach to talk to one of the dredging crew.  The first thing he asked me was: ”How do you do it?  How do you keep this beach undeveloped and low key like this?  I’ve dredged the length of the Gulf Coast, around Florida and up the East Coast and I’ve never seen a beach of strictly single family homes like this one.”  I answered: “We have to work like Hell at it.”

So, if you like what we’ve got here at Edisto Beach , keep on working at it by supporting the EBPOA.

 Do I hear a motion to adjourn?  Second?  Vote.  Meeting adjourned to the refreshments!

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