Volume 1 Issue 13

October 19, 2007

Know your Candidates

     With the Seabrook Island Town Council elections looming, the Island Connection asked the five candidates running for Town Council to share a little about themselves and how they feel they can make a difference on Seabrook Island. Both Frank McNulty, the mayor of Seabrook Island and Robert Stief, Commissioner of the Seabrook Island Utility Commission, are running unopposed for their current seats.
      Elections for the Town Council will be held on Tuesday, November 6 from 7:00am – 7:00pm at the Town Hall. The swearing in ceremony for the new Council will be held on Friday, November 9 at 11:30am at the Town Hall.

Seabrook activities:
Town: Presently Chairman, External Affairs Commission
Club: Served on Membership Committee
President: Seabrook Island Dog Owners Association (SIDOG)
Business prior to retirement:
President of Allen, Lane & Scott, commercial and financial printers in Philadelphia.
Education/Military Experience:

• Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, BS in Economics, 1960
• Pennsylvania Army National Guard, 1960 – 1970
• Commanding Officer, Armored Cavalry Troop. Rank: Captain

Personal:
Married: wife, Hutchie
Two children: Lt. Col. Jerry Cummin, USAF, currently serving in Iraq, attached to the US Army and Bevan Cummin, an IT professional with SunGuard Data Systems and 1 st Sergeant with Armored Cavalry Troop, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, about to be called to Active Duty for service in the Sinai desert for one year.
Eight grandchildren

Dear Seabrook Island voter:
I have filed as a candidate for Town Council in the municipal election scheduled for November 6, 2007. For those of you who may not know me, please allow me to indicate a few things about myself. I have been involved with Seabrook Island and the community since 1985, with the specifics following:

• Member, POA staff, 1985 – 1997
• Member, St. John’s Fire Commission, 1996 – 1997
• Chairman, St. John’s Fire Commission, 1998
• Member, External Affairs Commission, 1999
• Member, John’s Island Commission, 1999
• Board Member, Charleston Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2001 – 2007
• Council Member, Town of Seabrook Island, 1999 – 2001, 2005 – 2007
• Mayor, Town of Seabrook, 2001 – 2005

Achievements:

• Seabrook Island Utility Commission Refunding Bond Issuance, which substantially reduced interest obligations of the initial Bond Issuance.
• The planning of, engineering and setting aside funding to widen Seabrook Island Road from the roundabout to the POA line.
• Providing funding for completing landscaping in connection with the roundabout and relocating trees impacted by the roundabout construction.
• Resolving several rezoning issues without financial judgments against the Town.
• Convinced County Council not to rezone the tract of land North of Seabrook Island Road for development.
• Helping to stabilize community water rates by providing excess Town funds to the Utility Commission, helping to reduce borrowing requirements.
• Developed organization and standards for the SIPOA Security staff.
• Hiring the current Fire Chief and initiating administrative guidelines.
• Worked with the CVB after 9/11 to encourage travel in the “drive area” for Charleston visitors, with an emphasis as a wedding destination, also.

Residence: Seabrook Island since 1988 with wife, Mary.
Education:

• University of Maryland
• BS, Military/Political Science

Career:

• US Army Officer
• Manager, Federal Law Enforcement
• Manager, Manufacturing Corporation

Through the dedicated efforts of many fine people over the years, Seabrook Island has become a unique, wonderful place to live. All of us, working together, can continue on the path of managing future development and growth while preserving our environment.

I ask for your vote on November 6, 2007. Thanks.

Education:

• BSME Unites States Merchant Marine Academy
• Executive MBA
• Licensed Professional Engineer

Military:

• US Navy

Business career:

• 36 years with General Electric Power Systems in various management positions. President of Atlantic Plant Services, a construction subsidiary of the GE Company.
• Ship Engineer for Mobile Oil.

Personal:

• Married to Mary for 47 years, four children and six grandchildren. Property owner at Seabrook for 24 years and permanent resident for 10 years. We are members of the Seabrook Island Club and have served on various committees for ten years. I am also a member of the Kiawah-Seabrook Exchange Club.

Seabrook contributions:

• POA ARB Committee
• Vice President POA
• President POA
• Island One Committee
• LRP Seabrook Island Club
• POA Maintenance Committee
• Town Council

Statement:
After serving in various capacities for the Seabrook Island Community over the past ten years, including the Town Council, I feel my background and knowledge of the Island needs for continued further growth put me in a unique position to continue being a major contributor if reelected to another term in Council.

Seabrook Activities:
Town: Presently on the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA). Formerly (late 1990’s) on the External Affairs Committee.
POA: 2006 – Member of the Long Range Planning Committee and the Horizon Plan At-Large Building Committee, dealing with POA membership input to the Horizon Plan.
Club: Served on the Club Board of Governors from 2002 – 2004. Also served on the Membership Committee of the Club prior to and during Board tenure. While on the Club Board, supervised the Tennis, Equestrian and Recreation areas. Note: Board service included participation in the movement of the Club out of the Conference and Rental business.

Business prior to retirement:
IBM Corporation, 1960 – 1992
Education/Military Experience:

• Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, MBA, 1960.
• US Navy, 1954 – 1958.
• US Naval Academy, BS, 1954.

The roads ahead for John’s Island
By Kristin Hackler

     On October 9, the Charleston County RoadWise project held a workshop at St. John’s High School to assist in the update of the May 2001 John’s Island Traffic/Corridor Study.
      It seemed as though the entire island had shown up. The cafeteria at the school was full with late-arriving residents finding that it was standing room only by 6:00pm.
     Media Relations manager Cheryl Harleston thanked Mayor McNulty, Councilman Boudreau, and Councilman Sabin from Seabrook Island, Councilman Alan Burnaford and Councilman Charles Lipuma of Kiawah Island, Chairman Chris Cannon and Charleston County Councilman Paul Thurmond for attending the meeting.
     Ms. Harleston began by pointing out that this meeting was for the purpose of gathering information only. On June 24, 2007, Charleston County Council approved the funding to update the 2001 study because of recent land use and development changes on John’s Island that have impacted traffic volumes. According to the meeting handout “the goal and purpose of the initial study was to identify widening options and one or more alternative alignments with associated right of way requirements and impediments; perform cursory environmental reviews to identify general environmental conditions; to determine estimated project design and construction costs; and identify issues of public sensitivity. The driving factors to justify the study were an effort to improve traffic flow and reduce the numbers of accidents on John’s Island.”
     Chris Karlson of Transystems, the survey company in charge of the study update, led a short presentation on why the study update was needed, listing among his reasons that they needed to “update the environmental evaluation, change the criteria to the current conditions on John’s Island, expand the study area to the majority of John’s Island and project their study to the year 2030, incorporate the recent transportation and land use studies/plans and measure the impact of other proposed projects in the area.”
     In the 2001 study, the evaluation suggested the widening of Bohicket Road and/or River Road or the building of a new alignment called the Cross Island Parkway between Bohicket Road from Maybank Highway to Betsy Kerrison Parkway to handle the future traffic flow. “Environmental impact was studied extensively throughout this project,” Mr. Karlson pointed out. The evaluation procedures for the widening alternatives, according to Mr. Karlson, relied heavily on maintaining the natural beauty of John’s Island by protecting grand trees, wetland areas and other significant roadside features. As a result of the 2001 study, four viable new alignment corridors for the Cross Island Parkway were created and incorporated into the study.
     Once Mr. Karlson finished, the floor was open to question and answer. Dr. Phil Dustin of the College of Charleston’s Biology department asked to speak first, presenting a brief overview of a lecture he had given a few days ago to the Sierra Club on the impacts of new roadways.
     “What are the basics?” he asked. “Is the addition of new roadways good or bad?” He started by pointing out that Charleston County is currently covered by roughly 25% impermeable surface. At 5% coverage is when changes begin in the environment, at 10% it becomes detrimental and at 30% it becomes damaging. “Do we really want to add to that?” Dr. Dustin asked. John’s Island is basically a series of high dunes, ranging between 25 feet above sea level and right at the water line. In fact, when the island receives heavy rains at high tides, these areas tend to flood. “The future development for this Island is planned to go in these low lying areas,” said Dr. Dustin. “Not only will a strong storm surge flood these new homes from all directions, the wastewater run-off from these areas will significantly damage nearly marshes and hamper their ecological functions, as well as impact the area’s biological diversity.”
     The impact on the environment, he pointed out, did not stop at the new roads or homes themselves. “The roads have impacts all along what we call the ‘roadway corridor’. At 100 meters from the sides of the road, it has been shown that grass shrimp slowly stop breeding, birds stop nesting within ¼ a mile, and large mammals are forced out of the way up to 200 meters from the sides of the road. We’re not just impacting the 75 acres needed to put in the roadway, were impacting over 1,000 acres of land and marsh.” He added that this did not just mean the loss of important wetlands, the impact of a new road means the hardening of the watershed and the introduction of new and more numerous pollutants into the John’s Island environment.
     Sam Brownlee of Kiawah Island was the next to speak, stating that “Bohicket Road is a crown jewel on John’s Island and is not only beautiful, it is a historic treasure.” He reminded the crowd that they had to fight to keep its scenic beauty back in 1989 when developers tried to widen it. The Island had fought then, and they had won. “Bohicket Road defines the rural character of John’s Island. Look at the facts. Bohicket is not the most dangerous road on the island and after the Betsy Kerrison was widened, the traffic accidents did not decrease. Heck, when the light changes on that road, it’s like the Taladega.” Mr. Brownlee wrapped up by stating that “all the new developments are in the middle of John’s Island, so the road should go there. But first, fix the intersections, fix the bottlenecks and fix Maybank and River Road. The quality of life is what counts on John’s Island and these historical roads are priceless.”
     Another resident, Mr. Barry Hart, stated that he had lived on John’s Island all his life. “How do you preserve John’s Island by widening all the roads?” he asked. “Get off the deal to four lane everything. This will not preserve the island’s characteristics. We need to keep the roads the same, just make modifications, get 526 in and get the Cross Island Parkway in. If we eliminate 1/3 of traffic from Main, 17, Maybank and James Island, I’d feel a lot better about driving home during rush hour. But if we don’t do something other than four lane the roads, we’ll wind up like another James Island.”
     Mr. Thomas Legare of Legare Farms also stood to voice his opinion. “I am a long time resident of John’s Island. I know the culture and I know the history. What I don’t understand is why we need another road going to Kiawah and Seabrook islands? The traffic problems are on Maybank, Main and River. We fought ten years ago and said hell no to widening the roads because it would destroy the very thing we moved here for. It’s like killing the goose who laid the golden egg. John’s Island is a way of life. If we keep building roads, it will destroy what we have. We have fought hard to not have a Cross Island road. What we want is for you to Fix Our Roads First.”
     Since the Towns of Seabrook and Kiawah had been brought up quite a few times during the period for citizen statements, Mayor McNulty of Seabrook Island and Mr. Alan Burnaford or Kiawah Island both stood to state the stance that their islands take on the whole situation. “I feel that we need some kind of new traffic situation,” said the mayor. “I feel that traffic is a serious problem and will only become more serious, but the inevitable fact is that we need a solution to the roads. Seabrook is not for widening Bohicket road by any means. What we need to do is let the study continue and learn what they find out. We need to give them a chance to help us find the best solution, since it’s obvious that there is no one solution that will make everyone happy.”
     Mr. Burnaford agreed, pointing out that people had been using Kiawah as a proponent of the Cross Island Study. “Kiawah Island wrote to Charleston County a year and a half ago saying that the proposed developments for John’s Island would make the roads increasingly unsafe. Charleston County needs to make the current roads safer for residents first. Please don’t blame Kiawah and don’t blame Seabrook. We are not pushing for the widening of Bohicket and we are not pushing for the Cross Island Parkway. We just want to find out what the study has to say.”

For more information on the project and to fill out a comment form (all comment forms need to be turned in to Transystems by October 26), please visit www.ccroadwise.org. and click on “the Cross Island Parkway Study”.

Kiawah Town Council meeting – October 2, 2007*

“Fore!” the kids
Sidney Williams and Harry McHugh of the non-profit organization Island Youth Golf attended the Council meeting to thank the Town of Kiawah for a recent donation of $5,000. The program, which started with the help of the Town a few years ago, began with only 12 students and now supports four schools and 72 students. The program gives underprivileged students the opportunity to learn golf and more recently, tennis, from both volunteers and professionals. “These children would never have anything like this to do if it wasn’t for this program,” said Mr. Williams. “Some of them were not even aware of these activities. Through this program, they learn how to get along better with others. Thank you to the Town for all of your past and continued support.”
      The funds for the donation were made available from the Town’s general fund for outreach projects.

In search of common ground
Councilman Orban reported that the Kiawah Island Parkway project is still running into trouble trying to find land to make up for the 1.3 acres of wetlands needed to complete the project. The land needed for mitigation has to be between 3 and 4 acres and must be approved by the Corp of Engineers before the project can continue. “If anyone has any good ideas, we’re open to suggestions,” said Mr. Orban. The land used for mitigation must be turned into a conserved area and must be between three and four times the size of the land that will be used in the Parkway project. “It’s really the only thing in our way right now,” said Mr. Orban.

Changing of the Clerk
Amber Simmons, Town Clerk for Kiawah Island, attended her last Town Council meeting before going on maternity leave in anticipation of the birth of her son. The new Town Clerk, Katherine Tara Wilson, has recently graduated from Appalachian State and was hired on the condition that she not wear her team t-shirt for at least a year while the Michigan fans on Council recover from their recent defeat. Her appointment was approved unanimously.

Updating the employee insurance subsidy
Currently, the Town provides a $105 per employee only subsidy for health insurance premiums. Since insurance rates are scheduled to increase on January 1, 2008, Town Administrator Tumiko Rucker asked that the Town increase the health subsidy to $140, not to exceed the monthly employee only health premium. “The increase is an average of 10 – 15% every year,” Ms. Rucker pointed out. “There will be a $4,000 impact on the Town budget, but we had scheduled for this in advance.” The motion to increase the subsidy was approved unanimously.

Town audit complete
Councilman McIver stated that the Town audit had been completed and would be available soon online. “This has been a very good year,” said Mr. McIver. “Business licenses are up and as of July 1, the Town general fund will have a balance of almost $7 million. Keep in mind,” he pointed out, “that the ‘Orban Parkway’ will run between $3 and $4 million.” “Yes,” agreed the Mayor, laughing. “Hopefully before it’s the ‘Orban Memorial Parkway’”. Councilman McIver thanked Town Treasurer Kenneth Gunnells for all his hard work in helping to get the audit completed on time. “He stayed on the auditors’ case and helped significantly,” said Mr. McIver. “This is the earliest we’ve been done [with the audit] in several years.”

A gator tale
Councilman Lipuma reported for the Environmental Committee that, over the past month, one female juvenile bobcat had been hit by a car and a deer fawn was hit and injured by a car on September 8. Also, the Town of Seabrook Island reported that a large adult female bobcat was hit in front of their Town Hall and the two dead dolphins that had been reported on the eastern end of Seabrook turned out to be a pair of black-tipped sharks.
      Between September 10 and 13, a survey was conducted of the deer population on Kiawah, and it was found that there are currently about 54 deer per square mile. “About the same as it’s been for the last two years,” said Mr. Lipuma.
      “I actually have something to add to that report,” said Mayor Wert. “Last week at about five in the morning, a resident on Bufflehead heard a loud thumping on his front door. When he opened it, he found a six foot alligator had climbed the two stories to his home and was wagging his tail, thumping it against his front door. So,” he said, “be careful when you answer any odd thumping at your door.”

One healthy beach
The monitoring of the Island’s beach renourishment project reports that there has been a significant increase in beach sand volumes. A full report on the project will be available online by the end of the year. “A very good sign that this is going well,” said Mr. Lipuma, “is that I had a visitor ask me recently why the Resort is set so far away from the water.” When the Resort was built, it was practically on the high tide line.

Arts Council report
Mr. Lipuma announced that Seabrook Island will be hosting a free concert on October 28 at 3:00pm at Holy Spirit Catholic Church as a fundraiser for the Our Lady of Mercy Outreach Center. The Center is in desperate need for a new clinic building.
      The Town Notes will be also be featuring an Arts Council season planner with event dates and when tickets will be available for upcoming shows.

Communications incommunicado
Councilman Burnaford recommended that the Communications Committee be discontinued since its purpose was to increase the readership of the Town Notes, a project that has been achieved with the combination of the Town Notes and the Town Digest. “The website is also almost complete, as well,” he stated. No decision, however, was made at that time.

Operator?
Town Administrator Tumiko Rucker reported that a manager from Bell South found that three large phone cables, each holding up to 900 pairs of land lines, were cut accidentally by a construction crew on the Island. “The cuts could not be spliced, unfortunately,” said Ms. Rucker. “So the complete lines had to be replaced.” On the positive side, however, the repairs were able to be completed that same day.
      Ms. Rucker also reported that the Town was coming up on its business license renewal time and that improvements are being made on the Town Hall, including the cleaning of the HVAC system and repairs to the front lobby. ‘Thank you to Amber for all of your hard work,” said Ms. Rucker, addressing retiring Town Clerk Amber Simmons. “And welcome on board, Katherine. Thanks, as well, to Ken [Gunnells] for all of your hard work on the Town’s audit.”

Flu Shot Clinic at Town Hall
Mayor Wert announced that on October 30 from 10:30am to 1:30pm, the Town would be giving flu shots to anyone who needs them. The cost is $25 per member and there are only 100 shots available. For more information or to make an appointment, please call Roshanda Brown at 768-9194 ext. 213.

Citizen’s comments
Mrs. Wendy Kulick stood to thank Sidney Williams and Harry McHugh of Island Youth Golf for attending the day’s meeting and also thanked the Town for their sponsorship of the program. She also reminded Council that Mt. Zion is currently raising money to take a field trip to Columbia and could use any support they could offer.
*Please note that the approved minutes from this meeting will be available at the next Kiawah Island Council meeting on November 6, 2007.