Town financials
“November is a very slow month for the Town, so there’s not much to report,” said Mayor McNulty concerning the Town’s financials. “The expenses exceeded revenues by $9,000 which is about right. We actually budgeted a $900 favorable for the month, but November is very slow, so you can’t read much into that. Nothing much has changed in the ten months.”
Mr. MacCormack and the Rescue Boat
“Earlier this year, because of incidents on the water, it was a CERT suggestion that we have a response to these incidents, which would include having a boat,” said Mr. MacCormack as he presented a plan for having a rescue boat available for the Town of Seabrook. “I went to the Coast Guard and told them that I would not be embarrassed or insulted if they thought that having our own rescue boat was a bad idea. They thought it was a great idea.” Mr. MacCormack then followed the Coast Guard’s recommendations, visiting a 25 year old established volunteer boat rescue on Fripp Island, which, during the day of the visit, was being manned by a 75 year old gentleman. “The average age on their island is about the same as ours and they’ve had no problem with keeping up with their rescue program,” Mr. MacCormack pointed out. The Coast Guard also recommended that the Town look into getting a a RHI-Zodiac, or Rigid Hull Inflatable as their rescue boat and also that they get in touch with the Coast Guard Auxilliary for training.
After consulting with both Fripp Island, the Coast Guard and the RHI-Zodiac manufacturers, Mr. MacCormack went to the Seabrook Island POA, who approved the bulk of the funding for the program. The POA also agreed to build a boat ramp, which Mr. MacCormack had to get an permit for and a tentative approval from the OCRM, which he did. He also consulted with the POA about a boat ramp, and they tentatively agreed to put on the river side of the Edisto near Dolphin Point. The POA also agreed to provide the boat team with $10,000 annually, $15,000 up front and to invest in a house on the beach in which to keep the boat. Also, the POA agreed to assume the liability and insurance for the project.
As for volunteers, Mr. MacCormack stated that they were trying to get 6 of the volunteer boat crew to go to the Red Cross school and become instructors. The boat program would provide training on a quarterly basis for both the CERT team members and all of the community in CPR and how to use a defibrillator. “We have a few of those around the island, but not too many people skilled in using them,” Mr. MacCormack pointed out. “What I would like to ask the town is for $45,000 for the boat and $10,000 on an annual basis after that. The daily gas bill will be handled by the POA and the boat will be in the water from May to September with 2 people will be on standby from 8am – 8pm. The boat will be in the water every day in 2008 for training. The boat can be in the water in 15 minutes. The Coast Guard is 100% behind us.”
He also noted that Chief Ristow of the John’s Island Fire Department was against the idea, basically because he has 2 boat crews that work for the fire department already. Mr. MacCormack investigated his disapproval and noted that the Chief basically felt that “we can’t protect people from all the idiotic things they are going to do”. “But the fact is,” Mr. MacCormack argued, “I didn’t want Joe Stefano’s grandson or your grandson making a bad judgement and having that be their last judgement on Seabrook Island. Also, the Fire Department launches at Limehouse Bridge and at Kiawah Island, and there is up to a 45 minute wait until they get to the landing. From that point, it’s probably an hour to just about any point on our island.” There are two islands already pursuing the Town-owned rescue boat route; Defuskie Island, which is located off of Beaufort and Pawleys Island.
“We will only cover up to 2 miles off our coast and will be there for the citizens and guests of Seabrook Island,” said Mr. MacCormack. “The Coast Guard just wants to have help keeping incidents from escalating and becoming perilous. They helped us outline three points where the tide might grab people and drop them out at sea. We would program these locations into our GPS and be ready to go when called.”
After making his statement, the Council had a few questions for Mr. MacCormack about his proposed program:
What about a boat ramp, where will you place it and is the area near Pelican Watch an option?
They were vehemently opposed to us using that right of way and the area is not owned by the POA.
We have the POA’s consent, but we still don’t have a definite place to put the boat ramp. The OCRM wanted to know why we couldn’t use the old boat ramp near the Fitness center and we explained that we couldn’t because it’s gone. We also can’t launch into the surf, so we have to use the river.
How many volunteers would you have?
We have over 20 volunteers who are very excited about helping with the boat. Several of them are experienced boat captains and we are hoping to send most of them through the Coast Guard School. We also want to put a notice out, looking for as many people as we can to help and volunteer once we get the program approved.
Who is responsible for the boat?
The POA would like to have the Town working with them financially on this project. It would make it a lot easier. The POA will take all insurance and liability for the boat.
Who would support this project?
We have a community of responsible people on this island. We don’t look at responsibility and turn our heads. We embrace it and handle it to the best of our capabilities. We’ve also only had one hurricane in 25 years, but the Town still supported the creation of CERT.
Do you have any other options for funding?
We also have the option of forming a 501c non-profit organization. We could set it up as a separate business, similar to CERT. It is only after getting the sponsorship of the POA that we came to the Town before considering creating a 501c.
Councilman Dubois stated that “I only know of one person in the past 22 years whose cause of death read “drowning”. There were two nurses on hand at the time, and they were fairly sure it was a heart attack, since he was wading in very shallow water.”
After several more minutes of discussion, Mayor McNulty stated that he felt the Council would need to talk to their Town Attorney about how best to work out the funding. “My gut feeling is to leave this to the POA,” said the Mayor. “In the meantime, I don’t see why you can’t come up with more detailed plans and a list of volunteers’ names. I hear what you’re saying, but we’ve only had two fatalities since the early 1980s. We should, definitely, remind visitors about the dangers of swimming and playing in the ocean, but we’ll have to discuss this option further.”
What’s up in Charleston
The Katie Chapman of the Charleston Visitor’s Bureau reported that the “Be a Tourist in your Own Town” passes were still on sale. The tickets provide passes to over 35 area attractions as well as discounts to dozens of local restaurants for only $20, or $50 for a family pass, which admits up to 4 people. Be a Tourist passes can be purchased at www.beatourist.net or by calling the Charleston Visitor’s Bureau at 853-8000.
The Third annual Food and Wine festival will be held this year in Downtown Charleston from February 28 – March 2. Tickets are available for purchase online at www.charlestonfoodandwine.com.
Finally, Travel and Leisure announced that the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island Golf Resort was voted number 43 in the top 100 overall best hotels in the world for 2007.
Bridge for troubled cyclists
The bike path is finished, but at least two bridges still need to be built to keep cyclists from travelling too close to the side of busy Seabrook Island Drive. Town Council is currently in discussions with a company out of North Carolina called Enwood, who has built some beautiful wooden bridges around the area, in particular on Defuskie Island and Parris Island. “The Mayor and I really liked the ones with the brick posts at the end,” laughed Councilman Dubois, noting that the brick pediments would be a little too bulky for the relatively small bike path. “The bridges are going to cost around $45,000, which is about the same as the quotes we’ve received from other contractors,” said the Mayor. “I’ll talk to other people who have had bridges built by this company, but we really like the style. Once we decide, the bridges should take about 3 months to build, so hopefully, we’ll have them up by Easter.”
Town Administrator Randy Pierce also noted that he had tentatively set up a final walkthrough with the bike path contractor and do a final report for its completion. “I think I noticed some dead shrubs that had not been moved out of the way,” Mr. Pierce noted, “but the rest of the path looks great.”
Town Hall closed for the holidays
Mayor McNulty noted that the Seabrook Town Hall will be closed from December 24 – January 1 for the holidays.
Second Reading of Ordinances 2007-9 and 2007-10
Town Council approved the second reading or Ordinance 2007-9, the ordinance to adopt the 2008 Town Budget, and Ordinance 2007-10, an ordinance to amend the Town code, Sec. 1.7B.100, in regard to special elections. A special meeting was held at 2:15pm before the meeting to discuss the ordinances, but no citizens arrived to comment.
Keeping the team
“I guess this is the time of year I have to reappoint the Town Attorney, Steve Brown, the Town Administrator, Randy Pierce and Town Clerk, Ms. Faye Allbritton,” said Mayor McNulty. The Council approved all three for their 2008 term. Also, the Council moved to reappoint Jerry Cummins to External Affairs for a term to expire January 31, 2010 and Gene Corrigan to the Municipal Elections Commission January 31, 2015. Both were approved unanimously.
*please note that these minutes are unapproved. For approved minutes, please see Faye Allbritton at Seabrook Town Hall or email her at fallbritton@townofseabrookisland.org. |
A home for The Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic, Inc. has been identified at 3226 Maybank Highway on John’s Island. According to Hester Allison, director of the free clinic, “Construction is underway and the Clinic will be open for patients early in the New Year.” Among the partners for the Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic are Roper St. Francis Healthcare, the Duke Endowment Foundation, the Town of Kiawah Island and the South Carolina Association of Free Medical Clinics. Among the supporters are the Kiawah Development Partners, the Coastal Community Foundation, Blue-Cross Blue-Shield, Kiawah-Seabrook Exchange Club and the Charleston County Medical Society.
The concept of a free medical clinic was formed and implemented by Kiawah Island resident Dr. Arthur Booth and John’s Island resident Dr. Charlie Davis, in conjunction with the National Volunteers in Medicine program. Both retired physicians, Dr. Booth and Dr. Davis created the clinic as a way to help their neighbors who are less fortunate.
The mission of BIFMC is to understand and serve the health and wellness needs of the medically underserved and their households who live or work on John’s and Wadmalaw Islands. The vision statement for the clinic can be found in Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done unto Me.”
Over the past two years, Allison and the Board of Directors for the Clinic have been excited to see their goal becoming a reality. The Barrier Islands Free Medical Clinic, Inc. is a legal corporation with a 501c(3) status.
The talent and time of Dr. Carolyn Wong-Simpkins have been secured and she serves as the director of the Clinic. Dr. Simpkins is an honors graduate of Duke, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins Universities. Dr. Simpkins has a passion to serve the Clinic and to help the people of John’s and Wadmalaw Islands.
Funds to support the Clinic have been raised through grants, private donations and local churches. Additionally, $28,000 was generated through the First Annual Lowcountry Wine Festival held at Freshfield’s earlier this year. The Second Annual Lowcountry Wine Festival will be held in August of 2008. The Clinic gala event for 2008 will be a celebrity golf tournament scheduled for May 18, 2008, which will be held at the River Course on Kiawah. Sponsorships are available for the golf tournament, and applications can be downloaded from our website at www.bifmc.com.
“The ‘Culture of Caring’ will be the heart and soul of our clinic,” says Allison. “Our ‘Culture of Caring’ recognizes the strengths of those in need and respects their dignity. We seek to heal not only physical illnesses, but also the injury caused by bias, prejudice and indifference. Policies and procedures for implementing and maintaining the ‘Culture of Caring’ have been established and are a required component of the Volunteers in Medicine Clinics.”
In this spirit of caring, many professionals and retired professionals are volunteering their time and talents to serve the Clinic. Allison adds, “Those who come to our clinic are good people in need of help. Surviving on limited resources, they often exhibit great courage simply trying to get through each day.”
Now every person who lives or works on Wadmalaw and John’s Island will have easy access to health care. And the best part is that it was accomplished using an untapped resource; the retired medical professional. Over 80 million Americans were without health insurance for all or part of 2006 and 2007. That is approximately one in three individuals.
No community can be truly healthy if a significant portion of the population is excluded from basic health care services. In the absence of a national health policy that includes health care for everyone, concerned citizens need to find other ways to provide the medically underserved with the health care services they need. As Allison asserts, “Sick people can't wait!”
Census data for South Carolina reflects an alarming trend: approximately 198,900 of the state’s residents were living at or below federal poverty guidelines. Of these residents, 21% did not qualify for medical benefits. Among this population of people, chronic diseases have greater prevalence.
The members of the planning committees ask that you consider doing three things toward the progress and success of the Clinic: keep the Clinic plans in your prayers, financially support the clinic with a donation, and become a volunteer. Donations can be sent to BIFMC at 3226 Maybank Highway, John’s Island, SC, 29455. To volunteer, please email Hester Allison at bifmc@hotmail.com or call 810-3333. For further information, including updates on the progress of the Clinic, please visit www.bifmc.com.
Nell Stone is the head of the Funds Development Committee for the BarrierIsland Free Medical Clinic. She can be reached at www.bifmc.com.
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