Volume 1 Issue 6

July 13 , 2007

Sailmaker Bridgette Lyle
By Heather Holbrook

Also known as ‘Cricket’ to her friends, the hard-working seamstress, sailmaker and owner of Fore and Aft Canvas has a creative, free spirit- a trait often found among those who love to sail.
But has she always been handy with a needle? “I didn’t even know how to sew,” she says recounting how she got started making sails. Answering a want ad in a local paper in New England, Bridgette learned the trade literally from the ground up. “In those days, we would lay the material on the floor to measure and cut it. Now it is all done so differently- (other sails are) laminated and not even stitched.” Both an art and a science, sailmaking proved to be a welcome challenge to the Michigan native.

This endeavor brought her to Larchmont Harbor, near Rye, NY, a sailing mecca which boasts one of the oldest yacht clubs in the country. So strong is the racing fever in the area that even in the dead of winter you'll find hardy "frostbiters" racing tiny Interclub sailboats. Larchmont has held its annual Race Week every July since 1895, with as many as 500 boats of every class blanketing the harbor. It was here that Bridgette apprenticed and made sails for an America’s Cup boat and then it really got interesting. “I met and sailed with the Italians who asked me to go to Lake Garda where I made sails for J24s.”

Next she lived in Venice, Italy, and Majorca, Spain, making sails as she went. Now living on Sullivan’s Island, she commutes to her busy workshop in North Charleston located in a cool warehouse surrounded by bolts and bolts of canvas. But where you are more likely to find her is aboard a client’s boat creating custom canvas cushions and window coverings for yachts and sailboats alike.

Over a pint of Guinness at Dunleavy’s Pub, whose owner is an avid sailor himself, Bridgette adds, “Someday I’d like to pass along this skill to someone else.” Sailmaking is truly a waning art, a labor of love.

Seabrook Town Council – June 26, 2007*

Calling all engineers!
Chris Cannon, chairman of the John’s Island Council, asked to speak with Seabrook Town Council and residents about the upcoming road developments on John’s Island. “I’ve never been against the completion of 526,” Chairman Cannon stated, acknowledging that it is an inevitable project on the island. “However, the state of South Carolina and Charleston County aren’t willing to loose the 2012 Senior PGA because of poor roads.” Along with the general necessity for improved roads on John’s Island, it is commonly known among the Councils on Seabrook, Kiawah and John’s Islands that John’s Island’s roads absolutely must be improved by the Senior PGA tournament in 2012 or the tournament would be held elsewhere.

Chairman Cannon stated that he will be creating a John’s Island Blue Ribbon Committee and wants all concerned groups on the islands to be involved. He has gathered all of the “fix our roads first” groups on John’s Island, but would like to tap into the “wealth of intelligence on Kiawah and Seabrook Island”. The Chairman would like anyone with experience as a highway engineer or associated careers to participate in the committee. The group would only meet every two months or so for a couple of hours until the development of the roads was underway.

“Why start at ground zero when we can update the old traffic study?” Asked Mayor McNulty, referring to a traffic study performed roughly ten years ago on John’s Island. “ Not a lot of people know about the traffic study. It has noon seen any real group action on what the islanders want,” answered Chairman Cannon. “ we don’t want Charleston county to come in and do what they want without consulting the islanders.”

According to the study, the best solution to the traffic problem on John’s Island is a road straight down the center of the island. The proposal still needs the approval of the environmental protection act and has the potential for becoming a very large issue on the islands. The other options from the traffic study include widening River or Bohicket roads, although the proposals are not as popular or plausible as the new central road.

For more information on the Blue Ribbon Committee, please call Chairman Chris Cannon at 343-5113.

Seabrook supports the Charleston Fallen Firefighters Fund
If attendees to Council meetings could clap without being deemed “out of order”, the room would have exploded in applause. As it was, everyone grinned as far as their smile would reach as the Seabrook Town Council approved a donation from the Town of $10,000 to the Charleston Fallen Firefighters Fund.

Backing up the Utility Commission
The Seabrook Island Utility Commission requested that $300,000 be transferred to them to be used as contingency during an upcoming pumping project. If, over a designated period of time, the money was not needed, the Utility Commission proposed repaying the amount to the customers as a rebate.

Currently, the Town has $2.4 million that will be put into escrow when the 24 inch pipeline project begins. They have also been assured of a $1.6 million grant from FEMA, although an official confirmation has not come through yet. In total, the Utility Commission has roughly $3.5 million in their account, $3.1 million of which is allocated for the project. “The Utility Commission,” Mayor McNulty pointed out, “would still have $400,000 in excess and $450,000 in emergency funds; a total excess of $850,000 that they can draw from if they need it.”

The Utility Commission rebutted by stating that the committed $2.4 million was the rock bottom number and the extra $300,000 would purchase an extra 800,000 gallons of water. “We don’t want to get too little water,” the representative of the Commission stated, “ Looking at the study, we would need another 800,000 gallons of water and St. John’s is willing to sell it.”

Mayor McNulty expressed that he understood their concern and proposed that the Town would set aside $200,000 from the general fund in a special reserve contingency for the Utility Commission. The reserve would be set up once the grant was approved and could be used only if the Utility Commission was in danger of tapping into their emergency fund. The amount would be available for two years, after which, if it was not needed, the Town would either 1) expend the amount in the next year’s budget, 2) use it to repay the customers or 3) put the money back in the general fund.

The Mayor’s proposal was approved by the Council unanimously.

CERT funding
The Seabrook CERT team asked the town for an allocation of $25,000 of the team to draw from should the need arise. The funds would be used solely to purchase necessary disaster survival equipment and supplies. The council passed the fund approval unanimously.

Supporting the Symphony
The Accommodations Tax Advisory committee proposed that the Town donate an extra $5,000 to the Charleston Symphony Orchestra this year, bringing the total donated funds to $15,000. The Council, however, felt that the annual donation of $10,000 was more than appropriate and voted to keep the donated amount at $10,000.

Seabrook’s looking good!
As beautiful as Seabrook Island is, the Town feels that the current “Seabrook Island” sign at the main entrance doesn’t do the island justice. For example, the first of three planting tiers at the base of the sign tends to become water-logged during high tide. Both the committee members and Sunburst Landscaping, the landscaping company hired to appraise the project, feel that the lower tier should be eliminated, graded and replaced with Bermuda grass; a project estimated to cost around $2,000. Second, the three live oaks around the entrance are good candidates for being lit at night. Sunburst proposes using a combination of up lights, down lights and moon lights at an estimated cost of $2,500. Lastly, the current landscape would need to be drawn together with more colorful and textured plants. Sunburst proposed the use of white iris along the base of the sign, two annual beds, accents of white spirea, oak leaf hydrangea, cassia and bottlebrush, as well as holly and ciborium odora bushes around the back at an estimated cost of $6,000 - $7,000. The project would take one week to complete after the materials, which need to be ordered two to three weeks in advance, arrived.

Town Council approved the landscaping project for a total of $20,000 until further details on expenses were provided. This estimate leaves approximately $11,800 from the county and $33,000 from state funds in excess to go toward the building of the bike path.

Magnetic turtle reminders
Beautise Zahrn of the Seabrook Island Turtle Patrol, asked for a total of $2,300 maximum for refrigerator magnets that list the do’s and don’ts of beach etiquette for protecting the sea turtles habitats. The amount was approved unanimously and the magnets will be available at Seabrook Town Hall.

Town Administrator’s notes
New beach patrol deputies
On June 26, the Beach Patrol began their summer of keeping a watchful eye on the shores of Seabrook Island. Although the Beach Patrol company that had been hired last year was hired again for this year, the Town discovered that employees of the company had been “running amuck” with the golf cart and a decision was made to hire sheriff’s deputies from the county instead. “Hiring sheriff’s deputies is a move in the right direction,” said Mayor McNulty. “They will be much more responsible about their duties.”

The Beach Patrol hands out reminders for first offenses and tickets perpetrators for the second offense. Each deputy is supplied with pre-printed reminders to hand out, as well as a list of offenses.

“If you see a cruiser idling in front of the community center, it’s just a deputy taking a ten minute break in the air conditioning,” said the Town Administrator. “So don’t worry, he’s not inside swimming or fraternizing with the life guards.”

All of the sheriff’s deputies are CPR certified and the Town is looking into find out whether or not they are certified on AEDs (Automated External Defibrillators) as well so they can carry the AEDs with them while on patrol.

Damaged non-conforming structures ordinance: first reading
The first reading of the damaged non-conforming structures ordinance, named Ordinance 2007-6, was given during the Council meeting. The ordinance basically states that a non-conforming building or structure that is damaged can not be repaired in such a way that it increases the amount of it’s non-conformity; that is, if the Planning Commission even allows it to be rebuilt. It also states that any non-conforming structure that is modified to increase its gross floor area by more than fifty percent (50%) or increase its value by more than fifty percent (50%), then the entire structure will be subject to this Ordinance and shall be brought up to standard and full compliancy.

During the reading, Mayor McNulty felt that the Ordinance was, in its present form, too vague and asked that the Ordinance be rewritten with clearer specifications before the second reading.

The notice of meetings ordinance: second reading
The second reading of the notice of meetings ordinance, Ordinance 2007-5, was approved again unanimously without changes. The Ordinance basically states that each public hearing shall be published at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the hearing in either a newspaper or publication of general circulation on the island.

Section 7.2.32 of the Seabrook Island Town Code has been amended to state that “Committees shall elect a chairman and secretary from its membership, shall make such rules as are necessary to perform its designated function and shall advertise its meetings by placing a notice on the official town bulletin board at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to each meeting, shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall meet as often as necessary to perform its designated function but no less than once per year.”

Section 1.5b.35 of the Seabrook Town Code was amended to state that “Cancellation of invitations for bids or requests for proposals, or other solicitations may be cancelled, or any and all bids or proposals may be rejected in whole or in part when it is in the best interests of the Town of Seabrook Island.  The Mayor or his or her designate may amend any of the requirements set forth in an invitation to bid, notice of bid, or solicitation when necessary and in the Town’s best interest.  Reasonable notice of such amendment shall be given.  The Town may reject any and all bids for any purpose whatsoever.” (Ordinance 94-11, 1/12/95) 

And finally, Section 1.5b.36 was amended to read that “Town property with an estimated value of less than Five Hundred and No/100 Dollars ($500) may be sold without formal advertisement or competitive procedures.”  (Ordinance 94-11, 1/12/95)

New agricultural-conservation land ordinance: first reading
The Seabrook Island Property Owners Association has filed applications with the Town of Seabrook Island to change the following lot designations to Agricultural-Conservation land:
TMS # 147-02-00-010
TMS # 147-02-00-043
TMS # 147-02-00-044
TMS # 147-02-00-057
TMS # 147-02-00-078
TMS # 147-02-00-085
TMS # 147-02-00-086

The Planning Commission reviewed the applications and believe that granting the requests would definitely be in the best interest of the town. The first reading passed unanimously.

Many thanks
Mr, Jerry Cummings of the SIDOG group stood to applaud the change in Beach Patrol. On May 5, the rules for dogs on the beach were published and soon after, Mr. Cummings and the SIDOG group printed out small cards with the laws printed on them for anyone with dogs that they came across on the beach. They Mayor asked if the Town Hall could have a few copies of the cards, and Mr. Cummings agreed to bring some by.

Ms. Beautsie Zahrn from the Turtle Patrol also thanked the Town for their contribution toward the magnets and gave the turtles’ thanks as well.

*Please note that these are not the approved minutes of the Seabrook Island Town Council meeting. The approved minutes from this meeting will be available at the next Seabrook Island Council.