From HomesOnFrippIsland.com
Fripp Island Property Owners Assoc meeting-May
By Rita Riley
FIPOA (5/17). This was a long 2+ hr meeting & there were several surprises. A full house was there including 28 people! At the end of the meeting, the departing Board members (Paul Hummer, Bill Buschur, Mary Cantley & Charlie Davis) were given framed prints in appreciation of all their HARD, very time-consuming, work. Also, the following items were covered: 1) The report from the Gen Mgr Kate Hines covered the usual with no surprises....& discussed finances, grounds, 911 calls, roads & drainage (incl Crooked Creek Rd) & POA paying the insurance on the inlet Bridge. She also mentioned that the Ocean Point crossover cost $6000 to repair & has been reopened +13 other crossovers received minor repairs. 2) The Board established a Non-Standing Parking committee to review the parking issues of the island & to make overall parking rules & changes. This would cover areas where the POA has authority over parking & involves issues impacting property owners; 3) the Board approved the addition to the Personnel Policy Manual of the need for timely info for pay-roll purposes of personnel because of problems with late information; 4) A resolution was passed to study the feasibility of transferring property (buildings & roads) owned by POA to the PSD for the purposes of saving money (especially on insurance costs & taxes, etc) & yet retaining the management of the operations. The Pope Zeigler law firm has experience in this area & was hired (not to exceed $1500) to study the feasibility of the plan. Margaret Pope had assisted the PSD for years (on the sewer bonds). It is hoped that the plan would reveal a cost savings of $70-100K & this study should reveal if this is possible &/or true. 5) Another long discussion on the Island in Fiddlers Trace Lake (& other POA islands & water-ways)…the trimming or non-trimming of the island. The Wards (on Royal Turn in Fiddlers Trace) have protested the cutting done by the POA on the lake island. They did their homework well -& had a long list of supporters speak include-ing C Gunter & D Briggs from the Audubon Club, Charlott Hope from the DNR of Bft, Jim Duncan entering the Board, Janine Lackman of the Nature Turtle Program, Karen Natoli of the same program–all stating that there should be NO cutting of the debris & leaving the natural atmosphere & growth. However, the POA had promised primary residents Nancy & Charlie Richmond, a 1 time/yr cutting & removal of debris from the island. It has now been established that Bft Co permits are needed because ‘they’ can claim that this LAKE fits under the heading of a ‘tidal’ body (like the canal in my backyard!). Anyway, if the proper permits are procured from Bft, then the Richmans can have this promised yearly clearing. As concerned owners, WE visited the Richmans deck with The Richards & The Zillmans prior to this meeting & we could not actually see ANY problem with what had been done - except that a neighbor (who rarely visits) wanted to complain. None of us saw ANYTHING improper, in fact we were all amazed at beauty of the Richman’s landscaping. 6) another long segment was a presentation by Joe Gannon. He presented the ‘Future Finance Committee’ findings– from the committee created last Oct (incl Joe Gannon, Micki McCormick, Buck Mathews, Al Santoni, Theresa Hergert) which was to explore revenue increase alternatives for funding requirements to maintain adequate reserve fund levels. The POA present income is from a) the FIPOA dues (caped at CPI), b) the access fees for the gate, c) 1% from The Fripp Island Resort rental business and d) investment income. However, at the present rate, our income falls short considerably when you look at the expenditures (over the next 30 years & rising future costs.), therefore the need to raise revenue. They 5 looked at several possibilities incl a) increasing the FIPOA annual assmt which would need a 2/3rd vote of the owners 6 (some gated communities use CPI+3% or 5%); b) A special assmt for roads & structures (like our present $100 each annually for the inlet bridge)… but this would require a 50% vote of the owners; c) a transfer fee on realty purchases – a % of the sales price (let’s say .02% to 1% on a sliding scale) such as Sea Pines has proposed ..but this would also need a 75% vote of members. Hilton Head has one (for future infrastructure) like an entry fee & this would bring us some revenue; and d) a rental fee on non-Fripp Island Resort rental unit owners…such as: VRBO, Beach House, T & C Rentals, etc. (The Resort has 180-190 units & turns in approx $60,000±/yr in revenue-which averages about $300/ea. The reasons for this is easily explained when you consider the greater wear & tear on the roads from the increased traffic as well as the increased need for the security staff during all the peak rental weeks). The POA could charge all rental owners a flat fee of $300/yr or a prorating on their income. It would NOT be a charge at the gate to each rental car because the gate personnel don’t need the extra work & they cannot spend their time ‘deciding’ if a car was a guest at our home or one of our rental guests! Also, a flat fee of some equitable sort needs to be worked out - so that the burden does not fall on the 1 bedrm units in North Hampton & B C Villas (sleeping max of 4) paying the same amount as the 6 bedrm ocean-front single family units that sleep 12-16& have 5 cars! The committee requested that the POA Board appoint a non-standing committee to fully work out the Rental Fee proposal (with a proposed Spring ‘09 implementation date). If each of 300 rental units were each to contribute a min $300/yr (more for larger units) that would put $1M into the POA revenue to counter increase expenses. Makes sense to me & I have 2 non-FIR rental units….but I can assure you that the cost will be passed on to the renters in a line marked FIPOA fee - probably about $50 each since there is an average of 10 weeks in the seasonal rental period. 7) the Decals for your cars will be EXPIRING on 6/15. You’ve received a form in the mail & can handle this by email or letter. Actually, they’ve made this quite simple. Starting 6/15 the gate attendants will start scraping off the old ’06-08 gold/green decals so THIS NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION! 8) Between security (FIPOA) -the Resort- & the Fire Dept (PSD) it was decided that fireworks this 4th of July would emanate from the Ocean Creek Golf Course area. 9) New officers for the 2008-09 year – Pres: Buck Mathews, VP: Bob Newby, Treas: Bob Davidson, Asst Treas: Rita Merrill and Sec: Joe Gannon.
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