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Chapters
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KPOG
History
written by Thomas U.
Greer
FROM
HOG TO KPOG - AN
HISTORICAL REVIEW
This was the
second year of the Sayers
regime. In the summer of
1986 there were a number
of security problems on
Kiawah including
burglaries, stolen
property and vandalism.
(Note security at this
time was controlled by
the Kiawah Island Company
(KIC), not the community
association (KICA). The
local media began to
investigate the security
problems and apparent
confrontation between
property owners and the
developer.
Some property
owners gave the media
their opinion on these
matters. The newspaper
article, "Trouble in
Paradise," received
a lot of attention. The
KRG board met and agreed
whatever problems we had
on Kiawah should not be
advertised to, or
discussed with, the
media. We should not
"wash our dirty
linen" in public.
Thus, when contacted by
the press, KRG board
members refrained from
blasting the developer or
providing information
derogatory to Kiawah.
Instead, KRG offered to
return the
still-functioning
Security Committee to
KICA to assist in solving
these problems, but the
offer was rejected by Mr.
Daoust, KIC Senior Vice
President.
The local
newspaper interviewed Mr.
Daoust about Kiawah
problems, and he cited a
number of difficulties he
was having with property
owners. After that
interview appeared in the
newspaper, Dick Sayers
wrote a letter to Mr.
Daoust offering to work
with him to attempt to
resolve some of the
issues, but no response
was received. In the
meantime, the KRG
meetings and Overview
kept property owners
aware of security
problems and steps every
property owner should
take to protect his own
interests.
In the fall of
1986, the Club Dues
Committee was
re-established to update
its market survey in
order to be prepared to
evaluate the 1987 club
dues when they were
announced. (When the '87
dues came out, they had
increased about 20% over
1986C nothing like what
had been threatened.)
Buzz Sniffen’s
Annexation/Incorporation
Committee was very
active, visiting places
like Hilton Head, Pawley’s
Island and Tega Cay,
talking to folks with
incorporation experience.
His committee was
expanded as it became
obvious there was an
awful lot of ground to be
covered. Over the next 5
months Buzz's committee
held six information
meetings for small
gatherings of different
groups of property owners
in which he covered the
pros and cons of
incorporation, how
incorporation is
accomplished, the types
of town government, and
potential sources of town
revenue. There was time
for questions at these
meetings, which lasted
about two hours each.
Buzz was assisted in
these efforts by Bob
Degenhart, Jim Cobb and
Ernie Middleton. He
reported that Seabrook’s
incorporation would be
delayed until May or June
of 1987. On August 14,
1986, the Hurricane
Preparedness Committee,
now chaired by Stu Force,
and the St. Johns Fire
Department sponsored a
hurricane preparedness
meeting which addressed,
among other things, early
warnings and evacuation
procedures. A detailed,
written Hurricane
Preparedness Plan was
promised by the committee
in the near future. The
meeting was attended by
over 200 people.
At the sixth
annual meeting of KRG,
which was held in
February of 1987 at the
Church of Our Saviour,
Dick Sayers reviewed the
events and progress of
1986. Membership at this
time consisted of 726
families, over two thirds
of whom were
non-residents, and the
treasury had over $24,000
on hand at the end of the
fiscal year. Dick gave a
report on property
values, which were being
adversely affected by new
tax laws. He listed steps
property owners were
taking to improve the
real estate environment
and then suggested steps
which the company should
take to help the
situation. Bill Hummers
reported on the status of
island development,
indicating there were
1429 condos, cottages and
villas; 571 homes, 214 of
which were occupied
full-time (including 17
by renters); and 892
vacant platted lots. Bill
stated 60-65 homes a year
were being built on
Kiawah. Included in the
condo count were the last
Windswept condos, which
ended the construction of
villas and condos, a
result of the changes in
tax laws relating to
second homes.
The Security
Committee, now chaired by
John Tiernan, reported
the establishment of a
working relationship with
the company, its security
force, and the county
police. The committee was
looking into home
security devices, fire
alarms, and other
procedures to improve
home security.
The annual
election of officers was
held. Bob Zeller was
elected President; Art
Naylor, Vice President;
Louise Irvin, Secretary;
Dot Dornseif, Assistant
Secretary; and Lib Melvin
was re-elected Treasurer.
Directors elected were
Jack Dover, Bob McBrier
and Bill Widmer. Chet
Barrand and Joan Burns
remained as directors to
complete their terms. The
Audit Committee of Pat
Welch, Ginny Beck and
Dave Sullivan remained in
place. (Dave Sullivan
made a podium and
presented it to KRG to be
used for meetings at the
church.) It was announced
at this meeting that KRG
had initiated a drive to
get property owners
registered to vote in
South Carolina. Laura
Pulleyn volunteered to
run that effort by
providing necessary forms
and information to assist
people in registering.
The effort was to play a
significant role when the
time came to vote for
incorporation.
Thus ended the
very busy Sayers regime,
succeeded by the Zeller
regime. A review of the
two years reveals several
significant trends or
happenings:
-
When property
owners felt they were
being treated unfairly,
they rallied behind KRG
and looked to it for
action to right the
perceived wrong. In 1985
we had the utility rate
issue and the golf and
tennis dues increase.
Between February of '85
and February of '86, KRG
membership increased from
300 families to 742.
Things quieted down in
the next year and the
membership dropped
slightly, to 726
families.
-
When property
owners believed they were
being treated unfairly,
and also believed KRG was
effectively representing
their interests, they
were quite willing to dip
into their wallets and
contribute to the cause.
This was very apparent
after the utility rate
intervention, when an
appeal for funds to
replenish the treasury
was met with such a
generous, voluntary
response.
-
KRG consistently
showed a willingness to
sit down and talk with
the developer (golf and
tennis dues, utility rate
increases), and a desire
to work with the
developer in resolving
problems of mutual
interest ("Trouble
in Paradise"
problems). During the
above two-year period,
the developer chose not
even to recognize the
existence of KRG for the
most part - an
unfortunate course of
action.
-
Where action
voids existed and neither
KIC or KICA was willing
to step in and address
the problem (hurricane
preparedness, Bohicket
Road improvement,
annexation/incorporation
study and education), KRG
was both willing and able
to fill the void.
-
The need for
effective communication
between Kiawah agencies
and property owners was
always apparent. Overview
was a definite help, but
it was only published
quarterly and reached
only KPOG members most of
the time. (Usually one
issue a year was sent to
all property owners as
part of the annual
membership drive.)
A Few Words
About Overview: Overview
was a very popular
publication during this
period. In its last days
on Kiawah, the Kiawah
Island Company was
providing property owners
almost no information, so
Overview was
practically the only
source of news. Early in
the Sayers regime Arnold
Isenburg put out the
first couple of issues of
Overview, but then
it became a board effort.
Dick wrote many of the
articles, and other board
members also wrote some.
Lib Melvin and Jan
Gantman typed the
articles and then xeroxed
enough pages of the final
product to make
distribution. Volunteers
were called in and an
assembly line established
- collate, staple, fold,
stuff in the envelope,
affix the address label
and stamp. During the
Zeller regime things were
done in much the same
way. Bob Zeller wrote the
articles using Secretary
Louise Irvin’s minutes;
they’d be typed, and
the volunteer collation
committee would meet at
Louise’s house, as she
had responsibility for
getting the paper out.
Much of this procedure
was caused by a need to
husband the meager funds
in the treasury. Island
residents had Overview
placed in their mailbox
by other volunteers to
save postage. Most
readers of this article
who lived on Kiawah
during this time frame
probably were involved in
one way or another in
this volunteer effort to
get Overview out.
One other aspect
of the newsletter must be
mentioned. Early on it
was recognized that we
had to have a way of
maintaining a current
list of property owners
with their Kiawah and
off-Kiawah addresses. The
company would not make
their list available to
us. Jim Cobb volunteered
to keep the list on his
computer when Overview
was first started, and
continued to do so
through 1994. He
monitored all real estate
sales and tracked all
address changes. Whenever
KRG wanted to send out a
communication, whether it
was to KRG members or to
all Kiawah property
owners, address labels
were provided by Jim
Cobb. For example, he had
a hand in distributing Overview,
putting out Bill Widmer’s
phone books, and
providing labels for the
Incorporation Committee's
letters. When the Kiawah
Volunteer Hall of Fame is
established, Jim Cobb has
to be at the top of the
list. His work was so
essential, and he devoted
many, many hours to this
effort during the almost
10 years he maintained
the list of property
owners and of KRG
members. (Stan Novaco is
Jim's successor in this
effort.)
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