April 2007 Board Meeting Minutes

Present: President Diane Lehder called the meeting to order and took roll call. Present were Vice President Art Morgenstern, Secretary Sandy Williams, Treasurer Ben Farabee, Board Members Katie Kotz and Ron Ritchie. Data Base Manager Kathy Heikes attended by phone. Also present was: Barbara Winslow, TALK Editor. Absent was Board Member Laurie Burpee.

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of the March 2007 Board Meeting were approved with minor corrections

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Ben Farabee reported that as of April 3, 2007 we have $10,233.95 in checking and $79,760.62 in savings, for a total of $89,994.57. Our CD, which matures on the 23rd of this month, is currently worth $101,872.13. Ben presented to the Board a detailed comparison of KPOG’s profits and losses from the last two years, in preparation for presenting a proposed budget. The proposed budget is based on a membership of 1,900 members. The estimated total income is $131, 100. The estimated expenses are $113,800. A motion was made and seconded to approve proposed budget for 2007-2008. The proposed budget was accepted.

Talk: Barbara Winslow, TALK editor, is concerned that the paper has too many advertisements. We are getting so many half page ads that it is hard to lay out the paper. Barbara suggested raising the advertising rates given that we are the only publication on Island that accepts advertisements. Ben Farabee commented that we don’t have to accept all ads. President Diane Lehder suggested that Barbara and Laurie Burpee get together and make a proposal for the next meeting. Art Morgenstern suggested that if we have excess money we think about doing something that would benefit property owners. It was noted that if we get a utility increase, we might need money to fight the increase.

Membership Report: Membership chair Katie Kotz reported that she met with former membership chair Kathy Heikes. Kathy will input membership data, and Katie will write the letters to new people. Katie will need 60 copies of TALK to use. Wendy Kulick has offered to assist Katie in stuffing the membership letter envelopes with copies of TALK while Katie is away. Katie will write the letters and send them down to Wendy. We have 1,470 members to date. President Lehder asked Kathy Heikes if we are on track with membership numbers from last year. Kathy indicated that we are about 180 members short most likely because Kathy was away and the follow up letter to prospective members is late. Kathy has had 2 or 3 membership requests from Cassique. The board feels that since our bylaws state that one must be a property owner to belong to KPOG, Cassique residents cannot join unless they also own property on Kiawah.

Directory: We have sold 1000 - 1100 directories so far. A draft will be at the printer’s soon.

OLD BUSINESS

Safety & Security: Art does not have traffic count data this month. Our meeting was too early in the month for the data results.
Incidents: There were 49 in March 2007; up from 43 in March 2006. The incidents included one arrest, a theft of building supplies, 6 incidents of criminal activity, and contractor theft. There were also more animal reports and false alarms

Resort: Negotiations between the Town and Resort are likely to be reinitiated soon. Mayor Bill Wert phoned President Diane Lehder and asked if he could have her input as an individual as to what should be considered in the negotiations. Based on input from the Board, Diane will reply to Mayor Wert suggesting that a series of small group meetings be held with community members to obtain a range of opinions from property owners rather than a one-on-one meeting.

KICA: At the Annual Meeting, the Woodlands covenant passed with 85% of the vote. Diane Lehder has attended the “Mornings with Joe.” The meetings were very interactive, and there was lively discussion among the participants.

Insurance: Our insurance expires July 12th. Ron Ritchie and Art Morgenstern will investigate other options.

By-laws: President Lehder has heard from Ben Farabee and Art Morgenstern as to their opinions on needed revisions. She is waiting to hear comments from the rest of the board.

NEW BUSINESS

At “Mornings with Joe,” the new legislation (extended pool) that Senator McConnell has proposed on wind and hail insurance was discussed. Joe Bunting asked if KPOG would like to look into it and provide information on it in TALK. Ron Ritchie agreed to put together a brief article with links for members to get additional information.
Vice President Art Morgenstern received an e-mail from a resident who is concerned about the “eroding” benefits of the Governor’s Club. It was decided that since the issue of amenities is being covered by the new KICA Amenities Group headed by Kelly Bragg, this issue should be handled through this organization.
Database renewal: As we weren’t billed for last year, we owe $1800. for last year. Kathy Heikes’ recommendation is that we renew again for this year. Kathy has done extensive research into other databases, but has not come up with anything better. President Lehder asked for a motion to pay for last year and renew for the coming year. This would also authorize signing the contract. It was agreed that the payments would not be made until we have received the proper invoices. The motion was made, seconded and approved

Member/Guest Comments

Barbara Winslow needs a number of how many Directory covers to have printed. Based on Board input, Diane Lehder will ask Peter Grant to limit directory comps to the Town, KICA, and the Resort. Barbara is to confer with Peter and place the order. We will order about 1500 this year.

The Town is going to buy a turtle for “Turtles on Town”, a public art project benefiting the loggerhead turtle rescue program at the South Carolina Aquarium. Barbara Winslow will e-mail Charlie Lipuma asking why a turtle bought by the Town is going to be placed in Freshfields instead of on Kiawah.

ADJOURNMENT

Upon motion duly made and seconded, the meeting was adjourned to Executive Session at approximately 11:15 am.

Respectfully submitted,

Sandy Williams

Secretary

Kiawah Island Property Owners Group

April 4, 2007 Board Meeting Minutes

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