Our May Board meeting is earlier in the month than usual, on Thursday, May 19, and I am anticipating that a number of important items will be considered at this meeting. It follows a well-attended, and hopefully quite informative, Annual Membership meeting held earlier this month. We were pleased that over 200 Member households (located in over 30 states and 2 countries- England and Canada) tuned into the Meeting Webinar, and it has been viewed over 675 times on YouTube. We certainly appreciate the level of interest demonstrated by this high number of views. And I want to thank those Members who took the opportunity to speak to Sam and me to voice their concerns at the end of the Annual meeting. I assure you that the Board gives serious consideration to all of the comments and questions posed following the meeting, as our ultimate goal is to assure a high quality of life in Sea Pines, while solving the most difficult challenges currently facing our Sea Pines Community.
With the unofficial start of the summer “season” just days away, we are already welcoming many visitors into Sea Pines. With this increased occupancy on top of the number of property owners occupying their homes more regularly, it is no secret that our most pressing challenge is finding the revenue sources needed to fund the larger security and maintenance staff necessary to adequately serve a fully occupied Sea Pines. And we continue to focus on revenue sources ultimately provided by those visitors whose greater presence has tended to impose the greatest needs.
I must note that meeting those needs is harder with a generalized labor shortage and the competition for qualified personnel from other neighboring communities. A recent article in the Hilton Head Sun newspaper noted that starting salaries for Beaufort County sheriffs have increased almost 22% over the past four months, from $41k in January to $50k in May. And since our Sea Pines Security officers remain the first line of security for our community, we must compete for the same quality of law enforcement officers. As I have been reporting for the last several months, the Board has continued to review the recommendations provided by our Revenue Task Force, researching and studying relevant data, and considering member feedback. I will ask the Board to act on several of these recommendations at our upcoming Board Meeting.
I do not expect us to find unanimous support among our diverse property members – there are too many varied approaches to ownership of property in Sea Pines. I do hope that in reviewing the Board’s decisions on revenue generation, each of you will consider our shared commitment to the betterment of the Sea Pines community and maintenance of a high quality of life here, as we endeavor to move forward with the best possible solutions to ensure a safe, enjoyable and prosperous Sea Pines Community now, and in the years to come.
As always, we appreciate your interest and support.
Regards,
