THE
BLUE HER N
December 2016 Issue
Publication of the DeBordieu Colony Community Association “DCCA” www.debordieucolony.org
Message From the DCCA President
Bill Bowles The landscape was marked by fallen trees and debris. I have We have weathered two significant events since the last edition never seen a mess like this in my years in DeBordieu. As of of The Blue Heron. The hurricane that we have been talking Thanksgiving week, debris cleanup is nearly completed with the about and dreading for so many years (since Hugo in ‘89) finally exception of some large trees that are scheduled for removal. materialized and we experienced yet another presidential election. While several communities waited for FEMA funds to start their While Matthew spared us the pain of the Category 4 storm cleanup effort, our group went into action. The addition of our that many expected, its impact on DeBordieu was significant. new knuckle boom truck considerably reduced cleanup time. As After riding out Matthew in Charlotte, I returned the following the saying goes, timing is everything. Monday to survey Matthew’s beach impact with Blanche Brown and our consultants from Coastal Science and Engineering. Our beach sustained minimal damage in comparison to those around us. The reason is simple. Matthew was confronted with a But before I get into Mathew’s impact on DeBordieu Beach, I healthy beach. You may recall Nicole Elko, (coastal scientist and want to speak of those who stayed behind and managed to keep consultant) presented the “Beach Preservation Project Update: 1 us updated through a turbulent weekend. Blanche and several year After Construction” during our annual meeting in May. She of her staff “stayed put” in and around the community. She and said: others surveyed the damage immediately after the hurricane. You may remember the email blast that came in the middle of a power Finally, it is important to keep in mind that a key purpose of outage, that said, “if you haven’t heard from us, your home did not the beach preservation project is storm protection. The benefits sustain damage.” If you are like me, you were probably surprised of beautiful recreational space, increased property values, and by the timeliness of that email and relieved if you had not received environmental enhancement are important but the buffer from a call. Blanche, David Sapp, Mike Grabarz, Kelly Floyd and many storm energy may be its most vital function. others were committed enough to keep those that remained behind safe and the rest of us informed. I want to give a big thanks to The beach did incur some sand loss and we had an ocean breach David Sapp for digging out a clogged drainage ditch on Luvan as of DeBordieu Boulevard where it curves before the Ocean Green the storm was passing. Keep in mind that like David, everyone entrance. But for the most part, our beach performed as expected. involved had a mess on their hands at their home, yet they were It is clear that our beach preservation efforts have benefited out and about going above and beyond the call of duty for our DeBordieu and will continue to into the future. community. We should all be truly thankful for their commitment.
Message From the DCCA President continued... That brings us to the other significant event, our election. I only reference the national election to give context to another (albeit more local) vote that will directly affect everyone in DeBordieu. In 2017 the community will vote on a long range, beach preservation funding plan. To provide historical perspective, when we voted to renourish in 2014, we heard overwhelmingly that community members wanted a long range beach plan. There were two major reasons, financial planning and to eliminate the contentious votes that have become a necessary evil every 6-8 years. So the Long Range Planning Committee went to work on developing a Beach Preservation Plan. In that process, we engaged Tim Kana of Coastal Science and Engineering to look at all past data, collect current data and develop a feasibility study defining a sustainable pathway to beach preservation over the next 3 decades. This comprehensive study was conducted with oversight from the University of SC. It provided a detailed assessment of the processes impacting DeBordieu Beach from Pawleys Inlet down to North Inlet, assessed current and developing technologies and finally compared the 3 most feasible solutions to preserving our beach. The study indicated that the most feasible/sustainable solution would be to install groins along with sand renourishment in 2021 and renourish with sand again in 2033. By adding groins, the renourishment interval would double from 6 to approximately 12 years and cut projected costs of sand only renourishment by approximately 50%. The Feasibility Study became the basis for an initial long range plan that was presented in June 2016. In presenting a partial funding plan that would still require a community vote in 2020,
Jim Cooper (LRP Committee Chair) emphasized that this initial plan was a work in progress and that it would be refined through community input. Jim and his team spoke to members of the community individually and collectively, he even took his show on the road. Once again, we heard that a partial funding plan with a vote in 2020 was not ideal. Community members wanted a beach preservation fund established that would cover beach preservation costs into the future without the requirement for future votes. That plan has been developed and is being refined currently. It will be voted on by the Board in early 2017 and by the community in the Spring. The new plan will establish a fund that will be used exclusively for beach preservation. Unlike the partial funding plan, this plan involves a by-laws change that will require a 66 2/3 majority to pass. We will continue to ask for community input as we move forward. As with the 2014 renourishment effort, we will provide several communication forums to explain the Beach Preservation Funding Plan. I will ask that you do your research. There are multiple resources on our website that are informative about our renourishment strategy and approach that I have linked to this article online. If you have questions, please reach out to the board or committee members. I want to thank you in advance for your support as we go through this process. I also want to thank all Board and Committee members who have worked so diligently on this effort. I hope that you all have a blessed holiday season.
S.C.U.T.E.
Betsy Brabson and Robin Baughn The 2016 loggerhead sea turtle nesting season has ended with a record season for SC! 6,444 nests were documented by 1500+ volunteers working under the SCDNR. This indicates the species may be in recovery. Here at DeBordieu and Hobcaw we had a healthy season with 67 nests (34 DEB/33 HOB). Hurricane Matthew erased about a mile of dunes of Hobcaw’s two miles of beach causing volunteers to relocate more than half the Hobcaw nests due to this erosion. This will greatly reduce suitable nesting habitat for the 2017 season and our options for relocation. The 2017 season will begin in April, anyone is welcomed to volunteer. Many thanks to our dedicated team of volunteers who work tirelessly to protect our visiting loggerheads. It seems our efforts may be paying off with the good news that the species appears to be in recovery.
The DCCA Administrative Building is a drop-off site for Toys for Tots. The program began in 1995 when the Secretary of Defense approved it as an official activity of the U. S. Marine Corps. To date, the Marines have distributed over 469 million toys to over 216 million less fortunate children. DeBordieu residents interested in participating may drop off a new and unwrapped toy to the DCCA Administration Office. Deadline for dropping off toys is December 16, 2016.
The Employees of DeBordieu Colony Community Association would like to wish our Community Members and their Families a Safe and Happy Holiday Season! Photo credit: Tanya Ackerman
Pavement Maintenance Program saves $1.5 million The DCCA Infrastructure Committee annually inspects the community roads and utilizes the independent Pavement Condition and Reserve Study Reports to determine the schedule for road paving. DeBordieu has approximately 22 miles of roads that have been paved over the last 30 plus years. Road maintenance is one of the largest categories in the Reserve Fund. The Infrastructure Committee reviewed options for preserving the roads and in the November Board meeting recommended the Board approve a proposal from Total Asphalt for a pavement maintenance program. Through a Preventive Maintenance Program, pavements can be maintained in a cost-effective manner leading to a better pavement quality at lower total costs. The Total Asphalt proposal includes asphalt rejuvenation, a process originally developed for the US Air Force by which the ductility and flexibility of the asphalt binders is restored or “rejuvenated” on a molecular level repairing damage done by normal wear and tear and the elements extending the life of the pavement. Rejuvenation has been evaluated and used by the state, and federal governments; US Navy, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Fifty years of use shows that Rejuvenation is a proven method to extend pavement life at a low cost. The US Navy, in a multi-year study, compared use of Rejuvenation at China Lake, California with untreated test sections at each site. The study report said that field test and laboratory results show conclusively that rejuvenation does prolong the life of asphalt pavements. How does Rejuvenation work? A road surface consists of aggregate in a petroleum/asphalt binder. As asphalt ages, the petroleum elements of the binder oxidize and the asphalt loses its elastic properties and becomes brittle; whereupon the road surface cracks which eventually destroys the road. Rejuvenation reverses the aging process by adding back the petroleum fractions needed for elasticity of the binder. In contrast to sealing processes, Rejuvenation is formulated so that the essential petroleum fractions work their way down below the surface of the road yielding a more flexible pavement closer to its original state. Why is Rejuvenation cost effective? It is cheaper to obtain and transport Rejuvenation chemicals, which are only a fraction of the binder, than to coat the road with 2-inches of combined aggregate and asphalt/petroleum binder. Further, the application process for Rejuvenation is simpler and cheaper than that for a road resurfacing operation. Over the next 15 years, the recommended rejuvenation plan would cost $2.5 million as opposed to approximately $4 million with conventional asphalt overlaying. The Association will be communicating with the membership on the schedule for rejuvenating the pavement. Total Asphalt will apply the treatment on one half of the road on one day and the other half the next day. The total process is expected to take approximately five weeks and is weather dependent.
Beach Preservation Jim Cooper
As we enter another holiday period it is not at all unusual to think back on holidays past. We think back on the people and places that color those memories. For me, it is impossible to contemplate these past events without a clear recollection of my mother’s favorite quote, which often became an admonishment to her only son. The quote is from a Robert Browning poem and goes like this: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for.” That quote rang in my ears for my entire childhood and has continued to this day. In thinking over the work of the Long Range Planning committee over the past months it strikes me that this quote has been in the background of my mind all along. In contemplating a solution for our ongoing beach dilemma, we have considered several options. We could choose to simply wait until 2020 when we anticipate the need for another replenishment and have a large assessment for property owners. Alternatively, we could suggest a type of partial payment plan that only makes a down payment on the next sand event. In evaluating alternative solutions, we have indeed chosen to force our reach to exceed our grasp. We have chosen instead to go for a true long term solution that will, when passed, eliminate the need for future votes for many years to come and will put us in a position where future replenishment projects may well require less sand and thereby lower the cost. This solution, will, at a minimum, increase the interval between projects by at least a factor of two. In the past several months we have been discussing this approach with a wide range of our fellow property owners. We have met with individuals and groups of people all of whom wanted to offer constructive input into this process. We have held meetings both on and off campus. I have been most pleased with the thoughtful input that we have received. It has clearly impacted our thinking. As we enter the holiday season where our thoughts will be on other things, I want to communicate the fact that we welcome all constructive input. This helps to sharpen our thinking and introduces new elements of a very complex issue for our consideration. Please consider this brief note as an invitation to communicate with us if you have input. In the coming months we hope to finalize this work leading to a vote in the spring. If our reach is to truly exceed our grasp on this very difficult problem, we will not only need your support, we will need your active participation in the process.
COMMUNITY BOARD BRIEFS The following are highlights from the DCCA November 19, 2016 Board Meetings:
Reported:
• The FireWise vacant lot clearing program has been extended to December 15 due to the tree damage resulting from Hurricane Matthew
Approved:
• Consolidated Lots 11 and 12 Colony Club as one lot • Adopted the proposed 2017 budget with a 5% increase of assessments to $2,800, as submitted. • Approved rolling over the net contributions dollars from the year 2016 into the operational year 2017. • Approved spending $430,000 from the 2017 Reserve budget to proceed with the Total Asphalt Pavement Preservation. Approved Board minutes are available online at www.debordieucolony.org
DeBordieu Colony 181 Luvan Boulevard Georgetown, SC 29440 www.debordieucolony.org
DCCA ADMINISTRATION DIRECTORY Phone: 843.527.4436 Fax: 843.546.8704 dcaadmin@debordieucolony.org
Blanche Brown..........................bbrown@debordieucolony.org AMS, CMCA General Manager
Kelly Floyd.................................. kfloyd@debordieucolony.org Executive Administrator
Danielle Pope........................dcaadmin@debordieucolony.org Member & Commercial Services
Architectural Review Board................................ 843.527.5033 Meg Wilcox.............................mwilcox@debordieucolony.org ARB Administrator
Grounds Maintenance....................................... 843.436.3333 David Sapp.................................. dsapp@debordieucolony.org Grounds Maintenance Manager
Community Safety “Safety & Security�................. 843.527.4931 Mike Grabarz........................ mgrabarz@debordieucolony.org Chief of Community Safety
Amanda Elliott...........................aelliott@debordieucolony.org Administrative Assistant
GATEHOUSE Phone: 843-546-8520 Fax: 843-546-8532
2016-2017 DeBordieu Colony Board and committee assignments
Bill Bowles.............................. william_bowles@msn.com President Emerson Gower..................... emersongower@yahoo.com Vice President / Community Affairs Jim Cooper............................. james.cooper3@gmail.com Secretary Dan Roach................. daniel.m.roach@morganstanley.com Treasurer Sandra Bethea................................. sbethea2@sccoast.net Director Chris Bridgeman..........................chrisbridge@charter.net Director Susan Davis.................................... sndavis05@gmail.com Director Bob DeVey........................................ rdevey7@gmail.com Director Pat Flinn.................................................plflinn@aol.com Director Greg Frost...............................greg.frost3636@gmail.com Director Doug Patton.......................... dougpatton365@gmail.com Architectural Review Board Mike Penland................................mpenland@kdallc.com Director