April LIBPA Newsletter

Island Notes: New Sherwin Williams store planned for Lady’s Island. Conceptual approval has been granted by the City of Beaufort Design Review Board for a 5000 square foot, single story retail Sherwin Williams paint store to be located next to the San Jose restaurant on Sams Point Road. Congratulations Dr. Truesdale. Beaufort County School Superintendent Dr. Valerie Truesdale was recently selected and installed as President of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Developments (ASCD). The ASCD is an international education organization of which Dr. Truesdale has served on the Board of Directors for several years. S. C. Education Oversight Committee recognizes Coosa Elementary School. For the second year, Principal Cindy Keener and the teachers and staff of Coosa Elementary have been selected for recognition for closing the achievement gap on standardized testing between white and minority students on the English and math sections of the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test. To Ms. Keener and all of the teachers and staff of Coosa Elementary, congratulations and thank you for your efforts on behalf of our community.

Welcome To Lady's Island: Palmetto Smiles of Beaufort. Doctor Jennifer Wallace, DMD and Doctor Jennifer Bailey, DDS have opened their state of the art dental office at 12 Kemmerlin Lane in the Palmetto Business Park which is located directly behind the BB&T bank on Lady’s Island Drive. Doctors Wallace and Bailey will specialize in cosmetic and family dentistry. Port Royal Stone Works which recently relocated from Port Royal to 212 Sea Island Parkway, directly across from the entrance to Lady’s Island Middle School.

Why LIBPA Recommends A YES Vote On The School Referendum: Since 1994 the voters of Beaufort County have been asked 5 times to approve a school bond referendum to provide funding for construction of new schools. The April 26 School Bond Referendum once again ask the voter’s for more money to build more schools. So why is the April 26 referendum any different than the preceding 5 referendums? As pointed out by Jim Bequette, Lady’s Island school board representative in his article in this month’s newsletter the research that went into determining the projects to be included in this referendum was exceptionally extensive, detailed and professional in nature. Another difference is the present members of the school board, under the leadership of Chairman Fred Washington, are working together with each other and with the new school superintendent, Dr. Valerie Truesdale. As superintendent she comes to Beaufort with a proven record of success, is a tough, competent administrator, a superb communicator and is recognized nationally as an exceptional leader and educator. In the few months she has been superintendent she has made tough decisions, began to build an effective staff and established a solid line of communication with teachers, principals, parents, the school board and the community. There is much more that needs to be done in regard to our public schools but it won’t happen without the support of the community and a great deal of money. We hired Dr. Truesdale, told her what we as a County wanted (a school system which educates our children to be capable of meeting state and national standards) and in essence asked her what she needed to accomplish it. Approval of this referendum is one of the first things she has asked of the community. LIBPA recommends we combine the referendum into approval for the requested bond money and a vote of confidence for our school superintendent. Editor’s Note: Since this is an election year perhaps we should ask our elected state representatives to pass legislation authorizing the collection of school impact fees. This would allow the county to charge developers reasonable fees to offset the cost of building new schools. At the present time the only source of revenue for construction of new schools is from you, the home owner, through your property taxes.

A Look At Past School Bond Referendums: Beaufort County voters have a history of supporting our public schools as we struggle to keep up with overwhelming growth. The upcoming School Bond Referendum will be the 6th referendum held in Beaufort County since 1988. The referendums were 1988 ($45 million), 1994 ($80 million), 1995 ($122 million) and 2000 ($120 million). The voters of Beaufort County approved each of these with the exception of the 1994 referendum which failed by 451 votes. Following is a review of the voter “turn out” by area of the 1994 through 2006 school bond referendums.                         The above statistics show (1) referendum elections have low voter turnout (the 2006 election drew only 13% of the registered voters), (2) northern Beaufort County will account for somewhere between 20% to 40% of the total county vote and (3) Lady’s Island and St. Helena (especially Dataw) voters do turn out on election day.                                                                PLEASE VOTE ON APRIL 26

LIBPA Survey Predicts Close Election On School Referendum: The March LIBPA survey question was “At this time, my first reaction to the April 26 School Bond Referendum is (1) support, (2) oppose (3) undecided”. The results indicated 45% supported the funding of our schools and will vote for the bond referendum; 40% did not support the bond referendum and will vote against it and 15% were undecided and desired additional information before they make a final decision. Typical comments included: “Considering the low cost for home owners how can I not vote for the referendum? The children are our future and deserve our support, no matter the cost. I may not agree with everything the school district does, but I couldn’t sleep at night if I didn’t vote for the referendum. Think about the children and leave the politics aside. Beaufort has grown and our children deserve adequate facilities equipped for this technological age. We can’t let small issues make us forget the big picture – children.” (Ms. Amy Trask) “We are heading into a long and deep recession. Equity values are declining and debt is increasing. Ways must be found immediately to cut taxes, not increase them. Get a grip on reality and withdraw the referendum.” (Mr. Don Mead) “I support this initiative but I’m aware it will effect primarily the situation in the Bluffton area. I only hope that the same support will be returned in kind if the need develops north of the Broad River.” (Mr. Donald Blagburn) In 1994 a Beaufort County school bond referendum was defeated by 451 votes. The 2006 school bond referendum was decided by 13% of the registered voters who actually cast a ballot. Lady’s Island and St. Helena (especially Dataw) together have a history of casting approximately 50% of the north of the Broad River votes. If the LIBPA survey and the history of school bond referendums in Beaufort County are any indication the upcoming referendum election will see a light turnout of voters and the final result will be close.                                    On April 26 please take the time to vote on this very important issue.

Lady's Island Elementary School: by Terry Dingle, Principal, Lady's Island Elementary School It is my pleasure to address the Lady’s Island Business and Professional Association. As the new principal of Lady’s Island Elementary, I am humbled by the awesome responsibility of leadership in a very dynamic and diverse community. I am a native South Carolinian, born in nearby Charleston, SC. I graduated from Goose Creek High School and shortly afterward joined the Army. In 12 years of active duty I performed as a guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and an honor guard at the Pentagon and The White House. I also patrolled the DMZ as an Army Sniper in South Korea. I was with one of the first units to be deployed in Desert Shield/Desert Storm and spent 10 months of combat duty in Iraq. Those are just a few highlights of my military experience. After deciding to leave the military, I received an honorable discharge. I then went back to school and over several years received my BA in Social Work, MS in Elementary Education, and second MS in Educational Leadership. I spent nearly 6 years as the co-director of a group home for boys, teen counselor at DSS, and a 2 year stint as a firefighter. I started teaching in 1999 in Colleton County and have served on PTO, SIC, Grade-Level Chairperson, and District Teacher of the Year Colleton County (2001). I became the Assistant Principal of Broad River Elementary (2004). I have spent many years working with the youth of Beaufort and Colleton Counties professionally and on a volunteer basis. Lady’s Island Elementary is a unique school with an extraordinary faculty. With the arts infused curriculum presented here, many students have the ability to excel in areas such as drama, dance, and choir. These artistic expressions are tied directly to South Carolina State Standards. With the upcoming Bond Referendum set for April 26, 2008, voters interested in LIES should know that additional technology improvements to include an additional computer lab are listed to be installed/built. Other items such as drainage, parking, roof replacement, HVAC, and security upgrades are also on the schedule to take place. Additional information can be found on the district website. Please join the parents, staff, and administration in supporting our students by volunteering, attending assemblies and performances, and monetary donations when possible. Editor’s Note: LIBPA fully recognizes that members of the school district cannot lobby for the passage of the referendum and the information in the above article is only in response to a specific request for the principal to inform us of the projects for his school that were included in the referendum.

Why This Referendum Is Different And Deserves Your Support: by Jim Bequette The big difference in the upcoming school referendum and similar referendums in the past is the depth and thoroughness of the planning that has gone into arriving at the final number of $162.7 million. This sounds like a tremendous expenditure, but actually amounts to $18 to $24 annually for each owner-occupied home with an assessed valuation of $200,000. To determine what facilities were needed in the next five years the previous School Board employed Kelley Carey, who is respected throughout the country as an outstanding school planner. He conducted an in-depth analysis of our present school facilities and developed a five-year District facilities plan. The District received his product in August of last year. The total plan filled 1500 pages in three volumes. The executive summary alone was an inch thick. It included an analysis of the productive usage of each room of our twenty eight schools and a five-year growth projection for each school. The end result of the study was a recommendation for a referendum for $220 million. During the same period the Kelly Carey report was in preparation the new Board was learning of serious roofing, drainage and air conditioning problems which were leading to mold and health problems in some of our schools. Another consultant, Heery International, was hired to study these problems. Every roof was examined using advanced testing technology to determine needed repairs or replacement. Based on this information it was deemed necessary for the upcoming referendum to include $10 million to replace roofs, $3.0 million to replace failing air conditioning systems and $1 million for drainage work — mainly at the Hilton Head school complex. In order to prevent similar problems in the future, the District has developed strict design and construction standards for new building construction. Just as important is the establishment of a realistic maintenance program to be paid from District operating funds in order to prevent repeating some of the roofing, painting and air conditioning problems of the past. A good, properly funded maintenance program may sound elemental but we all know that failure to take care of the facilities we have, will result in very expensive “fix it” bills in the future. Once all this data was compiled and analyzed, our school superintendent, Dr.Valerie Truesdale became aware that the consultants had not reviewed their input with the principals of each school. She provided the principals with the detailed plans for their respective schools along with the following ground rules: 1. They were to retain in the referendum list only those health, safety and technology items deemed “NEEDED” for the education     of our children. 2. Anything else was a “WANT” to have and could not be included. When the principals finished with their review and discussions, approximately $16 million was removed. The items removed would have been nice to have but did not meet the requirements established by Dr. Truesdale. For example, a digital clock system for every school would have cost a total of $1.0 million. The clock systems were removed. Together the Superintendent and Board removed from the new construction list a new elementary school ($24 million) on Lady’s Island and also deleted the construction of a new central office building. The Board did include money in the referendum for purchase of land for another elementary school on Lady’s Island in the future. As for how to cope with the present overcrowding in Lady’s Island elementary schools until another elementary school is built, Dr. Truesdale is meeting with teachers, parents, and the public on how to best use the classroom space that is available in other Lady’s Island schools. When these studies and analysis were completed the total amount for the referendum was reduced from the $220 million to $162.7 million—a reduction of over $57 million. To better manage and control the facilities planning, construction and maintenance the District has hired professional managers in this field. This management will no longer be in the hands of outside contractors and will be accomplished with significant cost savings. The new Director of Facilities & Construction is Chris Poe, an engineer, who previously was responsible for the design, construction and maintenance of facilities at Wake Forest University. He is joined by Joe Cook who has built many public schools in California and Arizona. To facilitate better planning Carol Crutchfield, an experienced school planner, has been hired. One of her duties will be to work with the planners in the Beaufort County government and local municipalities to insure we never again get as far behind in facilities as we are currently in Bluffton. The Bluffton area needs two more elementary schools in the five-year plan. Also the referendum provides for early learning centers on the Bluffton Elementary and M.C. Riley Elementary grounds. This will take care of the immediate needs. Okatie, Bluffton, and M.C. Riley elementary schools all have many temporary units. For example, Bluffton Elementary was built for 500 students and now has 1045 students. More students are housed in the 30 temporary buildings than are housed in the main building. The referendum also provides for land for a new high school and a new middle school for the rapidly growing Bluffton area. As an advocate for our school students, I am available to meet with any group or any person that desires more information on the total five year plan for our schools including the referendum. I have personally been involved in each and every step of the development of the upcoming referendum. Any item that gave a hint of waste or being just a “nice to have” type of item has been deleted from the referendum. It is with complete confidence that I recommend you vote “yes” on April 26 as an action in the best interest of our children.

Changes Being Considered At Beaufort High School: by Dan Durbin, Principal, Beaufort High School There once was a man that was troubled by a recurrent dream. Each night he would dream that he was being given the secrets of the universe; the secrets of life. When he awoke, however, he could never remember what those secrets were. This bothered him so much the he went to a colleague and told him about it. “If I were you,” said the friend, “I would keep a pencil and paper beside my bed, and try to force myself into waking from the dream and writing down those ‘secrets of life’ while they were still fresh in my mind.” The man decided to try it. That night he did his best to concentrate on awakening as soon as he began to dream. To his  amazement, it worked. In his dream he was given the secrets of life and the universe, and after he had read them, he forced himself to awaken. Feverishly, he scribbled on the pad beside his bed. When he had finished, the effort proved so much for him that he dropped the pencil and fell into a deep and exhausted sleep. The next morning he awake and immediately reached for the paper. There, he knew, would be the secret of the universe and the secret of life. With trembling hands, he held up the paper and read what he had written. It said, “THINK IN OTHER TERMS.” As Beaufort High School continues its journey of continuous improvement, it is important that we never allow our thinking to become stagnant. Since education is a viable and ever-changing process, we are committed to welcoming and investigating new ideas – and allowing ourselves to “think in other terms.” One practice that our staff has been rethinking is the offering of both an International Baccalaureate (IB) program and an Advanced Placement (AP) program. The issue is neither the value nor the quality of either program. Both promote higher standards, focused instruction, and standardized assessment. In addition, both are recognized by universities as having a challenging curricula worthy of college credit.                          Implementing duplicate programs has; however, taxed the school’s budget and personnel. For example, it is standard practice to have International Baccalaureate (IB) courses with four to eight students enrolled. Because the IB program’s staff is not funded separately from the general personnel budget, it ensures that other courses will have higher numbers enrolled. Traditionally, such enrollment patterns effect those courses whose students had the most need of individualized instruction. The practice of spreading financial and personnel resources too thin have resulted in subpar results for both programs. After examining the merits of both programs, meeting with the present IB staff, and discussing the data with the School Improvement Council, the following proposal was developed:      Because our students will benefit more positively from a focused, fully supported Advanced Placement Scholars program,      because the International Baccalaureate program is duplicated at two other district high schools (thus, limiting enrollment at all      three high schools), and because it is more cost effective, the staff is proposing that that the International Baccalaureate      Program (IB) be phased out and replaced with an Advanced Placement Scholars program. Students presently enrolled in the IB      Diploma Program will be provided with the appropriate programming to complete the diploma. Future honors students will be      directed to the Advanced Placement Scholars Program.

Wal-Mart Continues To Seek Approval For Lady's Island Store: On February 12, 2008 the City of Beaufort Planner and Zoning Administrator denied a Wal-Mart request to build a super center store on Lady’s Island. Wal-Mart appealed this denial to the City of Beaufort Zoning Board of Appeals which, on March 24, 2008 upheld the denial as being legal and valid. Wal-Mart can and probably will take its case to the next level which is Circuit Court. Once the case is at Circuit Court whether the residents of Lady’s Island or Beaufort want a Wal-Mart or not will have little relevance. Some of the questions which the judge will be asked to decide include:  - Does the Planning Director in her role as Zoning Administrator have the legal right to make a decision on the Wal-Mart request?  - If the Zoning Administrator does have the legal right to make a decision on the Wal-Mart request; can the decision be validated by existing ordinances and were they correctly interpreted in the decision?  - Does the development agreement signed by the City and the property owner at the time of the annexation in 2003 grant the property owner the right to make changes to the planned unit development to the degree involved in this case? If the decision by the judge is in favor of Wal-Mart this does not mean a Wal-Mart can be built on Lady’s Island. Only that the City of Beaufort Development and Review Board must review and make a recommendation on the Wal-Mart request. If the judge upholds the decision by the Zoning Administrator, Wal-Mart can redesign the plans for a store at the Lady’s Island site and resubmit them to the City of Beaufort. It is a long and complicated path to a final decision.

Invisible But Steady Progress On Highway 802 Planning: by Rick Butler, LIBPA Transportation Representative The many pieces of the puzzle which make up a complex road project such as the widening of Highway 802 , including the second high bridge span across the intracoastal waterway are coming together so well that there is now some chance that parts of this major work could begin late this year, rather than in 2009 as previously expected. This assumes that bids received on the projects are within fiscal limitations. While this is only a possibility, not a revised timeline at this point, Beaufort County Public Services Director Saleem Khattak said recently he is increasingly hopeful the work might be a little ahead of plan at this point. Little of this progress is visible yet, but so far there are no significant snags in the required design and approvals process, he said. The small barge you may have noticed working in the marshes south of the present bridge has completed its marsh borings for compaction testing for the bridge footings. Environmental documents are being finalized for submission to the federal government. Plans are being finalized for submission to SCDOT approval. Title searches and appraisals for land acquisition on part of the project, which also includes a multimile widening of Highway 802 westward from the Shell Point area of Port Royal, are still to be done, as is a final public hearing before the project can be ready for bid solicitation later this year. Mr. Khattak indicated that with so many items to complete before bids can be solicited, it is still too early to predict when that major milestone can happen, but he is optimistic that events, so far, are moving well. Mr. Khattak noted that one area of concern, which has yet to be worked out, involved addressing concerns of residents near the new bridge’s Port Royal approaches about the new roadway’s noise being closer to their homes, and that noise mitigation discussions are ongoing.

Where Is The Growth Occurring In Northern Beaufort County?: Over the last decade Lady’s Island was the fastest growing area of Beaufort County north of the Broad River. We, in LIBPA, have kept track of residential building permits in an effort to determine the intensity of growth on the island. An alternate method is to review the county assessor’s records which provide, by area, the number of residential structures and the year each was built. For the first time in over a decade Lady’s Island was replaced as the fastest growing area by the Town of Port Royal. It would be easy to say 2007 was a bad year for the housing construction industry and the data for that year does not represent any type of long term trend. That may turn out to be true but the Town of Port Royal has annexed a good bit of property which is priced lower than available land on Lady’s Island, the residential units being permitted are generally priced lower than those on Lady’s Island and Port Royal is allowing a much higher density than authorized on Lady’s Island. Will the Town of Port Royal replace Lady’s Island as the fastest growing area north of the Broad River? Only time will tell. Following is the residential construction data for the last 9 years for Lady’s Island, Town of Port Royal and the City of Beaufort based on the records of the Beaufort County Assessor.                            Editor’s Note: A special thank you to Ms. Teri Norris, Planning Research Analysis for Beaufort County Planning Department who took the time to provide the data contained in this article. It should be noted experience has indicated the most recent year of housing data may, for a variety of reasons, see some adjustment the following year.

The Good And The Bad News In The 2008 Real Estate Market: by Everett Ballenger, President, Beaufort County Association of Realtors and BIC/Operating Principle Keller Williams Realty Ballenger Associates The number of new homes placed on the local real estate market in the first 2.5 months of this year is substantially down when compared to the same period in 2007. This follows a trend that seems to have started in November 2007, when the national inventory of new homes remained almost static for the first time in over a year. There are couple of facets to this…the public has been pummeled over the last 20 months or so with negative media reports about the housing crisis. What did slip under the radar was that, on a national level, 2007 was the 5th best year in history for the housing real estate market. The local rental market is going thorough a period of transition. Many property owners, who do not have to sell at this time, are listing their home for rent. As it can be difficult for some folks to get a mortgage today, they have no choice but to rent. Overall the rental side of real estate is very strong, as opposed to real estate sales which, as can be seen from the following statistics for the area north of the Broad River, are continuing to struggle in a tough market climate.                          A sign the local market may be leveling off is the fact that the March 17, 2008 residential inventory shows only a 0.3% increase (745-2007, 768 – 2008) when compared to the same time last year. At this point in the year, compared to the same time last year, residential sales are down 37.5%, the average selling price is down 26.5%, and the median selling price is down 20%. It is interesting that the average selling price is around 4% off asking price, and the median selling price is at - 2%. This translates into the simple fact that homes that are selling - are priced right for today’s market. We are not seeing huge discounts on homes that are selling. It looks like an increasing number of home sellers are getting the message, if they want to sell their home – they have to get realistic about the asking price. This price is usually best determined by taking the advice of their Realtor on pricing. The days are over of just pulling a number out of thin air and hoping someone (from up north) will come in and buy it! The good news is that the market does seem to have picked up over the last couple weeks or so. At least, the number of potential buyers has increased and we are seeing a lot more activity in our office. My fellow realtors are reporting the same thing. It looks like the spring season has started a little earlier than normal. We are keeping our fingers crossed it continues into the summer.

Foreclosure And Bankruptcy Report: The number of houses north of the broad River that are involved in foreclosure procedures continues to remain relatively stable increasing by only 4 in the last month to a total of 19. The majority of the 89 cases of foreclosure presently in progress in Beaufort County are in southern Beaufort County. Although foreclosure continues to be the term heard most often on national news; in Beaufort County and especially north of the Broad River it is housing related bankruptcies that have occurred with the greatest frequency. As can be seen by the following statistics, provided by www.foreclosures.com, the number of housing related bankruptcies turned the corner in September 2007 and since then has steadily decreased. This is the first month in which the number of Beaufort County bankruptcies fell below the number of foreclosures.

Electrical Service On Lady's Island: by Tommy Bennett, Local Manager, Southern District, SCE&G In the past, a perception existed that the residents of Lady’s Island suffered an extremely high number of power outages. There  was some truth to this – as the population of the Island and the demand for electrical power was growing at a very fast rate. At the same time, SCE&G was developing additional electrical capability as quickly as possible. Today, we are finishing a project that will increase the capacity of the transmission lines from 46,000 volts to 115,000 volts. The electrical power on Lady’s Island is distributed from two major substations. The first is the Lady’s Island substation, located near the intersection of Sam’s Point and Brickyard Point roads. This substation provides power to 4,671 customers. From the substation there are three circuits – one goes all the way to Robin Drive near Food Lion and serves the communities of New Point, Bluff Farms and Little Capers Road; the second circuit goes down Sam’s Point Road to Coosaw Island and includes Royal Pines, Springfield Road and Coosaw Point subdivision; and the third circuit follows Brickyard Point Road all the way to Brickyard Landing. The second substation on Lady’s Island is the Meadowbrook substation located off Dow Drive. This substation has two circuits and provides electricity to 1,490 customers. The first circuit travels along Sea Island Parkway down to Meridian Road and down Lady’s Island Drive to Cat Island. The second circuit goes by the airport out to Distant Island all the way to Polowana Road. Based on the computer records maintained at these substations, the following is a comparison of the electrical outages experienced by Lady’s Island residents in 2007 versus 2006.                                  Customer minutes are the total number of minutes that a customer who receives electrical power from that substation was without power. For example, if two houses were without power for one hour, the customer minutes would be 120 minutes. SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) represents the average number of minutes, or duration, of an outage for all customers of a system (whether they had an interruption or not). SAIDI is a measurement that is used industry wide to measure reliability. As you can see, those served by the Lady’s Island substation saw a significant reduction in the total number of customer minutes without power and the average length of power outages per customer in 2007 versus 2006. Part of this is due to the fact that we started trimming the Brickyard Road circuit in mid 2006 and finished it up at the end of December 2006. We started trimming the Coosaw Island circuit in November 2006 and completed it mid-year 2007. As part of our project to increase the electrical capacity of Lady’s Island we have completed the upgrade to the distribution lines on Brickyard Point Road and are currently upgrading the distribution lines along Sea Island Parkway from Walgreens to Meridian Road. Also, we are installing additional equipment to the system which is designed to automatically isolate an outage on the main line to a smaller section, thereby affecting fewer customers. Obviously, it is impossible to prevent every power outage. However, please know that we are making every effort possible to keep them to an absolute minimum. We are also working very hard to developing a system that will be capable of meeting the future electrical needs of all of the residents of Lady’s Island and the Beaufort area. Editor’s Note: A special thanks to Mr. Tommy Bennett for taking the time to respond to our questions and his personal efforts to insure that Lady’s Island residents are aware of the projects to improve our electrical infrastructure.

Private Schools:  The Department of Defense (DOD) schools at Laurel Bay and private schools in northern Beaufort County account for over 2000 students attending other than public schools. For general planning purposes there are 1000 students attending the Laurel Bay DOD Schools and 1000 students attending the 6 private schools located in northern Beaufort County. Lady’s Island is home to 3 private schools; Beaufort Academy (K-12), St. Peter’s Catholic School (K-8) and E. C. Montessori (K-3) which together have an enrollment of approximately 550 students. So almost 1 out of every 2 students attending private schools (other than DOD), in northern Beaufort County, do so on Lady’s Island. We, on Lady’s Island, are privileged to have St. Peter’s Catholic School, Beaufort Academy and E. C. Montessori as part of our community. We appreciate the significant contribution they make to our community and our county.

Lady's Island Fact (Registered Voters):  As we go into an election year in District 7 there are 6511 registered voters on Lady’s Island, 1485 registered voters on St. Helena and Dataw Islands and 84 registered voters in the portion of the City of Beaufort located in District 7. The total voting power for the District comes to 8080 voters which is an increase of 515 voters from the last presidential election.

Does This Sound Familiar?:  We, on Lady’s Island, in an effort to ascertain the best direction for our island watched closely as James Island unsuccessfully attempted to incorporate in 1992 and again in 2002 and finally made it in 2006. Located on a portion of James Island that had been annexed into the City of Charleston is one of the old style smaller Wal-Mart stores. Wal-Mart is asking the City of Charleston for permission to tear down the old store, turn it into a parking lot and build a super center type of store next to the present location. To accomplish this would require cutting down 30 trees and filling in 3 acres of wet lands. A group of James Island citizens has formed to oppose the requested super center and call themselves “Islanders for Responsible Expansion”. They have a web site (www.isrex.org), have started a petition and are encouraging attendance at key meetings. The key difference in the Lady’s Island and James Island situations in regard to the expansion of Wal–Mart is that the town of Charleston is not opposing the new store where as the City of Beaufort is working with Lady’s Island to insure the best interest of our community is taken into consideration..

A Lot Of Dirt:  Recently Reed Armstrong, a LIBPA member with the Coastal Conservation League compiled the following estimate of the amount of fill dirt that would be required to prepare the proposed Airport junction site on Lady’s Island for construction of a Wal-Mart super center. “Site Preparation. The Wal-Mart project will require about 6 feet of fill for the building site and 3 feet of fill for the parking areas. This will involve a total of about 2.7 million cubic feet of fill dirt brought to the site, which amounts to some 10,000 dump truck loads.” If that fails to get your attention, consider the potential impact on local traffic of the trucks making 10,000 trips to and from their source of the dirt.