February LIBPA Newsletter
LIBPA February Survey - How Do You Feel About A Lady's island Wal-Mart:
The Wal-Mart Corporation recently requested approval of the City of Beaufort to build and operate a super center type of Wal-Mart store at the intersection of Sea Island Parkway and Airport Circle. Prior to final approval or disapproval many studies must be conducted, the results evaluated and opportunities presented for public comment. Included in this month’s newsletter is an article that presents some of the different factors involved in the location of a Wal–Mart in a community such as Lady’s Island. Recognizing there are positive and negative aspects to having a Wal-Mart on Lady’s Island what is your personal opinion regarding the question – Should a Wal - Mart super center store be approved for Lady’s Island?

Please take the time to visit the LIBPA web site (www.libpa.org) and share your thoughts on the subject. As with all LIBPA surveys the results of the survey will be provided in the following month’s newsletter.
A Closer Look At Wal-Mart On Lady's island: by Jim Hicks, Lady's Island Representative, Beaufort Planning Commission
The Wal-Mart Corporation had submitted a request to the City of Beaufort to build a Wal-Mart Super Center on the 25 acres at the intersection of Sea Island Parkway and Airport Circle (the road leading to the Lady’s Island Airport). The proposed store would be 194,784 square feet in size, have 588 parking spaces and at least one commercial out parcel. Wal-Mart has requested a traffic signal at the Sea Island Parkway main entrance, a second access to Sea Island Parkway and two driveways onto Airport Circle. The first look at the basic concept being requested for the store was conducted by the City of Beaufort Design Review Board on January 29, 2008. The thought of a Wal-Mart coming to Lady’s Island has aroused strong feelings and opinions as to the good and bad points of “big box” types of businesses coming to small communities such as Lady’s Island. If we could push emotion to one side and take a clear, realistic look at the impact of a Wal-Mart in other communities perhaps a better picture will emerge of the available options. Following is a review of statistical data regarding Wal-Mart but the same general opinions could probably be derived from looking at the data of any large corporate discount chain.
 
Wal-Mart Stores In South Carolina
Type of Wal-Mart Store Number Average Size
Super Centers 58 185,000 sq. ft.
Discount Stores 10 101,000 sq. ft.
Neighborhood Markets 0 41,000 sq. ft.
Sam's Clubs 9 130,000 sq. ft.

Salary: The average wage for a regular, full time hourly Wal-Mart associate in South Carolina is $10.77.

Suppliers: In 2007 Wal-Mart stores spent $659.6 million for merchandise and services with 922 suppliers in the state of South Carolina thus supporting 34,887 jobs.

Taxes and Fees. In FY 2007 Wal-Mart collected, for the State of South Carolina, $249 million in state sales taxes and paid $25.9 million in state and local taxes.

Traffic. The Institute of Transportation Engineers’ Trip Generation Manuel, 7th edition estimates that a 200,000 square foot discount store, such as a super center, will attract an average of 76,232 car trips each week or an average of 10,890 trips per day. However, with a Lady’s Island Wal –Mart the estimated 11,000 homes on Lady’s, St. Helena, Fripp, Harbor and Dataw Islands will not make the projected bi-weekly (21 to 29 trips per household per year) trips off the island to the Wal-Mart at Cross Creek Shopping Center. So using these figures, approximately 5,500 trips per week or 786 trips per day across our bridges would be avoided but still leaving a potential increase of over 10,000 trips per day crossing the bridges to use the Lady’s Island store. It should be noted that each of the bridges (Wood’s Memorial and McTeer) are currently over capacity and the Woods Bridge is projected to remain over capacity through the year 2025 and that is without any additional commercial attraction being located on Lady’s Island. Under no circumstances is this supposed to represent 100% accurate data, only a rough snapshot to present a general idea of the type of question which must be considered.

Impact on local businesses. The data set forth in most available studies has to be taken with a grain of salt since it is based on a “before and after” the arrival of Wal-Mart to a community. In the case of Lady’s Island, a Wal-Mart already exist in the City of Beaufort and is well within the 41 mile range that forms the customer base for a super center type of Wal-Mart. Most of the existing local businesses already compete with Wal-Mart but in this time of high gas prices, island businesses do offer the benefit of convenience and reduced travel time which would disappear with the introduction of a Lady’s Island Wal-Mart. Some businesses on the island, such as restaurants, are predicted to benefit from the presence of a Wal-Mart. On the other hand, most studies indicate that a super center with a grocery department would pose a serious challenge to the island’s two grocery stores.

So after reviewing a large number of studies and acknowledging that a review of this project by the City of Beaufort has many, many steps to go before a final decision is made; what can and should be done now? A review of the basic facts include the following:
- There are only a very small number of recorded successes of a community keeping a Wal-Mart or similar “big box” store out based strictly on emotional or protectionist reasons.
- There would be benefits to the location of such a store on the island.
- The property in question (near the airport) was zoned in 1997 for light industrial by the county, then annexed into the City of Beaufort as regional commercial and under such zoning a large type of discount store can be approved.
- The final decision, if the property in question is involved, will be made by the City of Beaufort. They are trying to work with the
county and LIBPA on this request.
- We (Beaufort County) taxpayers are in the process of spending $42 million in an effort to allow our community a chance, just a chance, for adequate roadways in the future.

At first glance, it would appear that the arrival of a “big box”, similar to Wal-Mart, could quickly overwhelm the 2 bridges leading off of the island. Just as a starting point, it is recommended that Wal-Mart or any other “big box” type of business desiring to establish a presence on Lady’s Island be required to fund not only the standard environmental, storm water and community impact studies but also a long range (at least until 2025) transportation impact study utilizing the Northern Regional Plan transportation study as a base line. To require a study that only tells you the impact on today’s traffic is not only short sighted but naïve. We can do better. To do less would guarantee the final decision is based more on potential revenue than impact on our infrastructure and future cost to taxpayers.

Editor’s Note: The basic data regarding Wal-Mart was obtained from www.walmartfacts.com and the remaining data from a variety of studies.
January Survey Results - What Are The Important Issues For Lady's Island?:
The January survey conducted on the LIBPA web site (www.libpa.org) asked the question “What issues are important to the voters of Lady’s Island and LIBPA?” First, very few took the time to provide their personal opinion as to which issues were most important. Perhaps most of the hundreds that visited the web site but declined to participate in the survey had a simple case of too much political rhetoric. For those that did take the survey here are the final results to the question
“Which of the following community related issues are most important to you? The issues are listed in the order of importance indicated by the survey participants.

Local Level
Improve our public school system. (29%)
Develop a coordinated municipal/county growth plan. (22%)
Fund the development of both Crystal and Springfield Road Park (19%)
Promote development of additional bike/walking pathways. (14%)
Take steps to reduce overcrowding of schools. (8%)
Take the steps necessary to prevent our roads from failing. (8%)

State Level
Fix the system of school funding. (32%)
Modernize the annexation laws. (29%)
Authorize collection of impact fees for use in construction of schools. (21%)
Increased funding for infrastructure (roads). (14%)
Authorize collection of real estate transfer fee for use in purchase of critical land. (4%)

National Level
Develop a realistic immigration program. (53%)
Fix the “No Child Left Behind” act. (35%)
Help us fund our infrastructure. (12%)

In summary, the survey said at local and state level the number one concern of the Lady’ Island community is our children and the quality of the education available in the public school system. At the national level a realistic immigration policy is number one followed
closely by the need to fix the “No Child Left Behind” act.
Special Notice:
It is with regret we note the closing of Mail and Parcel Post. As a result the new LIBPA address is:
LIBPA
182-D Sea Island Pkwy
Lady’s Island, SC 29907

We extend our best wishes to Mrs. Canales in her future endeavors.
Time To Pay Annual Membership Dues:
The first notice requesting annual membership dues will be mailed this month along with a form to allow members to change addresses (actual or e-mail) and a self addressed envelope. Many of our members have sent in their dues without waiting for the invoices – thank you. Upon receipt of the invoice please take time to send in your payment. The deadline for payment of 2008 dues is March 31. If you joined LIBPA during the special membership drive in the latter part of 2007 you will not receive a notice since your initial membership fee included your dues for 2008. If you have any questions about the status of your 2008 membership dues please call Judy Smith at 522-0066.
Island Notes:
Congratulations to the Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District automobile extraction team who, based on a recent competition, were deemed to be the 4th best in the nation.

The Berry Island Restaurant has a new look. Owner and manager Charlie Nolette recently closed the doors to his Berry Island Restaurant, did a complete renovation which included completely closing the upstairs and expanding into the adjacent store space. Plan on stopping by for lunch and you will be pleasantly surprised, it looks and feels really great. Charlie has also doubled the types of available ice cream.

The new SCB&T Bank is really impressive both from the outside and the inside. Ms. Tracy Davidson, the new Branch Manager extends an open invitation to members of the community to stop by, have a cup of coffee and take a look at the “new” home of the Lady’s Island branch of SCB&T.

Improvements scheduled for Sea Island Conference Center. Marie Lewis, owner and manager of the Sea Island Conference Center reports that she has closed on the adjoining property and has requested proposals to turn the area into additional parking space. Also, she indicated an upgrade of the interior of the meeting room should be completed prior to the next LIBPA meeting.

Celadon welcomes new businesses. The new commercial building located at the entrance to Celadon will serve as the headquarters for Adam’s Outdoor Advertising (2nd floor) and a Donut Connection is scheduled to open on the ground floor in February. Eric Litchfield, owner of the local Donut Connection franchise, advises us he will have three Beaufort stores. The bakery will be located in the store in the K-Mart shopping center from which he will supply the Celadon and Port Royal stores. Each site will offer donuts, bagels, croissants, breakfast sandwiches and great coffee.

New Home for Beaufort Realtor’s Association. The Beaufort Realtor’s Association has relocated from the former Beaufort site to one of the new offices in the office complex located directly behind the BB&T on Lady’s Island Drive. It is a very impressive facility and the training room, which is capable of supporting classes of over 40 students, is state of the art.
Solutions To Lady's Island School Overcrowding:
The morning after the School Board voted to approve placing a $162 million school bond referendum before the Beaufort County voters on April, 26 Dr. Valarie Truesdale, School District Superintendent, extended an invitation to a representative of LIBPA to discuss the Lady’s Island schools, the need for a new elementary school and possible ways to solve the overcrowding at Coosa Elementary School.

The bond referendum, as presently designed, will include money for purchase of land for a new elementary school but will not include money to build the school. So if the referendum receives the approval of the voters we, on Lady’s Island, are still faced with a need for at least 10 mobile classrooms at Coosa Elementary for the next 5 years (at a minimum) or we can come up with a better way to utilize the classroom space that is available on the island.

Dr. Truesdale tasked her staff to look at the total Lady’s Island situation, analyze it and return to her with possible solutions to the overcrowding. The recommendations coming from this analysis are impressive in their scope and innovative approach. Dr. Truesdale requested that (a) she be allowed to personally present the proposed solution(s) to the community (b) the parents of the students attending or scheduled to attend Coosa Elementary School be assured that no attendance zoning changes will occur for school year 2008/9 and (c) Lady’s Island voters not make up their mind regarding the bond referendum until they hear the proposed solution(s) to balance the student population.

There is no question that Dr Truesdale has a tough job but the courtesy, openness, straight talk and professional competence
with which she approaches the task merits our full support and cooperation.
Immediate Medical Urgent Care Now Available On Lady's Island:
Dr. S. C. Assorgi, D.O. has recently opened his office at 30 Professional Village Circle in the Professional Office complex directly behind the Sonic Drive-In in the Lady’s Island Village Center. The concept behind the medical practice is to allow the patient to see a doctor on the day he or she feels they or a member of their family need to be seen and without an extended wait upon arrival. To accomplish this Dr. Assorgi does not require appointments and does accept “walk in” patients. If a patient desires an appointment one can be made by calling 522-1203. Most insurance, to include Medicare and Tricare, is accepted. Regretfully, Medicaide
cannot be accepted.

Dr. Assorgi came to the Beaufort area 16 years ago from Pennsylvania where he had practiced family medicine for 27 years. During his time in the Beaufort area he has practiced urgent care/family medicine at the U. S. Naval Hospital and at St. Joseph Chandler Hospital and Memorial Hospital in Savannah. We welcome Dr. Assorgi to Lady’s Island and sincerely appreciate the medical service he is offering to our community - the ability to see a doctor on short notice without an appointment.
Celadon Activity Center To Open:
A key part of the Celadon community on Sams Point Road is scheduled to become a reality on February 23rd when the doors of the Celadon Activity Center will open. Designed to be an integral part of life in the Celadon community and far more than just a place to exercise, the 5,750 square foot center will include a fully equipped state of the art fitness center, yoga/pilates/aerobics/community room, youth room, pool baths, men and ladies locker rooms with shower and steam rooms, spa with wet and dry treatment rooms and a tower library/reading room. An upstairs deck, for relaxing after a massage, overlooks the 75 foot swimming pool and spa, which is a short walk from the adjoining tennis court, Bocce ball court and outdoor terraced performance area. There will also be an 800 square foot member’s lounge and fireplace in the pavilion for relaxation and cards and an outdoor plaza with its own fireplace for family gathering and picnics.

Mr. Dennis O. Green, who is developing the Celadon community, has decided to allow non-Celadon residential membership in the activity center and is presently in the process of conducting surveys of potential members to determine the types of activities desired to be made available to members. For additional details regarding becoming a Celadon Activity Center member or to schedule a personal tour of the facilities please call Maurice Moreno at 525-9995.
Fewer Homes Built On Lady's Island In 2007: 
Based on the number of building permits issued for construction of single family residents on Lady’s Island, 2007 saw the most drastic reduction in new homes and the smallest amount of population growth in a decade. Following is a 10 year comparison
of the number of homes built on the island and their average price.
                       
The numbers speak for themselves. Even with the downturn in construction of new homes in 2007 Lady’s Island has averaged 172 new homes built each year for the last decade. The drop in construction of new homes since 2006 means a loss of 462 jobs of which 370 were local jobs. The good news is that with fewer new homes comes fewer children which means the amount of overcrowding in our elementary schools will not get better but will probably not get worst in school year 2008/9 and our roads will not experience such a high increase of vehicle trips per day as we have experienced in the past. While we have this pause from the intense pressure of growth which we have experienced over the last decade, perhaps together we can develop improved methods to guide future growth without overwhelming our environment and infrastructure.
Lady's Island - St. Helena Fire District 2007 Report: by Chief Bruce Kline
During the months of 2007 your fire district responded to 1,927 calls for service, an increase of 16 calls from 2006. This equates to a little over 5 calls per day with an overall average response time of 5 minutes and 17 seconds. Breakdown of calls; 147 were fire related, 1060 medical responses, 196 motor vehicle accidents, 187 fire alarms, 337 miscellaneous which includes lift and assist, smoke detector installations, smoke in the area, and illegal burning. Property values involved in fire related calls was $2,429,200 with a loss of $713,425 and a saved value of $1,715,775.

Additions to our fleet this past year include; 2 new pumpers, which replaced pumpers that were 17 years old, and a tanker that carries 2000 gallons of water, the tanker is for areas in our district without hydrants or areas where distances between hydrants is extended.

The Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District competition teams had an exceptional year, the Firefighter Combat Challenge Team (physical fitness competitors) placed third in the State competition. The Vehicle Extrication Team (motor vehicle accident scenarios) placed fourth in the Nation in July at a contest with 26 teams contending from all over the Country.

This past year we renovated the Lands End and Polawana Fire Stations, both stations were in desperate need of improvement. Both stations were over 15 years old, had never received upgrading and were originally designed for one or two firefighters. The renovations have allowed for better living conditions and space for additional personnel who have been added over the years.

We continue to strive to improve our training, public fire safety education, inspections and level of service which we provide to the community. The Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District has 65 paid firefighters and 15 volunteers ready to assist you in any way we can, please give us a call (525-7692) if we can help you.
Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Report:
The number of houses north of the Broad River that are involved in foreclosure procedures has remained relatively low with a total number of 6 in April 2007 having risen to 15 homes at the present time. So although it is the term foreclosure that one hears about the most, it is the bankruptcy procedure that is hitting the housing market the hardest in Beaufort County and especially the area north of the Broad River. According to the following statistics, provided by www.foreclosures.com, the Beaufort County housing market reached a high in housing related bankruptcies in September 2007 and since that time the situation has improved each month. It is recognized that with variable mortgages the picture could change at any time.
                                                    
Lady's Island - A Safe Place To Live:
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher directed a Deputy to respond to an area of concern on Lady’s Island 8,103 times during 2007 or an average of 22 “calls for service” each day. Upon responding to the call the Deputy is required to, if appropriate, submit an incident report. In 2007 there were 2,247 reports submitted regarding incidents on Lady’s Island or approximately 1 out of each 4 calls for response by a Deputy merited an official incident report. The good news is that this is the lowest number of incident reports in the last 7 years. Following is a 5 year review of the more serious types of incidents which have been reported on Lady’s Island.
                         
The annual total number of reported incidents on Lady’s Island continues to decline and 2007 saw the lowest level in 7 years. The need to respond to non violent domestic disturbances also declined from 143 to 132. Even with the cost of gasoline reaching all time highs the number of incidents of individuals driving off without paying for their gas decreased from 17 in 2006 to only 7 last year. This probably is due to the requirement for prepayment prior to pumping gas or payment by credit card. The number of vehicle accidents reached an all time high; but please remember, 2007 was the year of the McTeer Bridge being out of commission and the resulting traffic problems added to the number of vehicle accidents.

We are a community of over 12,000 residents living in 5,300 homes on a 13,000 acre island and making over 10,000 trips per day on our roads. Over the past few years a Sheriff’s Deputy responded to an average of 6 incidents per day of sufficient seriousness to merit an incident report. The numbers speak for themselves. We, on Lady’s Island, live in a very safe community for which a great deal of credit is directly attributable to the efforts of Sheriff Tanner and the officers of the Sheriff’s office.

Editor’s Note: A special thanks to Lt. Jimmy Walton of the Sheriff’s office for his courtesy and gracious cooperation in providing the information contained in this article.
LIBPA Website Referral: 
As a LIBPA member one of the benefits is that your business web site is linked to your member listing on the LIBPA web site (if you provide the site address to the web master). At the end of each year the count of total number of hits for each member is erased and started over again. For January the member web sites which received the most referrals were:
                                     Ashford Advisors                       Bay Street Mortgage                        Dataw Club
                                     New York Life                           Quality Electrical System                 Grayco

Just a reminder – if your membership listing is not highlighted it is will not refer a visitor to your web site. If that is the case, please send your web site address to the web master. There is no charge for this service.                                           
How Good Or Bad Was The 2007 Real Estate Market In Northern Beaufort County? by  Everett Ballenger, President, Beaufort County Association of Realtors and BIC/Operating Principle Keller Williams Realty/Ballenger Associates
Well, 2007 flew by at what seemed to be the speed of light. We were lucky again this year to have escaped all the major storms that were around – long may our luck hold out! We got our Waterfront Park back, but lost the McTeer Bridge for a number of weeks.

How good (or bad) was our real estate market in 2007? There are a lot of statistics to look at and go over. There are some downside figures, but it is not all doom and gloom, there are some bright spots. Total (property and residential) sales were down 32% from the previous year for all kinds of real estate transactions in Northern Beaufort County. Lady’s Island total sales were off 38%, with the residential market off 34%.

There are some interesting bright spots though. Average selling prices held up very well, and in some cases increased. A comparison of the fourth quarter of 2007 versus 2006 figures for Lady’s Island shows the slow down – “slowed down” to - 19% for residential property, which compared to the - 34% for all of 2007 is a marked improvement. And in that same quarter the average selling price for a residential unit actually increased10%! I know when there are fewer transactions, one or two larger sales can affect the figures but when you look at the average over all, selling prices seem to be holding up very well. This will surprise a lot of folks who listen to the doom and gloom in the media but as they say “all real estate is local”. The media states national figures in most of its commentary and the public assumes that they are in that same market. Here is an interesting fact released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) – three quarters of metropolitan areas saw price increases through 2007. In the same NAR release, November inventories actually dropped, and prices were very stable.

The feeling among most real estate associations is that we have seen the worst and things will improve over the next year. Without a doubt there is pent up demand building. A lot of folks are trying to time the bottom of the market, hoping for further price reductions. We will not know when the bottom has been reached. I personally think that in the northern part of Beaufort County we have already seen the worst of this correcting market, and I am looking forward to an exciting spring selling season. Following is the statistical story of the 2007 real estate year as compared to the previous year (2006) for Lady’s Island and northern Beaufort County.
                           
Lady's Island Middle School - Where We Were, Where We Are, Where We Could Be: by Terry Bennett, Principal, Lady's Island Middle School
 Lady’s Island Middle School faces a very interesting and challenging future. Current issues include (1) a challenging blend of students, (2) an aging building, (3) a need to reform our curriculum to better prepare our students for High School and the future, and (4) overcrowding on Lady’s Island.

Lady’s Island Middle School (LIMS) has a short but rich history. LIMS was opened in 1984 as Lady’s Island Junior High School by combining St. Helena Junior High and Beaufort Junior High. During those early years the school served grades 7-9. In the early 1990’s, the school transformed into a Middle School serving grades 6-8. In about the year 2001, Beaufort Middle School was opened with students from Lady’s Island Middle School. The growth and expected future growth on Lady’s Island spurred this move. The school is very fortunate to have had only 5 lead administrators during this checkered history. Currently, LIMS is fed by three very different elementary schools: Coosa Elementary, Lady’s Island Elementary, and St. Helena Elementary. Currently Lady’s Island Middle School houses about 670 students. The current demographics are 62% African American, 33% White, 4% Hispanic, and 1% other.

The short 24 years of Lady’s Island Middle School have taken their toll on the building. What was a state of the art building design in 1984 is now outdated and very difficult to manage and secure. Unfortunately, the building and many of its issues have been neglected by tight budgets and growth concerns in other parts of the county. The general wear and tear on the building, housing at times up to 1000 students has taken its toll as well. The building’s current secluded location makes for a security nightmare. The two-story building needs to have many technology, safety, ADA, and general upgrades. The school does not have a track, football field, or baseball field like many of our counter parts in the county.

One tribulation for Lady’s Island Middle School is the amalgamating of students from three very distinctive elementary schools. I
have often described the circumstances like this: Coosa is salt water and St. Helena is fresh water. When these two waters mix, the water becomes brackish. It is very challenging and complicated to survive in brackish water. Middle school is tough no matter what the situation. However, when you combine students with very different backgrounds, distinguishing experiences, unique histories, diverse attitudes – the middle school experience is more challenging to say the least.

The three R’s of middle school have changed. In the past they were Reading, ‘Righting, & “Rithmetic. The new three R’s are Rigor,
Relevance, and Relationships. Middle school is supposed to be a short three-year experience for students. Our goal is to provide them with a curriculum that is rigorous and relevant. However, when students come with different experiences, this task is complicated! Three years is a short time to build strong and lasting relationships, but for many of our students they have no significant relationships in their lives. Many of our students spend more than 1/3 of their day with us and eat 65% of their meals with us. We want our middle school students to form relationships that are meaningful and which will strengthen the educational and real world connection.

In a move to better prepare our students for Beaufort High School, we are aligning our curriculum with the high school. As the high
school moves away from the International Baccalaureate (IB) program and concentrates on an early college advance placement (AP) program, we at Lady’s Island Middle School will do the same. Our goal is to make the transition between the middle school and high school as painless and seamless as possible. Articulation between the two schools is being increased in all subject areas and on an administrative level to increase our students’ success.

Lady’s Island Middle School has an interesting role to play in the future of Lady’s Island. Could the reconfiguration of LIMS relieve
the overcrowding at Coosa and Lady’s Island Elementary? If the middle school students remain on St. Helena Island, Lady’s Island
Middle could easily expand to accept 4th and 5th graders from the two existing elementary schools on Lady’s Island. Not building a third elementary school could save over $20 million. Of course renovations would need to take place at the St. Helena campus to
handle middle schoolers and a small amount of work would need to take place to 30 Cougar Drive to prepare for elementary students. But all of this is very doable and helps fill seats on St. Helena, as well as relieve overcrowding issues on Lady’s Island. Expanding Lady’s Island Middle School to a school serving grades 4-8 just for Lady’s Island gives more relationship building time and relieves the very perplexing mix of students.

The future of Lady’s Island Middle School will be interesting. We encourage the public to take part by visiting and/or volunteering. We have numerous opportunities. Just give us a call at 322-3167 and become part of the excitement, the rigor, the relevance, and, of course, the relationships at Lady’s Island Middle School – where the cougar is back on the prowl!