Wade Hampton Property Owners’ Association
2022 Annual Meeting Minutes
Sunday, October 9, 2022
12:30 PM, EDT
Wade Hampton Golf Club Clubhouse
Board President, Al Ritter, called the Annual Meeting of the Wade Hampton Property Owners’ Association (POA) to order at 12:30 pm on Sunday, October 9, 2022. The meeting was held in the Wade Hampton Golf Club Clubhouse and was available via YouTube. POA Board members present were Al Ritter, Harry Phillips, Tommy Adams, Bill Broyles, and Eleanor Welling. Sandy Hardy, POA Administrator, was also in attendance.
Mr. Ritter began the meeting by calling on Sandy Hardy for a proxy report. She reported that proxies received via mail and email were sufficient to satisfy the requirements set forth in the POA Bylaws to establish a quorum for the meeting. Members in attendance added to that number.
Next, Mr. Ritter asked if there were any additions or corrections to the 2021 Annual Meeting Minutes; and, with no corrections, a motion to publish the Minutes as written was made and seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously. Mr. Ritter then called on Sandy Hardy for the 2022 Administrative Report, which was as follows:
With one new construction home nearing completion, the Wade Hampton residential community is comprised of 165 homes, 66 buildable lots, and 23 unbuildable lots, plus the lot owned by the Cashiers Glenville Fire Department. Remodeling activity was noticeably down this year, due in part to the high costs of construction and uncertain timelines from contractors. The POA thanks the Member Advisory Committee, Bill Viehman, Bill Broyles, and Mike Benitez, for the many hours devoted to working with the design approval team on submissions for building and remodeling in Wade Hampton.
Sandy offered a copy of the 2021 1120-H tax return and the 2021 Financial Statement as prepared by Dixon Hughes Goodman. Also available was the 2021 Drinking Water Quality Report, 2021 Consumer Confidence Report, and the 2022 Permit to operate a community public water system, all of which the state of NC requires be made available to property owners,
Security
After almost a decade of work with Wade Hampton, Don Barnette retired and Steve Christy was promoted to the position of Head of Security. Rebecka Gibson was hired as Steve’s second in command.
After a restructure and reorganization of the Gatehouse, Steve’s technological background was utilized to streamline and computerize many internal systems, resulting in a complete and real-time database of everyone entering Wade Hampton. To date this year, Steve has registered 396 contractors (and that number does not include the huge number of subs working for each of those contractors), 76 landscaping companies, again with large numbers of employees, 102 housekeepers, 21 property managers and to date Steve has issued 1,592 work passes.
Special license plate recognition cameras were an important upgrade to the existing camera system, and all cameras have been upgraded to high-resolution/color night-vision capability. Viewing coverages were expanded to include the Golf Club maintenance road for the benefit of the Club and coverage was widened at the metal entry gates, to enhance Blue Ridge Security’s overnight monitoring of the gates. In total 20 cameras and three recording devices are utilized, which are installed in a locking equipment cabinet in the gatehouse. Software is now in place which provides real-time identification of gate entries, recognizing and displaying name assignments of all car tags on vehicles, at both gates.
Water and Wastewater Utility Systems
In past years, the Wade Hampton community always experienced a number of water leaks in the water system. A small pinhole or crack in a supply line running from the main water line to a water box at each lot line would develop and a leak would follow. Following an acceleration of water line leaks in 2021 and 2022, research revealed that when the supply lines were installed in Wade Hampton by the developer in the 1980s, a product made of polybutylene was used. This product became the subject of a number of national class-action lawsuits in the 1990s, and those cases, amounting to well over $1b in damages, were won and halted the use of polybutylene. The poly was found to deteriorate after 25-30 years, and that is what is occurring in Wade Hampton.
Issues are exacerbated when a repair is made, because when the water is turned off to the system, and then re-pressurized, any weak spots in the poly can open up, causing another leak. That was also occurring in Wade Hampton.
The POA is currently working with a civil engineer and Environmental Inc. to determine the best way to replace these supply lines and perform any other needed infrastructure upgrades while the lines are being replaced. Information will be shared with the POA membership when a plan is formulated.
Infrastructure projects completed this year include the replacement of two hazardous water and sewer lines that crossed a tributary of the Chattooga River near Highway 107, a project which required two years of state involvement to permit. The wastewater treatment plant and outbuildings and the water reservoir were scraped and painted, adhering to a schedule of capital projects recommended by the POA civil engineer.
Roads and Grounds
After decades of work at Wade Hampton, which began in the early golf course days, Steve Queen retired this season due to health reasons. Steve’s replacement is Lenny Valdes, a former local property manager who is known to many in the Wade Hampton community. Lenny is a tremendous addition to the POA staff. Foxfire, the second of the Wade Hampton side roads budgeted for repaving, was resurfaced this spring. Major culvert work was also completed on Sassafras and Silver Springs Road. In early summer of this year, the POA was informed that the owner of the building the POA had rented for 6 years would not renew the POA lease. After 6 weeks of unsuccessful searching for a
new location for the POA office, the Board began to think about a permanent home for the POA office, near Wade Hampton. The Fire Department was approached about leasing the POA a site on their newly acquired Wade Hampton lot south of the community, and they were happy to agree. The POA purchased what is called a Park Model building, and the office will take occupancy on the Fire Department substation lot in the next few weeks.
On behalf of the entire POA team, Sandy concluded by thanking the POA Board of Directors for their ongoing clear and collaborative leadership. She thanked the members for their support and invited feedback on anything POA-related, as the team looks forward to being of continued service to the Wade Hampton community.
Next, Mr. Adams, POA Board Treasurer, gave the Annual Financial Report. The POA financial condition continues to be very strong. Mr. Adams noted that there was a 4% increase in member dues for 2022 and that it is anticipated that the year will end with a positive net income, which will be transferred to the Capital Reserve Account. The Reserve Account stands at $625,000, but the cost of the new POA office will reduce that by approximately $200,000. In coming years it is anticipated that the reserve account will build back up and the Reserve funds are earmarked for a planned wastewater treatment plant expansion in 2025.
Mr. Ritter was asked about any other details on the anticipated water line replacement project. The POA is still in the information-gathering phase and in the next month, a plan will be formulated to address the project. It is known that all of the polybutylene pipe in the ground which connects the water main to each water box will have to be replaced, along with the individual water box apparatus. The project has several options for funding, including the current reserve account, borrowing, and a member assessment. It will be a several-years project.
Mr. Ritter then introduced Wood and Jody Lovell, owners of Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty. The Lovells provided handouts on the local real estate market, reflecting year-over-year sales volume and prices, a 7-year historical perspective, and average home sale prices from 2016 – current. Noted was the substantial decrease in volume in 2022, reflecting very low inventories during a continued strong buyer’s market.
Mr. Ritter introduced Mr. Bill Viehman, Chair of the POA Nominating Committee. Mr. Viehman stated that at the August 2022 Board of Directors Meeting, the number of Directors of the Wade Hampton POA was expanded to 7, as allowed by the Wade Hampton POA Bylaws. He reminded the membership that Directors are elected for one-year terms. The slate of nominees, comprised Tommy Adams, Mike Benitez, Bill Broyles, Kitty Caldwell, and Al Ritter. Bill Viehman and Eleanor Welling, were submitted. The motion was made and seconded to accept the slate of Directors, and with no objections from the floor, the slate was approved.
Mr. Ritter then presented Harry Phillips, outgoing Wade Hampton Board of Directors member, with a pottery bowl made by Wade Hampton resident Dr. Ned Turnbull, in appreciation of 8 years of service to the POA.
With no further business to attend to, the meeting was adjourned at 1:30 pm.