Hello POA members,
The link that you see below takes you to a ballot for a proposed Amendment to our Declaration allowing the Cashiers Glenville Volunteer Fire Department to locate a substation on the southern boundary of Wade Hampton. Before clicking the link to vote, please read the following cover letter from Al Ritter explaining the project. We’ve also attached the Agreement between the Fire Department and POA and a map showing the location of the proposed building.
After reviewing the information, please return to the link and submit your vote on the proposal.
http://wadehamptonpoa.com/official-ballot/
Dear Members of the Wade Hampton POA,
About one year ago, Randy Dillard, Chief of the Cashiers Glenville Volunteer Fire Department, asked if the POA would allow the Fire Department to locate a sub-station at Wade Hampton. The proposed unmanned building would provide a staging area for 2-3 tanker trucks and, if built, would significantly shorten the response time to a fire alarm in Cashiers’ southern corridor, including Wade Hampton.
The first of many issues to be resolved was to identify a suitable lot located outside of the Wade Hampton security gates.
With significant help from the Board and management of the Wade Hampton Golf Club, we reached out to POA Member Paul Neely. Paul’s lot S8-A, which is outside the gates on Highway 107, and his willingness to donate it to the Fire Department made it a particularly good candidate for the proposed sub-station.
Having identified a lot and given the potential benefit to our Members, we and the Fire Department worked to address a long list of issues to determine whether or not they could construct the sub-station subject to restraints designed to protect the residential nature and values of our community. And, we are pleased to report that over the past months, we and representatives of the Fire Department’s Board of Directors resolved these issues and reached agreement.
The Agreement includes a number of provisions to protect the residents and the residential lots within Wade Hampton, including:
1. The FD sub-station can only be used as a non-residential fire department sub-station and cannot be leased in whole or in part to any other entity or used for any other purpose.
2. The FD shall only access Lot S8-A via Highway 107, across the strip of land contiguous with the western boundary of Lot S8-A, currently owned by Wade Hampton Golf Club.
3. The FD shall terminate any easement rights for Lot S8-A to access Cherokee Trace.
4. The sub-station design and location on the lot will be subject to review by the Wade Hampton Design Review committees. While it is understood that the design will vary from the typical buildings found in the community (i.e. metal siding might be proposed), attention will be placed on low-visibility from the community and placement of windows, etc. Proper screening will be required. Noise levels and light pollution will be subject to review by the committees.
5. The FD shall be allowed to connect to the Wade Hampton POA water system, and all costs of connecting to the Wade Hampton water system will be assumed by the Fire Department.
6. Water usage at the sub-station will be restricted to personal use by people working there and will be restricted to no more than 150 gallons per day. The filling of trucks or tanks shall not be allowed.
7. The FD shall not connect to the Wade Hampton POA waste-water system. The FD shall instead install a septic system on lot S8-A at their own expense.
8. If the FD closes the sub-station, ownership of lot S8-A will automatically revert to the POA for $1.00.
9. The FD shall have the right to remove the sub-station, at its expense, but must return Lot S8-A to a clean and debris-free state.
10. If the FD sells the sub-station building to a third party, the FD shall be responsible for its removal and subsequent lot clean-up. The POA reserves the right of first-refusal to purchase the building, should the FD decide to sell it. This right of first-refusal may also be assigned to the Wade Hampton Golf Club, Inc., its successors and assigns.
Finally, according to the president of the Fire Department’s Board of Directors, the trucks in this sub-station will typically only be used for a working structure fire in the southern part of the county, which, when activated, will greatly reduce response time for a fire in our area. And, it will ensure that all of the Wade Hampton Golf Club falls within the Cashiers 5 mile district. This will provide Wade Hampton homeowners and the Club with the best ratings within our fire protection class.
Because a Fire Department sub-station represents a non-conforming, non-residential use of a Wade Hampton lot, this agreement requires a vote by the Membership to amend the Declaration of Protective Covenants. A link to the ballot for your vote is found above this message and we appreciate your return of it in a timely fashion.
We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in this project and are happy that we can support our Members and our Volunteer Fire Department in this way.
All the best,
Al
Al Ritter
President, Board of Directors
Wade Hampton Property Owners’ Association