Dear Sea Pines Property Owners,

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. With the New Year we and Crowder Gulf are continuing the Hurricane Matthew clean-up and debris removal effort in Sea Pines. We know each of you are continuing your part. Normal business continues within the community as well and we are all doing our best to try to get life back to “normal”. The Sea Pines Architectural Review Board is busy with permits and plans both for storm and non-storm related projects. Our Maintenance department continues their work with contractors and our staff to coordinate recovery efforts as well as continue to provide day to day maintenance practices. Security continues its operations and is ready for the New Year’s normal sequences of pass renewals and preparation for our various seasonal activities and planning. Normal still seems a long way away!

We continue to receive many calls and e-mails about storm and non-storm related topics. To some extent these questions are beginning to meld together and create a challenge for us to separate into these two categories. It remains important for us to continue to try to separate these and the related solutions into storm and non-storm related. This separation is necessary for several reasons including our ability to fund and/or recover funds for these necessary activities. We are also beginning to hear and see Crowder not picking up debris throughout Hilton Head that has been combined with non-storm or commercial related landscape debris. We continue to ask you for your help with the separation of these items.

The Town of Hilton Head Island’s debris removal contractor, Crowder Gulf has returned to Sea Pines following their holiday break and crews are actively working in our community each day from 7am- dusk. They continue to work in a segmented format in Sea Pines, concentrating their efforts in 14 different areas they designated for all of Sea Pines roadways, one or two areas at a time. Crowder Gulf is still working through their first debris pick up pass inside of Sea Pines and at our last meeting before the Christmas Holiday they indicated that they are approximately 30% completed with their first pass through Sea Pines.

I will be meeting with Town of Hilton Head and Crowder Gulf representative again next week and anticipate an update on their pick up process and will pass that information along as soon as possible. The Town recently sent out a release (click here to view) providing clarification that their contractor, Crowder Gulf continues to pick up disaster related debris. The Town confirmed that they will also publicly announce final passes by the contractor in advance. We at CSA will also ensure this information is communicated to our property owners through these e-mails, on our website and facebook page in advance. It is very important if you have not already done so that you move your vegetative hurricane related storm debris to the roadside right of way on your private property as soon as possible or risk missing the FEMA funded debris pick up. If your first round of hurricane related storm debris has been picked up by Crowder Gulf and you have additional hurricane related storm debris you should move it to the roadside right of way on your private property as soon as possible or hire a contractor to facilitate this process. Sea Pines, CSA will not pick up hurricane related storm debris from your private property.
Sea Pines, CSA is making contact with property owner’s that have not yet begun or may have not yet made significant progress towards cleanup of their private property. We are letting them know that they must take advantage of this debris removal service or risk missing the FEMA funded pick up efforts that Crowder Gulf is performing. As mentioned Crowder Gulf is still working through their first pick up pass throughout the Sea Pines Community if they have picked up your pile and you have additional Hurricane related debris please move it to the roadside right of way. There continue to be areas that Crowder Gulf has skipped for one reason or another. They have assured us that they are aware of this and will return to those areas to complete their first pass, perhaps with different equipment better able to handle special circumstances. Please continue to review the additional reminders below.

We continue to work with the Town of Hilton Head Island and residential beach front owner’s on a potential program for dune re-nourishment on the beach in Sea Pines. As I am sure you are aware the beach strand dunes and several ocean front residential lots were significantly impacted by the storm.

The first community meeting regarding this topic was held on Tuesday December 20th, 2016 at 2:00 PM at the Sea Pines Community Center. Additional meetings and discussions will be coming in the future. At this first meeting we received a presentation by Scott Liggett, Town of Hilton Head Island Director of Public Projects and Facilities / Chief Engineer. Mr. Liggett explained that the Town of Hilton Head Island was currently working to secure a contractor for proposed emergency beach/ dune renourishment between Bald Eagle and South Beach Lagoon area of Sea Pines.

There was hope that Week’s Marine, the contractor that worked on the now completed Town of HHI beach renourishment project would take on the new contract for the proposed emergency beach/ dune renourishment between Bald Eagle and South Beach Lagoon area of Sea Pines. We received notice from the Town of Hilton Head Island that Weeks Marine has declined to provide a proposal to complete a beach Renourishment projectfrom South Beach Lane to Beach Lagoon later this winter/spring due to previously scheduled commitments.

The Town of HHI has confirmed that they are assessing options and may have to release a new invitation for bids for the proposed work. The Town is still working through the permitting process and permitting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) / Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) is currently out for public notice. The timing of the possible proposed beach emergency beach/ dune re-nourishment between Bald Eagle and South Beach Lagoon area of Sea Pines cannot be confirmed at this time and is still contingent on permitting and the Town securing a contractor. To say the least time is running out for this winter or spring. We will do our best to keep you updated on this topic as additional information is received.
Listed below are several helpful links for your review. As always we encourage your feedback and any questions you may have, our contact information is listed below or you may simply respond back to this email.

Thank you once again for your patience and support.

Bret Martin, CSA President