‘Plantation’ brand reflects poorly on Hilton Head Island today | Letters
Members of my extended family have resided in Hilton Head Plantation since the 1970s. At one point, four generations owned Hilton Head Plantation homes. Over the years, we have bought and sold at least 10 houses, and currently own five residences. We have enjoyed the village within the town.
Most of the family descended from German and Irish immigrants who came to America voluntarily and settled in the northeastern United States. As the members aged, they migrated to the South from homogenous (white only) communities, and shared an illiteracy about the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow – ignorance of the history of all the American people.
When my wife and I built our first Hilton Head Plantation home in 1987, we did not question the word “plantation.” One of my sisters expressed her shock that we would move to such a place because it bespoke segregation and slavery. That was my introduction to racial sensitivity about the legacy of slavery and white supremacy here.
The Hilton Head Plantation statement articulated the language of white privilege: Changing the brand would be expensive. In other words: Those of you who have been offended must continue to be so.
Hilton Head Plantation will continue to choose the path of its version of history and its well-crafted understanding of Southern charm.
The brand is not a brand that reflects well upon homeowners like us.
James C. Moore
Hilton Head Island
Bay Point development plan is an ecological model
As a professional engineer with 25 years of experience in projects from the Caribbean to Connecticut, I have been exposed to many philosophies of development with varying degrees of sustainability, resilience, and green development.
I am writing in support of the Bay Point Island ecotourism project as a cutting-edge sustainable proposal. The project embraces and includes low-impact design, construction and operation.
My areas of expertise include the stormwater management, water supply, and sanitary sewer systems.
The stormwater management facilities will be designed to meet or exceed the Beaufort County stormwater regulations and will manage and mitigate the rate of runoff, quality, and volume as dictated by these documents and DHEC and EPA regulations.
The sanitary sewer needs for the site will be met using state-of-the-art decentralized treatment in the form of a sequencing batch reactor or similar central treatment plant. Plants like this are used in similar locations in the Lowcountry as well as throughout the U.S. Wastewater will be treated to near drinking water quality prior to being discharged to either a land application or to holding tanks reuse.
Finally, the water supply will be provided by a deep well and treated by a state-of-the-art reverse osmosis system to bring it to drinking water standards. Rainwater also can be treated for use as potable water, which is the primary water supply in many areas of the Caribbean, as well as some areas of Texas.
This project will serve as an example of sustainability and eco-friendly design and development in Beaufort County.
Joseph A. Mina
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania
The writer is designing the water, sewer, and stormwater facilities for the Bay Point developer. He also has worked with Beaufort County to update its Stormwater Management Plan and BMP Manual prior to the Southern Lowcountry Stormwater (SoLoCo) ordinance.
Just say no to Bay Point development
I could not more strongly urge Beaufort County officials and members of the Zoning Board of Appeals to disallow the proposed Bay Point development due to:
▪ Fragile ecosystems upon which tourism and local livelihoods depend.
▪ Unique species and life cycles within our ecosystems; many found nowhere else on earth.
▪ Overwhelming scientific evidence of literal instability of this property (which is by nature’s design since it serves as a “barrier” island to buffer we who are further inland from erosion, storm surge, etc.).
▪ County and local budgets strained by a global pandemic with no signs of easing in the foreseeable future.
▪ Heavy demands on said county and local governmental resources in the event of inevitable weather disasters affecting this property and proposed inane development.
▪ Environmental, heritage, cultural and conservation groups in our area all in formal and vehement opposition.
▪ More than 20,000 citizens in public, documented opposition and thousands more undocumented (due to lack of access to internet or public meetings).
▪ Developers from the other side of the planet with apparently zero local knowledge, awareness or appreciation.
Just say no to Bay Point.
Elizabeth Bergmann
Port Royal
SC Gov. Henry McMaster right on private school grants
St. Gregory the Great, St. Peter, St. Francis by the Sea, and John Paul II Catholic schools have been serving area families and hundreds of students for, in some cases, decades. As the former superintendent of schools for the Catholic Diocese of Charleston, I know the last few months have been very difficult for Catholic school administrators and faculty members.
However, they have done a valiant job continuing to meet the educational needs of their students – and they will continue to do so. But they know attending a Catholic school carries a cost for many families, and many of them have been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
That is why I, as a Catholic school advocate, am extremely grateful that Gov. Henry McMaster has just announced a program that will offer grants of up to $6,500 to low- and middle-income families so they are able to stay in the schools of their choice during these trying times.
The SAFE Grants program is a lifeline for South Carolina families whose lives have become more unstable these past few months. It will enable them to keep their children in schools that work best for them, and it will enable our teachers to continue educating those students.
Thank you, Gov. McMaster, for your leadership on this issue.
Sister Canice Adams, SS.C.M.
Bluffton
Hilton Head town manager selection process needs public input
The selection of the next town manager is critical for the future of Hilton Head Island. A selection without an open process, without public input, and without communication to the public contradicts what Mayor John McCann and several Town Council members promised when running for office.
Town Council engaged Colin Baenziger & Associates to manage this search. Disappointingly, there is no public input planned in the hasty timeline. The “recruitment profile” for the town manager is to be posted for the position on July 24. Recruitment and selection are to be completed by Sept. 21.
The town manager hiring process should not be hidden in executive sessions nor should it be rushed. Finding the best person to become Hilton Head’s next town manager is more important than filling the job on this tight timeline.
The “Proposed Project Schedule” doesn’t include any public participation. The contract includes meetings only if “suggested” by Town Council with “stakeholders.” If “stakeholders” were chosen by the Town Council, who are they?
The Coalition of Island Neighbors (COIN) recommends a diverse citizens panel, with input from the beginning on community concerns and the job description for a new town manager. The process should include meaningful methods for public input, with an open Town Hall Q&A for the finalists.
We are hopeful that meaningful public input will be included and that the selection process will be made public promptly.
Patsy Brison
and Risa Prince
Coalition of Island Neighbors
Hilton Head Island
Beaufort police doing job right
I would like to commend the City of Beaufort Police Department for the recent enforcement of the speed limit on Bay Street.
Since the pandemic hit, we spend many mornings on our front porch, watching dog walkers, joggers, children on bicycles, many older pedestrians as well as young, getting fresh air on a daily basis.
We have come to recognize many of our neighbors and share morning greetings.
Unfortunately, we have noticed a significant uptick in the volume of traffic, and in particular a significant increase in drivers grossly exceeding the posted speed limit.
Our major concern is for the safety of pedestrians.
Some of the drivers are such repeat offenders that we recognize their vehicles on sight.
This week we are delighted to see active speed limit enforcement on Bay Street by city police officers.
Hats off to our officers, police chief and other police staff.
Please keep up the good work. We appreciate you.
Nigel and Elizabeth Stroud
Beaufort
Sheriff P.J. Tanner helps villa turnaround
As an HOA board president and later director of security, I can speak firsthand to the role Sheriff P.J. Tanner and the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office played in changing the course of a very problematic south-end property on Hilton Head Island.
We have been transformed from villas blacklisted by local Realtors for over a decade and selling for next to nothing due to ongoing criminal activity and daily visits by the Sheriff’s Office, to a community that is now one of the hottest selling properties on the island.
The primary reason? Direct support from law enforcement working with resident leadership to clean up their community. Without this support, we would still be dealing with issues that had been entrenched for many years.
Bruce Bartow
Hilton Head Island
EU is looking at current trends
Regarding the letter to the editor “Find the racts on EU decision” in your July 19 edition, the author found the wrong facts.
The letter claimed it is entirely possible that the EU decision to ban U.S. citizens was political. It then goes on to try to legitimize the conclusion by citing death rates per 100,000 during the entire period of the pandemic showing U.S. death rates are lower than those of other countries.
Those statistics, while true, have nothing to do with the EU decision.
The EU is looking at current trends.
Those trends, using the same countries cited in the letter, as of July 19, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, show cases per 100,000 people are as follows: U.S, 1,142; UK, 443; Italy, 404; France, 300; Spain, 557; Belgium, 558; Germany, 244; and Sweden, 759.
The EU says that it will add the U.S. to its list of approved countries “if the country’s epidemiological situation improves.”
C. Lee Anderson
Hilton Head Island
Students need in-person school
I am amazed and deeply troubled concerning the resistance to in-person school instruction that has been put forward by some parents, teachers, politicians, and others across our nation. Many European nations have successfully reopened their schools. Why is America lagging behind?
Many adults, seemingly addicted to a constant stream of fear and panic released daily by media outlets, are convinced that all risk of COVID-19 must be eliminated before kids can go back to school and be “safe.” But real life has risks every day. A child might choke on food in the cafeteria, but the school still provides lunch. Thousands of school-aged children die in automobile crashes in America every year, but that doesn’t stop parents from taking their kids for a ride.
Then there’s flu season. Influenza is a proven killer of children, much more so than COVID-19. If COVID-19 is the risk standard, schools better be prepared to switch to an April through October calendar, because they can never be open during flu season again.
If schools remain closed for in-person instruction, children are still being taught. They would be taught that their futures have no value compared to the emotions of adults. They will also learn that the solution to a problem is not to face it, but to cower in fear and hope it goes away. Is that the recipe for America to remain a great and free nation?
Donald Black Jr.
Bluffton
Want names? No shortage of loyal leaders
Let me throw out a few names if the military chooses to rename military installations:
Marshall, Eisenhower, Bradley, Patton, Powell, Nimitz, Halsey, Theodore Roosevelt, Lincoln, Grant, Washington.
Our nation has had no shortage of loyal military and political leaders. I am sure you could name a few yourself.
Chuck Moss
Sun City