The untruths

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Update May 8, 2019:

"These items were placed on the agenda just for measure so that you would know the next steps."

-Edisto Beach Town Administrator,  May 7 2019 Special Army Corps Dune Council Meeting 

It's very interesting that back on April 27th our town administrator gave a presentation to a local Edisto Beach property owners association, a group of roughly 800 members, where property ownership is not a requirement.  The presentation contained information including a slide: "Council Meeting To Decide The Following", indicating the five decisions that would be made on the May 7 special meeting.  Yet only 2 out of 5 of these items were actually voted on, or decided in that meeting.  The decision on "Eminent Domain" was not voted on, not even discussed.  Also, importantly, this information was not posted (as a meeting agenda) to the public town website until May 3, six days later.

Could it be that this is some of the misinformation that's been talked about recently by the town but never been addressed specifically?   The best way to avoid misinformation is to provide as much information as possible, especially when taking on the largest project this town has ever considered.

The two items voted on were:

1- requesting the corps moving the Perpetual Easement Line seaward, closer to the Construction Line

2- requesting the corps to delete the upper 2/3's of the Inlet Reach from the project, ending at Mikell St., access #32 

The remaining 3 items below will be decided in the coming weeks, possibly months, the date is not known at this time.

3-Project Partnership Agreement

4-Funding Commitment-Internal or Corps 

5-Eminent Domain

"In order for us to get the easements, we would have to survey every lot and come up with that information.  It is a 100% non-federal share cost, which means we would have to pay for the whole thing.  So if the public is not willing or does not want to go into the project, why would we spend the money to survey that and stake that if we are not willing to go into a project with the federal government?" 

-Edisto Beach Town Administrator, September 2018 Army Corps Public Info Meeting

How significant is the above statement?  Like, $900,000.00 of town funds significant and now we are near to an imminent point of no return.  The truth is that the public or tax payers DID NOT have a proper say or a vote on this.  No referendum was held.  But lets get real:  this is not an item that should ever be voted on by any other citizen, but the property owner.  This is not a RO town-wide water system.  This is someone's land.  Someone's hard work and life.  A United States citizen's dream and no one else's, whatsoever.

Multiple critical questions still remain unanswered.  How deceptive and misleading?  They totally skipped over the only crucial opportunity for the tax payers and land owners  to object and stop this land grab/land-lock.  Property owners were not even formally made aware of this, many were not even aware this dune/wall project was being resurrected until April 2019.  Yet, there have been a few local residents for months now, saying that this project already is a done-deal.  So how did we get to this very expensive and final stage?  

On February 14, 2019, at the monthly town council meeting, while most of our Edisto friends were enjoying a Valentine's Day evening with their significant others and family, their elected town council unanimously voted to proceed to enter into contract with the Army Corps, the next step progressing to the $900K survey phase, at the recommendation of the non-elected Beachfront Management Committee, without batting an eye.  

What is the Beachfront Management Committee?  "The committee's areas of responsibility shall include developing, advocating and coordinating policy recommendations to the Town Council and educating Council about beachfront management programs and practices."  It is made up of five residents (currently has grown to seven residents), several of which, have homes quite possibly closer to the mean high watermark than any other of the 187 beachfront properties.  It was a 4 to 1 vote.  Were their decisions totally unbiased and in the purview of their positions or did they vote yea to save their own personal properties?  To save their own properties, at the expense of others' property being taken by the local government through eminent domain?  Do people really understand how wrong and un-American it is to vote for this project in any way or more directly, sign their easement over resulting in having their neighbors' property taken if they oppose?

During public comment later in the event, a beachfront homeowner of more than 25 years, urged, nearly pleaded to our public servants to slow down the speed at which they are proceeding on the project, as there were just too many unanswered questions that stakeholders had, with regard to perpetual easement, land use, legalities, and other issues including federal payments.  The quick response by council  was that if we didn't act, the $22 million would gladly be accepted by one of our coastal neighbors.  And that, was that.  Remember, this is really about securing funding for front beach nourishment.

So, what and who's next?  It's hard to tell because the map the gov't provides doesn't consistently draw out the property lines to the high water mark, as many water front homes list, some as the second claim deeds.  If the Perpetual Easement Line intersects your property, allow surveyors on your private property, then sign the easement contract or have your  dream property condemned.  And still, if the PEL doesn't intersect, when the wall is built you will still be landlocked from accessing the beach and ocean, as you currently do.  It's really pretty simple, now that we are at this stage.  They've assumed-the-sale successfully and are rapidly approaching the hard close.  If you are one of the first to sign this easement, you may be the most unaware of us, because there's no guarantee the project will happen.  And instantly you have just lost control of the most prized piece of your land forever with nothing but $5.00 to show.  Read what you are being ask to sign!  Who do these government officials work for?  The tax payers?