September 18, 2025

Subject: Upcoming POA Meeting

Dear PBNA Members:

As a follow up to our September 13, 2025, newsletter, the PBNA wants to educate our membership regarding the upcoming SSP POA meeting.  We are pleased that the venue has been changed to allow more homeowners to participate in this important meeting.  To assist all we are providing some provoking questions to consider asking SSP.

1. What is the current Reserve Fund amount?  How is this amount determined?

2. Are the total Reserve Fund monies in a single investment fund?  What about the Accumulated Operating Fund Surplus and Marketing Fund monies?  What investment funds are these in?

3. Do formal Reserves have some form of legal protection or a higher fiduciary obligation to be managed/allocated by the POA Board of Stewards than the surplus funds

4. How much will the homeowners be expected to contribute to the Reserves in the coming years?

5. What commitment and formal structure can be put in place so homeowners have a say in the future Reserve projects?

6. Are new trail developments and construction considered an amenity?  Explain your rationale why funds from the Reserve Fund are used?.

7. Is land donated to the Conservancy a grant by the developer or paid for by the Trust?

8. Does the River House pay a POA assessment or is this open-to-the-public business a free rider?   If the answer is no because it is part of the hotel, how does that make any sense as the hotel assessment is based on rooms and there are no rooms in the River House?   Is there a commitment that any future hotel amenities or buildings will pay a separate POA assessment?

9. SSP modified the charter through the 80th supplement, dated November 21, 2021 (shortly after taking ownership), to avoid paying POA assessments on developer-owned platted lots and homes under construction.  SSP added "other revenue" to the option (b) calculation, making option (b) workable so that the developer pays nothing. The prior developer paid under option (a) keeping a level playing field with the homeowners.  Does setting the POA assessments at a level where option (b) results in $0 fulfill the fiduciary duty owed to the homeowners?  Provide a rationale for this.

For your information:

Original Community Charter language of 9.2:

Eightieth Supplement dated November 21, 2021:

10. One notes that the developer’s construction vehicles use the roads, and yet there is no current cost sharing for that traffic as the developer does not pay a POA assessment. Why would the members bear all of these costs?  On a related point, do the developer’s construction vehicles (lot clearance and PB Builders) all pay the same gate fees as outside contractors.

11. As one can see, land is being lost from South Wilson to the May River which has been referred to as South Wilson Erosion.  Provide a full disclosure of the South Wilson project.  Can the engineering studies be made available and have alternatives to stone revetment been considered?  How many homeowners are impacted?  Is there a joint resolution between the homeowners and the POA?  What is the timetable?  Is there a commitment of the Trust board to keep available the common pathway along South Wilson?

How does the Trust Board view its role in keeping the South Wilson pathway available to all members, and the financial implications?   Would the Trust contribute funds to a solution if this required a POA contribution from the developer?    How does the Trust Board address any conflict between expenditures that do not directly support the for-profit businesses (such as remediating South Wilson erosion) and those that do (such as repaving the road to the hotel)?

12. What is the gate pass policy for non-residents and Town of Bluffton residents?  What will the Trust do to limit non-PB traffic coming into the community?  Do members of the public going to the River House for dinner have to pay a gate fee and, if not, why not?  What will the Trust Board do to balance the interests of residents in keeping outside traffic to a minimum and mitigating safety and security concerns, with any efforts by the developer to drive outside traffic to its private for-profit outlets?

If PB needs to provide preferential access to the residents of the Town of Bluffton but not free and unfettered access, and is not required to provide access to other outsiders, what is being done to monitor and manage outside traffic?  One notes that many local communities (Rose Hill, Belfair, Berkely Hall, etc.) are not actually part of the Town of Bluffton.

The consensus appears to be that members prefer to not turn PB into another Sea Pines.

From the Development Agreement:

13. When will the major asphalt paving resurfacing project begin?  What is the “standard” we are using to set priorities and timelines?  Do we want to hold PB roads to a higher quality standard (consistent with the “premium” positioning of PB in general), versus allowing our roads to descend into a mélange of patches? Does the site planning and developer construction cause more or less wear and tear on POA roads compared to that caused by resident homeowners?

Who pays to pave the road to Crossroads?

14. Are new trail developments and construction considered an amenity?

15. According to the calendar on the member website, there is a large wedding coming onto the Village Green with construction to begin on October 18 with construction to occur on October 15 through 17.  The last large wedding on the Village Green caused some problems. 

16. The developer announced that it would not appeal its loss in the case challenging the developer’s illegal attempted waiver of mandatory membership.  Did the Trust pay any portion of the legal fees defending this case, or the appeal that asked the governing authority to allow the developer to permit any members opting out to stay out and not pay club dues?

If the Trust paid any portion of these fees:

17.There is a recurring problem with hotel employees speeding in their cars on Old Moreland Road and particularly on Whitehouse Plantation Road on their way to the hotel employee parking lot.  Efforts to monitor the roads, assess fines, and suspend employee drivers have proven ineffective.  What will the Trust do to enforce the speed limits and safe driving, and why do the members pay for this out of their POA assessments and security costs as opposed to charging the hotel?   Noone wants a speed bump on the road to the hotel employee parking lot, but that is coming if nothing effective is done.

18.What are the best opportunities to trim cost out of the POA budget without an adverse effect on residents?

As always, feel free to reach out to any of the PBNA volunteers.

Regards,

Palmetto Bluff Neighborhood Association, Inc.