As 2022 begins in earnest, we hope that this note finds all of our neighbors healthy, happy, and prosperous.  

The PBNA and its Members have been very busy since the New Year.  We have introduced a new website pbnabluffton.com, hosted Town officials on the Bluff concerning key issues that affect us all, and have been working hard to inform our Members by crafting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that cover a broad range of fundamental issues and rights of property owners.  The response from the community has been heartening as residents see real value in having a group of volunteers working to provide key information in an independent fashion.  

In our December 2, 2021 communication, we asked that all residents mark their calendars for an open meeting of the PBNA at the Lodge at River Road on Sunday, January 30th beginning at 4:30PM.  This note serves as a reminder of this meeting and provides an agenda for conducting it.

         1. Open and Welcome

         2. State of the Association

         3. Discussion of the Anson Proposals

         4. Review of PB Resident’s Rights

         5. Wrap Up and call for Volunteers

We also hope to answer any questions that you may have concerning the ongoing work and direction of the PBNA.

Please plan on joining your neighbors at this meeting as we continue to discuss our mutual interest in sustaining and improving this beautiful place that we call ‘home’.  Our volunteer organization is not yet at a point where we can live stream meetings.  We have explored numerous possibilities and are working to fill this critical void.

As always, the Volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you. Please send any questions or comments our way. 

Warm Regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

Please check out our new website at: pbnabluffton.com

Thank you to all that were able to join us last Thursday as we hosted Councilmen, Fred Hamilton, and Larry Toomer.   The volunteers of the PBNA are grateful that these two Town leaders took the time to be with us on the Bluff and also appreciate the Members that attended and let their voices be heard. 

Many aspects of the proposed Anson Marina were discussed with our guests. For their part, both gentlemen expressed their unwavering commitment to the safeguarding and responsible development of the land and water that makes Palmetto Bluff and Bluffton the special place that it is. Moreover, they reiterated that they expected South Street Partners (SSP) to meet with all residents of PB to explain their plans for the Marina and the changes that they have requested.  They made a special point to urge all of us to provide comments concerning these plans to SSP when the details are provided.  Importantly, they also stressed the importance of all of us contacting Town officials to provide our views on the proposed changes once we have an adequate understanding of the issues. 

Related, we have posted on the PBNA website the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document on the Anson issue developed by our volunteers in hopes that you will have a better understanding of the new requests by SSP.  

Please also check the PBNA website for five additional FAQs developed by the PBNA volunteers to better inform you on a myriad of topics.  These subjects include your rights as residents of PB, an explanation of the different entities that make up PB, an explanation of documents you were provided when you purchased property here, some information  on South Street Partners, and a FAQ that looks at some potential concerns as we go forward.   You will find these new FAQs in the Member Area of the website.  We hope that they are helpful and appreciate any feedback you might have. 

Lastly, in our effort to achieve seamless transparency, we have also placed the latest PBNA financials on the website.  

As always, the Volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you. Please send any questions or comments our way. 

Warm Regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

Thank you for all of the notes of encouragement many of you have sent recently.  The Volunteers of the PBNA are grateful when you reach out and your passion for this beautiful place energizes us to work harder to better inform all of you on the issues and happenings that affect all of us here. 

Attached is the message that we sent to all of you concerning the Special Meeting of the PBNA Membership to be held this Thursday, January 13th, at 3PM at the Lodge. Kindly refer to it for information on our guests.  We are excited that Town of Bluffton Mayor Pro-Tempore Fred Hamilton and Council Member Larry Toomer will be taking time to visit with our Membership.  We have also attached a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document developed by our volunteers in hopes of better informing you on the Anson issue. 

We do regret that our volunteer organization does not yet have the capability to stream this meeting.  We know and understand that we have Members that are not on the Bluff and some who understandably do not feel comfortable coming to an in-person meeting. We are working on it. Moreover, we know that our Membership will not fit easily in the Lodge but we did explore many other larger venues and some like the Montage were extremely cost prohibitive.

For those of you that will be in attendance, we intend to follow this agenda:

• 3:00: Call To Order and Rules for the Conduct of the Meeting: Bob Morette
• 3:10: Introduction of our Guests: Harry Haslam
• 3:15: Opening Comments by Both of Our Guests
• 3:30: Question and Answer Period

As always, the Volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you. Please send any questions or comments our way. 

Warm Regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

Below is the link to yesterday’s Town of Bluffton Negotiating Committee.  All of it is interesting but the back and forth and Public Comments that begin at approximately 1:15 is definitely worth a listen. 

Negotiating Committee Meeting Thursday, January 06, 2022 at 10:00 AM 

As always, the volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.   

Warmest regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

Two quick updates. 

1.  This morning, most of your PBNA volunteer leadership attended the Town of Bluffton Negotiating Committee meeting regarding the significant changes to the Anson Marina requested by South Street Partners.   Several presentations were provided by the Town and Developer and a myriad of questions were asked of the Developer.  Residents of PB and Bluffton spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting.  No one spoke in favor of the request during the period of public comment.  In the end, Mayor Sulka determined that nothing more would be done on this issue until SSP holds a Town Hall with residents as the PBNA requested.  Much more to follow on this. 

2.  We have launched the new PBNA web site.  We hope that you find it helpful.  The volunteers would enjoy hearing your feedback on the website.  Kindly let us know if you have any issues accessing the site. 

As always, the volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.   

Warmest regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

Mr. Patrick Melton

South Street Partners

Happy New Year Patrick!

We hope that you, your associates, and families have had a terrific holiday period and that the New Year is one of health, happiness, and prosperity for all of you. 

Today we are writing you to respectfully request that South Street Partners conduct a Town Hall Meeting with all property owners of Palmetto Bluff and address both the recent changes to the Palmetto Bluff Club and the changes you have requested of our elected officials to the proposed marina at Anson.  The previous developer held quarterly Town Halls that were scheduled a full year out.

We are aware that you have sent a letter to club members concerning the changes to the Club but none of us believe that this one way communication is adequate on this subject.  We would all appreciate understanding your rationale for these changes and how you see these changes enhancing the Member experience. 

With respect to the proposed changes to the Anson Marina, you have been silent as it relates to the property owners here.  At a meeting of the Bluffton Town Council on November 9, 2021, Mr. Will Culp incorrectly informed our elected officials that you had conducted a Town Hall meeting on these specific requested changes.  We have corrected the record with the Mayor and the Council and hope that you will come and address this issue with all of the property owners. The Town Council has been clear that they require that South Street Partners ‘conduct a community meeting to present the proposal and receive feedback from owners and residents’ prior to actually negotiating. 

Our growing Palmetto Bluff Neighborhood Association membership is anxious to have you meet with all residents in an open and collaborative way.  Frankly, many residents are struggling to see how your changes to the Club that are now in effect add to the quality of our experience.  The implementation of these changes has been, as a minimum, disruptive to the Member experience.  Moreover, your unwillingness to personally address all residents in an open forum on your requests of our Town officials is breeding distrust.  We believe all of this can be partly mitigated with a Town Hall meeting.

Kindly consider our request. 

Thank you very much.

Warmest regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

We apologize in advance for another communication so quickly on the heels of our note to you yesterday that announced the PBNA meeting with Bluffton Town Councilman Fred Hamilton (Mayor Pro-Tempore), and Councilman Larry Toomer at 3PM, January 13th at the Lodge. Our intent is not to fill your ‘in-box’.  We do wish to share important information as we learn it and today is one of those times. 

Subsequent to our note to you yesterday, we have learned that The Bluffton Town Negotiating Committee (https://www.townofbluffton.sc.gov/304/Negotiating-Committee) has been hastily scheduled for this Thursday, January 6, 2022 at 10:00 AM at 20 Bridge Street, Bluffton SC 29910 to discuss South Street Partners’ (SSP) request for significant changes at the proposed Anson Marina.  We continue to believe that PB residents have not been fully informed of the proposed changes and that SSP should conduct a Town Hall Meeting with PB residents to explain these changes prior to any action by our elected officials.  Therefore, today we have sent a letter to Mayor Lisa Sulka (Chair of the Negotiating Committee) requesting that she delay this session until PB residents have had an opportunity to hear details from SSP, and are able to provide input to the developers.  

We are asking that regardless of where you fall on this issue, that you let your voices be heard with our city officials by either attending the meeting if it does occur or immediately sending an email to both Mayor Sulka lsulka@townofbluffton.com and Councilman Fred Hamilton fhamilton@townofbluffton.com who is a committee member requesting that these proceedings be paused until such time as SSP conducts a town hall meeting with all residents of PB and receives resident feedback on these changes. If the meeting does occur and you intend on attending the meeting, public comment procedure will be the same as for Town Council meetings.  You may complete the comment form online (link below) or you may come to the meeting and fill it out in person on Thursday, as long as it is turned in by 9:50 a.m.

https://www.townofbluffton.sc.gov/FormCenter/Town-15/Public-Comment-60.

This meeting is not expected to be the last word from the Town on SSPs’ request and we therefore intend to see all of you at the January 13th meeting with two of our elected Town officials.  Please ensure to join your neighbors at this meeting. 

Lastly, please watch for an email in the next several days announcing the PBNA website.  The volunteers of the PBNA are very proud of the product and know that with your feedback we can make it an even better platform to ensure that this incredible place that we call ‘home’ remains special for generations to come. 

As always, the volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.   

Warmest regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

Dear Members of the Negotiating Committee for the Town of Bluffton,

We request that you postpone consideration of the South Street Partner's proposals, which we understand is now scheduled for 10AM, Thursday, January 6.  We ask this because the Palmetto Bluff community has not had the opportunity to understand the proposals and to respond appropriately to them.  We believe that informed feedback from the Palmetto Bluff community is an essential part of the process.

We make this request for five reasons:

1) The developer, now South Street Partners (SSP), has failed to provide any information about the Anson proposals to the property owners and residents of Palmetto Bluff.

2) At the November 9, 2021 Town Council meeting, SSP stated that they had held Town Hall meetings, which was incorrect.  PBNA then sent an email to correct the record.

3) Since then, there has been no information shared, or general meetings conducted, by SSP to inform the members of the Anson proposals and plans, and the reasons why they are requesting changes to the Development Agreement (as amended).

4) Two Town Council members (Fred Hamilton, Larry Toomer) are scheduled to be at Palmetto Bluff to meet with PBNA members to discuss the Anson proposals.  There is very strong interest in this January 13th meeting amongst our 250 members.

5) PBNA can assist the Negotiating Committee and the Town Council assess community input via a survey to the PBNA members (and potentially the entire PB community), if this would be helpful in your deliberations.  Obviously, this will take a few weeks to execute and compile.

The seven volunteer leaders, signing below, unanimously urge you to postpone this meeting.

Bob Morette, Harry Haslam, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone, Graz Graziano, and Arian Ellis

We are excited  to report that Bluffton Town Councilman Fred Hamilton (Mayor Pro-Tempore),  and Councilman Larry Toomer have agreed to come and meet with our membership on January 13th at 3PM at the River Road Lodge. We are very grateful that these two government officials are making time to be with us. We hope that you will save the date and join your neighbors and friends at this session. 

For several months, we have been sending out information to you about South Street Partners’  (SSP) requested changes to the master agreement between the Town of Bluffton and the developer that are beyond the limitations and safeguards put in place in the original 1998 agreement (and subsequent amendments).  These original arrangements provided for a single dry stack storage facility (currently at Wilson Landing) and limited fueling to land side only.  These provisions were put in place to protect the rivers around Palmetto Bluff.  As you know, SSP is requesting fuel over water rights and additional dry stack storage at the planned Anson Marina.

Regardless of where you come down on the proposed expansion at Anson, we hope that you will join us for a respectful discussion of the issues with both Councilmen.  You can learn more about our distinguished guests at the attached link. 

We continue to hope that SSP will hold a Town Hall Meeting with all residents concerning their requested changes.  We believe that it is important that they communicate their intentions directly to property owners and receive feedback from all of us who are most invested in the long-term viability of our community. 

As always, the volunteers of the PBNA enjoy hearing from you.  Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.  Also, if you have neighbors who have not yet joined the PBNA, please encourage them to do so prior to this important meeting. 

Warmest regards,

Palmetto Bluff PBNA Volunteers 

Bob Morette, Arian Ellis, Harry Haslam, Graz Graziano, Ford Bartholow, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone

https://www.townofbluffton.sc.gov/292/Mayor-Town-Council 

Dear Palmetto Bluff Neighborhood Association Members, 

We hope that the upcoming holidays will be a tremendous time of joy and happiness for all of you. 

On November 11, 2021, we sent you a communication concerning South Street Partner’s request to our Town of Bluffton elected officials to expand and change key components of the plan for the marina at Anson.  You may remember that the Town Council sent the issue to the Town’s Negotiating Committee who will begin the negotiating process later this month. Today, South Street Partners sent out a survey to residents concerning those changes. To help you complete the survey, we believe you should understand some important background. 

Specifically, SSP is requesting changes to the master agreement between the Town of Bluffton and developer that are beyond the limitations and safeguards put in place in the original 1998 agreement (and in subsequent amendments), These agreements provide for a single dry stack storage facility (used by Wilson Landing) and limited fueling to land side only. These provisions were put in place to protect the rivers around Palmetto Bluff. 

We have discovered that many of our neighbors and friends that live on Palmetto Bluff have never had the opportunity to see the Anson area of our community.  For that reason, we are forwarding the attached link from the Coastal Conservation League which contains pictures and two very short drone videos of this pristine habitat.  

Regardless of where you may come down on the expansion at Anson, we wanted to ensure that everyone had an opportunity to see the area.  We hope that it is helpful to you.

We are still hopeful that South Street Partners will hold a Palmetto Bluff Town Hall meeting on these requested changes prior to the Negotiating Committee process.  The survey is not a good substitute for actual dialogue with residents.

Feel free to pass this on to your friends and neighbors here on Palmetto Bluff who may not yet be members of the PBNA.  As always, the volunteers of the PBNA love hearing from you.  Please send any questions that you may have. 

Click here to see Anson:

https://www.coastalconservationleague.org/projects/palmetto-bluff/

Warmest wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year,

Kindest regards,

Bob Morette, Graz Graziano, Harry Haslam, Eric Sutherland, Richard Cedrone, Ford Bartholow