LBTS President Bob Postiglione Winter 2020/2021 Letter

January 1, 2021

 

Most of us won’t be sorry to see 2020 in the rear-view mirror… Let’s hope for a resumption of some sense of normalcy in the coming months.

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The Litchfield by the Sea Board continues to monitor guidelines set by the CDC and Governor’s Office as they apply to the Beach House, the River Club pool area and throughout the common areas of LBTS.  The Board continues to feel that it is our obligation to take appropriate actions on issues within its purview to limit potential risks.

For now, the Beach house remains closed and the Beach House furniture remains secured.  We continue to ask that masks and appropriate social distancing continue to be utilized throughout LBTS common areas.

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Life does go on at LBTS and in the coming months, here is a partial list of the projects that will be underway throughout the LBTS Oceanside and River Club campuses… Much credit goes to Waccamaw Management and their maintenance crews that keep LBTS the jewel that it is…

1. New section of Beach House deck was recently changed to trex board – a more durable material

2. Road work near the front entrance of Litchfield by the Sea – between the front entrance and Lakeside

3. Planning for road work in the River Club

4. Upgrading our security software to a cloud based platform

5. Additional storm drain inspections and repairs

 

On a separate note, there are two issues that have drawn a fair amount of attention amongst LBTS Owners.  Let me attempt to set the record straight.

 

 1. The implementation of the $20 Bar Code Fee

on new bar codes and annual renewals.

On numerous occasions over the last three years in many venues, this Board has reiterated that the original Developers of LBTS provided limited ability for future LBTS Boards to generate additional revenue when needed.  Capping annual assessment increases to 6% and allowing a special assessment of 10% may have seemed enough 40+ years ago but has proven to be inadequate in the real world today.

 

LBTS is an aging community that includes much taken for granted infrastructure that goes unnoticed, until it fails. Reserve Budget items like Oceanside Campus and River Club roads, sewers, sidewalks, bulkheads, irrigation systems, parking lots, tennis courts, the Beach House, landscape replacement plantings, wooden walkways, cross overs and decks throughout LBTS all must be maintained (either with complete replacement or repairs on a regular basis…some at significant expense.)  In recent years, in additional to raising the monthly dues the maximum 6% allowed by the governing documents, the Board has also had to impose a  10% Special Assessment to fund reserve projects and increase the amount being set aside for future capital projects.    

 

Coupled with this, the second largest line item behind Reserves on the LBTS Budget is Security.  We have repeatedly been asked to not allow the current Security standards to be diminished, in fact, some have called for added Security resources.  The Security budget includes the maintenance of five LBTS Gates with their equipment/technology and the manned staffing at two of them.  Also included is the roving and beach house guards, plus a full-time bar code administrator at Waccamaw Management.   The costs for Security staffing continue to increase and has been forecast to continue this upward trend  as the pool of suitable personnel throughout the Grand Strand continues to shrink.  If we are to maintain Security at its current level, hourly wages of our personnel will go up.

 

Adding a Bar Code Fee revenue source that directly is applied to the Security Budget Expense goes a long way to make the ever-increasing cost of the Security function self-sustaining.  Additionally, a bar code fee is based on usage.  A family with eight bar codes uses more of the Security function than does a family with two and pays commensurately. (Bar Codes themselves are not inexpensive to produce.)  Please note, the Board takes very seriously adding an expense to our Owners.   This Board has pledged to keep the high-quality standards  at LBTS as we all have been accustomed.  To accomplish this, the Board has reviewed and will continue to review revenue enhancements and cost savings wherever they can be found.   Part of this review involved talking to other resort communities about their bar code systems and the Board discovered that MANY communities like LBTS charge an annual renewal fee for bar code usage.

 

2. Reduction of Trash Collection at LBTS Regimes Participating in the Bulk Contract to once per week.

 

Earlier this year, Waccamaw Management and The Board were notified by GFL (formerly Waste Management) that effective (January 1, 2021) the bulk trash contract would be reduced to once per week.  Final details were not provided until September.   GLF, as a company, has changed the frequency of their pick-ups to once a week.   The volume of trash being picked up remains the same but GFL audited the communities and discovered that far less trash was being picked up on the second day.  In exchange for the reduction in pick-ups, GFL is willing to provide a second trash cart free of charge.  

 

The LBTS Board had insufficient time to investigate and secure another trash provider for 2021.   As stated in an email blast sent in early December, the LBTS Board will be evaluating this service in the first quarter of 2021 for the 2022 calendar year.  We plan to reach out to other vendors regarding pricing and frequency of service.  It will be important that the program continue to be offered as a flexible, optional service to LBTS members.   The association’s governing documents do not allow us to enter into a contract that requires an owner to get a certain service.  Because the program is voluntary, individual owners can cancel their participation in the bulk program and engage the services of their own vendor, including using the Georgetown Trash and Recycling Center which is free to residents of Georgetown County.   Participation in a bulk contract gives LBTS Regimes a significant negotiating position and Waccamaw Management and the Board will investigate alternatives for 2022.

 

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please direct them to Lisa Hergenrother at Waccamaw Management and either she or someone from the Board will get back to you ASAP.

The Board and I would like to wish for you a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2021.

Yours truly,

 

Bob Postiglione

Litchfield by the Sea Board President