In September 2021, the HBPOA membership voted to withhold support for the pier purchase until a financial plan was in place. The Town approved an initial plan in December and a revised plan in January 2022. The purpose of this referendum is to determine the amount of property owner support for the revised plan and purchase as approved by the Commissioners on January 18, 2022. It should be noted that this revised plan does not reflect the latest changes to the parking plans which reduced the number of parking spaces, reduced the prices to be charged for parking, and increased the cost charged by the parking vendor.
Pier Purchase Referendum
This Referendum is not limited to HBPOA members. Ballot invitations are being sent to all known Town of Holden Beach property owners by both email (when available) and postcard. Each property is assigned a unique Voter ID and a Password to ensure only one vote may be cast. This referendum is being conducted using the independent Election Runner online system and ballots are secret. Contact us at [email protected] if you have not received your invitation.
You will be able to cast votes using any of the following methods:
- Click the link in the invitation email.
- Vote online at the Election Runner URL. You will need your password and Voter ID from your postcard.
- By phone voice message or SMS text message at (910) 294-0280. Leave a message or send a text with your vote and ID from the postcard.
- By mailing back the postcard as a paper ballot to HBPOA, PO Box 376, Supply, NC 28462.
Please review the reference materials listed below before casting your vote.
Ballot Question
Does your Holden Beach Property SUPPORT or OPPOSE the Board of Commissioner’s Revised Plan adopted January 18, 2022 to:
- Purchase the Pier Property for $3,250,000;
- Incur $3,300,000 of LGC-approved Installment Financing for that purchase; and
- Spend an estimated additional $1,000,000 to bring the current Building and Pier into compliance with applicable safety and engineering requirements (if feasible)?
___YES – SUPPORT
___NO – OPPOSE
Pier Referendum Results
The HBPOA has concluded its referendum on the Town’s plan for the pier property. Out of 2309 total eligible voter households, 969 votes were cast, with 390 (40.2%) supporting the Town’s plan and 579 (59.8%) opposed.
The Election Runner software we used to conduct the referendum had strict controls to make sure only property owners could vote and only one vote could be cast per household. The majority of the votes (78%) were cast via the direct link from our email message; 20% of the votes were cast via phone voicemail or text message, and 2% of the votes were cast by returning the paper postcard ballot.
We received votes from 42% of the 2309 eligible households, which is an exceptionally high response rate for a poll such as this one and reflects the very high level of interest that property owners had in this issue. Unfortunately, the results of our referendum did not have an impact on the Town Commissioners or the Local Government Commission, who gave more weight to the opinions of people from social media sites and a petition on Change.org. Since some of the Facebooks groups had more than 29,000 followers and Change.org reaches a worldwide audience, the voices of Holden Beach property owners appear to have been drowned out by the voices of people who don’t own property or pay taxes on the island.
Reference Materials
Official Documents From Town
Town’s Revised Pier Plan (Version 2) for the property as adopted January 18
Town’s Loan Application to the LGC
LGC’s January 19th email to the Town re status of Pier Loan Application
Pier Purchase Contract and Amendment
Engineering Report – Building Assessment
HBPOA Prepared Documents
HBPOA Summary of Revised Town Pier Plan Approved on 01-18-22
HBPOA Analysis of Towns Revised Plan 02-16-22
HBPOA Analysis of Building Rent
Summary of Pier Purchase History
Updated as of February 9, 2022
The Town has entered into a contract to purchase a portion of the Pier property. The parcels under contract include the Pier Building and the parcel west of the Building. See the photo below. It does not include the five parcels comprising the Campground or the large parcel where the old hotel was located. These parcels are either sold or still for sale. The purchase price is $3.25M. The original contract contained $25,000 Earnest Money and $25,000 Due Diligence funds. Reasons given for the purchase include public parking, public beach access, and the Pier itself.
Timeline of Activities
February 2, 2022 – The BOC approved a reduction in the number of paid parking spaces and agreed to look at a reduction in the prices to be charged, further reducing the paid parking revenue available to support the pier purchase.
January 18, 2022 – BOC unanimously approved a revised plan for the pier correcting errors in the paid parking revenue assumptions in the December plan and adding a four-space RV park. The financial shortfall was estimated at $92K in FY22/23, then a total of $43K for FY23/24-FY25/26. During comments, Commissioner Smith promised taxes would not be raised due to the Pier.
December 21, 2021 – BOC unanimously approved a plan for the pier property to operate as a fishing pier, restaurant, and retail establishment by leasing it to business providers once the necessary repairs and improvements are completed. The expectation is the property can be repaired, maintained, and operated without an increase in property taxes or special assessments by spreading the repairs out over the next four years.
November 16, 2021 BOC Meeting – No response from seller regarding $500K price reduction for repairs, another month needed. The requested deliverables (business records, maintenance records, etc.) have not been received. Motion to extend the Due Diligence period until December 17 to allow response from seller with a response needed by this Friday or the Town would withdraw offer. Failed 3-2 with Commissioners Sullivan and Kwiatkowski voting in favor. New motion to not include the withdrawal of offer passed. During comments: Commissioner Brown said he would not raise taxes to cover the pier purchase.
October 20, 2021 – The report on the Pier structure from the Town’s Beach Engineer, ATM, was released. You can read it here. Here is a summary of the report findings:
Applied Technology & Management (ATM) completed the due diligence assessment of the pier structure. The underwater inspection was very limited due to the sea state at the time of inspection (-3 to 5ft breaking waves) making it not feasible or safe to perform diving operations. The assessment was also limited by the fact there were no plans or structural details, design criteria, technical and performance specifications, shop drawings, as-builts, geotechnical information, or wind/wave studies that could be located.
Overall, the pier has likely surpassed its remaining service life considering it was constructed in 1957, which is ~64 years old. Most fixed timber pier structures are constructed for a 50-year life span with regular maintenance. Without maintenance records it is difficult to ascertain when key components such as the pilings were replaced.
- Five pilings are in critical condition and require immediate action.
- Handrails are in poor condition are a severe safety risk. There is one critical section of handrail on the east side nearshore that exhibited excessive movement when pushed upon.
- The plumbing and electrical may be out of compliance and would likely require replacement in order to comply with current codes. Some electrical connections are exposed and are considered a recognized safety hazard.
- In absence of the piling as-built elevations and installation records, ATM could not ascertain the top elevation, overall length, or pile embedment. Pile embedment information is critical in determining the structural capacity of the piles.
- Most of the pile bents (cross beams) are in good condition, but some are exhibiting wood rot at the ends and are in poor condition.
- The stringers appear to be in fair condition. In several locations there was no apparent connection between the stringers and the pile bents. Therefore, their condition is unknown. The connection hardware was inconsistent overall, and in many cases, they exhibited moderate to extreme corrosion.
- The decking is in fair condition and appears to be maintained with no tripping hazards observed. The structure has a few notable areas where deflection and rotation are apparent on the decking surface. The variation in the surface is consistent with locations where piles were leaning significantly or broken.
Immediate repairs to the pier to extend the service life to a reasonable period of time (10-15 years) is estimated to be on the order of $500,000 to $750,000. This would include replacement or significant repair of the three damaged piles, replacement of the damaged pile caps, installation of new cross bracing and total replacement of corroded fasteners and connections. This estimate assumes that significant material such as decking and stringers can be salvaged, and the construction can be completed by land-based equipment (i.e., no mobilization of barges or water-based equipment).
One of the key concerns observed during the inspection was the heavily corroded and missing/damaged connection hardware throughout the pier structure. Nearly all visible connections are in critical condition and will require replacement. A majority of the horizontal and vertical cross-braces are either missing, detached, or broken which is a critical condition for the structure.
October 1, 2021- The Commissioners met on Friday, October 1 and voted to offer a new contract including an additional $50,000 due diligence paid to the Pier owner. The vote passed 3-2 with Commissioners Sullivan and Kwiatkowski voting Nay. Commissioner Sullivan explained that the Town shouldn’t have to spend another $50,000 because the Pier owner sat on the contract from June 23 until August 7 making it difficult to complete the due diligence/inspection.
September 29, 2021 – The Commissioners met in Executive Session to discuss the inspection results. Read the Engineering Report – Building Assessment, the Systems Evaluation, and the Appraisal Report for the Pier Building. The inspection report of the pier structure was not yet available. The Commissioners voted to offer the pier owner a new contract which would move the Due Diligence period back until November 19th, after the inspection report on the pier structure is expected, and push the closing back until February 28th. A response was requested by noon on Friday, October 1. The Town would seek approval to finance the purchase from the Local Government Commission (LGC) at their February meeting. This delay is what was requested by HBPOA.
September 28, 2021 – The HBPOA Board of Directors sent a letter to the Commissioners with a summary of questions and issues. Read it here: Letter to Town re Pier Purchase Issues.
September 21, 2021 Public Hearing and Regular Commissioners’ Meeting – HBPOA shared our position at the Board of Commissioners’ Public Hearing. HBPOA Vice President John Witten speaks at the 3:21 mark. At the meeting, Commissioner Brian Murdock shared that there is no plan of what to do with the property, that the inspections are expected to be poor and the Town may end up tearing it all down and selling it as lots for construction. He also noted that a tax increase or assessment may be needed. Listen to his comments at the 2:32:00 mark here.
September 16 – 21, 2021 HBPOA sent a quick survey to property owners that we had email addresses for to verify that property owners agreed with our position. Over 82% of the responses said they supported the motion approved at our Labor Day meeting calling for slowing the purchase down until more information was available and a plan for the property was developed.
September 4, 2021 – The HBPOA membership voted to approve the following position statement at the Labor Day Meeting: The HPBOA cannot support the proposed purchase of the pier properties until these items are known:
1) The inspection results listing any necessary repairs and their estimated cost;
2) The Town’s intended use of the property, including the provision of beach access;
3) A 15-year plan for the estimated revenues and expenses, including repairs, improvements, insurance, and operating costs;
4) The impact on taxes.
NOTE: The HBPOA has never indicated that the members were not in support of the purchase, only that more information was needed before such a large and important purchase was made. The worst-case scenario would be for the Town to buy the pier and allow it to become an abandoned, derelict structure while taxpayers foot the bill. Unfortunately, without even a rudimentary plan that is exactly what will happen with property owners left paying for a decaying asset.
- July 8, 2021 – The July 8 Special Meeting and Public Hearing was canceled due to a lack of a quorum. Commissioners Murdock, Brown, Smith, and Sullivan were absent.
- June 30, 2021 – At a Special Meeting on June 30 a document was prepared by Commissioners Sullivan and Kwiatkowski about the purchase and distributed. HBPOA President Tom Myers also spoke. Read his comments here.
- June 23, 2021 – The Commissioners agreed to a contract on June 23. Note: It was not accepted by the pier owner until August 7, severely impacting the due diligence period
Photos
Many property owners have said they have not been to the pier in years. Here are some recent photos.
Inspections
The Town has contracted with ATM, our beach engineer, for an above and below water inspection of the Pier structure. Their report is expected around the beginning of November. The Pier building was also inspected. You can read the engineer’s report here and the Building Inspector’s report here. An appraisal was also done, which you can read here.
There are concerns about the Pier Structure and the impact marine borers may have had on the pilings. Folly Beach, SC recently rebuilt its pier due to this. An article on the issue is here.
About marine borers
Also known as shipworms, marine boring “worms” are actually mollusks and are the most destructive of the marine wood-boring insects. They enter timber submerged underwater and then grow rapidly once inside.
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- These creatures have been around for as long as wood has been found in saltwater.
- These insects are especially bad on the Southern Atlantic Coast, as they thrive in warmer water temperatures.
- Wood pilings can be preserved after marine borers have gotten in them; however, eventually, they will need to be replaced.
- The best long-term solution to stop the damage caused by marine borers is to reconstruct using concrete pilings.
Financing
The Town will need to arrange a loan for the property. In order to do so, they must get approval from the Local Government Commission (LGC). When the purchase was first discussed, it was assumed that paid parking and revenue from leasing out the restaurant and ongoing pier operations would generate enough funds to cover the loan amount. Upon further investigation that funding no longer seems feasible and Commissioner Murdock has said taxes may need to increase “a hundred and something” per year. An assessment has also been discussed, see details below. No information is available on operating and maintenance costs including insurance.
Assessments vs. Property Taxes
As Town Mager Hewett has pointed out, an Assessment is not a tax! Ad Valorem property taxes are based on each property’s assessed value. Our current tax rate is $0.20/$100 assessed value. Taxes are usually deductible on Federal and State taxes. Assessments are a fee charged to each property. According to IRS code, this would not be deductible.*
*Tax information: Everyone’s tax situation is different. This is not meant as tax advice. Consult your tax professional for how increased property tax and/or an assessment would impact your taxes.
More Information
Pier Marketing Brochure – from prior listing, timeframe unknown.
In the Media:
WECT: Local Government Commission Green Lights Town Purchase of Holden Beach Fishing Pier
Wilmington Star News: Concerns over Public Support, Mayor involvement Could Put Purchase on Hold
Wilmington Star News: Holden Beach plans to buy fishing pier, residents have concerns (starnewsonline.com)
Wilmington Star News: Holden Beach pier purchase on hold after concerns from NC Govenrment (starnewsonline)
Wilmington Star News: Holden Beach could buy fishing pier brokered by mayor’s real estate firm
Wilmington Star News: Star News Holden Beach calls special meeting on pier purchase as new details emerge