March Board Meeting

  1. Call to Order

    1. Welcome and meeting called to order by President Joe McGee

    2. Attendance: Joe, Josh, Chuck, Mike Seekings, Josh, Susan, Ashley, and Rich in person. Lisa and Meghan joined virtually

  2. Approval of Agenda and Minutes

    1. Approve the February 5 Board meeting minutes

  3. Council Member Mike Seekings Update

    1. Tree Trimming Issues: Mike Seekings discussed the issues with tree trimming in Village by the contractor Xylem, including violations of the tree protection agreement and the need for better communication and adherence to protocols.

    2. Underground Wiring: Seekings explained the challenges and long timeline for underground wiring in Village, including the need to renegotiate the franchise agreement with Dominion and the prioritization of other neighborhoods.

    3. Commercial Parking Lots: owners at 48 Bull St. were issued a “cease and desist” letter to stop Commercial parking operations. The owner requested 60 days to ramp-down the operation.

    4. Barricades Management: Planning is underway to improve deploying and removing flood barricades in the neighborhoods., Timing, expected in a couple months.

    5. Two-Way Street Conversions: Update on the study and funding for the two-way conversions of Coming, Ashley, and Rutledge Streets, emphasizing the potential positive impact on neighborhood livability and safety. Engineering study underway, targeting early summer for report-out

    6. Wentworth Garage: Completed transferring ownership of garage to the College of Charleston. The college has committed to maintaining at least the existing number of parking spaces (500+) in a new, mixed-use development. Progress will be slow pending State Bond approval

    7. Knee wall Project: Mike Seekings introduced Jim O'Connor from JMT Engineering, who provided an update on the Lockwood knee wall project, including the design, permitting process, and timeline for completion. The goal is to prevent sunny day, high tide flooding, not necessarily large storm events or hurricanes. Permits are expected to be submitted by the end of March, with approvals anticipated by summer. Construction would take at least a year, starting by the end of 2025 or early 2026. Project elements include:

      1. Tidal Wall Construction, approximately 2 feet tall

      2. Sidewalk Replacement maintaining the same width and adding a small cap on the wall for seating.

      3. Outfall Pipes and Drainage valves on the outfall pipes to prevent tidal flooding while allowing rainwater to drain

  4. Open Forum/Public Comments - Community members share comments or announcements. Please limit remarks to 3 minutes

  5. Reports

    1. Officers -
      1. President’s Report -

        1. Report-out on meeting with Mike leading to standing monthly meetings to review asks/updates and “how can we help”

        2. Pending discussion with Union Pier officials regarding planning process and engagement

        3. $200 donation delivered and welcomed by to Charleston Parks Conservancy

      2. Vice President’s Report -

        1. Updates and Committee schedules to be posted

        2. Approximately 80 Stripe payments have been made since Jan 1st

      3. Treasurer’s Report -

        1. As of March 5, current account balance of $5,731, increase of $406 from February. This reflects a $200 donation to the Charleston Parks Conservancy on 3/5, as well $606.07 in dues transferred from Stripe met

        2. Met with an accountant to discuss whether to continue filing our taxes as a HOA or to seek 501(c)4 status. Our 2024 taxes were filed by the prior Treasurer as a HOA, which is how we had been filing.

    2. Committee Reports - actions taken, committee meetings, next step
      1. Parks Committee: Ashley Hughes

        1. Parks Survey: Ashley and Rich (Committee member) presented the parks survey intended to gather feedback on park usage and improvements. Survey to be administered in a few weeks, using Charleston Parks Conservancy, HVA focused, mailing list.

        2. Colonial Lake Volunteer Dates: Ashley announced the first two volunteer dates for Colonial Lake, scheduled for March 26 and 29 and April 10th

        3. Farmers Market Volunteer Dates: First two volunteer dates for the Marion Square farmers market booth are April 19th and April 26th, with the goal of promoting the neighborhood association and recruiting volunteers.

        4. Moultrie Park Activation: Collaborating with Parks Conservancy's to activate Moultrie Park with a food and beverage operation, including the potential use of the current recreation building.

      2. Livability Committee: Chuck Duffy - Chuck provided an update on the livability survey, which is 75% complete, and the plan to present the findings to the board and the city by the April meeting.

      3. BAR & Zoning Committee: Wiley Becker - Introduced the draft policy for the planning and zoning committee, outlining the scope of their work and the process for evaluating residential and commercial requests.

      4. Flood Committee: Susan Lyons

        1. Announced postponement of the free City Water Plan forum, which will now take place on April 15 at 5:30 at the Main Library

        2. Inventory of short and long-term storm drain and flood mitigations projects is targeted for the April meeting

      5. Membership Committee: Meghan Friday

        1. Megan noted the deadline for newsletter input was March 7, schedule for publishing newsletter is 3/15.

        2. Plans to make signs for posting around town,

        3. Collaborating with Neighbor to Neighbor for the May 15th event

  6. Old Business - Constitution and By-Law Update (Josh)

  7. New Business -

    1. Presented for final adoption the HVA Policy on Film Production in Harleston Village. Plan to be filed with the City to notify film companies working in the neighborhood

    2. First reading, presented Policy on Planning & Zoning review procedures

  8. Workshop Session- presented and reviewed DRAFT HVA Project Roll-up for next several months (Joe)

  9. Adjournment


Action Summary -

  • City items:

    • • Ensure 48 Bull Street winds down parking operations.

    • • Improve barricade deployment system, pending

    • • Await street conversion study report (early summer).

  • Support Parks Conservancy activities and survey outreach.

  • Promote and staff volunteer dates in March and April.

  • Finalize and approve Constitution & Bylaw revisions.

  • Submit and publish newsletter by March 15.

  • File Film Policy with the City.

  • Review and adopt Planning & Zoning process.

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