Best Moving Company in Beaufort

By Mike McCombs

Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort has been acquired by Seascape Hospitality Group. The resort announced the sale in a news release Thursday, Jan. 12.

According to the release, Seascape founders Joe Guerra of Long Beach, Calif., and Adam Fuller of Atlanta will manage the operations of the property moving forward through their management company.

The property had been owned by the Wardle family since 2002. Prior to that, according to Director of Marketing Hannah Nichols, the Wardles had been heavily involved in the resort as lenders.

Nichols emphasized the sale affects “just the resort and its assets – the pools the shops, restaurants, etc.”

Specific terms of the sale will not be released, she said.

“We look forward to serving our five hundred co-workers, fourteen hundred members, thousands of annual visitors, and the surrounding Beaufort/Lowcountry communities: all vital to our success,” Guerra said in the release. “We thank the Wardle family for selecting us as their successors and future stewards of this multi-generational resort. We intend to build on the Wardles’ previous success while elevating the resort to the next level of relevance.”

The new owners will retain the existing management and operating team, with a targeted focus on preparing the resort for the next generation of visitors and property owners.

“We are keeping the vast majority of employees,” Hannah said. “We lost a couple that had the opportunity to come on board, but that’s it.”

If anything, Hannah believes the resort will add employees.

“We’re expanding hours,” she said, “so that’s something I see coming.”

Hannah said reaction to the sale has been positive from most of the existing team.

“We’re really excited. With the acquisition comes a great deal of capital. There are plans to pay a good deal of attention to the resort,” Hannah said. “A lot of our facilities are tired. I think the investment in and revitalization of our facilities will be significant and quick.”

“We plan to elevate the hospitality experience and enhance the magic of Fripp Island by revitalizing and modernizing the property’s amenities, while preserving the storied history that so many love about Fripp Island,” Fuller said in the release.

Hannah said there are plans to survey club members and the community.

A private resort for many for generations, Fripp Island has been a pirate hideaway, private hunting range, and a filming location for several classic films through the years. Today it is a private and gated residential resort community located on a barrier island at the end of U.S. Highway 21.

Members and guests of the resort experience full vacation home rental services, two resort-quality golf courses, a full-service marina, several retail stores, a professional racquet club, three beach clubs with multiple pools, a fitness center, a nature and activity center, excursions and personal transportation rentals, multiple restaurant venues, and more than three miles of unspoiled beach.

“This is an exciting time for Fripp Island Golf & Beach Resort. The new ownership intends to significantly contribute to and support the operations, facilities, and employees here,” outgoing owner Douglas Wardle said in the release. “My family and I are proud to entrust the property to new owners who are fully capitalized and committed to perpetuating the success of Fripp Island for future generations.”

“The new owners are very aware of the legacy of Fripp Island. They are attuned to what this place means to most people,” Hannah said. “They know that there are generational memories and experiences here. Their values are the ones that are already shared with the community.”

Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at [email protected]

The city of Beaufort is stepping up oversight of tree trimming by Dominion Energy after previous complaints the power company was heavy-handed in its pruning and lack of communication.

Dominion will be trimming trees in mid-January through March 1 from Hermitage Road in the north to Camelia Road to the south, and from the Spanish Moss Trail in the west and Ribaut Road to the east, said Neal Pugliese, the city’s project manager.

This time, Pugliese said, the city will have its own master arborist oversee the work. The arborist will be available, along with Pugliese, if residents have questions or concerns, Pugliese said. The city also is working with Dominion to improve communications with residents, Pugliese said.

The city and Dominion are planning a meeting Jan. 10 at City Hall “in order to make sure they understand what the guardrails are,” Pugliese said. A time has not been set.

“Dominion’s has been very cooperative in working with us up to this point,” Pugliese said.

Maintaining areas around power lines is important to ensure safe and reliable service, Dominion spokesman Paul Fischer said, because trees and other forms of vegetation that contact overhead power lines can cause outages and flickers.

“While we understand and appreciate the passion surrounding trees across the Lowcountry, safety remains our top priority,” Fischer said. “Trees that have grown too close to overhead lines are both a fire hazard and an issue of employee and public safety. “

Customers with immediate concerns regarding trees on or near their property can contact Dominion at 800-251-7234. Pugliese, the project manager for the city, can be reached at 714-357-0811.

In June 2021, residents complained that trimming of live oaks and pines was a “butcher job.” Some residents said they also were caught off-guard when large utility poles were installed in their neighborhood, replacing older, smaller poles.

They were most upset, though, about what they said was a lack of communication about the work, saying they felt “blown off.” Residents took their complaints to the City Council, which recommended that Dominion and the city get together to improve communications with the public before future work occurs.

Pugliese updated City Council members on Dec. 13 about Dominion’s upcoming work and the steps to ensure the process runs smoothly.

Trees are pruned about every five years, Pugliese said, to ensure electricity remains reliable and that trees do not interfere with utility lines.

“Hopefully they will be a little more sensitive to our area,” Councilman Neil Lipsitz said.

Protecting trees and ensuring reliable electricity, especially during storms, is a balance, said Mayor Stephen Murray, calling himself a “tree hugger” who also loves electricity.

“I appreciate Dominion Energy’s communication with us this time and giving us a little bit of heads up and time to prepare everybody,” Murray said, “unlike some previous trimming.”

Trees and tree limbs represent the No. 1 reason for power outages, Fischer said. Trees that exceed a maximum height of about 15 feet are not suitable for planting along distribution rights of way or near overhead lines.

Dominion follows national pruning standards outlined by the International Society of Arboriculture, and the company’s aborists also oversee its projects, Fischer said.

This story was originally published December 29, 2022 10:21 AM.

An off-duty firefighter apparently saved a man who went into cardiac arrest Tuesday at the Planet Fitness in Beaufort.

Seeing Lt. Adam Jordan at the Planet Fitness on Robert Smalls Parkway is not unusual, especially if it’s his day off work from the City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department. Just before 9:30 a.m., Jordan and his wife were exercising when she heard someone yell.

“My wife said, ‘I think someone is hurt,’” Jordan said. “I found someone blue with trouble breathing, their pulse was thready.”

Jordan immediately went to work performing CPR while a gym employee, Don Martz, grabbed the automated external defibrillator (AED), a machine used to deliver an electrical shock to restore a person’s heartbeat.

“In five years with the company, I’ve pulled the machine twice and used it once [on Tuesday],” Martz said. “We’ve only had two emergencies where they’ve taken people away.”

Once the first shock was administered at 9:35 a.m., Jordan said the man responded immediately.

“The man grunted, fluttered his eyelids,” he said. “I talked to him a little bit, I said, ‘Welcome back.’ He responded back to me.”

The incident happened the morning after an NFL football player, Damar Hamlin with the Buffalo Bills, collapsed on the field in Cincinnati during Monday Night Football after going into cardiac arrest. Doctors were able to restart his heart before he was taken away by ambulance. Hamlin on Wednesday was still in critical condition.

When the fire department was sent out to the gym after the manager, Alex Gregory, called 911, they had no idea they would find one of their own at the scene.

“I heard the call coming in through dispatch and heard, ‘customer doing CPR,’ not realizing it was one of our guys,” said Chief Ross Vezin a spokesperson for the department. “Ultimately, that [CPR] and AED saved his life.”

The man who went into cardiac arrest at the Beaufort gym ended up staying overnight at the hospital, but was in good condition as of Wednesday, Gregory said. He is not being identified to protect his privacy.

Administering CPR and chest compression as soon as possible is essential in emergency situations like this one, said responding paramedic and City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department Lt. David Evans.

“In emergency situations, we’re thinking a certain way; when we know someone [who is CPR-certified] is there, it’s better because we know those steps have already been taken,” Evans said. He said once he saw Adam Jordan, he knew “we had someone that knew what to do.”

This story was originally published January 4, 2023 3:40 PM.

Medical advancements have created artificial substitutes for everything from limbs to internal organs, but one of our most precious and life-saving resources, human blood, is not one of them.

Patients who require blood transfusions rely on healthy humans to donate blood at community blood drives and blood centers across the nation so that blood and blood products are available at local hospitals like Beaufort Memorial.

“The fact is there is no other source of human blood,” said Dr. Bradford Collins, a board-certified pathologist and medical director of Laboratory Services at Beaufort Memorial. “It cannot be manufactured or produced in any other way, so the importance of volunteer blood donors to the health of our patients cannot be overstated or overvalued.”

Dr. Collins is keenly aware of the importance of blood donors to patients in his community.

“The availability of safe, reliable blood products can literally mean the difference between life and death for patients who need them,” he said.

Hospitalized patients require blood for a variety of reasons, including car accidents, traumatic injuries and surgical blood loss, among others.

In fact, it was for this reason that in 2002 Dr. Collins, along with dozens of hospital and community leaders, began developing a community blood center in Beaufort to provide for patients at Beaufort Memorial.

Now known as OneBlood, the center and its staff have a 20-year history of collecting blood from local donors throughout Beaufort and surrounding areas to ensure that Beaufort Memorial and its patients always have the blood products they need, when they need them.

January is National Blood Donation Month, designated as such to help boost collections during the winter when donations are historically low.

One pint of blood can save up to three lives, and eligible donors can roll up their sleeves every 56 days to donate. Almost anyone can donate, but unfortunately only 5-to-10 percent of eligible donors give, and even fewer do so regularly. Donors must be in good health, at least 16 years of age and weigh more than 110 pounds to be eligible.

OneBlood partners with businesses, schools, neighborhoods and community organizations to host mobile blood collection events several times each month. They also operate a free-standing center on Boundary Street in Beaufort where donors can give single or double-red-blood-cell donations utilizing special equipment available onsite. To find a location to donate, visit OneBlood.org/donate-now.

Today Beaufort Memorial utilizes about 200 pints of blood per month. Officials expect that number to increase as the hospital system expands its surgical capacity and its operations throughout the county.

“We are so grateful to the thousands of people who have rolled up their sleeves to provide this resource to patients at Beaufort Memorial,” Dr. Collins said. “If you’re thinking about becoming a donor, the time is now.”

The Beaufort National Historic Landmark District — a source of pride for the city and an economic driver — remains intact 50 years after it was designated by the National Park Service, according to a draft report made available to the public.

But over the years, the demolition of historic buildings, large-scale developments and massive power poles have diminished its integrity, too, the report concludes.

The 300-acre district was designated in 1973, highlighting the city’s national significance for its distinctive southern architecture, which was spared during the Civil War. It consists of 160 residences, churches, commercial and government buildings and landscapes ranging from the early 18th century to the 1910s. It is bounded on the north by Boundary Street, on the east and south by the Beaufort River and on the west by Hamar Street.

“Beaufort as a coastal city is in many ways a unique treasury of Southern American architecture of the first half of the 19th century,” the original nominating application for a federal historic designation said. “Its counterparts may be found in New England — Salem, Mass., Portsmouth, N.H., Providence, R.I. — as examples where fine homes and churches were built during the great days of the clipper ships.”

But in May 2021, critics of large development projects proposed in the city’s historic downtown, citing threats to its historic character, asked the National Park Service to conduct the study. The draft report was released Tuesday.

“In recent years, there have been numerous large-scale developments proposed within the [historic landmark district] that have caused concern among residents and alarmed preservationists, leading individuals and organizations to legally challenge decisions made by the city,” the report states. “The public concerns over ordinance interpretation and enforcement, along with staffing changes within the city, have led to public apprehension and confusion.”

Beaufort has made strides in balancing growth despite the challenges, the report adds, but unresolved issues remain, including conflicts between preservationists and planners, planning staffs’ perceived lack of familiarity with preservation planning, and city approval of controversial projects that many believe the historic preservation ordinance and design guidelines should guard against.

The Park Service is asking the public to comment on the draft report until March 11. The report will be finalized later this year. It identifies the district’s current condition, key threats and makes recommendations to preserve it.

The preliminary findings in the report include:

? Despite the loss of at least 12 contributing buildings, and insensitive alterations to others, the Beaufort National Historic Landmark District largely retains the distinctive character identified in the 1973 NHL District documentation.

? Demolition of buildings and subsequent infill (or lack thereof) has led to a shift in development patterns and changes in building density. Additionally, large and incompatible development and infill has led to changes in the district’s character.

? Projects on rights-of-way controlled by the South Carolina Department of Transportation and Dominion Energy such as the addition of monumental, out-sized utility poles, particularly within the Northwest Quadrant, negatively impact and significantly diminish the integrity of the district.

? The establishment of Reconstruction Era National Historical Park has sparked renewed interest in resources such as the Tabernacle Church and Robert Smalls House. Headquartered within the District, the Park highlights the underrepresented and significant resources and stories of the Reconstruction Era.

? Multiple preservation successes have contributed to the district’s health.

“The study’s goal is to assess the district’s current health as a national historic landmark and aid stewardship,” Alesha Cerny, a historian with the National Historic Landmarks Program, in a new release.

The release of the draft comes just weeks after Curt Freese began his job running the city’s Community and Economic Development Department, which includes planners who oversee development within the city including the historic district. Freese was hired to replace former Community and Economic Development Head David Prichard, in part, because of his experience with so-called “form-based” codes and historic issues.

The city, the report notes, adopted a form-based code in 2017 to balance growth and preservation in the Historic District. Form-based code encourages high density development of mixed-use buildings to provide better access to public areas

But the marked shift away from standard suburban style zoning has, in some instances, conflicted with historic development patterns, the report says. For example, it says, blocks that were historically sparsely developed across a minimal number of parcels are now more densely developed with buildings that cover entire lots.

To protect the integrity of the district, the report says, the form-based codes should not take higher priority over historic design review guidelines.

The report also says the city could do a better job of preserving and highlighting African American history and architecture, which, it says, is not well understood or as fully embraced. After the Civil War, the report notes, the city’s Northwest Quadrant, which is part of the district today, was home to the city’s largest African American freedmen community, with West Street developing into the “Black Wall Street’‘ of business in Beaufort.

“Heritage and corresponding stories have largely been lost, however, as West Street’s historical associations are not publicly recognized within the larger community or interpreted through signage,” the report says. “Further, rising property values and other issues have largely forced property ownership turnover out of African American ownership in these areas.”

The city’s adoption of a short-term rental ordinance in 2018, which included caps on neighborhood rentals, has not fully resolved community concerns, the report says.

With tourism in Beaufort at an all-time high, there has been a rise in design submissions for large scale parking garages and hotels, atypical to historic development uses and building patterns, the report says.

“While many approved projects have not yet been built, those proposed threaten the integrity of design, feeling, setting and association within the district,” the report says.

The National Park Service will host two public meetings on the findings of the report on Feb. 8, at 10 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., at the Beaufort City Hall, 1911 Boundary Street.

Written comments should be submitted to: Alesha Cerny, Attn: Beaufort NHLD Study National Park Service, 100 Alabama Street, SW Atlanta, GA 30303. Find the study at: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/projectHome.cfm?projectID=105336

Submit comments online (preferred) to: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/beaufort. Select “Open for Comment” on the left menu bar, open the “February 2023 Public Meetings” folder and click on the green “Comment Now” button to access the online commenting form.