From The Blog

Flood Mitigation Vote Result

We are pleased to announce that an overwhelming 82% of voters cast their ballot in support of the special assessment required for infrastructure improvements that will mitigate Kiawah’s commonly recurring flooding issues. The vote passed with the participation of 59% of community members. Alleviating hazardous flooding and maintaining passable roads in many heavy rainfall scenarios is an exciting step forward for our barrier island.

It is heartwarming to see the community support this effort with such unity. In these difficult times, the community came together for the common good. We had close to 200 people participate in flood mitigation discussion meetings, either online or in person (before lockdown). Many of you also submitted your questions to the association so that you could make an informed choice. We appreciate the time and effort made by each of you to research, question and participate in the vote to select a path forward for our community.

KICA has received the appropriate permits to begin work on Project Two, the new outfall at Pond 30, and Project Six, where an inlet will be dredged near Trumpet Creeper Lane. Project Two will have the greatest overall impact, mitigating many hazardous flooding issues that occur in central Kiawah. According to current construction timelines, this project will be complete by the end of the year. All projects are scheduled for completion by the end of 2022. The association will provide updates to the community throughout the project timeline, and the effectiveness of the infrastructure solutions will be evaluated and reported.

The first special assessment will be billed on June 1 and due July 1. Members will have the option to pay the single-year amount of $65 per unimproved property or $130 per improved property, or the full 5-year total special assessment.

We want to thank the community members who were part of the task force. Barry Abrams, Rajan Govindan and Chris Widuch all participated in our planning meetings and made valuable contributions to the final plan. We also had tremendous staff support. Shannon White, Jane Ovenden, Will Connor, Lucas Hernandez and Leah Burris spent countless hours working through the details to analyze the issues, make recommendations and communicate the final plan. Our outside engineering firm, Stantec, made themselves available whenever needed and provided excellent technical support. None of this progress would be possible without the initial planning and continued support of the KICA board members.

Finally, we want to thank our island partners who provided insights and support to our efforts. The Town of Kiawah Island, the Kiawah Conservancy and Kiawah Partners all came together for the benefit of the community. We all have a role to play in the health and stability of our island. Each entity contributed to the final outcome, and are committed to moving forward together to create an adaptive water management strategy for Kiawah.

Again, we are grateful for the support of everyone involved in this project and we hope it is a model for how significant decisions are made in the future.

DAVE MORLEY
Water Management Task Force Chair
KICA Board Treasurer