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Community Voices: Five Years of Measured Results

Community Voices: Five Years of Measured Results

County Partnership and Compliance

  • Built a working relationship with Berkeley County departments that has produced repeated interventions with KHOV on homeowners’ behalf.
  • Triggered a work stoppage until erosion-control best management practices (BMPs) were properly installed and maintained.
  • Fought for two years to enforce the Berkeley County Streetscape ordinance, requiring the developer to fund $170,000 to remediate its failed implementation in Phases 6, 7, and 8.
  • Stopped all construction traffic from entering the community before 7 AM.
  • Electrical Safety Hazard: Electrical cords that had been left lying on the ground in the clubhouse patio landscaping were removed at the  urging of the Fire Chief due to the risk of electrocution.


Construction Quality and Roadways

  • Documented numerous construction defects in all 10 phases, including 
  • sidewalks as thin as 1.5 inches where 4 inches at 3,000 psi is required.
  • Exposed the strain on residential roadways from construction vehicles exceeding 75,000 lbs., a liability that must be settled fairly at transition.
  • Identified roadways already showing separation and pavement failure, and insisted on a geotechnical investigation rather than the proposed crack filling.
  • Objected to replacing defective amenity windows with the same product.
  • Fire Hydrant Inspections: BCWS is currently conducting fire hydrant inspections following FOIA requests submitted to both the County and State along with meetings with the Fire Chief.
  • Geotechnical Investigation: A geotechnical investigation was conducted after cracks in the pavement were reported. The findings raise serious concerns and the necessary repairs are expected to be costly.


Storm-water and Lake Protection

  • Pressed to establish responsibility for storm-water maintenance under the deeds, an obligation neglected from the outset.
  • Identified numerous sites where situation and construction debris should have been removed and remediated before occupancy was granted.
  • Pushed for weed control and shoreline stability.
  • Intervened when a KHOV contractor’s storm-water repairs closed the lake.


Access, Land, and Amenities

  • Worked with the master developer to define the second ingress/egress point for Four Seasons, the goal that founded Community Voices.
  • Worked with the master developer to reopen the 300-acre lake to boat traffic.
  • Negotiated a temporary Owners’ Park site giving cart and foot access to the lake’s south end.
  • Negotiated a permanent conservation easement protecting 234 wooded acres behind 200 homes: no construction, ever.


Management and Transition Readiness

  • Exposed a pattern of reactive maintenance and used-parts repairs: a Band-Aid approach, not a forward-thinking policy.
  • Gave property management a comprehensive maintenance schedule to correct its poor performance.
  • Pressed for a written scope and three competitive bids before any HOA contract is awarded.
  • Flagged that both reserve studies lacked critical information when performed, including drawings and realistic useful-life data.
  • Requested that Associa preserve all records until transition is complete.
  • Now investigating the failed irrigation system, including reports of contractor negligence and poor property-management oversight of the contracts.


Financial Oversight

  • Identified a discrepancy between the starting reserve balance in the 2024 Reserve Study and the HOA’s corresponding balance sheet, which led Associa to issue a revised Reserve Study.
  • Prepared a detailed, line-by-line comparison of the 2019 and 2024 Reserve Studies, and regularly track actual expenditures against Reserve Study assumptions.
  • Because the HOA has not completed its audited reviews, required Jack McSweeney to comply with SC law by issuing a personal statement that the 2023 and 2024 financial statements comply with GAAP and are consistent with prior-year financials.
  • Challenged Associa on the HOA’s delinquent tax filings. We have been told the final return is filed only when the audit is completed, and the last one was 2022. We understand an extension to file is six months.
  • Regularly review the financial statements posted to TownSq and pose questions at the annual meeting.
  • Conduct periodic Homeowner HOA Finance 101 classes.


Infrastructure Assessment: Under Way

  • Compiled hundreds of photos and reports documenting poor construction, to help the transition team, its attorney, and its engineers pinpoint the exact locations of findings.
  • Continue to work with State and County officials to compel the declarant to adhere to approved plans and specifications.
  • File FOIA requests to monitor declarant records pertaining to infrastructure.
  • Developed a positive relationship with the master developer, Grambling Brothers, to seek cooperation on matters affecting the community.
  • Continue to improve communication with the community:
    • Posting detailed findings on our website
    • Surveying community resident members on matters of importance
    • Collecting individual complaints about amenities and common-area assets
    • Documenting and cataloging repeated maintenance failures


Infrastructure Assessment: The Work Ahead

  • The IATeam will lead efforts to ensure full compliance with the County’s approval of 84 condominium units.
  • Spearhead efforts to compel the declarant to provide amenity offsets to compensate for the 265 housing units added to the original development.
  • Evaluate the entire community for compliance with all applicable ADA and FHA regulations.