Co-President Sonny Huntley called the meeting to order
Kevin Courtney offered the prayer and led the pledge to the flag
Announcements:
10/21 Hilton Head High School Campus Clean up 9:00
10/18-21 - Barbara Catenaci - Ghosts and Myths - need volunteers from 7:00 - 9:00
11/11 - Island Rec Center Oyster Roast - contact Kristin if you can volunteer - great way for our club to make money
12/14 Club Christmas Party 6:00pm at the Farrene residence - more information to follow
Speaker:
We had The Rev. June Wilkins, Pastor of Christ Lutheran Church and Julie Raino, an ordained minister and Grief Counselor speak to us about Workforce Housing.
Three out of five workers on Hilton Head Island do not live here. It has been increasingly difficult to draw workers to the island because of the cost of housing. The housing costs are also high in Bluffton - an apartment can cost more than $2700 per month.
We learned of the difficulties in the Chimney Cove development ($1500 +) where the residents all received eviction notices. They had a meeting, Sandy Gillis - Deep Well - also involved - to come up with ways to help. There are many services available for low income people, but no low cost housing. The eviction notices were eventually called off. They have been collaborating with the Town of Hilton Head to solve this problem. The town has various tracts of land that they are going to dedicate to low cost housing. Currently there are about 200 lower cost housing units but the goal is 1500.
Speaker at 10/03 meeting:
Charlie Clark from the Hilton Head Island Bluffton Chamber of Commerce gave us a Visitor and Convention news update.
Charlie began by announcing to us that for the Seventh Year in a row Hilton Head Island was named the #1 Island in the U.S.
She said that travel to Europe is up 30% and the world has reopened. She spoke about the strategies used to draw visitors to the island. They partner with the Kingdom Cup - a high end event which costs $3000 per person to golf, to promote golf. The average daily rate to stay here has risen. The Chamber does a great job getting people to talk positively about HHI. There are challenges with work force and the aging population. They are enhancing and expanding Low Country Jobs Now website. Low Country Low Down is another great resource of what is going on in one place. Our airport is also being expanded which will make flying here even more pleasurable.