I am working on the invitation list for the Home Owners Association summit. The HOA summit will be a chance for the current presidents to talk with each other about their common issues and ask questions of the town staff. It is held on a Friday evening and is a relaxed, social event. The invitation list is a bit tricky for a newcomer like myself. So far, I am comparing a list from April of 2017, (prepared by Scott Sherrill, MPA grad and former Pine Knoll Shores Planner) with last year’s invitation letters, addressed to the HOA presidents – at addresses that are not in Pine Knoll Shores. Some names on the list are not in the letters – so no address; some names in the letters are not on the list – so no HOA name associated. After text messages back and forth with Scott (now in Concord, NC), a call to the Beacon’s Reach office, and enlisting Betty Carr’s help with tracking down addresses through the water records, and referencing the PKA history website. I am narrowing in on the definitive (or close to) list!
Pine Knoll Shores has many HOAs, at least 22 and not more than 37, by my count. By either count it is a lot for a town of 1,500. The 1,500 is deceptive, because many more homeowners belong to HOAs in PKS. In fact, almost every home in PKS is in an HOA. The land for the town was deeded to an HOA first – Pine Knoll Association (PKA), before the town incorporated. All parks in PKS are owned and maintained by HOAs – so they are not actually public. PKA is one of the big three HOAs and Beacon’s Reach is another. The third is PIKSCO. Many of the smaller HOAs are subsidiaries to Beacon’s Reach, and others are Condominiums.
Residents get confused and come to the Town Hall with questions about their dues, or about the next HOA meeting. Ballots for the HOA Board of Directors are confused with voting for elected officials. Often times the confusion comes from residents of PKA – which does not have an office, so they come to the Town Hall. The Beacon’s Reach residents are less likely to stop by Town Hall because of they have an office to go to.
Beacon’s Reach also has a package plant – as does McGinniss Point, many of the condominiums, and some of the hotels. Not only do I now know exactly where – as in latitude and longitude – each of the twelve PKS package plants are, I also know what a package plant is! A package plant is a small sewage treatment plant, with a drain field. PKS does not have a municipal sewer system. Individual homes have septic systems, while condominiums and some neighborhoods have package plants. Creating a vulnerability map for resiliency planning is one of our current tasks and I was helping with getting the package systems added.