Bob Chapman thinks the residents of Windsor Hill Plantation should be able to read the monument at the entrance to their development in their underwear at midnight.
To achieve that goal and to keep folks from getting arrested, Chapman has developed a Web page for the Windsor Hill Civic Association.
For about a month, the page has been active serving homeowners and browsers from around the world. Within the first couple of weeks, Chapman said, approximately 500 "hits" were recorded.
Chapman said the site is the first homeowner's group web page in the state.* The site includes more than 50 individual pages and over 150 images in various sizes.
Putting the page on the internet cost the civic association a $70.00 registration fee for two years' use of the address. However, Chapman said estimates are that his volunteer site development, which involved several hundred hours of work, could have cost the association $15,000.
Funding of the registration fee comes from civic association dues. Having the Web site available, Chapman said, can boost the image of the development and raise property values.
Using digital photographs, the site includes a virtual tour of Windsor Hill Plantation, Windsor Hill Elementary School and its nature trail, Cathedral of Praise Church and Summit Church.
Back issues of the "Windsor Crier", the community newsletter, are republished on the site. Also included are a list of accomplishments, reasons to join the association, the constitution and by-laws, and a letter about the Windsor Hill Parkway Association annual meeting.
The site also has a list of officers and board of the civic association. The list includes e-mail addresses for each person.
Chapman noted that the e-mail addresses allow a homeowner to make a complaint directly. "I think it's the perfect compromise for people with concerns about the community to make complaints 24 hours a day, but officers don't get phone calls 24 hours a day."
In the future, Chapman hopes that he'll be able to add more e-mail addresses to the site, perhaps for teachers at the elementary school.
Chapman said Windsor Hill has approximately 800 homes and most have internet access. During an informal neighborhood survey, Chapman said he learned that 90 percent of the residents had not read the monument at the entrance to the subdivision.
The monument is the first reference on the Windsor Hill web site. Windsor Hill was at one time the home of General William Moultrie, a hero of the American Revolution, and the web site includes the monument's inscription relating to Moultrie's (June) 1776 defeat of the British (at Charleston) that inspired the Continental Congress (to sign and ratify the Declaration of Independence).
The address is www.windsor-hill.org.
* = NOTE: The Windsor Hill Civic Association represented HOME owners only. If you consider a PROPERTY owners group (including empty lots and condos) as the same thing, then the first such web site in S.C. was the Kiawah Property Owners Group at www.kiawah.org.
It should also be noted that The Cedars, the townhouse community near the entrance to Windsor Hill Plantation and Willow Trace apartments (both across the street from Cathedral of Praise) were not a part of the Windsor Hill Civic Association. Willow Trace apartments had not yet been built and The Cedars has had their own separate association, for residents who live there, for several years.
Web hosting for this non-profit organization web site has been provided at NO CHARGE by Carolina Web Hosting for many years. At no time were any WHCA or WHPA membership funds used to design, update or maintain the Windsor Hill Plantation website. This has saved residents an annual hosting expense of $144.00 and $30.00 per year for registration of our 2 domain names for over 18 years!
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Take me back to the top of Windsor Hill Parkway Association Home Page!