Barony Place I/Barony Place II

The Richland County Fifth Judicial Circuit Public Index reports a civil case involving Vernell Butler and four residents of The Summit. These four residents are also directors of The Summit's HOA. The  Public Index  lists civil and criminal cases. Vernell's civil case is Nu mber  2025CV4010405381. It was originally filed on December 12, 2025 in the Dentsville Magistrate Court and then transferred to the Blythewood Magistrate Court on January 27, 2026. Online Court records indicate that Vernell Butler is the Plaintiff and that the four Defendants are Brenda Bryant, Thomas Lummel, Linda Potter, and Angelo Turley-Moore. (Thomas Lummel is known as Jeff Lummel.) Court documents are in the public domain, and a request has been made to the Blythewood Magistrate  for the Summons and the Complaint. Further information will be posted after the Summons and Complaint have been received.

Have you recently driven by the damaged brick wall on Summit Parkway, west of the Middle School? It was damaged in December. At the February 3 Board Meeting, a statement was made by the property manager that the insurance proceeds had been received and repair work would be starting. Why did the HOA delay until the money came in? The HOA's responsibility is to repair the wall promptly ("immediately"), regardless of any insurance claim or claim against the party causing the damage. Twenty-one years ago the Board of Directors passed a Resolution. You can read it in the PRM (Art., II, §D, ¶5; Page 11). " Repair Common Area Damage Immediately .      "To ensure that Common Areas are kept in good condition, the Board of Directors adopted an operating policy to initiate repairs to damaged Common Areas immediately, documenting said repairs with itemized costs for submission for repayment of required repairs/replacement (approved 8/3/2004)" Do you think anyone on the...

How does an executive, such as President of an organization, function? How does that person get everything done and keep his sanity? I think of the president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., for whom I handled customer complaints that got through all the filters (and there were many filters) to his desk. The only thing he did with them was send them to me for handling.* He never asked for a report on what I had done to handle them. It was the best part of my five years at Sears! I had no one standing behind me with a stopwatch and a clipboard. When I was VP of Membership Services for an 1,100-member chamber of commerce in the Kansas City area, I called on the General Manager of a commercial laundry. His executive assistant said I could see him between 8AM-5PM, Monday-Friday. "Don't come before 8 or after 5." What was his management style? He told me he worked 40 hours/week, just like his employees. He said that he hired competent people to manage things when he wasn't there...

At the February 3, 2026 Board of Directors meeting, when Public Participation was underway and before it spiraled into chaos, a question was asked about how many lawsuits the HOA was in. Vernell Butler, former director and past Treasurer, asked that question from the Neighborhood Representative seating area.  I don't recall who answered him with "None." His response was, "Really?" Why did he respond that way? (I know the answer.) Vernell shouldn't have been sitting in the Neighborhood Representative section, because he is not a Voting Member or Alternate. (Reference, Summit Scoop and HOA website) Vernell had been an Alternate for Summit Hills V until he was elected to the Board in December 2020. When a Neighborhood Representative (Voting Member or Alternate) is elected to the Board, he must resign as a Neighborhood Rep. Whether he did or not is not known at this time. The HOA has been careless about "details" for years. Vernell was a director and T...

Are people in the South polite or are they passive-aggressive (or something else)? Today I heard from a neighbor in The Summit that his phone is blowing up with complaints about my blog - this blog. He wanted to know why I am taking off on the Board the way I am. That's news to me.  I told him that he should tell anyone who calls him to complain about me, to call me . In a seminar in the early 1980s in Denver, I heard this: "Don't complain to anyone who can't do anything about it." "Don't allow anyone to complain to you, if you can't do anything about it; instead, re-direct them to someone who CAN do something about it and support them in contacting that person." If you think there is something wrong on my blog, tell me about it. If it's wrong, I'll fix it. If it's not wrong, I'll explain why it is correct (based on the CC&Rs, By-Laws, or Guidelines). In 5½ years (since July 14, 2020) no one has ever called me about an error...

When the Finance Committee gives a report, what does it mean? Below is the report of Finance Committee chair, William Hill, at the Board Meeting on October 7, 2025.  This information is from the Minutes of that meeting, which I did not attend. Remember - this was the monthly meeting before the November 18 election, when a new Board (majority) was elected and seated. Danny Trapp was still the President. If these are all bids to be approved, is the Finance Committee "report" the proper place on the Agenda for them? Why was there no report on the financial state of the Association? The "report" is only about money to be spent. ATV Maintenance: $648.90 – Approved  Column Repair (56 Barony Place): $600 – Approved Waverly Place Sign: <$100 – Approved Light Poles (10 units) by C.E.S.: $18,846 – Approved Fountain Repairs by McCormick Lifestyle: - Front: $28,980 - Entrance: $29,380 - Total: $58,360 –Motion by Tanisha, Approved (Did anyone ask what "Front" means ...