Barony Place I/Barony Place II

The Richland County Sheriff's Department Community Action Team (CAT) Officer is Master Deputy Tyonna Gillespie. Her contact information should be removed from The Summit Scoop. Deputy Gillespie is not the personal law-enforcement officer for The Summit (HOA). She is assigned to a large territory of Richland County. She does not work 24/7. And she doesn't get cats out of trees. If you call her directly, you interrupt her work. If she is not on duty, she will not respond to your message or return your call until she returns to duty, and then only if time permits. You might think help is on the way; it is not. If you need a deputy, call 9-1-1 (emergencies) or the non-emergency number published in The Summit Scoop. Incidentally, her last name is not spelled "Gillepsie", as shown in The Scoop. I notified the office back in January of the spelling error. But you know how busy they are in the office. They'll get around to it one of these days... Maybe.

In 2024 the HOA took money ($126,351.61) from a Reserve Account CD and purchased an Annuity. The Board has never disclosed this to Members and discussed it at a Regular Board Meeting. Who is the Annuitant? The name of this person (believed to be a current board member) has never been disclosed. Many annuities have purchase charges (commissions) and surrender charges. The value of the annuity is reported in the Financial Operating Results at its original purchase price. That is not the actual net cash value of the annuity. When the 2024 Annual Audit was finally released, the Auditor reported the value of the annuity on December 31, 2024 as $121, 440 (a loss of $4,912). The PRM (Art. III, §C, ¶9) reads, Investment and CD Procedures: The initiation of securing CDs must follow the procedure outlines below. a. The signature cards should contain 2 names from the Property Management firm (South Community Services) and 2 names from the Summit Community Association,  the President and the ...

At the May 5, 2026 the Board President, Brenda Bryant, announced a new Collection Policy of the HOA. WHAT IS IT? No details were given. WHEN WAS IT ADOPTED? No details were given.  The last Regular Board Meeting was March 3, 2026, so it was sometime between March 3 and May 5. This means it was done in a private, closed, secret, off-schedule board meeting (or board action, if the vote was by email). No Minutes were published! Is this how Members want important business of the HOA conducted? Why would the Board adopt a new Collection Policy? There are 564,833 reasons. The Balance Sheet of the March 31, 2026 Financial Operating Results was distributed at the May 5th Board Meeting. Accounts Receivable (Line 1205) reveals that $564,833.57 is owed to the Association.  My guess is that the bulk of that is unpaid dues. For years the monthly Financial Operating Results carried this message, " Collection activity is being conducted in accordance with Association policy. " For years I s...

Was it a shock to anyone else at the May 5, 2026 Board Meeting that the HOA has never conducted a formal Reserve Study? Do you know what a Reserve Study is? A formal Reserve Study analyzes the adequacy of Reserves. In other words, does the HOA have sufficient money set aside to meet future needs? In 2020 the Approved Budget included $163,965 for Reserves. Did that money actually make it into the Reserve Accounts? In the following years, the Budgets included smaller contributions to Reserves. 2021, $146,155 2022, $91,610 2023, $39,677 2024, $0 2025, $3,000 2026, $91,081* Did your dues go down? They certainly did not. The HOA collected your money and spent it on Operations. That was a bright-red flag that no Board President or Board Treasurer (or any Board member or your Property Management Company) told you about! Reserve Account balances have dropped. The Board should be worried about the cost of repairs to the Indigo dam. And other major repairs. What is likely to happen? Will there ...

In view of the Board's announcement on March 3, 2026 that it would meet bi-monthly and in view of decisions announced that were made between March 3 and May 5, should there be more transparency with the Members? The Board has obviously held meetings and made decisions in person or by email during the past two months.  No Board meetings (Regular or Special) were announced. No workshops were announced. No meetings with committees (ex. ad hoc Committee on Governing Documents (April 22)) were announced. The meeting with Voting Members on April 23 was not announced. When too much business is done behind closed doors, that does not bode well for the Members. The May 2026 online Calendar is still blank. Not even the May 5th Board Meeting is on it. Where and when are the Committee meetings? Homeowners, your voice has been silenced by the absence of legitimate, duly-elected Voting Members. Hold your Neighborhood Meeting. Elect your Neighborhood Committee. Elect your Voting Member. This is ...

During the Property Manager's Report at the May 5, 2026 Board Meeting, Julie mentioned "parking on the streets" at least three times. It was when she was talking about violation notices.  For five-six years I have claimed that the HOA has no authority whatsoever over parking in the streets. The streets are owned by Richland County. The CC&Rs apply to Common Property of the HOA. The publicly-owned streets are not part of the Common Property. When I asked Justin Martin, then-Board President, what section of the Governing Documents applied to street parking, he told me that he didn't have to prove anything to me. That response was one of the issues that resulted in this blog. In November 2024 William Hill, then-chairman of the HOA's Safety Committee, emailed me, "We are not allowed to park in the streets." I emailed him twice, asking what section of the Governing Documents prohibited parking on the streets. I know Hill has been busy, but he hasn't r...