Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Culver's is coming to Columbia. The first Columbia-area restaurant is being built at 2744 Clemson Road. That's the northwest corner of Clemson Road and Longtown Road, right in front of Lexington Medical Center. Culver's has been one of my favorites since 1996 in Woodstock, Ill. Watch for opening. Opening Day may be announced on www.culvers.com

Did the Board of Directors of The Summit's HOA meet last night?   The Board went to bi-monthly public meetings, but they are meeting many times between public meetings.  Where are the Minutes of those meetings? How do Members find out what the Board is doing to them? The By-Laws (Art. III, §14) read, "Section 14. Conduct of Meetings. The President shall preside over all meetings of the Board of Directors, and the S [ sic ] a keep a minute book of meetings of the Board of Directors, recording therein all resolutions adopted by the Board of Directors and all transactions and proceedings occurring at such meetings."  It's unfortunate that the online copy of the By-Laws contains this error. What the official copy of the By-Laws probably says is, "the Secretary shall  keep a minute book..." Further down in the By-Laws a section provides that the Minutes are to be available to Members upon request, but I have not found a section in the By-Laws that requires the H...

A Columbia jury decided that Rick Chow was NOT GUILTY.  It's about time. How will Solicitor Byron Gipson give Mr. Chow back the three years of his life that he lost while he sat in jail, waiting for trial? According to Fox News, Gipson said, in part, "As our community processes this outcome, we will continue to uplift the Carmack-Belton family in our thoughts and prayers. I ask that you honor both the family and Cyrus' memory by supporting them in a peaceful manner during this difficult time." What a load of horse manure! Who is the "we" in Gipson's statement? His office? The Columbia community? Cyrus' family?  Why isn't Gipson neutral, now that the trial is over? He respects the jury's decision? Who believes that? What about some sympathy for Mr. Chow, who was held without bail for three years? Chief Holbrook and Sheriff Lott had better be ready for riots, fires, destruction, violent protests. Chow no longer is involved with the convenience ...

Earlier this year the Board of Directors (BOD) announced that it would begin meeting bi-monthly, rather than monthly. The Board did not discuss that change in public or vote on it; the President just announced it. There was no April BOD meeting and there won't be a June BOD meeting tonight. The next scheduled BOD meeting will be July 7, 2026. If you look at the HOA's online Calendar , you will see that the June Calendar is blank, as was the calendar for May and for April. Why? Is this the "transparency" you expected from the "new" Board? This does not mean that the BOD is not meeting or is not making decisions that affect Members. The BOD is meeting and deciding; you just don't know about it. Every Regular Meeting, Special Meeting, workshop, and pre-board meeting should be on the HOA's online calendar. Every Committee meeting should be on the Calendar and indicate time and location. Minutes should be prepared and promptly published (within one week)...

Stamp prices are likely to increase from $0.78 to $0.82 in July. Pretty outrageous, eh? No doubt that First Class Mail volume drops a little, every time stamp prices go up. If you still buy stamps, now is a good time - before the increase. Visit www.usps.com and shop for pretty, contemporary stamps. There is a lot of garbage in stamp designs, too. Check out the history of stamp prices here . How much did a stamp cost in the year of your birth? How much was a stamp 100 years ago? $0.02!!!

The Board of Directors sent out Annual Meeting Instructions. They are for conducting Neighborhood Meetings that, hopefully, will comply with the By-Laws. The Instructions were faulty right from the top, where they led off with, "Requirements for electing Neighborhood Committees to appoint Voting Members and Alternates..." Neighborhood Committees do not "appoint" Voting Members and Alternates." They elect a chairman, who becomes the Voting Member. The other two members of the Neighborhood Committee are Alternates. For the first time in many years, the Board of Directors is using the word "must", as in "There must be an annual meeting..." Imagine that. Where did they get that idea? That's exactly what I have been harping on for years! The Board errs in a grievous manner by ordering, "notices must include names of homeowners interested in serving on the Neighborhood Committee..." This is an intrusion into the Neighborhood's au...