Barony Place I/Barony Place II

The following was posted today on NextDoor.com: "The terms of four Directors of the HOA expire this year. Terms are ending for Martin, Thomas, Game and Hill. Plus the Board still needs to declare the board vacancy caused by George Reynolds' death in April and Appoint his successor for the balance of the two-year term.  The Nominating Committee is slow off the starting blocks. They should have had the slate of candidates ready by now. The Voting Members are supposed to hold their annual meeting between September 2 and October 2. Do you know someone who would be really good on the board? Someone with business experience? Someone with leadership skills? Someone who will insist on compliance with the By-Laws? Leaders, not followers, are needed. Do you know a CPA who would be a good Treasurer of the HOA (not the accountant or CPA "for" the HOA). Find candidates now, so that they will have time to lobby the Voting Members for their election. Provide their names to the offi...

If you live in Barony Place, did you get your August Scoop yet? At least one house did not.  But in another neighborhood, they got theirs on Sunday. Or maybe it was on Saturday. And the office got its copy already. The August Scoop has been posted to the Summit HOA website. To find it, go to www.summithomeowners.com Hover over RESIDENTS, and then left-click on DOCUMENTS, Then left-click on The Monthly Scoop . When you look at the September Calendar, you'll see that the Board meets on the second Tuesday, not the first. That change was not mentioned at the August board meeting. Board meetings should be held on the first Tuesday. Changing them results in conflicts with other regularly scheduled meetings, such as Richland 2 School District. I wonder how many homeowners will show up on September 7 for the meeting. None, I guess, since it will be a Zoom meeting.  The Board has not yet appointed anyone to chair one of the most important board committees, the Neighborhoods Committee. ...

This story has been published on www.Richland2.info I am publishing it also, because many homes in The Summit have students in Richland 2 schools. The Richland 2 School Board has had two vacant seats for 2¾ years - since November 13, 2018.  Why hasn't the Board declared the vacancies and notified the Richland County Elections Commission to hold a Special Election to fill the seats? Are Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru lurking there on the board? At each board meeting you'll see all seven board seats filled, but two of the seats are filled by women who shouldn't be sitting in them. Amelia McKie and Teresa Holmes. Why shouldn't they be sitting in them? Because they have never taken the oath of office - legally . They took an oath on November 13, 2018, but that was before they were eligible to do so. That oath has no legal significance. They were qualified to take it (because they had been elected), but they were not eligible to take it. The oath documents were notarized and s...

On Saturday (August 21) from 3:00PM to 6:00PM a Neighborhood Representative Appreciation Party is planned at Myrtle Pool  Have you been invited? Do you know about it? An invitation was sent by the office to the Voting Members (VM). The board created it. Was it publicized in The Scoop? Will it be, whenever the August Scoop is delivered? Who is expressing appreciation to the Neighborhood Reps (also called Voting Members? Is it the appreciation of 2,500 homeowners, on whose behalf they serve? Do the homeowners want to thank the VMs for their faithful duty to represent them? For paying attention to what the board is doing and how it is doing it? For the regular communications with their constituents (the homeowners in their Neighborhoods)? For representing the homeowners before the board and carrying problems and grievances to the board? Are there very many Voting Members who actually do that? Yes, there are a few.  But Barony Place (Barony Place I and Barony Place II) has not had...

The Noiminating Committee is a very important committee of the HOA. Its function is to present the Voting Members with the best slate of quality candidates for election as Board members at the next election.  According to the By-Laws, the Nominating Committee is to be appointed annually. Art. III, Section 5 Nomination of Directors) reads "The Nominating Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors not less than thirty (30) days prior to each annual meeting of the Voting Members to serve a term of one (1) year or until their successors are appointed, and such appointment shall be announced at each such annual meeting." The By-Laws state that the Annual Meeting of the Voting Directors is to be held 90-120 days before the end of the fiscal year (December 31). This means Sept. 2 - Oct. 2. So the Board should have appointed the Nominating Committee by now. especially because of the sloppy timing of delivery of The Scoop. In the Procedures Reference Manual (PRM), Art. I...

How safe is The Summit?  If you pay attention to the monthly report published by the Richland County Sheriff's Department, you'll get one idea. You can find reports on the Summit HOA website. Under the Home tab, click on Public Service Announcements. Today (8/9/2021) the most recent monthly report is for December 1-31, 2020 . (That's called 'Keeping your Members informed; right?') If you listen to the report of the Safety Committee of The Summit HOA at a monthly meeting, you'll get another. If you listen to the report of the CAT officer (of RCSD), you'll hear another. Here's a source for you. Check out www.CrimeGrade.org for 29229. Simply click right here for fast access. See all that Red for The Summit? Green would be much better. Car break-ins are a major problem. They can be stopped. Just pay attention to people roaming in your neighborhood day or night. You might want to form a Neighborhood Watch committee. Or a team of volunteers to drive around...

The following email was sent to HOA president Justin Martin, other board members and the HOA attorney on August 6, 2021: Good morning, Justin, Having legitimate Voting Members is essential to having valid elections for Directors.  May I suggest getting a legal opinion from HOA Attorney McCabe about the proper procedure when a Voting Member moves, resigns or ceases to serve? An Alternate probably cannot just "move up". May I also suggest getting Mr. McCabe's guidance on filling the vacancy created by George Reynolds' death in April? I believe Mr. McCabe may advise you that the "may" in the By-Laws does not grant an unlimited delay. It provides for the situation when a board member might die shortly before his term expires, so that the HOA can avoid an appointment for the few remaining days before an election. Sincerely, Gus Philpott A copy of this message is directed to  Vernell  Butler only as a board member and not individually.

Your HOA Board of Directors is holding a Neighborhood Representative (Voting Member) Appreciation Party on Saturday, August 21, 2021, from 3:00-6:00PM at Myrtle Pool. (NOTE: This party may NOT be for Homeowners or Resident.) Are you, the homeowners, invited? Will the pool be closed to homeowners that afternoon? Will masks and social distancing be enforced? Here is how the invitation is worded: " In honor of all the hard work you do to help make The Summit an amazing community to live in, the board of directors would like to invite you to an appreciation party! Please join us on August 21 st  from 3 to 6 pm at the Myrtle Pool for food and fun!  ***We will keep you updated if this date changes due to COVID restrictions*** " Who is paying for it? There is no reason to think that the six board members will personally pay for it. So, quite likely, YOU are paying for it. "In honor of ..." Seriously? Don't they mean "In recognition of..."? "all the hard ...

Have you driven by this house in Summer Chase? The address is 2 Gardenhill Drive. You can't miss it. How did it ever end up this color? One explanation I heard is that the owner painted it without submitting a Form 201 to the Modifications Committee. When he got challenged on it, he submitted a Form 201, and this was approved. The correct decision by the Modifications Committee should have been to deny his Form 201 and tell him the house color had to be one that would fit in with the other 2,400+ homes in The Summit. Why did the Committee allow that color? Were they just too weak to tell the owner that it's too bad he didn't submit his 201 before he painted? Without knowing the date of the hidious paint job and the Form 201, it is impossible to know who was responsible for the decision. Whoever it was, belongs off the Modifications Committee and off the Board of Directors.  Current members of the Modifications Committee are Justin Martin (president of the HOA), James Glenn,...

The HOA board met in regular session on Tuesday, August 3rd. Meetings normally start at 6:30PM. Did you even know the meeting location was changed on July 30 from North Springs Community Center to Zoom?  Last night's meeting started at 6:45PM, after "Mr. Butler" (Vernell Butler) finally showed up to make the fourth board member and a quorum present. Treasurer Paul Hill arrived at 7:04PM. Mary Ann Game was absent. All board members should be required to turn on their videos; Vernell doesn't. A seventh board member never made it; the position is vacant, although it has never been declared Vacant after George Reynold's death in April. Maybe Justin is just going to announce that George has missed three meetings (unexcused), so that the Voting Members really  can elect his successor. (They can't.) On July 26 I emailed president Justin Martin to suggest a more correct way to handle approval of Minutes of a previous meeting. Justin replied on July 27: " The proc...