Barony Place I/Barony Place II

The nominees for Directors of the HOA Board to be elected tomorrow night (Nov. 1, 2022) are Auby Dellinger (incumbent) Vernell Butler (incumbent) Dennis Rybicki (incumbent) Tom Glaz Vicki McCarthy Des Haynes Call your Voting Members right now and ask them to vote for  Dennis Rybicki (incumbent) Tom Glaz Vicki McCarthy and NOT for Auby or Vernell. Why not? Auby (Vice President) refused to meet with me to discuss why the board is failing to comply with major provisions of the By-Laws. He's a nice guy to your face. Don't turn your back on him. Vernell is an all-around not-nice person. I have a whole page of reasons he should not be on the board, starting with his inclusion of $230,570 in the 2022 Budget for Salaries. THE HOA HAS NO EMPLOYEES. And I don't like being called a "racist" by him (or anyone else). I don't know Vicki. Dennis shouldn't be on the ballot. He was appointed to succeed Paul Hill, after Paul died in April. Paul's unexpired term is until...

The Minutes for the October 4, 2022 board meeting read that the Finance Committee has completed the 2023 Proposed Budget and that it has been sent to the board for approval. In the past the proposed budget has been posted for homeowners to examine, in order to make suggestions and requests. Apparently, that is not to be the case this year. If it is posted somewhere, where is it? Want to see it? Call the office. The Finance Committee's report (10/4/22) contains this sentence: " Homeowners are asked to submit any projects that would improve the appearance and safety within the community. " Isn't that special? How are homeowners supposed to know to do so? Who reads the Minutes? Why wasn't that request in the Scoop months ago? And, even if they do so now, the money for their projects won't be in the 2023 Budget, will it? Sort of a waste of letters on a page, wasn't it?

Examination of the financial statements for the HOA from the Minutes of the October 4, 2022 board meeting show several interesting things. The 2022 annual Budget is $1,262,250. That's an average monthly operating expense of $105,187 ($1,262,250/12) The HOA has $869,719.64 in Operating Funds, when its average monthly operating costs are only 12% of that? ($105,187/$869,719) Why wouldn't the HOA save/invest much of that excess at higher (safe) rates-of-return? Is a higher level of expertise needed by those who are responsible for handling the money? The total Reserve funds are $1,187,656.85. Are those funds allocated, or is the slush fund just sitting there for IRS to attack (and attach) it? See the newly-posted list of projects on the HOA's website. This was created as a result of a suggestion that I made. Thanks to those who listened. It's a start.  On the homepage, click on Neighborhood News and scroll down. A better Project Management grid would include cost estimates...

You can count on your HOA to bring you the latest news, right on its website. (Well, you should be able to count on that.) For example, the Safety Committee is part of the HOA. Here is its mission: "Mission: Is responsible for identifying unsafe conditions that exist in the amenity areas and reporting these findings to the Association Board of Directors along with recommendations for rectifying the problems. "Dennis Rybicki , Chair, Clynton Barzey, Auby Dellinger, Mary Ann Game,  Denise Heimlich, and Karen Kranz." On the HOA  website is published a report of the Safety Committee. Go to the website. You don't have to log in.  Scroll down to Neighborhood News. Scroll down to Safety Information and click on it. In the line Please click HERE, click on "HERE" You'll see the March 5, 2020 Meeting Minutes of the Safety/Security Committee. Nice, eh? Send an email to the office asking why there is no more-recent report. While you are at it, ask where the Richl...

The following message has been sent to State Representative Ivory Thigpen, who is the District 79 State Rep. The Summit is in District 79. "Good afternoon, Rep. Thigpen, "I am writing to ask your support of stronger laws for HOAs in South Carolina. Compliance by the HOA with CC&Rs, By-Laws, and the Procedures Reference Manual shouldn't even be an issue, but it is a serious one in The Summit. I'll contact your office at mid-month to request a meeting with you to discuss the problems with the Summit's HOA." I'm sure he'll be able to guide me in the steps to get legislation initiated that will give homeowners and residents more power under State law to cause investigation of HOAs that flagrantly fail to comply with their Governing Documents.

Last week HOA Treasurer Vernell Butler called me a racist three times on NextDoor, and then a fourth time when he called me a "racist BLUF". I had to Google BLUF. It stands for Breeches and Leather Uniform Fanclub, an organization for homosexual men.  You may have read some of Vernell's posts. To one of them I posted a link to the song, "Charlie Brown", by The Coasters. You've heard it - "Why's everybody always pickin' on me?" This one's for you, Vernell.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UnPzp2lmNk Frankly, there is nothing racist in that song. Did he dislike that I happened to post a song being sung by four black men? One of the things I've learned about small people is that when they can't engage intellectually and politely, they resort to slinging mud, like calling someone a "racist". Today I gave away a copy of a book I've owned six times: What You Think of Me Is None of My Business.  It is my absolute-favorit...

The Summit HOA is due to elect three Directors to the Board on November 1, 2022, and the Nominating Committee should be hard at work. Last week I became aware of a serious irregularity in the nominations process that the Committee is supposed to follow. The closing date for applications for the board was Friday, October 7, and I submitted an application on October 5. The Committee met on October 13, and on October 14 I received a rejection letter from the Committee "on behalf of the Summit Board of Directors". The problem is that the Committee never received my application from the office! On October 21 I emailed the HOA's attorney and requested assurance of the integrity of the nominations process. I am considering legal action to stop the election, if I don't get that assurance by October 27th. The guidelines for the Committee are crystal-clear in the Procedures Reference Manual (PRM). No member of the Board (except the chair of the Nominations Committee, who is a b...

Go to www.EricRovelli.com and watch his video on "School Board Management". You can get to the video right from his homepage. It is short and to the point. Eric understands the function of a board. He is a businessman with business experience, which is just what the Richland 2 School Board needs. Read over his website and watch his other videos. Mark your ballot FOR Eric Rovelli. Early voting starts October 24, but don't vote too soon. Do your homework.

For several months I have claimed that HOA Board Member Greg Thomas was not eligible to be on the HOA Board. Yesterday I learned that a section of the CC&Rs allows the spouse of a homeowner to be on the board, and I have apologized to Greg. When I first raised the issue, I had found the sections of the Governing Documents that require a board member to be an Owner. Owner is defined as Holder "of record title"; i.e., on the Deed. Greg is not on the Deed. The president of the HOA, Justin Martin, had explained that Greg had acquired a "marital interest" in the house when he married his wife. I believed that was not the same as being legally on the Deed. If his wife wanted to, she could sell the house without Greg's signature. How simple it would have been if Justin had just informed me that Art. III, A, Section 1 reads, in part, " the directors shall be Members or spouses of such Members ". Any other board member or the HOA manager could have informe...

Currently the HOA officers, including the Directors, use their personal email addresses for HOA business. What happens to the official business emails, when those Directors are not re-elected? Or die in office? Where is the historical record of the emails? Same for the office employees. They use CAMS email addresses of their employer. They are not employed by the HOA. Since they do the HOA's work, all those emails should be on a server controlled by the HOA, not by CAMS. What if, someday, CAMS is no longer the management company for the HOA? Of course, this makes common sense. And this is why the HOA will continue to present plan and, someday, will lose all those important emails. Example, what happened to all the HOA emails on George Reynolds' computer? What happened to all the HOA emails on Paul Hill's computer? Gone. And gone.

Want to see the 2021 Audit of the Summit HOA's finances? If you are a Summit homeowner and would like to see the 2021 Audit, it was posted today, October 13. To find it, go to www.summithomeowners.com Log in. Hover over RESIDENTS, then click on DOCUMENTS; then click on Annual Audits. Be sure to read the NOTES. Then email questions to your Voting Member and show up at the next board meeting to ask them.

The October board meeting of the HOA will be Tuesday, October 4, 2022, at 6:30PM at Brookland Baptist Church Northeast, 1203 Summit Parkway. The agenda should include a presentation of the 2021 Audit and a discussion of the work of the Nominating Committee, among other items.  If you wish to run for the board, submit your application to the office by Friday, October 7, 5:00PM. Don't wait until the last minute, in case the office closes earlier. This year's Nominating Committee is Mary Ann Game (chair), Mike Bryant, James Glenn, Jeff Lummel, and Kristie O'Brien.  Auby Dellinger is not on the Committee at this time, because he is a board member and also a candidate in the election (assuming he decides to run for re-election). This year's election of Directors will happen fast. Closing date for applications is October 7. The election is November 1.  Will the Nominating Committee follow the rules as set out in the Procedures Reference Manual this year? See Art. III, Section...