Barony Place I/Barony Place II

This afternoon Summit HOA Secretary Ciara Bates (2024-2026) posted this message on NextDoor: Hey neighbors! 👋🏼 I hope you’re all doing well. As a resident of Hunter’s Pond in the Summit and a member of The Summit HOA Board, I’m passionate about strengthening our community ties. As part of my initiative, I thought it would be helpful to start a private Summit community Facebook group where we can share updates, events, and helpful info—a virtual neighborhood hub. It would be a friendly space for collaboration, not for complaints. However, I’ve encountered some resistance from the board president regarding this idea. If you’re interested in supporting this initiative, even unofficially, please email me at However, I’ve encountered some resistance from the board president regarding this idea. If you’re interested in supporting this initiative, even unofficially, please email me at bates.cf@gmail.com . You can also share your thoughts with the front office. 🗓️ Your voice matters! I p...

What is the proper way to adjourn a board meeting? When the business of a meeting is finished, the president should call for a motion to adjourn. Another board member will second the motion. Usually, there is no discussion, but there could be. Then the board votes. Usually, everybody is tired, and they vote to adjourn. The wrong way to adjourn a meeting is for the president to announce, "Meeting adjourned!" and walk out. What happened last Tuesday night? It was a contentious meeting. A lot of people were irritated at how the meeting was conducted. Many were at their first board meeting. Will they ever come back? When Danny abruptly declares that the meeting is adjourned and walks out, the rest of the board should stay seated. After he leaves the room, the Vice-President should say, "The board has not adjourned, because the board did not vote." And then she should ask, "Is there a motion to adjourn?" Probably somebody on Team Danny would make the motion, an...

Homeowners, why haven't the February 2025 Financial Operating Results been posted on the HOA's website? The monthly financial operating results are often posted before the monthly board meetings. A few printed copies of the monthly financial results are available at monthly board meetings. Were they available last Tuesday night? Were there  enough for the 100 or so homeowners who showed up, many of whom could not find seats in the board meeting room? They should have been posted online on April 1st. Or on April 2nd. Or on April 3rd. As of 11:53AM on Friday, April 4th, they still haven't been posted. Why not? Will they be posted before the office closes for the week-end? Call the office and ask that they be posted. Call 803.865.0609 If you don't know where to find them online, ask the office. Or post your question in the Comment box below.

You can now read The Summit Scoop, April 2025 edition, online. Read it on the HOA's website at https://summithomeowners.com   Scroll down on the homepage and click on the button for Recent News. (I have recommending changing the name of that button to "Summit Scoop".) On Page 1 is the President's Report. Read it carefully, and keep last Tuesday's board meeting in mind. That's the one where you didn't get answers about trampolines. "Later" never came. Danny Trapp wrote, in part,  "There will also be enforcements [ sic ] of the display [ sic ] of trampolines after hours [ sic ]. Some have been leaving them up constantly and allowing them to come into disrepair by [ sic ] creating an eyesore for their neighbors and the community. I am in support of these efforts. If any of this applies to you, please make the necessary corrections  before receiving notification from the association." What are "enforcements"? What does "disp...

Does your neighborhood have a legitimate Voting Member? Look at the Voting Member listing in The Summit Scoop and on the HOA's website. First of all, if you live in Autumn Glen, Indigo Springs, Pine Clave, and Waverly Place, you don't even have a Voting Member - at all. That's 487 homes with no representation whatsoever. That's 19.6% of the homes in the HOA. And you haven't had a Voting Member for a long time. Many other neighborhoods have homeowners who are "recognized" by the Board as "Voting Members", because they "got signatures" on a form from the office. But they were not duly-elected, in compliance with the By-Laws. Shall I name them? Still other neighborhoods have "Voting Members", even though they haven't had Neighborhood Meetings for years*. Shall I name them ? What is a legitimate Voting Member?  He or she is one who was elected by your neighborhood's (local) three-member Neighborhood Committee. Your Neighbo...

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Last May 7, 2024 the HOA's Board of Directors, upon motion by Linda Potter and second by Dennis Rybicki, voted unanimously to "hire" (retain) the law firm of Turner Padget. At the time the board really didn't seem to know how much the legal fees were going to be for important categories of legal services; ex., collection services, general legal advice, amendment of CC&Rs and By-Laws, etc. The Board had apparently not received an Engagement Letter, and subsequently the Board never authorized Danny Trapp to sign any Engagement Letter, which spells out services and fees. The Board never discussed in public how it would disengage itself from the law firm of McCabe, Trotter & Beverly, P.C., which had handled legal business for the HOA for years. That separation has never been discussed at a monthly board meeting. Was it ever completed? At what cost to the Association? The Question is, whom does Turner Padget represent? Since it was the Board that retained Turner Pa...

What are the qualities you should expect from your Board of Directors? When the Nominating Committee examines the applications of candidates for the Board before elections are held each November, this is what they are supposed to look for. According to Art. II, §B, ¶2 (Page 8) of the Procedures Reference Manual,  The Nominating Committee "Provides quality candidates to hold office on the Board. Candidates will be of the highest caliber, selected for interpersonal skills, dedication to the betterment of the Association and community, and free of any personal agenda." How did the Nominating Committee do before the election in November 7, 2023, when Danny Trapp and Linda Potter were elected and Brenda Bryant and Greg Thomas were re-elected? (Greg Thomas resigned shortly after being elected.) How did the Nominating Committee do before the election in November 12, 2024, when LaToya Adams and Ciara Bates were elected and Tanisha Holmes was re-elected? All the directors are elected ...

Did you attend the April 1st Board of Directors meeting? It was Standing Room Only (SRO); right? First time ever? Or, at least, in a very long time. How did the Board do? Did you feel that the Board listened to you? Did the Board respect you? Was the Board organized? Was the meeting run in accordance with generally-accepted meeting protocol or Robert's Rules of Order?  Could everyone hear? Were the microphone and the sound system used? Did the President control the meeting and call the room to order when multiple people spoke out at once? Is there anything you'd like the Board to know? Or that you'd like to say? You may know that I am under Court Order not to communicate with any of the seven directors, including the President, about affairs of the Association. I can, however, publish any comments or opinions that I receive from you. Enter your comments below. On a scale of 1-10, where one is Terrible and 10 is Great, how did they do? If you prefer to remain anonymous, emai...

Did the issue of trampolines ever make it to the floor of last night's Board meeting (4/1/2025)? I heard that somebody said it would be discussed "later", but later never came. How is Danny Trapp doing as President of the HOA? The Board can't remove him from the Board, but they can definitely elect someone else to be President. Should they do that? Is Danny's "leadership style" helping or harming the HOA? The Voting Members have the authority to remove a Director, so they could remove Danny. If they convened in a Special Meeting and discussed doing that, would I suddenly be Danny's BFF? Would Danny say, "You guys (except for Barony Place) aren't legitimate. You weren't duly-elected by your neighborhoods. You can't remove me!"

Did this really happen last night? One board member made a motion, and a second board member seconded it. Did Danny Trapp really declare that there wasn't going to be any vote and say the motion was tabled? Has Danny ever heard of Robert's Rules of Order (RONR)? Does he own a copy of it? Has he ever seen a copy? Has he ever held a copy of it? Has he ever tried to read any of RONR? When a Motion has been made and seconded, another board member (President or not) cannot just declare that there isn't going to be a vote! After the second, it is time for discussion. After discussion, there is a vote. The Board (not the President) determines whether the Motion passes or fails. Section 17 in RONR covers this. If Danny wanted to stop action on the Motion made and seconded, he should have made a secondary motion to table the primary motion. Then his secondary motion should have been discussed and voted on.  If Danny's secondary motion passed, then the primary motion is tabled. ...

The mechanism is in place, so that the HOA could amend its CC&Rs and the By-Laws. What is that mechanism? In the CC&Rs, read Art. XIII, Section 2 Amendment, ¶2  (Page 25). It reads, in part, "...  this Declaration may be amended only by the affirmative vote or written consent, or any combination thereof of Voting Members representing seventy-five (75%) percent of the total Class “A” votes in the Association, including seventy-five (75%) percent of the... Members ..." There are 2,480 Members. 75% is 1,860. How many Voting Members are needed to hit that 1,860 mark? This is why it is critical to know how many homes there are in each Neighborhood. As of June 2024 the office did not know the correct number. The office gave me a list of Neighborhoods, and the number of homes totaled 2,595, which is 115 more homes than are assessed! How many Voting Members are there? One (1). Barony Place has the only legitimate Voting Member in the entire HOA. By "legitimate", I ...

Why would someone vandalize this sign at the entrance to Indigo Springs? The wire frame was bent, and the sign was partially pulled off the frame. A concerned citizen straightened the frame and slid the sign back onto it. Will lndigo Springs hold a Neighborhood Meeting, with a quorum of its property owners present, and elect a (local) Neighborhood Committee that will elect a legitimate Voting Member? Is that what the office tells callers is required? Or does the office tell callers to "get signatures" on a form, in order to be recognized as a "Voting Member"?

As of 2:00PM today the February 2025 Financial Report still has not been posted.  Presumably, it was available at last night's BOD meeting and was on the back table.  Is there a reasonable explanation for the failure to post it on The Summit's HOA website? Are there numbers in it that the Board would rather not have the general Membership know about? What could those be? Maybe the cost of filing the lawsuit in December against Gus Philpott (me)? I mean the lawsuit that the CC&Rs prohibit without approval of the Voting Members. The lawsuit that the Board never voted on or approved. The lawsuit that the Board never authorized Danny Trapp to initiate. That lawsuit!

What is the ad hoc Committee of The Summit's HOA? If there really is such a committee, it should be known to ALL board members. The committee should have been established with the advice and consent of the Board, and the members and chair of the committee should be known to all. The Board should have voted to create it and to confirm the appointment of a chairman of it. Its establishment should be recorded in the Minutes of a BOD meeting, and it should be listed on the HOA's website and in The Summit Scoop. It's not a secret committee. There should be Minutes of its meetings, and the Minutes should be published and easily accessible. It should have a specific purpose, known to all, and it probably should have a pre-determined duration. The Minutes of the November 7, 2023 Board meeting include this statement: "The Ad Hoc Committee will hold an orientation of the board members on November 11th." That certainly was not a duty of the ad hoc Committee. Who authorize...

 Did anyone record last night's BOD meeting? When I drove by the church on the way to Publix about 7:30PM, the parking lot was full.  I'm already getting some "interesting" feedback about the meeting. I hope someone recorded it. Let me know. A while back, a long-time committee member recommended broadcasting the meetings on Zoom. The Board at that time put the kabosh on that idea. Should it come up again?

Attend tonight's Board of Director's meeting. 6:30PM. Brookland Baptist Church Northeast.  Meetings are not broadcast on Zoom or recorded. You might want to record on your phone or a recorder. A hot topic tonight will be trampolines. If the President tries to eliminate public comment, ask if it is his decision or the Board's. Ask for a Board vote. Ask about financial solvency of the HOA, in view of no dues increase this year (Finance Committee recommended it) and only $3,000 going into Reserves in 2025 (compare with $163,965 budgeted in 2020 and $0.00 in 2024). Public comment at BOD meetings is essential to transparent operations.