Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Did you go to the Town Hall Meeting in Birch Park last Saturday? Did you read carefully the summary emailed out from Board? Did you understand it? Did you feel the wool being pulled down over your eyes? For the first time (ever?) the Board is disclosing how badly the Association has been managed (by the Boards and the management companies) over many years. The billed Assessments in 2026 totaled $1,388,800 (2480 x $560). The Board estimates only $1,100,381 will be collected! That's 79.2%. Income minus Expenses equals -$47,819 . Except the real shortage is much greater. The Association was paying CAMS close to $500,000 to manage the HOA. How can management expenses be only $150,000? How much will go into Reserves? Anything? The Contribution to Reserves is REQUIRED! Outstanding Delinquent Accounts total $633,658.85. The Boards have been absolutely irresponsible toward Members in letting them reach that level. 843 homes currently have delinquent accounts! That's 34%. It is way past...

Be sure to read the article on the lower portion of Page 4 of the August 2026 Summit Scoop. This is exactly what I've been complaining about for three-four years (maybe longer)! Why is the Board only announcing this now? They may have waited too long this year to have 15 legitimate, bonafide, duly-elected Voting Members in place by November. There could be as few as six legitimate Voting Members now, because only six neighborhoods list three names (a Voting Member and two Alternates) in the listing on the same Page 4.

In just over two months the HOA must elect three directors. Usually, the following Board Meeting dates are announced in the Summit Scoop. However, the August Scoop announces only the September 1st Board Meeting.  The terms of Directors Tanisha Holmes, William Hill and Noel Weatherbee expire in November 2026. The Voting Members, if there are enough of them in November to meet the quorum requirement (15), should look closely at all three to determine whether they merit consideration for re-election.  As of the August Scoop, there does not appear to be a Nominating Committee. Angelo Turley-Moore is listed as the Chair of the Nominating Committee, but no members are named.  The Board is negligent in its duty to populate the Nominating Committee, which is to invite and choose candidates for the three open positions. The Board is also negligent in populating the (HOA's) Neighborhood Committee which, according to its website, is responsible for assisting all the neighborhoods to...

Has the Board ordered the 2025 Annual Audit yet? It is due August 31, 2026 and usually takes 2-3 months to produce. It is needed for the proper preparation of the 2027 Budget, which the Finance Committee and the Budget Sub-Committee should already be working on. If not, why not? On what date was it ordered? Why isn't the selection of the Auditor and the estimated cost reported in Board Minutes? ALL members of the Board are responsible for seeing that this extremely important document is ordered and delivered on time. Last year, the 2024 Annual Audit wasn't even ordered until October 2025. It should have been delivered to the HOA by August 31, 2025. It was delivered to the Association in February 2026 . Why didn't Danny Trapp, then-Board President, see that it was ordered and delivered on time? Who is responsible this year for the failure to order it on time? Linda Potter, Treasurer? Noel Weatherbee, Vice President? Brenda Bryant, President? ALL seven directors, collectively...

The August 2026 Summit Scoop has the name of the new RCSD CAT (Community Action Team) deputy. If you need service from RCSD, you should call the general information number or the dispatcher or 911.  I recommend NOT calling the CAT deputy. He is not the HOA's exclusive law-enforcement officer. If you call the CAT deputy and he is off-duty or not available, any service to you will be delayed. I have urged the HOA not to publish the phone number for the CAT deputy. Only one or two HOA-authorized persons should be contacting the CAT deputy.

The 2025 Annual Audit should be delivered to the Board of Directors by August 31, 2026 (only 22 days from now). It should be discussed at the September 1, 2026 public Board Meeting and posted on the website on September 2. The Audit is needed by the Budget sub-committee and the Finance Committee to prepare the Proposed 2027 Annual Budget correctly. Has an Auditor even been identified yet and contracted to conduct it? The Auditor needs information about the illegal disbursement of Association funds throughout 2025 for payment of legal fees and costs associated with the HOA's litigation against me.  The Auditor should also report on the $445,000 drop in Cash and Cash Equivalents and why the Board of Directors (under then-Board President Danny Trapp) never disclosed expenditures or voted on spending that money.

First, let me say that I like Brenda Bryant, current President of the Board of Directors. She is a nice person. Her job as President has been made very difficult by a certain element on the Board. Secondly, the President's Report in the August 2026 Summit Scoop was a waste of what could be valuable communication space in the community. I dispute that there is growing crime and violence in The Summit. The HOA discontinued publishing the monthly RCSD Crime Report several years ago. (Vernell Butler can probably be thanked for that. He  argued that publishing addresses of crime incidents constituted an invasion of privacy. It does not).  Any problem can be reduced by rigid enforcement of laws and cracking down on parents of minor children who commit criminal acts. More cameras will not solve the problem! Brenda is totally wrong about the "active framework" of Neighborhood Representatives. For many years there were no legitimate Neighborhood Representatives (including Voting M...

I've thought more about the response by the HOA to the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) in regard to my complaint to the DCA. My complaint was about the HOA's failure to provide me with its authority (specific section(s), if any, in the CC&Rs and/or By-Laws) to enforce no parking on the public streets in The Summit. The response was signed by Julie Brickley, property manager for Town & Country until September 30, 2026. However, the Board must have approved it before it was sent to the DCA and probably got a legal opinion for the wording to do the tango around my complaint and avoid a truthful answer. Even though I no longer live in The Summit and have moved out-of-state,  the Board of Directors owes me an apology and an honest answer. I don't expect to get either.  The Board of Directors never apologized for the unlawful lawsuit filed against me, either. Not only was it prohibited by the CC&Rs, it was filed illegally in the name of the Associa...

On June 12th I filed a Complaint with the S.C. Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) about street-parking enforcement by the HOA. The HOA missed the 20-day deadline to respond but, on July 27, Julie Brinkley, property manager for Town & Country, responded. In my complaint I asked the DCA to find out what Section of the Governing Documents allows the HOA to enforce parking on the publicly-owned streets in The Summit, which are not part of the Common Property. The HOA responded, over Julie's signature, as follows: "The Association is governed by the recorded Declaration and any duly adopted rules and regulations regarding parking. The Board administers and enforces the governing documents in good faith and in accordance with its authority." While what Julie wrote is true, it does not address the enforcement of so-called parking "violations" on the streets in The Summit. She answered a question that was not asked. She failed to answer the question that was asked...

Last week the office sent out this email on behalf of the Board of Directors. THE SUMMIT COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION, INC. NOTICE OF EXTENSION OF VOTING DEADLINES FOR PROPOSED AMENDMENTS July 30, 2026 Dear Owners and Voting Members, The Board of Directors of The Summit Community Association has approved an extension of the deadlines related to the proposed amendments distributed on June 19, 2026. This extension has been granted to allow additional participation from homeowners and Voting Members. Please note that the proposed amendments, ballot questions, voting standards, and approval requirements have not changed. Only the deadlines for submitting ballots have been extended. The revised deadlines are as follows: Owner Direction Referendum due: August 31, 2026 Voting Member ballots and certifications due: September 14, 2026 No new ballot is required. Please use the ballot included in the original mailing. If you have already submitted your ballot, no further action is required. If you have ...