March 2024 HOA Board Meeting

I will post my summary in short segments since I am involved in a very detailed project this month that demands a lot of time.

The meeting was cut short because although there was a quorum at the beginning David McPhearson could not stay for the whole meeting.

It was mentioned that they had to pay for security for the annual meeting.

My opinion: Why? I thought the two police officers were there to give a community service statement about the kidnapping. If there was a security threat, why wouldn’t they let us homeowners know about it?

Russ Guarino has been tasked with researching security cameras for all three entrances that will capture license plates. He has contacted about five companies (I believe that’s the number I heard) and will meet with those who have the resources and expertise to do the work. The next step is to create a formal set of criteria for the project and get that approved, then submit that to the management company to submit RFPs for price estimates.

Carl Fisher said he will reposition two cameras around the clubhouse and pool to capture more of the parking lot. It was stated that 2-3 people have passwords to the cameras; however, Carl Fisher said he is the only person who can get to recordings in the cloud because “you have to enter a bunch of numbers.”

My opinion: Where are passwords and operational documents for the cameras and other security installations stored? And why is Carl Fisher the only one who can access cloud-based recordings? Has no one on the board heard of succession planning? What if the one who has the only access to the recordings in the cloud becomes incapacitated and critical law enforcement agencies cannot access the data when needed?

At the end of the meeting, Matthais Schmid asked the board to consider the balance of privacy and safety.

My opinion: I commend him for his comment; this is the broad thinking I would like to see incorporated in every project. Balancing security and privacy in surveillance systems is a complex challenge. While technology can enhance safety, it must be deployed responsibly to protect individual rights and maintain trust within communities. If you have suggestions, concerns, or expert information that you can contribute, please contact the board. Their email addresses are at the link below.

Board Members | Orchard Farms HOA

It was approved by the board while there was a quorum that Carl Fisher can get quotes and contract a company to do pool borings to determine the viability of the ground, which will affect the pool repairs needed in the future if the cost in under $1,000.

Kim Anderson-Lee gave an update on the recent zoning board meeting. It appears that the church will be only a church with two services on Sunday and one on Wednesday, there will be no school or daycare, and the facility will have 500 seats. What is not certain is exactly where their parkling lot will be and where the exit/entrances will be.

The circumstances of the AT&T gift cards that someone raised an issue about on this blog addressed. What I heard was that someone was told that the gift cards were to be issued after three months of switching to AT&T internet service. Then someone else told either Gwen (property manager) or someone on the board it would be six months before they would be issued. Whichever, no one followed up on a timely basis so the first card, which was actually issued, expired and the one that was to be issued after six months was never issued and it is now too late.

My Opinion: I believe I heard Kim say that the cost of the internet service with another provider was cheaper but these cards worth $600 made the AT&T service cheaper. Why the heck then did someone let the ball drop and cause us to be using the more expensive service. If board members and the management company can’t manage this level of details, and as with some other projects where lack of adequate planning and lack of attention to detail caused overspend, perhaps we need a change.

Mark Balcer, a former board member, clarified that these cards were not personal-type cards that could be spent by any board member on anything. They were specifically restricted to the purchase of an AT&T service or product. Geez, maybe we could have had another security camera! This is an example of poor recordkeeping and follow-up, not any malfeasance by a board member. And it took a comment on this blog for the board to dig into the details and communicate what should have been entered into the minutes of the meeting where the decision was made and stored with other financial documents. Truth and transparency prevents so much misunderstanding and wasted effort!

And now the dissent about this blog…David McPhearson threatened to "look into" second degree harassment by me for posting in this blog. Here’s a definition of that in South Carolina law.

In South Carolina, harassment in the second degree is defined as a pattern of intentional, substantial, and unreasonable intrusion into the private life of a targeted person. This behavior serves no legitimate purpose and causes the person, as well as a reasonable person in their position, to suffer mental or emotional distress.

The key here is “private life of a targeted person.” Nope, I report on board meetings and what’s said and done in those meetings and the actions taken as an elected board member by the members of this community. I give my opinion about what I think of those actions and what is said in the board meetings. I never make it personal. The people who object to my opinions can freely choose to not read this blog. It’s in their control.

I am pleased to see in the board president's message on the HOA website that they have taken my advice and created separate email addresses to use for board business. Woohoo, progress.