November Board Meeting - Upcoming Annual Meeting

 November HOA Board Meeting Report (Distributed week of January 1, 2024)

This information is what I observed, what I could get confirmation of, and what I think about it. It is entirely independent of the Orchard Farms HOA Board. My observations and comments are in italics.

Two complaints have been filed against the board with the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affair

Complaint 1 lists these six issues:

• Failure to give notice and hold meeting when increase in dues is voted on.
• Failure to amend By-Laws to allow more than 5 board members.
• Denying homeowners access to public documents.
• Directing Board members not to talk to contractors.
• Continuing to show movies even though they have knowledge it is in violation of copyright laws.
• Illegal limiting a board member term in office.

Complaint 2 addresses the installation of the electrical outlet for Octoberfest. The complaint requests that Carl Fisher, Gwen Miller, and Kim Anderssen-Lee reimburse the HOA for the $2500 cost and be responsible for any additional costs to remedy the issue since it was their actions and not the board’s that caused the safety concern. Greenville County posted a demand notice on the clubhouse door giving the Board until January 2 to get a permit for the electrical outlet.

I have no update as of this printing as to whether that was done. Any fine levied by the County and additional costs to meet code should be paid by the parties who made these decisions, out of their personal funds, not HOA dues. They did not inform the entire board they were moving forward.

November Meeting Homeowner Questions and Concerns (Approximately 30 homeowners attended the meeting at the clubhouse. No record of how many joined online.)

• The board told a homeowner at the October meeting that the trimming of shrubs along her property line and Batesville and whether the HOA would continue to do that work would be on the agenda this month. It was not.
• The state of disrepair of utility boxes in some front yards was brought up by a homeowner. Gwen Miller of Town and Country said that if the boxes are causing a safety issue, the utility company will not do anything until the property owners remove the tree and roots causing the problem. She said she will contact the property owners with recommendations for remediation if the utility company finds safety concerns.
• A homeowner expressed concern over the amount of time the swim team uses the pool. The president said two lanes are open to homeowners during swim practice.

My concern is the homeowner’s real issue was not fully explored. Perhaps the president could have explored his concern at more depth and offered to explore some options for the gentleman rather than just shutting him down by citing current rules, e.g., working with the pool committee to establish some “quiet hours” for those who would really enjoy that. Until you get to the real reason for someone’s complaint, you can’t solve it.

• A homeowner asked about the cost of the Batesville entrance being $21,000. The president said it was only $16,000. A board member corrected her statement and confirmed the cost as $21,000 including plantings, irrigation repair, and mulch.

Cheers to the board member who was willing to step forward with facts.

Board Actions

• The covenants committee activities around changing HOA documents is on hold waiting for direction from the board.

I have no idea what “direction from the board” means. This is a huge story with more details below.

HOA Board Meeting Minutes - 2016 to 2023

 

Board Meeting Minutes Review Beginning in 2016

I read all the board minutes available online as far back as 2016. Yep, you might say I was bored, LOL. I found that one can learn a lot from what’s in or not in the minutes. One of my objectives was to see if there is a trail for what board members were voted in and for how long. Note that anything in red are my cheeky comments. I take the HOA seriously but with a big measure of humor too. Here’s my summary:

Orange Flyer - Who Does It and Why?

I got a number of email responses from my first orange flyer and one of the questions I was asked was "Who are you?" 

Lars and I escaped Atlanta in 2015 and moved to Greenville after exploring a number of smaller towns in the Southeast (can't take the cold elsewhere LOL). My neighbors were so very welcoming and remain a true joy in our lives. I have a degree in journalism and spent my career in a combination of IT and other communications positions. I helped found a customer service help desk training and certification company and wrote and delivered the curriculum nationwide; I founded and ran a software training company for 15 years; and finally, I retired from The Coca-Cola Company as manager of global desktop communication and education. I am passionate about our Earth, our ecosystems, organic gardening and landscaping, educating others of the joys of gardening, and bringing awareness and new directions to our community landscaping strategies. I am a life-long quilter (since I was 4) and fiber artist. You can find my work at these two online sites:

Home | Chinaberry Grove Fib

Chinaberry Grove Textile Art

Another homeowner asked why he had not heard or seen my name as potential candidate for a Board vacancy or for volunteering on one of the many committees.

I was president of the HOA where I lived in Georgia and enjoyed working with neighbors and city and county authorities to ensure the long-term retention of our property values there. I attended an HOA board meeting here not too long after I moved in and felt the "tone" of the meeting was extremely unpleasant, so I chose not to volunteer for anything. A few years later I volunteered for the yard of the month committee and really enjoyed it for a while. Unfortunately, one month I was treated with such disrespect and hostility on the phone by a board representative that I had to say loudly over her harangue that I was hanging up. I immediately notified the president via email that I had to withdraw from the committee for personal reasons. 

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