Affordable POA Improvements over the Years or “Big Canoe Has Never Stood Pat”
Preface
In a recent Smoke Signals a headline reads “Big Canoe Can’t Afford to Stand Pat”. Writing this opinion piece Anne Dickerson argues that Big Canoe must approve the Capital Initiation Fee so that we can “make money”. She goes on to say that…”Big Canoe needs the money over the next 10 years to establish a Capital Reserve Fund, which will allow the POA to pay down existing debt, maintain the community’s infrastructure and fund reserves for emergencies such as 2002’s tornado-like winds that cut a swath through the middle of Big Canoe.” We do not believe that the purpose of the POA is to “make money”. We believe that prior boards managed, under adverse circumstances, to improve Big Canoe so that it has become known as the “Premier Mountain Community” and at the same time maintained adequate reserves for emergencies. To further inform Ms. Dickerson we present this history of accomplishments of these prior POA Boards.
The intent of this history is to document the success of POA Boards of Directors from 1988 through about 2005 in providing substantial and significant improvements in facilities and services to Big Canoe property owners without committing the POA to excessive debt or subjecting the property owners to excessive annual assessment increases, special assessments, or punitive fees.
January 1988 through December 1994
Prior to January 1988, the Big Canoe Property Owners Association (POA) was Company/Developer owned and managed. The Settlement Agreement of 1987 (see Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of “Big Canoe Governance History”) gave the collective individual property owners equal voice on the POA Board of Directors, and also established the POA as an entity separate and apart from the Company/Developer. Jim Cook began his term on January 1, 1988 as the first-ever non-Company/Developer-employee General Manager. This represents the beginning point in time when property owners could exercise stewardship over POA decisions and operations, albeit with the ever-present possibility of Company/Developer vetoes due to equal power at the Board level.
January of 1988 found the now separate POA: (a) with its common properties in an advanced state of disrepair due to neglect by the previous Company/Developer (The Southeast Holding Company); (b) required to pay cash up front for all goods and services due to the poor credit history of the previous Company/Developer; (c) with a $950,000 indebtedness to the new Company/Developer (The Big Canoe Company) as a result of the Settlement Agreement; and, (d) an Operating Cash Balance of exactly ZERO dollars.
With this inauspicious beginning, the “new” POA was faced with the challenges of making necessary improvements while at the same time reestablishing its credit worthiness, paying down its debt, and trying to build a healthy cash balance. As if that was not daunting enough, the POA’s operating revenue growth potential was diminished by the portion of assessments from newly constructed homes and new lot sales that started being diverted to the Amenity Reserve Fund as required by the Settlement Agreement. The success that Jim Cook and the POA achieved in meeting these difficult objectives was due, in large part, to a dedicated focus on sound financial management and cost consciousness. (These same principles were evidenced in the actions of all Boards up until about 2006.)
The major improvements accomplished by the POA from 1988 through 1994 were (in no particular order):
(1). Repaved approximately six miles of roads per year;
(2). Built first garbage facility near the Ball Field;
(3). Started serious landscaping efforts;
(4). Refurbished Sconti Clubhouse for restaurant operations when Company/Developer ceased its food operations at The Chimneys;
(5). Built picnic area and poolside chair area at Swim Club;
(6). Modernized the downstairs of the Swim Club Building;
(7). Built Marina on Lake Petit (paid for by leases);
(8). Built first Big Canoe “post office”;
(9). Expanded Tennis and Chapel parking by building the lower parking lot at the Chapel on land provided by the Chapel;
(10). Replaced plank flooring on all bridges with concrete and replaced wooden railing with stone walls;
(11). Opened the North Gate 24 hours per day to improve ingress and egress for the rapidly increasing number of property owners with homes in Big Canoe’s northern neighborhoods;
(12) Built the Cherokee golf course;
(13). Built the Indoor Tennis Center;
(14). Saved money on golf carts by buying and trading every three years rather than leasing; and,
(15). Bought the Canoe Lodge from the Company/Developer (right of first refusal contained in Settlement Agreement) and rebuilt it for administrative and social usage on a guaranteed maximum cost bid basis.
(16). Bought fire trucks and built firehouses and took other steps to get ISO rating improved from a nine to a five.
(17). Added significant additional parking for clubhouse by building lower level parking.
January 1995 through December 2005
Following Jim Cook’s retirement, successive Boards continued to address “needs” and not “wants”, and continued to protect the POA (and therefore the property owners) from any “tax and spend” mentality.
Major accomplishments during this time were:
(18). Built the Duffers Halfway house for golf;
(19). Rebuilt the Tennis Center to include soft and hard courts with modern lighting;
(20). Rebuilt the Creek Golf Course;
(21). Added an extension to the Sconti Club House to provide more dining space on the bar level and to provide a screened deck behind the golf shop;’
(22). Rebuilt the North Gate entrance and constructed a new enlarged guard house;
(23). Negotiated with the Company/Developer for an acceptable location for the Big Canoe Animal Rescue facility and provided an old guard house for the kennel complex.
(24). Built Fire Station 6 on POA land for Dawson County at a one-time expense of $100,000. In return, received continuing Dawson County EMS service which permitted the termination of the POA’s substandard in-house EMS which was costing in excess of $200,000 annually.
(25). With part of the annual savings realized from (24) above, funded a second 24 hour roving security patrol, required all patrol employees to qualify as a First Responder, and equipped the patrol vehicles with First Responder equipment including AED’s;
(26). Avoided a $2.5 million “fix” of the Lake Petit dam demanded by the Georgia Safe Dams Agency by obtaining a second opinion that proved the dam was “safe” as it was, and could be made even safer for less than three-quarters of a million dollars. Even this less expensive “fix” has never been done due to “no response” from the Agency.
(27). Doubled the size of the “post office” after numerous meetings with the US Postal Service failed to obtain “home delivery” for Big Canoe;
(28). Increased the amount of road repaving each year to ten miles;
(29). Built the new garbage/waste facility near the north gate;
(30). Spent almost seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000.00) due to damages incurred during a November 2002 tornado that hit Big Canoe. This amount was kept as low as it was by negotiating for assistance from Pickens County. While a Special Assessment was considered for a while, none was ever initiated.
(31). Set aside land for a “dog park” in the Meadows;
(32) Built a totally new play ground associated with the Ball Field;
(33). The 1998 and 1999 Boards negotiated the 1999 Amendment to the Amenity Agreement (see Chapter 8 of “Big Canoe Governance History”) with the Company/Developer and secured over a 90% approval vote by property owners. The Amendment became effective in June 1999 with the following benefits accruing to property owners:
(a). The Swim Club facility was totally rebuilt and the Swim Club building was extensively renovated.
(b). The Fitness Center was built between the Swim Club and the Indoor Tennis courts, and parking was greatly expanded.
(c). Pontoon boat rental by the POA was funded and authorized.
(d). Built trails in the Meadows.
(e). While the Company/Developer was given a future call of $1.5 million on the Fund, that money was ultimately spent to cover the Company/Developer’s construction cost overruns on the Phase 1 projects directly above, and the construction of the Phase 2 project (the Wildcat Swimming Pool).
(f). Even though the amenities provided by this Amendment were almost universally desired by property owners, the most important accomplishment of the Amendment, and probably the most important financial accomplishment in Big Canoe’s history, was the change in the control of the Amenity Reserve Fund. Previously only the Company/Developer could obligate the Fund. This Amendment required that the POA Board gain that right. The significance of this change is evident in the fact that, during 1998, the Fund grew by $478,000, and only nine years later, in 2007, the Fund grew by almost $1.1 million. The 1998/99 Boards anticipated that as debt against the Fund was paid off, a future Board would convert the Amenity Reserve Fund into the Capital Reserve Fund that the POA had never been able to formally establish.
Summary
Contrary to some comments in circulation today, POA Boards prior to 2006 were extremely successful in improving the quality of facilities and services at Big Canoe, and did so without the pain and risks of extensive increases in debt, excessive assessment increases, special assessments, or punitive fees. In particular, the 1999 Amendment to the Amenity Agreement clearly positioned the Amenity Reserve Fund to become the Capital Reserve Fund. We can only hope that it is not now being considered as a “Super Slush Fund” for supporting ill-conceived spending habits.
Comments
9 Responses to “Affordable POA Improvements over the Years or “Big Canoe Has Never Stood Pat””
Leave a Reply
-
About This Site
This site is presented as a resource for use by Big Canoe property owners. Information found on this site will often differ from that which is presented by the POA Board, the current administration, and some of the committees. Much of what you will see here is opinion, but the opinions will be formed from the best available information.
As property owners and users of this site, you are urged to bring attention to the good things you see as well as the bad. You are particularity urged to bring attention to acts by our employees when those actions exceed your expectations.
Property owners have strongly held views and they are encouraged to express their views on this forum. Please refrain from name-calling or attacking individuals. Keep in mind that the goal is to effect change, not create enemies. -
Recent Posts
-
Recent Comments
- Chris Beechler: This proposed R&R Reserve Fund plsn needs some clsrificsation for it to be meaningful to me. Here...
- F Shead: Congratulations, very well done.
- F Shead: Must address no-bid contracts. There must be wording added to stop multi-million dollar “no-bid”...
- Larry Grizzle: I would like to think that everyone involved in this process feels they’re doing the right thing...
- DAVID KELLY: My fear is that the POA Board will turn around and increase the monthly assessment to generate the funds...
- Don Wyeth: My numbers as to homes and lots may be slightly inaccurate but are close enough to establish a point....
- mark sementilli: So this is the new and improved CIF? What a dissapointing outcome. I don’t want to appear as...
- Don Wyeth: By now most of you are aware that the POA Board has , after great consideration , come up with a new plan...
- mark sementilli: Doug, The one area or your letter that strikes me as truly amazing is the purported spiking of the...
- Doug Piggott: “Corporate” Board – Fact or Fiction? You decide. Some would have us believe that this term...
I live part time in Big Canoe having purchased a home late last fall. We split time between BC and Chicago, our primary residence.
What my wife and I have witnessed from the board and POA over the last several months has been nothing but dissapointing. As much as we enjoy Big Canoe and the great lifestyle it offers we would not make the same purchase decision today. Shame on me as I did not conduct the proper due diligence on the BC finances and politics. We focused only on the home, neighborhood and community. Big mistake as I deal with billions of dollars in my job and know how to balance a significant budget and read a balance sheet. Seems that I took the basics for granted.
For the life of me I cannot understand the need for an instant one choice solution to the capital reserve fund. Jim Elliott offers several simple common sense options in his letter to the editor to Smoke Signals. There are many more to be considered but the board seems intent on creating a complicated solution that will impact the property seller only.
The politics that we witness through Smoke Signals and our limited time in BC is petty at best. Lord knows that we see plenty of that living in Chicago. We had hoped to escape from that and the financial foolishness that we experience daily in Chicago. The Chicago politicians are masters at spending other people’s money without considering the impact of their decisions. Why bother when you have all the answers.
Your letter illustrates that a dedicated board that works on behalf of the community and focuses on reality financing can be a huge success Maybe there will be a moment of elightenment that strikes the decision makers. I see no evidence to date but my wife and I can hope.
Regards
Mark Sementilli
Big Canoe has never been considered the premier mountain community and compares poorly to any of the Cliff’s Communities, Balsam Mountain Preserve (a Chaffin and Light development similar to Spring Island) and several others in this area of Ga/NC/Tenn. There clearly is a need for improvement and a capital reserve fund is necessary but can be funded through several user friendly sources.
My wife and I have lived here for two years and find the administration and the POA Board and the POA attorney to be remarkably uninformed, unresponsive, and unpleasant. We lack an adequately trained security department, an understaffed maintainence department, and a disastrous food and beverage service at the new Club.
In spite of my objections to the Administration I regretfully cannot endorse the dissident group either for the following reasons that you must all consider with care and concern. In response to an email from one female member of the dissident group asking for feed back on their three goals I responded with 3 or 4 polite emails suggesting that I was not in disagreement with their goals but that they needed to make a more compelling argument for recalling Bob Crouch in order to gain suport; we would need an immediated replacement for Roger Klask if they removed him and that our new Director of Amenities Jim Story could step in immediately and as a temporary as he had managed the previous Club we belonged to on Hilton Head (Colleton River Plantation); and that the Capital Reserve Fund was necessary particularly as the fees here are the lowest of any gated community one can find and the improvements necessary are very apparent (garbage/mail/roads). IN RESPONSE THIS FEMALE MEMBER OF THE DISSIDENT GROUP (who requested feed back) FILED A FORMAL COMPLAINT WITH THE DAWSON COUNTY SHERIFF CLAIMING I WAS MAKING TERRORISTIC THREATS (A FELONY) AGAINST HER. This is unsupportable nonsense and a substantially false official report and anyone is welcome to review the emails I sent. BE WELL ADVISED THAT THIS DISSIDENT GROUP MAY BE TOO EMOTIONAL AND UNREASONABLE TO RELY UPON PARTICULARLY IS THEY ARE FACED WITH SUGGESTIONS THEY DISLIKE OR MISINTERPRET.
Frankly I have concluded that the dissident group is as suspect and even more wacky than the current administration. Sadly Big Canoe is the low class community it has long been know for in the South East and I am trying to sell and the leadership from both sides is uniformed as to what a good gated community should be.
Sir,
Having searched many of the premier communities prior to purchasing in BC I never compared it to the Cliffs and others as BC is not in their league nor advertised as such. I moved here because I hoped and still do that with proper management and infrastructure improvements it can become a premier gated community. Big Canoe is a bargain for sure but to survive long term it must not be viewed soley as a cost saving option. A reserve fund is needed for future improvements but the goals of the board are not in line with all the community. As more information is provided to the community by concerned citizens it appears that the down your throat approach by the board is becoming less than acceptable. To your point, board arrogance is not an attribute that facilitates rational discussion.
The board reminds me so much of the free spending liberal government that my wife and I unfortunately have to deal with in Chicago. They create scare scenarios such as the IMMEDIATE need for a capital reserve fund, gin up the rhetoric, create ridiculous deadlines and appear to listen to opinions while actually being deaf to the words of others.
Hopefully there will be a breakthrough in solving these many issues. I will require another voice to the once sided opinion delivered by the board The dissendent group should not be judged by the actions of one person. What happened to you is inexcusable. We are not whack jobs but concerned citizens who care about the future of BC. I too have considered moving away from this mess but I would much rather give it a go and become part of the solution vs standing on the sidelines.
Regards,
Mark Sementilli
Hi Mark,
We are largely in agreement. I was so impressed by the potential of Big Canoe that we stupidly purchased one of the more expensive homes. It might have been wiser to rent and “test the waters.” We also looked at the other communities and felt Big Canoe offered more flexibility particularly as you are not locked into high monthly fees.
I mentioned that the claim in the original article that we are ‘the Premier Mountain Community’ is incorrectly overstated for the following. If people truly believe that we are as good as possible it may lead to the concept that we need not improve. Many people in every gated community we have lived in have never closely explored other similar communities and hence tend to have “blinders” on.
In the final analysis I think a much more valuable contribution could be made be all of us to find the best candidates for the POA Board. In the best of the 8 gated communites we have lived in the management was college educated urban planners and the POA Board was developer neutral and somewhat hands off on managing. That seems to be opposite to what we have here. The ideal candidates would have had 20 years of experience living in at least two other gated communities; be tolerant and sensitive and able to listen; have sufficient time to spend; be eager to not micromanage and hire the best candidates. It is somewhat problematic here to attract good candidates as it is a remote area and we may have to subsidize housing for some (the so called “Vail” Problem). This should be easy as there are so many affordable homes for rent or sale!
Thank you for your kind comments which a few others have said as well. It truly was an inexcusable and inexplicable reaction by a lady I have never even met! I was totally surprised in that I largely support her and the dissident group ideas and was only suggesting they need to make stronger and shorter messages. Our only apparent disagreement was (reluctantly) agreeing with you of the need for a capital reserve fund which the dissident group apparently wants to further consider. The fact that the POA and their attorney and the administration have reacted with rude and insulting unsympathy for this is predictable however regrettable. The fact that no one from the dissident group have expressed any sympathy or support has led to some disappointment on our part. Interestingly of course is the fact that this story has created somewhat of a negative backlash against the entire group by a large number and of course forced the POA to issue their EMAIL explaining what was going on in these secret negotiations.
My wife and I have somewhat lost our sense of community. I need to become friends with people like you who are thoughtful and willing to contribute. Call me any time as I am in the phone book and you are not. Thanks again!
Richard Bolt
Thanks
Mark and Richard,
I am one of those 30-somethings that is moving into Big Canoe. My husband and I bought our house about 2 years ago hoping for a quieter, gentler place to raise our child. My husband is self-employed and able to work from home so we could live anywhere in the Atlanta area and chose Big Canoe.
We are not golfers, tennis players and goodness knows we have no free time to sit in a new clubhouse, but we do appreciate having the pool at Wildcat (less than a mile from us), a place to store our canoe and miles of trails in the Wildcat area for hiking. We are happy to pay for the amenities that we use, but it makes me ill to think about our hard earned money going toward services that we will never use.
Mark- I really applaud your decision to get involved and help make positive change in BC. I lived in Chicago (Hyde Park) for 4 years when I was in graduate school and remember very clearly the spending that local government did on my behalf. But the real question is - cubs or sox?
Richard- there are many times that I have felt like an outsider and have seen a lack of community in BC. Maybe it is because I am younger or have a toddler toddling after me, but sometimes I am very aware that people could be friendlier. Don’t get me wrong, I have lovely neighbors who would help us in any way they could, but generally in BC I have felt an attitude that is less welcoming of “new people” or people who don’t fit the BC mold. It is unfortunate that you had a bad experience with someone in this group. Please don’t give up on BC.
I guess I felt compelled to write this afternoon to let you both know that you aren’t alone. My spouse and I fell in love with the idea of Big Canoe. I don’t think that either of us knew or asked the right questions about politics or life here. Would we make the same decision today….I am not sure. But, we are here for the long haul now. Let’s make this a community that we love to call home.
Hello neighbors,
Karla Moody
My wife and I have been full time residents for 12 years. It’s painful to see Big Canoe turn into the kind of place we moved up here to get away from. That said, this will be our home forever, the Good Lord willing. Change is inevitable.
The bottom line is this - the POA Board and Management should ALWAYS spend every penny of our money in the most financially prudent, fiscally transparent manner possible - and that simply is not happening. Every single property owner should be concerned about this, and that isn’t happening, either. If these people were city councilpersons or county commissioners somewhere out there in metro Atlanta, and doing the same thing they’re doing here, their constituency would be up in arms. No bid contracts, secretly approving project scope changes worth millions of dollars, arrogant responses to those of us who want answers. This Board forgets who it is they work for.
Big Canoe has been without a qualified general manager for almost a year, and it will be another 6 months before we have one. I just can’t believe that this fact alone hasn’t generated concern and comment from the property owners.
However, the real challenge is not the behavior of the Board, it’s the rules and by-laws we have in place that allow them to govern this way.
Karla Moody,
Thank you for your kind response as my wife and I are having a very difficult time realizing how acrimonious the dispute seems to be. My wife and I are like you and have really little interest in the amenities other than not allowing them to become inflated beyond reason. I think perhaps that a new group is forming and we cannnot allow nuclear disputes over minor matters destroy our sense of community. I am a physician and my wife is a BS RN Nurse (and MBA) who for whatever reason have been left childless. If you would like to have a babysitter and allow you to have a day off just contact me by phone. I am confident that we new-comers are going to have a significant contribution to make. I am really devastated that someone would file a terrorist report without substantial basis and that the Sheriff did not bother to get my side of the story or allow my self to provide an explanation. We are still frightened by the fact that we are now in the Deep South close to Ala-freaking-bama and think we may elect to move as the officials both at the Sheriff and the POA and the POA attorney and some residents seem to “shoot, fire, and aim!.” Would like to stay in touch as we live very close to each other.
Richard Bolt
Dr. Bolt
i am very sorry that you are not happy in Big Canoe. I have lived here part-time for 14 years
and have met some of the finest people I have ever
known in this community. This is a caring community filled with people that serve others on
a daily basis volunteering their time and expertise in Pickens and Dawson counties. We have a chapel that is the backbone of Big Canoe life
supporting dozens of charities locally and worldwide. Our people travel internationally to
help the poor and down-trodden and bring some
small bits of hope and happiness to others.
Our residents come from all over America..Yes,even Alabama. I know a great many
people from Alabama and they happen to be fine and upstanding citizens. My first take is that
you may be unhappy living in the South. I have lived all over this country and have found southerners to be very friendly, down-to-earth people. My hope is that you will attempt to become part of the community-donate your time to
Good Samaritan if you are a medical doctor.Get involved with the chapel activities. You will be happier.
Hi Don,
Thanks for your kind reply. I am still reeling from this baseless attack and apologize if I sound totally negative. Nevertheless it is a fact that I was not accorded any opportunity to respond or refute or defend the allegations made against me which seems clearly inappropriate and which I can or will not ignore. None of us should ignore this type of conduct and for any of us to stand silent in such a situation is immoral. I used the term Ala-freaking-Bama because of it’s well deserved and undeniable reputation in the past for blatantly disregarding civil rights. I am certain there are many good people from Alabama and many living from all states here in Big Canoe. We like our home very much but are unsettled regarding the community and the area. I remain disappointed and surprised that after living in 8 or 9 gated communities in coastal Florida and South Carolina for the past 30 years that Big Canoe seems to be the most bitterly divided and acrimonious group we have encountered. How can anyone deny this when you note the remarkable amount of hostile rhetoric posted on the web. How has the commmunity which prdes itself by being cemented by the Chapel allow this to go on? Do you sense any failure or disregard in the role of the Chapel in fostering tolerant disagreement and debate? I reiterate that for the POA and the Administration and the POA Attorney and the “dissident group” to be less than unresponsive to this matter reflects poorly on the entire community which sadly includes the Chapel. Responsibility is an invidual matter which must continue outside the Chapel and on every day besides Sunday!
Richard