Board considering voting options for POA-owned lots

Although the decision will be made this week, the POA board is considering its options about voting for the lots it owns. The POA-owned lots were an issue with POA members when an assessment election was proposed earlier this year.

It would not have been the first time the POA used those votes. During the last assessment election, POA-owned lots were used to support the assessment increase. The vote was very close, but that increase failed.

According to the agenda of last week’s work session, the board is considering only two options. The first is not to use the votes at all, and the second is to use the votes but split them according to the proportion of total votes. That way, the votes would count toward a quorum, but would not change the election outcome.

The board is expected to vote on those two options at tomorrow’s meeting.

Member Linda Lloyd used the open forum portion of the meeting to remind the board that elections cost them about $35,000 whether there is a quorum or not. In 2016 election 18,832 votes were cast, which was slightly over the minimum for a quorum.

In 2016, the board chose to vote all the POA lots one way, in support of an assessment increase. The proposal failed by a small margin. While there were more yes votes than no votes on each of the two questions, neither question reached the 51 percent mark necessary to pass.

This year, the election was announced in August, but in November it was “postponed.” The plan was to ask for an added $10 for improved lots and $2 for unimproved lots.

Ken Nelson, another member who spoke during the open forum, asked why a list of projects that were paid for with cash reserves has not been published. He had a copy of the list which begins with land purchases from Cooper Communities for $2,700,000. More than $1 million was spent on each of three other projects: the Country Club renovation cost $1.6 million; the Lakepoint project cost $1.2 million and the Branchwood renovation cost $1.1 million.

General Manager Tom Judson said it will be published with the minutes from the September meeting. Minutes are published after the board approves them, which usually happens at the next month’s board meeting.

The Rules and Regulations Committee sent a set of recommended policy changes to the board. The board will consider them Thursday as a first reading. It takes a majority of votes on two readings to change policy.

Most of the changes have to do with committee appointments. The board’s role in committee appointments was not clear, Judson explained. The policy currently states that each committee will recommend new members based on applications, and the board will approve or deny the recommendations.