Perspective and Opinion by Tom Harris
The purpose of this article is to publicly inform all dues-paying residents of the Swansboro Country Property Owners Association (SCPOA) of matters of interest to our community.
The Sentinel attended the April SCPOA board meeting along with 32 other members. Members signed an attendance roster, just like many previous meetings at the fire station, which assured only SCPOA members were allowed. Board president Karen Paul directed the meeting. Roll call showed all directors in attendance except Derek Trimble, who was absent.
Change in Community Association Manager
One of the major highlights of the meeting was the announcement of a change in SCPOA Association manager. The manager is a representative of The Management Trust (TMT). The board wanted a fresh start with a new manager. TMT will provide the new manager for the May SCPOA board meeting.This was the final meeting with the current manager.
SCPOA Maintenance Personnel Appreciation
During the meeting, applause and kudos were given to SCPOA maintenance personnel Kevin and Jay for all the hard work and long hours caused by the winter storms this year.
Agenda Item 8. B. Code of Conduct
Directors David Dudley and Meredith Blain reported that the “Code of Conduct” document employed by the board is in many respects a redundancy of existing rules of ethics as pointed out in Davis/Sterling, and reflected in the current SCPOA by-laws.
Agenda item 8. C. Community Building
The “Community Building” status was updated by SCPOA board President Karen Paul. She reported that the county fees on building permits will be over $9,000. In addition, Ms Paul’s research discovered there are twenty-two (22) outstanding permit issues that still need to be resolved.
Agenda item 8. E. involved the Airport Insurance Policy update.
Board member and Treasurer Melissa Stever began researching this issue even before she was elected to the board at the February election. Ms. Stever reported that SCPOA currently has a $5 million liability limit on the airport policy. In comparison, SCPOA’s general liability limit is $1 million. The board recently completed the form required to get renewal quotes, so they do not know what the cost will be.
Item 9. A. Committee Charters.
As discussed in last month’s board meeting, President Karen Paul received a unanimous vote to reorganize all the existing committees, (March agenda item 12. D.) The concern was that there should be at least one board member on each of the six SCPOA committees. Board members were asked to volunteer for a committee of their choice. The results are as follows:
- ARC (Architectural Review Committee): David Dudley
- Common Area/Roads: Luz Brown and Karen Paul
- Communications: Meredith Blain
- Finance: Melissa Stever
- New Building: Meredith Blain and David Dudley
- MFPD Sustainability: David Dudley
- Director Megan Lattanner declined to join a committee
Item 9. B. The MFPD Evacuation Drill
The Evacuation Drill will be held again this year at the Swansboro Airport on May 20th from 9:00 AM to Noon. This event will be followed immediately by the MFPD/MVFA Chili Cook-off at noon at Finnon Lake Recreation Area.
Item 9. C. MFPD Sustainability Committee
MFPD Director Dan Hunt asked the SCPOA board for a member to join the MFPD Sustainability Committee. David Dudley volunteered for the position.
Item 9. D. Use of Zoom for Board Meetings.
A spirited discussion ensued over continuing the use of Zoom. The board voted to take up the matter over the next few months and make a decision at that time. Put in context, the Sentinel points out that Zoom was never accessed by very many members during the Covid Pandemic – when it was first used. In fact, along with the Covid lockdowns, mandatory mask wearing, tests requiring sticking a Q-tip up one’s nose, and multiple vaccine shots in the arm, Zoom meetings are one more symptom we may want to forget.
The next SCPOA board meeting is scheduled for May 16 at the Fire Station. The purpose of this article was to publicly inform all dues-paying residents of the Swansboro Country Property Owners Association (SCPOA) of matters of interest to our community. The Sentinel looks forward to reporting on the outcomes of the May board meeting.
Community Blog 
While zoom may not have been used much, it’s not the amount that it is used, it is the opportunity to use it if one wishes that is important. Having not only minutes posted, but videos or zoom is that standard these days. It is easy to take a video and post it. If hundreds of people watch it or no-one watches it, it is a record that can be accessed at any later date. The idea that is takes months to decide this is nonsense. Any throttling of meetings of scpoa or the MFPD is an attempt to delimit the public (in this case, the members of the HOA) to access of information that should be available to all. You don’t need zoom to video the meeting for posterity, you need to provide as much information as possible to your constituents.
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Good points. SCPOA is a private organizarion and MFPD is a public organization. Each must abide by different laws. Each has a board that is tasked to follow the laws and is accountable only to their membership. Are you a member of SCPOA?
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Not sure if my comment posted but I tried to respond…
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For some reason, my response won’t post…will try tomorrow.
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No, I tried to respond to your post but I couldn’t get it to post.
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Your comments are posted. Just go to the story and you’ll see you comments.
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