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 February 24th Annual SCPOA meeting and monthly business meeting along with between 40 and 50 resident members.
It was announced by board president Karen Paul that because there were only three self-nominated members to fill three vacant seats, there was no need to have the usual annual “Membership” meeting where the election would have been the main focus. So the board proceeded to the regular monthly board meeting agenda.
As per the instructions from the Management Trust (TMT), the board was perfectly acting within its authority to skip the annual meeting as there was no election, which is normally the purpose of that meeting. Consequently, the board appointed the self-nominated members to the board for a two year term. All three carry on the tradition of educated, qualified and experienced members that are on the current SCPOA board. They are:
Devon Beesley: Devon and her husband Ron are relatively new members of the community. She is also the communications chair for the MFPD District Auxiliary (D’Ax), and has volunteered her time and expertise in the real estate and insurance fields to other community organizations as well.
Dennis Janca: Dennis is a long time resident of SCPOA and has built his home here. He brings a wealth of experience to the board in the financial and investment fields. Dennis was elected as Treasurer to the SCPOA board, and will chair the Finance Committee.
Rob Kirkpatrick: Rob also built his home here. He has served on previous SCPOA boards on the Architectural committee and the Roads committee, and brings with him much experience in these fields. Rob was elected as Vice President of the SCPOA board, and will chair the Common Area Committee.
Karen Paul was again elected as board president and will continue to serve in that position. During her first year, Karen Paul has been listening to members: those requesting benches at the playground for example, and she made calls to county agencies to get help with the Dogwood Lane erosion issue. Karen enjoyed a broad range of accomplishments which required an acute degree of business acumen and leadership. She has displayed a consistent capacity to get things done – in a calm and confident manner.
The other board members who are continuing their terms are:
Meredith Blain: Meredith will continue to serve as board secretary. Meredith has done an outstanding job of reorganizing and reposting the SCPOA newsletter, a copy of which all residents received with their recent membership package. Meredith also chairs the Building Committee.
Melissa Stever: Melissa served for the past year as board Treasurer. She helped sort out SCPOA’s insurance coverage and obtained an airport insurance policy for less cost than the previous year. Her auditing efforts uncovered duplicate payments and several overcharges from the Management Trust (TMT). As part of the work of the finance committee, she will be researching other management company options.
David Dudley: David served for the past year as Vice President. David volunteers at the fire department and Finnon Lake, and brings to the board a no-nonsense work ethic. He will continue to serve as Architectural committee chair.
A few of the more talked about issues on the agenda were:
Item X. E. Building Update.
At the August 15, 2023 SCPOA board meeting, the Ad Hoc Building Committee, presided by Meredith Blain, provided a comprehensive Power Point Presentation regarding planning, operations, and maintenance, including a budget estimate of costs associated with the “Community Building” that the present board inherited.
Meredith consulted with and conducted exhaustive research with the El Dorado County Planning Department and the El Dorado Community Development Agency- Development Services Division. A copy of this seven page Presentation is available on the SCPOA website. A summary is provided in the Sentinel article titled “SCPOA Board of Directors Meeting Tuesday August 15, 2023”
To date, the prior SCPOA board spent $14,842.96 on the building. The current board has offered the potential building for sale in order to recoup some of what was spent. Meredith will continue to monitor this issue and the potential sale.
Item XI. E. Communication to Members – Social Media Options.
Another agenda issue of interest is the use of social media for communication for members. The board agreed that simple announcements would be acceptable, but taking replies or engaging in debates would not. One glance at a social media page today on the subject of any community organization would explain why. The Sentinel asks, why do the loudest and angriest opinions seem to emanate from those who appear to know the least about the subject at hand? They say talk is cheap, but in fact, talk on social media is the cheapest.
There are residents with grievances, real or imagined that may (or may not) have occurred five, eight, or ten years ago, which they may (or may not) have had any direct involvement at all! Is this endless search to find fault for these grievances cover for their own shortcomings? Or are the “aggrieved” just looking for reasons to be angry? Either way, most of their issues are inconsequential and irrelevant now. Thankfully, our community is moving forward, with a slate of new volunteers that are unrelated to the past, and its petty conflicts and juvenile egos.
…why do the loudest and angriest opinions seem to emanate from those who appear to know the least about the subject at hand? They say talk is cheap, but in fact, talk on social media is the cheapest…We are seeking voices of reason in a confusing world...
Tom Harris
The next board meeting will be on March 19, 2024, 6:00 PM at the fire station.
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