BIG CANOE LAND DEAL SERIES (Pt4): 2016 Developer “Bailout” Land Deal included 21 Parcels already listed in Tax Digests as owned by the POA. Did we buy 111 Acres of our own Land?

This paper began researching the 2016 Land Deal a little over a month ago.  Every day brings some new revelation.  Recently a review of the Rochester & Associates (“R&A”) Executive Summary revealed that according to County Tax Records, 21 of the 51 parcels being purchased by the POA, were already owned by the POA.  We have finally found and identified all 21 of those Parcels.

Let’s start with the R&A excerpt, and then we will identify the parcels….

Before proceeding to identify the parcels, let us again break down the above findings….

• We paid R&A to do due diligence work on the sale.
• In an ownership review of County Tax Records, THEY identified that 21 of the parcels that the POA was buying, the POA already owned.
• Upon discovery of this information, they did NOT move to review any actual deeds to clear up the ownership issues…. they simply relied on an email from the Big Canoe Developer’s Attorney, Jim Crew, that the properties were “actually owned by the POA”.  (Question: How much did we PAY for this “due diligence”?)

It is worth noting that there is a much more detailed report that was provided to the POA.  They have refused to share that report.  They have refused to share the plats and other documents that could clear all of this up.  I have heard that their excuse is…. that if they were to provide these documents, and if they were used as evidence against them in a legal action, then it would void their personal liability protection under the Board Of Directors Insurance policy.  That sounds like… they believe they WOULD get sued if the documents were released.  So this really raises the bar for the community, and we really need to find out what the documents and facts reveal. What is so important that the Property Owners aren’t allowed to see it?  Remember, this is Land that WE (the Property Owners) are paying $9,400,000.00 for.  I have heard of secrecy regarding details leading up to a sale, which is not unreasonable – but never secrecy after the fact, once all the negotiations are done and the sale concluded – especially not in regards to the parties paying for the transaction.  This is beyond comprehension.

Here are the parcels/tracts identified as being the 21 parcels referenced in the R&A report.

I’ve personally verified that we (the POA) were paying the annual property taxes on these properties.  The tax bills are all available online and it is easy to go through them and click and verify, verify the base acreage, etc.  I did one report that was very detailed and went over all of the Dawson Properties.  Others are coming that detail the Pickens tracts.

I am told the POA Board has been leaking explanations into the community, suggesting that these are all inconsequential tracts; tiny little things that were just thrown in as part of the deal.  As you can see, these inconsequential tracts (21 out of the 51 total tracts included in the sale) total 111+ acres.

HERE IS THE REAL EYE OPENER:
One of these “tiny little insignificant tracts” is Tract S.   “S” is for Sconti, as in SCONTI POINT. 

You are reading that correctly…… one of the parcels listed as already owned by the POA, and that the POA was already paying the annual property taxes on…. was the 8.2 acre parcel of land, known as “Sconti Point”, that was valued as part of this deal at $2,450,000.00.  Did we pay $2.45 Million Dollars for already owned land?

The list of Issues with this sale is getting bigger day by day.  There is already a lot more we have uncovered, and every few days we plan on drip drip dripping out more information….  until the Property Owners of Big Canoe finally start demanding answers.

The two (2) people and two (2) entities that I am going to start focusing on are:

1. Roy Dobbs (Pickens County Assessor)
   Roy has screwed up our Tax Records for decades, and a lot of this is directly a result of his negligence.  Here is a story about Roy we did that sums up the scope of his negligence…”ROY DOBBS :: A HISTORY OF NEGLIGENCE“.  Roy Dobbs is an obvious target to get blamed for this as it all unravels.  I’m wondering if they will try and make him the fall guy.  If not him, maybe this next guy…..
2. Jim Crew (Big Canoe Co Attorney)
   Jim Crew’s name has been on document filings going back decades.  He’s the one that supposedly files all of this, and is high on the list of people that will probably get thrown under the bus as this starts getting ugly, and they start looking for scapegoats.  Jim should be nervous if he is the one who has been filing the PT61’s.
3. Norton Agency (John Drew), helped prepare the “Valuation Report” used to get the vote
   It is unclear what Drew’s relationship to the deal was.  Was he a Broker on the deal?  Did he get a commission?  Anyone with any information on this aspect of the sale is welcome to “Send Us A Tipline“.
4. CBRE Appraisers (They did the appraisal for Wells Fargo on the $10,500,000 Loan we took out for this land deal)
   I haven’t started releasing the prepared reports on this one yet.  It might make people mad enough to finally start banding together and looking at legal options to start clawing back monies on the deal.  This single issue alone is starting to look very very bad.  Federal Banking Law has Appraisal requirements.  This report will be an eye popper.

The Board is lawyered up.  They have refused ALL requests for documents or answers, and are hiding firmly behind their attorney.  The Developer is silent.  Roy Dobbs was in furious rage when we last talked. I am told that Jim Crew is seeming a bit distracted lately.  I feel like I am watching an old western, and everyone is wondering who is going to break first.  I’m guessing that they all know it is unraveling, and any guilty parties are looking around to see who they can blame.

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Let’s close this by refocusing…. 21 parcels, one of which was Sconti Point, all listed as being already owned by us, and totaling a substantial 111+ acres.  Why did tax records show we owned them before we bought them?  Why were we paying property taxes on all those properties if we didn’t own them?  Has there ever been a detailed title search that involved detailed analysis of legal property descriptions used to identify properties – to see if they were ever transferred to us in the past?  One person has already commented to this newspaper that Sconti Point might have been transferred to us long ago with the golf course.  We simply don’t know yet.  The people with the answers aren’t talking………

And that really is the elephant in the room….. why hasn’t the Board addressed any of this publicly? Why are they hiding behind their lawyers in refusal to provide any documents or accounting related to the 2016 Land Deal?  WHY are they even afraid of being sued if there is nothing to see?

If you like these articles, and find these questions to be of interest to ALL Big Canoe Property Owners – then consider sharing our website, www.BigCanoe.org, on the Big Canoe Sidebar; Big Canoe Neighbor to Neighbor, or BC Property Owners Issues and Concerns FACEBOOK Groups. I was banned from the Facebook Groups for asking questions.  Are YOU afraid you could be banned if you started posting this?  Be honest with yourself.  If there is a bit of fear and trepidation inside you, what does that tell you about the current situation?  Is this the Big Canoe you remember and fell in love with?  A community of fear and intimidation where those that dare to ask questions live in fear of threats, public shaming and being ostracized?  A POA Board that treats the Property Owners with contempt and spend your money any way they want, without asking for your prior input, without explaining themselves, without providing accounting for all the studies, consulting and other enormous financial expenses they are racking up?

If you want YOUR Big Canoe back…. YOU need to pick a side and start speaking up, asking questions, and demanding answers.

The Property Owners have a right to these facts.  It is their money.  If the Board refuses to answer their questions, this newspaper will attempt to do so.