Big Canoe HOA – Historical look at Big Canoe’s Old Watchdog

The Legal Entity that governs Big Canoe is the Big Canoe Property Owners Association (i.e “POA”). 

From 2001 to 2015, we also had the Homeowners Association of Big Canoe (i.e. “HOA”). The HOA was more of a Non-Profit Watchdog Group.  It had voluntary property owner membership, and extremely low annual dues.  The HOA was a powerful voice for property owner interests in many ways.

• The HOA founded and ran the Smoke Signals Newspaper.  The “News” at that time was of high quality, and took hard looks at POA governance, developer activities, and local politics.  It even ran Community Polls, one of which is going to be the subject of our NEXT article. The Smoke Signals today is little more than an extension of the POA (with POA Directors and Ex-Directors sitting on the SS Board).
  
• The HOA is the group that initially… (a) managed the Propane Consortium; (b) ran Children’s Sports and Activities Programs; (c) established the Big Canoe Emergency Response Team (“BCERT”, the Volunteer precursor to our existing Emergency Services); (d) established the annual Blood Drives and Flu Shot Clinics in BC; (e) created the Big Canoe Directory; (f) created many Travel, Safety and Health Programs; (g) sponsored numerous Cultural &Holiday Events (i.e. Atlanta Symphony Concerts on the Green, Easter & 4th of July activities, Trunk or Treat, Oktoberfest and more) (h) established the Leadership Big Canoe Program; (i) and kept the POA honest!
• The HOA founded and ran many of the Committees that have now been enfolded under the POA.  Here are a few from as far back as 2001 (You can click the following links to travel back in time through the Wayback Machine, and view these websites as they looked in 2003!):
  • Community Betterment
  • Continuing Education and Travel
  • Environment and Utilities
  • Health
  • Membership
  • Public Relations and Communication <Must Read Mission Statement!
    How Nice would it be to have this now!!!
  • Security
  • Social and Cultural

Here is a copy of the 2014 Big Canoe HOA By-Laws (22 Pages)

• 2013 Bylaws (24 Pages)
• 2012 & Earlier Bylaws – couldn’t find.  If anyone has, please send copies to themtnsvoice@aol.com.
  

Time Travel in the Wayback Machine down Memory Lane to the actual interactive HOA Websites as they existed at different points in history:

• June 21, 2014
• June 16, 2006
• April 25, 2003
• 2001 – 2006 HOA Board Meeting Minutes <Great Historical Insight!!!

Financial Copies of HOA’s IRS 990 Filings:
2008; 2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014
* Look at those low annual dues! See PART VIII.  If I am not mistaken it was around $35 per property per year!  The HOA had over 1000 Voluntary Members!

The HOA was “tricked” into disbanding as a precursor to the 2016 Land Deal, when property owners were absolutely fleeced into believing that the “Evil Developer” was exiting the community, and the “Benevolent POA” would usher in a new era of Big Canoe peace and prosperity.  Little did we know at the time, what a non-transparent, bloated, money-sucking beast that the POA was going to morph into!  In retrospect, the “Evil Developer” narrative that the POA has always promoted now seems a bit manufactured and self-serving (for distraction purposes perhaps?).

I have put this article, and linked resources, together to remind people of the benefits of having an HOA Watchdog Organization in the community.  Things were a lot better on many levels in the community when we had this group looking out for Property Owners.

Is it time for the Community to explore resurrecting the Non-Profit HOA Watchdog?  Maybe some small group of Property Owners will pick up the ball and run with it.

But beware of “False Leaders”.  The old HOA had some great folks leading it in the early days, but over time it too was corrupted, and died from the internal rot of foolish and corrupted leaders. Here’s a tidbit of perspective info: “Tricky” Dick Scharf and Sandi Smalley were earlier HOA Presidents.  In 2015/2016, immediately after the HOA was disbanded, they were also both the POA Presidents that architected and oversaw the 2106 Land Deal.  Well known POA Directors Bob Crouch & Dudley Devore were also HOA Directors at the general time it was sold out and disbanded.  How convenient to disband your watchdog group, just before the biggest financial fiasco in Big Canoe’s history (at that time… I would argue we are undergoing a bigger one now). And HOA Director Phil Anderson was conveniently installed after the Land Deal as the new POA President. This last bunch in the HOA… was an entire barrel of rotten apples.

Personally, I think a “Watchdog Group” should have a small bit of Rebel Spirit in it at the beginning.  Choose your leaders wisely, and you will be led wisely and in the right direction.  Great care should be taken to make sure that the initial construction of such an organization be devoid of any persons that have connections to the current POA Board / Committees / Management or other perceived “Insider” groups.  I would even go so far as to suggest mandating in any new Watchdog Group Bylaws a conflict of interest clause that keeps POA Directors, POA Committee Chairs, POA Employees, Smoke Signals Directors or Employees etc from serving on the  “New HOA” within 5 years of any conflicting POA/SS service. If an HOA is to watchdog a POA…. then there needs to be clear separation. IMHO.

Clarification: any new group doesn’t have to be called an “HOA”, but it wouldn’t hurt to have it function similarly to the old “HOA”.  At this point what is mainly needed is the watchdog component, but I have listed MANY other benefits that could also flow from something like this.

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Peace,
– david / publisher / property owner
Focus on Big Canoe, GA

* publications of The Mountains Voice