Ladies and Gentlemen,

Once again, the Board of Directors is off on another tangent without allowing for proper community interaction. This time, it concerns the intent to timber the 18 acres at the River. This plan was announced in a workshop but not presented at a board meeting to the public, and it lacks a reasonable strategy to support these actions.

The board is trying to fast-track the removal of the trees, ostensibly to be completed by August 1st, to avoid a potential issue with the preservation of an endangered species. If I understood correctly, this issue might require the POA to allocate $11,000 should the law take effect before we develop and implement a proper plan. It’s ironic that we’re acting rashly over $11,000 when we had no issue spending over $200,000 on paving equipment that remains unused. As a side note, the POA is further delaying the now feasible project for that equipment, the golf course cart paths, due to a lack of manpower—a resource they never had in the first place when they purchased the equipment.

Returning to the acreage, there is a by-law that mandates construction on the timbered property within a certain number of months post-timbering. Yet, I see no plans. I did hear about the idea of a multi-million dollar project featuring a pool, gym, and wedding hall, which is supposedly going to attract outside revenue. Are we considering making it a 501(c)(3) entity? Has anyone consulted with a tax expert on this proposal?

The discussion further envisioned schools from the local counties using and paying for access to the pool. Does the board have commitment letters from, say, the Nash or Franklin County school boards for such purposes? This seems more like a “Field of Dreams” project—build it, or maybe timber it, and they will come.

I also heard that we could sell off properties in that area to support this utopian endeavor, doing it incrementally. So, development and utilities will extend through that area one house at a time? That doesn’t seem efficient. It must be the same planning that went into the purchase of the paving equipment—oops, there I go again. Has anyone conducted an environmental study on issues like drainage once the acreage is cleared?

Another critical aspect is the handling of the funds generated from the timbering. These funds should be an integral part of the overall project planning. Will they be held in escrow and preserved until an actual, viable plan is devised, or will they be absorbed into the general fund and potentially misallocated? Without a transparent strategy for managing these funds, there’s a risk of mismanagement and loss of the intended benefits for our community.

Please don’t misunderstand—my objections are not about halting the advancement of our community and improving our amenities. It’s about the irresponsible and incompetent management of those efforts because, in the long run, we will all pay for this mismanagement.

I had intended to make these observations at the last board meeting, deciding however to publish here, rather than have it lost in the minutes as “resident spoke.” It also corresponds to a recent thread on Nextdoor by Kimberlee Berner regarding lot clearing by builders in the community.