Colleton Skeptic

The Board met on Tuesday, January 18 and on Wednesday, January 19 the Board President sent to the Owners a communication about the actions being taken by the Board ("The Letter"). The Letter addressed a number of issues of import to the Owners: The seawall dispute remains unresolved. For more information on this dispute, see   https://colletonskeptic.blogspot.com/2021/12/whats-deal-on-seawall.html Still no word on the amenities. Maybe next month! But it's fairly clear that no construction will start before mid-year. See  https://colletonskeptic.blogspot.com/2022/01/where-are-we-on-amenities.html The Board intends to address the membership model by proposing a change to eliminate the 610 cap on the number of golfers. Still no word on the Finance Committee's "deep dive" into the Club's finances. See  https://colletonskeptic.blogspot.com/2022/01/whatever-happened-to-deep-dive-into.html   Let's focus on the membership model issue. Like most controversia...

It's not exactly a state secret that I believe that the Board looks at the world through rose-colored glasses and filters information presented to the Owners through those glasses. I've modeled this Blog after The Wall Street Journal's editorial page. Just as the WSJ points out issues with the governance of our country. I'll point out issues I have with the governance of our Club. My favorite boss used to say that you could be against anything you want, but the price of criticizing was to offer an alternative. I'll endeavor to offer a "better idea" whenever I question the actions of the Board. I provide inconvenient facts that may not have been included in the Board's communications to the Owners and I present my analysis of those facts. I try hard to be factually accurate and I promise to correct any factual errors I make. The opinions, of course, are my own. You can agree or disagree with my opinions--but you'll have a better understanding of eac...

 It's quite hard to consider the facts of the amenities project and conclude that it's either on schedule or on budget. But the more interesting issue--at least to me--is who is being held accountable. Just to recap. In March 2021, the Owners approved the comprehensive amenities project by a slender margin (11 vote if I recall correctly). The bottom line is that the Board promised to deliver a new fitness center, a renovation of the Dye Clubhouse and a new tennis facility for $14.8 million, and the Owners approved a $16.5 million budget (which included a $1.7 million contingency). Just to be clear, the contingency covers the first 11.5% of cost overruns. The Board also promised a schedule: Tennis Center: complete 4Q21($1.5 million--including contingency) Fitness Center: complete 1Q23 ($8.5 million--including contingency) Dye Renovation: complete 3Q22 ($6.5 million--including contingency) We won't know until next month (11 months after the project was approved) how much the ...

 In early June, the Board voted to establish a "special finance subcommittee" to delve into the Club's financials to determine: (a) whether the food and beverage losses were reasonable; (b) the source of delays and possible cost overruns in the amenities projects; and (c) whether the growth in overhead is reasonable. All of the information summarized below is taken directly from the Board's published minutes. Here are a couple of caveats. First, the Board continues to hold "executive sessions." As an initial matter, neither SC law nor our By-Laws authorize executive sessions. Since October 2021, the Board has been noting in the "regular session" minutes a summary of actions taken in executive session. So they seem to recognize that their previous practice of keeping secret actions taken in executive session was unauthorized. And second, no minutes of the Finance Committee are posted on the website. The Finance Committee--like most club committees--...