Chet Pillsbury, chief executive officer of the Tellico Village Property Owners Association, gave residents updates Thursday on a variety of subjects.
Pillsbury led a town hall-style meeting at the Community Church at Tellico Village, providing information about the Tanasi Golf Course Clubhouse rebuild process, regulations for home rentals and potential changes to trash services.
The Tanasi rebuild committee has now grown to 17 members and includes representatives from every Village committee and additional homeowners.
He said an architect is being targeted and expects the group to start this week setting guidelines for square footage and amenities. Determining the overall budget for the project is also a priority, he said.
A temporary building will hopefully open May 1 and give a better golf experience, Pillsbury said. Fencing will also be moved for parking and to open a path to the boat docks.
He expects to schedule another public meeting in late June to present renderings and an overall plan for the rebuild.
“Just to clarify, no, we have not made a decision to get rid of the putting greens, and no, we have not made decision to get rid of the ninth hole,” Pillsbury said. “Those are all part of the process as the architect looks at this property.
“What we’ve said to him is, ‘Here’s your plot of land. Tell us how we can do the best job of getting parking lots and buildings on this plot of land’,” he added. “They’ll come back to us and let us know that, and that way we will have some idea of what is needed and how much of the property will be taken up in that process.”
Regarding rental properties in the Village, Pillsbury said he has spoken with members of the Architectural Control Committee about setting rules and regulations that are enforceable.
He said ACC members will attend the next POA board meeting to present their findings and any next steps.
When addressing the problem of trash pickup in the Village, Pillsbury said he could have fired Republic Services but that would have left residents without service for possibly four to six months. He said keeping Republic for now will allow other trash companies the opportunity to bid and hopefully result in better pricing.
“All I’ve done is kept some kind of trash pickup while we try and get a better company because what’s going to happen is in that grand moment when we find that better company we’re still going to have a period of time where they have to ramp up for us,” Pillsbury said. “During that period of time, all of you, including myself, are still going to need trash pickup.
“We’ve designed this so that once we get that going, we’ll agree on that period of time and a cut-off date where the other one picks up, and Republic goes away and nobody is going for months without trash pickup,” he added. “… I didn’t think it was appropriate to just cut them off and have all of you having to go down to all of the landfills yourself with your trash for four months. I also am perfectly aware that there are some people in this community who don’t even have that ability.”
During the time for resident questions, topics ranged from restaurant usage to short-term daily home rentals.
Pillsbury said one of the struggles is differentiating between short-term and long-term rentals. He said state regulations do not address noise or occupation, which requires the Village to work with the ACC to establish its own rules.
“One of the things that I can tell you future-wise that we as a community are sooner or later going to have to make some hard decisions about is rentals, period,” Pillsbury said. “I know that short-term rentals is right now the focus of everyone, but rentals period, long-term, short-term, don’t care. One of our sister lakes right now, Norris Lake, is operating at 85% rentals in that community. From my perspective, as your CEO, that’s not what I envision for this community.”
He said he doesn’t advocate getting rid of rentals but suggests finding a percentage that would be allowed.
“I don’t think renting is bad, but I think it does need parameters and it does need control,” he said. “All of you as a community … you’re going to have to make some decisions. This is not something the board can wave their magic wand and do and there’s nothing I can do with it. You as a community have to make that decision, and that’s going to be a tough one, I think, to make.”