Members of the Tellico Village Property Owners Association Board of Directors opened the monthly board meeting with a lengthy discussion related to the Kahite annex, ultimately voting 6-1 to pursue a needs study for replacement of the current temporary structure.
“They would have to drive 17 miles every time they want to play bridge or Mahjong or have a book club meeting,” Tom Lee, board member, said. “I think that’s unfair. ... The doublewide, we either have to replace it or take it out. It’s not suitable for what it’s being used for. It’s really to me an eyesore and a disgrace to the type of community that I think we want to have here.”
Need questioned
The lone opposition vote came from Sue Tinder, who questioned both the need for a permanent annex in the Kahite neighborhood as well as the message such a structure would send to the Village as a whole.
“This replacement amenity is another step toward two Villages, not the one Village that we always talk about,” Tinder said. “Currently, we have redundant swimming pools, tennis courts, pickleball, exercise facilities, pavilion, entertainment events — and that’s unfortunate. ... Knowing that with few exceptions this would serve the activities needs of only one of our neighborhoods, hypothetically could we really expand where all eight neighborhoods would have their own packet of amenities? No.”
Tinder argued that those living in Kahite did so with the understanding that having access to all the amenities of Tellico Village would require driving a long distance.
The distance from the Kahite neighborhood entrance to the Wellness Center or Chota Recreation Center is about 14 miles.
“Nor is it economical to burden seven neighborhoods that are currently sharing services to participate in the funding of a redundant amenity for fewer than 10 percent of Tellico,” Tinder said.
She pointed to a portion of the Tellico Village bylaws that allows the board to collect maintenance fees from Kahite residents for services specific to Kahite as a possible solution. Village attorney Kevin Stevens agreed to look into whether those bylaws would apply in this situation.
“If the bylaws do not apply, I don’t see the benefit to Tellico Village as a whole,” Tinder said. “I see it as a redundant facility that would be a benefit to less than 10 percent of the residents at the expense of all property owners.”
Bruce Johnson, board president, spoke on behalf of a group pushing for replacement of the annex, pointing to its increased usage and costs associated with the current structure as reasons to build something more permanent.
According to information provided by Johnson, the current annex averages 143 hours of use per month for social events, fitness and meetings — a 10-hour increase from 2016.
Maintenance costs for the annex are about $10,000 per year. A more permanent structure would require no more than equal, and possibly less, in maintenance, Simon Bradbury, director of recreation for Tellico Village, said.
Response from audience members varied. Those opposed to new construction in Kahite questioned the expense as well as the need for a building that would be used, on average, by residents of one neighborhood.
“They knew when they signed on the dotted line how far they were going to have to go to go to the restaurants, to go to Chota,” Tinder said.
Others argued that those living in Kahite should not be at a disadvantage in accessing amenities due to the neighborhood’s location, which the annex alleviates.
“I don’t think that we can make decisions based on the percentages of people that benefit from our amenities,” Johnson said. “If we did, we would not have pickleball right now. We would not have golf courses right now. We would not have boat slips right now. We would not have a Tanasi restaurant right now.”
Ultimately, Johnson asked the board to vote on an outside study that would determine the exact need for the annex so that further details, as well as costs, could be assessed before the board makes a final vote on whether to move forward with the replacement project.
Johnson’s recommendation for replacement is a structure not to exceed $600,000. A covered patio, funded by Kahite residents at about $200,000, was also recommended, both pending a needs study.
The Kahite annex replacement is included in the Village’s five-year plan for more detailed engineering and architectural work to begin in 2018 and construction in 2019 pending future board approval.
Board budget guidance
The board also provided what Johnson called “a reality check” in providing new guidelines for the TVPOA budget.
Guidelines included a maximum salary increase for POA employees of 3 percent based on performance, no changes in rates or fees for Villagers, no increase in assessments and no new amenities other than projects currently in the five-year plan at Toque and Kahite unless cost neutral.
“It’s gut-check time,” Johnson said. “What I’m hoping we’ll be able to do through this process is starting with the reset budget and going through the steps is we’ll be able to paint a picture when we stand up in front of a town hall or whatever we do and approve the budget, that we’ll be able to show the people of the Village that we started really lean and we were very strict — not strict but we looked at each increase ... and here’s the story of how we got there.”
Departments will submit five-year plans with increases based on standard inflation. New amenities cannot be proposed until 2021 in those plans.
Board members pointed to a maintenance study that anticipates continued growth of maintenance costs and the need to factor that in as a reason for changing budget guidelines.
Parker Owen, POA chief financial officer, pushed back against the new guidelines, calling the plan presented during the meeting a compromise between what was originally proposed and how things have previously operated.
“This wasn’t my idea to attack the budget in this particular manner,” Owen said. “... The board has given this direction and management to approach this year’s budget in this manner. So we will indeed do that. I first heard of this about a week ago, and when I first heard the proposed guidelines, my biggest concern was about the message or the impression, the perception that, gosh, we must be in some kind of financial distress.
“... That kind of approach I thought might have been appropriate or even reminiscent of 2008, but we’re nowhere near that,” he added. “I do agree with Bruce’s very first statement. The Village is in excellent financial condition.”
