By now, most property owners have either read the POA e-blast (1) or listened to the January 30th board meeting (2) regarding the issues surrounding the Big Canoe trademark. The board is embarking on two parallel paths to either purchase the trademarks “at an acceptable cost” or proceed with plans to change the name of our fifty two year old community. No further comment is needed by this writer at this time. Instead, this post will serve only to provide additional important details about those negotiations.
Beyond our earshot . . .
The entire trademark issue has been an active topic of discussion in the closed door board meetings since at least February 26th, 2024. These discussions continued in the March 11th, April 8th, April 15th, April 29th, May 13th, May 28th, June 24th, July 8th, July 22nd , August 5th and August 26th closed door meetings. After that time, any references to the subject went dark.
Note: For whatever reason, the developer director recused himself from the July 22nd discussion.
Without disclosure . . .
The issues and negotiations regarding the trademark were not disclosed as a “subsequent event” in the 2023 audited financial statement prepared by Mauldin & Jenkins (“M&J”) dated June 27th, 2024. (3)
Note: It is currently unknown if the board and/or management failed to inform Mauldin & Jenkins of the issue or if M&J chose to omit it’s disclosure as a subsequent event.
“What is Big Canoe Brokerage’s current asking price for the purchase of the Big Canoe name, logo and brand?” (4)
When this question was asked, the POA President provided a carefully worded response (likely prepared by legal counsel) refusing to provide any additional information beyond that included in the original e-blast. Click here to read that response. (5)
Apparently our board does not believe the community has the right to know the answer to that question.
In conclusion . . .
The board, with full knowledge of an impending crisis has withheld all of the above information from the community, the real stakeholders in this matter, as well as possibly Mauldin & Jenkins and others while simultaneously making conscious decisions to forge ahead with extravagant capital projects funded by debt.
Clearly not good.
. . . . .
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Patricia Cross
10438 Big Canoe
References:
1) POA e-blast dated January 30th, 2025, “A Message from the POA Board of Directors”
2) Big Canoe POA Board meeting, January 30th, 2024, video on Youtube at 51:05 through 1:03:40
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tgp63ASV1M
3) 2023 Audited Financial Statement, dated June 27th, 2024, by Mauldin and Jenkins, Note 15. Subsequent Events, Pg. 26 (POAwebsite>login>POA>financials>AuditedFinancials>2023)
4) AskThePOA Ticket#16003 dated January 31st, 2025
5) Click here to read that response. AskThePOA Response#16003, dated January 31st, 2025
First off , who is complaining about the current situation? Second, it makes sense to have a plan of action and its associated costs , in case the current situation changes, but I see no need to spend more money now to now to fix something that is not broke. It is also, that if the name is changed, that the value of the name to Big Canoe Realty diminishes greatly. So the reality is that both sides are fighting over something that doesn’t need a fight as yet. If you really want to buy something of real value, buy control of the covenants, conditions and restrictions and get rid of the developers control control of the part of Big Canoe that previous POA directors already way overpaid for and at least correct that malfeasance .
To give information about an ongoing
Negotiation would not be in the best interest of the POA .
Was there an identifiable item in the budget for 2025 to pay some amount to purchase/use the Big Canoe trademark or to pay for the cost of rebranding? As the leaders held meetings surely they identified a financial obligation associated with the choice. If there was not, why not?
It’s SOP to keep legal negotiations close to the chest. Nothing wrong with that. It benefits both sides of an issue.
The Big Canoe name/trademark/brand issue has been known and discussed for two five-year negotiating sessions. Suddenly a four month window is put out to property owners which curiously sounds like a “Chicken Little, The Sky is Falling” ploy.
Astute followers of POA business were aware that negotiations were going on about changing our name and brand for at least the past year, but I suspect most property owners had no clue. We had no idea what negotiations were producing, not even a hint, or even what they were covering.
Property owner reactions to this issue, as outlined in the recent POA eblast, have created a firestorm frenzy as battle lines are drawn. If board members felt by keeping news of negotiating efforts under wraps would benefit community sentiment, they made a bad call.
We have no informational details about what impact ANY or ALL of the options put before us entail.
From what I gather, no property owner vote is planned to decide what direction should be taken. Instead it appears a group of fewer than a dozen individuals will make a far reaching decision about the future and identity of our community. If history is followed, some of those decision makers will pull up their tents and move away, leaving behind property owners holding the bag.
I would like to see full disclosure of the pros and cons of ALL the options being considered for this momentous decision. This would include financial projections of the various options.
We must proceed with caution.
I asked for a list of pros and cons. I was shut down.
One of our high level strategic objectives is to “Make decisions for the governance of Big Canoe in a transparent, ethical, and fiscally responsible manner.”
The above sentence was included in the email blast sent to us. POA management couldn’t have written that with a straight face.
GM Scottie & his elite cabal don’t give a damn about this community & yes, I’m sure they all have their exit plans ready when the bill comes due for their egregious spending habits. Currently BC looks like a construction zone. But fear not, they will get away with their heist because they always do as they plan & plot in their super secret meetings. We need Elon Musk to visit for a weekend to uncover all the financial rot. Anybody got his number? I miss my community as it was decades ago. Now we’re just a leaky canoe without a paddle.