It all began with a June 23rd post (1) https://bcmatters.org/internal-affairs/ alerting the community to the board’s executive session meeting that took place on May 11th, 2026, without a quorum. According to the minutes originally posted to the POA website, only the POA President, POA Secretary and one recently elected director were present during the final sixteen minutes of that meeting. Since that alert, there has been a flurry of activity by leadership to explain, undo previous motions, cast new motions, amend minutes or whatever else it takes to pretend that unlawful meeting never took place.
Not a good look.
And definitely not a good look for an association in the middle of a lawsuit.
Scrambling to explain . . .
Two days later, at the June 25th open board meeting, the POA President announced that the meeting was simply an attorney/client privileged “informational session” to discuss the Waterford complaint. (2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmvFKKwJIQ at 57:15 (3) https://bcmatters.org/alternating-narratives/ She went on to note that the previously approved minutes would be amended to formally adjourn prior to the remaining sixteen minutes of executive session.
Eradicated . . .
Meanwhile, at some point, both the original minutes of that meeting as well as the May 26th approval of those minutes were removed from the POA website.
However, this writer has managed to retain copies of the original minutes and will be happy to forward a copy to any property owner upon request at thepcrosses@gmail.com.
The botched amendment . . .
And now, just days ago, minutes from a July 6th closed door session (4) were finally posted to the POA website containing a motion to amend the May 11th and May 26th minutes that is fraught with additional errors and new complications.
Given that the motion stated that the meeting was an attorney/client privilege “informational session” with the three remaining elected directors and the General Manager, one must wonder who was informing who.
Further, not only did the motion seek to retroactively adjourn the May 11th executive session sixteen minutes earlier, the motion misidentified the minutes being amended as the “Special Board Meeting Minutes” rather than the minutes of the actual executive session that originally took place from 12:50 until 1:41.
It is also noteworthy to mention that it does not appear that the developer director agreed that the meeting had been adjourned when he left the room as he apparently voted against any amendment to the original meeting minutes.
Note: As of this posting, the revised versions of the minutes are not currently available on the POA website.
What really took place will always be anyone’s best guess, but regardless, leadership’s frantic attempts to alter the time of adjournment have resulted in absolute chaos.
Censored . . .
Following several months of lively and informative Q&A sessions from passionate property owners, (1) (5) leadership next took the unprecedented action of enlisting the help of the Marketing and Communications Manager as well as a paid “communications and public relations contractor”. (4) (6)
Note: The paid contractor is also a property owner and frequent contributor to Smoke Signals News.
Together, these two individuals “facilitated discussions” at the July 6th and July 20th closed door sessions regarding the “restructuring of Board Meetings”; “ways to enhance communication with the property owners”; and “improvements to the Regular Board Meetings, including the question and answer portion of the meetings”.
Additional note: A motion to proceed with the ideas outlined in the July 6th discussion passed by a vote of only 4-1-2.
Subsequently, the POA President announced at the July 25th Town Hall that the impromptu Q&A sessions would be discontinued beginning with the August 27th board meeting and replaced with rehearsed responses to property owner questions submitted in advance.
A bit of historical reference . . .
This is not the first time that leadership attempted to censor the community from lively, impromptu Q&A interaction. In April 2024, at the insistence of the General Manager, the board voted 5-2 to exclude the Q&A sessions from the recorded videos. (7) After significant push back from the property owners, the decision was overturned the following month and the recorded sessions were reinstated. (8)
Further, it is this writer’s understanding that impromptu Q&A has been a standard of the Association board meetings for decades.
Thus, for those property owners who believe that the elimination of the impromptu Q&A sessions is unacceptable and an effort by leadership to control the narrative, please reach out to the board and demand an immediate reversal of this decision.
Other changes . . .
According to the e-blasted “restructured” board meeting agenda, it appears that the financial results will be presented by the Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee.
However, it is important to recognize that the presentation of the monthly financial results has been the responsibility of the Director of Finance and/or General Manager for at least twenty plus years.
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Could this change be a way of distancing the incoming general manager away from the financial aspects of the Association?
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And could this change be an attempt to neutralize or dilute the new GM’s authority?
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Note: At least three members of the finance committee are now serving their second and third three year terms which is an exception to the Finance Committee charter. However, these extended terms have been routinely approved by the Board of Directors which currently includes three Finance Committee alumni.
One must certainly question why so many significant changes have been made to the board meeting structure and presentation immediately prior to the installation of a new General Manager.
And now . . .
Considering all of the above, along with so many other examples outlined in previous posts on this site, it appears that Big Canoe is being governed by a leadership intent on ignoring the Association bylaws, covenants, committee charters, policies and procedures, Georgia Code and even Robert’s Rules of Order.
And that needs to stop.
In addition, every available avenue of interaction with our elected leaders has been stymied by closed doors and rehearsed responses to our questions.
Still looking ahead . . .
Rather than draw on the new manager’s expanded background and ideas for improvement he might offer, it is most perplexing that leadership has chosen to preempt his arrival with radical changes to how information is shared and how property owners are able to interact with management and leadership.
Needless to say, the upcoming board meeting will be viewed with curiosity.
. . . . .
Should you believe the information found in this post is important, please continue to share with your friends and neighbors wherever possible. As for those who wish to see additional articles posted in the future, please subscribe for an email notification or check back frequently. And as always, feel free to contact me directly at thepcrosses@gmail.com for questions or further discussion. Meanwhile, take care and thank you for your readership.
Patricia Cross
10438 Big Canoe
References:
1) “Internal Affairs”, June 23rd, 2026, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/internal-affairs/
2) Big Canoe POA Board Meeting, June 25th, 2026, video on Youtube at 57:15 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPmvFKKwJIQ
3) “Alternating narratives”, July 1st, 2026, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/alternating-narratives/
4) Special Board Meeting Minutes, July 6th, 2026 (POAwebsite>login>meetings>Minutes>2026>July 6th)
5) “Midpoints”, August 3rd, 2026, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/midpoints/
6) Special Board Meeting Minutes, July 20th, 2026 (POAwebsite>login>meetings>Minutes>2026>July 20th)
7) “It was there until it wasn’t”, May 22nd, 2024, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/it-was-there-until-it-wasnt/
8) “Back to the future”, June 4th, 2024, bcmatters.org, https://bcmatters.org/back-to-the-future/