The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm.  With only 81 owners represented (present plus proxies) there wasn’t a quorum, so the meeting reverted to a regular meeting.

Sharon Combs, acting President, provided the following information:

• Sheila, our Associa rep, has resigned. Until a new permanent rep is found David Jerue will be our temporary representative backed up by Jeff Brown, an Associa VP.
• Morgan Creek LLC has again approached the Board and asked them for a yet another proposal for Community support in order to keep the golf course open. Charlie Gibson has left and moved to Arizona.  Joe Syufy is the principal owner.  They have given a deadline of November 30.  The Board has formed a small committee of Board members and homeowners who, in concert with our attorneys, is to to explore all avenues with Morgan Creek LLC and develop a proposal.  Discussions are being conducted in private.  Sharon would not share details. She did say that, when and if a proposal was developed, all owners would be given an opportunity to vote.
• The board has hired land use and easement attorneys to try and avert legal action threatened by Morgan Creek LLC over the Pinehurst gate and road easements.
• Sharon stated that the board intended to revise its mode of operation to become more transparent to the community. She encouraged people to sign up for “Town Square”, the Associations communications app, to get information.
• There is an upcoming election for three board seats. She encouraged volunteers to run.  The new board will be seated in January.  Ballots should be mailed out shortly.

As usual, an open forum was held.  A summary of comments follows:

• One speaker asked for more detail on what proposals were being considered. He also asked why there was Attorney involvement.  Sharon’s response was the board was limited by law and regulations as to what it could do and say so attorneys were necessary to advise.  She pointed out that an HOA is not a private company and must operate under a different set of laws and regulations.
• An owner questioned why it was necessary for the board to prepare a proposal. He suggested that normal business practice in private companies would be to entertain a proposal from the vendor, not the other way around.
• Another owner suggested that unless Morgan Creek LLC would open their books and conduct business with transparency and HOA input, no community support would be likely as stated in earlier meetings. No formal proposal would be needed to get this commitment before proceeding, simply a memorandum of understanding.
• One commenter made the following points: Perhaps the community should go public with their opposition to development of homes on the course.  If the club owners were looking for developers as we know they are, it may be better to publicly discourage them through political liaison, press releases and stories, etc. while negotiations behind the scenes continue. While we conduct negotiations through non-open meetings we may find that another deal is struck by Morgan Creek LLC with a developer who, not appreciating the degree of our opposition, would then have a vested interest in fighting harder after the fact.
• The question was raised as to the status of foreclosures. Sharon said the Pinehurst property has been sold and the process of removing the squatters underway.  The Board is continuing to monitor the Kingsbarns property activity.

Get involved.  Volunteer.  Vote.  Let the board know how you feel about these and other issues.  Together we can make a difference.