HOT OFF THE PRESSES.....
No state senator supported the Buy In Fee
Extortion - the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats.
This seems to be the new tactic of the POA Board. Just
recently we have learned that the POA is demanding that Residents sign a
"Tellico Village Property Owners Association Terms of Service". In it
"Number 14" says...
If POA discontinues service
for non-payment or any other reason....and
the service is turned on without the authority of the POA, the POA
shall charge a tampering fee and
penalty fee according to its water and sewer rates schedule....
If you do
not sign this the POA will turn your water off...welcome to Tellico
Village
More on this in the next Newsletter
Why are we still paying the $80 fee
STOP THE $80 SEWER AND WATER FEE NOW!!
1. The plan to address Water infiltration into our residential tanks was released this past week, 4 years after a 2021 Jacob's Engineering report that said the root cause of our sewage system was water infiltration. So now 4 years later we have a plan. Reduce our I&I and a 750,000gal sewage tank would not be needed as per Jacob's Engineering.
The POA has suggested that the 750,000-sewage tank might be needed... So why don't they just say the tank is dead? Maybe it's because the POA is not ready to tell us they spent $500,000 to $800,000 on a tank that will not be built? Or maybe the grant we were to receive to help pay for this was never properly secured? Money we will never see again.
2. The original TAP plan is on "life support". Remember this was a single sourced solution from Jacob's Engineering brought to us by the “holdover” POA board of Steve Schneider, Marty Inkrott, Ed Grollemond and Mike Braddock (John Orr our new POA president voted against it...more on that below). If not challenged by our 2 new board members, they were ready to spend $37m of our money. They rushed a vote on the $80, based on faulty recommendations by our PSAC. Then passed it as a Fee because they knew we would question a sole source solution and not vote for it. Along with lost integrity they now have "EGG on their face" as the original TAP is being exposed. SINCE THE TANK IS DEAD and all projects are being reviewed WHY NOT STOP THE $80 FEE. We don't need to take more money from the residents. We have more than $30m in the Reserve Fund and growing at $1m a month.
3. This holdover board has made some terrible decisions…They were responsible for approving and supporting the CEO the Water Authority Plan. Even though they knew we were not qualified. It failed. Some of them, were POA board members when they tried and failed to pass a “gun free zone”. It failed. They dragged their feet in deciding not to vote the POA owned lots in the past election, an indirect threat to influence the election and secure positions for their candidates. Now they want to circumvent our CCR’s again, possibly violating their fiduciary duties, by passing our shareholder rights. It too will fail. CAN we continue to afford these 4 board members? Maybe they should do the right thing, STOP and reverse direction now. It's the right thing to do.
4. Will the “holdover” board work with the 2 new board
members? After all, they were elected with a clear mandate, huge
majorities. Will they help to implement the plans and changes that Reed
and Lackey ran on and WON…BIG?? Or will they drag their feet and get in
the way?
Well the POA Public Works Director and our former CEO
worked to keep Gary Zika off the PSAC. Mr. Zika is a key member of
Lackey's sewer and water team and has over 30 years experience as a
Civil engineer in Sewer and Water. He was denied a spot on this critical
advisory committee. Seems to me you want the smartest folks with the
correct experience and vision on the PSAC.
TELLICO VILLAGE WATER RATES – UPDATE
A chart was published last year on water rate changes over the last several years. Below is the update.
Some observations:
- At the US average consumption (6,000 GPM a month) our rates have increased almost 170% vs. the cumulative inflation rate over 7 years of ~ 25%
- Our LUB water rates (the POA uses as their baseline cost) have increased by 19% in 2025. However, the cost billed to us increased 44% (from 9 to 13 dollars per thousand). This is clearly not just passing costs along, nor is it currently being used for “maintaining and upgrading our aging water and sewer infrastructure" as was stated in the letter sent to us.
Below is another chart that shows the HUGE PROFIT MARGINS
our POA is receiving, ~ $3 mill in 2024. Our position, supported by
documentation, is that any profit should go to first paying for our
needed infrastructure upgrades and not be used for amenities like Tanasi
or operational subsidies like golf and restaurants.
Water and sewer are necessities. Perhaps the most important point is that our POA policy of creating EXCESS PROFIT MARGINS ARE CREATING A HARDSHIP FOR MANY OF OUR NEIGHBORS IN THE VILLAGE. Some are being forced out.
THIS IS WRONG AND IT HAS TO STOP.
OUR NEW BOARD PRESIDENT'S (John ORR) VIEW ON THE TAP FEE
In July of 2024 at the POA board meeting they voted 6 to 1 to approve the $80 TAP fee. The lone no vote was from our new board president John Orr. Here are just a few things he said and his rationale not to proceed with the fee:
· “The $36 million costs is just a spitball number.” Love that one.
· “We are collecting money well in advance of approving the projects”
· “We are completely ignoring future reserve collections…$32 mill water and sewer over the next 5 years”
· “We had a list of 9 things to raise money proposed 2 years ago…we are not doing any of these to offset the $80 fee”
Here is the link to that board meeting. John's comments are at the end. Give it a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/live/l_u2H5op-Mk?si=eI-AoGzZZoHNevaq
So, John, stick to your guns. You’re in a position to stop the $80 fee. So do it!!!!
Please join me in making your voices heard on this issue.
ATTEND THE UPCOMING TOWNHALL MEETING Feb. 13 at 3:00 pm Community Church Tellico Village SPEAK UP OR SUPPORT THOSE THAT SPEAK FOR YOU.