The Special Meeting is now being held Wed Oct 30 @1:00, at Meadows Community Lifestyle and Wellness Facility. No room is specified, but hopefully it is now a larger room. Full notice is posted on the MCA website.
EDIT: While writing up this post MCA sent the reschedule announcement in a Constant Contact message. Well done. We hope that including Board Meeting reminders in Constant Contact announcements becomes a regular practice.
But the new announcement includes more than just a reschedule. The new notice has a much more descriptive Purpose of Meeting:
Consideration and vote on a
Short-Term Loan Request from The Meadows Country Club.
That’s what we guessed “Short Term Financial Request” meant in our last post, but it is helpful to MCA Homeowners to have a better idea of what the meeting is about. We also noted in that post that TMCC inferred that they expected to have cash flow problems in 2024 and that has obviously come to pass.
MCA bailed out TMCC in 2018 by paying off their debt, buying their assets and then giving them right back for $10/year for 3 years so they could get back on their feet. Three years turned into 6 years of trying to get back on their feet.
TMCC losses continued and in 2020 MCA bailed out TMCC even more through an annual subsidy of $600,000 (MCA Homeowners received minor benefits that cost TMCC nothing and certainly weren’t worth $600,000).
Despite the annual subsidy TMCC reported a loss again in 2023 at their Annual General Meeting, and must be struggling again in 2024 if they are short of cash. WHEN WILL THIS MADNESS OF SUBSIDIZING A PRIVATE CLUB LIFESTYLE FOR A SMALL NUMBER OF MCA RESIDENTS (AND ALMOST AS MANY NON-RESIDENTS) END??? With the MCA Board planning on loaning a money losing entity, it doesn’t sound like it will end any time soon.
In terms of the upcoming meeting, the big questions for MCA Directors are:
ONE: We have heard many, many times how TMCC is an independent private company and their financials are confidential. Is it within the legal powers of Florida HOA’s in general, the MCA specifically, and its Directors to lend money to an independent private company. With the piecemeal presentation of MCA Master Association documentation it is impossible to tell for a layperson. But lending an independent private company MCA Homeowner funds seems WAY outside the purpose and objectives of the MCA’s HOA role to serve its homeowners.
TWO: This is just one more piece of evidence that TMCC cannot sustain itself operating the Meadows/Members course as a private course. The Highlands course has been a mess for several years because TMCC doesn’t have the cash to maintain it properly. We’ve documented this in great detail on this blog. It is way past time to look for the long-term solution to make our (MCA Homeowners’) golf courses sustainable and successful. What are MCA Directors going to do to identify and implement a viable long-term solution to make its golf courses self-sustaining? (HINT: TMCC managing the courses is not the answer)
THREE: In TMCC’s 2024 Annual Meeting handout the club President said “Thank you for your continued support and commitment to our beloved club”. If TMCC Members love their private club so much, why aren’t they coming up with the cash the club needs? They have loaned money to TMCC in the past and assessing members of a private club is “pretty normal”. Has TMCC exhausted this possibility? If so, why was it not successful?
FOUR: We don’t know all the details of the legislation passed by Florida regarding HOA management, but from the summaries a lot of what we read indicated that certain actions would be considered criminal. All MCA Directors better be very, very sure that that lending an independent private company is legal and appropriate. MCA already owns all the assets, so there will be no recourse if TMCC doesn’t repay.
The saga continues. Hope to see you all on Wednesday at 1:00
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