We need to say right off the bat that there is some clear and significant improvements in transparency of information. That is exciting stuff. Transparency is an absolute necessity in our Board getting to the best solutions for the community, and the community being able to understand and support it. There are still some areas for improvement. These things are a journey and hopefully positive feedback from Homeowners will help get us along the journey as quickly as possible.
This post might be a bit long, but hopefully an easy read.
The Great
More info for Homeowners: The Board shared their whole 34-page Board information packet on the MCA website. LINK. We originally had this under “The Good” but that really didn’t capture what a leap forward in transparency this is. To be frank, this was brought to our attention prior to the Board meeting but we made a decision not to send it out as we were sure it was an administrative error. It includes the draft minutes, all the committee reports, and even the budget of The Meadows Country Club (pages 10-20).
The last page (LINK pg 34) might be one of the most interesting: Summary report on TMCC year to date results (Footnote 1)
The Good
Homeowners can speak earlier: At the last meeting a Homeowner indicated it was required to take owner comments earlier in the meeting not just at the end. Apparently, this used to be the practice but was discontinued at some point. Good move to bring it back. The combination of getting the full Board package and the opportunity to speak before issues really allows Homeowners to be better informed and have the opportunity to contribute. (Maybe this point should have gone under “The Great” too)
Some Board members are really trying to address issues that are important to MCA Homeowners and all Homeowners should applaud that.
- Chris Perone indicated he had requested more information on TMCC budget through the Treasurer who clearly was refusing to provide it. The info Board members have is clearly inadequate to make an informed approval (more on this under “The Ugly”). Ultimately Chris, Mark Pienkos and Tom Bondur voted against approval of the budget, but it did pass 6-3.
- Mark Pienkos stated that the viability of TMCC has been an issue long before the recent hurricane system, and that the Board needs to start figuring out what they are going to do to manage the MCA’s sports complex before TMCC runs out of money again. He stated he will not approve more loans to TMCC.
- Tom Bondur stated that the MCA should not be using the Meadoword to convey “political” positions, or at least both sides should be provided. This was in reference to an article in the January Meadoword stating owners had to financially support a golf club. With the upcoming election this is an important position to state. A Homeowner followed up with a comment that Constant Contact should also not be used that way (as it was in the last contested election).
- Tom Bondur also highlighted that there are studies indicating that our property values are enhanced by green space, with or without golf courses, in addition to those that say golf holes are important.
There were lots of Homeowner comments advocating for the MCA to hire an independent golf industry expert for analysis and insight on the options MCA has for its sports and dining complex. We agree and strongly advocate for the Board to move ahead on hiring an expert without delay. The Board is in the process of putting together a new committee on this issue, and providing a report in advance or in parallel would greatly enhance their work. Given the strong Homeowner support, this really needs to be put forward as a motion at the next Board meeting.
Email addresses for Board members are still “in progress”. We understand that the MCA needs to establish some policies on their use, but it is time to get them out in use. Those policies will undoubtedly need to be amended as we gain experience, but we need a way to communicate. (there are no staff or general email addresses on the MCA website, let alone Board email addresses). Chris Perone has been corresponding with his email address for a couple of weeks: Chris.Perone@meadowsca.com. Based on the format MCA indicated in the Dec Board meeting we’ve constructed the rest of the Board’s email addresses in Footnote 3.
The Not So Good
The Constant Contact meeting notification email was about 27 hours before the meeting rather than a minimum of 48 hours, and the agenda link was just the meeting notice and agenda. It did not link to the full Board package, so anyone using the link in that email did not get the full package.
The Ugly
The President and Treasurer continue to intentionally mislead MCA Homeowners on how much we are paying for the Renaissance Access Plan (RAP) (Footnote 2). We are now paying TMCC’s normal business expenses rather than a clear separate fee, but we are definitely still paying TMCC for RAP access. Consistently misleading MCA Homeowners this way does HUGE damage to the Board’s credibility when they are making big advances on transparency.
Incomplete Information from MCA: Two homeowners asked questions related to information received from the MCA through Records Inspection requests. Both were told the information they were provided was incomplete. Very disappointing after going through the hoops to get the information.
Up to $277,000 more owed by TMCC to MCA?: One of the above Homeowners had requested all transactions between MCA and TMCC from Jan 2022 to Dec 2024. Their review of the information MCA provided showed:
- MCA overpaid Renaissance Access Payments to TMCC in 2023 by $100,000 (paid for Aug and Sept twice). No repayment transaction was shown.
- TMCC did not make any lease payments to MCA. Not the $10 due in 2022 and 2023. Not the $5,416 per month due Aug 2024 – Dec 2025 (total for those 5 months is $27,000).
- TMCC did not pay $50,000 (estimated) per year for MCA assessments in 2022, 2023 or 2024. In the meeting an MCA staff member responded he was confident they had paid. If so, the information provided to the Homeowner is not complete/accurate. So, what else is missing? Chris Perone committed the MCA to providing the updated information to the Board and community at the next meeting.
Whatever money is overdue to MCA from TMCC needs to be paid/repaid as soon as possible, and needs to be fully repaid before any of the $250,000 loan is repaid.
TMCC Budget was approved little backup: The Board approved the 2025 TMCC budget ( but did not meet their fiduciary duties in doing so. The Treasurer commented that he thought it was reasonable, but did not provide any further commentary beyond “I can’t project forward” (Isn’t that exactly what a budget is for?). Board members did not receive any information that would normally be provided in a budget approval process: Comparison to prior year actual (forecast) results with commentary on major variances, cash flow budget, budgeted balance sheet. In TMCC’s current state those last two are especially important. It is not responsible to approve a budget of this size without sufficient supporting information. It is difficult to understand even with the very limited information available (Footnote 1).
Board Members can’t get info on TMCC: The MCA President (Marilyn Maleckas) and Treasurer (Stan Miska) are the MCA liaisons to TMCC and are the sole suppliers of TMCC information to the MCA Board and Homeowners. Based on the slightly heated exchange between Board members it is clear they are a barrier to sharing TMCC information rather than providing all that is requested (despite the terms of the lease). Hopefully this will change after the upcoming election or even through the upcoming lease amendment where MCA takes on another $225,000 per year of expenses from TMCC (that is up to you, the voting Homeowners)
There are lots of positives going on. But we really, really need to get working on the big problem: How to utilize the MCA’s golf courses. Until that is decided, making decisions about the clubhouse is putting the cart before the horse.
Please share this with your neighbors and friends.
Contact us at ForTheMeadows@SarasotaMeadows.com
Footnote 1 – Recent TMCC net income and 2025 budget:
- 2023 resulted in a $20,000 LOSS, $112,000 below budget. (from TMCC 2024 Annual Meeting handout)
- 2024 is on track for a $220,000 LOSS, $325,000 below budget. (LINK pg 34.)
- TMCC has a net loss of 72 members and had 21 downgrades, all effective Jan 2025. From approximately 540 members that is 17% leaving or downgrading. No indication of categories was provided. (LINK pg 34.)
- 2025 budget is for INCOME of $357,000. (LINK pg 34.)
- That would be an improvement of $577,000 over 2024. We know $225,000 of costs for operating the pool and fitness center have been transferred to MCA.
- No explanation was provided of how the other $352,000 of improved results will be achieved, especially with significant member loss.
Footnote 2 – Changes to how MCA Homeowers pay the RAP fee:
In Nov 2023 the Treasurer indicated that they were making a change purely for administrative convenience: Instead of paying the $600,000 fee directly, the MCA would pay certain TMCC business expenses (property taxes and insurance on the leased assets) and only pay the difference as a separate fee. Now that the difference has become zero, they claim the MCA is not paying anything for the Renaissance Access Plan. We predicted this would become their way of hiding this subsidy to MCA Homeowners.
Footnote 3 – Board member email addresses based on the format explained by MCA staff. In alphabetical order:
Michelle.Johnston@meadowsca.com
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