In Depth History of TVRA

TVRA In Depth History

IN THE BEGINNING

A Maryville, TN newspaper executive purchased the first lot in Tellico Village in April 1986. He never built a home on it. During the next 2 years, 2,000 lots were purchased. Prices ranged from $7,000 to $35,000 or more. Some were merely investments, some were purchased for golf and amenities, and others were planned for “some day” homes.

On Christmas Eve 1987, a party was held in the 6-month-old home of Vince and Paula Matthews. The guests decided to create an organization to be known as “The Pioneers,” and membership was limited to only those who had built homes in the village during its first year. There were 52 families who joined.

In those days, the operation of Tellico Village was under the direction of a President and a General Manager, both of whom were employed by Cooper Communities, Inc. (CCI) of Bentonville, Arkansas. There was also a Property Owners Association (POA) with a board of 5 employees of CCI who also lived in Arkansas. They came to Tellico once a month for meetings.

Homeowners soon found they had questions about their representation on the POA Board regarding construction and maintenance of roads, cost of financing operations, etc. Don and Pat Kegley, for example were especially interested because they could only access their property by boat, since there were no roads. leading to it. At one time, Don’s car skidded off narrow Toqua Road and almost landed in the pond near the 10th green of the golf course.

When Sam and Eleanor Lewellyn moved to their new home, they had to carry water from a nearby fire hydrant because there were no water lines. The Richards family had no plumbing, so they used a port-a-John until the sewage system was built.

The residents decided it was time for a meeting of the homeowners.

HOA IS OFFICIALLY FORMED

The first official meeting of Tellico Village homeowners was held at the Yacht Club on December 14, 1988 with more than 50 people attending. In January of 1989, the HOA was officially formed with 300 people voting while sharing a $6 soup and salad dinner.

Bob Berger was the first elected president with 11 other members joining the board. The bylaws were simple and straightforward, and they limited membership to homeowners only. They also listed committees to communicate with homeowners and cooperate with the POA in the areas of finance, golf, the Yacht Club, the Rec Center, architectural control, and construction and maintenance of roads and other facilities.

The POA’s role was somewhat like that of a city council. It set property assessment fees and spent the funds in areas of homeowner concerns. The HOA had a dual role, however, to:

Promote the community as a Chamber of Commerce might
Serve as a consumer watchdog over the assessment and expenditure of Village funds.

The HOA Board accomplished may things in those early days, such as:

Providing homeowners and workmen with bumper stickers for community safety.
In the beginning, Tellico Parkway was considered an orphan road that no one wanted . . . not the county, not the TVA (even though it lies between bodies of their water channels), and not even the State wanted it. Cooper didn’t want it either, despite the fact that it was the only route available for use by residents and construction workers. Mowing and snow plowing was done by Tellico Village residents, and it was 10 years before it was improved enough to meet state specifications and officially become State Hwy. 444.
Resident Ben Cochran headed a group that tackled utility problems. The sewage system was completed. A water tower was built, and a new electric service substation was created. Neighborhood by neighborhood, cable TV service grew.
The HOA initiated adog-leash requirement spearheaded by Scott Nowinski.
The HOA headed a successful Neighborhood Watch Program by Larry Horian.
The HOA started a Newcomers Club with only a few hundred new residents.
From the earliest days, HOA meetings were held at the Yacht Club and included dinner, a business meeting, and dancing. There was a limited number of residents in the village at the time, but Paul Webb was an early leader who aimed at saving the Yacht Club.

Friday nights held couples golf events, and other recreational activities from aerobics to Yoga were launched under the direction of Kyle Ripley and John Adams.

The economic impact of Tellico Village on the surrounding community was significant in the areas of home construction, need for local labor, and steadily growing property taxes. Hundreds of thousands of sales tax dollars poured into Loudon County.

1990-1991 (Part 2)

During Art Spurrier’s tenure as HOA President, most property owners realized that the current $27.50 monthly assessment would not be able to keep things going. Because property owners had nothing to do with financial decisions, the HOA establish a Village committee on finance. The committee immediately attacked its main areas of concern:

Homeowner representation on the POA board was officially achieved with the addition of one board member.
The HOA Finance Committee monitored all POA committee meetings and placed homeowner members on most of them.
To determine whether or not the roads met appropriate standards, the committee took tapelines and cameras onto the roads, and it found many roads did not meet standards.
Costs of operations were studied, and the HOA committee determined that costs exceeded income. Moreover, when the committee heard that Cooper Industries had loaned the POA $3M, it initiated steps to pay it back as quickly as possible.
To implement the payback, the POA monthly fees were raised to $45 per month, and golf charges were implemented — previously, they were FREE! Assuming that some property owners would simply give up their lots, the HOA got Cooper to agree to sell 500 lots / year for six years to replace lost monthly fees. This initiative reduced the debt to $1.8M.
Because roads were narrow, the HOA fought to have the roads widened. Tellico Parkway was not maintained, so the HOA, along with the POA, fought to have it maintained.

By the end of 1991, Tellico Village had become the largest unincorporated entity in Loudon County. The Village was larger than the city of Loudon and almost larger than Lenoir City — yet the Village received no tax rebates.

Art Spurrier noted,“The HOA is not here to take over. We are here because we love this place. Someone has to stand up and say, whoa.”

1992-1999 (Part 3)

LAIRD WILSON (HOA President 1992-1993) Village issues in the early days mainly focused on the difficulty residents had with voicing their concerns to the developer. Due to the lack of attention the community was receiving from POA board members living in another state, volunteerism was necessary, and residents were encouraged to be an active part of their chosen community. Even 3 years later, Wilson commented that he was “often amazed by how little most homeowners know about what they bought into.”

HERB PHILLIPS (HOA President 1994-1995) Within the first 8 years of existence, Tellico Village had become the largest unincorporated entity in Loudon County. It was larger than the city of Loudon and almost larger than Lenoir City . . . yet they got no tax rebates.

KAROL SMITH (HOA President 1996-1997) Smith believed that the HOA must be a constructive force and was distressed by the feelings of mistrust that homeowners were developing about the developer. She felt that Dan Cooper of CCI was a major ASSET to the community and that homeowners should not use him as a focus of their frustrations. Her view was that ‘the POA has assets, the TRDA owns assets, the HOA represents homeowners’ interests, and the developer has his own financial interests.’

DON BURGETT (HOA President 1998) During his 1-year tenure, Burgett summarized that Tellico Village had come a long way in the previous fifteen years and was very proud of his association with the HOA and its accomplishments.

DON HANSON (HOA President 1999) During Don’s presidency, a typical meeting had an audience of about 15 people. His tenure began tranquilly, but a controversy erupted about lake pollution. The HOA and POA resolved to work together for the betterment of the Village, with Don stressing that Tellico Lake belonged to all of the people in Tennessee. He ‘discouraged any feeling on the part of lake property owners that they do not want other people to have access to it.’ He criticized the POA for sitting around looking at the concept of dry dock storage and did not move forward on the 5-year plan to build more docks, warning that the TRDA timeframe for granting permits to build docks would run out.

2000-2003 (Part 4)

HOA President Gerry Zarr described 2000 as “tranquil.” When small problems would arise, he and POA President Bob Merkle would talk about them, and communications between the two boards improved considerably.

The following year in 2001, during Dan Jaksen’s term as president, several tough Village issues developed, and decisions needed to be made. By April, the HOA Board was reacting to unsettling reports that the food service and the Yacht Club operations were at risk. The POA Board began to reconsider the subsidy it had typically provided to the Yacht Club annually and considered closing the facility altogether. The HOA became a vocal advocate of keeping the Yacht Club open, even supporting a suggested user fee, a possible special fee on patrons, or a Village-wide assessment. At the June HOA general meeting, a boisterous crowd demonstrated strong support to keep the Yacht Club open. Eventually, the POA resolved the issue, and no user fees were imposed.

On the heels of that issue came a controversy involving the volunteer firefighters and first responders. All of them submitted their resignations to the POA Board. Although the HOA Board did not take a stance on the controversy, its leadership met with POA leadership to expedite a solution with success.

The HOA also became involved in a boat dock and storage issue in 2001. The POA had proposed development of a 7-acre CCI site in Tanasi Shores for dry dock storage and trailer storage, yet results from an HOA survey on the issue were not favorable. In addition, the POA did not find a private investor, and the board eventually retreated.

All in all, 2001 was an active year for the HOA in general with greater involvement and increased initiatives. The 2001 board revitalized the Neighborhood Watch program, initiated a study of its Bylaws, created a quarterly newsletter, worked for a consistent speed limit on the parkway, and provided a forum for many worthy organizations and causes. A significant step was finally taken to restrict participation in HOA events to Members Only, as many residents were benefitting from HOA social activities and services who were not paying dues.

2001 was also the year the HOA became politically active in Village government, endorsing three of the seven candidates running for the POA Board. The upcoming election caused controversy within the HOA membership, as some members supported two POA Board incumbents. The HOA Board was criticized for not allowing the general membership a greater role in selecting the endorsees. Although the HOA-supported candidates won the popular vote with residents, they lost when the CCI vote was added to the count.

2004-2005 (Part 5)

2004 PRESIDENT: LLOYD DONNELLY

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

More than 60 couples volunteered to serve as neighborhood captains for the annual spring neighborhood cleanup.
The HOA published a Community Calendar, supported the Tellico Village Library in its efforts to achieve earlier and more specific identification in the POA’s Facility Plan, and periodically reported on copper pipe leaks.
The HOA pushed unsuccessfully for the POA to establish a permanent Safety Advisory Committee, conducted a Neighborhood Watch program with the help of 24 volunteer neighborhood watch captains, and assisted dock lessees in obtaining information from the POA on lease fee increases.

POLITICAL ACTION:

Residents had the opportunity to listen to candidates vying for the Loudon County School Board.
The HOA carried out a survey among homeowners regarding the necessity of residential construction inspections. The results were shared with the POA, which played a crucial role in persuading them to implement an inspection program.
Discussions were held with Winston Blazer to explore ways for the HOA and POA to collaborate more effectively in the future.

FELLOWSHIP: The HOA set a record for the number of social events held and attended. Emily Koepp was praised for setting a new standard for creativity, advance planning, and event publicity.

2005 PRESIDENT: GINNY RANCK

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

Requested and received the approval from TDOT to install a traffic light at the Toqua/Chota Road intersection
Supported and provided information and status on copper pipe leaks
Supported the issuance of a new Blue Book and reorganization of the ACC Committee
Improved the HOA website, provided a secure HOA membership list, extensive calendar, and POA candidate questions and answers

POLITICAL ACTION:

Promoted an improved working relationship with the POA Board and General Manager.
Created, Organized, and funded, with the assistance of the POA Board, a “Get the Vote Out” campaign to motivate and encourage residents to vote in the POA election HOA volunteers assisted in preparing ballots for mailing
Appointed a political action committee to determine and document issues for Candidates’ Night
Updated HOA policies

2006-2008 (Part 6)

2006 PRESIDENT – ERMA ROGERS

The HOA sponsored both a primary and general election “Meet the Candidates” night for Loudon County and state candidates.
In May, Loudon County’s Director of Economic Development presented a program on future development plans for our area.
A record 62 neighborhood captains and numerous volunteers participated in the Neighborhood Clean-up.
Improved membership procedures helped increase membership to a record-high of more than 1300 households.
Worked with The Village Connection’s new Marketing Director to improve lines of communication and accuracy in their publications.

2007 PRESIDENT – BOB BALL

HOA membership reached a record 1441 households
Jeff Gagley presented a program on the updated procedures for permitting and inspecting backflow devices for irrigation systems
Developers of the Towncreek and Creekwood presented updates on the developments in Lenoir City
Gene Fischer, speaking on the history of Tellico Village

2008 PRESIDENT – SHIRLEY MARRA

General meeting topics included Winston Blazer speaking on the Cooper debt and the relationship among the TRDA, TVA, and POA
John Cherry covering the objectives for the proposed covenant and restriction changes
Pat Phillips, Loudon County Economic Development, providing information regarding Loudon County growth and commercial development
Joe Nowell, E. Tennessee Discount Drugs, sharing information on the most commonly us Rx drugs and their effects, including herbal use and nutrient degradation issues
A Meet the Candidates Night was held for Loudon County School Board candidates
The HOA website was restructured to make it more user friendly
Working with the Neighborhood Watch captains, the HOA established HOA COM NET, an email network to notify up to 2500 households of safety issues in the Village.
Most significantly for the year, the HOA worked closely with the POA in an effort to pass the Covenants and Restrictions change.