Happy Independence Day!
JULY, 2021
www.diamondheadms.org
VOL. 38, NO. 7
From the desk of the President By Ernie Knobloch
he deadline for this article was June 10th so I’m sure that additional things have happened since I submitted this article. There is some particularly good news to report. After 5 years of legal proceedings involving the POA and Peoples Bank the lawsuit has been resolved and a settlement reached. The process was started by previous Boards and they are thanked for their forward-looking thinking. The present Board continued the process and negotiated a positive settlement for the POA. The settlement results in the POA receiving $1.125 million. After paying attorney fees and other related expenses, the net amount received by the POA was $875,000. These one-time funds were placed in a separate reserve account. Access to these funds will require Board approval
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and the plan is to use these funds for one-time capital expenditures, except if extraordinary circumstances occur. The previous Board applied for a Covid 19 Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) loan and was granted a loan of $669,000. The money had to be used to pay salaries of employees to prevent layoffs. The POA Controller, Darrian McInnis, kept meticulous records and the entire loan was forgiven. We owe a special thanks to Mr. McInnis for his work on this project. We have some additional good financial news. Results for the Clubhouse (F&B plus rentals) for April show that the facility ended up in the black and no dues were needed to supplement the building. No one to whom I’ve talked can remember the Clubhouse ever breaking even for a month and
DEADLINE FOR THE AUGUST ISSUE OF DIAMONDHEAD NEWS IS JULY 10
certainly never being in the black for a month. Congratulations to all the employees, supervisors, and Board members who have been involved with this process and a special thanks to all the residents and guests who continue to make use of the clubhouse facilities. Although I do not have the final results for May at the deadline for this article, the upward trend has continued. Another bit of good news is that golf operations (Pro Shop and golf maintenance) broke even financially, and no dues were needed to supplement this amenity. When all the above are considered together, it’s really good for our community. The challenge now is to continue to improve in all areas. A past POA President filed a lawsuit against the previous POA Officers and Directors alleging that they, the previous POA Officers and Directors, were illegally allowing non-property owners to
use the amenities. The Judge dismissed the lawsuit and awarded attorney fees of around $16,000 to the attorney representing the defendants. The Diamondhead Garden Club has identified 37 live oak trees on POA property that are over 100
years old. Each tree now has a small green plaque on it listing the year the tree was “born.” The oldest tree is from 1854 and the youngest is from 1919. Twenty-two trees are from the 1800’s. The Easter buffet had over 400 reservations and
it’s estimated that another hundred diners picked up food and ate in either Latitude 30 or the patio. As of the deadline for this article, reservations for the Father’s Day buffet are coming in at a steady pace.
SEE PRESIDENT, PAGE 4