The members of Cumberland Cove are asking the POA Board to consider the following facts that outline opportunities for improvement for the existing ECC Committee. Furthermore, the members of Cumberland Cove are of the opinion that the existing structure and staff of the ECC fail to demonstrate the characteristics needed to create a competent organization. We are asking the POA Board to reconstitute the ECC Committee in order to create a new ECC Committee that has a greater chance of becoming a valuable asset within Cumberland Cove.

Cumberland Cove is a neighborhood community that is currently divided between those residents that are familiar with our Covenants and those residents that are not familiar with the Covenants. All of the Cove residents have made a decision to live in this deeded community and are happy to do so. However, there is difference in the level of awareness of our Covenants across the residents of our community. This ongoing difference in awareness continues partly due to missed opportunities of the ECC Committee to correctly work together with residents and address the needs specific to the resident's project. In addition, while the ECC Committee must treat the members of the entire community uniformly, there are actions that could make one think that the ECC Committee is giving preference to those residents already familiar with the Covenants. Those Cove residents that are not proficient with the Covenants feel that they are treated with disrespect by the ECC Committee with disparaging comments such as "Maybe you should not belong in a deeded community". All Cove residents enjoy this deeded community, however, we believe that it is fair to benefit from a professionally managed ECC Committee for guidance. A professionally managed ECC Committee must deliver guidance equally to all community members in the form of teaching.

The Cove residents see that there is a need for an ECC Committee, however, it is difficult to determine where the current staffing of the ECC Committee delivers what is expected from a professional and effective ECC Committee. The Cove residents must be able to experience and benefit from the type of service that a professionally managed and effective ECC Committee must deliver. The following paragraphs illustrate a number of items that have delivered by the ECC Committee that must be improved upon.

First and foremost, an ECC Committee must offer assistance to the Cove residents with navigating the Covenants so that the residents may built a home and an environment that they will enjoy. The type of assistance available today is a Welcome Center staff member giving us a copy of the ECC Guidebook and having the Cove residents figure out what needs to be done on their own. This is unsatisfactory due to the fact that (1) the Cove residents are asking for help navigating the Covenants, and (2) the document fails to offer guidance to any specific type of project that may or may not involve the Covenants Please note that the Welcome Center staff member must not being criticized here since the staff member is purely following the guidance and procedures of the ECC Committee. The focus here is on the ECC Committee procedure that the Welcome Center staff member is following. Any potential ECC Committee procedure in this regard only confuses the situation further, causing the Cove resident to refrain from returning for more help.

An effective and professional ECC Committee must work with any resident that is considering a project and ensure that the resident understands what may need to be done to satisfy the Covenants. Any Covenant involvement with third parties provides an additional opportunity for the ECC Representative to take a leadership position and resolve the matter for the Cove resident. Since this ECC Representative represents the Covenant professional, that person must take the lead on all Covenant issues and awareness. The ECC Representative must be a leader, while successfully teaching and guiding the Cove resident and the contractor.

An effective and professional ECC Committee must assist all Cove residents in any Covenant related issue to ensure that the Cove resident's project gets completed safely and in a timely manner. What happens too often now is it appears as if the ECC Committee searches for any reason to prevent Cove resident's projects from starting. Similarly, our current ECC Committee seems to search for any reason to halt an ongoing project. This is not the type of service that helps the Cove residents. The ECC Committee must be focused on the Cove resident's needs and assist wherever possible to keep all projects moving forward. Delaying the start of a new project or stopping progress on any existing project must be reserved for extreme purposes.

An effective and professional ECC Committee must publish a document or a set of documents that would successfully help guide residents and contractors through the Covenants in order to allow for the timely start and completion of projects. What has been delivered to date from the ECC Committee is a single document that contains all rules, policies, and forms without regard to the specific task that a resident is trying to perform. The creation of the ECC Guidebook has not utilized the professional writing skills required to create a useful document or set of documents that guides Cove residents and contractors through a project. The current single ECC Committee deliverable contains too much information, too many forms, and no instruction regarding how to fill out each form. It is simply a single document that is attempting to cover all projects without regard to any guidance. This deliverable is too much information for any single project. This creates confusion, resulting in just another reason to desire to avoid any interaction between the Cove resident and the ECC Committee.

We expect the ECC Committee to work with the residents to evaluate existing rules and only derive new rules when needed. The creation of new rules must be regarded as an extreme measure that solves a real-world problem that a group of residents have endured. What we are witnessing now is an ECC Committee that seems to create new rules haphazardly without proper input from the residents. What ends up happening is most residents have no idea that any new rule is even being considered, therefore, when published, these new rules end up surprising residents. This creates frustration and additional division within the community. The simple act of haphazardly creating new rules without proper prior resident awareness is the core reason that some residents feel that the ECC Committee is working against them. We are one single neighborhood community; we must work together.

Professional writing skills are critical for an effective ECC Committee. The staff of the ECC Committee are public service staff; all written communications are a mechanism that is used to build relationships between the staff of a public service committee and the Cove members. Opportunities for communicating with the Cove residents and building relationships need to be searched for and utilized. An example of the written communications skills of our current ECC Committee can be seen in each Cumberland Cove POA Newsletter. Compare and contrast, for example, the ECC's submission against Brigette's submission. It's easy to see that Brigette is trying to make a connection to and build a relationship with the Cove residents. She is sharing her thoughts and one can read what she is thinking. Each reading of Brigette's newsletter submission makes the reader feel more like they know Brigette better. Now compare and contrast Brigette's writings to the ECC Committee's submission. When reading the written communications of the ECC Committee, one cannot read any obvious attempt to connect with the Cove residents. There is no obvious attempt to build any relationships. There is no obvious attempt to share what has been learned. As an explicit example, there is no content regarding the most recent restriction submitted to the POA Board. A sample of the content reads, "The ECC met (2) times in February", when, in fact, the ECC meets two times each month. One fails to read how this is sharing anything new. A professional ECC Committee needs to be able to write effectively as a public service staff. The content needs to try to connect with the readers and build relationships. The content must radiate the desire and willingness to work with the Cove residents. The current written communications of the ECC Committee needs to offer more value to the Cove residents.

An effective and professional ECC Committee must be useful and practical teachers. There must be evidence that the Committee has successfully shared information and taught Cove residents. When a mechanism is chosen to share and teach, that mechanism must be subsequently evaluated for its effectiveness. If that mechanism is deemed to be ineffective, then a different mechanism must be created and utilized. The goal must be that the Cove residents become reasonably proficient in the Covenants. An extended goal could be that the Cove residents desire to reach out to the ECC Committee to learn more about the Covenants. A professional ECC Committee must continue to search for an effective means of sharing information. To do so brings the neighborhood together and eliminates any considerations of the ECC Committee working against some or all of the community.

The members of Cumberland Cove look forward to the POA Board's consideration of these topics and the resulting actions taken. All of the members of Cumberland Cove are here to assist the POA Board with any questions, comments, or ECC Committee requirements needed.