Chinquapin Owners HOA Transition Memo 8.26.2025
- Martha Dobson
- Aug 26, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 3, 2025
Transition team bios, self-nomination form & annual meeting proxy form links are in the letter below.
August 26, 2025
Dear Fellow Chinquapin Owners,
Our annual Chinquapin Homeowners Association meeting is set for September 12th. It will be nice to see many of you in person, or virtually. There is much to present.
Our developer, Mark Adkins, approached me about 3 months ago and asked me to assist with the HOA transition, partly because I have served on the HOA Advisory Board and have experience establishing and transitioning large organizations.
It is a complex process with a lot of work required to ensure a smooth transition. In early July I asked a small group of owners to assist. They were chosen from recommendations and for their specific expertise and perspective. After many meetings, conversations, and communications, we finally reached an agreement with Mark, last week, that would allow this transition to go forward.
The Transition Committee includes: Bill Benner, Brent Walker, Kay Lucas, Doug Barber, Tim Wellman, Sally Alvis, Emma Geisler, Frank Gaston, Allen Dobson, and Rich Vieitez. In addition, a special thanks to Jim Talley, Tony Nicolli and Kim Knapp for ad hoc assistance and advice.
As a committee, our first task has been to understand all the available information about budgets, property, legal documents, deeds, detailed costs, Waterfront closeout items, specific policies and processes that may need to be developed or revised, and what it will take to govern and manage our community. We are simultaneously working on the workstream of communication, governance, budget and the management structure for the HOA.
Our transition group has no official authority. Our goal is to come to you, the property owners, with information and recommendations at the annual meeting on September 12th. Our HOA exists, but its current bylaws do not address how we will operate as an owner led HOA.
The annual meeting is critical in this transition. That is when we will officially adopt the revised HOA bylaws and elect our inaugural HOA Board of Directors. The Board will then have the authority to govern our community and enter into agreements needed to complete the transition from developer to an owner run HOA.
Nine of these transition committee members have agreed to stand for election to serve on the Chinquapin HOA’s first Board of Directors.
Additional representation is needed. I would respectfully ask you to consider submitting yourself for nomination or encouraging a fellow property owner to self-submit to stand for election to the board or volunteer to serve on a committee. The self-submission form, along with a brief questionnaire, can be found below.
The deadline for self-submission for a board position is September 5, 2025. The Board of Directors’ ballot with bios of all nominees will be distributed in advance of the annual meeting to all property owners for review and posted on the HOA owners website.
A board position is but only one way to serve. Our community needs each of us to get involved. Under our proposed HOA Bylaws, there will be six standing committees. The committees include Finance, Operations, Policy and Compliance, Social, Trails and Conservation, and Architecture Review. If you’d like to know more about serving, there is an interest indicator on the Board Nomination Submission form that will be available at the annual meeting (note: you do not need to be a Board member to serve on a committee).
Communicating clearly and frequently is important. The Transition Committee and your future duly elected board want all owners to be informed, provide input, ask questions, and understand operating procedures as they are developed. Transparency will be the key to trust and effectiveness.
Email communications and our secure owner website will be the primary platforms we use to disseminate information. As a reminder, and if you are not yet signed up, here is the link. https://www.chinquapinowners.com/
A comprehensive set of slides detailing the Transition Committee’s work to date will be live on the website. That presentation will be presented by the Transition Committee at the September 12th meeting.
If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, you have the right to vote via the proxy process. The developer’s current management group, IPM, emailed the proxy form to all owners on August 20th. The email also included Zoom instructions for virtual attendees (not counted towards the quorum unless a virtual attendee sends in a proxy). September 10th, 5 pm is the deadline to submit your proxy to IPM. If you have questions on the proxy process, email info@chinquapinowners.com IPM 828.650.6875
This is an important time in the life of Chinquapin. Our collective love of nature, conservation and access to both is what drew many of us to purchase property here. It is imperative that together we thoughtfully steward this process for the good of our community and for current and future property owners.
Kind Regards,
Allen Dobson, Transition Team Chair
The Chinquapin Homeowners Association Annual Meeting
Friday, September 12, 2025 at 2:00 PM at the Sapphire Community Center
207 Sapphire Valley Road Sapphire, NC 28774
The meeting will begin at 2:00 pm. If you are attending the HOA meeting, we ask that you register starting at 1:30 pm.
Please feel free to submit questions you’d like answered in advance of the meeting. Email them to info@chinquapinowners.com
