The board attorney attended by video call.
Joel turned the screen toward the room.
The attorney confirmed the essentials.
The ranch was outside HOA jurisdiction.
The road was private based on current records.
No association access easement had been found.
The wall and gate appeared permitted and within Garrett’s property.
Residents should not enter without owner permission.
Simple.
Unexciting.
Final.
One resident asked whether the HOA could negotiate future access.
Garrett answered before Michael.
“No.”
A few people laughed.
Garrett smiled faintly.
“At least not with me.”
That resolved the practical question.
The harder discussion concerned Victoria.
Linda asked why the association had spent staff time researching access after the attorney had already expressed doubts.
Victoria argued that connectivity benefited the community.
Joel asked whether Victoria had disclosed her personal use of the road before initiating the review.
She had not.
That changed the tone.
The board was no longer discussing a rancher refusing a public benefit.
It was discussing a president using HOA resources in a dispute where she had personally ignored the property owner’s instructions.
Victoria understood the difference.
“I was acting in what I believed was the community’s interest.”
Garrett did not respond.
He did not need to.
The trail-camera screenshots lay inside Michael’s folder.
Nobody had even requested them yet.
Linda did.
“Do you actually have video of the gate being forced?”
Garrett looked at Michael.
Michael nodded.
Garrett handed over printed stills.
One showed Victoria’s SUV against the wooden gate.
Another showed the latch displaced.