On January 15, 2020, HSVPOA Comprehensive Master Plan Advisory Committee Chairperson, Nikki Choyce gave an update to the Board of Directors. CMPAC Chair Choyce presented her report immediately after the CFO report. Click here to view the CFO preliminary report.
What follows is a transcription of her presentation. I have attempted accuracy in this report.
For clarification, Nikki Choyce’s commentary is not highlighted. The commentary by others is highlighted in green.
Cindi Erickson: “At this time we’d like to invite Nikki Choyce who is the Chair of the CMP Advisory Committee to address the Board with a progress update. Thank you.”
“Good morning. Thank you for inviting me here to provide you with a progress update with the CMP Advisory Committee – the CMPAC.”
CMPAC serves 3 stakeholder groups
“According to the charter, our committee serves the needs of three stakeholder groups:
- property owners,
- Board, and
- staff.”
“It is advisory in nature contributing to the Comprehensive Master Plan’s overall annual Budget Prioritization and Progress Reviews.”
“It is our duty and responsibility to facilitate the input from stakeholders, evaluate input against the CMP Implementation Tables and Enterprise Goals and be well-versed in the understanding of the CMP’s objectives, strategies, and intended outcomes.”
Organization of CMPAC was tackled
“This committee was formed last spring and has not yet completed its first year. Our first order of business was organizational. We spent time creating our mission statement, which is:
“To advise the POA on the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Master Plan for the benefit of Hot Springs Village Property Owners.”
“Next, we needed to develop our strategy for obtaining information and opening two-way communication channels. To that end, the CMPAC members are serving as liaisons for the standing committees. They provide CMP-related information to those committees, who now have a channel to provide information to the CMPAC, as needed.”
CMPAC Subcommittees were created
“Where there are CMP elements, that are not mapped to standing committees, subcommittees were created to fill the gaps. These include:
- Growth and Community Development,
- Communications,
- Governance and Economic Development,
- Marketing, and
- Public Safety.”
CMPAC Communications Subcommittee
“Communications and public education are key to sharing information and clarifying CMP topics. Progress has been [Indecipherable] in a variety of methods:
- Communications Subcommittee has completed a review of the Hot Springs Village website regarding CMP-related content. Information can currently be found in two locations. Staff agrees updates are needed and we’re working with them to develop new content. We recommend CMP information be for prospective Property Owners be separated from CMP information for current Property Owners because the messaging and level of detail is different for these two audiences.
- We’ve implemented an educational moment at our monthly meetings. This is a five-minute segment, covering some aspect of the CMP, we’ve identified that may be of interest or in [Indecipherable] to one or more of our stakeholder groups. For example, we’ve done topics on understanding the replatting process, defining master plan, the GIS mapping capabilities of the POA, and common misconceptions regarding counties’ roles in zoning.
- Develop agreed-upon definitions for CMP-related terminology. A common lexicon is an essential component of effective communications. For example, the CMPAC was asked to develop the definition for deferred maintenance. This definition has been adopted by staff and has a significant impact in two key areas: public service and budgeting. Another key term adopted is the consistent understanding and use of the terms: short, mid and long term horizons. By establishing agreed-upon ranges we can strengthen alignment of strategic objectives with CMP work and ensure they are accounted for in the annual planning and budgeting.
- We are devoting a portion of our meetings, reviewing sections of the CMP. This supports the Charter responsibility to be well-versed and understand the CMP objectives. In addition, we may identify opportunities for changes for consideration in future CMP revisions.”
CMPAC Marketing Subcommittee
“Another subcommittee is marketing. It has completed work in several areas and has been a valuable resource for staff. They conducted market research, market analysis – much of which is reflected in the approved 2020 Marketing Plan.”
“In addition, the Marketing Subcommittee provided their expertise regarding criteria used when hiring marketing manager and the RFP for the new marketing firm.”
CMPAC infrastructure efforts
“The second area of progress I’d like to share with you is the work on CMP infrastructure efforts. Having a long-term plan is [sic] for our future is important. Realistically, we know that any plan spanning decades must be reviewed and intentionally revised at the needs of the Village change.”
“To that end, this committee has drafted a process and associated criteria for evaluating potential changes. It has been submitted for staff review.”
“The CMP is now two years old and it is recommended that, it is the recommendation of this committee that it be reviewed annually.”
“Another aspect of the CMP infrastructure is taking a closer look at the CMP provided tools, to ensure they are supporting staff and Board effectively. The tools include:
“Three prioritization tools for growth, amenities, and quantifying amenity value, the Implementation Tables for each of the CMP recommendations and the three-year Operations and Maintenance, the O and M Tables.”
CMPAC Progress
- “Progress includes: We have completed our evaluation of the Growth Prioritization Tool and in progress with the Amenity Prioritization Tool. We’ll be recommending changes to these so they can improve decision making support.
- The Implementation Tables are a primary tracking mechanism regarding the status of each of the 271 recommendations. We recommend staff updates this Table annually and the year-end updates are nearly complete. The CMPAC will be reviewing them in preparation for 2021 planning and budgeting, once we have received them.
- The Implementation Tables, in it’s current format, does not make it easy for staff to provide updates, nor does it support robust reporting. We have been working with staff to update the tables’ format to address these issues.
- Like the Implementation Tables, it’s our recommendation the O and M Tables should be updated annually. The approved 2020 budget includes updated O and M Tables for 2020 through 2022. You’ll notice the format improvements now include category, categorizing line items for either capital or operating expense and then there’s either new, deferred or planned work using the adopted deferred maintenance definition.”
CMP Implementation progress update
“Implementation progress update: The initial cost of creating the CMP was $500,000. This represents a significant investment in our future and we recognize the need for identifying tangible savings and revenues as a result of a [indecipherable].”
“The data is incomplete for 2019 and with Board’s approval, we’d like to work with staff to facilitate collection and reporting of CMP-related results. Our preliminary assessment has identified savings and more revenues equal to approximately half of the initial CMP cost. But, that doesn’t take into consideration any associated expenses, so please keep in mind, that is a [indecipherable] number, not a net number.”
“In summary, the CMP Advisory Committee is now committed, has now established an approach to accomplish our mission. We have made progress regarding creation of a new processes: marketing, communications. And we have the fundamentals in place for tracking CMP implementation progress.”
“And finally, I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to all the members of this committee for all their hard work. It’s a great group of people and I really appreciate their time, their talents, and their dedication.”
“Questions?”
CMPAC questions/comments from the Directors
Campagna: “I’ve got a question for you. There’s been a lot of despair regarding certain areas of the CMP, in the community. And one of them could easily be the town centers.”
Campagna: “Did this committee come to any conclusion as to whether we should have town centers? We should jettison that completely out of the CMP? Was that discussed?”
“Yes, you are correct. This is one of the, several hot buttons that the, that our community has regarding town centers. The reality is that town centers have always been part of any kind of plan that there have been back in the Cooper days on through.”
“But, whether we’re going to develop anything at this point, will only happen when we have community support.”
“And the second aspect is, we’ve got a lot of things that we have to handle first in terms of infrastructure. And it makes more sense to spend our effort and prioritize on what we do have versus something new.”
“So basically, it has been one of those items that, from my understanding and guidance from the Board, is that we won’t even put that back on the table, for a minimum of five years and with community support.”
Campagna: “I guess I’d like to see what the, and it’s not to point my finger at you, but, what the specific recommendations you’ve come up with other than that. Which I guess we have decided we are going to put them on hold.”
Campagna: “And this is just a general comment to the Board. Twenty-five or thirty years strategic plan doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Xerox had a twenty-five year strategic plan. Guess what? Their whole business changed.”
Campagna: “Kodak did too. Fuji came along and then everybody got an I Phone. We don’t know where we’re going to be in twenty-five years. What we probably can try to plan out is three to five and maybe at best, ten. And I honestly think this committee should be looking at that length, that window of time, not where we might be in thirty years. First off, there’s probably not a person in this room that’s going to be here in thirty years.”
[laughter]
Nalley: “Can I make one statement? I was gonna say and I think that’s what you heard her talking about. When she talks about the Implementation Tables and the O and M, those are actually the strategic plans, inside. And that’s why they are focusing on that. So yes, there’s all this, you know, there’s this twenty-year plan. The 2,500 rooftops and all of that, but really, what we’re managing to evaluate are the Implementation Tables and the O and M Tables, which are three-year time frames.”
“And to borrow from Alice and Wonderland, if you don’t have, if you don’t know where you are going, any way will get you there. We need to have a plan. And that road has to be longer in horizon than what the short-term committments are. For a couple of reasons.”
“I mean we have to have alignment, because we have to have a vision of what our future is going to be. But the decisions that we make today and for the next two, three, four, and five years, long beyond any term for any particular thing, that is the consistency that we are looking for. We need to find that road. And the CMP offers that.”
Campagna: “I don’t think anybody would disagree with that. And you’re right. Failing to, having no plans is planning to fail. Right? And I don’t think that’s the case at all. I know this Board is very interested in that window of time frame for a variety of reasons – revenue being one of them. What amenities are good, bad or different and what one’s maybe should be added. But, I can’t look out the window past when I’m alive.”
Medica: “Nikki, I thought the report was real good. I’d like to get a copy of it. The Board should get a copy of it. There are, in talking to people in the Village right now, there’s a tremendous amount of, again, interest in Hot Springs Village. And I think the midwest is going to see a real burst of activity compared to the east and west coast, which have significant problems right now. But your report was well done and I appreciate what you put into.”
“Thank you.”
Dixon: “On behalf of this committee, I happen to be the Board liaison to it. I invite you Board Members to come to some of the meetings and see what these people do. We have a tremendous committee and everyone of them has expertise that I bet anybody wishes they could have on a committee.”
Dixon: “I am amazed at the lack of people that come to these open meetings. You all ask about transparency. We advertise when the meetings are going to be. We tell you the location. And if you have a chance, come and listen to what they’re doing. The next step of this, is that at the end of that meeting, if you have a question, it is open to ask them a question. So, I hate to say it, but most of you don’t really care, but yet you gripe about it. Come find out what they’re really doing. It’s worth the time. Thank you.”
Podawiltz: “I would like to ask about the Marketing Subcommittee report. I was under the impression that this committee would also be reporting their findings and their work effort and their work product to us, the Board. But yet, we’ve never seen any of that.”
“As a subcommittee of the CMPAC, if you would like information, then you may go to the chair of that committee and I will help you get whatever information you want from one of our subcommittees.”
Podawiltz: “Okay. Thank you.”
Erickson: “Nikki, couple of comments. One topic, a decision that was made by this Board a few months ago that caused a bit of consternation in the community was when we designated the CMP as a governing document. And we did so for one primary reason. And that is that any change to that document enjoyed the benefit of majority Board approval for doing so. In contrast, had we not done that, then staff or others could change that document without Board approving it. So it was a very deliberate thing to do. The Board wanted to stay in control of that document. So, when you come to the Board in April, I believe is when your charter is scheduled for you to come with any recommended changes, it will need to take the form of a motion for a change and the Board itself will have to adopt that. So I just wanted to make certain that you were clear on that and that the Board was clear on that and the community is clear on that. I think it’s a good thing that the Board retained control of that document for the benefit of the community.”
Erickson: “I also heard you had an ‘ask’ for us today, didn’t you? You asked the Board to approve, as I understand, the application of staff time for the purpose of documenting true savings resulting from the CMP. Is that right? Is that your ‘ask’?”
“We would like permission to work with staff so that we can collect documentation.”
Erickson: “Does anybody, including Lesley, have any objection to that?”
Nalley: “Let me say, I think Stephanie [Heffer]; you’re already working with Stephanie on that. Right? And as the liaison, the staff liaison certainly has that authority to assign staff. And I think you already support that. I certainly support that. So I am not sure that there is a…I mean, we’d love to have your support as well, but I think we’re already in that process. Am I right about that, Buddy [Dixon]? Buddy is the Board liaison.”
Erickson: “The Board doesn’t authorize the application of staff. That’s why I turned to Lesley to do that. So it sounds like we’re all aligned and will support that.”
“The challenges of having multiple stakeholder groups.”
Erickson: “Very good. Very good. That’s why I brought it up. Anybody else have any comments?”
Campagna: “I do. The reports that Diana asked for, she said she could get. I appreciate that Diana will get them. I would like to see a copy. There was also, I believe a report that compared what the Marketing Subcommittee recommended to what the actual document that was produced by Lesley’s marketing organization. And I am not suggesting either one is right or wrong. But I’d like…I could probably go through them all and figure out where all the differences were. If someone has produced a report that does a comparison, I’d like to see a copy of it, if anybody else on the Board would like to see it. So I guess we’ve got consensus on that.”
Erickson: “There’s one other thing, but I can’t think of what it is right now. So we’re good to go. Thank you very much. If it comes to me and you’re still in the room, I’ll call you back. Thank you very much.”
Dixon: “Let me say one thing. I think Jamie [Caperton] would be one of the people involved, Tormey [Campagna], to give you an answer on what recommendations the subcommittee gave them that were implemented into the 2020 plan.”
Campagna: “Candidly, I’d like to see it from, the report from the committee members. Not one that someone else produced.”
Dixon: “That’s what I’m saying.”
Campagna: “So if she has a direct copy of that report, that would be fine. And I am not suggesting what they designed in the marketing, would so far, Jamie’s organization is bad. I’d just like to see what the thoughts were.”
Nalley: “If I could, and thank you for…Jamie’s done a ton of work. If you have anything that you need from the staff, I’d appreciate you assign that to me.”
Dixon: “Right.”
Nalley: “Right. And it does exist. Because actually a meeting was held to talk about that. So, it’s one of their committee meetings actually did that. So, it’s there.”
Campagna: “So you’ve got that report then, I would like to see it.”
Nalley: “I’d be happy to, if the Board, is there a consensus that the rest of the Board would like to see that?”
Nalley: “Okay. Happy to…yep, we can get that for you.”
Erickson: “It came to me. Are all your subcommittees still functioning? Or have any been disbanded?”
“At this time, they are all functional, but work on them is sporadic, based on need.”
Erickson: “Okay. Very good. Okay. That was fine. All right, Thank you very much, Nikki. Well, well done and congratulations to the committee for making the progress it has, even with a chair change in the middle, which sometimes can slow things down. So it sounds like you are full-steam ahead. So I appreciate that very much. Thank you.”
Erickson: “Okay. And we would like a copy of that report for our records, too. Thank you.”
Click here to watch the YouTube video of Nikki Choyce’s report
Transcribed by Cheryl Dowden
Video recorded by Joe Dowden
George
01/24/2020 — 12:01 pm
Wow! $500,000 spent and there was never going to be an attempt to address the real benefit by the person who signed the check?
This became a function of the committee?
In what world would that happen other than this POA leadership.
2 years and $500,000 and now it has boiled down to be a way to prioritize our infrastructure?
Good for Tormey, he expressed what many think. A good 3-5 year plan is what we want to see. Once that is agreed on, then address the next 30. Lot of cliches and sub committees that meet “sporadically” are not going to get it done.
Dixon’s comment about his surprise that people are not attending these meetings…why would anyone attend when there has been so little accomplishment. This is like a government activity, hours of talk and no results.
Maybe DPZ will come back and try to sell us a bridge.
Thanks for publishing these notes Cheryl.
Mary Szczepaniak
01/24/2020 — 1:03 pm
Where are the dates, time, & place of these meetings publicized?
HSVP C
01/24/2020 — 1:35 pm
Mary, good question. They should be listed on the new calendar on the Explore the Village website. I also keep a community calendar, which is accessible from the Facebook group. Also, sometimes there is mention of them in the Village Digests. As far as the meeting details for the subcommittees, I have not seen much published about these meetings. I think some may be closed to the public. Thanks!
Stephen Rust
01/24/2020 — 1:48 pm
I’ve never seen the times and places of CMPAC published. I had to ask Ella Scotty one time. I attended meetings at first. They weren’t interested in what others had to say if you were in disagreement with the CMPAC. I was actually told by Clint Blackman that if I didn’t like the CMP that this might not be the place for me. I saw very little accomplished at meetings I attended.
Karen Daigle Lundberg
01/24/2020 — 2:10 pm
I agree with George completely. I also would like to state to Buddy Dixon regarding his comment that by us not showing up at this meeting “…most of you don’t really care but you gripe about it.” Buddy also speaks about us asking for transparency, and look t what they do for us. They tell us about the meeting, the location and the time of the meeting.” At the majority of these meetings, are we allowed to speak…or more importantly, is anything we are allowed to say considered at all? NO, it is not. I have no doubt in my mind that every meeting of any significance is well rehearsed extensively before the meeting ever takes place. If we attended every single meeting that is held by committees, subcommittees, Lesley Nalley, Board of Directors and every Tom, Dick and Harry that comes along, we would have no lives whatsoever. We would be attending useless meetings every single day. And they are absolutely USELESS meetings. They do not want to hear what we have to say, or even care what we have to say. This is their opportunity to say, “See, we are being transparent.” If anyone, such as Buddy Dixon, or any Board member (with the exception of Diana Podawiltz) or Queen Nalley, our “ceo” thinks we are not on to what all of these meetings are all about, then they are not only drinking too much Kool-aid, but they are drinking heavily spiked, Kool-aid. How dare any of them say we don’t care. If you dare LIE and say you do not see the huge unrest in this Village, and our unhappiness with our leadership, then you have been living under a rock. If that is the case, please go back to your rock and let us put people in place who will Save our Village from the corruptness that is ruining it!!
Moe
01/24/2020 — 5:20 pm
How true. Most people did not retire to attend worthless meetings where all you do is listen to incompetent people pushing a wrong-headed agenda. Not going to go. Why bother?
Phil Lemler
01/25/2020 — 11:56 am
Poor, poor Buddy!
Bayouvon
01/24/2020 — 2:41 pm
It is worst than I ever could imagine!
The POA and Board have become the mirror image of a city government Pushing on recklessly developing procedures and processes to nowhere!, Even to the point of defining and justifying ‘deferred maintenance’ giving financial priority to committees and a futuristic plan. Then authorizing staff to prioritize and justify all that they manage daily to fit that plan. Insane managerial neglect of current assets will result.
Unbelievable!
The POA is a ‘maintenance organization’ .
CCI marketed and developed HSV with a simple business model and staff aligned to that purpose. Our POA is developing a city government model, so expect home owners rights will be restricted more and more!
I believe we all can agree that we moved here to live in a less restricted community!
People’s rights and liberties first!
Richard Nixon
01/24/2020 — 3:35 pm
George is on his bandwagon again.
Andy Kramek
01/25/2020 — 8:48 am
I confess to being more than a little puzzled by the CMPAC charter that was quoted by the CMPAC Chair Person at her recent presentation to the board:
“According to the charter, our committee serves the needs of three stakeholder groups:
property owners,
Board, and
staff.”
I can understand that property owners are definitely stakeholders – it is, after all, their money that is used to fund the CMP. There is no other significant source for revenue than the property owners, whether that be “direct” (i.e. through assessments and service charges) or “indirect” (through the fees that residents pay to use POA facilities and amenities). The contribution by others (i.e. visitors) is, I am sure, pretty small by comparison to that of the residents.
I am not quite so sure about the definition of the Board as a stakeholder. Sure, they are property owners but as such they are covered in the first group. So just what do the Board have at stake that requires that they be differentiated from the rest of the property owners?
Then we have Staff. Well for sure there are some members of the staff whose job exists solely and directly on implementing the CMP, so I suppose that they are stakeholders in that sense. Plus, of course, there is one very significant stakeholder among the staff – namely the “ceo” – who appears to be single-handedly directing this charade. However, the vast majority of the POA staff are not invested in the CMP nor do their jobs depend upon it. Besides, many of the staff are also property owners and so are, again, covered in the first group.
So as far as I can tell, the only real stakeholders, and therefore, those whose needs should be addressed by the Committee are the Property Owners. The problem is that, when I read that report the only references to property owners are in the list of stakeholders, the “Mission Statement” and this reference:
“We recommend CMP information be for prospective Property Owners be separated from CMP information for current Property Owners because the messaging and level of detail is different for these two audiences”.
It certainly doesn’t feel that the needs of Property Owners actually figure into the CMPAC activites.
Kirk Denger
01/27/2020 — 9:18 am
Andy, thanks for your time and energy articulating the fallacies of the purposefully misleading term “stakeholder”. Surely the writer of this deceptive term is intending to include many others who are not paying Property Owners. AD of DPZ, all members of the CNU which has a grip on our governing documents?
RT Stony
01/25/2020 — 10:37 am
Nikki Choyce is running for a seat on the BOD. I WILL NOT be voting for her. I highly recommend you DO NOT vote for her either. She is in Lesley’s pocket and has been placed on the CMP committee to further its implementation despite the objections of the majority of property owners. Nikki Choyce does not hear nor does she respect the voices of property owners and she does not deserve our vote. She is a real threat to HSV’s future as a viable community.
Please VOTE FOR LTD – Lloyd – Tucker & Dick
They are our only hope for resolving the turmoil in HSV.
And again – NOT ONE DIME until Lesley, the legacy BOD members and turncoat Tormey are GONE!
Karen D. Lundberg
01/28/2020 — 6:57 pm
RT Stony….BRAVO. Thank you for standing out and saying what so many are thinking. For the very same reasons you state, I also will not be voting for Nikki, but I would like to add a couple of thoughts to your reasons. While researching Nikki on the internet, I discovered biographies of all of our candidates in the Hot Springs Village Voice. What I found on Nikki’s biography, I found to be what appeared to be a very embellished resume. That would be a resume created when you do not have the skills to fit the position, so you “paint it up.” I then went to Nikki’s websites and found two: https://www.peakperformancesolutions.com/nikki-choyce/ and her LinkedIn site: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikki-choyce-08567b1
When you compare Nikki’s “company,” and her LinkedIn site, you will NOT find any skills or experience that would anywhere nearly qualify her as a Board member. Right now, I would urge everyone, before considering to vote for her, is to study the information out there on her, compare it to the skills and experience of a Board member. I will break all of this into further details as the election gets closer.
For now, I agree with RT Stony, and LTD will be my vote. All three of these men are who we NEED!!
steve bylow
01/25/2020 — 11:55 am
Three observations:
1. I was very impressed with Mr. Campagna’s clear, concise and logical comments.
2. I’m surprised a committee is involved with identifying cost savings from the past two years.
3. I’m surprised a committee lead is surprised the public does not attend the meetings. While I’m confident he and other committee members are well-intentioned, the fact is they don’t have any significance influence. I know many exceptional Villagers who have “tapped out” of committees over the past 5 years because their progressive ideas did not fit the CEO’s model.
Two requests of the Board:
1. Please don’t extend the CEO’s agreement for 2 years – the business norm is to wait until closer the end of the current agreement. After viewing the articles the past 60 days, especially the CEO report out on 2019 “accomplishments”, extending the agreement into 2022 would be perceived by many as “negligence”.
2. While a progressive organization would have POA leadership benchmark other communities that are managing to grow with fiscal responsibility – please don’t. It would be a waste of money until we have POA leadership with business acumen and relevant experience.
Thanks