by Robert Busse, September 2, 2019
Balboa project is largest expenditure in HSV history
Immediately after the August BOD meeting, I wrote the BOD a message. In short, I feel Ms. Nalley’s expectation of the Board to make decisions on spending approximately $7 million for the refurbishing of the Balboa course and remodeling/rebuilding of the Clubhouse in less than 30 days is wrong. This is thought to be the largest single expenditure in HSV history. Frank Leeming, soon after, also wrote of his concern with this project.
The BOD must not only look at the refurbishing of the golf course and irrigation system, but they must also decide what is the best option with the Clubhouse; tear it down and build a much smaller facility or do a complicated renovation of the existing facility. This is a long-awaited decision, as leadership has avoided it for the past two to three years. Once the Clubhouse decision is made, then comes all the design decisions associated with what building plan is chosen.
Board has been discussing Balboa for weeks
We have heard Directors claim no knowledge of Balboa renovations up until the presentation on August 21. Now after questioning the short time frame for making the decisions they face, it comes out that the BOD has been discussing the Balboa remodel information for several weeks. This is more false information and coverup of secret meetings from some of our Directors.
How to pay for Balboa?
But the real mountain the Board has to climb is how is this project going to be paid for? Everyone knows we do not have the money to cover this project. So there is going to have to be some serious research, discussions, and dealings with outside financial gurus and institutions to come up with a plan to finance this refurbish/remodel. This debt decision is extremely important because it is going to have a huge impact on the finances and future of HSV.
Best decision is delay Balboa project
The best decision for members the BOD could make would be for this project to be delayed until September 2020, therefore, allowing the BOD plenty of time to study, research, and investigate all aspects involved in order to come up with well thought out decisions that are best for HSV.
by Robert Busse, September 2, 2019
Susan Cox
09/02/2019 — 10:50 am
I totally agree with Mr. Busse. This is a huge project and needs time and research on how to fund Balboa. It’s a nostalgic building and hope it’s worth saving, but that needs to be up to a professional to decide someone who knows if demolition or remodel is best financially.
Sam Taylor
09/02/2019 — 12:24 pm
Agree! We all know that this is just a push to get this down while the CEO still has the votes on the board. We know that this is her LAST CHANCE to get anything major passed! Is this her revenge on the Village, sending us to bankruptcy, or does she really believe this is viable. It really makes no difference because it is wrong for the Village at this point!
Kirk Denger
09/02/2019 — 12:36 pm
Delay plan? Better to remove the plan and the BODs and CEO who are considering it.
How can any member give an ounce of credibility to the current management and staff? Take a look at the DeSoto Club remodel, over 2 million dollars of useless ideas, bankrupt a year later. The roof had to be replaced again this year due to shoddy workmanship. Dining in a bowling alley stripped of all the original charm and heritage, a colossal failure of the Twiggs/Nalley Congress of New Urbanism cult. The Pro shop idea topped it off by making all golfers climb up to the top of the hill so that the 19th hole could continue to be neglected. The DeSoto Course doesn’t look any different now than it did before the remodel and most claim that it is worse than before.
Then there is the pool decision, No bidders on a cheaply designed thin square box pool not even half size at three times the price of restoring our Fay Jones Historic Landmark DeSoto Pool and Bathhouse.
Simply restore the Balboa Club and Course to their original purpose, all of the CEO’s plans are total disasters for our Village.
Linda Anderson
09/02/2019 — 12:56 pm
Why would our CEO choose to spend money we don’t have ( almost $7 Mil ) ? It is illogical, irresponsible, and makes no sense.
The building is contemporary and structurally sound. Diana Podawiltz made the best financial determination for prudent and reasonable spending and that was to remodel the building. How about going one step at a time. 1ST-Remodel the building and 2 nd -Make a committed effort to use marketing to bring more people to play in order to pay renovation costs. The golf course is in good shape and can wait. A conservative approach to spending.
Mr. Tom Blakeman and Mr. Phil Lemler made valiant efforts to bring attention to the importance of ” Golf ” with solutions and still the BOD/CEO ignore and spend recklessly. HSV is built around ” GOLF ” and must be committed to a dedicated maintenance program without compromising it’s financial stability.
Anonymous
09/04/2019 — 3:46 pm
I thought the Desoto clubhouse was finished. Now more?
Golf course? Lots of money but how about some BIDS this time? May save some money if they have construction co bid vs ???
John Dethardt
09/02/2019 — 1:33 pm
Before a decision is made show me the money. Covering the cost should be addressed before the board makes a mistake and moves forward. Maybe the board could start saving money first to cover the cost. We all love to dream.
This just shows how out of touch the management is. Take Care
Elizabeth H Berry
09/02/2019 — 1:56 pm
The plan of this CEO is outrageous. We did not want a pool at this time, we do not want a lodge in the village, we do not want to take down the gates, we do not want the CMP. Need I go on. She believes that raising the fees and adding special assessments will pay for all these unwanted “improvements”. Like all unscrupulous “leaders” they eventually screw up. The problem is we do not have the time or money to wait. Rethinking the suggestion to donate $10.00 a month to secure a lawyer is a viable idea. Is that possible, I don’t know, but it is worth looking into. We need ideas for a solution. More people need to know what is going on and that all these wonderful people putting aside their lives to save our village are NOT just complainers.
Tom Blakeman
09/02/2019 — 3:02 pm
I just came in from playing Balboa this morning to read this posting and comments. Mr Busse and the commenters are all correct.
During my round this latest POA boondoggle was discussed up on side and down the other. None of us thought any of it made sense. Least of all the idea of tearing down a perfectly good iconic building just to have something new. Crazy.
Sure, the course needs some work. But why now? Why when we have no money? Why not take a common sense approach and accumulate the cash before embarking on a major undertaking of questionable need.
How about taking one fairway at a time and just fix the cart paths as needed using maintenance funds. It’s obvious that little or no path maintenance has been done for years and years. But there are still many sections without issues. Maybe hire a small labor crew for the work and let go a couple of executives?
Ditto for the irrigation system. Trench one fairway at a time for new lines while not ripping out the old. While that fairway is being worked on let golfers just bypass it and play another hole twice. This can be done people, if we could just get our leaders to look past their noses. Think outside the POA box.
How about also generating some funds by getting our fee structure competitive and increasing rounds on all the courses? Make some money first to pay for what’s needed. The idea that we are going to RAISE fees with a surcharge of $2 or $4 per round is worse than ridiculous.
I recently sent our leadership a complete evaluation and recommendations on what needs to be done with our golf marketing and pricing. Did anyone listen? I doubt it. I certainly haven’t heard from any of them. I guess they were all too busy dreaming up another “build it and they will come” scheme.
Anonymous
09/02/2019 — 11:30 pm
It should be obvious to everyone that someone needs to be held responsible for the condition of the club house and course.
How long has the club house needed maintenance?
Why was maintenance deferred?
Who/what POA employee has the direct responsibility for maintaining the club house?
Was a budget request submitted for building maintenance?
Who/when was the budget request for building maintenance denied?
When/why/who put the chains on the stairwell?
Was it a group decision?
Who knows?
Who knows the history, and has the details?
Marc
09/02/2019 — 3:22 pm
The surcharge will easily pay for this renovation after just 3.5 million rounds. No problem. That won’t take long. 25 years.
Sam
09/02/2019 — 3:23 pm
The surcharge will easily pay for this renovation after just 3.5 million rounds. No problem. That won’t take long. 25 years.
Joe
09/02/2019 — 6:37 pm
There is an unholy alliance between the four 2018 holdover board members and the CEO. These board members rubber-stamped every proposal that was presented to them including the CEO’s contract which is not sound in the business world.
In all probability, the Board Chair, our Board Parliamentarian and the CEO has already decided the fate of the Balboa project.
The CEO’s rubber-stamping 2018 hold-over board members will make it happen. The best decision the BOD could make would be for this project to be delayed until September 2020 as more information is needed to make a sound business decision. Sound business decisions are not synonymous with the 2018 board.
Stephen Rust
09/02/2019 — 6:38 pm
Did anyone consider that if the BOD votes to do the Balboa course and clubhouse (and they probably will do as our CEO has commanded), we will have to borrow money to do the Balboa job. We are then in to some pretty big debt which leave only two options, the BOD (controlled by Lesley Nalley) comes to the villagers for an assessment increase above the Southern CPI and/or a special assessment increase. That leaves the villagers to either vote the assessments through or risk bankruptcy and losing our property values. People better wake up. Our CEO and some of the BOD are determined to get what they want even after we voted them down on the assessments and voted in some directors who were for stopping the runaway management.
HSVP J
09/02/2019 — 6:42 pm
I agree.
Mary Odom
09/02/2019 — 6:42 pm
Tom I agree with you totally. LN just wants a “new” building and I’m not sure how we are going to stop her. I live on Balboa and yes it needs work but we don’t have the $$$. Thank you for your suggestions!!
George
09/02/2019 — 7:11 pm
Good summary of what many feel.
The timing for this is extremely poor since we haven’t paid for the $1.2M pool and I am still waiting to see the drawer full of cash for that, as opposed to drawing it out of the $2.8M reserve or worse, another loan.
They had over a year, last board event at Balboa, to put together a solid cost estimate for remodeling Balboa, but that wasn’t done. It was an estimate presented for the building last Wednesday.
Meyers had bids for the course, why not the building? What do these people do all day!
There is no rush on the building, nothing has collapsed, no asbestos, it is operational.
The course may have other options, as suggested above. Maybe it gets shut down for the winter, if rain and cold are as bad as last year. We have another course, or two.
If this is a ploy to increase assessments, it is a terribly obvious one and I hope everyone would see that, including the BOD.
Ray
09/02/2019 — 7:53 pm
These morons are insane. Nothing they are planning makes any sense. Nothing.
Idiots.
Anonymous
09/02/2019 — 9:29 pm
Binary decisions left to the board with one month timeline. It seems to be a HSV mindset. Only choice: yes or no. Madness on all sides. Several studies show that when there are only binary choices (yes or no) very few are ultimately satisfied with the results. HSV operations HAS to give the board alternative choices, collaboration and time to decide on path that does not put members in financial peril.
Lloyd Sherman
09/02/2019 — 9:32 pm
I suspect as has been the case many times in the past that inadequate planning or analysis has been done on either of these projects. The MO seems to be to decide the outcome and then go find a resource who will perform the work they are told to perform (as was done with the CMP). Not sure we learned any lessons on Desoto. I am not convinced the golf course needs what we are being told it needs. It certainly needs new cart paths and irrigation help, but to close the course down for a full year does not sound like a prudent approach. Plus, none of this money they are saying needs to be spent this year, has been budgeted for. You can put a surcharge on golf and much like the last time fees were raised, play is likely to go down. The building is not something that needs a decision this year. Let’s take bites of the elephant instead of trying to eat the whole thing in one seating. Getting financing is not prudent for this project and much like not approving a higher assessment amount, the silent majority is not going to support increases in fees until we see concrete proof that costs have been controlled. Today, that trust does not exist!
Jim Langford
09/03/2019 — 10:33 am
I played Balboa yesterday in the group behind Tom Blakeman. I had been told by several people the Balboa course, grass wise, was in great shape and I agree. The cart paths, in places, look like Pennsylvania roads after a bad winter. The greens at Balboa are in way better shape than Isabella greens. The Isabella greens look like we moved the Greens Super from Cortez to Isabella to over water and black rot the ground and grass with no root structure. Being an old Maintenance person with lack of budgeted money and watching Nalley and her puppet four to five BOD members, I would shut down Balboa for a week and replace the cart paths and have the course maintenance people do extensive maintenance during the week. When we get back control of the Village(post Nalley), we should run new Sprinkler lines and not totally have to replace the greens. I saw a trap that looked like they were trying to repair the french drain. French drains will never work correctly with sand on them and you have to run the lines to some place where the water will disappear. French drains are designed to be used with gravel so the holes in the drain do not plug. Every course should have a couple of Gorman Rupp sump pumps and send the workers out with a shovel to dig a hole in the trap and pump the water out after every rain. The traps will dry in one day. If the Club House building is truly structurally sound it should be rebuilt when we have some use for the second floor. This could also be completed without closing the golf course by putting a portable building in the parking lot for the pro shop and beer sales while the building is being rebuilt.
Kirk Denger
09/04/2019 — 9:03 pm
Cart path sections needing replacements can be easily made without closing for one day. Detour around the section being worked on is not a problem! RESTORE Balboa! NOT remove OR remodel or increase debt.
Flo
09/03/2019 — 10:40 am
All of Balboa should be shut down and turned into a park.
Nothing else makes any sense.
Sam Taylor
09/03/2019 — 11:32 am
Sorry, but that would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
Flo
09/03/2019 — 12:48 pm
Who cares????
Pat McCullough
09/03/2019 — 9:11 pm
The people who have homes on Balboa should care……this is going to get very ugly. We do not need all of the courses we have – someday they will start to close one by one………this course can be saved with some smart repairs . Many suggestions have been posted over the past few days. The club house can be repaired. Some one needs to raise holy hell to stop our CEO and clueless board of directors. We do not have and never will have 7 million to spend on this place. I have seen some estimates of a 25 year repay with surcharges. That time span will require at least two more complete redos. We need to get a grip on this and stop this CEO and her side kicks . If I were a bit younger I would be out of here. Our Camaelot has turned into a very bad nightmare.
Beverly murphy
09/05/2019 — 3:59 pm
You do not make any sense.
Pat McCullough
09/06/2019 — 10:06 am
What is it that you do not understand about this post?
Anonymous
09/06/2019 — 3:29 pm
I was referring to Flo’s post about closing Balboa course and turning it into a park and then saying nothing else makes any sense. Her comment didn’t make sense to me….I love a park but I didn’t buy my house to live on one.
JHS
09/04/2019 — 9:00 am
Our leadership needs to SLOW DOWN for Pete’s sake! Do not jump into a massive amount of debt with a hurried up vote at this time!
The suggestion of fixing the cart paths first while making a viable plan and timeline for the other renovations on the course would be a good start. The idea of shutting down 1 hole at a time instead of the whole course for a year makes a lot of sense.
If the once beautiful and much utilized clubhouse is structurally sound, the suggestion of renovating the upper level to house the POA and Police (both of which evidently need more room) plus some meeting rooms and a decent restaurant with gas in the kitchen, and making the lower level into the golf shop, snack/sports bar and a multi-purpose room for card/game players and dancers seems prudent. It is an idea that would solve a lot of space problems and offer facilities many HSV members could enjoy.
Minn Daly
09/06/2019 — 11:28 am
On Balboa Club & golf course, why wasn’t John Cooper & engineer Ernie Deaton called in to discuss the best way to save the building lowering the cost of repair on golf course as well? It simply that the BOD/CEO refuses to recognize that they are the developers & have the expertise to do the job effectively & efficiently. Spend this Community into debt is the royal cry of the ingenious elites! Those that think this community is the size of Rhode Island & others that don’t think at all! So sad that COOPER is at the east gate with representatives on call. Get smart call them! Minn Daly
John Brown
09/07/2019 — 6:44 am
Between 2008 and 2018 the number of village golf rounds played annually dropped from 320,000 to less than 220,000. Meanwhile POA increased the cost of playing a round of golf by 68%. Apparently none of them understand that you cannot continue to raise prices (surcharges) when demand is failing.