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Hot Springs Village – What’s all the noise about?

What’s all the noise about? 


Social Media is always squawking. I’m old enough to know it sounds (on the screen) like the old CB radios. I know… I know.. yes.. we have problems. Always have .. always will. Even Jesus stated that “the poor will always be with you”. But the village is changing (a little) EVERY DAY and will continue. When I arrived 20 years ago the ONLY thing on KVRE radio was big band and Count Basie. That too has changed a little more EVERY day.

So, let me tell you the GOOD news

  1. Lot sales (of every sort) are BOOMING. (more on this later)
  2. Home Sales are BOOMING. 
  3. New arrivals are coming every day. 
  4. Lot generated revenue (SHOULD) be booming as well. 
  5. HUNDREDS of tax sales lots dollars should be pouring into our accounts. 
  6. As always (if you have been around long enough) the Village will “right itself”. Which is actually amazing if you think about it. 
  7. Broadband is 
    1. Being addressed 
    2. About to solve for thousands of village residents (Fiber). First Electric Co-op will be running fiber to all customers who get power and it will be very competitive (watch your back Suddenlink, I hear they have customer support WHO SPEAK ENGLISH as a NATIVE language). 
    3. Starlink (satellite internet) will get a run for the money this Fall. This will also cover parts of the National Forest for VERY remote locations. 
  8. The POA Board is addressing some long-standing issues. One of the directors is reportedly asking department heads “so what is your goal this quarter?”. To which, there are blank stares. Asking these questions is the FIRST step to sanity. I think we will get there. 
  9. New Podcast for Villagers and Wannabe Villagers… think you will like the new spin.  [Click here to visit “Hot Springs Village Inside Out.”

So I will expound on each point for the Good AND bad

  1. Tax lots sales are THOUGH THE ROOF. Hundreds and hundreds per month. If the POA is capturing these correctly, that is $125 transfer fee for EVERY lot and $39 per month times hundreds. It would be reasonable to expect that this sort of trend could help “right the ship” financially. Bad News: These lots are being sold PURELY on speculation and the “owners” may not be paying the dues or transfer fees. These “new owners” may need to be more aggressively addressed than in the past. I would expect easily an additional $500k (800 or so lots times fees = real money). Lets’ call a spade a spade. This new income DOES NOT COST the POA a penny. No outgo all income (unless of course they want to build a home and we have to pave the road to them and bring in utilities. 
  2. EVERY HOME (even some junkers) are selling quickly and 30% – 40% above 2 years ago. Spoke to a man who bought a home on Coronado Lake and was GRATEFUL to be able to buy as he had made offers of up to $35k OVER listing and STILL lost the bidding war. 
  3. Seeing more and more new faces EVERY DAY. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be nice to these people. They are paying for our future and remember … one day.. .not too long ago.. YOU TOO were a visitor or new resident. THINK BEFORE YOU TYPE. 
  4. As noted above the NEW OWNERS of tax lots do NOT seem to be bothered by the fact they have clouded titles (lots that will need $$$ legal action $$$ before they can be built on) and are not paying the assessments on the lots. The POA needs a VERY aggressive stance on these to discourage playing Ponzi Schemes with the Village values as in the past (that’s YOU NRPI). 
  5. I am YET to be convinced that new home sales are the way to fix the village budget. The LOTS ARE FREE (mostly) income to the village while homes require pavement and LOTS of upkeep. Reply and tell me your opinion. 
  6. As we were facing another DIRE situation about 17 years ago… NRPI came in and blew up the market. LITERALLY blew up the market and then disappeared into the shadows when the repercussions came home to roost. NPRI bought from the POA ALL of the lots the POA had in inventory for $500 per lot with a YEAR’S SUSPENSION OF DUES. The POA had NEARLY 700 at the time (a number we thought was HUGE). The POA has (as of last year) over 3500. Yeah, let that sink in. 
  7. There have been stories about realtors who lost sales because “there was no internet” at the house. The Tech Club of HSV has documented over 17 providers of internet to the village. If you “don’t have internet” it is because you are LOOKING DOWN. Time to LOOK UP. The future of internet is just about to be here and as someone who has preached this to whoever would listen for the last decade … ITS ABOUT TIME. Starlink has won a grant to provide internet to the National Forest areas North and West of HSV. It is very possible they will be providing internet from the nearly 42,000 satellites they plan to launch (they have about 1500 now and hundreds more every week. Oh, and that is BEFORE the Amazon satellites launch next year and the EU will have a program too. The First Electric Fiber solution will be the greatest game-changer next year. 1 gig server for under $100 from Suddenlink AND FEC. Heady times my friends 😊 . 
  8. Paul Harvey used to state repeatedly … “Government (POA?) is run like NOBODIES BUSINESS. NO ONE would run a business as the government does. “
    I truly hope to see this change in the village. For those of you who do not know, we DO NOT have a “government” … we have a corporation that Cooper set up 49 years ago. Every time there was a headache or a maintenance issue… the POA was used by Cooper to fix it. The POA and Cooper had a symbiotic relationship for 34 years until Cooper pulled out (except for the Concrete Plant they will remind you) in 2006. Cooper would do the marketing, building lakes and golf courses and the profit-making and the POA picked up trash, provided water, and took away sewage. Until 2006 … since then the POA has been finding its way. I think the new board with young blood like Chris Jones, from a corp environment, can help us run the POA in a more professional and accountable way. 

All for now, Dennis Simpson, June 5, 2021😊

Dennis can be reached at dennis@totaltech-ar.com.

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