The Hot Springs Village Property Owners’ Association Board of Directors met for a Discussion Session at 9:00 a.m. on May 5, 2021. The meeting lasted a little over 40 minutes. Sitting at the table were:
Board Members – JoAnne (Joanie) Corry, Chair; Chris Jones; Robert (Bob) McLeod; Gary Belair; and Pam Avila.
Staff – John Paul, Interim General Manager; Stephanie Heffer, Director of Programs and Operations and Corporate Secretary; Coreena Fetterhoff, Controller and Corporate Treasurer; and Katrina Heap, Administrative Assistant to the General Manager.
Additional Staff (not seated at the table) – Jason Temple, Director of Public Services
Audience Attendees: Maxine Klein and Chuck Alvord (I wrote this report from the video, so there may have been other attendees.)
According to the Chair, Vice Chair Tucker Omohundro was not able to attend.
The vacant board seat was still not filled.
Pool Fee Recommendation Discussion
Stephanie Heffer addressed the outdoor pool fees. The Recreation Fee Sub Committee and the staff recommended:
Annual pool fee recommendations: Member $100; Household $150; and Super Senior $75
Daily fee recommendations: Member $2; Guest $4; and Employee $2
Chris Jones inquired about the possibility of adopting a Daily Family fee. Stephanie said they could do that.
The price last year was $6 for member daily use. Heffer said the feeling is that the price was too high last year which resulted in lack of participation. The annual pool fee recommendations are also lower than last year’s fees.
Board Member Jones stated, “So we brought the numbers down this year. They were too high last year. Did we pulse the community to make sure that this would be an acceptable amount that people would use? I see that you did a detailed analysis. I am just curious. I don’t want to have to redo this same reduction next year if we find that it was too high again.”
Heffer said they didn’t pulse the community. They worked through the Recreation Committee. “This is the second year and we are learning as we go,” Stephanie added.
The 2021 pool fees will be voted on at the May 19, 2021 Board Meeting. The pool opens at the end of May.
Heffer said the pool is being painted and sandblasted today (May 5, 2021).
Marketing Committee Dissolution Discussion
Heffer reported:
“The Board of Directors adopted the Marketing Committee as a new standing board committee and approved its charter on August 19, 2020. Prior to that date, the Marketing Committee was structured as a sub committee of the Finance and Planning Committee.”
“At the onset of the committee’s appointment, the POA had no organized marketing division and a directive was given to formalize the POA’s marketing effort. During the tenure of the Marketing Committee, a Marketing Manager was hired. A new marketing agency is under contract [Sells Agency]. The POA website has been restructured and launched under a new platform and all marketing metrics are regeneration, website traffic, property values, home sales, etc. are being tracked and showing substantial improvements.”
“The marketing department has implemented an external marketing campaign that is more focused heavily on digital, rather than print media. This strategy has enabled them to use budgeted marketing dollars more effectively.”
“The Marketing Committee has been instrumental in providing structure and setting the ground work for a successful marketing campaign. But at this time, our staff and marketing agency have all the necessary tools to continue the work that the committee laid out.”
“At the end of the current term, our marketing committee will have three remaining members.”
“Paul Day, Marketing Committee Chair; Pam Avila, Board Liaison, and Stephanie Heffer, Staff Liaison met on April 26, 2021, to discuss options for moving forward. Based on this conversation, all agreed that it is detrimental to the committee structure, overall, to have a situation where volunteers cannot be kept engaged or busy.”
“It is time to move the Marketing Committee from standing to ad hoc and call upon the talents of our three remaining members and solicit input from the community on an as-needed basis.”
“We recommend creating a dedicated email address. Something like, “Marketing-Ad Agency at POA. org for marketing suggestions from our community that will be vetted by staff and at times taken to this ad hoc group for their input and possible assistance.”
“We thank the volunteers who have dedicated their time and talent to improving Hot Springs Village marketing efforts and we want to continue working together as new ideas and trends for promoting the Village arrive.”
Director Avila said, “I strongly support going from a full, every month committee, to an ad hoc committee. What has happened in the last few months is that it has become apparent that these people that volunteer their time and talent and energy come to the meetings and really have very little to do. I don’t think that’s a good use of volunteers’ time or energy and I think it sets a bad precedent.”
Avila continued, “the marketing staff right now is doing a good job. Is it perfect? No. Are there still things that can be done? Absolutely! But I don’t believe it requires a full committee to do that. I think the ad hoc meeting quarterly is what we kind of talked about. Meeting quarterly to review what the marketing department is doing; to look at suggestions that have come in; to look at possible new campaigns, would be sufficient.”
Director Belair asked, “the charter is going to be rewritten to designate the committee as an ad hoc meeting quarterly? Is that the plan?”
Heffer said that typically there is not a charter for an ad hoc committee.
Belair asked, “if we are going to dissolve the Marketing Committee, should we not replace it with something? If it is just dissolved, then what are these people going to think when they get a phone call that says, ‘can you meet?’ I don’t understand how we can have an unrecorded expectation of volunteers.”
“We’ve already said they would meet quarterly, on a quarterly basis. So instead of going every month to a meeting, they would go every third month to a meeting,” replied Avila.
Belair asked, “Does that involve dissolving the committee or just modifying its structure?”
Heffer responded, “the recommendation is to dissolve the committee and move to an ad hoc status. So normally there wouldn’t be a charter. However, I understand what you are saying and to sort of maybe formalize this change, it might make sense to go ahead and create an ad hoc committee charter that does lay out how we might meet in the future.”
Avila said the Governmental Affairs Committee created a charter for the GAC Census Ad Hoc Committee. This created a precedent for having a charter for an ad hoc committee.
Belair asked if the Marketing Committee Chair still exists in an ad hoc committee.
Corry said that typically there would still be a chair. She believes they are asking this to move to an “as needed basis.”
Heffer said the committee is much smaller than when it originated. In 30 days there will only be three committee members. “Part of the challenge is bringing new people on without a direction and work for them to do,” explained Heffer. She stated that the Chair and Vice Chair will no longer be on the committee.
Belair inquired, “Who will call them?”
Heffer answered, “I would.”
Avila said there is a lot of marketing talent in the Village but most don’t want to be committed to being on a committee. With an ad hoc committee, we can engage with those people as needed.
Jones asked, “We hire a marketing manager that works with the POA or are they part of the agency?
Avila said they work for the POA.
Jones said, “really, the reason I can see this…is one, that person needs to be able to do their job without a committee overruling them. But, they can effectively call in a focus group of these people when needed. I think that’s the intent here. It’s not to restructure the committee or do anything like that. It’s to allow this person to have an avenue to tap into the pool of talent when needed. Is that kind of overall the kind of expectations?”
Avila said, “I think it goes a little bit further than that. Partly because since there is just one marketing staff person right now. There are things that one marketing person may not see or may not be aware of because their expertise is in area X and there is a need in area Y. So by having an ad hoc committee that meets at least quarterly, they can basically look and see things that the manager may have overlooked or may not be aware of and make suggestions and recommendations. So it really serves to expand that one position and give that person additional help.”
Jones said he thought that was what the advertising agency was for. He asked if the agency was more “us just telling them what to do and they just do?”
Heffer said no that the agency provides us guidance, as well. “They are certainly part of the team,” clarified Stephanie. “That is part of the struggle with the committee. You have an agency that is giving us direction and helping us understand where to go. And then you have a committee that is also got maybe a whole different path. So we felt this was just an easier way to make sure everybody had a clear…” “We don’t want to lose the connection with the community.”
Depreciation and Record Retirement Policies Update Discussion
“The purpose of the new Fixed Asset Policy is to set a standard by which capitalization and depreciation of purchases are reported. This proposed policy is in accordance with the IRS [undecipherable] guidelines. The policy will put into place a set of standard rules to determine classification of purchases, including setting a minimum threshold of $5,000 and a useful life of greater than 12 months. The purpose of extracting Chapter 1, Article 17, Section 4 to a new stand-alone policy, Chapter 9, Article 5, Record Retention Policy is to have Article 17, Information System Policy relate specifically to electronic data, separately from the record retention requirements. The proposed retention periods are updated to reflect the IRS and AICPA recommendations. This includes the extension of retention period for [indecipherable] record types.”
Fetterhoff said, “the gist of it is, we needed a depreciation policy put in place. Put it in black and white. The big change is ‘setting a minimum threshold to $5,000.’ Above that, in a useful life you are going to capitalize it. Below that you are going to expense it. Just putting some standards out there in place.”
Fettterhoff explained, “the second part is updating the retention policies so that some of the records need to be kept a little bit longer than what our current policy stated in order to follow IRS regulations and guidelines along with AICPA recommendations.”
Jones said, “Information Retention Policy is something I am familiar with. I am not really familiar with the Capital Depreciation. I will leave the depreciation stuff to you. I know we are a US entity so GDPR [General Data Protection Regulation] is not necessarily a requirement, should we be looking towards being compliant with that, knowing that eventually that will happen? Do you even know what I am talking about?”
Fetterhoff said, “I will have to look into that one.”
Jones explained, GDPR is like data retention for employee records, personal information, identifiable PII, Personal Identifiable Information, things like that. The EU has a whole strict guideline around retention of that or dissolution of that if somebody wants. The U.S. is considering doing the same thing. It’s just not a requirement yet. So just curious if we want to get to be compliant with that now to get ahead of the game since we are already modifying our retention policies anyway?”
Coreena said she would look into what those guidelines are.
Belair asked if this had to do with the right to request copies of documents.
Jones said this was not the same thing.
Jones said, “if I leave the company and I don’t want you to have my records anymore, I have the right to ask you to scrub the records that I ever existed, basically.”
Director McLeod asked if they were shortening any of the record retention time requirements.
Fetterhoff said none of them are shortened. She proposed lengthening them.
McLeod asked, “did we have a fixed asset system in place before? “What changes are we making?”
The Corporate Treasurer said, “this is actually setting the guidelines we have operated by and putting it in black and white.”
Fetterhoff said they have been making a lot of changes with the fixed asset tracking this year. “Past tracking was done in Excel. This year we converted to Fixed Asset Tiger, which is a software program that allows for all of your inventory tracking and so forth.” Physical inventory is being done to make sure the books are accurate.”
Bob asked how many fixed assets we have.
Coreena said, “It’s a lot. I can’t quite tell you off the top of my head. But I would say the list is probably around 4,000 lines or so.”
Avila said that residents should be very pleased with how hard staff is working to formalize, clean up things and make sure everything is tracked and accounted for.
Amendment to HSVPOA Articles of Incorporation Registered Agent Change
John Paul said they were asking the Board to amend the Articles of Incorporation to change the name from Lesley Nalley to John Paul as the registered agent of the office. It just needs to be formalized.
Jones asked if we should wait until the new GM is in place?
Paul said you can do it again. A “tickler” will remind them in the future when this needs to be done.
The Board Retreat will be at Diamante and is next week. The agenda will be out for the Directors by Friday. There has been a problem with Board Director access to the Board Director dropbox. This is being taken care of.
There will be a continental breakfast and lunch served to the Directors and staff.
There is room for 20 property owners to attend.
Audience Comments
Maxine Klein: “Nobody seems to be in charge of the accuracy of the calendar data.” She stated she has been trying to get staff to make corrections for several years and it is still a struggle. Additionally, there are rumors about the pickleball courts. “If there is a plan, publish it somewhere to put an end to all of these rumors.”
Heffer said they are meeting regularly with a group of Pickleball Club members who are supporting and helping us with writing a specification to go out and repair those courts. We have a budget line item this year of $120,000 to do those repairs. We are planning to spend that this year. The most basic explanation is that we are taking the cushion surface, which has plagued us with problems from day one. Primarily, it has a lot to do with our climate. The moisture in the air, the moisture that is coming up from the cement and that whole bunch of things and taking all of that back off to a hard court surface and we should be done in a few months.”
Temple said the repair should be completed by this fall.
Chuck Alvord – There is a restaurant section on the website and it was not complete.
Alvord also requested that an “agenda” or “topic list” be published ahead of the Board Discussion Sessions. If topics were added at the last minute, a handout could be provided to the audience with the updates.
Amazon Email Scam
This portion of the meeting was not really clear but it had something to do with a scammer sending out emails to board members regarding Amazon gift cards.
Chair Corry said that she did not ask for Amazon gift cards. She said she was hacked.
Jones said for everyone to read the email address of the sender before assuming emails are legitimate.
Avila said the same thing happened when Tucker Omohundro was elected Chair. The Board Members got a similar email from Tucker.
After the Discussion Session, the Board went on a field trip with Jason Temple to visit the water treatment plant, the Mill Creek Water Reclamation Plant, RV Park (largest wastewater lift station in the Village is located at the RV Park) and finish up at the Balboa Club. The group will travel over a variety of road surfaces and terrains. Jason said, “you will be seeing a lot of things that you may never have asked questions about.”
Avila said, “just to support your efforts, Jason, I just happen to have handy from the Task Force the writeups that they did on the wastewater treatment…on the water and here’s even an infographic, if you like pictures instead of words.”
By Cheryl Dowden, May 5, 2021
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Thank you for reading. If you like, please comment below. We love to hear your opinion, but comments must be made using your first and last real name, or they will not be accepted. If you would like to submit an article for publication, please contact us through this website. Be sure to bookmark this website. Click here to visit the Hot Springs Village People Facebook Group, also known as POG (Property Owners’ Group).
Tom Blakeman
05/05/2021 — 2:30 pm
How is it possible that a pool which is only a year old needs sandblasting and painting? What is the cost to us? Similarly, how is it that the pickle ball courts which are only a couple years old need $120,000 of repairs? Everyone knew what our “climate” was before the courts were built.
Who is responsible for these apparent screw ups and who is being held accountable?
Diana Podawiltz
05/05/2021 — 8:15 pm
Pool: BOD previously announced crack repair and repainting would be completed this Spring at Contractor’s expense. Reduction of user fee = greater subsidy from POA dues for operating expenses. I seriously doubt that the number of users will increase enough to offset a 67% reduction in the daily member fee. Might want to look at hours of operation. Pickleball players might go to the pool after their early morning games are over.
PICKLEBALL: As stated, the project has been a failure since a month after the courts opened (Sept. 2018). There’s even failure for the fencing. Blaming this on our heat & humidity is ludicrous. The US National Pickleball tournament was just held in Naple, FL. I believe their climate is very similar to ours especially, in terms of humidity. They have a successful soft court surface – Decoturf. Why can’t we have this in the Village???
The original contractor has been let off the hook. WHY? All I heard last year was bad contract. Couldn’t get other BOD members to agree to take this situation to our attorney’s. Have also been told that we needed to apply a special epoxy between the concrete and the cushioning layers. This statement was made by the manufacturer or the court surface material to the subcontractor employee hired to apply this surface.
This is supposed to be a state of the art facility. A cracked concrete surface won’t be in that category. The Pickleball players are being shortchanged. They purchased their own shade covering – cost $27K. They remove the water from the surface after it rains and have purchased their own equipment to do so; have experienced vandalism requiring multiple purchases of court squeegees.
BTW, Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the nation. There will be a huge tournament – Spa City Classic, July 15-18, 2021 at the Hot Springs Bank OZK Arena in Hot Springs. It would be a huge embarrassment to invite anyone to come visit the Village and play on our $375,000 that should be patched by then. Right now, all but 4 of the 14 have sections cut out waiting to be patched.
No one held accountable to my knowledge.
Anne Shears
05/07/2021 — 1:29 pm
Who was the project manager on the pool? On the Pickelball Courts?
Kirk Denger
05/05/2021 — 10:16 pm
Charlie Brown oversaw the Pickle ball court construction and the pool construction.
Repainting the pool will not fix the cracking concrete pool no matter who pays for it, and is a smoke screen to disguise the ending of the warranty.
Paint removal and repainting the Pickle ball courts that will eventually equal the total original cost, will not last any longer than the first painting did.
“The fastest growing sport in the nation” is a worn out cliche.
The players have not touched the $418,000 original cost subsidized by our assessments.
Less than 2% of Property Owners who play pickle ball can barely pay for the minimal maintenence let alone the principal which is subsidized by the rest of us.
The pickle ball players will not be paying for the repainting either… You guessed it, The other 98% of Property Owners will again subsidize the 2%.
Great marketing though…glossing over the pitfalls, which again is paid for by all.
RAYMOND LEHMAN
05/05/2021 — 2:41 pm
Without knowing all the details of dissolving the Marketing Committee I am disappointed to hear this recommendation. I was not aware of any issues with getting volunteers to staff the committee. The Marketing Committee was formed to work with the POA Marketing department to develop and execute marketing programs using POA funds generated by the fees property owners pay to the POA.
I don’t see any mention of the dissolving in the March 22, 2021, Marketing Committee meeting minutes. The April 26 minutes are not yet published.
Perhaps a quarterly meeting will be OK but I need to caution folks the last time the Marketing committee was a sub-committee under the CMP the information we discovered about the marketing efforts of the POA was squashed by the Chair of the CMP as well as a previous administration. The sub-committee’s suggestions and observations were not allowed to see the light of day. It is my recommendation, as a former Chair of the Marketing Committee, the Marketing Committee remains a committee that reports to the BOD to ensure the marketing efforts of the POA have property owner “eyes and expertise” analyzing the spend.”
A couple of points about comments made during the BOD Discussion meeting. Stephanie stated something along the line of the at the committee’s appointment the POA had no marketing department. Actually, I think that was when the marketing sub-committee was a part of the CMP Advisory Committee. I was on that sub-committee. It was there we, the sub-committee, discovered a lack of organized and measured expenditure of POA dollars. When the Marketing Committee was chartered as a direct report to the BOD the same folks in charge of POA marketing were in place as they are today. Nothing much has changed.
It is my recommendation as a former member of the Marketing Sub-Committee and a former Chair of the Marketing Committee their current status as a Board report to avoid any possibility of poor financial management to be swept under the rug as they were less than 2 years ago.
Chris Jones said something like a POA employee needs to be able to do their job without having a committee overruling them. Sir, can you cite one example where the Marketing Committee overruled the one person Marketing department at the POA. What we must avoid is unnecessary and unmeasured marketing expenditures.
Folks my health issues are almost completely resolved. I’d gladly volunteer again to be on the Marketing Committee to provide a sounding board for the Marketing Department and to review their successes.
Ray Lehman
Kirk Denger
05/07/2021 — 9:43 pm
Ray, a marketing committee is no longer necessary now that we have a dictatorship by Spin Doctor Extraordinaire, Pam endorsed by Tucker and Joanne who can’t be bothered with any other talent available by Property Owners. Let Sells and Stephanie tell us where to spend our money with their infinite wisdom. Next to scrub is the F&P committee, in the way of the Fraternity of Friends of the Village (FRATF).
Jess jackson
05/05/2021 — 5:03 pm
Marketing is not suppose to be this hard. Why can’t we simply go back to what John Cooper, so successfully did 50 years ago. Attend county fairs and trade shows give 3 days free golf and lodging, have POA members as sales representatives, sell corporate memberships, allow multiple owners. Cooper, knew the ownership mix needed to be 2/3 out of state property owners this would keep user fees low, maybe bring in senior golf professionals for clinics etc. does anyone remember Lee Trevino, Fuzzy Zoeller I believe John Daily still holds the record at Ponce. These guys travel the country and are supported by the people we are trying to attract.
Michael R Shannon
05/05/2021 — 7:21 pm
POA members who won’t commit to being on the Marketing Committee is simply a lie.
I was interviewed twice for the committee and both times was told that my 35 years owning my own agency wasn’t the exact fit the committee needed. I had no problem volunteering.
It’s been my experience the board says they love committees and ‘wants to tap the expertise in HSV’ when they are running for the board, but afterwards it’s ‘what committees?’
The committees are more clique than anything else.
Kirk Denger
05/10/2021 — 9:30 pm
Well said Michael.
Janis Bremer
05/05/2021 — 7:30 pm
Thanks for doing this.
HSVP C
05/05/2021 — 7:55 pm
My pleasure. Your support is appreciated. – Cheryl Dowden
Lloyd Sherman
05/05/2021 — 8:45 pm
The POA hasn’t had a solid “marketing” program for years and years now. The reality of the situation regarding the Marketing Committee is that Paul Sage did not want a committee, so who is making the decision to all but eliminate property owner input? You guessed it. Management of the POA. This is just another example of staff running the direction of the POA and not the Board. After all, it’s easier this way. The fact that indications are that over 60% of new people come via referrals should be an indication that our marketing efforts are in fact, NOT WORKING! Not having the participation is simply an excuse. What they mean is they don’t want committee help and that it is some kind of a statement that staff is not doing their jobs, which is also nonsense. We have had several extremely talented marketing people who applied to be on this committee or were run off. This is nothing more than management staff once again controlling the narrative. Argue with me if you like, but it is the reality.
Ray Lehman
05/08/2021 — 7:33 am
Lloyd, Not wanting Committee help seems unique to the Marketing Department. Most if not all other POA departments have Committees made up of Property Owners. Lakes, Trails, Recreation, Public Services, Finance and Planning, Architectural, Common Property, Forest & Wildlife, Governmental Affairs…….They seem to work well with their POA counterparts. Why is the Marketing Committee the only one being suggested to disband or dissolve? Is Paul Sage too busy for new ideas? He told me and Jamie Caperton he didn’t want the help of the Committee. Is Stephanie Heffer having issues with the Marketing Committee? Why would Director Pam Avila support the move to move the Committee to quarterly meetings? I will be emailing each of the Board members a presentation of marketing ideas the Marketing Committee developed while I was the Chair with the hope of showing the issue isn’t the Marketing Committee. The issue appears to be with the Marketing Department.
Wes Smith
05/05/2021 — 11:57 pm
In my opinion as a Marketing professional having held positions of authority in chapters of the MRA, AMA & Chamber of Commerce & HSV Marketing committee. My objectives have been to work within my Committee or with others outside my committee to network our respective talents as a team not as adversaries.
In my opinion it is counterproductive to say any individual within the POA staff has in someway tried to interfere with any committees function.
Instead of conflict come together to network and collaborate and brainstorm collectively for the overall prosperity of HSV!!
For example if I were Chair of the Marketing committee I would request to spend a day with Paul Sage or with the Sellers Agency to broaden my horizons not to play some silly adversial motive. My objective is to learn & grow & broaden my intellect no matter what direction the education comes from. Utilize other professionals as sounding boards to brainstorm ideas & reap the benefits!
I’ve worked from Main St to Manhattan since 1996 and collaborative manner with all professions for a common good. If Marketing becomes ad hoc I’m fine with that . I would suggest pooling our talents similar to Linkden to develop a professional directory for HSV residents to tap into on an ad hoc basis. With the advent of zoom meetings are commonplace among most of my clientele.
Anything else is disingenuous attitude that limits and stifles creative thinking which is a cornerstone of Marketing philosophy.
Enough of the petty bickering let’s come together as one whether your salaried staff or volunteer for the common greater good of the Village.
All the Best to Your Success wheather your BOD or POA or Staff!
Diana Podawiltz
05/07/2021 — 3:56 pm
Wes, I know for a fact that staff kept a very highly qualified POA member in good standing from being appointed to the Finance Cttee.
I find it amazing that a total failure of a nearly $400K project that is less than 3 years old gets basically 0 attention from the people making comments on this post.
Sue Posner
05/07/2021 — 5:35 am
Think trying resident surveys about why they moved here, what they like here, what they don’t like here, what they would like to change could be helpful for start. To build a sense of community truly believe a park which could be Balboa course repurposed, since it has some issues regarding golf, it’s redundant with Coronado next to it. A park where people in community can gather bbq, picnic tables, some open spaces for playing all age activities, maybe have a movie night in the park, or other events for gathering such as an annual community day. Park would stand to show sense of community not just based on charged amenities. Advertise the communities different areas in a way that is diverse and more personal, this could come from residents and their guest comments as experience surveys. (could send them out with utility bill say seasonal or least twice year and from that get a sense of how to adapt the marketing/advertising) Advertise not just the active, but the relaxing, value, safety/security, supportive, natural spaces of the village beyond the golf and lakes. Keeping the look clean and inviting along thru roads, seeding wildflowers along DeSoto on bank or flowers in certain places, reducing speeding, keeping noise down.(ridges and ravines throughout amplify noise especially engine noises) these all give a sense of privacy and serenity. Connections with regional area outside of village by hosting them. When Russelville gets that new casino/resort built (believe Cherokee Legends will prevail) approach them on having a day bus from casino to village for joint packages as one example. Basically fostering a sense of community for residents to form and visitors to see. Realtors can market home sales, but the community markets itself via experience and testimonials. Above all when outside of the village be friendly in public whether in person or online groups, inside be inclusive, put a best foot forward and maybe others like that will follow.
HSVP J
05/07/2021 — 1:05 pm
Good ideas, Sue.
Sue Posner
05/07/2021 — 9:56 pm
Thanks was just trying to give some ideas/feedback. Just believe in community atmosphere as a good marketing tool. It can make a place more welcoming than paid amenities. Suggestions/feedback to get empty lots to turn to built lots and residents.
Anne Shears
05/07/2021 — 1:40 pm
While I agree that the park is a nice idea, I do not live on the affected golf course. Perhaps a legal opinion should be sought to find out if the residents who bought homes on a “golf course” would be aggrieved to live on the “park.” There could be some legal exposure here if a resident were to present the following case: “I bought home on the golf course and paid a high price for the privilege. Now there is no longer a golf course and this has lowered the value of my home.”
Diana Podawiltz
05/07/2021 — 4:02 pm
I agree with you, Anne. You can’t just repurpose an amenity. And this would require a Declaration change (my opinion) which can’t take place again until 2025.
Tom Blakeman
05/07/2021 — 6:19 pm
Let’s drain and fill in a few of the little lakes on the East side. See what happens.
Maybe the are self-filling with sediment from negligent management of run off from golf courses. Do we want to keep them navigable for a half million dollars or so every few years?
Sue Posner
05/07/2021 — 9:43 pm
Reminds me most lake access homes in other communities have a lake access fee on those homes. It helps toward maintaining lakes, after all that is an additional amenity non lake access owners don’t have. Just some trivia.
Sue Posner
05/07/2021 — 9:38 pm
Yes there should be a look through legal on repurposing, doubt it would take a declaration change as courses are basically a don’t sell clause which repurposing isn’t. Repurpose still would be park like(parkland course?) it would be limited to center of course with green space planting around the borders closer to homes, park would not be open after dark. As for value of home this is a misnomer, infact golf homes are much harder to sell, it’s a very narrow buying pool. You might as fanatic golfer paid a lot to build a home on course but to most other buyers a course home isn’t worth more to a buyer. Errant golf ball liability, lack of privacy, up dating to fence or special glass in windows can all be part of lower offers. I looked at a home Diamond Head was good price right layout but because it was on golf course(realtor didn’t know if I was golfer or not) I refused. Same misnomer on pool homes, had one in Florida, the maintenance, the regulations like fencing and pool alarms and bought it cheaper than the ones on street with out pools. These aren’t going to help that much in resale value. Maybe give those owners free or deeper golf discounts to play on other courses to compensate.
BOD could easily ask John C the developer his opinion on that and of course owners near course should be involved. If it runs into too much issues then consider different location, suggestion was a green community park bringing a community friendly asset we don’t have to fret about it failing to pay for itself through usage fees. PS home property abutting the course and owners walking from yard onto is being done violation of course rules.
Gene Garner
05/09/2021 — 12:25 pm
Diana, I believe the next amendment can be made to the Declaration in 2027. The last amendments (#2 & #3) were made in 2013 and since there’s a 7 year “no amendment” period, 2020 was the last year for an amendment. That means 7 years from 2020 is the next open date.
The idea of repurposing makes sense but there are legal consequences. Another idea is to use Article IX of the Declaration and let the “golf course property owners” decide what to do with the property;
ARTICLE IX Property Rights of the Limited Common Properties Section 1. Owners’ Easement of Enjoyment. Lands designated from time to time by the Developer, shall be devoted to the common use and enjoyment of the owners of specifically designated Lots and Living Units to the exclusion of the common use and enjoyment of other owners of Lots and Living Units upon The Properties. The owners of the specifically designated Lots or Living Units, subject to ARTICLE IV hereof, shall have a right and easement of enjoyment in and to the particular Limited Common Properties and such easement shall be appurtenant to and shall pass with every such specifically designated Lot or Living Unit.
That means the Developer (now the POA) can designate certain areas as “Limited common Property” and allow the property owners in that area to decide what to do with it. The only owners that could use the Limited Common Property are the property owners on designated “golf course” lots.
The above wouldn’t require a change to the Declaration and it would keep the properties located on the golf course as still “golf course lots”. –Gene
RAYMOND LEHMAN
05/08/2021 — 7:09 am
Sue Posner These are great ideas but the Marketing department is understaffed with just one employee Paul Sage who is focused on building website traffic. When I chaired the Marketing Committee we presented similar ideas that gained no attention from Mr. Sage or the Marketing Department.
Wes Smith
05/07/2021 — 9:04 pm
Diana,
To your point regarding the qualified candidate being rejected by the Finance committee.
Although, I don’t know the facts of this rejection in my opinion if someone has good standing supported my a proven Academic & Professional background then I would welcome their insights as a valuable asset & addition to the committee!
Any rejection would indicate a personality conflict which is a shame but petty when you consider the greater good served by using another voice & perspective to use as a sounding board.
The old saying “ your only as good as the people you surround yourself with!”
If I were a BOD member this rejection practice is unacceptable in which case I would have a liaison board member present on all interviews to oversee & counsel in the selection process.
End result more diversity, intellectual debate leading to better outcomes & recommendations to benefit all Villagers
Diana I commend you for revealing this shameful lack of decision making within the Finance Committee !
Kirk Denger
05/07/2021 — 10:04 pm
Wes, the Board liaison(S) are the interviewers who reject the qualified applicants. In most cases as in the FRAT, there are no applications open to anyone. Only hand picked members loyal to the Fraternity of Friends of the Village (FRAT-F)
Ray Lehman
05/08/2021 — 7:16 am
Kirk, In the case of the Marketing committee we had three people conducting the folks applying to be on the committee. Chair Ray Lehman, Board Member Pam Avila, and POA Advisor Stephanie Heffer. We together agreed on the committee members.
Lloyd Sherman
05/08/2021 — 10:19 am
Committees are BOARD Committees. Why does staff get any say so in who gets to be on a BOARD Committee. I hate to continue sounding like I am against staff, because that is not reality. What I am against is that the BOARD should be setting the narrative and that is not the general operation MO for this place. Why Paul Sage has been opposed to property owner/committee input has always been a mystery to me, but that is not terribly askew from the culture that has existed within the POA since at least the hiring of David Twiggs. The marketing committee was moved to full Board exposure instead of through the F & P because nothing happens until you market your service properly. Unfortunately, marketing has and continues to take a back seat and if you go through historical documents (maybe hysterical) you will see it was a noted problem back to when CCI turned over the operations to the POA. As for board members changing their position, that also seems to be an issue that needs addressed. Way too much going along to get along for my taste.
Kirk Denger
05/09/2021 — 9:06 pm
As long as you agreed with Pam, you had no problem, the problems became apparent when you disagreed, if you disagree you will be removed or in your case , resignation. On the F&P Pam and Dick interviewed Marcy after they both voted to remove her as secretary. No conflict here, just move along. Marcy was rejected. Not hard to see when a deck is stacked. Gary and Wayne know it well.
Marcy Mermel
05/09/2021 — 10:50 pm
Hey Kirk – thanks for the honorable mention.
I am actually the second (to quote from Diana’s previous comment) well qualified POA Member in Good Standing that was rejected by the team interviewing for the F&P Committee. In fact, I applied in November, and at that time it was per the request of one of the most highly gifted and revered members of the Committee! We were both quite surprised when I was not approved for a seat – he said I was being “Black-balled” – a term I naively had never heard before. There’s a “word of the day” I would have gladly missed!
Also, it was Pam Avila and Gary Belair that were physically present – Dick Garrison had forgotten about the interviews set up that day and was apologizing on speaker phone when I arrived. I thought he was going to stay on the line for my interview (as per our bylaws, should be 3) but I think he had a tee time…While lacking in his fiduciary responsibilities, I can’t disagree with his priorities! It was quite clear that neither Gary nor Pam were interested in being there either, much less actually interviewing me. It was also very clear neither had read my application or the CV I provided.
I believed that the F&P Committee was one of the most important accomplishments of the 2020 Board, along with greatly needed financial Policy creation and correction to be placed in our new Chapter 9 of the Policy Manual, devoted strictly to all matters Financial and Strategic Planning. Chair Podawiltz charged me with assisting Treasurer Dan Aylward in any way I could to get the committee seats filled and Dan’s plans moving forward, and I did my best.
Since I had been so heavily involved from the beginning, I asked Gary, newly assigned to the committee by Lloyd’s Sherman’s departure, what his vision for the Committee was. His answer, and I quote, “I don’t really have one. I am still reading the Charter and trying to understand how to communicate with the Board.” Wow, now that’s who I’d want to be conducting interviews for such a significant and essential Committee!
In any case, I hope the new Board understands the paramount need for the original purpose of this Committee and supports it fully.
P.S., one small additional piece of information:
We all now know that the Corporate Secretary and the Corporate Treasurer positions were going to be moved back to POA employees (which is still a very egregious conflict of interest) requiring the “firing” of Wayne Foltz and me, both of us property owner volunteers voted in by the Board (me in April of 2020 and Wayne following Dan). However, technically I had submitted my resignation previously due to my mother’s death and indeterminable stay in Chicago. So resigned? Fired? Whatever! At this point, it is the serious conflict of interest that the POA should be worried about with employees holding Legal Corporate Positions!
And the rest, as they say, is history!
As always, thank you to Cheryl and Joe for providing a fair and open platform for real exchange and information!
Kirk Denger
05/10/2021 — 8:56 pm
Thank you for the History Marcy, I wish everyone had your writing skill and energy. The Board voted 5 to 1 to appoint Ella and Corina as secretary and treasure. As their boss, Charles told them about their new responsibilities the night before so that there could even be a vote. They had plenty of time to think about if they were to remain employed. No one was technically fired, I was the only vote against it, knowing the conflict of interest it was.