Golf

Paul said, “2020 rounds remain strong, although we do have a decrease in August right now with more people traveling.” “Overall for the year we are really strong in rounds – a lot of really good package play and guest play.”

The Cortez and Coronado parking lots were striped. The Balboa parking will is scheduled to be striped on August 19, 2021.

Work was done on numbers one and two on the Balboa cart paths. The repair of another 1,500 linear feet of cart paths at the Balboa golf course this upcoming off-season is planned.

Animal Control Transition

On August 7, Animal Control was moved from the Police Department to Compliance Division. Currently, an officer is on disability. One part-time person will be hired. Animal Control is working with the Animal Welfare League (AWL) on some new procedures.

Ponce de Leon

Ponce de Leon Center was recently painted. Still needing to be painted are the metal roofs and they are waiting on contractors.

Pickleball

Stripping of the pickleball courts began on August 17. They will be repainted. This project is due to be complete by the end of September.

Balboa Club

Click here to read about the challenges and triumphs at the Balboa Clubhouse.

Gate Security

Beginning August 5, the East Gate was reduced to one lane in order to reroute a waterline and repave the outside lane. Barriers are also being installed which mimic the West Gate lanes.

Paul said “I will be bringing a proposal to the Board of Directors to double gate the Balboa Gate. This system has been used successfully in communities to increase remote gate security. If it is effective at the Balboa Gate, I fully anticipate also modifying the Danville and Glazy Peau Gates in the future.”

DeSoto Culvert Repair

A culvert at DeSoto Boulevard and Barcelona Road is scheduled for repair in the first part of September. The collapse of this class 3 culvert was unexpected. The repair necessitates a detour like there was when the repair was made on DeSoto by the games area. It is anticipated this repair will take two weeks.

Road Paving

$596,000 has been approved for road repairs. Additionally, $199,000 has been approved for striping.

The Street Department is compiling a list and schedule of roadways to be renovated. There are 70 spots designated for repair. HSVPOA currently has no mechanics and is down to only one dump truck, making these types of jobs more difficult to complete.

Forensic Mapping

FRATF has recommended forensic mapping for the roads. Paul said, “we hope to have that going by the end of the year.”

Marketing

There have been 108 Discovery Packages this year. The Golf Package revenue is approaching $600,000. “This is tremendous,” exclaimed Paul.

Non-member visitors to the Explore the Village website have increased 355% over 2020. “This increase is due to search engine optimization and the targeted digital advertising.”

Currently, there are over 30 houses for sale. “The Village is looking pretty good to a lot of people,” said Paul.

POA Equipment Auction

The POA anticipates holding an unused equipment auction on October 16. This date is not set in stone, so stay tuned. A list of items for sale will be forthcoming. In the past, it was determined it is a more economically sound practice to sell the unused equipment instead of trading it in when a replacement is purchased.

New Golf Cart Delivery

This is another area (like the supplies for the Balboa Clubhouse renovation) where delivery times have been extended. These new golf carts were originally scheduled for June delivery, but have been pushed back to October.

In the future, the POA will be taking into account anticipated delays when ordering. Paul elaborated, “we will be looking into an RFQ for a multi-year lease/purchase that will go out to all vendors for years 2022-2027 as suggested by the FRATF. This will be for the current rotation of carts as they come off lease.”

IT Updates

A warm welcome to William Rainwater, new HSVPOA IT Manager. Rainwater has been employed at the POA for approximately 10 days.

IT Manager, Paul Moore, will fill the Audio-Visual Manager position at Ponce de Leon Center. He will be available to help in the transition or anytime help is needed in IT. The IT department is looking to fill one more IT Technician position within the next few weeks.

Paul stated, “we are in the final phase of the Total E upgrade.” Originally it was thought this would be complete by May, but Total E has experienced issues with contractors. We have new credit card machines and these will hopefully be installed in the next few weeks.

IT has a new contract with Clearpoint for multiple technological services. The new contract will save us about $65,000 a year. Manager Moore eliminated redundancies.

The non-functioning gate equipment will be removed toward the end of the year.

Lot Strategy

The POA purchased 2115 lots from the Commissioner of State Lands. Working with the Finance and Planning Committee (F and P), the POA is developing a policy for future lot strategy. The POA-owned lots will be evaluated for suspension in under-served areas and also clusters of lots for development will be identified. In the coming months, a formal lot strategy will be presented to the Board.

Staffing

Staffing is still a challenge. We have no lifeguards or mechanics. We have lost six to eight police officers. The county governments are hiring at higher wages than what we offer. Paul offered, “the attitude is good and we will keep working as best we can.”

Budgets

Currently, the staff is working on the 2022 budget. The F and P Committee will review the proposed Fee Schedule in the next few weeks. “Staff will meet over the next two weeks on expense and capital requirements for 2022,” stated Paul.

Capital Source Finance, LLC, et al., Lawsuit

Regarding the lawsuit with Capital Source Finance, Rose Law Firm has reviewed this case and it is their opinion that the Board should dismiss the issue. Being almost a year from the original date of dismissal, the Board asked for an additional legal opinion regarding this matter. Paul said, “Our attorney’s recommendation is that the case should not be refiled. The judgment should be renewed every eight years from the original date of the case, and we have this on our long-term procedures schedule to complete in two years. At the advice of counsel, we are not re-upping this lawsuit.”

Stephanie Heffer, Director of Programs and Operations said we were originally able to collect close to one million dollars. “We grabbed what we could, quick. And then you sort of hit a wall.”

LifeNet

Recently meeting with the HSV ambulance service provider, LifeNet, Paul discovered that there is an issue with LifeNet responding to calls where transportation to the hospital is not necessary. Over 50% of the calls fall into this category and LifeNet receives no reimbursement for these types of calls. There are also other issues that are taxing LifeNet’s resources. Paul said, “they may need our assistance in the way of education to our property owners.” Paul will keep everyone informed as this situation develops.

COVID-19

Increasing COVID-19 cases in recent weeks have caused additional staffing struggles in the POA. Social distancing and mask-wearing are encouraged. Your patience is appreciated in these trying times.

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By Cheryl Dowden, August 18, 2021

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