The chairperson for the POA election committee with me this evening is Paul Bickford who sitting in in front and the two ladies in the back if you just step in for just a moment is is Margaret Colleen and dony who are also members of the committee uh Mary sinus is a member
Of that committee and is unable to be with us this evening uh before we really get started just a couple of U things I I want to touch on one if you do have a cell phone I ask and you’re seated here with us would you please mute that or
Turn it off and in order not to uh disturb this evening’s proceedings secondly um each you see five candidates before us uh the sixth candidate um is Jan Sims in a moment I will read her uh opening statement uh as per our procedures she is unable to be with us
Tonight she is ill um secondly um in order to establish some decorum we ask that that you please not applaud or boo depending upon what the responses are uh if you’re very pleased or very dissatisfied with what has said we ask that you wait until after the
Forum is over and then Express whatever feeling you may have about what has been said um there are five questions as you see with five candidates and we have um they’ll be varied every candidate will give a chance to be the first or the last and everything in between they had
Been given a a a list about what uh their their uh number is within the question whether it be second third or fourth and so on um lastly um we did have the opportunity to have uh questions entered uh or rather submitted um as you came in and I’ve been doing
This for a few years and as as a few others and I have never seen this many uh people who had questions which is a good thing because it indicates you know an interest the committee has uh come up with a few questions of our own and we
We look at TH those in in comparison to what we have and we try to um think about what can or should be included to that point we have in fact eliminated one that we were going to ask that the committee has been looking at and have included one that we received this
Evening so it is not all for not if your question is not included um I hope that you’ll be satisfied with the ones that we have um included for this evening now with that since uh Jan Sims was in fact drawn the first uh as the first
Candidate for all I will begin with her and her statement I will read it excuse me EXA exactly as it is written hello my name is Jan Sims and and I apologize for not being able to attend in person I have lived in Bell Vista for 12 years and have an
Education and work experience in accounting and corporate management beginning in 2020 I served on the POA board of directors which ended in May of 2023 I had another year of leadership commitment in Bell Vista and spent that year leading another organization I do not feel that my
Responsibility to you the members as a board member was complete and therefore I’m running now I want to bring my finan finial knowledge and oversight to the board and I want to hear from you about your concerns and represent you on the board my contact information will be on
The POA website as soon as I am elected I encourage each of you to watch the board meetings via live stream or on Facebook or even better attend the meetings in person they meet on the 3D Thursday at 9:00 a.m. and at 6:00 p.m. on the next Thursday for regular
Meetings I believe all amenities are important to some if not all the members we must keep them updated and improved as well as consider new amenities but when our finances will allow and for the spending needed without taking on excessive debt this is a little bit
About me and why I want to represent you on the board I would appreciate your vote now as we begin the question the candidates each have a 3 minute opening statement and where’s oh there’s my eke keeper three three minutes and they have been cautioned and they have a little
You know yellow you’re almost there and red you need to shut up excuse me you need to move on uh and so they’ll be watching for that three minute opening statement and beyond that as each question is given to them um they will have 2 minutes to
Answer that and one thing I’ll mention to the candidates that if a question needs to be repeated please just say would you repeat the question I’ll be happy to do so so we begin then with oh and if you rather than for me to introduce you would you introduce yourselves and then please
Continue I’m an old school teacher so I uh would rather stand because I’m I’ve always done that in class before and uh I’m Lieutenant Colonel Jim Parsons retired I uh am currently the chairman of the bista Patriots and uh I have a little bit of show and tail
Here in 2005 why uh I rented a bus and we went to uh Little Rock to Lobby the legislature to become a city and uh we were successful and we became a city in 2006 we uh celebrated and we were very happy because we thought well now um the
City is going to take over the roads the police the fire protection all the POA will have left is just the amenities and with the amenities why uh they’re all paid for all it’ll take is just to keep them furbished and keep them operated and that our assessments
Would not go up and if anything we thought maybe the assessments would go down and some of the people that voted for the city thought in time the POA would just dwindle away and we would become a city but uh through a uh rigged election comes up every 3 years which we
Have no control over why our assessments go up every 3 years and that money course goes to uh the administration and our CEO is making over $300,000 a year which uh is absolutely ridiculous is the word I get all the time and that comes from outside and it
Comes from uh here in B Vista because uh there’s no mayor no governor no General in the Army uh no us Congressman even the director of The Parks of recreation for the nation makes that kind of money and so uh to keep this rise of cost down the
Bist Patriots have a plan and uh our plan is to uh go to Neighborhood poas uh we need one uh for each Lake like like Avalon Windor uh each Golf Course needs to have one if for no other reason to keep unwanted Intruders from coming through
Our property and uh that’s our plan and we just feel like that it is time for us to decide are we going to become a city where we reged populace the people rule the state motto or are we going to be a corporation thank you for coming
Night hi there everybody my name is jie most of you know me if you don’t get to know me because we’re going to do a lot of really cool stuff this next time around a little bit about me um my husband and I built a house here in Bell
Vista in 2005 so I’ve been here almost 20 years almost we moved here I moved here permanently in 2013 and immediately decided that I was going to get to do all the things I couldn’t do working for a corporation what this but too um in all honesty
Iance stand can’t you can’t see me if you’re sit I bet you you may not still be able to see me shall I stand on the chair okay all right now can you see me okay so any long story short I really I’ve been on the board for the
Last three years excuse me and one of the coolest things that we’ve been able to do this year or over these last three years in particular is to Revis with the help of our gracious and wonderful corporate attorney we have taken the attorney out of the policies and
Procedures and the rules and rights and even able to make notes that help people understand the directives and protecting C covs I want to continue to do this I’m all about the environment I would love nature in fact this morning before I came here I spent I don’t know how long
Building a new or making my garden beds ready for the spring I love what I do and I want to continue to help thank you can you see me now just can’t hear you good evening my name is Deborah lucat thank you for coming out tonight I have
Lived in B Vista for 25 years I came here from the east coast to take a job at Walmart and I’m currently there in the merchandise Operations Division I grew up in Lorraine Ohio just off the shores of Lake Erie which is where I got my
Love for being on the water and doing anything outdoors I I also enjoy reading learning new things and spending time with friends and family I am currently the chairman of the recreation joint advisory committee I have served on that committee now for three years I am also a volunteer at our beautiful Historical
Museum as a docent and I also support the quarterly new member meet and greets and I’m Al finally proud to say that in January I was inducted into the Bell Vista Road Club I love our community and I am eager to offer my expertise as a potential member of the board of
Directors we are experiencing rapid growth and changing demographics it is important that we approach this pivotal time in our community’s history very strategically in order to enhance our existing amenities adapt to the evolving needs of our community and very importantly maintain the natural beauty and peacefulness that makes us unique in Northwest
Arkansas with 40 years experience as a retail executive driving Revenue growth and building collaborative Partnerships I am confident I can effectively leave the POA I can promise you I will never go into a vote uninformed I will study every issue I will look at every side and I will vote
For what’s in the best interest interest of the whole I am dedicated to serving the 39,000 members of our community and making our this place the best that it can be thank you for this opportunity thank you for your vote greetings thank you to the uh election committee for for organizing
This event and thank you all for your interest in the uh director election my name is Steve mcke my email is Steve mck BV atgmailcom 45 years ago I got my degree in philosophy along with some Financial courses I applied the critical thinking the logic the ethics to the financial
Industry doing analysis making predictions and avoiding disasters I’ve been self-employed for the last 35 years 10 years ago my wife and I moved here we love the shared interest the wonderful people the variety of Wildlife and the different amenities no doubt every board candidate has said fiscal responsibility
Transparency and amenities but what does it mean exactly fiscal responsibility would ask are expenses under control or not is the plan sustainable with the key word being sustainable after two assessment increases hundreds of new homes paying more and massive increases in user fee income why can’t the POA support itself
Why are we adding millions in debt increasing water allocations and planning to raise assessments and unit user fees year after year or every three years their Five-Year Plan spends Millions but do we see the way on how to pay back the balloon notes making a comprehensive sustainable member plan is a priority transparency
Do they support keeping our Lakes dams Parks certain Trails rep centers gun Rangers and more private exclusive for members and their guests I do are they still following the outdated 2015 plan let’s get that thing rescinded Members First has worked since 2020 emergency reserves are rebuilt amenity usage has boomed it’s
Wonderful but no more workarounds no more using private amenities from public event surprises amenity Focus do they listen to the membership or to the public do they listen to the members who pay the bills or to the special interests who need us more than we need them restaurants technically are not
Amenities but the two incumbents in my opinion should have listened to the membership and kept Papa mik I am for these things Members First keep the golf course courses as golf courses keeps the lakes and more private keep the neighborhoods residential keep a sustainable budget keep private property
Rights members we’ve been doing great but we need a strong board again to keep our momentum our values and our promises going a vote for me Steve mck is a vote for you the member thank you for your support and your vote I’m not a former school teacher so this
Is not very comfortable but I will stand so you can see me um first of all thank you for coming and thank you for those who are watching on the stream and thank you election committee for hosting us and most of all thank you for the members for voting me
To be a board member these last three years and I hope that I can thank thank you again for voting for me again to do a second three-year term one of the things that I believe in is always to leave something better than how you found it I do believe the POA is
Better now than it was when I was a board member three years ago but there’s so much more to do and I went through and looked at our Capital spending for the last three years and there’s so many odds I was going to just for a reminder
Maybe five or six things uh pickle ball Courts at branchfield uh Branchwood and mfield the tiny cabins the gear Garden the bvrc that just opened this fall you see all the construction going on at the tamy creek driving range and then we’re going to have the bb65 a new
Barbecue restaurant and the Kingsdale Pro Shop those are just some highlights among many other things that we’ve decided to do as a board and to do a fiduciary so I’m just excited to be that arm to help make those decisions and I don’t think the job is done yet and I
Would like to continue some of those things that uh do cost money do take the hard necessary Financial questions to be asked and I feel like I’ve been doing that and continue to do that I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accounting from Louisiana Tech
University and um I have 37 years with the largest paper company in the world international paper among the 10 year there I did budgeting and forecasting and payroll and capital reviews I also am a partner in a couple llc’s that have some fast food franchises and some Rental part
The one thing I did learn my last year’s with International Paper is some lean manufacturing tools and with that you have to have your overy your improvement even though we’re not for profit we still have to have your- over your improvement to remain viable my father and my husband are both
Air Force veterans so I was raised in the East and lived in the West in the south in the middle and even down under Bella Vista is the most beautiful place I’ve lived and when you think of B Vista what do you think of you think of the
Amenities and what is the board’s responsibility and the Po’s responsibility is our amenities so um I’m currently uh the president of the women’s ninho golf league and very active in our pickleball Community among other things I have friends on kayak and uh bik with but one
Of the our pickleball Community we did a fundraiser just the other day to um help a family meet and a friend said the best there’s friends and there’s family but then there’s friends that become family and I think that’s what our amenities help us do so I appreciate uh if you would
Consider me for the next turn could you tell us your name oh I certainly can um you don’t want to stay the same you want to V gain so it’s Jackie gain thank you thank you all in the interest of time I’m going to ask the
Candidates not to rise but to just stay seated for the rest of the time since everyone has had a chance to see who you are if not hearing who you are okay so the order of questions we want we begin once again coming from left to right Mr
Parsons you the first one to answer this question how would you plan to involve property owners in the decision making process within the POA well that has been something that’s been lacking the U members have not had an opportunity to uh speak and uh that is something I’m glad to that question came
Up and I’m glad that that’s a concern because before board members were not allowed to speak to the members because if we did why we were thrown off the board Larry tried talking with the state representative Donna Hutchinson and uh he was thrown off the board because he didn’t have the corporations permission
To do so I understand several of the members sitting beside me have put in their platform that they will be listening to the members but uh we were told years ago go we were not to speak to the members because uh we don’t represent the members we represent the corporation we’re corporate board
Members we’re not people board members and uh we’re not talk to people and so uh they’re saying that they’ll talk to the people um that will get you thrown off the board because U we had that happen before and I uh they knew I would speak and then they couldn’t show shut
Me up they certainly threw me off the board because they knew I would talk and uh I have a voice and 90 years old that’s really all I have left is a voice and uh I will use it and I will not give
It up to anyone and so U I think it is important and I’m glad that question came up thank you very much Mr would you repeat the question certain how would you plan to involve property owners in the decision making process within the POA I’m really glad you asked because
One of the most rewarding things about being on the board is having people in the audience coming to our meetings as they have been doing uh right we get information on can you speak up a little we cannot hear you move it closer toward I’m having all kinds of trouble
Tonight right I’m not sure I’m On now can yes okay so let let me just repeat kind of what I said one of the coolest things about being on the board is when people come to the meetings and they do they do a lot and as much as that is important we get a
Lot of really good feedback from that and also emails or anything else that comes up I encourage everybody to understand how our city works and not just ask your friend how it works uh go to the board meetings go to the City Council meetings go to the attend or watch the stream of
All the committee members the rep the golf the laks there’s so much information out there and I think that we do a really good job could do more about involving the members I ask a lot of people what’s going on how do you feel about this
So thank you for the question I think we could do better but I think we do think it thank you I think it’s just really important that you talk to people if I take my experience on the recreation committee I’m out talking to a lot of
People in the last three years I’ve met so many people and you just really have to listen another thing that I do is I watch I don’t participate but I watch everything on social media because I want to hear what people are concerned about and I want to hear what people are happy
About even just participating in this election I’ve already been receiving emails and people have asked me to call them to discuss things with them you just have to listen to people and I think also if you just watch what’s going on I’ll use a real simple example watching what’s happened out at blowing
Springs and the gear garden and watching how big that is becoming people are telling us something that’s the type of activity they enjoy they like to be outdoors they like to socialize but they want to be in nature and we have to have a very fine balance there thank you
Um can everybody hear me oh yes I don’t want to yell but things need to be heard um you know we we uh the POA in my opinion does a good job already in certain areas of reaching out to members uh for example through surveys
There was one in 2021 I think is the most recent maybe the 5-year plan um for what is coming up is another example although I’m not sure that there was actual surveys the point though is we will take these surveys but it’s critical then for the management and
Board of directors to actually say okay we need to take this information and we need to digest it versus what we were thinking we don’t want to become a uh an echo chamber filled with yeses we want to consider all sorts of input and strategies we have some very smart
People here that know what they’re doing and and have done things and uh can make substantial contributions if we reach out as we do already with surveys uh the other thing is you know social media For Better or Worse is also a platform where people discuss things and board members
Apparently if you say in my opinion uh it should mean something that every board member should have the right to speak their mind and have an opinion uh even if it doesn’t agree with the rest of the board um so we need to continue to do basically what we’re doing but when we
Do it we need to pay attention to what is said in return thank you Mr G so I agree with um the communications I think Communications with the POA are good but they can be improved at prime example when we moved um we were able to have an opportunity for the gun range
Participants to use a location in Springdale a lot of people were interested in that and they came to the POA meeting and it was a Q&A paa meeting it wasn’t the you talk your 3 minutes take notes talk your 3 minutes take notes and respond back after that um I
Really would like to see more Q&A in interaction with our members instead of just uh State your opinion and then get one summary feedback back uh I agree with Steve also we did several surveys and have gotten feedback the other thing when they have’t op you
For focus groups I just ask that you take the opportunity to be a part of the focus group and have that feedback um I’ll just share with you my tenure on the recreation JC and also on the board I have never been told to never talk to members that is just
Something I will wouldn’t I wouldn’t have accepted this position if you’re not talk to members because that’s who we are all about um one other comment about in my opinion I will always give you my opinion but I will always support the unanimous board decision when we’re done
I may have disagreed we may have been a vote of seven to two on a topic but when we come together as a team and that’s the decision even if it wasn’t my choice I’m going to support that decision once we move forward that’s the only way we
Can work together to move forward even if it’s not exactly what I wanted our second question is reverse order so this game we right back to you if elected what single issue do you believe the board has not given sufficient attention and needs further discussion well near and dear to my
Heart is uh our changing demographics and of course that has to take time to evolve but we really have a lot a lot of younger children in our community I really really want to have a splash pad that is one of those that in my opinion
We need it but it hasn’t been voted on as the board so I accept that in the future for the short term we’re not going to do that um I just as an example my have my grandkids here this week and just yesterday they were at the skills
Park at mfield and they just loved it and they’re five and three and it’s just to have more the playgrounds I think the phase two of Reen I think we recognize we need to do more at that uh playground than what we have done because we
Replaced some of that but I just feel like there’s um we’re opening up our eyes getting feedback but I just think the younger generation that’s here in our community uh needs more to do and I think that as we move forward that’s something that we will really need to
Focus on M please repeat the question certainly what single issue do you believe the board has not given sufficient attention and needs further discussion everything flows out of the uh income from us the members and uh I understand that we want nice amenities and we have great
Amenities uh but the single issue that hasn’t really been addressed is how are we going to pay for it and and pay it back we have uh 10year balloon notes on a couple of things the borrowing from the water department one of the promises of the
2020 plan was we’re going to use that $13 increase at least $2 of it to pay back the expenses of the water and all of the expenses for the uh fire and we did that but if you look at the budget for 2024 because of these other big
Things that uh the big Capital expenditures uh do do we really need to do POA mices did we really need to do tanard at this point uh that Agronomy argument came and went with the uh various permit uh questions apparently that uh that postponed it
So we need to have a question and answer and a focus on that uh what are the members asked to pay for and how are we going to get it paid back because there’s a bunch of balloon notes what I was saying about the water department is we owe more to the water
Department by the end of 20124 when it’s all borrowed to pay for uh the papa Mike’s redo uh then we did back in 2020 when the 2020 plan started and so uh you know we cannot continue to borrow our way to Victory it doesn’t work that way
And anybody who’s ever managed to B budget who’s over the age of college or high school or what have you knows that you can’t spend more than you take in thank you Mr coach thank you with our growing Community the fastest growing segment are young families moving here with Children
Onethird of our population is 63 and over we can’t forget them but we have to consider the changing needs and I’m a lot aligned with what Jackie said and that we need to really look closely at amenities for our youth operating hours classes that are offered I think the
Idea of doing the 24-hour access at rearing was awesome that’s going to be a really good test for us and something we can measure to see what needs to change from that perspective maybe different types of Youth Camps we offer quite a few right now but what makes us unique we have a
Disc golf course no one else in Northwest Arkansas has a disc golf course disc golf has doubled in the last 10 years in the United States so I think we’re running against pickle ball for competition um so what about a dis Golf Camp I mean just be creative but I
Really need to look at more amenities for our youth and on on the west side over by blowing excuse me over by Branchwood we need a really good playground maybe a Skills Park things of that nature that’s what I would think we should look closely at thank you
Mr okay so I totally agree about the demographics changing and the families uh we really did need to go ahead and take care of many of the amenities that have were 50 years old and we we’re doing that now but instead of repeating about families and things like that I think it’s mei’s
Turn we’ve gotten an awful lot of things done over in the west side I think there’s a lot more to do over there I think we need to expand in that area a little bit more it’s hard to know what to say because growth throws you a curb
Every time you never know what’s going to happen tomorrow and you got to be ready for that so taking care of business today is going to look totally different than it is in the future so families that’s what I believe we need to concentrate on Mr
Parson I think uh a topic that’s been overlooked and we’ve mentioned down the line about the changing demographics and uh we do have children in B Vista now there’s 3,000 of them they get on a bus at 6:15 in the morning and don’t get home until after 4:00 some of these are
Kindergarten students by five and six year olds and uh I have not heard the paa come out and address the possibility of our having schools here in Bel Vesta there was nothing laid down in 1965 in the Articles of Incorporation or the protective covenants to address what
To do about our children and uh I think it is time that we uh keep these children at home they’re spending 2 hours of today just popping up and down in a bus and I have a little five and six yearold next door that uh next year
Why he will now have to start for 12 years committed to riding the bus to Bentonville to go to school and uh I just feel like that’s wrong and so the bista Patriots have taking it on the mission of uh getting 1,158 signatures to get it on the ballot
In November and uh let us vote on it and see if uh the people of Pista the young parents want to have uh their children in a school here in belester where they ride their bicycle or walk to school and not spend all of that educational time
Just riding the bus thank you our third question we begin with Miss Pell board members can often have differing opinions on matters brought for discussion how would you handle this agreements between yourself and the other members of the board you know that’s a very important
Topic what you never want on a board is a whole bunch of yes people are people that don’t have opinions or don’t go out and research and look at things I love the discussions we have sometimes they’re a little heated but that’s okay it’s important to have different ways of looking at things
Um this may look like a bottle to you with water it may look totally different to somebody else I really enjoy the interaction the board that we have now is from Young to me and the the topics that come up really make you stop and think so
Sometimes in a really hard decision and by the way this position is not for the faint ofart you really have to consider what you believe listen to what’s being said and make the best decision and as Jackie said earlier stick with the majority we vote on it together we are a
Board period Mrs gain I’ve had the pleasure of working with uh JB on the board and we don’t always agree on what we’re talking about but I give her the utmost respect and she stents with me as well so um I just think that that is key to um moving
Forward together one of the things that helps us work together is when we do team building exercises we’ve had some formal training learned our different personality types so that we know how to get along and how to respond to one another um some of those have been
Surprising uh and it has been eye opening um the other I think that if we could do a little more informal team building uh some of us went out one time and played around the golf just a friendly competitive thing and you have discussions outside of that environment I really think that
We should probably do more of that to know more about each other’s personal life and what our background is like uh but overall I can’t um can’t say enough about um just having respect for one another the other thing that um I think is key to not have disagreements is to
Come to the meetings prepared with the background information do your homework know the different points of view and then you won’t have to be re-educating each other or in my opinion but it’s really not based on fact so I think as long as we come prepared and know the
Subject M material and present our opinions and uh make sure that we are presenting the members opinions then I think that uh that goes a long way toward getting together in unity Mr mck uh had a handle disagreements I agree that uh we need to support and
Respect each other and we need to Define clearly what it means to have a fiduciary duty and my definition of fiduciary duty may not be the same as anyone else’s on the board but it should still be respected for someone else’s opinion about it should be respected point is is in my
Opinion you can’t support something that you think from a fiduciary point of view is immoral illegal or unethical you can’t do it um court cases for example the water it’s an issue we’re still borrowing from it if you look at the court case the judge said only well that that sort of means
Something um so we need to uh def def clearly what a fiduciary duty is and understand that it may not be the same for everybody we need to Define our mission vision and values there’s a lot of time in my opinion wasted going over some of the same things for example
There’s a proposal there was a proposal to put a trail across one of the private dams can’t do it it’s private the Lakes the dams the parks they’re all private for members you can’t put the public across the dam why are we wasting our our time even thinking about the Mission
Vision Values the 2020 plan promise of these things we not going to be issuing guest passes you can’t be up there so we don’t even need to talk about it uh respect each other and uh support each other thank you Mr Parsons uh this has been a great question to uh ask not
Here just at the local level but wouldn’t it be a great question ask this from at the national level right now and the US capital boy uh it is good to be able to agree to disagree and not make it personal have your opinion have your platform stand
For it but should not be ostracized for having that opinion the last time that I was on the board it was a very toxic uh atmosphere and so much hatred and so much personal anguish against each other and uh that is not a mentally or physically healthy environment for
Anyone and shouldn’t be allowed and we shouldn’t do it always stick to your topic be able to express your opinion but you shouldn’t be ostracized for having that opinion opion and uh boy in the middle of lot of opinions right now I’m really getting it and uh I
Appreciate because I want to hear the other side and see what the opposing argument is so that uh I’ll know which way to go thank you Mr thank you 40 Years of retail management I think I’ve been in the middle of a couple of these um so I know what you’re talking about
Um diversity of thought is incredibly important and you need that to get to the right answer everybody is not always going to agree and that is a good thing sticking to your facts and not making it personal is the best way to work with others and quite frankly at the end of
The day we’re not all going to agree we’re just not we’re human beings and we have opinions but we stick to the facts we respect one another and move forward with what we’ve decided I think it’ll serve everyone’s best interest a fourth question we begin with
M m how do you feel about fee increases for in improved Lots but not for unimproved Lots well uh it’s a uh it’s a good question and uh certainly one that we faced back in 2020 with the 2020 plan uh we faced it a year ago
Um and I’m sure it’ll come up again in two years to try to answer the question I think that I would not frame it any longer of improved versus unimproved the way I would frame it is to look at the usage of the amenities and again one of the promises of the
2020 plan was yes we’re going to raise fees or raise assessments but $6 of that increase is going to go to reducing user fees um usage Boon we’re far above that6 M $6 far above that if anything we should have reduced fees even more but
Um it is what it is and here we are we don’t know any longer you know what the ratio of usage is between the improved people and unimproved lot owners um we need to know that in order to make a final decision or get more input and think about it but in my
Opinion I think we need to go back and look at the activity card if you read the uh from Vision to reality book about Bel Vista and its younger days uh the activity card was the purpose to uh charge people more who actually use the amenities so for example if I’m
I’m have an improved lot and I pay whatever $600 a year uh unimproved people pay maybe $200 a year for the same access now they may not use it or the person who lives next door may not use amenities so you go back and you reframe the question and you look at
Activity card usage and raise those rates Mr Co thank you um boy where to start with that one um I think that if we were going to discuss raising the dues for all unimproved improved I think that what we have to talk about is what that does we need the revenue for the
Amenities with the growth coming into the area it costs money to take care of things and it costs money to grow things but at the end of the day the young families coming here are coming for our amenities and our property values are increasing with the growth that’s coming
In and we have to take care of those amenities and so I feel it’s important that everyone contribute to that because everyone’s property value is going to grow not just the one my house is sitting on but the lot that my neighbor has across the street as well so I think
You frame it up that way and help everyone understand that it’s benefiting all people even if you’re not using the amenity keeping them well established is improving your property value and that’s got to be important to you I would like to pass I have not studied
This enough to have an opinion and so uh may I pass certainly M gain I definitely have an opinion it’s not a not a easy subject um it costs money to keep our amenities it’s a including the water it’s a $36 million Revenue making business that when you
Look at what we spend on it it’s um a little overwhelming sometimes we are as our chairman once said an octopus we have so many tentacles we’re not a normal POA and if you think that the uh salaries that we are paying are the main reason for this
Um uh uh cost it’s these these staff members are not sitting on their hands doing nothing nothing I have seen Joan the superintendent of wreck she’s in there scrubbing the floor on the wreck because it’s sticky or KY is sprigging pieces of grass around the collars at
Scottdale or our HR Director has served tented bar uh Pilots when there’s been short short staed so we have a great group of people that uh work really hard to keep this running well but it takes money to do that we haven’t had an assessment increase for 18 years before
2020 and then we went up 3 years and kept our our restructured fixed and another $3 and kept it fixed with no more increases and um I agree with Steve mcke on the activity to a degree we are uh 41% is improved 59% is unimproved um I do think that the
Unimproved lot owners should be tied to some sort of activity they’re really not not living in the area but they’re using the amenities and we need to kind of find some way to work to keep track of what their usage is uh so it’s not an
Easy easy thing but I do believe that the there needs to be an increase in both improved unproved unimproved going forward to make that more equal thank you again very difficult question uh but bottom line I believe it is time for the unapproved books to have an increase
I believe those stats are changing I’m not so sure that it isn’t becoming more equal about what’s improved and what isn’t uh but bottom line we must have the income it is not for salaries folks it is for keeping these amenities and making sure that they’re expanding
Enough to take on all these new folks that are coming in so yes it’s time for both sides to pay thank you our final question begins with Mr L if someone came to you with a proposal to build a new amenity or upgrade an existing one how would you evaluate
Whether that project was worth implementing could you repeat it one more time please certainly if someone came to you with a proposal to build a new amenity or upgrade an existing one How would you evaluate whether that project was worth implementing well I guess the first
Thing I would have to do is just look at the facts right I would have to look at the amenity I would have to understand its usage I would have to understand um its future potential I would have to understand the budget and what we have
Available and I would have to just pull the whole picture together I would probably do a lot of research I would get a lot of input from a lot of other people I would find some experts on the matter to give me some advice and some information and of course I would
Include opinions from people in our community I would do the best I could to make a very well-rounded well-informed decision Mr Parson you know that the P feel right now is that uh our focus is on trying to get something for our children and we need schools for them that’s the
Next priority and nothing else should interfere with that so that is our mission and that’s where we’re going right now is trying to get those 1,158 signatures to get this on the ballot in November to see if which is most important amenities or children thank you is
Game I agree with Deborah on a lot of the input is to get your member feedback get your facts see how much it’s going to cost why do we need it are you going to remit the wheel does it exist somewhere else and I’ll just be up front
With you we’ve to Steve’s Point we’ve undertaken a lot of capital expenditure in 2023 2024 so a major amenity would have to be very very it’d be very hard sell right now uh until we get uh some of our debt paid down that doesn’t mean
We can’t have it in 3 or 4 years but timing of it right now for a large expense would not be uh I don’t think would be feasible but regardless I would tell you that uh my favorite meal of the day is breakfast and there’s there’s two key players in breakfast that’s the
Chicken and the pig the chicken is committed and that chicken will lay that EG for you every day but the pig is involved and I’m going to tell you I am I played you to be committed and involved in any decision that we’re going to make going forward so I want to
Be your bacon and your [Applause] eggs you make me hungry M wow what a hard act to follow there uh I thought you were going to tell me you were going to be the pck but I’m glad you’re WR okay Jackie we’re friends right that’s right for now for now
Again it is incredibly important to know the facts it is you must know how much it’s going to cost how many members is it benefiting is it does it need to happen right now or is it something that could go on the drawing board for later
There’s a lot of great ideas out there right now um but it’s important to know when it would happen how it would happen uh and and as was said before you know what there might be another way to get that same thing without spending a
Lot of money there there are ways to do things that don’t necessarily involve money so facts Jackie is right right now we’re we’re pretty much committed so it would have to be really unbelievable like breakfast in bista that would I feel we have a theme going now to you Mr Ry
Um you know it’s a great question uh I would have to agree you look at the need you look at uh whether other members are thinking about this uh the pickle ball is a good example of of a sport that has boomed also the last couple of years uh
Or probably 10 years or longer but um you know we responded we we built the uh courts we redid a few other courts repurposed um yes we need to look at the facts we need to gather information look at usage although usage you know what one person is doing may not be what
Other people are doing and and vice versa you know look at the cost benefit and you look at the need and decide uh we can use uh again Papa Mike’s and the thing as a uh as an example um you know I understand
That I guess uh well I’m not going to go there it’s another food thing but um did we need did we need to do that and and after all he does serve or he did serve breakfast uh the tanard you know and talking with various golfers it’s like
Yeah did we really need that and what’s the revenue going to be and and uh couldn’t we have spent some money on redoing the cart paths instead uh we still have that uh that sinkhole issue or whatever it’s called um so yes going forward I’m everybody
Seems to be aware of is uh things are going to be very very tight for a couple of years at least and so uh uh the new amenity I don’t really see anything down coming down the road I don’t see any upgrades that need doing aside from uh
Spectacular wishes so uh but look at Cost benefits look at the need look at the members who are using it thank thank you sir and thank you all I’d like to thank the members of the election committee once again for reviewing these questions and presenting them to our
Candidates this evening I’d like to thank the members of our audience um there were more people here tonight than I have seen in previous board uh candidate performs and and that uh is a good indicator of the interest thanks to the members of the POA for putting this
Together and finally um I want to mention that the election begins on April the 8th Property Owners will be notified both by email and by um regular mail um the results are at the May 21st meeting you want to keep all those dates in mind and last lastly I’d like for the
Audience to join me in thanking our candidates participating in this evening’s [Applause] Forum
