Golden West Way

[exnodak]

Originally Posted by shiki

I would like to read them.

They are all public info. I would invite anyone interested in seeing any of the documents I have to PM me for a date, time, and place in evening or weekends.

Its too bad the POACRE Board refuses to look at them in open meeting and understand what they mean. It would stop a lot of pain and suffering and simplify their jobs if they did. They'd rather lawyer up and take their chance that I'll give up under the duress or the costs of prosecution.

[stsssn]

Originally Posted by shiki

I figured as much and think the tone of the article is ridiculous.

But seriously, what is going on with the road, is it in danger of collapse? I know this question has been asked over and over again but I still feel very vague on the subject. Just what the hell is going on? Why are we so broke?

According to what was said at the meeting we can no longer even afford to maintain our community. How can we even think about shoring up cliffs or throwing millions at GoldenWest when we can even put gravel on the roads or fix the massive potholes that pock most of the side roads?

What game is the HOA playing and to what end?

Shiki, The community is not broke in the sense you are speaking. The budget is designed to address specific issues. The main parts are Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and roads. The roads budget only covers the basics, which includes patch work, snow removal etc... The M&O part takes care of amenities and administration costs.

Roads gets supplemental money from STD and SHUR. This is the money that is primarily used to pave the roads.

M&O gets no supplemental money.

The community wants POACRE to do more than is capable based on the fees received each year. The BOD makes decisions based on the most immediate issue to fund certain projects. (this is were the clique comments are derived)

It has been impossible to develop a strategic plan for the community that the community will support, so we stay at the status quo. This is a loosing battle because costs keep rising and fees stay the same. Everyone has a plan to make the community better but no one seems to know how to share it in a way in which it can be implemented.

So, we have the money to keep the status quo. (which everyone is happy about....?). We cannot do anything other than that without going into complicated financial maneuvers which will upset a majority of the community.

GWW being closed has added stress to the financial situation. (I am sure you are aware of all the litigation). The budget is completely utilized to maintain were we are we cannot deal with GWW or any other issue without tough choices.

I understand exnodaks point (STD) and agree with him on allot of his arguments. That being said, we have to come to terms with reality. We need young members to get involved with passion and ideas that break to old way of thinking. The old way got use to were we are today. We need to accept we are here and move on.

Is the HOA playing games? I volunteer and work with them, I am not on the BOD. I have no agenda, except to improve property values. I read the statements on the forums and went to the Board meetings. At first I agreed with the forums, but over time I have realized that the issues are much more complex than anyone eludes. If there was an easy fix it would have already been done. If people really believe the BOD is playing games and they care about the community they should run for the board. Stop talking a big game and get into it.

Originally Posted by stsssn

Shiki, The community is not broke in the sense you are speaking. The budget is designed to address specific issues. The main parts are Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and roads. The roads budget only covers the basics, which includes patch work, snow removal etc... The M&O part takes care of amenities and administration costs.

Roads gets supplemental money from STD and SHUR. This is the money that is primarily used to pave the roads.

M&O gets no supplemental money.

The community wants POACRE to do more than is capable based on the fees received each year. The BOD makes decisions based on the most immediate issue to fund certain projects. (this is were the clique comments are derived)

It has been impossible to develop a strategic plan for the community that the community will support, so we stay at the status quo. This is a loosing battle because costs keep rising and fees stay the same. Everyone has a plan to make the community better but no one seems to know how to share it in a way in which it can be implemented.

So, we have the money to keep the status quo. (which everyone is happy about....?). We cannot do anything other than that without going into complicated financial maneuvers which will upset a majority of the community.

GWW being closed has added stress to the financial situation. (I am sure you are aware of all the litigation). The budget is completely utilized to maintain were we are we cannot deal with GWW or any other issue without tough choices.

I understand exnodaks point (STD) and agree with him on allot of his arguments. That being said, we have to come to terms with reality. We need young members to get involved with passion and ideas that break to old way of thinking. The old way got use to were we are today. We need to accept we are here and move on.

Is the HOA playing games? I volunteer and work with them, I am not on the BOD. I have no agenda, except to improve property values. I read the statements on the forums and went to the Board meetings. At first I agreed with the forums, but over time I have realized that the issues are much more complex than anyone eludes. If there was an easy fix it would have already been done. If people really believe the BOD is playing games and they care about the community they should run for the board. Stop talking a big game and get into it.

I'm just going by what was said at the meeting. Several board members said "We are broke." and one of the ladies said we do not even have money to maintain the roads. I don't know what the heck is going on but I am concerned.

[hotcoffee]

This was actually a relatively clear posting. I would just like to step in and make a few comments and clarifications.

Originally Posted by stsssn

The community is not broke in the sense you are speaking. The budget is designed to address specific issues. The main parts are Maintenance and Operations (M&O) and roads. The roads budget only covers the basics, which includes patch work, snow removal etc... The M&O part takes care of amenities and administration costs. .

There are actually four budgets.

1. M&O - covers the maintenance, upgrade, and security of the common properties and amenities [yes there is even a little portion of the M&O Budget that covers some of the administrative costs of the Roads Department Office which is offset by a stipend from the Roads Budget]
2. Roads- covers the basic maintenance of the roads- including most of the materials, equipment, and payroll costs. [Originally the roads budget would have covered all aspects of the maintenance, repair, and upgrade of the Road System. There were, however, only a couple hundred people here year round back then. The growth of the community was not part of the original plan and the cost of that growth has far exceeded the "built in" annual increase.]
3. STD - A five year plan allowing CRE to guarantee an additional set amount of income by having it collected along with the real property taxes billed out and paid to the county. This budget is to cover specific upgrade to specific primary road system arteries. It is also to be used for the repair and upgrade of some specific secondary roads. [The five year plan has been renewed due to the fact that it costs a little over a million dollars a mile and it takes time to re-engineer some of these road beds and storm water management issues.]
4. SHUR- covers the maintenance and upkeep of specified roads as inspected and approved by the State Highway Department[State Highway User Revenue is a little bit of the money paid at the pump when fueling. Historically, CRE has been a private road system. Neither CRE nor the county received any of the SHUR funding that other private communities in other counties received. It is also one of the first expenditures the State may decide to cut so the funding source is less dependable than the others]

Originally Posted by stsssn

M&O gets no supplemental money. .

Actually, this is not so much the case. The current budget only covers the expected income billed out for the specific fiscal year. There are additional portions of income which are not included in the budget. These sources include:

1. Fees and costs billed out in previous years [uncollected funds]
2. Fines and penalties
3. Sale of common property as provided for in the governing documents

The Board also has the authority to borrow $100,000.00 without a vote of the membership.

Here's something very dangerous!
In the event of a catastrophic event [mark those words] the Board has the use of the Reserve Funds set aside for events like fire, huricanne, and other catastrophic events.

This income is not dependable so it is not included in the budget. This becomes a little funding source of it's own known as the "Special Projects Fund". The "Projects" on the list for the "Special Projects Fund" are controlled by the Board and the Finance Committee.

Originally Posted by stsssn

The community wants POACRE to do more than is capable based on the fees received each year. The BOD makes decisions based on the most immediate issue to fund certain projects. (this is were the clique comments are derived).

"Wow... that statement is just full of purple KoolAid"

The Board has the authority to re-align the budget. Move funds from one line to another to cover cost overruns. A couple of examples of cost overrun would be:

1. Esculating fuel or electricity costs
2. $100,000.00 legal fees on behalf of a group of residents

The Board could just as well have voted to upgrade the playground equipment at one of the amenities or on the other hand the Board could have voted to re-align the workforce by terminating some of the security positions and replacing them with maintenance positions [move payroll funds from security to maintenance].

Originally Posted by stsssn

It has been impossible to develop a strategic plan for the community that the community will support, so we stay at the status quo. This is a loosing battle because costs keep rising and fees stay the same. Everyone has a plan to make the community better but no one seems to know how to share it in a way in which it can be implemented. .

I would love to say "poppykock" but the STD is an excellent example of this type of "planning". Further, when a committee starts to make a little progress they become full of themselves and want to control the world [like buying adtime on TV to promote their latest and greatest survey when they haven't begun to work on the data derived from the first survey they took] and they get into a "P*ss*ng" match with the board [take their ball and go home].

In my humble opinion the development of the 5 year plan is an excellent idea and would be best handled by the Board utilizing all the historical financial data [trending] along with community input from previous surveys. Once developed by the Board, it should be the task of each subsequent Board [with the assistance of the General Manager] to look at the five year plan each year, making adjustments to the projects and budgets of the out years.

Originally Posted by stsssn

So, we have the money to keep the status quo. (which everyone is happy about....?). We cannot do anything other than that without going into complicated financial maneuvers which will upset a majority of the community. .

Simply stated, we need to have a plan and work with that plan. The plan should have some flexibility to allow it to bend with the will of the community, but it should be followed for the best interest of the community as a whole.

Originally Posted by stsssn

GWW being closed has added stress to the financial situation. (I am sure you are aware of all the litigation). The budget is completely utilized to maintain were we are we cannot deal with GWW or any other issue without tough choices. .

Purple KoolAid - straight up!
I would be watching very carefully that this "GWW being closed has added stress to the financial situation." doesn't lead to the depletion of Reserve Funding!

Originally Posted by stsssn

I understand exnodaks point (STD) and agree with him on allot of his arguments. That being said, we have to come to terms with reality. We need young members to get involved with passion and ideas that break to old way of thinking. The old way got use to were we are today. We need to accept we are here and move on. .

Well stated... very well stated.... I would only add that we need to move on with purpose, planning, and resolve... not blindly led by any and every special interest group that comes along....

[Volunteerism speach deleted]

OK... It's the middle of January. We should have a mid-year review and a preliminary 2010-2011 budget in the pipeline now. Do we?

Thank you for reading this... I know it's long winded... sorry.... I tend to get long winded when I "volunteer" for CRE.