Residents of the Cora Circle townhouses have expressed annoyance at the rotting, out-of-use tennis court in the center of their community for years. Townhouse Association board members now say that they are in the process of removing the court.
"It's an eyesore," said resident Todd Grover.
Residents also continued their discussions on lake docks for townhouse owners after the Architectural Control Committee changed their manual last month to remove a clause that expressly allowed neighbor dock access.
General Manager David Whittlesey said that he has found a contractor to remove the Cora Circle tennis court.
"The contractor is General Construction Solutions, which we have used for a number of our contracts," Whittlesey said. "They consistently come (in) under budget and do excellent work."
Whittlesey said that he has no problem with getting other bids, but that he is confident that General Construction Solutions, which is based out of Springdale, would do the job well.
The estimated cost for removal is $36,000. Whittlesey said that price is less than other contractors he has approached in past years. The last estimate, obtained five years ago, was $45,000.
"What other work has (this contractor) done for us?" Board member Kathe Dees asked.
"They just did (some renovations) in Britton Circle," Whittlesey said. "They estimated $40,000 and it came in at $27,000."
The tennis court will be replaced with grass. The retaining wall that surrounds the court will be renewed and the fence will be taken down to be used at the association's maintenance facility.
"This is a big job," said board member Jack Severa. "I'd like us to buy local (materials) if we could. Maybe from TH Rogers."
President Jack Adams said that the project will be voted on in an executive session after the board's June meeting.
As expected, the ACC removed from their policy wording that allowed neighbors to use docks that are on residential townhouse property. The ACC will continue to be involved in the permitting process for docks. They will permit each dock based on its overall aesthetic quality.
"The docks just need to be architecturally consistent," Whittlesey said.
The sticking point for many board members, in terms of lake access docks and stairs, is liability. Though townhouse owners own the docks and stairs, they are technically located on common property.
"My concern is people who are trying to use the stairs for themselves when they are owned by another party," said board member Tom Barber.
Though it is up to each owner to maintain their stairs, Whittlesey said that the Townhouse Association will ultimately be named in any lawsuit that may arise in the event of an injury.
"In all likelihood, the owner would be sued and we would be sued," he said.
The Townhouse Association property ends at the shoreline, which means that the docks are technically not located on their private property.
The other question, which remains inconclusive, is who is allowed to build lake access stairs and docks, as well as whether there is a limit to how many can be installed. There is currently nothing in the association's policy manual regarding stairs and docks.
Whittlesey presented a draft proposal for language that would limit who has the ability to construct stairs and docks to townhouse owners with limited common property between their townhouse and the lake. Those owners would need to seek approval from the association, the ACC, and the city.
The proposal would give the association the right to deny any application if there are too many requests in one area. Most lakefront townhouses are in larger complexes. The owner of a set of stairs or a dock would be responsible for ongoing maintenance.
Since lake-access stairs cross over limited common property, they would be open for other members to use. Dock use, however, would be exclusive to the dock owner.
Dees disagreed, arguing that the docks should be open to any townhouse owner.
"This is an amenity," she said. "I'm looking to the future. In the future, someone could say that it's not fair, that it's (an) amenity and that we're denying that amenity for everyone except a few special people.... I'm looking to the future to make sure that we're not going to be sued."
Dees said that the association does not have to worry about a flood of applications for docks from members who live in other neighborhoods because there is no public parking nearby.
"Legally, we need to open it up to anyone," she said.
Dees argued that the board should come up with a number of docks. After the number is reached, no more docks would be allowed to be installed.
The Townhouse Association approved a motion to have their attorney look at the proposal. They will look at it again at next month's meeting, which will take place at 2 Cora Circle at 9 a.m. June 15.
General News on 05/25/2016