During the open forum at Bella Vista Property Owners Association on Thursday, member Jim Parsons presented an invoice for almost $3,000 from the Bella Vista Patriots to pay for signs purchased over the past three years.
Parsons cited a comment by board member Joshua Hart at last month's meeting when he said, "The members (of the POA) are the corporation."
"That's great news," Parsons said, adding that if all members are equal, corporate assets should be shared equally. The signs that Parsons and his group, the Bella Vista Patriots, have purchased encourage a no vote on the assessment increase. Many of the signs read, "Go Away POA."
Board member Patrick Laury responded to Parsons.
"The board acts in the best interests of the community," Laury said, adding that the board believes an assessment increase is in the best interest of the community. "As elected representatives of the community, it would be ridiculous for us to say, 'Vote no.'"
Board Chairman Bob Brooks told Parsons that the board would consider his request at their next work session.
The board approved a request from General Manager Tom Judson to enter into an ePayble program with Arvest Bank. After the meeting, Judson explained that the program lets the POA function like an individual who uses a credit card with a cash-back feature. The POA will use the ePayable "virtual Visa card" to pay certain vendors and Arvest will provide a rebate. Judson estimated that the rebate will be about $40,000 annually, based on current spending. It may increase as more vendors are added.
"We'll leave no stone unturned to save money," Judson said.
The board approved several bylaw changes as part of effort to make governing documents uniform and up to date.
Also, a temporary corporate secretary, Amy Fader, was appointed to replace Genevieve Henderson. Fader is a part-time assistant who usually works in accounting. Judson told the board he had already hired a permanent replacement for Henderson. The replacement starts work next week.
General News on 09/21/2016