I would like to thank all those who came to the Property Owners Association board meeting Thursday, emailed, called or stopped by to discuss my proposal to purchase the ArkMo property from the POA.
Before I submitted my proposal, I spent hundreds of hours walking the property, talking with engineers and officials, developing plans, running numbers and preparing my proposal materials. I was willing to put my personal and professional reputation and my financial future on the line to move forward with a quality development for that property, vacant since purchased in 2000.
I was shocked that the POA would entertain a "shopped" offer emailed five hours before the meeting by a phantom buyer who would not stand up in a public meeting or even allow their name to be revealed.
The board chairman referenced an appraisal they had from 2014. One thing I learned in my almost 20 years as a state-certified appraiser, is that without a ready-willing-and-able buyer, an appraisal is merely a pile of paper.
A board member discussed how if the POA were financing the project, they would in essence be the developer. Not so. The POA would merely be the bank, collecting the principal and interest payments. I would have been the person spending 12-16 hours, seven days a week working on the project. I would have been the person paying for the flood study, the surveying, the engineering, the soils testing, all of the Health Department and other agency approvals. I would have been the person walking the property for hours and hours determining the best way to divide it, while still maintaining the beauty and ecological attributes of that property so that potential purchasers would have a quality environment in which to live. I would have been the person developing the covenants to protect the land and ensure that the buildings were built with energy efficient and healthy building materials and were properly sited.
Throughout the assessment increase vote last year, COO Tom Judson kept talking about how tired all of the POA buildings are. My top thought after leaving the meeting was that there is just no vision to see Bella Vista as a modern and forward-thinking community where different residential ideas and unique architecture is welcomed.
I am disappointed at the impetus to have Bella Vista stay tired and outdated.
Linda Lloyd
Bella Vista
Editorial on 08/23/2017