The POA's Rules and Regulations Committee is working to update and modernize policies. Several policy changes are were sent on to the full board to consider this month.
Attorney Doug McCash went over the bylaws last year and is now working his way through the policies, recommending changes to make the rules more consistent. At Jan. 11's committee meeting he introduces changes to policy 1.07 though policy 3.01.
One change that wasn't for consistency is policy 2.03. The committee agreed it should be changed to prevent "ghost carts." Residents can register a privately owned cart with membership services for use on all Bella Vista golf courses. A member who registers their own cart is allowed to borrow a POA cart if their own is unavailable. Some members took advantage of that courtesy.
Because it's less expensive to register a private cart than to sign up for a "seat lease" -- the use of a POA cart for a period of time -- a few members chose the private cart option -- even though they do not actually own a private cart that works. Now, members who register a private cart must bring it to one of the POA pro shops and have a sticker affixed before they can receive a POA cart.
The committee discussed the pros and cons of prohibiting weapons in POA facilities, but no action was taken.
Committee Chairman Pat Laury said that with the POA preparing to take over the management of several restaurants that serve alcohol, it might be a good time to consider a policy.
Because the facilities are private property, the POA has the right to prohibit weapons, even those carried by people with valid concealed carry permits, McCash confirmed.
General Manger Tom Judson said that banning guns is a "polarizing issue" and there have been very few problems. Other committee members asked him about a recent incident at the gun range, but Judson said it had been handled.
After the meeting, Judson said one member's privileges were suspended after the gun-range incident. The member was cursing and yelling at an employee. Another member called the police. An officer asked the man to leave the area. Judson met with the man later at the Country Club.
Committee member Andrew Davis said that he had statistics proving that responsible people who hold the correct permits can use their guns to protect other unarmed people.
Laury asked McCash to compile some information to consider at their next meeting.
General News on 01/18/2017