Members of the POA's five-year financial task force met last week and learned what their goals will be.
The seven-member task force, appointed by the POA board, includes two board members, John Nuttall and Bruce Portillo; one former board member, Bob Brooks; Mark Lundy, who works for the POA's auditing firm, BKD; POA general manager Tom Judson; his assistant, Lea Bush; and POA financial director Dwain Mitchell. Lundy and Bush will not be voting members.
As POA reserve funds are dwindling, it will be up to the task force to assess the current need, anticipate spending over the next five years, forecast what future needs will be, analyze all possible sources of revenue and bring recommendations to the full board by the end of June.
Several open meetings have been scheduled for the task force, including Feb. 27 and April 3 -- both at 3 p.m. in the Country Club boardroom. Judson also proposed May 1 and June 5 for meetings.
Judson showed the members a survey that the community involvement committee wants to use to see what POA members want in their amenities. He explained that it was closely based on a survey written by Green Play, a company that was hired to complete an amenities study in 2013. Judson said that comparing the answers to the two surveys will be valuable, but the 2013 version was much longer. When complete, the survey will give the task force some direction.
Nuttall also had information from the 2013 amenities study to share. He displayed a list of recommendations that was compiled by Green Play with many completed projects highlighted. The completed projects range from repurposing the former nine-hole Branchwood Golf Course to the trail plan that was originally proposed in 2008 and is now partially complete.
In 2013, an expansion at the gun range was recommended, along with the development of a marketing department, a renovation of the old Yacht Club as an event center, new signage for amenities, improvements to restaurants including a new "pub" at Scotsdale, a fitness center at Metfield and upgrades at Blowing Springs Park. Most of those improvements are complete.
In addition, the POA has added a beach, planned to open this spring on Avalon, improved the fishing dock near Lake Point with the help of the Fly Tyers, and are remodeling the Country Club.
"The money we had, we spent very well," Nuttall said.
Future revenue could come from growth, Judson agreed, but, although there has been an increase in new home construction, the budget for 2018 used a conservative estimate for new income.
Lundy asked if the POA had ever considered external funding, loans or bonds, and the group agreed that it could be considered, although collateral for a loan might be a complex issue since common property can't be sold or transferred to a new owner without a vote.
The meetings of the task force will be open and about 15 POA members attended the first one. An open forum will give members the chance to comment at each meeting.
General News on 02/14/2018