Once again, the regular meeting of the POA Board of Directors began with a parade of residents who wanted to talk about controversial topics. But at Thursday's meeting, the members who wanted to talk about proposed mountain bike trails were joined by golfers unhappy with a fee increase directed at owners of private golf carts.
The week before, the POA 2019 budget was presented along with a few changes to the fee schedule. One of the fee changes was the annual fee private cart owners pay to use their cart on POA golf courses. The fee will increase by $45 for the primary user of the cart and $30 for the secondary user.
"It's wrong to pick on one group," Tommy Freytag said about private cart owners.
If an increase is needed, it should apply to both rental fees for course-owned carts and the private cart fee, Freytag said.
Board member Mike Abb explained that the increase was partly in response to private cart owners abusing the system. People who pay the private cart fee are allowed to borrow a course-owned cart on occasion -- for example when their own cart is being repaired, but some golfers want to pay the less expensive private cart fee and then use mostly rental carts.
"It's not coming out of thin air," Abb said about the fee increase.
Board member Patrick Laury agreed to meet with any private cart owner who wanted to discuss the situation.
The private cart fee and several other fee increases were approved. The increases include the fee for a covered slip at the Loch Lomond marina -- it will go from $1,350 to $1,500 annually; a new fee for new "pull through" spaces at the RV storage facility for $380; accompanied guests will pay $4 for one day at the beach or pools; and kayak rentals will go up at both the beach and the marina for both members and accompanied guests.
Other members wanted to speak for and against the mountain bike trails. Member Joy Sawyer asserted that the POA is broke and should not be spending money on trails. She used a recent loan from the Water Department to the POA to support her statement. She suggested nonmembers using POA amenities should be charged $192 annually -- the price a nonresident member pays in assessments.
Later in the meeting, Board Member Bruce Portillo suggested that Ms. Sawyer did not understand financial documents because the POA is not broke.
Member Steve McKee asked about a $100,000 contingency included in the 2019 budget for the stump dump.
The contingency funds were included in the budget in case expenses came up for either remediation of former stump dump sites or the costs of a new stump dump-type operation, General Manager Tom Judson said later in the meeting. There's no way to know exactly how much may be needed for either possibility.
When the former site of a POA-run stump dump began smoking last summer, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality was called to the site. That location, on Traflagar Road had been leased by the POA, but the lease ran out and the stump dump was closed in 2016. The land was later sold to Brown's Tree Service.
After investigating the former stump dump where a fire was burning underground, ADEQ officials ordered the POA to close a different site on the west side of Bella Vista. It was revealed that POA did have the proper permits for either stump dump.
Judson said that since the issue requires expertise the organization does not have, an engineering firm has been hired for two separate tasks. First, FTN Engineering will investigate all the old stump dump sites and advise the POA on remediation. Second, the same firm will look for a potential site for a new leaf mulching operation. The ADEQ, Judson said at an earlier meeting, will not permit another stump dump like the ones that were closed.
"It's a challenging situation," Judson said, noting that the POA could not force the new land owner to remediate the burning stump dump as the engineering firm recommends.
The 2019 budgets were approved for both the POA and the POA water utility. The budgets and the presentation Judson made about the budgets are posted on the POA website, bellavistapoa.com/governance/financials/.
Judson pointed out several cut backs for the 2019 budget, including capitol projects in almost all departments. It's not good for an organization to allow depreciation expenses to run much higher than capitol projects, he said, but with a tight budget it can't be helped.
Among the cuts made are a golf operations manager position and several part-time player-assistant positions; In golf maintenance -- labor hours and overtime were cut and capitol projects including green fans, were deferred; Recreation cut funding for capitol projects like pickleball courts, an archery range, the renovation of two tennis courts and some additional cabins at Blowing Springs; cuts were made in personnel for the food and beverage division.
The 2019 budget for the POA (without the water utility) shows a total income of $18,896,484. That includes more than $8 million in monthly assessment fees and $4 million in golf fees. Expenses for the same period are $18,051,522.
The budget for the water utility which is owned by the POA was also approved. The water utility budget shows almost $9 million in total income. An increase in water fees will become effective when the new meter project is completed early next year. The increase is $.81 per month, which is the exact amount the water department is charged to operate the new meters. The water department has several capital projects scheduled, including a water tower rehabilitation, a new truck, a pump station upgrade and $300,000 for annual water main replacements.
General News on 11/21/2018