Comment by P. Hedlund, TME

Momentum is accelerating toward Pine Mountain Club’s POA making decisions about updating their clubhouse and installing a new swimming pool. But the vote made by the board March 16 inexplicably failed to respond to the 20-year plea from members to make that update a year-round facility that will serve all ages.

The vote approved allocation for “Phase 1 and Phase 2” of a new pool and decking plan, but failed to include the critical “year round” component that has been at the top of every focus group and survey about preferred amenity upgrades since before 2001.

Elders say they want to be able to exercise in the pool year-round; families with children want the recreational option for the kids.

It appeared to observers at the meeting that there is an unspoken hitch in the minds of a few board members about the aesthetics of the current plan, with some directors muttering that the year-round pool covering could “block the view of the mountains” if placed north of the tennis courts as proposed.

They voted for the pool and decking plan without the year-round covering, leaving the very real possibility that the additional cost for the year-round component of the expensive new pool will never get approved, nor implemented — leaving the community still without what it says it most desires.

One worried speaker at the podium said he is an engineering planner with concern that spending commitments are being made by the board before details have been fully worked through.

His spirit of caution was submerged beneath a tidal wave of near-euphoria by members who spoke in glowing terms about exciting programs being developed at the equestrian center for young people by new stable manager Lori Harmon.

Tony Harmon, Lori’s husband, spoke with passion: “this is like a resort up here…I don’t like hearing people say we are losing money on the equine center and the golf course….”
Harmon addressed the concerns of longtime resident Tim Marvel, nudging past 80, who spoke about the anxiety of seeing assessment increases while trying to manage on a retiree’s fixed income.

Harmon, a new resident, said to the crowd, “I told Tim, I will pay the difference for him, if he can’t make it….”

But that is not what Marvel was asking the board for. He was asking board members to adhere wisely to their fiduciary duty so he can enjoy the dignity of his retirement in a beautiful place with friends he cares about on the budget he has carefully planned and prudently managed.

He is not asking for charity. He is asking that the board and the manager do their jobs wisely for his community.

At this same point in the PMC budget cycle three Aprils ago, we published “Fiduciary responsibility in the land of the Lotus Eaters,” just after the PMC board and the manager held an illegal secret meeting to pass the annual budget without homeowners being present to ask too many questions.

That commentary recalled the ancient Greek tale of The Odyssey, in which there is a race of people living on an island dominated by lotus fruit and flowers that are a powerful narcotic, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy.

Here’s the good news: PMC has made notable progress since April 2016. Three years later, homeowners are involved, observant and better informed. They have the power to shake off the apathy and love this beautiful place at the same time that they engage with real facts.

Important fact: The chairman of the board has stopped denying that the association has charged homeowners well over $1 million above what it takes to run the POA.

“There is a budgeting problem at the association,” the former chief financial officer acknowledges. She estimates there may be as much as $1.6 million in excess assessments sitting in the PMC bank accounts today.

Simultaneously with facing up to these facts, members are in an active campaign to keep healthy those aspects of the community that they most enjoy. I share their enthusiasm.

In March the PMC board voted to approve Director Steve Burkett’s proposal to accept the phased building plan developed by the clubhouse facilities task force. That is now being carried forward in greater detail by architect Gwynne Pugh.

“The plan itself is not a commitment to spend,” Director William Gurtner said. But the next phase does indeed entail spending just under $1 million. It might be wise to be sure we know what we are buying with those assessment overcharges. Treasurer Bill Lewis II asked why a financing task force was not established in parallel with the clubhouse task force. It was a wise question.

Photo captions:

An almost euphoric and well-deserved sense of excitement was expressed at the last PMCPOA board meeting about a new natural horsemanship program at the equestrian center.

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This is part of the April 5, 2019 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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