Horse Rental String to Be Restored if Forest Service Permit Can Be Obtained
By Patric Hedlund

PINE MOUNTAIN (Thursday, March 31, 2011)--In an open workshop for the Pine Mountain Club Property Owners Association Board of Directors today, General Manager Rory Worster and Director of Finance Todd Draa presented a budget that calls for the annual assessment per parcel to remain at the 2010-2011 level of $1,371. The new fiscal year begins July 1 and assessments are due before mid-September.

In a move showing response to heartfelt pleas at the March board meeting from those seeking equal access to recreational opportunities for families with children, the manager worked with the equestrian committee to formulate a plan to bring back the horse rental string this summer. Worster reported that the equestrian committee’s plan could make the rental string "cost neutral" for the budget. He said that he had identified an insurance carrier and had only the permit from the U.S. Forest Service left to secure for the plan to be finalized.

In the April issue of The New Mountain Pioneer (printed Wednesday and distributed the morning of Thursday, March 31, before this Thursday 4 p.m. workshop), searing pleas to re-establish the rental string were reported. At the March 19 board meeting Director Carolyn Davenport, member Nora Salazar and chair of the PMC Planning Committee Sigrid Insull-Lucking each spoke of the need for the board to respond to the needs of children who live in Pine Mountain.

"Children need things to do here," Davenport said. All three spoke of the need for greater access to the community’s recreational opportunities. All members subsidize the equestrian center with their annual assessments, but for the past four or five years only those who own horses have had access to the benefits of trail rides. The PMC Equestrian Committee developed a plan for holding affordable horsemanship camps for youth during the summer, but the board and management had not included that in its priorities.

On Tuesday, March 29 this reporter placed three calls to the manager to check on the status of the rental string in the budgeting process. Worster did not return the calls. In this reporter’s third call, Worster was still not available, but Draa said the rental string had not been mentioned as an item to be included on the budget which is to be adopted at the April board meeting. Then, at the March 31 afternoon meeting, Worster told the board they could bring the rental string back without raising assessments. Members of the equestrian committee were at the workshop, watching closely.

This is part of the April 01, 2011 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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