Archive for May, 2006

Not long ago, Kay Phillips sent out a letter to the property owner’s of Hidden Lake, explaining the board’s position on certain issues at Hidden Lake. On the last page, Ms. Phillips mentions that the issue of a newsletter was last discussed in 2000, but until the last year, there was not enough information of substance to warrant the cost and effort.

How about:

• In spring of 2005, the roads were not plowed when over four feet of snow fell in one storm? How many folks have property up here that might have needed propane?
• Our caretaker Luis quit, and no one was notified. How many folks thought they were getting some kind of service up here, but no one was around?
• Everyone was told that the gate would be locked, but it never happened. When the gate ultimately was not locked, no one was notified that it would not happen.
• New caretaker was hired, no one was notified.
• The grader is no longer available for the caretaker to grade the roads. Actually, what exactly does the caretaker do? Joe insists that he be available for work during normal business hours, but there’s no work to do.

  Every one of these issues, in my view, are important enough to warrant an individual letter to the property owners, yet nothing was said. In my case, I live here at Hidden Lake, and had to learn most of this information from outside sources. I found out that we were going to hire a caretaker from a yard boy at RBS in Angel Fire. Later, I was told by a board member that we would not be hiring a caretaker, then one shows up in the cabin. Glad I didn’t go down and run him off!

  At least some of the information that’s being distributed by the board is false. Two examples in Ms. Phillips’s recent letter do not represent the truth. In one example, on the last page of Ms. Phillips’s letter, she is discussing the creation of a newsletter. She implies that the board created a web site instead, and she further indicates that she has records that show no activity or interest in the site. First, the site was created by me at my expense, and I don’t remember releasing any records that indicated site usage to her or anyone for that matter.

  Another issue that’s a distortion of the truth is in the “Details” section of Ms. Phillip’s letter, item 3. In the third paragraph of page 5, she states that the general membership voted to amend the bylaws to include a 1$ per square foot assessment for any new construction. This is a distortion of the truth at best, and mostly just not true. That decision was made in my dining room at my home among the board members present. As a general member, I was not given an opportunity vote on this issue. We were simply informed of its implementation at the general membership meeting.

  When discussing the appropriateness of spending money to inform the membership of relevant news, remember that the cost of postage and the stationery is most likely less than $100.00 per letter. Almost no efforts have been made to utilize email, which would significantly reduce even that meager expense. And, after all, how long can it take Kay to sit down and bang out a quick note via email? My belief is that this board has failed - either through the deliberate withholding of information, or through simple inaction – to adequately inform the general membership of appropriate information. Some of this information could potentially be costly, and all of it is certainly of interest to property owners at Hidden Lake. Whether the information was withheld or distorted, this practice needs to change. If the board doesn’t have time, or is unwilling to provide truthful and timely information to the general population, maybe we should look to folks to run the board who will?

  Don Fink

Last July, at the annual meeting of the Hidden Lake Property Owner’s Association, the Board shot one past us in one of the most blatantly dishonest moves I’ve seen to date. The matter of the special assessment for the snow removal equipment was, in my opinion, a demonstration of the board’s disregard for the homeowners right to participate in the affairs of Hidden Lake.

The problem is not that that the board brought up the issue. In fact, it’s my understanding from reading the minutes that the issue was not brought up by the board at all. The probelm was that the board allowed it to continue to a vote without advertising the fact that they were going to do so. In government, this practice is against the law! There were several people who would have attended the meeting and made significant input to the subject had they known that the issue would be discussed and voted upon. Instead, the subject was left off the agenda, and several people elected not to attend because there was no significant information that would be discussed at the meeting.

There are several other issues related to the snow removal discussion that seems odd.

First, the board had clearly not done its research before coming to the property owners. The overall discussion seemed to revolve around a backhoe and a snow blower attachment. In the end, nothing of the kind was purchased.

Second, the minutes say that Kay Phillips said that we needed a special assessment to purchase any kind of equipment. The then Treasurer, Frank Toby, tells me that there was over $90,000.00 available to the board at the time. Without knowing what kind of equipment we were going to buy, how can anyone know that a special assessment was needed?

Third, and this is the point of this article, is why were we discussing assessing someone money when we had not given people the opportunity to be present for the discussion? My point is that a special assessment that basically doubles my dues to this organization is a big deal. I pay dues with an expectation of the amount I’m going to owe, and I believe I have a legitimate say in the assessment of those funds. To bring up the subject of assessing more money when property owners have not had the opportunity to be part of the discussion is simply dishonest.

Did the board openly deceive the property owners in allowing the special assessment? The truth is, it doesn’t matter whether the deception was purposeful or not. The fact is, it happened. Whether it was an open attempt to make an end run around the property owners, or whether it was simply an inability to plan an agenda, the fact was, people were deceived, and money was assessed without the vast majority of the property owners having a say.

Greg Ogawa tells me that I’m wasting my time in bringing this issue up. He tells me that he is comfortable that the board had the legal right to do a special assessment. I guess I shouldn’t be picking on Greg, since he was the only board member who would bother to discuss this with me after the fact. For that, he should be commended. While Greg might be comfortable with the notion that the vote was technically legal, he seems to not be concerned with whether it was the right thing to do.

The fact remains that, without allowing everyone the opportunity to participate in a discussion of this magnitude, the board has demonstrated that it does not care what the general membership thinks, wants, or needs.

So, the members that were present at the last meeting voted to assess everyone else who did not have the opportunity to comment.

What’s the fix?

In my view, the board needs to take two steps to fix this issue:

First, the special assessment needs to go away until everyone has the opportunity to discuss it and arrive at a majority vote. This means that the board needs to either return the money that has been collected so far, or credit that money to the property owner’s next dues.

Second, the board needs to apologize to the property owners who did not have the opportunity to express their views with this important issue. This is not because the property owners need or want an apology, but rather that the board needs to better understand who they work for. They have deeply offended me and other owners with their attitude that they are not accountable, and they need to understand that they are indeed accountable to the people. An apology would be a good first step.

Failing both of these actions, here’s what I propose:

The first action of the property owners at Hidden Lake should be the recall of all board members. There are people who have property at Hidden Lake who are willing to step up and be responsive to the needs of the property owners. By the way, I am not one of those people, so no one needs to worry that this might be just a power grab on my part. I was on the board at one time, and resigned.

If a recall is not the action that the owners believe is necessary, the next best thing is to simply replace members of the board as their term is up. Unfortunately, several of the board members have a long time to run on their terms, and can do a lot of damage in that time.

A Final Note:

You’ll notice at the bottom of the article that there is an opportunity for people to comment. All you need to do to comment on this article is register, log in, and have at it. If you agree with me, I would appreciate a comment. If you disagree, I would suggest that you make your views known. After all, if I’m the only one who comments, people might think that my views are consistent with the majority of the people, and I’ll almost bet money that my views aren’t the only ones out there.

If you’re a board member, and you want to apologize, or if you don’t believe an apology is warranted, some of us would like to hear your views. Again, if I’m the only one who comments on this web site, folks might start thinking that my views are the only ones here.

Don Fink

Hi,

After a considerable time without any activity, HiddenLakeNews.com is now up and running again. The goal this time is to provide a place where property owners at Hidden Lake can meet and express their views about issues related to Hidden Lake.

As many of you know, there are issues here in the woods that concern many of the property owners, and here is the place where it can all get out in the open. Whether your concern is the care of the roads, the behavior of the Board, or the placement of pre-fab homes at Hidden Lake, this is the best place to meet and express your views.

Layout:

Initially, this site is divided into several categories. They are -

1 - General News
2 - Pre-Fab Homes
3 - Roads
4 - The Board
and finally, an “catch-all” called uncategorized, for general subjects.

If anyone believes that a new category is necessary, send me a note and I’ll add it.

All you need to do to post information here is register, then follow the links to write! It’s just about as simple as sending an email once you get the hang of it.