This discussion on Pine Valley Cypress Springs has been taken to the following site – click here.
Summary: I disagree with Pine Valley Property Owner’s Association and its board’s approach to communications and homeowner inclusion in the decision making process that impacts the lively hood of PV residents. I DO agree with the board taking an in depth look at the infrastructure that was the result of decisions made by the developer and previous boards. Still, I disagree with the leap from a study to immediate capital expenditure decisions without letting the community evaluate various alternatives. Furthermore, I disagree with the timing and overall approach used to pass decisions that impact the finances of homeowners during challenging times in our economy.
Call to Action: I cannot make the home owner’s meeting due to a family obligation. I will be at my home in Pine Valley later that afternoon if you care to drop by and discuss.
POA’s have broad sweeping powers over homeowners including the right to increase dues, make assessments, and foreclose on homes. Though, voicing concerns at an POA meeting is mandatory, I feel this board will not listen as they have made their stance clear in official communications. If the board is unwilling to put a vote out to homeowners with a variety of options that consider the needs of all, I propose legal action be taken against the POA and the board. Later in this communication I have outlined a list of angles that either represent my situation or potentially those of other home owners. If you identify with one or more of the items in the list, contact me. derick@orangecaster.com.
- My View –
After having lived in Pine Valley at Lake Cypress Springs for a decade, I found myself completely removed from communications about the same time this board took over. I tried to “be included” in communications by simply getting on the email list. My attempts to do so were by directly providing my information to Pine Valley employees and sending certified USPS mail to the address(s) of record. Those efforts failed. After receiving letters at an address in Dallas, TX from a third party management company insinuating that I had unpaid invoices (ones never received at my address of record in Pine Valley), I began to get a little more assertive about figuring out what the heck was going on. Well, too little too late.
From what I can understand, a new board came in, created a new website under a new domain (not the old one where we used to post our newsletters www.pinevalleypoa.com), left the old one up, made the new one impossible to find in Google, and actually placed terms of service verbiage on the new site requiring me to provide an “irrevocable license” to my opinion and made it a violation of the terms link to the website without their written permission. Meaning, if I emailed a link to the new website to my wife so she could see what is going on, I’d have to get written permission? Since my emails have not been responded to and I disagree with the terms of service of the website, I’ll simply use the Internet to voice my opinion.
After a thorough review of the documentation that was provided, the PV POA board hired an engineering firm out of McKinney, TX to “number justify” $618,000 in replacing or upgrading every aspect of the community. These include kitchen appliances for the club house, PVC Foam infrastructure for the boat ramp, seal coating for the roads, bathroom doors at the camp grounds, and new surfacing for the pool. This approach did not include:
- A survey of who actually uses infrastructure proposed for major upgrades and repair.
- P&L data supporting that the infrastructure actually brings in money to Pine Valley or has a potential return on investment.
- Other alternatives which would include selling the boat ramp property.
- An opportunity for home owners to vote (and if they did it was posted to this website that you can’t find nor share)
Again, I would provide a link to the detailed information or put it on this website if it wasn’t expressly prohibited by the terms of service of the POA website. So, you’ll have to find the website, fill out the required information, and wait to get approved to see what I’m talking about. In the mean time, let’s talk reality.
Who uses that pool? Who uses the boat ramp? In my experience, not many. What kind of money do we make from the camp grounds? What do the numbers look like if the pool is filled with sand and the boat ramp property is sold for profit? After all, we have a State funded boat ramp within a 7 minute drive of Pine Valley which is really easy to use (PV’s has a steep incline and is a pain to use). Do we really need a new kitchen in that club house? New windows? New cabanas? What happens if we shut that down? Do these future upgrades really justify putting homeowners that fall into a variety of socioeconomic classes and life stages to expenses that could put them at financial risk in the worse economy recorded in modern history?
In terms of the roads, yes we do need to look at maintenance and repair costs. We’ve needed to look at that for a decade. We also need to look at restricting heavy equipment on it and for those who must. . .make them pay. Seal coating and other very expensive options. . . .I’d really have to see the numbers to determine return on investment.
I’ll net out my opinion:
- I disagree with raising the cost of living associated with Pine Valley during this very difficult time. Expenses should be cut in the short term. Infrastructure that is not used by the majority of the residents or is not producing revenue should be eliminated. Bad decisions from 20 years ago don’t need to be given a prolonged life.
- I disagree with this Group One / Group Two division. Us versus them. This isn’t right. The attitude of the communications from the board is not right.
- I disagree that all communications have to be through a website which is very controlling in nature. It is not accessible and has not been well communicated. Many do not have Internet access nor communicate in that way. Have the website, send an email, and post a flier on the gates like we used to always do.
- I disagree with the board’s demonstrated practice of not responding to written and email requests.
- I disagree with the timing of this entire initiative. It is unprecedented times and dropping expenses on homeowners that are not within their planned budgets is insensitive
- I disagree with letting our night and weekend person go. Security was the #1 factor that caused us to decide on a home in Pine Valley and with the current economy we need security now more than ever.
Pine Valley used to be a very pleasant place to visit where you could make a phone call, drop an email, or just stop by a board meeting and have a decent conversation. It has turned into an experience now of answering services, password protected/terms of service driven websites, and charged rhetoric. I can do that in Dallas. . . I disagree with this change as well.
I cannot condone blanket increases in the worst US economy in modern history. My family and I have one car that weighs 3,000 lbs and we enter on Friday and leave on a Sunday. We haven’t embarked upon construction projects which include the construction of private lakes, massive boat houses, land moving excavations in coves, nor projects that require 18 wheelers and cement trucks to come into Pine Valley. We also don’t pull our boat in and out parking it on the sides of the road tearing up the edges nor park large trucks on the edges of the roads. We don’t use the pool, we don’t use the club house, and we use the public boat ramp.
I am interested in exploring a number of legal angles against the Pine Valley POA and its board. If any of the following apply to you, please contact me. If:
- The POA’s assessment puts you in a financial situation that could cause you to be faced with the foreclosure of your PV property or another property.
- You have been denied request for inclusion in POA communication which has prevented you from attending key meetings or vote at board member elections
- You have received written or verbal communication insinuating you are “group two” (as listed on a recent discussion on the website) and that you feel this communication has placed pressure on you to sell your property, or was slanderous, harassing, or discriminated against you based on race, religion, or socioeconomic status.
- Your registration with the PV website has resulted in emails from third parties that violate the Federal CanSpam act.
- Forced usage of the PV website (and its terms of service) has violated your civil rights. Specific examples would be if comments or communications you have submitted have not been approved or you have been reluctant to communicate as you were not willing to provide PV with an irrevocable license to your thoughts.
- You are a current or prior employee of Pine Valley who’s name has been brought into communications (written, verbal, or on the web) that have tarnished your reputation.
- You have had a recent offer on property for sale in Pine Valley fall through due to POA dues increases or assessments.
If you have an opinion and want to voice it by name or anonymously, under rights afforded to this site by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, all comments will be approved.
If you disagree with my thinking, please let me know. Maybe I need to get in line with the new America which is one where all kinds of policy and expense just gets shoved down our throats!
Derick