Candidates Night - Section #3

This is the 3rd and last Section for Candidates Night
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Question:  The DPOA annual golf fees include a Family membership for Property Owners and Associates. It has been proposed that the definition of "Family" be amended to include non married individuals. Do you agree with this proposal? If so, how would you amend the definition of "Family" for this purpose?

Katherine Denow:  This has been discussed before.  It is a problem to define “Family”.  There could be 28 people in the ‘house hold’.  The last time I was on the board, we could not come up with a viable solution.  We did try. 

Rick Noffsinger:  Currently I would not define the definition of “Family”.   This could be a touchy situation.  We need to be careful how we do it.  If it is a couple that we all know as a couple in Diamondhead, that is one thing.  But, if it is a bunch of ‘brothers’ who own the piece of property that would all gain one ‘family’ membership, that is completely different.

Faye Taylor:  At this time, until it is looked into further, it needs to stay the way it is.  I do think it needs to be addressed.  There is really nothing that can cover all the house holds in DH.  There are many ramifications to this issue.

Byron Efird:  Each case would have to be handled differently.  With the privacy act, I don’t think you can go up to a couple and say ‘I’d like to look at your marriage license’.  The way things are now, it will be opening up a can of worms.

Question:  I would like to know your input on “Micro managing”, with regard to the General Manager.

Byron Efird:  The GM should report to one person, the President of the Board.  This last situation could have been handled a little different.  If the GM has something he wants the Maintenance Crew to do, he would go to Eddie, than Eddie would talk to his crew.  There should only be one Board member – the president - who directs the GM.

Katherine Denow:  If you hire a good person, you let them do the job.  If they mess up, you tell them about it.  If they continue to mess up, you fire them.  That is the way it goes.  Apparently, what you are saying is that every member of the Board was giving employees flake, is that what it is?  And that is not right.  However, I think the president of the Board must bring everything to the Board.  I don’t think he can fire somebody on his own.  It must be a full board decision.  Nobody can make everybody happy.  It just can’t happen. 

Rick Noffsinger:  Do I feel that the current situation was handled properly?  I can not express an opinion on that.  For one it is not my business.  That is something the current Board is dealing with.  As far as ‘Micro managing’ that is one of the problems with the current Board and the past Board.  I have been here 6 years, and I have seen Board members discuss stuff with employees on the side; telling them ‘you can’t do this’, or ‘you can’t do that’.  That is what the GM is supposed to do.  Everything must go through the GM.  The President is over the GM.  Let the GM do his job.

Faye Taylor:  I really think there is too much Micro Management.  And it really needs to stop because it should be the President -> the GM -> different groups of employees.  For the most part the Board does not need to be addressing that.

Question:  I run into a lot of people who do not live here.  They say “I would never move out there because the POA dues are too high”.  How do you feel about raising the POA dues in the future?

Byron Efird:   Money is the cure for everything.  We have got to build these houses up.   Right now we have 1200 lots.  600 people paid last year.  We have 50% that are delinquent.  We charge $545.00 for a lot.  I think that is a little steep.  We might need to look into that, and we might need to cheapen the POA dues on the lots.  I think the houses are fine.  I don’t have any problem with $900.00 per year for a house.  But, $545.00 for a lot, I can see why people are dropping off the books.  And they are expecting 10% more this next year.  We can not afford to keep dropping our membership.  If we had less dues, we might have a lot more people floating around DH and coming to eat and spend money out here. 

Katherine Denow:  I have 3 lots and a house.  I can see why people would not want to pay the $545.00 for a lot.  If we could lower the lot dues, we could get more people to keep their lots.  Before we even thought of raising the dues, we should look at every possible solution.  If there is anything that is not cost effective, any ‘sacred cow’ – get rid of it.  Anything at all to trim the budget, lets do it before we raise the dues.

Rick Noffsinger:  I am totally against raising the dues.  With these economic times, if we were to raise the dues we would loose revenue.  We will have to be careful how we budget.  As far as being the most expensive place in Arkansas, I disagree with that.  If you go to Hot Springs Village, their dues are between 5 – 600 dollars, but you pay for everything else.  Golf is way more expensive than it is here in DH.  If we can get more people interested in building homes here, that is what will save DH.  We need to work on keeping the lots that we still have.  And if that means lowering dues on the lots, we may have to do that.  We can not afford for more lots to go into default. 

Faye Taylor:  I agree that the dues for the lots might need to be dropped some in price.  But, if we can get the Power-Point presentation to showcase everything that DH has to offer, I think we will create enough interest that it will bring people into Diamondhead.  We need to reach out and let the community know we are here.

Katherine Denow was asked “what is a ‘sacred cow’?  Answer:  There is nothing we should not look into.  In India they find cows sacred and nobody eats them.  Well, I figure, if it’s not doing any good – we should eat it!

Question:  Has anyone ever considered putting a business in DH…like a daycare, or a kennel?  This could also bring revenue into DH.

Faye Taylor:  Our Bill of Assurance designates that DH is residential only.

Katherine Denow:  This is true about the Bill of Assurance.  However, we have the Marina, and across the street that could have a bank, etc.

Question was asked of Faye Taylor:  Are you singling out retirees with your Power Point?  Or, are you reaching out to families, as well?  I have heard so many times that this community is for retirees.  It is not.  There are many young families in DH.

Faye Taylor:  No, the Power Point will be showcasing the whole community and everything available to all ages.  Young families, Empty Nesters, and Retirees.

Closing Remarks

Byron Efird:  Thank you for hanging in there with us.  Money will cure all things.  If we loose 10% more lots this year, which is 30,000 dollars that we will loose in our budget.  Sometimes you need to tighten the purse strings a little bit.  And try to come up with ways to get more money.  We have 105 golf members.  There is no reason in the world we should not have 250 golf members.  There is no way we should be paying $200,000.00 for the golf course, it should pay for itself.  I will do my part each year to get more members out here. …  We are a diamond in the ruff right now; we need to be a shining, sparkling diamond.

Katherine Denow:  We don’t have a young person on the Board because they don’t have the time.  The young families that have teenagers and young children know what they need in this community.  We need to listen to them.  We need to reach out to them.  I would like to accomplish that.  And we need a good Internet service and cable service out here.  This is what I would like to accomplish.

Rick Noffsinger:  Demographics have changed.  It is about 50 – 50 now.  The security gate is good for children.  One of the reasons I am running for the Board is to change the way this Board operates.  I am a working man.  The POA office is closed when I have to do business.  I would like the office to be open on Saturday mornings.   We do not do enough social activities for our young families.  It is very important to include everybody in DH.  If I am elected I will do my best to listen to everybody.  I want to bring integrity, honesty, and accountability to the Board.  And answer some of these problems that we have been having.

Faye Taylor:  I really think this whole community needs to be reevaluated.  We do have Young Families, Empty Nesters and Seniors.  It can only be done if the whole Board gets together and plan so that it will be a smooth transition.  So that everybody is included.  Thank you all for being here.

Jim Hannon thanked each of the candidates for their participation.  Ballots will be mailed out on July 1^st.  The Annual meeting will be held on August 20^th, at 7:30pm

Please let me know if any corrections are needed to this report.
Diane Porterfield