Open Letter to the DH POA for Arbitration

162 St. Andrews Ct.

Hot Springs, AR 71913

August 23, 2015

Mr. Larry Hibbs, President

DH POA Board of Directors

Dear Pres. Hibbs and Board of Directors

Thank you all for your service to our DH Community. As I have been a homeowner in DH for the past ten years, I have observed homeowner grievances against various elected board members. Some of these grievances go back over 20 years, creating a Hatfield and McCoy feud-type atmosphere in DH. Today, I posted these lyrics, “Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative, and don’t mess with Mr. In Between.

Representing the Mr., Mrs. and Miss In Betweens, I ask that the Board come to some agreement with the organized faction that has grievances against the Board. This agreement could be reached by having our lawyer select an arbitrator both sides agree on to mediate these grievances. The group should present their grievances and solutions desired in writing as should the board. The “In Betweeners,” or silent majority, who do not want to take sides could see these lists and make comments or positive suggestions if desired.

Every one of us, the Board, the Grievance Pursuers, and the rest of us In Betweeners would benefit by an agreement to settle these longstanding grievances over conflicts of interest, disrespect for each other, use of funds and dues, security and other items. These longstanding disputes should be settled as quickly as possible with no stonewalling or secrecy, second guessing or bellyaching once a settlement is established and agreed to in writing.

We could then ask the Social Committee to plan a huge “Bury the Hatchet” reconciliation party with a ceremonial burying of the hatchet as a yearly event. The Rushes agree to furnish a hatchet each year.
We could also pledge to live peaceably and happily, avoiding this prolonged and protracted underlying warfare each of our future years together in one boat, thus keeping our community afloat and at the same time raising our property values. This type of positive approach of working with each other and stopping the hurtful way people are dealing with each other would honestly let us encourage others to buy our vacant homes or build new ones and enjoy the things we all love about living here.

Sincerely,

Mary Ann Rush

cc to Diane Porterfield to ask her to publish as open letter to the DH POA as I, too, deeply appreciate her minutes and many efforts to keep all members informed in a timely manner and the instant communication she provides to us all

Front Gate - Board Work Shop

Board Members Present:

President Larry Hibbs                      John Coleman

Vice President Chris Wasson           Gordon Moore

Treasurer John Porter                       Jim Ott

Secretary Diane Jones

GM James Turner                             Angela Coldewey

Integrated service personnel: Chris & Caleb

Board Members Absent:

Susie Combs                                      Sharon Carr

Thursday, August 20^th, 2015 @ 6:30pm the Board met to discuss the operation of the new Lift Arm gates that have been installed by Integrated Security.  ‘Chris was present and ready with answers to all questions presented by the Board. 

The following is a list of these answers:

Door Key – will provide the warranty for parts

Space provided for entrance is 104”

• A standard RV = 96” by 8’
• Lift arms will be shortened by 6” on each side to provide additional room

Gate Stickers

• Cost = $15.00 per sticker.  This will cover any additional office expense.
• Placement of sticker will be on the inside of vehicle’s windshield / glass, behind the rear-view mirror.
• Sticker will last as long as the vehicle.  No additional purchase until the vehicle is replaced by owner.
• Sticker does not have batteries.  The gate has the circuit system needed to provide functionality.
• Sticker can not be moved once it is established on a vehicle without destroying its usefulness.

Gate Meter – for code entry

• A gate meter has been installed in front of the Police Department to provide coded entry for property owner’s guest. 
• Each sticker has a (5) digit code that may be entered into the meter, allowing a guest entry through the lift gates.
• The guest will punch in that code – then has 20 seconds to drive through the gate.
• This code entry is recorded and may be verified by management.
• May be used to indicate excessive use of an individual code.  Possible management concern.

Sale of Stickers:

A two week period of time will be allowed for DH members to purchase their vehicle sticker prior to actual gate operation. Estimated date for Gate Operation is September 8th

·       POA office hours will be extended: 7:am – 6:pm, Mon – Thur.

·       Stickers may be mailed out to property owner upon request by the property owner.

·       Additional stickers are available for additional vehicles.

·       The property owner is responsible for the Renter of said property.

The Iron gates will remain open.  Members are encouraged to keep their gate cards for unseen, future events.

Emergency Vehicle Entrance:  All emergency vehicles (Fire, EMT, Police) have their own system already installed for their own use.

South Side will have new codes for entering their gate, as well.  This will provide additional security.  South Side property owners will need to purchase the new sticker to enter through the Lift Arm gates.

Fencing will be needed for the 200 feet of green space between the new gate entrance and exit.  Options are being explored for this purpose:

§       Large rocks spaced strategically – similar to Front Median landscape.

§       Short sections of fence with crepe myrtles between sections

§       Iron, wood, masonry fencing materials (?)

President Hibbs asked the Board members to be the liaison for the various committees.  A list of the committees & liaisons may be viewed on the official Diamondhead website.

Meeting adjourned

Notes provided by,

Diane Porterfield

adianerdh@att.net

620-3167 

My purpose for posting...

I've been asked why I posted a private, 'Executive Session', email message which was obviously intended for Board members only. Here is my response:

• The Blog description is located at the top of the Main Page:

"This private report contains information regarding our community; Including Board & Committee meetings and opinions regarding events that affect all of us. The sole administrator of this Report is Diane Porterfield. I do not work for Diamondhead nor any individual person. The ONLY purpose for this Report is to share information with members of Diamondhead. All minutes, articles or opinions must be signed before they will appear in this Report. This Report is not sanctioned by the DPOA."

• The Board members make the decisions in Diamondhead
• The Board president, Mary Pracht, recently stated: ‘This Board is getting ready to do detrimental things to this community that I will not be a part of.’
• After making additional, and alarming statements, Mary Pracht resigned the DH Board of Directors. Her comments can be viewed by clicking onTown Meeting of July 23, 2015
• I received pertinent information regarding a Board member's decision to resign her duly elected position.
  • Yes, I was aware of the 'private' nature of this information.
  • Yes, I knew I would be crossing a line set by DH management & DH Board of Directors.
• “Those who ignore history, are bound to repeat it” - George Santayana
  • We must learn by our mistakes. The content of General Manager James Turner's email was a repeat of 2012 GM – Buddy Hudson. Mr. Turner & Mr. Hudson have 'outside' business concerns. History proves that a general manager must not work from home, but is needed & expected to be present, on campus, available to the community.
• Diamondhead Property Owners have a Right to Know what is going on in their community / their financial investment. Diamondhead is a corporation.

Diane Porterfield

adianerdh@att.net

620-3167

Board Work Shop

Board Work Shop

The Board will be discussing the Front Gate(s)

Thursday, Aug. 20th @ 6:30 pm

Club House

Open Board Meeting

Interesting perspective on Annual Meeting

This is a Facebook message posted by DH member Kerry Bratton posted with permission from the author:

Last night’s “event” was like a sitcom. You have board members reading to us like little robotic puppets about things that really don’t matter when you consider the big picture. Then you have those that “run and tattle” when a question is asked by one of the “violators” (you know, those that have violated the norm and have chosen to stop feeding the pig). Boy, that brought back memories of elementary school. I am sure you all remember THAT kid that was the tattletale queen/king. Maybe our tattletale should sit and be quiet for a few minutes and become familiar with the By-Laws. Enough on that, but what I have thought about more and more today was the attorney and his statements. I know others have provided various information so much of this is probably not “news” to anyone. Here is what I picture based on what the attorney said……..won’t be long and he will have filed liens and will begin to file some foreclosure actions. We all know that when he starts, you can’t pick and choose so a potential for lots of them. Rock on down the road a ways and think about driving through the gates and seeing homes that have been left in ruins due to foreclosures and the lack of interest to live in this rathole any longer. Then, shortly after renters by the bus load move in. Now these won’t be renters that you would want living next door, oh no, these will be those that really give pay-back to the board. Sorry, but this is what I see after having heard this man for the couple of minutes he spoke. I do not think it is appropriate that he has many other business interests of obtaining properties in what I would consider in a wrong manner. I bet when he became familiar with DH and all the issues, he became so excited he couldn’t wait to come out here. I did a search on the Secretary of State’s website and found the following incorporated businesses listing Durbin as either the incorporator or agent for service. The two names list the same address. In short folks, I smell a rat!! Time to get serious about this fiasco called Diamondhead BOD and GM.
me City State Status
DURBIN ENTERPRISES LLC HOT SPRINGS AR Good Standing BEAU DURBIN
DURBIN FARMS LLC HOT SPRINGS AR Good Standing BEAU DURBIN
DURBIN PROPERTIES, INC. PRESCOTT AR Good Standing MICHAEL W. DURBIN
HORIZONS OF HOPE, INC. HOT SPRINGS AR Good Standing MICHAEL WILLIAM DURBIN
MWD PROPERTIES LLC HOT SPRINGS AR Revoked MICHAEL W. DURBIN
SPLIT RAIL, INC. HOT SPRINGS AR Good Standing MICHAEL WILLIAM DURBIN

I am not saying that Durbin has done anything wrong, illegal or otherwise. What I am saying is that by appearances, things don't look just right. I am providing a link for the Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct in the event anyone would like to take a look. Here is that linkhttps://courts.arkansas.gov/…/%5Bcurrent%5D-arkansas-rules-…

Also, here is a link to a page containing a grievance form should anyone find the need for that. https://courts.arkansas.gov/administra…/professional-conduct

AGAIN, just saying something smells fishy NOT saying the attonrey has done anything wrong.

[Current] Arkansas Rules of Professional Conduct | Arkansas Judiciary

The official web site for the Arkansas Supreme Court provides information about cases, oral arguments,...

COURTS.ARKANSAS.GOV

State of the Community Address ~

This State of the Community Address has been provided by General Manager James Turner:

Annual Meeting ~ August 15th, 2015

Board Members Present:

Vice President Joe Claflin        Suzie Combs

Treasurer John Porter              Larry Hibbs

Secretary Diane Jones             John Coleman

                                                 Gordon Moore

Board Members Absent:

Sharon Carr

Chris Wasson

General Manager James Turner

Treasurer John Porter served as moderator for the Annual Meeting.

Mike Fikes lead the membership in an opening prayer.

Read more »

GM message to the Board

The following email message was sent to the Board of Directors and provided for publication by ex-President Mary Praght:

I have spent the day talking to Deidre as a sounding board, and thinking while driving, about the question posed by Mr. Coleman last night.  I would be open to the possibility of staying, but only under the following considerations.

1. The issue of respect and treatment of the employees by the community must be addressed.  It is very inappropriate for the employees to be subjected to the treatment that happens on a daily basis.  The community is owned by the residents, and therefore, are all collectively subject to any legal action from harassment or law suite.  They need to know that.  DH is on very thin ice as it is with insurance and the amount of evidence of slander and liable action from residences, that it must be stopped.

2. The position of GM must be allowed to manage the community without the amount of direct oversight currently received by the board members at large, including the President.  Board members should never be allowed to by-pass the president and GM and go directly to the employees.  Proper protocol and structure must be followed moving forward.  That also means the president going around the GM to the employees must stop.  I feel like I am playing catch up most of the time because there are many conversations between board members and employees that I find out about after the fact.

3. I will maintain my current pay structure, but I want to change my schedule from the current "in office", to a non-traditional one.  I would want it based on me getting the job done with the current level of integrity and quality, not sitting an office like an hourly employee and being questioned when not in the office.  This position was told to be an executive/director level position, but is looked at by many board members and residents as an "in the office" job.

4.  I would then be available on a "by appointment" basis, but not necessarily sitting in the office.  I will use technology to telecommute and work from home as is feasible, and with cell and computer always available no matter where I am.

5. I have many outside commitments, both in ministry and the community, that have been of great benefit to the reputation and amount of promotion and outside play at Diamondhead.  These commitments will, at times, have me, again, out of the office.  As long as the job is being done in an acceptable manner, I would require for the flexibility in my schedule to attend those.

6. No more weekly meetings with the president to go over ever minute detail.  We can utilize email and meet when necessary for issues that warrant it.

The biggest thing I am lacking in this job is the trust that I feel I have earned, and the level of respect toward the office and position that it deserves, and is required to be effective.  I have to be able to be the GM, which means there will be a multitude of things that I do not tell you.  That is my job.

 As long as we are in budget, personnel issues and department heads are handled correctly, and I am completing the job with integrity and excellence, I would ask for the trust and respect of the board.

If these bring cause for concern I am still open to helping with the transition, but would make my final day at DH no later than August 13.

I look forward to any follow up conversation and will continue to lead with the level of quality I have since the first day I was hired.

Sincerely,

James Turner

I verified with new-President Larry Hibbs after last night's Annual Membership meeting -> James Turner is, and will continue to be, acting General Manager.

Diane Porterfield

LCWSFB page 1

Lake Catherine Waterworks & Sewer Facility Board

Members of the 2012 Board are:  Jim Hannon, John Combs, Bob Mitchel, John Cummings & Don Oseroff.

Jim Hannon

The next page is on the following post.  Please scroll down to finish reading this article.
For further information regarding the LCWSFB you may click on the labels below each post.

LCWSFB page 2

 Jim Hannon requested I post this information for Diamondhead membership.

This pic is just for fun!