WHAT COULD THE BOARD HAVE DONE TO HELP MEMBER RESIDENTS REGARDING THEIR CONCERNS ABOUT THE GOLF COURSE?

The neglected golf course should concern every resident, and our board.  Every person driving in on Wedgefield Rd can see the neglect to the golf course on both sides of the road.  After you pass the gate house you can see the neglect on the right side of the circle.  The grass there is getting quite tall, and the tennis courts, and benches are decaying, and weed ridden.

Go back to the real estate ads quoted in an earlier article.  It is very obvious that the golf course, and canals add value to our homes, and community reputation.  The neglect does the opposite, as potential buyers come to view properties.

The board is correct in the fact that we don't own the golf course. When the resident asked if resident meetings would be called, beyond laughter at the table, during her various questions, she was offered nothing.  When a resident stated that the golf course was part of the PUD, and therefore whatever happened the land would have to be used for recreational purposes, a board members LAUGHED, and said you never knew what money could change.  When someone asked if we could buy the golf course, the answer was that that had been tried before, and then the scare tactic - a board member said the assessments would have to go up over $1,200/yr.  The resident responded saying it wouldn't require GPA maintenance standards,  just decent maintenance.

Once again, your board didn't appear to take the genuine resident concerns into consideration, in answering the questions.  Why didn't the board offer to hold open meetings to allow residents to put their interest, and suggestions forward?  A rough guess would be that over 60% of members reside on the golf course.  Why ignore, and abuse them as they begin to express their concerns?  Why not schedule discussion meetings for all residents?  I don't live on the golf course, and yet, I believe the value of my home, and all homes in the community are in decline.  I would be willing to consider an assessment to buy the golf course.  It is depressing to see the amenities here decline.  

I am tried of this board's hiding fact, failing to look out for our community, and their twisted, exaggerated estimations of cost.  There is time to call meetings, determine whether there is an interest, develop subcommittees to examine costs etc., and potentially wrap the PUD up, under one umbrella, and control, and upgrade Wedgefield's future.  A previous administration called meetings, sent petitions, and went to county meetings to stop the last person who tried to break the pud.  This community needs to come together, and discuss these issues.  If your board won't do the right thing, will you call a meeting?

THE BOARD HAS A VACANCY. WHY DOESN'T THE NOTICE OUTSIDE THE OFFICE, AND THE NOTICE ON THE BOARD WEBSITE HAVE AN APPLY BY DEADLINE DATE? DO THEY REALLY WANT TO FILL THE POSITION WITH INTERESTED RESIDENTS, OR ONE OF THEIR PLANTED APPLICANTS, WHO IN THE END WILL BE THE ONLY ONE WHO MET THE STANDARD OF APPLICATION?

Board member, DeMarchi, resigned his seat as of August 1st.  The board can post the vacancy, and by board vote, fill the seat until the annual meeting.  Usually, the board posts the vacancy, and a apply by date.  Not, this time.  I've checked the notice located at the office, and on the board website.  There is no apply by date.

Yes, I am suspicious of this board's motive.  I've watched them turn down good applicants, and go with their own home grown terrorist.  Yes, terrorist, as it relates to ignoring those who will question when they are manipulating, or ignoring the governing documents.  Ignoring those who will bring their actions to the board table.  Yes, terrorist, one of their kind who have their agenda as their first interest, rather than ours.

Yup, another part of their conspiracy to keep you in the dark.  Find terrorist too hard to handle?  Well, when they cause harm to your home - Wedgefield - and fail to act in behalf of us, then that is what they are.  Otherwise, why ignore the procedure, if it isn't same old regime, same old regime.

THREE MORE ARTICLES WERE ADDED TODAY.

THREE NEW ARTICLES WERE ADDED TODAY

YOUR BOARD IS SO UNCONCERNED ABOUT WHAT THEY REPRESENT, THAT THEY HAVE DONE THIS!

As a member resident, I'd like you to go to wedgefieldhoa.com, the WPA NEW (for months in development) website, and take a look at their cover page.  What is on the cover picture?  A big picture of a golf course asset - the Plantation House!  Why?  Because they do what they want to do, in representation supposedly, of you.  Guess not.  Time for the sheep picture again.

ARE YOU ONE OF THE SHEEP, IN THIS BOARD'S HERD? PROBABLY

I did mean to offend you with the title.  We have 576 member lots here in Wedgefield.  Our association's mud slinging, lawsuit, treacherous history have left me feeling most have become sheep in the board herd.  I use the following cartoon in regard to the WPA's board operations regularly.

It applies to most of you, when you don't attend meetings.  You don't write the board, and question, and don't think for yourself, and your property.  It appears that if the board said these sheep were poodles you would believe them.  Basically, when you don't hold the board's feet to the fire of our governing documents, and sound business practice, the board could call sheep poodles, and you would allow it.  I've also used this picture.

For the most part, most have been using excuses that have allowed the board to lead us to the current situation where we believe we are powerless to protect our home values, and at this point have helped kill off the features most valuable to our home values - the golf course, and canals.  Today, we are left without either of them.

How did it happen.  You tell me that you care, but you are tired of the fighting.  Seven to 12 people attend board meetings that have no real content, because your board discusses things between themselves, and the board herd follows through during meetings. Where are you?  Not there to ask questions.  It is upsetting to you to attend meetings and have to swallow what they are doing.  You have stopped caring, and yet you ask whether I care, and what I am going to do, now that we are in this mess.  I'm going to continue to do what I can, but you don't attend meetings, you don't write letters, you don't stand up, and ask questions, you hide behind "I just want to enjoy life."  

What has that gotten you?  An overgrown golf course, poorly maintained WPA property, and silting canals.

Don't you think it is time you took some action, before this board ruins life in Wedgefield?

A BRAVE NEW RESIDENT ASKS THE BOARD ABOUT THE CLOSING OF THE GOLF COURSE AT THE END OF THE JUNE BOARD MEETING. SHE DARES TO USE WORDS LIKE "HOUSE VALUES". YOUR BOARD LAUGHS, AND SUGGESTS GETTING GOATS TO KEEP THE GOLF COURSE GROWTH DOWN IN GOLF COURSE HOME OWNERS BACK YARDS. THERE IS NO SURPRISE HERE, BECAUSE YOUR BOARD FAILS IN GENERAL TO LIVE UP TO ANY STANDARDS REQUIRED IN OUR GOVERNING DOCUMENTS, AND HAS NEVER HAD THE FORESIGHT TO UNDERSTAND HOW LACK OF MAINTENANCE IN ONE AREA OF THE ASSOCIATION DRIVES THE PRICES DOWN FOR ALL OF US! IS THERE ANY HOPE FOR WEDGEFIELD?

I'm not at a loss for words.  The anger at the board, and at our individual resident apathy has brought us to a despicable place in the history of the place we live - Wedgefield.  Today, we stand with a TOTAL Wedgefield DISASTER to the property values of every plot of land in the association.  Thank yourself, and your board, for the mess we are in.  In the past, to blindly reach our individual goals, we have allowed this association to pit homeowner against home owner on issues of golf course lot owners, and canal lot owners, and failed to look to a key term in any home investment - maintaining property values.  We have allowed ourselves to elect individuals who have lead us with the rings in our noses to this impossible place.  We now have a golf course growing wild, a maintenance dredging permit about to expire, and we are all in the muck, thanks to this board.  Our home values are declining as I write this.  

Before we go on, in order to make the point of house values, I typed in "homes for sale in Wedgefield Plantation."  I looked for the property description for the properties.  Without fail, they read like this:

*"owners have access to a private boat ramp, and membership is available for golf course, tennis courts, and pool."
*"boosts gorgeous views of golf course."
*home on a HUGE (typed as printed in the ad) deep water canal lot."

Look at the descriptions for yourself.  Potential canal lot owners are continuing to be fooled.  Remember, our legal chair promised that we would see a by-law amendment on the ballot this November, that says there would be no WPA funds spent on the canals.  The recent, and potential golf course lot owners have been fooled also.

At the end of the June WPA meeting, during resident comments, a new female golf course lot owner, asked the board what they were doing about the golf course situation, and asked whether any resident meetings could be called to put together a plan.  Listen to the tape at the Wedgefield Times (It is the only place you can hear it, because your board hasn't posted tapes of the meetings in months.  Are the tapes unavailable because they want to keep you in the dark, as to the way they operate, because in general, it isn't according to any standard, recognized business standards?)  The board didn't offer to facilitate a meeting for discussion.  Instead, they laughed about concerns of golf course lot owners looking out at over growth, and suggested goats.  

I have great respect for the woman who spoke.  Her concerns were genuine.  Yet, she received her first lesson of what it is like to buy into, and live in Wedgefield.  She used the term property values more than once.  She appears to understand that home ownership is one of the biggest financial investments we make.  Just as important, this is the place where we live - we call it home.  It is a home placed in a divided community, driven by people who will cut off their nose to spite their face.  Why, if she was a seasoned resident, would she expect her board to understand property values, and decent maintenance?  I'll remind you all that you have allowed this board to cheapen our values on an ongoing basis, with general maintenance of areas the board should be calling on our governing documents, and keeping our standards up.  They don't, and they have allowed our grounds maintenance chair to reduce us to substandard.  Today, to make a point, I photographed lots that the board holds maintenance contracts on (lot owners entered a contract, and paid the board to maintain their lots to standard).  I also photographed areas that the board should be fining lot owners for failure to maintain.  (ARTICLE CONTINUES AFTER THE PICTURES.)

The lot adjacent to my house looks like this one too!

Obviously, your board doesn't care enough to take care of these problems.  They don't care about your property values in this case, or in the larger scheme of canals, and golf courses.

No one on this board appears to use their own functioning brains, as individuals, and speak in your behalf.  They are lead by a few, who lead them around like sheep.  I've often used the following cartoon.

The cartoon is appropriate once again.  When the board was asked about buying the golf course, they threw out ridiculous information, and then the big fear factor to start the scare car engines - "We'd have to raise the assessment to over $1,200 a year."  Having lived here, and witnessed some of their individual rash figure throwing, it is the "Welcome home to what I tell you, RESIDENT/MEMBER sheep."  After all, it is almost election time again.

More to follow in the next day, or two, but before we go, you may need a reminder, as to how bad the golf course can get.  It didn't take long, before the old sixteenth hole came to this: