Notes from the Candidates Night presentations on October 7, 2014.

This will be in two parts. First are general comments (a relatively short section). Second is information on comments made by Jim LoFrese; since he did not wish to provide answers to the questions I submitted.  Most of this post is the second part.

Numerous questions were asked, and the candidates were given limited amounts of time to respond. They were broad questions and covered many of the points included in the questions I submitted to the candidates.

In general, the answers given by the candidates were not substantially different from currently available information. I reviewed my notes carefully and concluded that there would be no benefit in trying to summarize what was said. I believe that the information in the candidates Q&A on this site; along with the information on the POA web site; is close enough to what was said that it would not help to re-summarize everything here.

However, since Jim LoFrese declined to answer the questions I submitted, I will try to summarize points he made during the evening that directly or indirectly respond to some of those questions. (I prefer the written answers, because that allows for more clarity. But I will do my best to accurately convey what I heard.)

To be consistent with my handling of the other candidate’s answers, I will not offer any comments or indicate agreement or disagreement. For several reasons, I was not able to obtain specific answers or comments about every issue in the original list of questions. Therefore, the following list is somewhat short.  If you have a question about something not covered here, I suggest that you contact Jim directly.

• Regarding fences and “cars in driveways”, Jim said that he would not be in favor of modifying or eliminating the existing restrictions. However, he can see situations where, on a carefully considered, limited, case-by-case basis, it would be acceptable to not totally enforce the restriction on cars in driveways. He also said that he does not believe the POA should automatically act on the comments of realtors.

• Regarding community amenities, he would be in favor of the POA spending money in a responsible manner to build some community wide amenities. He feels that such amenities would help build a sense of community.

• For those that might not have read the information on the POA site, the following excerpt from his answers also reflects his views on community spirit:

“Additionally, our community and the golf club have a symbiotic relationship. I believe more inclusive opportunities need to be explored and developed. Periodically, open events could be held to encourage the entire community to come together. Certainly, the fireworks celebration is a positive event. However, open swims and fitness center events, open dining nights and open golf outings could be scheduled. As the POA and the Golf Club work collectively, a positive approach is developed to encourage more families to become part of the community.”

• Jim feels that road rebuilding projects should proceed as soon as possible. He is in favor of borrowing the money necessary to do this, because he believes construction costs will increase substantially over the next three to four years. Therefore, the costs of borrowing will be less than those increased costs. He is also in favor of continuing a sidewalk building program.

• He is in favor of a marketing program, but I was not entirely clear on his view in terms of target demographics. Some comments he made indicated that he was in favor of targeting young families with children, but others indicated a preference for targeting pre-retirees.

For example, he favored an outreach to older alumni of local universities possibly looking to relocate before or at retirement. On the other hand, he said we needed to focus on prospects below the age of 50 and that he liked the idea of building parks in neighborhoods with houses at price ranges that younger families would find affordable; because that would attract younger families to the community.

In terms of scope, he favors a national marketing program and likes the idea of soliciting input from outside, professional firms.

• He is favor of continuing the annual deer culling program.