The Board had a special meeting on September 28th primarily to discuss the budget and Long Range Plan. The budget will be made available to the community via the web site within the next several weeks; allowing plenty of time for review before the annual General Meeting.

Long Range Plan

I previously reported that the plan would be made available to residents by the end of October to allow time for review prior to the Annual General Meeting; after which the Board would have given it final approval. That schedule looks as if it will be delayed a bit.

The directors agree that the roads summary will be the most important section of the plan, and this section should include a long range forecast of road replacement projects. The directors felt that a better forecast could be drawn up after receiving bids on the upcoming Front Gate to Manly reconstruction project and that it would be premature to create a long range forecast for roads without this information.

Please bear with me as I back up and try to explain this a little further.

Five years ago, the Board clearly saw that major road works would be needed at our entrance sometime within approximately five years. They did not know exactly when the work would be required, nor did they know the precise costs. That was perfectly reasonable; since the work was some years away and could not be subjected to engineering studies or put out to bid. However, they had the presence of mind to realize that the costs would be high enough to require a sinking fund; in other words, a gradual accumulation of reserves over a period of years.

This resulted in the dues being raised and amounts being added annually to a reserve fund for these improvements. That is why we expect to have close to $2.0 million in our reserve fund at the end of this year; and why we have a chance of undertaking our first major project without laying a huge special assessment on the community.

Five years ago, nobody could predict the exact cost of this road reconstruction work. But the current Board has been working on that effort for the past year and will hopefully know where we stand when the bids are received in early December. By “where we stand”, I mean whether or not our current level of reserves will be able to fund this upcoming project.

So, before finalizing a long range plan for the roads, the Board wants to do two things. First, receive and analyze the bids for this first project and finalize a construction schedule. This is important because these bids will give us the first solid information as to what we might be facing in terms of future costs on other sections of road that need rebuilding.

Second, have an engineer do a visual survey of the balance of our roads and create a schedule showing an estimated prioritization and timing schedule of road sections needing replacement. Since this will only be a visual inspection, it will simply be a best guess. But, given amount of money involved, the Board felt this type of study was necessary. The Board approved the allocation of funds for this study at this meeting.

Once these two pieces of information are in hand, the Board expects to be able to finalize a long term plan for the roads and thus finalize the new, overall Five Year Plan. Therefore, they felt it was best to delay the presentation of the Five Year Plan until sometime in 2013; essentially to ensure that the plan addresses the key issues and concerns of the residents.

Comment: This is not an editorial. It’s essentially my take on this situation; in case it helps clarify things.

It appears to me that, in terms of the next major road project (and any thereafter), we are in exactly the same position as we were five years ago in relation to the upcoming “Front Gate to Manly Project”.

• We know that another major section of road will need to be rebuilt; the most likely candidate being all or a portion of Governors Drive from Manly to the entrance drive of the country club.

• Although we don’t know exactly when the work will need to be done, it will likely be in the next five years. Nor will we know the exact cost until it is time to do the actual work.

• There will most likely be other major projects that follow on this one over the next ten years. And the list could easily include major storm water drainage projects in addition to road works.

• All of these projects will cost a fair amount of money, and all will be necessary to preserve and enhance the value of the community. I think it is fair to say that this, in turn, will preserve and enhance the value of our homes.

• Nobody wants to be hit with huge special assessments, so the best way to fund this work is through a gradual accumulation of reserves.

Therefore, most of the directors seem to see the sense in starting that gradual accumulation of funds now. The Board understood this concept five years ago, which is why we now have the ability to undertake the first, large rebuilding project. I believe they see the need to continue with this strategy to ensure that we have sufficient funds for the future projects that will inevitably have to be done.