Grapevine Archive

January 2008

1/28/2008

Did anything of interest happen at the board meeting last night.  Were any decisions made?

1/28/2008

Stated meeting of the board tonight.  Someone please let us know what is discussed.

1/28/2008

What do you think of the latest buzz?  Some in the City Hall want to make the mayor's job part time.  Someone needs to be performing the duties of Chief Operating Officer, either a fulltime mayor or a full time city administrator.  If they opt for a fulltime city administrator, then we don't need a mayor at all.  Supposedly, one of the advocates of the part time mayor idea is the current mayor, Fred Small.  You know how the rumor mill goes.  The gossip around town now says that he already spend a lot of time at his convenience store instead of City Hall.  Give us your thoughts.

1/24/2008

Is it just me or is Henry Lawson NOT the president of LFPOA any longer? Why then is he still being quoted in the Mobile Register as president? (Today, Metro/Region section, page 1, top, regarding the city debate on smoking.) I guess it wouldn't bother me if the analogy that he makes in his statement there were not so logically flawed.

The city fathers never paid much attention to Henry.  I doubt if the readers of the newspaper do either.

1/24/2008

Hi Mitch, appreciate your website, try to read it daily...yes, we do need to give the Manager discretionary spending, we gave it to Jake and he had some freedom to repair/replace things for daily use without waiting for the board's approval....it's called managing...someone has to make decisions on spending....cc kitchen just got a new microwave, much needed, and these things constantly pop up, just like running a home, get with it board members....somebody has to take the lead, staying under some dollar figure that is computed to be adequate. Enjoyed pictures of the Lake, so sorry it's not in better shape....during the last rains I watched the Pro Bass development's clay just pour off the cleared areas and down toward Hwy 10 empties out behind the old Gayfers they tell me and into our Lake? Is that right?  Boy, that'a a lot of clay coming from acres of cleared land.  Whose going to clean it up?

At one point we were told that the silt was dumping into D'Olive Creek below the dam, not in the lake.  I does seem like some of it would have to be dumping into Tom's Cove and the lake.

1/24/2008

We received a couple of notes of interest today.  The first is one from our Architectural Support person to the neighborhood volunteer inspectors.

1/24/2008

The board has a number of capital improvements planned.  They also appear to have needed some money to cover a shortfall last year.

1/23/2008

1/23/2008

WOW! After reading that last submission, obviously by a board member, I don't see why we need a General Manager.

1/23/2008

Couldn't help but notice the boats & trailers placed on and around the tennis court. Looks really bad.

1/23/2008

We have some new lake pictures.

1/20/2008

I think you need to inform the readers of the real issue about discretionary spending. In years past, the GM had discretionary authority up to $7500.00. This was above any budgeted expenses for the operation and maintenance of our facilities. The current board passes a budget for operations and maintenance. This budget is in excess of 2.6 million. Why should discretionary spending be in the hands of anyone other than the board?  When the board adopts an operating budget, there are items in excess of $7500 included.  These items are routinely paid.  The issue is whether we want the management and staff deciding w here capital should be spent at any given time.  What the board is working toward is the passing of the operations budget and also the passing of a capital budget. The capital budget would need to be based on a multi-year capital spending plan. You would hardly call the controlling of discretionary spending being micromanaging.  Discretionary spending must be managed by the board. That is prudent and proper in this writer's opinion.

I'll let the contributor inform you of all that.  Don't you just love little poa's?  You have a handful of people, who take a position that nobody wants and then think they can run a business that they know absolutely nothing about.  No other business works that way.  In real business, the budget that the contributor is talking about is normally presented to the directors/trustees by management.  Any proposed capital projects also normally come from management.  The board/trustees approves the proposals with perhaps a few modifications to accommodate one agenda or another and then they get out of the way.  From that point on the board/trustees have the responsibility of monitoring management and that's about it.  Management has the responsibility of implementing everything else.  To paraphrase President Reagan, the board will Trust but Verify.  If conditions change during the year and unexpected expenses come up, management deals with them within the constraints of that budget.  Management does not have to go back to the board/trustees for permission, unless it believes that the events might significantly alter the final results.  But that's not the way it is in Lake Forest and most other little poa's.  Power goes to their heads and somehow by virtue of acquiring the position, they have overnight become operational geniuses, even though they really don't know what the operation is.  That has been particularly prevalent over the last couple of years in Lake Forest.  We can only hope that they learn from those mistakes.  Lake Forest has an acting general manager who has been with us for around ten years.  Most of those years he spent working for, and learning from, the best general manager we have ever had.  Unfortunately, he spent the last couple of years working for the worst.  At least he has seen both examples first hand and I believe he is intelligent enough to take advantage of it. 

1/182008

The special meeting of the board the other night had to do with funding some improvements that director Sherrie Weller wants to make at the Yacht Club.  Since those capital expenditures have not been studied by the rest of the board, a motion was made to table the subject until the rest of the board has a chance to examine the project.  It's my understanding that the requested improvements are not all the expensive and had the acting general manager had the discretionary budget that some of our previous GMs had, $7,500, he could have gone ahead and made most of the improvements without all this discussion.  I wonder if the current board still has a touch of the micromanagement disease that has plagued other recent boards.  With an annual budget of about two and a half million dollars, the general manager should have the ability to spend that $7,500 for important things without every board member having to give it their blessing.

1/18/2008

We have some new lake pictures for you.

1/16/2008

Homeowners Insurance in Lake Forest.

 We were told by Allstate Insurance Company That over 11,500 Homeowners in Baldwin County alone have, or will lose there Homeowners insurance, I have also heard the same thing from State farm. It was told to me that if you have a homeowners policy with these companies and you do not have your cars with the same company you will be cancelled or not renewed, even if you have never made one claim. And some people lost to these companies because of claims from past storms others had to raise their deductible to a ridiculous amount just to keep insurance, I guess if you have no problem with a 5000 dollar deductible its ok,    Right?

1/16/2008

Gotta ring in on this one.  I am not plugging for Farmers Insurance, but as a current customer for both my home and autos, they are great. No complaints at all.  My rate actually went down this year. I would certainly give them a call.

1/16/2008

Can someone report on what happened at last night's special meeting of the board?

1/15/2008

This may be a stretch on what this web-site is all about but I think it is going to become a real concern to all of us if not so already. The subject is home owners insurance in Lake Forest. There are a number of us who have already received notification from our present insurers that at the expiration of the policy year they will not renew. Two other companies that I have used in the past, one of which I now have my two auto's with, also decline to insure my home. In fact, one stated they would really like out of the business altogether. The fact that we live south of I-10 has superseded all common sense with these companies. Lake Forest is probably 90 to 100 feet above sea level and if it floods only Noah XVIII will be around to tell about it. The term Baldwin County also implies Gulf Shores to them and again we are pushed even deeper in the river. (no pun intended ;) Perhaps some of your readers could offer the rest of us some helpful information or best options to protect our most valuable tangible asset.( i.e. companies now insuring and who had the best price, etc.) I truly feel the Alabama Insurance Commission needs to step in and let these companies know that if they want to sell other types of insurance in the state they will have to participate in homeowners throughout the state.

That is an important topic for this website.  The last I heard, Farmers Insurance is still providing homeowners insurance to Lake Forest.  The last time I compared, which was about three years ago, they were also very competitive.  I don't know if all that is still true.  Those companies that are dropping people like that, should also lose the right to sell car insurance south of I10 as well and maybe in the rest of Alabama for that matter.  If the State political leaders are not willing to play hardball with the insurance companies (we know how much political clout the insurance companies have), then maybe they should come up with a plan for the State itself to step up to the plate and provide a solution.  I'm not suggesting anything like free State-provided insurance.  I'm just suggesting that when the commercial entities that claim to be in the business of providing a service, refuse to do so because they aren't good enough at their job to figure out how much to charge, then perhaps government action is called for.

1/12/2008

Hey Mitch....what's going on with the Improvement Comt taking on riding around Lake Forest to report violations of our covenants to... Henry? Some people quit afraid of lawsuits? This has got to stay with Architectural to be official. Reporting violations to Stacey is easy. Just call her. Don't try to take pictures, etc. unless you are officially assigned that position! The Garden Club has tried to beautify Lake Forest for many, many years. We have the yard of the month and encourage beautification at the entrances and many other sites. We plant the entrances twice a year since 1961 with Genie Newberry as the President. We have records. Nailing people for covenant violations is Architectures' job, not the Improvement Committees, who has no official jurisdiction at all! People should know!

You are correct.  Anyone can call the office and report a violation.  The report will be kept confidential.  You are also correct.  The Improvement Committee has no authority over anything in Lake Forest.  It is made up mostly of concerned neighbors, who simply want to help their community.  Unfortunately, there are also some who use it as something of a political action committee to help those individuals keep some sort of power in the community.  Some members have recognized that they were being used and withdrew.  That it unfortunate.  We should encourage more community participation.

1/10/2008

IN RESPONSE TO THE THOUGHT "PROVOKING" SUBMISSION REGARDING STREET EXPANSION ETC. I WOULD LIKE TO OFFER THE FOLLOWING: 1)IF THE CITY OF DAPHNE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAVE OVER THE EXISTING STREETS IN LAKE FOREST; HOW CAN THEY AFFORD TO EXPAND THEM? 2) IF YOU WANT TO WALK - THEN GET OFF OF RIDGEWOOD AND BAYVIEW. THERE IS LITTLE TRAFFIC ON THE STREETS THAT BRANCH OFF. IN FACT, THAT'S HOW THE SUBDIVISION IS LAID OUT, IF YOU DRIVE DOWN ONE OF THOSE STREETS YOU PROBABLY LIVE THERE OR ARE GOING TO SEE SOMEONE. 3)IF YOU CAN RIDE A BIKE AROUND RIDGEWOOD, YOU ARE SO TOUGH ITS NOT GOING TO HURT IF SOMEONE HITS YOU. WHEN YOU SEE KIDS HAVING TO PUSH IT UP THESE HILLS YOU DON'T WANT TO EVEN THINK ABOUT TRYING. 4) THE NINE HOLE GOLF COURSE, ALTHOUGH TERRIBLY NEGLECTED SERVES A VERY USEFUL PURPOSE NOW FOR BOTH ADULTS AND CHILDREN. MANY ADULTS PLAY OVER THERE WHO CAN NOT KEEP UP WITH THE PACE ON THE BIG COURSE, KIDS PLAY THERE AND MOTHERS AND FATHERS PLAY WITH THEIR CHILDREN.

1/8/2008

A topic for discussion. Centralization. Should the LFPOA place a single competitive pool at the clubhouse? Survey results were split on this issue. Can one pool at the clubhouse accommodate the entire population of Lake Forest? What size and what features need to be included? This issue will be coming to the board soon. Stay tuned.

Apparently there is some documentation related to that survey that we haven't seen.  Nowhere have we seen any suggestion that the members want that central pool.  To quote the report of the consulting firm, "The residents want the pools to remain in their existing locations."  To further quote that report, "1. Residents do not want to study locating all facilities at the main clubhouse location."  The consultant's representative specifically mentioned this at the meeting where the results were presented to the membership.  I guess we could say that the results were split.  They either said "No" or they said "Heck No!"  So, I'm a little puzzled by the conclusion drawn in this contribution.  If a facility like this is built at the clubhouse, I don't believe it will be because the members want it. 

However, allow me to start this discussion with my own opinion, which is only worth as much as any other single member's.  If I were asked to vote on whether or not to close all existing pools and build a new, large facility at the Country Club, I would vote no.  Our family at one time or another has enjoyed every pool in Lake Forest.  That said, I think there is a good chance that we will never set another toe in a Lake Forest pool.  The kids have grown up and neither my wife nor I are pool people.  That is probably a mistake, because swimming is very good exercise.  Nevertheless, what the board decides to do with our pools will not affect us at all.  So, why would I vote no?  Here are my reasons.  The Bayview/Ridgewood loop is approximately six miles around. At this time, most Lake Forest children are within three or four blocks of a community pool.  They can get to it by walking mostly on side streets with little traffic or crossing the golf course when no one is looking.  Now one can say they shouldn't cross the golf course at all.  However, if the only pool were located at the Country Club, I believe they would be crossing that golf course in mass.  We have had contributions written in this very Grapevine lamenting Lake Forest's lack of sidewalks or walking trails.  Closing those community pools would inconvenience the majority of our members and endanger our walking children.  I would be opposed to closing those pools primarily for that reason.

 Now, let me offer another thought.  If I were a golfer, I would not want a pool at the Country Club.  Just ask the tennis players what parking at the tennis courts is like when there is a swim meet.  We could eliminate the swim team and that would solve that problem.  I don't think Rock Creek or Timbercreek have swim teams.  Some have said that a central pool would increase business at the 19th Hole.  Why do they call it a 19th Hole?  Anyway, it might increase business, but I have serious doubts about how much.  Also, if we want to find out, why not put sandwich, snack and drink machines at the pools?  The cost would be nothing, because an outside vendor would be happy to put them in and split the money with Lake Forest.  Then we could see for ourselves whether anyone would buy food without having to spend three quarters of a million dollars on a new facility.  I heard that figure at a recent stated meeting where the idea was discussed.

OK, the discussion is started.  Give us your thoughts.

1/7/2008

1/7/2008

I think we need to let Lake Forest parents know that according to 97.5 WABB radio station that our children, after the Christmas break are going to be subjected to a drug test.  Isn't that special.  I think that Lake Forest parents whom have children in 7th and 8th grade (middle school) should be aware of this ridiculous move by the Baldwin County School System, so if your children plays ball, or any kind of sports or even sing in the choir, they will be subject to this gross violation of their own constitutional rights.  This has been reported to us by more than one person.  Lets hope it doesn't happen.

1/5/2008

I tend to agree with the last post. I have driven by several people either jogging or walking on the streets. With our hills and curves, it's only a matter of time before someone is injured or killed. Fairhope did it, Montrose and into Daphne on Old Main. Lots of folks want to get healthy by getting exercise. No place to do it here except on the streets.

1/3/2008

For the safety of children and adults alike, we really, really, really need a bike lane installed on the side of the road.

1/02/2008

Happy New Year!  The old Weblord has been out of town for the holidays, but it doesn't matter as far as the Grapevine is concerned.  There have been no contributions during this time of good tidings.  Perhaps we are not as worried about the future of Lake Forest as we were last year.  That is for good reason.  The biggest problem for the last three years has finally left the board and the association is for the time being under better management.  The Board of Directors seem to be doing a good job.  Let's hope it all continues.  Well, don't forget to check the Grapevine from time to time and be sure to let us know all the good and bad things you see in Lake Forest this year.  I will keep an eye out for your messages.  May you all have a great year and may all your resolutions be successful.