Grapevine Archive

January 2008

09/30/2009

The meeting scheduled for Sunday will not be for the purposes of a vote to increase dues, The meeting will be for the purpose of formulating a policy to be attached to Sect. 2.4 to allow for a more fair and realistic approach to regulating the way the board should approach our fees. Quite the contrary, I can assure you this, any fee changes , if determined, will be a matter for the new board to consider. If a new policy is adopted, it will be done after the annual meeting at the next stated meeting. Thanks. Joe Mosley

Thank you so much, Joe, for that prompt response to the report!

9/30/2009

Alert!  There has been a special meeting of the board called by the Lake Forest Board of Directors for Sunday, Oct. 4th at 1:00 p.m. in the Forest Room.  The reason is not specified, but most believe it is for the purpose of raising the dues.  They probably want to get this thing passed, before all of its supporters leave the board after the October 19th annual meeting.  The question then becomes, will those candidates for the board, who voiced opposition, vote to reverse this Sunday vote until they have time to make further studies.

9/30/2009

Well, folks, as you may have heard by now, last night the Lake Forest Board of Directors voted to amend the by-laws to allow themselves the right to raise dues without member approval. I came away from the meeting extremely grateful not to be involved in Lake Forest politics anymore.  The Board sat patiently listening to members who stood up in opposition to their plan.  The members politely and good naturedly tried to make their case and all were 100% opposed to the amendment.  Then the board had their chance to speak.  This is where the meeting turned ugly.  When it became obvious that the board was merely going through the motions of listening, the crowd began to get loud.  And, as usual, the "I hate the amenities" bunch became the loudest and rudest.  It seems that there is just no way to convince some people that without the amenities, Lake Forest would be just not be as nice.  It was a little like watching a version of the healthcare town hall meetings.  A lot of people with genuine concerns show up only to be overwhelmed by louder elements from the extremes.  And, of course, the Democrats ignore the ones with genuine concerns and try and to convince people that the extremists were the only ones at the meeting.  Our board, I'm sure, will claim that the "real" Lake Forest people are on their side and subsequently ignore everyone. 

Here is the board's position in a nutshell.  The association cannot operate on the current revenue stream.  The membership will never agree to a dues increase.  The board has no alternative but to either sell amenities or raise dues.  Your old weblord doesn't really believe that those are the only options.  For many years boards were able to keep things running under the same conditions.  Now it could be that we just had better management.  I can tell you that Jake Bodiford, the general manager that we had for eleven years, knew his stuff and Lake Forest was perfectly able to operate on a budget  While our current general manager may have been a great golf pro, it may be that the overall management of the business is a little beyond him. 

In any event, the directors began to speak.  Ray Sturch went first, by making the motion.  They seemed to have a difficult time finding someone on the board to second the motion.  Finally, Joe Moseley seconded by saying that he just wanted to get it out for discussion.  He then proceeded to speak.  As he spoke, the audience began to stir like a bunch of annoyed wasps on a nest.  He spent his time trying to justify last fall's board action to steal the authority to change the by-laws.  He tried to make a case that the board in 2003 was just as unscrupulous as his board was last year, but it just didn't wash.  That board in 2003 followed the rules and then acted according to the will of the membership and the developer by re-instating the by-laws to the form that they had before the annual meeting. By now the crowd was shouting.  The president demonstrated no ability to get the meeting under control, so Willie Robison stepped up to calm things down a bit.  However, we had to sit through another of Willie's pontificating sessions in the process.  The bottom line of Willie's speech was apparently that he had changed his mind to the side of the audience.  That may have been because he still wants to be on the Daphne City Council.  Then, Clint Martin spoke.  Clint said he was opposed to the amendment and then proceeded into his tired old story that we need to close most of the amenities and build one big nice facility that everyone will overjoyed to use and we can live happily ever after.  Clint just absolutely refuses to consider anyone else's point of view.  Once again, we have the non-user of the Yacht Club in Clint, who thinks the solution is to sell the Yacht Club.  He is probably the reason that Marie Bidney voted for the amendment.  She's afraid that they just might do that with her precious Yacht Club.  I hate to break the news to them, but one of the side affects of the current financial crisis is that selling the Yacht Club will not bring in that massive influx of cash that it might have a few years ago.  Travis Stone spoke next also saying that he opposed the amendment.  He pointed out that the amenities do increase the value of property in Lake Forest.  He also pointed out that somehow the members have to get on board with providing adequate revenue to operate the facilities.  Then they voted.  Ray Sturch, Marie Bidney, Joe Moseley, and Brian Frater voted for the amendment and Willie Robison, Clint Martin and Travis Stone voted against.  The motion carried.

This vote is not really the issue that concerns this writer.  All those directors are also members, so any increases they pass, they will also have to pay.  So, it is not likely that any board will pass some outrageous increase in dues.  The real issue has been, and still is, the action that was taken last year to allow the board to gain control of the by-laws.  It is the opinion of your reporter that it was underhanded, unethical and improper.  Whether it was legal or not still remains to be seen.  Frankly, if I were on the board last night and thought that last year's action was proper, I would have voted for this amendment myself.  However, I would never have agreed to the action that was taken last year to snatch control of those by-laws.  Apparently, recent boards have accepted the idea that the end justifies the means.  Your weblord and other former board members do not agree.

One last comment on this and I'll sign off.  Allowing directors to manage the dues schedule is not really the big danger.  What is dangerous is their ability to change the by-laws and by extension their ability to increase their borrowing limit.  While I don't think any board would raise dues to a point that would strain their own personal pocketbook, I do see the possibility that through incompetence, a board and management could borrow the association into a hole that it cannot get out of.  We have Clint, who wants to build a grand new facility.  We have a former director, Jim Moss, running again, who in my opinion helped run the club into the ground in the first place.  He also wants to be able to borrow more money.  The ability to change the by-laws will make that possible.  Now we have something to worry about.

9/28/2009

I saw a couple of good articles in Sunday's paper about the meeting tomorrow night.  I hope they get a good turnout.  I was struck by one quote from former president, John Peterson.  He must think most of us in Lake Forest are really stupid, if we can go through the process of buying a house, signing all the documents, and receiving our monthly bill and, according to John, not "even know we have amenities".  You don't suppose that maybe a few of us caught on that there were amenities when we received our surveys a while back, do you.

9/28/2009

I have been a member in the past and would like to be again. I enjoyed the facilities, but I am allergic to cigarette smoke. I found that there were not enough "enforced" non-smoking areas in our facilities. I really don't understand because in this day and time there are more non-smokers than smokers?! If the association wants more membership and better attendance in the facilities it seems they would make it more accessible to non-smokers? I feel my right to breathe uncontaminated air outweighs a smoker's right to pollute it. Like every where else there should actually be "designated smoking areas", instead of small and unenforced non-smoking areas, anyway. My last comment in this section in regard to this problem was not printed? You must be a smoker?

I think that most of the amenities are non-smoking, except for the 19th Hole locker rooms, the Bayview Lounge and the Yacht Club bar.  I know that the 19th Hole and the Yacht Club restaurant are non-smoking and I believe the rest of the amenities are as well.  As for your last sentence, I quit smoking in 1982 and like many other reformed smokers, I am known by many to be militant about having the stuff around me.  Your previous message must of have hit when my mailbox was full.

9/28/2009

To the contributor with the many ideas on changing the way Lake Forest operates; I have this to say. You state that the board should gradually increase dues with the membership approval. Well, the past two annual meetings held for such types of increases. In each case they were voted down by the membership. One was a simple dues increase approvable by the board at an annual meeting that could not exceed the government "Consumer Price Index" increase. That would still require a vote at the annual meeting, but just a vote of the board and no membership vote. That was defeated. The second effort was to increase the dues while setting up 25% to be placed in a capital reserve account to be used exclusively for the investment in the amenities. That, too, was defeated. So what other evidence is needed to "presume" the voters would not capitalize the association and provide adequate funding for the improvement of our common properties? Perhaps the developer who established the association and their lawyers knew that in large associations, the membership would not approve funding or dues, even if it meant a degradation of facilities. Perhaps that is why when Lake Forest Property Owners Association was established, the board was given the power to change dues and make charges, period. The reality is that the board is not removing any authority from the members that was established legally in the first place; but merely restoring the original intent of the association's founding documents.

In the last four years, the board has consistently taken privileges from members and ignored the board's own surveys when the members responded to them.  Why this contributor would expect the membership to respond any other way about a dues increase seems a little odd.  I might point out also that the Constitution of the United States has been amended many times.  Perhaps the contributor thinks that it might be better to revert that one back to the founding document.  Of course, should that happen, at least half of our American citizens would lose their right to vote.  Well, now that I think about, I guess this contributor would approve of that idea. ;-)

9/25/2009

The following contribution came in today from our former green's superintendent. While most of us have no idea of the circumstances of his leaving, I am sure we all wish him well in the future.

While I do not want to get into the discussion on the grapevine I wanted it to be clear to the readers that that wasn't me on there posting about Mr. Sturch or anyone else. I'd love to say the things I think know or feel, but what good would that do?
Keep up the work, someone has to protect the association.
 

9/25/2009

Ray ran the good help off, and orders items for the staff to use. That's right, he called a vendor, ordered something and then told the club that they would pay for and use the item. 

Without knowing all the context surrounding this, it is hard to form an opinion about it.  Directors have often been involved in purchasing for the association and usually with the general manager's approval.  I know that the tennis association in the past has often purchased equipment on behalf of the association.  The same can be said for those people active in golf and yachting.  One director a few years ago complained that the metal chairs in the Country Club looked cheap and the gm told her to go find some new ones.  She did and they were purchased.  That major front entrance project in the late 90's was completely run by one director, Stan Keel.  He supervised the design, purchasing and construction.  Of course it was always with total board and management approval.  Now, that said, in all cases above the purchases were approved by the general manager in advance.  Obviously, the tennis association, golf association, directors and others would never have presumed to order anything without management knowing about it.  I can only assume that the same can be said about Sturch.  I'm wondering if this complaint has anything to do with recent termination of the greens superintendent.

9/24/2009

Ray Sturch is pulling most the strings, Steve is a puppet. If Moss gets on there will be 2 puppet masters. If you had done some of the things that Ray has you would have ended up in court, or in that mullet wrapper.

I can't imagine anyone paying much attention to Moss and I've not heard or observed anything like that about Sturch.  You must be a fan of the general manager. 

9/24/2009

The proposed change to the by-laws is a slap in the face of the Lake Forest Property Owners Association. Section 2.4 is clearly a checks and balance procedure to protect the membership from a group of dictators. The proposed amendment simply eliminates the members “Safety Feature”. Don’t get me wrong I agree that an increase in dues would be justified IF approved by the membership. The Directors would have you believe that approval from the membership is highly unlikely or even impossible. My interpretation of the by-laws is that there has to be a majority of the members to amend a by-law (85% for a covenant). Am I crazy in thinking that what CAN’T be approved by the membership isn’t in the membership’s best interest? If the members don’t want a dues increase why would we ever give up that decision making power? The directors work for the membership, who are they to tell us we can’t make a decision. Now for some helpful criticism. We will never have top rated facilities paying $35 per month. What are we at, roughly 3000 memberships? That’s somewhere around 1.2 million in dues billed (not collected) a year. That’s around the operating budget of a middle of the road golf course and we are trying to run an entire community. I suggest the board come up with some new thoughts and ideas that can openly be discussed throughout our membership versus lame attempts to hoodwink the members and gain unlimited open-ended power with no checks or balances. I will even lend them some of mine. 1) Increase dues by 3-5% year over year (through proper membership approval process). That would equate to an increase of $1.75 per month? That’s $63,000 year one. This would have an immediate effect on the bottom line without being a huge burden or unexpected expense to the membership. The increase would be yearly but most importantly expected, no surprises. This increase could be eliminated in the future when our organization is in a better financial state. 2) The golf course, while well maintained and a great benefit if you play golf has, no value to a majority of our membership. OPEN IT TO THE PUBLIC! LFPOA members could still purchase an annual pass (perhaps at a discount to public annual pass holders) and we could fully attain the revenue potential from that one facility. There are ways to give “Members” added benefits over the public play such as discounts in f&b, merchandise, greater tee time window etc. Private facilities are in the gutter, the demand is in Semi Private / Public access golf. Just imagine, a facility that not only pays for itself but makes money. In time it could make enough profit to give the association the needed revenues to “remodel” the clubhouse, re-do pools and maintain our common areas. I can just see it a few years from now, a golf course that is hard to get on due to play levels, meandering through a beautiful community that’s landscaped (other than hand-me-downs from the city). Heck we could use the LFPOA dues (of whatever amount) to keep the pools at no charge and increase the effectiveness of policing the covenants. 3) Completely do away with the covenants and by-laws when they expire. If we as a community need this organization we will be able to find a way to make it work. In a nutshell our current, as well as past boards have rarely given the members of this association enough information or solutions to problems to get a majority of anyone to agree. All I see are constant attempts of the few to dictate what is best for the many. Be open and tell us your plan. How much more in dues? Why must it be so open ended? Your intentions might be good but what happens years from now without the checks and balances? I look forward to another entertaining annual meeting.

  I suggest that you attend the meeting next week to hear what they have in mind and voice your opinion.

9/23/2009

Censorship is a great thing.

Apparently this one is related to our full mailbox.

9/23/2009

I found out last night that my mailbox has been full for a couple of weeks due to tons of SPAM, so if you have sent something to the Grapevine and it was not published, please try again.  Thanks for letting me know. 

There was a meeting last night of some concerned members on the board's plan to unilaterally change the by-laws to give themselves the right to raise the dues.  As you might guess, there were no supporters of the idea there.  Several ideas were discussed about how to respond to this, including mass emails, groups at the entrances passing out literature before the meeting, and so on all of which were geared to producing a good turnout for the meeting.  The legal option was also discussed as was the idea of delaying any kind of response until after the annual meeting when, hopefully, we will get four new directors who actually have the good of the community at heart and not just the good of the amenities.  The meeting is on the 28th at the Country Club.  I suggest you attend.  By the way, we also heard last night that the staff is planning to start moving furniture and fixtures from the Country Club to the Yacht Club in preparation for tearing the former down.  There are several who think that the source of all the ideas that we've heard over the last couple of years is the general manager of the association and not the Board of Directors.

9/20/2009

This Special Meeting thing is becoming more and more interesting.  Today, one of our board members, who used to think he wanted to run for City Council, told our friend Ed Kirby that the meeting is not a special meeting of the membership.  It is a special meeting of the Board of Directors.  Their intent, we are told, is to vote on this thing themselves.  Some of you may recall that last year the Board of Directors used Roberts Rules of Order to change the by-laws in such a way as to give themselves the right to amend those very by-laws.  Ed, I and others filed suit.  Our case was tossed because the board's attorney convinced a Baldwin county judge that we were not harmed, since the board had not actually done anything with that new found ability.  How do you like that one?  Well, if they actually do vote on this thing, then that argument is moot.  Naturally, we expect the membership to rise up and join us.  In fact, Ed says that the board fully expects us to do it.  You see, they don't care that members will have to dig into their own pockets in this time of financial hardship in order to protect themselves from their own community association!  Why should they?  They aren't going to have to pay for it.  Lake Forest has annual revenues of around two and a half million dollars.  The LFPOA board will be happy to use those deep pockets to try and justify using a procedural system meant for managing meetings in such a way as to amend the by-laws against the will of the membership. 

9/20/2009

Well, sometimes your old Weblord is just too slow.  Fortunately, or not depending on your point of view, we do have some sharper members in Lake Forest who caught on to this one.  When our last statement came, I noticed that it contained a recommended amendment to the by-laws, which takes away the memberships' right of approval for all dues increases.  Like many of our members, I really don't pay much attention to what's in a statement other than the amount at the bottom.  I just saw the proposed amendment and assumed that the board was being really on top of things by trying to make their case for an amendment prior to our annual meeting in October.  I admit to being puzzled when the proxy came in for the annual meeting to find that we were not being given the chance to vote on the amendment.  Well, other members pay more attention and saw that, in fact, what was contained in that statement was a notice for Special Meeting on September 29th to vote on this thing. Obviously, the board figures that most members are like me and don't read their statements, because this meeting is being held in the 19th Hole at the Country Club, which by the way we amazingly still own.  There's not much room in that facility, so they don't expect much of an attendance.  Somehow, I think they're going to be surprised.  Now, I have a few questions.  First, since the annual meeting is coming up only a couple of weeks later, why would they call for a "special meeting".  Surely, you don't think that the board knows that the membership will overwhelmingly kill such an amendment, if they are allowed to vote on it.  Certainly, they didn't put this notice in the statement because they knew that most people would not read it.  It couldn't be that representatives in our own community could be so devious.  If any of that is true, then it is pretty obvious why Lake Forest property owners do not appear to trust the association. 

09/10/2009

09/10/2009

09/01/2009

The Lake Forest lake made the newspaper today.  The article can only be viewed as a move in the right direction.

09/01/2009

Has the LFPOA considered taking monthly dues and fees by internet with debit/credit cards? If we already do, where and how are they done? Thanks

Your question has been relayed to the LFPOA office.

08/31/2009

Efforts to improve the golf course is admirable and does appeal to the 100 or so annual fee golfers, but those of us that do not golf or have swim team kids, are neglected member's of this association. The tennis association is disbanded and the courts are not maintained properly-due to the board allocations. Why are we spending money on a pool the members are not allowed to use- again board decision. The only nice moments to experience is the sunsets on the deck-- until the karaoke night club starts up and non-members and a handful of members, some with kids and babies, smoke, drink, and sing badly in an unhealthy, smog filled haze. Can we have a cultural get together, or a live musician(s). What about a coffee house night with sandwiches, salad, pastry, and music, we can actually hear each other and relax after a long work week. (Or breakfast on the deck on Saturday) How much does that cost?? Oh!! The young man that cooks at the Y.C. does a great job- don't run him off, he's a creative person that could really go further with the menu if you encourage him to do so with more item choices from the suppliers. Great burger and spinach dip!! No one under 21yrs of age should be in a bar! Parents are making a mistake exposing children to that atmosphere. The unhealthy air in those young lungs- THINK!!!!about the future of the children on Friday nights up to what time? and what they hear and see from adults under the influence?? May they get home safely..........and stay healthy!

08/31/20009

Dear Webmaster, 

I noticed online that Anthony Dees has his credentials listed.  I wanted to request that Ms. Hampton’s JD and my CPA be listed as well.

 Thanks!

 Ronda J. Melton, CPA, MBA, PFS

Yours has been modified on this website.  Ms. Hampton will have to make the request herself.  Thanks for the update.

8/27/2009

Just a thought.... considering the sparse turnout over the last few years at the annual meeting due to lack of interest by the membership, why not save some money this year by holding the meeting at the Lake Forest Yacht Club?  We've done it successfully before and it might be good for those people who would like to be directors to actually see one of our valuable amenities.

8/26/2009

Luckily, Lake Forest is not "just a golf course and a non-resident swim team" community. The reality is that our pools had over five thousand visitors this year. That would only include the Ridgewood and Montclair pools. I would say that is a good bit of use. What would be wrong with making those sites much more enjoyable? A year and a half ago, the board prepared concept plans for the renovation of those two pool sites. They included the refurbishing of the bath houses and adding shade and water features to the amenities. The plan also showed increasing the landscaping and rebuilding the pool decks. Perhaps we can get those posted here or on the official website. (See the plan -- pretty large file --)  This type of approach to amenities takes money and the result is in the value added to all the homes in the subdivision. It would be a real pleasure to have the best amenities, bar none, for our residents. At this point, there is no magic button to provide such an amenity. It takes money. I would think a modest increase per member, say $100 or $150 per year is not an unreasonable expectation. Not only that, an investment in the pools can gain us greater revenues. Much like the golf course efforts have done.

8/25/2009

We lost a Jack Russell Terrier, white with brown spots, her name is Delilah. She is 1 and a half yrs. She has a collar with a tag. The number has changed as I have listed above 931*625*7900, we just moved in this weekend. Please call us!

8/25/2009

Unfortunately, the economic situation for many residents has become a struggle, with no extra pennies available. Some of us have taken pay cuts to ensure our jobs will continue and have made major cutbacks to survive. Maybe some conserving on the golf course expenditures are in order for a year or two. There are far more of us that do not golf or do not have children on the swim team in L.F.. I resent having to pay for these amenities, but the ones I find useful are dingy, dreary, or unavailable for members to use. Are we just a golf course and a non-resident swim team ?? NO MORE MONEY FROM US !!!!!

8/24/2009

It is refreshing to see that each candidate wants to restore Lake Forest's beauty and desirability by enhancing the neighborhood. The recent billing contains information related to an effort to overhaul our community properties and to get the funds to do it the right way. We should all support the board in restoring the by-laws to their original form and allow them to preserve the association and its properties in an effective manner. John Peterson, former LFPOA President and board member.

08/21/2009

Please post candidates for the board as quickly as they are known.

Thanks for the prompt.  See Candidates  We have four positions open this year.

8/13/2009

For the person writing about "hurricane" insurance premiums . . . I have been working with State Senator Brooks and U.S. Congressman Bonner regarding this problem for over a year. Senator Brooks is doing his best for the state, but the lobbyists have deep pockets plus the legislators who live "up north" don't want to pay for our hurricanes . . . and, no, Birmingham doesn't pay the rates we do although they have tornados. I personally feel that the Federal government needs to step in . . . but as Bonner said at last year's "community" meeting at the Lake Forest Yacht Club - there isn't a "national department of insurance" in Washington, DC . . . I told him that maybe there should be one. When Allstate dropped me almost 2 years ago, I went with GeoVera - as a lot of my friends and co-workers have done. The irony is that my Allstate agent was/is selling GeoVera, but my policy didn't renew for 4 months at the time and they wouldn't switch me over to GeoVera and stated that when my Allstate policy lapsed that they would "try to get me on with GeoVera" . . . ha! I went online and found the company - called them in California and they referred me to their underwriter in Tennessee who then gave me the names of 3 agents in Daphne who sold GeoVera - and, guess what???? One of the three agents was my Allstate agent!!! I did not call him, but called Alabama Insurance Agency on Stanton Road (across from Cockrell's body shop) and switched my coverage that very day. GeoVera is based out of California and started there in fire and earthquake insurance. After Katrina, the company came to Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. I just received my renewal and it onl y went up $20 for the year. Of course, insurance companies make up the rules as they go along . . . the increase this year is because my roof is older than 10 years. As it was suggested by Bonner's office . . . call AND write your U.S. representatives . . . don't email them. The only other solution is to move either to northern AL or out of state - preferably where there are no hurricanes, tornados, fires, floods or other natural disasters. The more people who "protest" - or are the "squeaky wheel" - the more results we will see. There is a local group - I forget their name, but every now and then there's an article about them in the Daphne Bulletin - this grass roots group periodically holds meetings throughout Baldwin and Mobile Counties on insurance.

8/13/2009

Just got my homeowners renewal policy and it has increased by $700 for next year! No claims, no hurricanes, no nothing, just a big fat increase! I'm going to shop around but don't know who offers homeowners insurance in this area anymore. Any suggestions or advise would be appreciated. Thanks

We have been dealing with this problem since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and neither the State nor the Feds have stepped up to offer any help.  You would think that President Obama would be offering a "homeowner's stimulus plan" or maybe presenting a "Homeowner's Insurance Reform" package.  But, no.  Why not?  You don't suppose it is because we have jobs and own our homes do you?  Are we the rich?  Uh oh.  We need a community organizer to speak for us.  I wonder.  Are our insurance rates based on the insurance claim experience along the Gulf coast only?  Are we not included in a larger group?  Are people in earthquake prone areas having the same problem as we?  Allstate sells insurance all over Alabama.  I can't remember the last time I heard of a hurricane hitting Birmingham.  Why aren't our rates calculated based on statewide claim history?  They have tornadoes in north Alabama.  Are their rates jacked up because of that?  It certainly seems like there should be a solution to this problem, if only the government would step up to the plate.  Why don't they do it?  Is it because this a problem for black folks and white folks and rich and poor alike, so there is no political capital to be gained from taking it on.  Surely, we don't think the inaction is because the insurance lobby pays big bucks to keep the system like it is.

8/13/2009

I cannot publish unsigned contributions.

8/10/2009

The thing to consider when talking about the number of annual golf members is this. This is not representative of the number of members who play golf. It is representative of the number of people who play golf enough to pay for greens fees on an annual basis due to the number of times they play. You have to be able to play at least more than once a week, on average, to "break even" with annual golf. For working folks, golfing more than once a week is nearly impossible, so they chose to pay a daily fee. The daily fee income is clearly more than the annual fee income in terms of revenue for the association. For daily fee players, on normal days and before the twilight rate, you will pay $40.00 for 18 holes with a cart. For a single member, $2520 is the annual green fee and cart. That is 63 daily green fee and cart to break even. For a family, $3780 for annual green fees and carts. That is 95 rounds to break even. Some annual members pay trail fees and use their private carts. You have to golf in order for the annual membership to make sense. The points are this, to have 118 annual members brings great revenue to the club. Most golfers still pay a daily fee. The higher annual membership will decrease the subsidy requirement of the general membership. If you golf, you should really be happy with the course right now. Great job by the superintendent and his staff as well as the golf committee. Keep it up!!

Thank you for the clear explanation.

8/4/2009

How much play do we get on the golf course that are not members, but guest of members that pay the full price?? I would hope that that number is high, but I have my doubts. I think that if we are going to survive we need much more play on the golf course by non members, otherwise the golf course will or has become the White Elephant of Lake Forest