12/22/2007

Please post the winners of the Christmas decorating contest.

I'll try to get them on Monday.

12/21/2007

   The stated meeting of the board of directors took place Thursday evening at 6:30.  There was a pretty good group in attendance on the audience side.  I would say between 15 & 20 people.  As for the Board of Directors,  Clint Martin was absent.  Joe Moseley was absent. Marie Bidney was late and John Peterson was also late due to a Planning Commission meeting, where he had to present the plan for the new homes to be built by the Grande Pointe apartments.  By the way, the proposal was approved by the planning commission.  I don't recall how many homes they are talking about, but I believe it was somewhere between 20 & 30.

Jim Moss initially chaired the meeting until John arrived.  They approved the minutes for the November 26th meeting, which will make it into the February newsletter.  Then, they began committee reports.   Since Joe Moseley was absent, Steve Jernudd, the acting general manager, gave the report.  If you are interested in seeing the details, please feel free to drop by the Country Club and get a copy.  I won't try to remember the details here, other than to say they weren't pretty.  A number of adjustments and write-offs were made this month that Steve very tactfully attributed to errors by previous administrations. 

Jim Moss gave the architectural report, which included the usual numbers about how many violations had been found and how many were corrected.  He then proceeded to discuss the proposed penalty structure, which has been modified.  The highest penalty now is $200 per month after the second month until the violation is corrected.  This plan is not yet in affect.  Jim also mentioned the volunteer teams that are running around Lake Forest looking for violations.   Apparently, there has been some criticism of the program, because some thought that these teams answered to the Improvement Committee, which by its own choosing is not an official committee of the Board of Directors.  Willie Robison brought that up during the architectural report.  Jim said that the volunteer teams answered directly to the Architectural Committee and no one else.  He said that they did nothing other than report the violations.  The Architectural Support person then goes out and checks the report and only the Architectural Committee takes any action.  Willie said that his wife had been on one of the teams but has resigned because of concern over liability.  Willie wants to make absolutely sure that the Improvement Committee understands that they have no authority whatsoever to represent the association without prior approval by the Board of Directors.  It has been reported that one or more members of the Improvement Committee have been approaching the City saying that they represented the Lake Forest association. 

Willie Robison then reported on Building & Grounds, but I don't remember what he said.  He did say that roof repairs have started.

The next report was on Communications by Selena Vaughn.  She said they were working hard on the newsletter and website.  She said that there were people asking for the minutes to be printed sooner.  Unfortunately, that is not possible because of time lapses between meetings and deadlines for the newsletter and the legal nature of minutes.  (Reporter's Comment: If they will think about it, the members probably don't care to see the minutes.  They just want to know what happened.  Alisa, the staff person who takes the minutes, could put an informal report like this one on the website the next day and in the newsletter's next issue.  That would probably satisfy most of our members.)

Sherrie Weller gave the F&B report which was about the same as it normally is, not pretty.

Then Jim Moss gave the Greens Committee report.  He said they have a plan for making the golf course better and then made a motion to spend up to $50,000 on new greens.  Everyone went around the table agreeing on how important such an action was in order to attract more players.  Jim said it would pay for itself in one year.  One of the directors said that they had not been upgraded in 30 years.  (Reporter's comment: I believe that was Selena.  Of course, that was not true.  Many thousands of dollars have been spent over the years replacing and remodeling greens.  Nevertheless, keeping all of our amenities in good shape, including those greens, is important.)

John Peterson gave the lake report, which was similar to those we've heard over the last few months.  He said that he would be making a motion regarding the lake during the New Business section.

Clint Martin was not there to make the recreation report, but Steve said that Mike Albrecht at the tennis court was bringing in more revenue than expected and spending less.  He said that Mike should be commended for his effort.

Marie Bidney, who arrived late, gave the Yacht Club report.  She showed some sketches of potential future improvements to the marina.  She said that they would be rebuilding one of the docks this year.  That ended the committee reports.

Steve Jernudd gave the management report and asked that all directors keep lines of communications open with management.  He does not want them making promises that he can't keep.  (Reporter's comment:  That was the reporter's interpretation of what he said.)

There was no Old Business to speak of other that John Peterson saying that the search of a new general manager would probably get back into action after the new year.

Under New Business, the board passed the 2008 budget, changed the late fee to $5 on top of the 1.5% penalty, if we don't get our payments in within the first 30 days, and agreed to provide $5,000 to continue to the planning for the recovery of the watershed and lake.   Finally, they wrote off the debt of the Improvement Committee for the entrance work that was done last year.

Meeting adjourned.

12/20/2007

The stated meeting of the LFPOA board is tonight at the 19th Hole.  I never can remember what time it is, but I think it is at 6 o'clock.  Go and support our Lake Chairman in his efforts to get some funding to clean up the lake.

12/20/2007

I read in the paper today that Diane Hurst, the runner-up for the councilman's seat, stated that she is very active in the Lake Forest Property Owners Association. I am pretty active in things in Lake Forest and I don't recognize her name. What has she done that makes her active in the Lake Forest Property Owners Association?

  I believe she has been involved with the Improvement Committee.  If I am not mistaken, she was very active in the movement to stop that church/social services thing from being approved over near Montclair Loop.

12/20/2007

Speaking of that City Council seat, I said that I would tell you more about the interviews on Monday of last week.  For the most part, I had a good time talking with the council.  When your ol' Weblord's name appeared on the list of candidates, some of his old enemies started coming out of the woodwork.  One of the council persons even asked a question that seemed to have come from them.  It was a pretty pointless question about my previous campaigns for the District Six seat.  When I asked if someone had really said that, she said that they had said it to her.  Well, I tried to be polite with my answer.  Do you remember Allen Purdue, a former county commissioner?  He sent a letter to all of the council saying that he didn't care who they selected as long as it wasn't Mitch Davis.  That is a hoot!  I don't think he likes me.  It may have to do with an incident that occurred a few years ago when he asked for my endorsement in his campaign for State Representative.  I told him that I didn't think he had done a darn thing for us when he was on the County Commission, so why in the world would I endorse him for State office.  I didn't campaign against him, though.  Gee, do you think he's holding a grudge?  I doubt very seriously if the council paid much attention to any of these cranks.  I'm sure they made what they consider to be the best choice. 

The new District Six councilman lives on Rolling Hills Drive in Lake Forest, which is good.  That makes two councilmen who live in Lake Forest.  Maybe he can get that drainage problem fixed at the bottom end of Rolling Hills.  Then the potholes can be filled and the residents won't have to continue dodging holes and oncoming traffic at the same time.  Speaking of that, one of the councilmen, Gus Palumbo, apparently has taken exception so something written here on the Grapevine.  When his turn came to ask a question, Gus spent most of his time complaining that there were some in Lake Forest who say that we are not getting good representation because we only have one resident on the City Council.  (That would be me.)  He said that he disagreed because we have five districts represented in Lake Forest, therefore we get the best representation.  Yeah, right.  Do you suppose Gus bounces his way down the streets of Lake Forest on his way back and forth from work to his home in Timbercreek?  I wonder how often he comes into Lake Forest at all.  Actually, I'm sorry to have offended Gus.  I like the guy.  He had actually written a letter in support of our teen center a few years ago. The comments made about Lake Forest not having residents on the City Council was not meant to be directed at him or anyone else.  In fact, no one from Lake Forest even ran for the District Seven seat last time.  That's Gus' seat.  No one else ran at all.  Gus has never even had to actually campaign for office.

12/20/2007

  Have you noticed how much outsourcing is going on these days?  When you call for customer service, it is not unlikely that you will find yourself talking to some guy in India.  Well, there is no outsourcing going on here at your unofficial Lake Forest website.  It is purely homegrown.  Speaking of outsourcing, the other day I was feeling a little depressed so I called one of those Crisis Support lines.  I got a councilor in Pakistan!  When I told him I was suicidal, he got all excited and asked me if I could drive a truck!

12/20/2007

  That last one was a joke, guys.  I've never called any Crisis Support line.  I'm not even sure there is any such thing.

12/18/2007

It would be a good idea if those who want the lake cleaned up to attend Thursday's stated meeting.  A funding allocation has been requested from the board. This funding will place the LFPOA at the table in deciding a future remediation project and what it will include.  It is important that this project move forward and has LFPOA input.  Urge the board to vote yes to this funding.  Thanks-Lake Chairman

  As long as we have been trying to get outside parties to step up to the plate and help us deal with the silting problem in the lake, it would be completely irresponsible for the board not to get behind the lake chairman on this one.  The members also need to join him as well.

12/13/2007

  There's a working meeting of the board tomorrow night.  Why don't you stop by and observe?

Did you read the Baldwin Register story about the interviews for the vacant city council seat for District 6?  Your old Weblord was honored to be able to participate.   Most of us seemed to have a good time.  I'll tell you more about it later.

12/13/2007

The golf outing for the improvement committee was very good. A lot of people turned out for the event and everyone seemed to have a good time. The hotdogs and food was great and the weather could not have been better. All of the people who organized the event did a good job. Hopefully more people will play next year.

12/11/2007

The President of the association has announced to the Board of Directors that the Mobile Bay NEP has approved funding for engineering studies and design for the restoration of D'Olive Creek and Tiawasee Creek along with the remediation of the Lake Forest lake with the purpose being the reduction of sediment loads into Mobile Bay. The NEP has funded $25,000 for this effort.  It is anticipated that the initial funding requirement will be $45,000 ot $50,000. The President of the LFPOA will be asking the board for two things in the coming month.  One, he will ask that the board approve funding to go along with the N EP funding, hopefully $5000.  And two, he will ask for permission to approach local governments for a share of funding for this project engineering and design. The engineering will be ultimately used for projecting the actual project scope and funding requirements for the remediation of this area through lake dredging, streambed stabilization, streambed enhancements and streambed restoration. This project package will then be forwarded to both state and federal government for determination of funding capability and request. This is an early indication that nearly two years of meetings, an ongoing sediment study, and continuing developemnt pressures have caused us to get noticed by many people. We should be encouraged that the folks at the Mobile Bay NEP recognize the need for this to happen, now. We can only hope that the city and county governments will likewise recognize the damage they are inflicting on our resources and support this worthy effort.

12/10/2007

Wow!  What a pretty weekend!  It looked like the weather and Lake Forest events were both great.  There was a party at the Country Club and a party and karaoke at the Yacht Club Friday night.  The Senior Couples had a shindig on Saturday and there was another party at the Yacht Club Saturday also.  Sunday afternoon there was a crowd of cars at the Country Club for a tournament.  Let's hope this continues.

12/6/2007

Your site is a wonderful contribution and service to the members of the Lake Forrest community. It is one of my first stops every morning. In the Holiday Spirit of gentile questions and suggestions, I see a New Year's Eve party at the Yacht Club; but when I moved here 3 years ago, there were monthly activities. Whatever happened to these wonderful opportunities to meet your neighbors? Again, thanks for all the work and effort.

Thanks for the nice comments about the website.  There is a Christmas party coming up to benefit Mercy Medical.  I'm not sure of the details, but you can find them on the official association website.  I doubt that you will see many events this year.  The association has had a difficult couple of years with a general manager that was out of her element and a former president who tended to meddle in operations.  As a result, the board had to borrow money both years to cover shortages.  However, things are looking up.  This board looks pretty good and the acting General Manager, Steve Jernudd, has a much better grip on finances.  However, it may take a while to get things straight again.  Let me encourage you to go to that New Year's party at the Yacht Club.  My wife and I have been the last two years and we really had a great time.

12/04/2007

We had an anonymous contribution come in today.  Since it was not one that could be called objectionable by anyone, I can only assume that the writer was not aware of the policy of this website to not publish unsigned contributions.  Please be sure to identify yourself when writing to the website.

12/04/2007

Hi. We live near the Montclair park and would love to see an infant/toddler swing placed there. There is one open spot on the swing set and the existing two swings are for older children. Just an idea. Thanks

12/2/2007

Can anyone explain why the lake was drained last week & who authorized the person who did it to do it? I know we got a 2-3 of inches of rain & had some minor shoreline flooding, but with dry land soaking it up in the midst of a draught & a limited storm system, I hardly think it was necessary to drain the lake down so low. From what I understand, neither the city nor the lake chairman authorized this. [...]