What shall become of Lake Forest?

There once was a time not too long ago when this writer thought that it was possible to turn the attitudes of the membership around and have majority support for all of our amenities from the golf course to the yacht club.  Under the leadership of men like Hal Pierce, Bob Segalla, Ed Kirby and others, boards over a ten year period actually did make progress toward such an end culminating with a great vote of the membership in support of the amenities in 2004.  Our hopes were that given a few more years, the mission would be complete and Lake Forest members would be happy to be members of the association and its amenities.  Then others with a different agenda took over and the turnaround in membership attitude has been mindboggling to say the least.   Certainly, those later leaders will insist that conditions beyond their control, mainly the economy, caused the decline.   There may be some merit to those excuses.  At any rate, today in 2010 there does not seem to be a great deal of support among its members for the Lake Forest property owner’s association .  Could attitudes be turned around once more?  Maybe they could with a different economic climate, new leadership and perhaps new management.  Unfortunately, there is just not enough time.   At midnight on January 17, 2023 the covenants will expire.   That is just over twelve years from now.  It is the covenants that require property owners to be members of the association.  It is the covenants that require them to pay maintenance fees.  It is the covenants that require them to care one bit about the future of the LFPOA.  So, twelve years from now Lake Forest will almost certainly see a mass exodus of members from the association.  Twelve years from now those of us interested in keeping our amenities viable will have to figure out how to do it with 300 members instead of 3000.  The future does not look too bright.

That is enough of the negative stuff.  It does not necessarily have to be that all of the members will quit in twelve years.  It could be possible for attitudes to change once again.  It is just not likely to happen with the amenities structured as they are.  None of the amenities, and I mean none, have complete support of members.  Golf course, yacht club, tennis and pools all have only a few die hard supporters.   They will not be enough.  So, what do we do?  We face the music; doing so, at least initially will mean doing taking some unpopular actions.  Get it over with.  Do the bad things early, so that the members have more time to get over it before 2023. 

For over twenty years we have been in an ongoing battle to defend the yacht club.  I’ve been one of its supporters and have the scars to prove it.  It is time we handed over our sword and surrendered.  If Clint and others (and there are a great many others) want to sell it, let them.  Don't worry about the fact that the state is going to open up that Blakely river outlet on the causeway, which will help clean out our channel. The next owner will get to reap the benefit from that. Forget about getting those great big bucks for it.  That market is long gone.  It was appraised at about three and a half million dollars in 2004 and that is probably what it is worth today.  That nine million dollar figure that was thrown around a few years ago is probably history.  However, don’t be in a big rush.  Be a reluctant seller.  You will end up with a better deal.  And, whatever the leadership tries to do, please try not to blow the money.  Put it in an escrow or foundation for future benefit to the community.  For goodness sake, please don’t agree to Clint’s plans for new clubhouses and pools.  There is almost zero support for those among the great majority of Lake Forest members.  Remember your goal.  Save Lake Forest in 2023.

Clint wants to get rid of those remote pools.  If you’re going to do it, do it now.  But, don’t waste money building a new one.  Clint’s idea to build a new “central” pool at the Country Club just doesn’t make sense.  First of all, take a look at the aerial image of the amenities below.  You will find that in fact the whole area is one large, contiguous recreational facility from the golf course at the top to the main pool and tennis courts on the bottom.  A member can walk from one to the other without ever leaving the Lake Forest recreational area.   There is already a “central” pool.  The current tennis courts are very nice.  Why in the world would you want to throw away money replacing them?  Use a little of that yacht club money to fix them up.  One side note, though, you will have to tell the Lake Forest swim team to find another facility.  You can’t very well close all the pools but one and have that one restricted from members for a swim team that most don’t care about anyway.  Do you see all the bad things that we have to do?

Now, let’s talk about the Lake Nine.  Don’t sell it.  Nothing good will come of doing something like that.  The buyer would certainly want to develop in there and that would surely be bad.  There would probably be more apartments.  And, there would certainly be more traffic in the community.  And, most importantly, you would have absolutely no control over the types of new residents you would get.   So, what can you do with it?  Turn it into a park.  Let the Garden Club have their way with it.  Let the members use it for walking trails, picnics, horseshoes, volleyball, fishing, and other nice things.  Look at the good side of this.  You would finally have a way to justify keeping members from walking on the golf course.  The golf course maintenance should be reduced.  No need to fertilize.  Just cut the grass and the amount of grass you have to cut will grow smaller as some of those other activities are developed.   The cost of operation of the golf course should be reduced.  Now we are starting to do things to win over the bulk of the membership.  A new park! Since the park would effectively be "public", you might be able to get the city to chip in a little too.

Now, you have sold the yacht club.  Food & beverage is now limited to the 19th Hole.  F&B costs are going way down.  Of course, there are plenty of related expenses to the yacht club that will be eliminated. If you can use outrageous power cost figures to justify tearing down the country club, you should be able to show a large savings at the yacht club too. You have quit maintaining the Lake Nine as a golf course.  Golf maintenance costs should go down.  At some point you should find that you can reduce maintenance fees.  Don’t do it yet.  Take a few years to use the money to fix up what remains of the Lake Forest recreational area.  Build some gazebos in the park.  Do a little landscaping.  Improve the remaining pool and tennis courts.  Get a real handle on what it will actually cost to maintain the place.  But, by 2018 you are going to want to start bringing those fees down.  Members will have begun to use and appreciate the park.  That will in turn increase usage of the golf course and tennis courts.  Members will begin to see how nice it is to actually be a member.  Don’t forget your goal.  Save Lake Forest in 2023!

Note:  Don’t hold anyone but your old weblord responsible for this contribution.  I wouldn’t want anyone of my friends to be blamed for it.  I’m sure there are some holes in this idea, but if Clint’s proposal makes it to a proxy, I want this one on it too. Hopefully, I'll still be able to throw a horseshoe in 2023.

One of our former directors has already objected to this plan in just one day on The Grapevine.  So, let's compromise.  Don't sell anything.  Just convert that Lake Nine to a park.  Even if the board limits dues increases to inflation, we will probably be looking at $62 a month in 2023.  Shall we take the gamble?  Will a nice central park for walking, picnicking and so on keep the members from leaving when the covenants expire?  Should we even care?  Maybe we should implement a plan because it would be good for Lake Forest today and let 2023 take care of itself.  Are you willing to risk putting that to a vote now?  If we were to put three options on a proxy, Clint's plan, the plan described above and this modified idea, which do you think would get the most votes?  If you do not want to sell the Yacht Club, you'd better leave the plan above off the proxy.  Frankly, directors, none of this should go to a vote.  It is your responsibility to decide on a plan and implement it.  Don't try to pass that responsibility off.