Bella Vista Property Owners Association board hears flood report
BELLA VISTA — The current Property Owners Association’s Board of Directors held its final meeting May 26. The June meeting will see a new board, although there are only a few changes.
Director Teah Bidwell chose not to run for reelection to the nine-member board. Jason Loyd, currently the chairman of the Joint Committee on Golf, will be the only new face. Both Mike Ab and Jerre Barron Jr. retained their seats in the 2022 election.
The new board has already met to elect officers. David Brandenburg will continue as chairman, and Barron will continue as vice chairman.
Director Jan Hagan reported on an executive session that was held May 25 regarding a misconduct allegation concerning three board members. Executive sessions are closed to the public and no minutes are available, but according to the governing documents, a report about the proceedings must be made during an open meeting. Hagan said four members, including himself, JB Portillo, Abb and Jackie Gains found the allegations without merit, while Jan Sims and Sandy Fosdick disagreed. No action was taken, and no other details were provided.
An earlier executive session was held to create a task force that will act on behalf of the board to settle some legal matters. The task force includes Brandenburg and Barron, along with association counsel Doug McCash and Chief Operating Officer Tom Judson.
Keith Ihms, director of golf maintenance, reported to the board about recent flooding on the golf courses. The water wasn’t as high as it has been in the past, he said, but there was still a lot of debris left behind.
A water line was broken on Kingswood, and some railings were washed away on a cart bridge.
Ihms said most of the repairs were done in house, saving the association the cost of contractors. He said he always looks for ways to prevent damage from future floods because there will always be future floods.
The cost of the most recent flood was $36,000. He said flood cleanup used to be more expensive, but his department has been able to mitigate some of those costs. Last year’s repairs on bridges at Scotsdale were successful, he said. There was no further damage in those areas.
The flooding impacted the golf courses and golf income, controller Stacie Higgins said, but it was still a good month. Revenue is exceeding budget, she said. Food and beverage revenue has been particularly good.
The tiny cabins at Blowing Springs are getting a slow start and didn’t meet the revenue budgeted, Higgins said, but the RV Park is still doing better than budgeted. Overall recreation is above budget, she said.
The Water Department is also doing well, she said, and the association is repaying the loan to the Water Department a little ahead of schedule.
