This question came up:

Why don’t the property owner golfers pay all of their golf amenity costs at Big Canoe?

A while back, I asked a Board Director why tennis players and golfers don’t pay the full cost of their amenities. He gave me the typical response, these amenities add value to everyone’s property, and therefore, everyone should pay for them whether they use them or not.

So go figure, the amenities add value to all of the properties at the so-called similar communities of Hilton Head, SC, but only the users of the amenities pay for them.

I am a tennis player and I am willing to pay the full cost of this amenity, I don’t think that my non-tennis playing neighbors should subsidize the cost of my tennis.

I personally find it astounding that we have subsidized Food and Beverage by over $442,000 through September, in spite of the continuing proclamations of how well everything is going. Add to this the $180,000 we have spent on “Clubhouse Management” since this white elephant opened. As Red Pencil points out, “Clubhouse Management” should be apportioned between the F&B operation and the golf shop. At the rate we are spending, we will have subsidized the clubhouse management and F&B by $1,000,000 by year end. I would say it’s pretty certain that Trevi, IGA Express, or Uncle Jack’s didn’t run up this kind of deficit before they pulled the plug.

Common sense says that enough is enough. The F&B operation is highly inefficient as revealed in the financials, and it is obviously not supported sufficiently by the residents to break even. Add to the continuing losses on F&B the cost of club house management and debt service to build this facility and you have the makings of a financial disaster. Maybe it’s time to end the free drinks for regulars in the bar and complimentary champagne and fruit for the Ridgerunners meetings.

As an aside, we must get to the situation where all of the amenities are paying for themselves. Currently, we are subsidizing Swimming by $95,000 through September and Tennis by $25,000. We are spending a significant amount of money on upgrading the facility and adding courts while the number of tennis members is actually lower than it was in 2005. Oddly enough, I find that the same people who support the picking of the pockets of the populace to subsidize the amenities are the same ones who are critical of Obama’s wealth redistribution plans. It’s the same idea, folks. If the people who want it won’t pay for it, cut it back or shut it down.

Not manning the North Gate is another astounding approach to saving money. What happens if there is a fire? I suppose a fire truck could just knock the barrier down, but does this idea make any sense to anyone?

I fully agree that we absolutely do not need an Amenity Manager. Realistically, we have supposedly competent people in charge of each of these operations and a person in charge of the emergency services, and with the expansion of his job description, a number of other areas as well. If a professional GM cannot manage the ammenities, he or she is clearly incompetent.

I also agree that we should be hiring a real GM as soon as possible. While Roger has not done a bad job, he is tainted by the fact that his appointment was an unethical act to place the board’s sycophant in a sinecure as a reward for serving as their lap dog in the implementation of the new order.

Thankfully, John Lipkowitz has withdrawn from the election and John Sefarian won’t be able to run again if he wants to keep his position in the pro shop, unless they make an exception for him. We desperately need new blood on the board.

As far as Smoke Signals as a source of news, a few issues back they basically said they weren’t going to report anything bad or do any sort of investigative reporting. I suppose you can’t really expect anything better from the developers organ. Perhaps the time has come to consider an alternative publication or expansion and publicizing this web site.

Unfortunately, we have a board of directors and a vocal group of residents that feels that any questions, concerns, or requests for discussion or information about board actions are prima facie evidence of obstructionism or worse. The current financial situation alone should raise demands for restraint.

Soon we will be receiving a questionnaire on the Capital Initiation Fund. I hope everyone will take the time to thoughtfully fill this out. I feel that we clearly need the fund but, like most of us, I had to vote against it because of the lack of controls. We can only hope that our elected representatives will pay some attention.