Lake Carroll News A publication of the Lake Carroll Association and its Members The Lake Carroll News is online! www.golakecarroll.com News & Events>Newspaper September 2019
www.golakecarroll.com
Listening to Lake Carroll
Vol. 47 No. 9
What was that? A voice? The famous Greek Philosopher Socrates is said to have had an inner voice that spoke only when he was about to make a mistake. That inner voice is what prevented him from entering politics. Source: hearing-voice.org.
WHAT’S INSIDE Steve Mack Board Treasurer
QUESTION 1: Are we hearing voices? Yes. But not that magical inner voice that Socrates credits for his direction. However, when you become a volunteer and join a Board, you hear many, many voices. So, who to listen to? That’s an important point. Remaining neutral and looking out for the best for our community is where hearing voices can become challenging.
QUESTION 2: What’s in a name? Lake Carroll. That’s easy. It’s a lake. And the first thing that comes to mind is recreation. The second most used recreation amenity in our community is our golf course. As we demonstrated last month, the most-costly amenities at Lake Carroll are the golf course, the lake and the clubhouse. Annual Couples Fishing Tournament Page 8B
DISCUSSION. The discussion on how to balance our amenity usage and how we distribute these costs continues to be debated. NON-AMENITY USERS AND AMENITY USERS. What is obvious is we have two key categories of members in our community: Amenity Users and Non-Amenity Users. While Lake/Golf Amenity Users may enjoy some items below more than others, in general the categories tend to work. NON-AMENITY USERS: These are members who value Lake Carroll for its safety, property values and general care (no doubt, more items). These Non-Amenity Users, in general, support fees for amenity use. Since they may not use an amenity, the fee presumes they are getting their best value.
Rec Dept’s Adventure Camp & Traveling Zoo Pages 12 & 13B
BOARD MEETINGS Sep 27, Oct 25, Nov 22, Annual Mtg Dec 1, Dec 27 (if needed)
2020 Budget Meeting
S C H E D U L E All meetings held at the Clubhouse. Friday, 9/6/2019, 6:30 PM: Board, Finance & Steering – Operations and Fixed Assets Budgets Final discussion and agreement on Operating and Fixed Asset Budgets. Friday, 9/27/2019, 6:30 PM: Board Meeting. Board to approve the proposed preliminary budget Budget Hearings: Thursday, 10/3/2019, 6:30 PM: Saturday, 10/5/2019, 9:00 AM: Member input Saturday, 10/12/2019, 10:00 AM: Board Workshop with Board, GM, Finance and Steering Committees to finalize a proposed budget. Friday, 10/25/2016, 6:30 PM: Board Meeting. Board to approval final budget.
General Categories: Non-Amenity Users Safety X Property Values X Roads X Clubhouse X Lake X Sense of Community X Governance X Recreation: Boating, Water Skiing, Tubing Golf Camping Trail Riding More… Many Non-Amenity Users value the comprehensive list.
Amenity Users X X X X X X X X X X X X X
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HOW TO SATISFY ALL: Non-Amenity Users ask why they must pay for amenities they do not value and do not use. A valid question. Amenity Users will state that it is clear when a member joins Lake Carroll, the buyer assumes they will be supporting the Association’s vision. The Lake Carroll Vision Statement: • Lake Carroll will be a private, highly desired community in which many will seek to purchase property and become members. The Lake Carroll Association (LCA) will fund and manage the amenities to ensure that the four-season, recreation-oriented community is maintained and enhanced, while the members are united in their efforts to support all of the amenities. The LCA will be self-funded to ensure autonomy. The primary means of funding will be membership dues and revenues generated by the sale of products and services. https://www.golakecarroll.com/WebPage.asp?PN=Mission
RECREATION-ORIENTED COMMUNITY. As one can see from the above, our Association was founded on an all-inclusive concept and as a recreation-oriented community. Pay dues and you have access to all. However, as we have improved and added to our amenities (better lake, improved golf course, better campsites, new pool, clubhouse…), costs have risen and some (Non-Amenity Users) may feel they have less interest in these improvements. As our budget season begins, our Board is examining our business model. With two distinct categories of members, can all Amenity Users and Non-Amenity Users be recognized, and both be satisfied? This was tried once in 1999-2000: Red, White and Blue. The colors represented the division of amenities where members paid, generally, for what they valued. The program was terminated. The clock is ticking on this budget season and this specific Amenity User/Non-User debate may need to move to 2021. The key issue we should all agree on is that we need to identify proper and adequate funding for our complete recreation-oriented community for the coming year and years into the future. So far, voices we hear are from all sides, Amenity Users, Non-Amenity Users and those in the middle. As we review the amenities that our members support and as our infrastructure ages, our hope is that all members realize we share a larger objective; to utilize, protect and improve our extraordinary, exceptional, attractive community of Lake Carroll.
LAKE CARROLL GARAGE SALES The 2019 sales will be held on Sat, Sept 14th from 8am-5pm. The registration form is available on page 16B, at the LCA Office and on the LCA website. A link also provided in the weekly eblats.
AMENITY USERS: These are members who value the same as Non-Amenity Users plus more. By bundling all costs into dues (no fees), one can presume this offers the best value for the Amenity User. The Amenity User will look at our property as something similar to an all-inclusive concept. Convenient and open to all members.
SEE PAGE 15B FOR DETAILS.