HSV GM Kelly Hale Has Positive 2023 Annual Report

Hot Springs Village General Manager Kelly Hale presented a positive 2023 Annual Report to the Board of Directors on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. He highlighted 2023 department accomplishments and updated the community on the ongoing efforts to obtain disaster relief funds. He also asked residents on golf courses to refrain from dumping their yard debris on the courses. Additionally, he mentioned some of the problems associated with rental properties. (This will be published in a separate report.)

Before presenting the 2023 annual report, General Manager Kelly Hale introduced his new Administrative Assistant, Julie White. White has taken Mindy Maxwell’s position, who was promoted to Business Development and Client Relations Manager. Maxwell will work with Kevin Sexton, Director of Business Development, Land and Community Affairs. Now, we will dig into the meat of the report.

2023 Annual Report

Hale said that 2023 was a momentous year for Hot Springs Village. Last year, we observed improvements across all departments in managing project costs, and we developed staff to ensure the exceptional quality of work that needed to be completed for our community. Each department contributed to our community, and I would like to recognize and thank them all for their hard work.

“Police / Community Support / Animal Control – Each department rewrote the standard operating procedures for their teams, increased communication between each other and the community, built stronger relationships with property owners, and developed succession plans for all management positions.” In addition, Hale said the Police Department and Community Support have spent countless hours communicating at speaking events. The 46-year-old first-responder communication system was upgraded. This upgrade improves the ability of first responders to respond quicker than ever.

“Park / Recreation – Decreased their subsidy by $575,087 year-over-year with increased participation in recreational activities and guest visitation with Stay & Play and Discovery packages. They renovated the hot tub room. updated the lighting and sound at Woodlands and the Coronado Community Center, renovated the miniature golf course, completed the Porte Cochere at the Woodlands, and updated the landscaping at the Coronado Community Center and surrounding facilities.” Hale noted the miniature golf course was renovated through volunteers and donations. The restoration of the Porte Cochere was paid for by insurance money due to hail storm damages.

“IT – Came in $500,000 under budget. They renegotiated broadband contracts, upgraded copier fleet and maintenance procedures, installed new software, and replaced satellite TV streaming services with internet streaming to save approximately $62,000 annually starting in 2024.”

Hale added, “We know the Northstar implementation has some choppiness. If you know anything about transferring systems over, that is normal.” He apologized for the inconvenience to those not used to the new system and said that there is no product in the [software] industry that runs a city and a recreation simultaneously. The problems are being ironed out, and the new system is superior.

Seventy-five percent of the problems have been human behavior, such as people looking for items where they were previously located. He asked users to look through the dropdown menus or call a friend.

“Golf – Increased rounds by 3,491, had an approximate increase in revenue of $495,856, an increase in Stay & Play package revenue by $259,098, and they saved close to $25,000 by working with the Wood Workers of HSV in making new tee markers. They completed the bunker renovation at Granada, started on Isabella in November, rehabilitated the in-house cart path on Balboa, Isabella, Granada, DeSoto, and Ponce, and completed new cart bridges at Balboa and Magellan.” Hale’s motto is “Paint, polish, and preserve.”

“Fire Department – They went over 365 days without a lost-time accident, assessed over 10,000 feet of fire hose, instructed CPR classes for HSV clubs, organizations, and all POA employees, and assisted over 220 property owners with new smoke alarm installations and battery changes.”

“Business Development / Land Management / Public Affairs – Worked with eleven real estate firms, providing them with close to 1,200 leads from convention and expo booth visitors, completed over 170 Discovery package bookings, completed over 141-day tours, and sold approximately 142 POA lots.”

“Finance – Rebuilt their entire department.”

“Human Resources – Reduced overtime cost by $175,000, assisted in the creation and implementation of succession plans for all departments, hired a Risk Manager to oversee Insurance claims, contract administration, fixed assets, inventory control, and to conduct internal auditing. They also negotiated the POA 401K program with Empower Retirement and were able to reduce twenty basis points to eight basis points, reducing our investment fees.”

“Public Works – Was busier than ever. They restructured their department and absorbed the permitting and inspections team, dealt with several natural and manmade disasters, processed over 35,000 calls, responded to over 1,000 water service calls and 1,800 grinder tank calls, repaired two water tanks, replaced almost 4,000 feet of water line, repaired and cleaned multiple sewer lines across the Village, replaced over 3,600 feet of culverts, crack sealed 15 miles of roads, installed roughly 600 raised pavement markers on the shoulders of numerous curves from DeSoto to Balearic, restriped all of DeSoto, repainted over 60 crosswalks, refurbished all outdoor furniture at clubhouses, restored several pieces of heavy equipment, developed a new forestry management program, dredged Lake Cortez, Sophia, and Maria, internalized the Urban Deer Hunt and mowing across the Village and removed nearly 500 hazardous trees… just to name a few of the many accomplishments that they completed last year.”

Tornado Cleanup – Progress is being made daily on the tornado cleanup. On Wednesdays, the community receives an e-blast with updates and a map.

Effort to Obtain Disaster Relief – On Thursday, April 11, Keith Keck, Saline County J.P., Roger Smith, Retired State Representative, and GM Hale traveled to Little Rock, seeking an answer on disaster relief. They presented tornado documentation to state senators and representatives, the Director of ADEM (Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, and a representative from Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ office. Hale said the meeting was very productive. “We did not get an answer. This is just the way it goes. But what did take place is on Monday, April 15, the Director of ADEM, and his second and third [in command] came to the Village and toured the tornado-ravaged areas with Ken Unger [Director of Public Services] and Matt Broom [Associate Director of Public Services]. “

Hale said the authorities got a front-row view of what happened and returned the information to the Governor. “The wheels are in motion to get the FEMA Declaration. We are working on that. Please be patient. We are moving fast and furious. Stop and think. This just happened 33 days ago.” It may seem like a lifetime ago if you are in the impacted areas.

Hale expressed that they are “throwing everything they can” at this effort and “you will see more coming.”

Littering on Golf Courses – Hale is pleased with all the work being frugally accomplished on the golf courses. “These [golf courses] are assets to the community…We have to take care of these assets.”

“Golf courses are not your repository for leaves and branches out of your yards.” Hale said community members tell him, “I’ve always put it out there.”

“Don’t do it anymore. I don’t do it. Do me a favor. Clean up about ten feet behind your property line.”

“I blame the POA for not saying something before. We have conditioned our residents that it is okay to do those things. Not all of them, by the way – pockets of them. Ninety percent of the people have respect for the community and understand. But if everyone did that, I’d have to hire a new crew just to pick up the leaves and sticks [coming from the yards]. “

Hale explained that this is the co-op effect he has mentioned when discussing managing and controlling costs. Everybody has to help a little bit. It is no different than living on a lake and pulling your water weeds.

“The bottom line is, every little bit helps.”

“Even better, don’t cop an attitude when we say, ‘Don’t do that anymore.'” Hale said while the complaints can be entertaining, he would prefer not to hear them. “I had a guy say he would move because he didn’t like my attitude…Please don’t make your problems someone else’s. If you lived in a subdivision in Dallas, Texas, would you move all your leaves to the middle of the street?… Just because you live here and have gotten away with it doesn’t make it right.”

By Cheryl Dowden