At the Hot Springs Village Board Meeting on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, the meeting concluded with Board Members discussing misinformation on the internet, deferred infrastructure, and the Urban Deer Hunt. Villager Melanie Clark addressed the internet speed test that all Villagers are asked to take and gave accolades to Ken Unger of the Public Services Department for developing an online form to report public service issues.
Board Member Comments
Deferred Infrastructure
Board Member Larry Siener thanked Public Services Director Ken Unger for his efforts. “We see you have a lot going on. The good news is, we’re working on a lot of stuff – working on the roads, the water lines, and the sewer lines…” Siener said the assessment increase, passed in ’21, was so we could take care of the deferred infrastructure backlog. “The bad news is, it is a pretty tall backlog. It is going to take a while to get there.”
Urban Deer Hunt
Board Member Mark Quinton said that the Urban Hunt starts September 1. Quinton wants members to be aware that they may see vehicles parked on the side of the road. The hunters will have placards in the window of their vehicles. (See image at the bottom of this article.)
Quinton stressed the importance of safety for the hunters and community. “We don’t want any issues…I don’t expect any. Give them [the hunters] some space – give them some room because we need to harvest deer. If you don’t have a problem [with deer] at your house, your blinds must be closed. They are just everywhere.”
Misinformation on the Internet
Board Vice Chair Gary Belair said, “This Board is constantly working with our policies; when we have questions, we get answers. I think we all saw today that our management team brings us answers. We voted on a policy change today that was misrepresented on public forums by someone who lives in the Village – misrepresented – without getting facts behind what he – this person was saying. Other people acknowledged and thanked that person for saying it. That is bad information and an example of what we cannot do as Board Members. We can’t make decisions without getting facts. And again, I will say I thank our management team for bringing us facts. We don’t want to sit at our business meeting every month being negative. So before we get into these subjects, we have to have facts. And we do that. Regularly.”
Belair said the Board has worked very hard, and he thanked everyone.
Appreciation Shown
Board Chair Joanie Corry thanked the members who attended the meeting. She also thanked the staff for their hard work. “You may be realizing now…there are a lot of balls in the air when it comes to the POA and the staff. We try to get them out to you as soon as possible, but we have many things going on and only so many staff members and so much time. But we are getting there. We have made great strides, and I expect us to continue,” explained the Chair.
Board Member and Corporate Treasurer Jama Lopez thanked the General Manager and his team for working well together.
Audience Member Comment
Villager Melanie Clark talked about the internet speed test. All Villagers are asked to take this test. Here is a link to an article about Village internet and the speed test.
Clark also thanked Public Services Director Ken Unger for the report form on the Explore the Village website. Clark said she was so happy she found this form and uses it frequently, never waiting more than a few hours for a response from Village staff.
Clark thanked the Board for their hard work.
Finally, Melanie thanked Director Unger. She said, “Mr. Unger is so helpful.”
Cover image: Melanie Clark commenting at the Board Meeting
By Cheryl Dowden
Thank you Cheryl Dowden for your diligent and faithful reporting of our HSV Board’s meetings. Thanks to Melanie Clark for her input to our Board on our behalf. Thanks to our Board, General Manager, POA Directors, employees, the whole HSV Team for being a team, working together in keeping HSV the incredible place to live. This POA Team is the best we’ve ever had in the work to be done and very importantly dispelling the inaccurate rumors by those creating false causes, injustices that don’t exist only to gain attention for themselves. To those, yes, we all know your names, not for your fame, but for your infamy for spreading misinformation.
You are welcome, John. Have a lovely day. 🙂 – Cheryl Dowden