Cooper Land Evaluation Winding Down

Nearing the completion of their assigned duties, the Ad Hoc Cooper Land Evaluation Committee met on Thursday, June 9, 2022. The committee discussed CCI-owned properties of interest to the POA. They also discussed their drafted report to the Board and what legal questions should be asked of Rose Law Firm.

The ad hoc committee consists of 7 members from multiple standing committees: Gen. Jeff Lofgren, Chair, Finance & Planning Committee; Janet Rowe, Vice-Chair, Trails Committee; Thomas Gale Smith, Public Services Committee; Mark Quinton, Parks & Recreation Committee; Concetta “Pookie” Dixon, Lakes Committee; Karen Crowson, Governmental Affairs Committee; and Max Billingsley, Common Property, Forest & Wildlife Committee. The Board Liaison to the Committee is Robert McLeod.

CCI Properties of interest to HSVPOA

• Five Water Tanks – CCI will deed these properties to the POA

• West Gate is already deeded to the POA –
  • Ad Hoc Committee Member Max Billingsley said there may be a problem with a small portion of the land. Billingsley said, “Based on what the tax map shows, it is not clear why DeSoto Boulevard is not taxed and it shows that it is taxed.” Billingsley said the county may need to “clean up” the tax records.
  • Committee Member Karen Crowson said she asked the title company to look into this and she has not received anything back yet.
  • Chair Jeff Lofgren said he would point this out to CCI President, Jody Latham and see if she has an explanation.
  • Lofgren also said he thinks the only way this will be reconciled is for the county records to be corrected.

• East Gate – There are three tracts that CCI will quit claim to the POA.

• Danville Gate – This concerns a tract of property that CCI is using for a boundary area. Boundary areas are tracts of land used for the purpose of protecting the Village. At this time, CCI does not want to sell to outside interests any of the property designated as a boundary. CCI will either grant the POA an easement or possibly the POA can pay for a survey and obtain ownership. Lofgren said he feels that the POA should pay for the survey for the area.
  • Crowson asked if this property is meant to protect the Village then why wouldn’t that be part of the POA’s authority to protect the Village by having ownership of the boundary tracts?
  • Lofgren responded to Crowson, saying that CCI will still have equity in the Village in the ownership of the easements and leases for cell towers. Lofgren said it is his understanding that CCI intends to maintain that equity.

• Lake Lago Dam Spillway – Lofgren said that the understanding we have at this point is that CCI is willing to deed this to us.

• Coronado Golf Cart Parking Lot – CCI is willing to sell to us for $5,000.

• DeSoto Golf Cart Path – CCI will deed to the POA.

• Sanitation Department Site – We need room for future expansion at this site. As long as we pay for the survey, CCI will redraw the boundary lines and deed the area needed to the POA.

• Cedar Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant – This area consists of three parts which are the buffer zone around the wastewater treatment plant, the Beaver Dam Trail piece, and the access road which leads to the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the Animal Welfare League. CCI will give us an easement on the buffer zone, and the trail piece and will also give us a dedication for the access road. Crowson said that a dedicated roadway is better than an easement because it transfers ownership. An easement only grants permission to use the property for a specific purpose. The committee may ask CCI if the POA can have a dedication for the Danville Gate, also.

• Trails – Hernando, Multipurpose, Cedar Creek, Waypoint, Beaver Creek –
  • Hernando – we can move it if we have to. Don’t need to pursue this property.
  • Multi-purpose trail – CCI will deed to the POA
  • Beaver Creek Trail – CCI will deed to POA.
  • Waypoint Trail – This is privately owned already.
  • Cedar Creek Trail – Vice-chair, Janet Rowe said, “I had written to AR Natural Heritage Society. They want to help us, but we will have to take the gates down. They buy land so that everybody in the state can enjoy it.” Rowe said that AR Natural Heritage Society forwarded her email to others, but she has not heard anything back. Rowe says we can just continue using Cedar Creek Trail until we are told we can’t. Once it is sold then we can approach that buyer and say, ‘this is a FEMA flood plain and can’t build here. If you don’t let everyone have access to it, we won’t maintain it.’ It has been on the market for 50 years. A builder is going to see what the land is and Rowe is not so sure it is going to sell. She recommends we wait it out and approach the new buyer.
    • Lofgren said another option for Cedar Creek Trail would be for the HSVPOA Board to approach the CCI Board to see if an agreement can be reached.

Lofgren said he is confident that the committee members have done their due diligence on these properties but asked the committee to recheck to make sure nothing was overlooked.

Draft of the Report to Board

A draft of the committee’s report to the Board of Directors was emailed to the committee members for review and input. Janet Rowe and Thomas Gale Smith thought the report looked good. There were a few typos pointed out and Lofgren said he would clean up the report.

Lofgren included an Executive Summary with the document he sent to the committee. One purpose of the summary is to give the Board of Directors an opportunity to see if they have questions or if they think further research needs to be done. Additionally, the committee is seeking feedback from the Board to determine if the committee answered the task they have been given.

Next Steps

Update the draft report.

Tentatively scheduled on June 27, there will be a final Zoom discussion between the committee and CCI. This meeting is closed to the public. After that meeting, the draft report to the Board will be finalized.

The committee is formulating questions to ask Rose Law Firm.

The next public meetings of the ad hoc committee will be Thursday, June 23, 2022, and Thursday, July 7, 2022. Both meetings are scheduled for 1:00 PM at the Ouachita Room at Ponce de Leon Center.

The committee will brief the Board of Directors on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, at the regular Board Meeting. This meeting will be held at 9:00 AM at the Ouachita Room at Ponce de Leon Center.