Hot Springs Village POA Board Vice-chair Gary Belair proposed adopting the new Rules and Regulations at the August 16, 2023, Board Meeting. Most of the work on this document was housekeeping. This motion for the updated rules and regulations document was unanimously approved.
Belair said, “There is a lot to be said about this activity of the Board. Anyone who has dealt with the policy of governments has learned immediately that you cannot please everyone… It takes a consensus…This has been a prime example [of that].”
Background (From the Motion and Board Meeting Audio)
According to the motion, “The Board approved the formation of an Ad hoc Rules & Regulations Committee in September 2022 to evaluate the current document and propose amendments to the Board for approval. The committee members were elected from our current standing committee members and brought various expertise and perspectives. They met for months to thoroughly evaluate the rules and provided a draft to the Board at the June 2023 regular meeting. Since then, the Board has held multiple meetings to review each rule and regulation proposed for the community and has published a draft of the document on explorethevillage.com for property owners to review and provide input.
Belair said that the Ad hoc Rules and Regulations Committee worked many hours and thanked them for their extensive work in creating the document. Stephanie Heffer, Chair; Bob Cunningham, Vice Chair; Anne Shears, Secretary; David Moore; Mike Jackman; Dwayne Shipman; Serena Gonzales; and Kim Botkin worked for months to evaluate each aspect of the Rules & Regulations and have provided a thorough and comprehensive document for Hot Springs Village.
Belair shared, “We remember spending hours and hours going over that. ‘I disagreed with this. You disagreed with that. Is there anything we can do about it?’ That is the type of work done by a good body, like this Board. We have seven representatives of the community sitting here. We spend hours looking over the business cases brought to us by our management team.”
Belair continued, “I think every idea there [in the new Rules and Regulations] is good; [The new rules and regulations are] best for the community. We’re not a collection of cabins in the woods. We are a community. Each of us has separate reasons for moving here. But this Board strives to do the best we can for everyone.”
Board Chair Joanie Corry stressed that this is a living document, which means that, as necessary, it will be edited.
Board Member Larry Siener said that the ad hoc Rules and Regulations Committee put in a lot of work. “They were very, very patient [with the questions from the Board] and very, effective. What came out of this is a good, solid document…,” stated Siener.
The last time the Board updated the Rules and Regulations was in 2013.
By Cheryl Dowden
This is nothing that anyone refers to and even if you do, some of the items are absurd and unenforceable. The final paragraph leaves anything up to the discretion of the POA. About 8 pages were removed from the 2013 version and when I asked if the board would publish a redlined version or list of what was removed (like any good business would do) I was told it had not been tracked that way. Really?
Final paragraph:
THE GENERAL RULES AND REGULATIONS CONTAINED HEREIN DO NOT REPRESENT ALL
RULES AND REGULATIONS APPLICABLE TO HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE AND ITS FACILITIES.
FOR QUESTIONS, CONTACT THE POA ADMINISTRATION.