Election of Trails Committee Officers

The Hot Springs Village Trails Committee met on May 24, 2022, at the Coronado Community Center at 1:30 PM. Officers for the upcoming year were elected. Buzz Carpenter will continue as the Chair. Kathy Swanson was elected to be Vice-Chair and Pam Hartman will continue in the position of Secretary.

Joanie Corry Gives HSVPOA Board Update to Trails Committee

Board Chair, Joanie Corry, represented the Board at the meeting, as a new Trails Committee representative has not been chosen. She said that the new GM is not afraid to tell staff that something is not in the budget. “He is sticking to it, which was one of the things the Board asked for. We [the Board] want the money going into infrastructure and that is where it is going. I’ve been very impressed with his ability to look at bids in a good way and try to figure out if we have to have something right now or if we can get by another year…I feel very fortunate that we have him during this time, especially.”

Grove to Cove Hike Report

The Parks and Recreation Department, with the assistance of the Trails Committee, sponsored a Grove to Cove Hike on Tuesday, May 17 from Grove Park to DeSoto Beach. Then a boat was taken to the marina located at Waypoint. Thirty-five attendees participated in the hike.

Repair of DeSoto Multipurpose Trail

Norman Meredith (Grounds Maintenance) said that the trail section close to Waypoint (behind Los Lagos) may need to be covered with gravel. Currently, the surface is asphalt, which suffers from some wear and tear. The reason it might be better to cover the asphalt in gravel instead of removing it is that laying gravel on top of the existing asphalt will help to prevent erosion.

Update on Ad Hoc Cooper Land Evaluation Committee

Janet Rowe is the Trail Committee Member on the Ad Hoc Cooper Land Evaluation Committee. Rowe gave the Trails Committee an update on the Ad Hoc Committee.

“It appears that all sections of the Hernando Trail that are on Cooper Reserved Property can be re-routed if necessary.

“Waypoint Trail behind El Jimador – It appears that we may lose that link from the end of the trail where it ends behind Los Lagos and Calella. CCI does not wish to negotiate on that property.

“DeSoto Multi-purpose, the small piece that is on Cooper Reserved between Mill Creek and Lake Segovia (Some private property residences) may be negotiable as the property is landlocked.

“Magellan Beaver Dam – CCI may be willing to deed us the land for that trail, as they are willing to deed the land where the wastewater treatment plant and Animal Welfare League (AWL) are located, plus the street and storage building area.

“Cedar Creek – At this point in time, they [CCI] are not willing to negotiate concerning that trail.  They feel that it is a selling point for a buyer, even though they are aware that it is a FEMA flood plain, but they figure a developer for the higher ground could use the trail and creek area as a selling point.  We, as a Committee (Ad Hoc) in future talks, will discuss with them, that we agree that the beauty of that area could be a selling point for a developer, but we will point out that if we owned the trail, we, the POA would be responsible for maintaining it, but the resident(s) would still reap the benefits of having it behind their properties should it be developed. We will also be looking at the possibility of going to an outside source for the funding for the purchase like The Nature Conservancy, Arkansas Nature Heritage, Walmart, AR Board of Realtors, etc. So this is not a done deal, there will be future talks with CCI and more options discussed.  This was what we got from them from our first feeling-out type meeting with them.”

A Special Assessment cannot be used to purchase land.

We are not eligible for state tax money because we are a private community.

Yak Run

The Yak Run is tentatively scheduled for September 17. The Parks and Recreation Department asked for Trails Committee Members to volunteer for the “run” portion of the event. This event will consist of a 1,000-meter kayak race at Lake Balboa and a 5 K Marathon.

Memorial Bench for Michael Bynaker (Outdoor Recreation)

Donations were collected to purchase a memorial bench for Michael Bynaker. The Trails Committee worked very closely with Bynaker and felt he was a big asset and like a family member to the POA and committee. The location for the bench has not yet been determined but more details are coming soon.

The Trails Committee Members will be determining where trail signs are needed.

The Trails Committee is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, June 21 at 1:30 at Coronado Community Center.

Report by Cheryl Dowden