June 19, 2018
Open Letter to Suissevale Members May 15, 2018
May 15, 2018
To all Suissevale homeowners:
The POASI Board of directors have rejected my proposal to have all members of POASI equally participate in the benefits of Suissevale. The proposal was made to assure that POASI members were treated equally by the board, which would strengthen the total Suissevale community. They have not shared my January 2018 proposal with the membership via the Board Minutes, nor by posting my proposal to the POASI website. They will not allow my proposal to be voted on by the POASI membership.
All my communication with the Board is posted on this website so you can see the original proposal; my follow-up letter; Bob Ashton’s reply, and their eventual, written reply. Here.
Here is the issue: The Board favors the 60 Marina holders, and charges them an arbitrarily low amount to have a boat slip. The effect of this is that the 366 non-slip holders must make up the difference between a “fair” charge for the services the slip holders get, and the cash needs of Suissevale. My analysis shows that to be about $112 per household. Importantly, because slips don’t turn over, this also affects the prices of all homes in Suissevale, as new owners will never see a slip as they could under a fair system. This is all outlined in my January 20th presentation.
The key argument that the Board uses is that they should not charge “market rates” for a slip as the home owners association is a “not-for profit.” That’s not the issue. The issue is how much should POASI charge slip holders so that the 366 non-slip owners are not subsidizing the slip holders for the benefit they get for having a dock.
I have not asked that the slip holders pay market prices. I have asked that slip holders pay the same price ($1,795) that the 118 people on the wait list pay to get Valet service (offered at Ambrose Marina), not full service (over $3,000). That equates the value of the slip the 60 owners get, with what any of the 366 non-slip owners could pay if they wanted to have access to the water via Ambrose.
Another argument that the Board uses is that a study of what other HOA’s charge for their docks shows that they are less than Suissevale. That is not the issue. The issue is how much should POASI charge slip holders so that 366 non-slip owners are not subsidizing the slip holders for the benefit they get for having a dock. It’s about our HOA; our homeowners.
A better study of other HOA’s would be to find out how they create equal-participation of benefits among all their homeowners. (Examples: How do other HOA’s collect fees? By Marina? By property? Other? What do they spend their money on? How do they charge for water? How do they charge renters?)
The Board is clearly favoring the 60 homes who have slips at the expense of the 366 people who do not. This does not include the over 120 land owners who also pay fees to Suissevale. The Board will not allow the whole community to vote on a question that attempts to find the right balance between the two groups.
An example of a question that should be put to all members of Suissevale: Should the price of a slip at the Suissevale Marina be $795 lower than the valet slips at Ambrose Marina, and thereby subsidize the benefit slip holders receive by all Suissevale homeowners.
If you agree with this, please sign up here, so we can put you on a list that will get newsletters about issues that the board is considering but often not sharing with Suissevale members.
John Hawkins (johnhawkins@lovesuissevale.com)