Letter: Email Not True

Editor, The Friday Flyer:

The Truth: On August 26th, Sean McDonald sent an email to the hundreds on his list. The email said, “Joe Washle, Chairman of the Finance Committee, has actually suggested charging every homeowner an additional $500 per year to keep the Golf Country Club open for themselves.” Sean’s comments are not true.

Members of the Finance Committee are encouraged to come up with ideas that will help the community, including ideas from other homeowners. Like all of our amenities, the Country Club and Lodge lose money every year, mainly because they need more revenue.

Private country clubs charge their members approximately $300 per quarter, $1,200 per year minimum. Members can spend the $300 each quarter for food and beverages.

Brainstorming at a Finance Committee meeting, I suggested charging each lot $200 per year minimum. The owner would receive a card, like a gift card. They could use it at the Lodge or Country Club any time during the year. Assuming 4,500 lots are paying their dues, there would be $900,000 in revenue between the Lodge and Country Club. It would introduce more residents to each amenity.

Our Treasurer Bruce Yarbrough advised us that the Board members wouldn’t approve the plan, particularly since members didn’t have that requirement when they moved to Canyon Lake.

I then suggested a $300 minimum for new homeowners. (If a homeowner moved within Canyon Lake, they wouldn’t be charged this $300 minimum.) I asked a realtor if this could cause people not to want to move here, and he assured me it wouldn’t affect sales. There wasn’t enough Finance Committee support for my second idea.

Sean failed to say that the last two years he was CLPOA Treasurer, monthly dues increased $24 one year and $9 the other. Dues decreased $4 per month over the last two years.

Joe Washle