Candidates discuss subsidized amenities

The five-member Canyon Lake POA Board of Directors are collectively responsible for the management and operation of the POA’s business affairs. The board members are elected for staggered two-year terms.

Three of the five seats are up for election in May when the terms of Mike Harris, Phil Hawgood and Tom Nathan end. The three directors are eligible to run for another term.

The five candidates vying for a seat on the board are Jeanne O’Dell, Tom Nathan, Chris Poland, Phil Hawgood and Mike Harris.

In the weeks leading up to the election, The Friday Flyer will feature a series of questions to the candidates. During this period, residents will have a chance to hear directly from the candidates and learn what they hope to accomplish if elected to serve on the board.

Last week, The Friday Flyer asked the candidates why they wanted to serve on the board. In this second installment of questions, The Friday Flyer invited the candidates to answer the following question in 300 or fewer words. The candidates are listed in the order they will appear on the ballot.

Question: Member dues subsidize several revenue-producing amenities in the community. What specific subsidies would you like to see reduced and what would you try to do to help those amenities support themselves?

Jeanne O’Dell

Jeanne O’Dell. Photo by Donna Ritchie

I am normally very private regarding my personal life but I know if I expect to gain your trust and confidence as a director I need to share a little bit. Other than a few close friends, people do not realize that my husband left me in massive debt due to his various business ventures.

In the nine years since his death, I have managed to pay off that debt, send my son to college and help both of my step-daughters pay for their weddings. This took hard work and smart decision making. It also took a willingness to let go of preconceived ideas. It meant being prepared to solicit and then listen to the advice of others.

Besides the lake, we all know that the amenities requiring the largest subsidization are the golf course, lodge and the country club, so I am not going to overload you with facts. Most of the amenities can benefit from continued advertising to a broader range of customers.

As one easy example, Facebook ads can be sent out to a selected audience. The country club ads can be targeted to a specific group within a certain radius outside of Canyon Lake. The same could happen with the golf course. The lodge can be targeted to a specific audience within Canyon Lake. Each target group can be modified for each special or event that is being promoted.

I would continue to encourage input from the staff, from the bussers to the bartenders, from the golf pro to the maintenance crew, from the general manager to the office staff, and the clubs and committees as what can be done to continue to improve. I would, of course, solicit ideas from other sources but sometimes the best fixes come from those who deal with the issues.

Tom Nathan

Tom Nathan. Photo by Donna Ritchie

After I was elected to the 2017 POA Board of Directors, I spent a lot of time looking into the restaurants and golf course amenities of Canyon Lake. Both of these locations derive revenue from the members, but they also require a level of subsidy in order to remain functioning for all members to enjoy.

The restaurant had some key issues to address: 1) cost of goods, 2) cost of labor and 3) total sales. In the past two years, the cost of goods has been returned to what a standard restaurant operating cost for food and beverage should be. The Lighthouse sales revenues increased by nearly 18 percent last year while labor costs increased by only one percent. The country club sales revenues increased by over 25 percent last year and are expected to increase another 18 percent this year and surpass $1M in total sales.

While all of this is good news, the labor costs at both restaurants are high, so we need to find solutions to help those costs come down, which in turn will reduce the amount of subsidy support needed.

The golf course is a 90 plus acre amenity that requires a great deal of maintenance. The maintenance contract and utility costs are the two most significant expenses for this amenity. While being efficient with these expenses is important, the best opportunity for subsidy reduction at the golf course is increasing revenue.

Last year, other board directors instituted significantly higher annual rates to our most loyal golf playing members, which I opposed. The result has been a sharp reduction of POA annual golf members, as well as the first reduction to golf course revenues in many years. I believe that revenues for golf can be restored, but it will likely take a significant marketing effort to do so.

Chris Poland

Chris Poland. Photo by Donna Ritchie

Canyon Lake is a community where people live and work together to maintain a special place that we all can enjoy — each with our own favorite part. It takes volunteers, hard work and money. Most of us are active volunteers and I am comfortable with what we pay for the services and amenities.

The POA dues and fees are reviewed every year by our Finance Committee, debated by our board with input from qualified consultants and have historic roots back to the beginning of the community. While this question appears to be asking how to reduce the dues, I believe what we pay is a good deal and needed to pay for each of our favorite places.

Our Canyon Lake Property Owners Association is a moderate sized non-profit organization with about 4,800 members and over 30 million dollars of assets. We provide security, planning and compliance, and member services along with a dozen amenities.

We do a good job budgeting and tracking the costs to provide services, amenities, and maintain our property at a cost of nearly $17 million dollars each year. We pay for these costs with our dues, about $11 million, and about $6 million collected from the usage fees and sales. Our dues cover everything we all use or benefit from, as they should.

I do not believe that we can significantly reduce the dues by cutting costs without cutting services, quality and the durability of what we own. I do not support cutting back on building our reserve funds by ignoring the future costs or expecting to pay for them with special assessments or loans.

I support aggressive efforts to increase usage that will help fund future enhancements. Dues should only be increased to complete our reserve funds and to cover inflationary increases in our costs.

Phil Hawgood

Phil Hawgood. Photo by Donna Ritchie

Our amenities make Canyon Lake great. Our most popular amenity, the lake, is not actually an amenity at all; it’s a lease with surface rights for recreational use. There are four areas: main lake, jump lagoon, East Bay and north ski area. Under my time on the board, it is now open to everyone.

Our best true amenity is our golf course and attached country club restaurant. This is because it is among the most well-kept and beautiful 365 acres that you will ever play on and because it includes a restaurant with great food and drinks at an affordable price. So if you have not been to the Country Club Restaurant, you should make visiting a priority.

Our lodge restaurant and bar is inside our community. It is our private getaway to invite guests for great food. The view of the surrounding lake and homes is absolutely wonderful and the food and drinks are both delicious and affordable.

Our swimming pool is now open. It’s our private beautiful community paradise with some 100 chaise lounges and chairs. Please don’t miss the family appeal and the great times you can have in the spring and summer. But remember, when you go you must bring your POA card or you will be denied access.

The restaurants, the golf course, the tennis courts, the pickleball courts, the pool, the equestrian center, the Happy Camp RV, the parks, the buildings, the roads, etc. — all of these amenities make up our community so we must keep all of it in the best possible condition as is necessary. It’s in all of our best interest to do this.

Remember, we each own 1/4800th of it, so it’s in all of our interest to protect our community. Re-elect Phil Hawgood.

Mike Harris

Mike Harris. Photo by Donna Ritchie

An amenity is something considered to benefit a property and thereby increase its value. Every amenity that we have produces some income. As with most private communities, private restaurants, clubs, lakes and golf courses, it is unlikely that any one of them will ever fully support themselves. All we can do is strive to keep the subsidies as low as possible.

Our most expensive amenity is the lake that is enjoyed by all, whether by boating, skiing, wakeboarding, fishing, swimming, relaxing at the beaches or reveling in the sunsets over the lake. One way to continue to reduce the subsidies is to add more rental docks. Our expected revenue this fiscal year is $127,600 with an annual waiting list of 271 people.

We are working on a jetty design with Mike Murphy and Rich Matthews/Ramco Docks, to protect additional docks from wave action. Once we have tested a prototype, we will add the jetty and more docks.

We are also exploring to bring Marine Patrol in house, that will also reduce the cost of this amenity.

Next on my list is the Lighthouse Restaurant. We recently changed the management with the addition of Thomas Anagnostopoulos (951-244-6841, ext. 723). We have daily specials listed at canyonlakepoa.com/675/Daily-Specials. The daily menu may be accessed at canyonlakepoa.com/222/Menus and facebook.com/canyonlakelighthouse.

We have separated the banquet department from the restaurants to make the department a positive revenue producing amenity.

We made improvements to the decades-old county club by remodeling and we are currently in design to remodel the Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar with an outdoor fireplace and patio dining.

We have increased inventory control at both restaurants and added more security measures. Country Club Menu: canyonlakepoa.com/201/Dining-With-Us. If every resident would dine at least once a month, we could break even.