December Update

December was a light month, and a welcome number of unanimous votes. What follows is my recap of my experiences in December on the CROA Board of Directors:

• On December 12 a Workshop was held to discuss the Parks and Recreation Committee recommendations for facilities and fees. After several resident comments regarding Artisan Park budget concerns surrounding the keycard system, Mr. Richards requested to pause the action on the keycard system upgrade as an action item for the December board meeting.

  In discussion with the Parks and Recreation Committee, the committee stated they unanimously agree and support their recommendation of facility priority categories and fee structures. Dr. Anderson argued that the Celebration Foundation should have their own special category based on his recollection of a founding charter statement. [it was later determined that there is no CROA charter stating the Celebration Foundation is given any preferential treatment.]

  Ms. Swisher used the Community Chorus as an example of an organization that would not benefit from the new fee structure, making multiple mentions of the Chorus and their priority category. [Ms. Swisher and Dr. Anderson are on the board of directors for the Community Chorus.]

  There was extensive discussion on all sides of this topic, and it is recommended to view this meeting in its entirety for further background and overall perspective on this topic.

  There was concern from the committee that there would be a legal issue by giving preferential treatment to any sole organization. The meeting ended with a request for a legal interpretation of that point in question, with an action to appear at the December board meeting for this topic

• The December Board meeting was held on Wednesday, December 20. A few highlights include:

  • CROA is ending the year with an approximate $253,000 deficit YTD.

  • The Lot F land use report is complete will be forwarded to CROA from CCDD.

  • The motion for selecting a playground contractor was tabled due to information not being provided with enough time for review. It was agreed by the board that a special meeting would be called next week to have further discussion on this.

  • With regard to the Parks and Recreation Committee Cateogries and Fee Structure workshop followup and the action item on the agenda:

    • The legal advice returned stated there is no violation by creating a separate category for any organization;

    • Dr. Anderson asked to amend the motion to give the Celebration Foundation a higher designation above all other organizations;

    • The committee stated they would move the Celebration Foundation to the #2 spot if they met the qualifications after 3 month of facility useage;

    • When the vote was called, Mr. Wise (myself) requested Ms. Swisher and Dr. Anderson abstain, given their conflict of interest with serving on the Community Chorus board of directors (an organization which would be affected by these updated categories and fees). Mr. Swisher abstained. Dr. Anderson stated he would resign from his position on the Community Chorus board, and voted, along with Mr. Grindl, against the motion, with Mr. Wise and Mr. Richards voting in favor, and Ms. McFadden and Ms. Swisher abstaining.

    • The facility rental fee structure passed in a separate motion 4/0/2.

  • The board voted unanimously to remove (2) chargers from Lakeside Park, with Duke Energy covering the costs of the removal.

  • The action item for the keycard system upgrade was approved.

  • The board unanimously approved age requirement signs for the Island Village gym.

• On December 29, a special meeting was held to continue negotiations with the apparent successful contractor for the playgrounds project. Mr. Wise (myself) recommended the board proceed with the apparent successful contractor, allowing for further negotiations and document preparation to occur so that a contract could be agreed upon. Mr. Grindl agreed.

  There were concerns made by residents with regard to the bid documents provided, not having more bids, and liability for inspections. Mr. Richards suggested we do not move forward with this scope, but rather we remove the existing playground pieces altogether and start from scratch.

  Ms. Swisher was concerned about the loss of ~$195,000 on already-installed playground equipment that we could complete under budget if we proceed with the motion at the meeting. Mr. Richards stated those were sunk costs due to bad management.

  The original motion did not pass, with all but Mr. Wise voting against it.

  Mr. Richards made a new motion to cancel the current RFP, notify the bidders that we will be resoliciting gin the coming weeks, hire Vigilant to write a distilled down RFP for Spring Park Playground, add in additional vendors. This motion passed 5/1.

  Mr. Wise made a motion to get an inspection on Longmeadow Park Playground, which passed unanimously.