Creekside News Journal™ | Holiday Island, Arkansas | POD Gallery | Merchant Mall | C-Span
Decisions! Decisions! And A Plan...
Holiday Island, Ark. - A "Special Meeting" was announced on August 30, 2010 and the room was packed with business owners, real estate agents and the Holiday Island Developer, Tom Dees.
The District Manager Kevin Crosson was present. At the request of the district manager, Tom Morris, attorney for the Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District (HISID) was also in the house for this very special meeting.
Developer Tom Dees placed a proposal before the Board of Commissioners (BOC) and there was no time for delay.
Dees presented his proposal for an Extension of Agreement to his retiring contract agreement, which expires in November of 2010. The extension proposal is for an additional three years.
As the plan unfolded, there were long time residents, the community realtors and small business owners of Holiday Island who became supportive to the plan as a means to attempt to return the community to a more desirable product with leverage in a down economy.
Dees proposes to attempt to salvage the 900 lots that have been turned over to the State of Arkansas due to lack of payment of the Carroll County taxes. There will be some title problems to overcome down there in Little Rock, he said. It was also confirmed that there are tentatively 110 lots on Tom Morris's list of HISID properties that are in foreclosure and potentially headed to the court house steps in October.
The Extension of Agreement and former contracts between Developer Tom Dees and HISID are available as a PDF. These are the documents distributed to the public and discussed at the "Special Meeting" on August 30, 2010. This is not the final contract. Also provided was a Summary of Laws, which govern the redemption and sale of delinquent property.
The BOC of 1999, wrote into the 2000 budget an activity card. The board consisted of Howard Wallace, Frank Smith, Ellen Bjork, Clarence McEnany and Marvin Hoffman. The passage of the activity card carried a vote of four ayes with Marvin Hoffman absent.
From the onset of the Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District, amenities were free usage of the facilities and membership was attached to property owner's payment of the Holiday Island Assessment.
On November 29, 2007, the BOC consisting of Ken Mills, Harley Barnum, Bill Branum, Dick Lytle and Fred Pierson voted 4 - 1 with Ken Mills the descending vote to open the 18-hole golf course for public play.
The attending realtors expressed their observations concerning the marketability and selling of homes or lots within the Holiday Island district. Without the free amenity attached to the property the leverage for selling lots and homes was on the decline and had been for several years.
Coldwell Banker Realtor Diane Paulsen contributed more stats for the discussion. During the year of 2009 and up to mid August 2010, only 17 sales had been achieved on the "multiple listing service" (MLS) with 115 realtors listed on that MLS. There were an additional 262 listed lots that expired after 800 days or more on the market.
Paulsen added that with "no privliges" there is nothing unique to offer the buyer.
Small business owners and realtors spoke many times that loosing the ability to "Assign Assessment Membership" was hurting both their business and the district.
The implementation of changing the golf course from private to public was hampering sales and the district reported that there had not been an increase in revenue because of this change, which occurred in 2008.
The BOC voted to accept the Extension of Agreement and both parties agreed to have District Manager Kevin Crosson and District Attorney Tom Morris work out the details. They will present a final contract to Tom Dees, the developer, and if the contract meets the approval of all three men they will finalize the contract.
The BOC voted to consider returning the 18-hole golf course to the status of a "Private" facility. This vote did not include the remaining amenities or facilities. All discussions and future votes will take place in preparation for the completion of the 2011 operations budget.
From the Editor:
Tom Morris, attorney for Holiday Island, Arkansas, addressed FOI procedures with the BOC of Holiday Island in January 2010. He provided the BOC with the FOI handbook.
FOI Handbook: 14th Edition (pdf)
Free Download of Adobe Reader: Mac | PC
During his discussion and question period, he informed the BOC and the audience that the rules of the FOIA were not intended to curtail those governed by these rules from participating in social events.
This legal interpretation made it possible for two or more commissioners to attend the same social event and not be in violation of the FOI, which carries heavy fines including misdemeanor charges.
At the coffee session held on March 1, at the Recreational Center, there was a need to clarify this legal interpretation further when two commissioners came to the morning coffee with Kevin.
Clarification: Two commissioners can not attend an event together that discusses past, present and potential future business.
HISID Meeting Schedule
Work Session: Sept. 20
9 a.m. District Office
Regular Meeting: Sept. 27
9 a.m. District Office
Coffee with Kevin
October 4 at 8 a.m.
Rec Center Island Room
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