Well, our contractor called us on Monday and apologized for taking a long weekend off out of town. I guess we can live with that. (What choice do we have?) Supposedly, he'll be here tomorrow to do some grading and then Sunday morning to pour the cement (or is it called concrete in the slurry state?). We were well trained which was which when we were at our park last winter in Florida. But time moves on and I don't remember.
We have permission to park the motorhome on a nearby lot while he is working here. Okay, we're only putting in a patio, but why take a chance when they are moving stuff with a tractor plus swinging forms around. (It is nice to have neighbors.) We aren't plugging in or parking it for a long term hookup, probably 3 or 4 hours each day.
Yesterday I went to a meeting in the park, entitled "Long Range Planning and Property Committee" Did I get an education. The committee is really only concerned with park property, forget the planning. And if you donate anything to the park, it had best be in tip top shape and not have a power cord, as anything electrical breaks and needs repair. "The park is not a dumping grounds for your old recliner!" It is interesting to watch how park politics plays out. (I doubt if anyone from the park reads this, so I'm not on too much thin ice.) The bottom line was that there is a process and you must play by the process. Of course, they also agreed that most people don't understand or know the process, including the park management.
Before the meeting began, I broached the subject of park lot rentals and the need for chart in the Welcome Center showing what was available for rent by private members. Did I get my ears penned back. I've heard it from just about everyone when I bring the subject up that Arizona rules absolutely prevent park involvement in the rental of private lots, unless they have a licensed broker in the office. I think it is really the accumulation of some years of questionable practices plus supposedly a letter from the Arizona AG that the park could not collect money for the owners unless they had a bonded and licensed broker in the office. Perhaps the crowning blow was that for a while, one of the volunteers in the Welcome Center also owned several lots and if someone appeared at the gate needing a lot, he directed them to his lots. I guess when others found out what he was doing, there was a bit of an over reaction. So now there is absolutely no information about private lot rentals in the Welcome Center. You are directed to either drive around, visit the club house and look at a notebook listing rental sites or visit the parks commercial web site. (In my opinion, not very prospective guest friendly.
So yesterday after the meeting, I decided that we'll advertise our lot on the park web site and include in the listing a link to a page (that we maintain) that tells the prospective renter what months are available. As it is now, if you want to rent a lot, you go to the classified listing of lots (about 30) and start calling until you find an opening. With the link to another page, we can post the lot rental status of our lot and make it less frustrating to the prospective renter. We shall try it. Last night I found a web site that provides a free webpage hosting service. Don't they say, Nothing ventured, nothing gained. We'll try it.
One of the things we see in a group owned park is that it is difficult to get leadership changes made. If the park is owned by an individual, they can see the need for a change and they can make it happen quickly. A characteristic of seniors is that when they assume a responsibility for a job, they treat it as if it is theirs for life. Sadly, most of them ought to be replaced after 5 years more or less in the same job. They have bent the job into a mission that specifically suits their interests, not necessarily the interests of the group. We have seen a case of that here and changing it will not be easy, if at all. Short of death, the job title is theirs!
Gene
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