LET THEM EAT CLUB FOOD!

Lot's of important things happening around here: Executive Board wants to hire a PR firm to undo what the media did to them over the last couple of months. Did to them? Couldn't have been that ridiculous boondoggle they tried to force down our throats in the form of a $4M bond that had something to do with it, no way! If the image of Farmington Woods has been soiled, no PR firm is going to help it. Stop draining the lifeblood out of the community for the losing golf operation and things will improve.

By the way, it's now "trespassing" to walk on the golf course even though you own it; a board member repeated the ridiculous propaganda that we all "knew there was a golf course here when we bought our units," so we should just suck it up and support this losing operation, after all it's an amenity and increasing your property values. Just don't walk on it. Best news of all from the Board meeting: the $2M irrigation system is now going to get done for a mere $43K. What was the other $1,957,000 going to be used for anyway? And where's the $43K coming from?

I'll get to these things in more detail tomorrow, but for now I'd like to mention just briefly how bad my lunch was today. When we first moved here, the taximum was $20 and the club was only open 10 months a year, so we would just forgo the monthly pleasure that the club provides and "donate" to the unused minimum fund. But when it went to $25 and then $30 and the club went to a 12 month calendar we did our best not to waste our hard earned money with such a foolish donation. Gift to the Woods? I don't think so.

After today's lunch however, it may be time to go back to our longstanding plan: 12 shrimp to go at $2.50 each. That covers the $30 just nicely and judging by our lunch today probably the wisest thing we could do, because today's culinary adventure at the club took the cake, so to speak. It's bad enough we get hit with this $30 per month assessment, but when you cash it in, you should at least be able to enjoy it.

My wife ordered the blackened chicken quesedilla and I had a BLT. Seemed like a safe bet. I've even had that sandwich before and it wasn't bad. But today, halfway through the first half I realized I was eating a BL. Hard as I tried I couldn't find the tomato in that half. Don't get me wrong, I love bacon and this was loaded with bacon, but the tomato was sliced so thin that it wasn't even a factor in the taste.

The blackened chicken quesedilla had chicken, not blackened, was oozing with far too much cheese and had all the tomatoes that my BLT lacked. I guess there was a mix-up in the kitchen. By the way, I spent a dozen years in Tucson, AZ and I know what a quesedilla should taste like. If you want a good one locally, try Murphy and Scarletti's across from the Health Center.

Their barbecue chicken quesedilla is to die for and it's also cheaper. And the guacamole is truly guacamole. They operate in the real world where if your product is bad and you run out of money to pay salaries you go out of business. That's the free market. This isn't. What we have is a socialized restaurant subsidized by public funds.

If you think that our experience today was an abberation or one time event, I can assure you it's not. My wife spoke with some folks at the Board meeting last night and they said they had been served raw fish last week. And it wasn't sushi. This is what happens when there is no profit motive.

As long as the clubhouse/restaurant is subsidized to the tune of $400K a year by residents and the goal remains to "break-even or have a slight loss" the food will never be good at the club. I watch a show called "Restaurant Impossible" every now and then. If Chef Irvine ever got a look at the books of this operation and a tour of the kitchen, all hell would break loose.

As a matter of fact if any of us ever got to see the books and look in the kitchen, another kind of hell just might break loose: people might start to question why they are forced to keep an operation going that wouldn't last three months in Avon, Farmington or anywhere else.

When we went down to Oronoques CC in Stratford last month, lunch was delicious, the service was great and not one resident of Oronoque Village contributed a mandatory dime to keep that operation afloat. Their product did.

Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

RESIDENT APPRECIATION DAY, SUNDAY, JUNE 3RD

Now that Memorial Day is over and you're headed  back to work tomorrow, we'd like to give you something to look forward to. On Sunday, June 3rd we're having a Resident Appreciation Day party at the Byron Pool from Noon to 4pm. (Rain date is June 10.)

It took a lot of work on the part of a lot of people to stop the bonding process, but the real heroes are the residents who showed up in record numbers at the polls to overwhelmingly turn down the bonds and send a message to the board.

The work's not done, but we still need to take a day to celebrate what was accomplished on May 10th, 2012. And who needs an excuse for a party anyway?

So, drop by the Byron Pool on Sunday, June 3rd from Noon to 4PM. Stay for an hour or ten minutes, get to know like minded people. There will be pizza, munchies, soda and beer. All you have to bring is yourself. And a friend if you like. 

See you there!

5000 PAGEVIEWS: THANKS FOR READING

When we started this blog on March 7th, 2012 we had no idea how residents of Farmington Woods would respond to our message or be curious enough to see what we were trying to accomplish. Little did we know that we would reach 5,000 pageviews in just over two months or even more incredibly, 2,000 in the last three weeks.

The vote on May 10th reinforced our feeling that most residents want their condo fees and district taxes to go toward maintaining the beauty of Farmington Woods, both the grounds and the buildings. For them, the golf course/clubhouse operation is secondary. Results of 67-33% and 81-19% don't lie.

You may not know it but the referendum you just took part in had a record number of voters participating: 1,023 residents voted! We actually had more votes cast on the bond referendum than the Town of Avon had on its budget and they have 11,000 registered voters.

So,congratulation to those who turned out. And to those that didn't, vote next time. If we want representative democracy here at Farmington Woods it's really very easy. All we have to do is vote.

Anyway, by the looks of things people are reading what we have to say here at http://www.farmingtonwoodsinsider.blogspot.com/. And if you'll keep reading, we'll keep writing. If you have something you'd like to contribute, email it to me at 2chewman@gmail.com and I'll post it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if I had 5,000 page views on my business website in the span of two and a half months, I'd be writing this blog from the Bahamas. Or not.

In the meantime, waiter, can I get another Bahama Mama?

DEMOCRACY VS COMPANY TOWN POLITICS

Just finished writing this http://ctwatchdog.com/finance/democracy-slips-at-major-avon-condo-complex-following-huge-turnout-to-defeat-higher-taxes-for-golf-course for CTwatchdog.com. My good friend George Gombassy has given us a several opportunities to tell our story to the world at large. We were lucky to get a referral to him from our other good friends at CCOC.

Please do yourselves and all Connecticut condo owners a favor by dropping by here http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016mDWXmlC-eB_fr-8FcCRtELbB_sqfZpCsukzVRYB8ooTG005bRiN7VCc-hlXu8WkEoFbcC_dOYU%3D to put your email address on the mailing list.

As you know from living in one, condos are not always run democratically and laws governing their operation more often than not favor the boards and management companies that run them. Because we had no one to lobby for us in Hartford, CCOC was created in order to help level the playing field. So, go to their site, sign up for the email and join at your earliest opportunity. They have had success in getting legislation favorable to condo owners through the legislature recently and there is power in numbers.

HEADED IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION?

It was just reported to me that Al Miller, General Manager of Farmington Woods for the last three years, has resigned his position. Is this the beginning of a new direction here and are more resignations coming? Stay tuned to find out.

WHO'S BEEN MISINFORMING WHOM?

If you think that writing this blog was my idea, think again. It was the brainchild of my wife during the early November power outage when we wondered what had happened to the “disaster plan” that was in place here in the early 2000’s and whatever happened to using the clubhouse generators to provide warmth and comfort to residents?

I did my best to help her forget the idea, but then this $4M bond thing came along and I was recruited for the job. It’s been nothing short of a draining, roller coaster ride of an experience for the last three months. But this isn’t about me, so I’ll go on.

After the victory last Thursday we celebrated on the weekend, all the while knowing that the annual budget vote was coming the following Tuesday night. I guess I wasn’t prepared for the experience: democracy in action one week, a mockery of democratic process the next. There’s a lot to be said about the latter experience; it will be the subject of my next CTwatchdog.com column. After I finish this, I’ll start that.

For now, I want to skip to the end of the meeting when my wife, Joe Caggiano and I went up to speak with Irene Loretto. I actually had a legitimate question for her. Since I had searched through the Governing Ordinance of the Farmington Woods District and couldn’t find any reference to removal of Directors, I assumed she could refer me to it.

I told her that she and four other directors were not doing the work of the majority of residents at Farmington Woods and that she and they needed to go. Her first reaction was a curious look of surprise and then she told me quite firmly not to threaten her. I told her it was not a threat, that we were going to through the process by the book and quite legally.

Then she said something that I found astounding. She told me that she had received an email, as in one email, from a resident who thought we should have another vote on the bond because of all the “misinformation” that had been spread by my group, Residents for Fiscal Responsibility and others.

She really said that. 1,023 residents voted last Thursday. They turned down the two bonds not by a landslide, but by a tsunami. And all it took was ONE email to put doubt on the whole process. At that moment I realized that this issue was not going away. It will come back in some form or another. Just wait. We ended the conversation with mutual smiles and we were on our way.

When I arrived home two things troubled me: her perception that I was threatening her and her remark about the “misinformation” that was spread prior to the bond vote. I’ll deal with the threat accusation first. If being informed as a politician, and make no mistake, this woman is a politician in charge of a Taxing District, that some person or group is seeking your ouster for failure to represent the majority of the taxpayers, then we better cancel all local, state and national elections for the foreseeable future.

Because, in a democracy that's what elections, referendums, petitions and recalls are all about: ridding the community of the people who have captured it for their own purposes. It’s not a threat, but a democratic process, and if she cannot see the distinction, she is taking all this much too personally. She doesn’t see that the majority here, in a time of economic downturn, want the golf operation to sustain itself or the board to come up with a better solution. We own it. We should have some say in what is done with it and how much we are willing to give up in services to keep these two failing operations on life support.

Now my reaction to her first remark, that we had spread “misinformation” prior to the vote. Since Tuesday's meeting, I’ve been tired and lacked the motivation to write. But today I decided to take a look at the letter that Ms. Loretto sent on April 5 for a second time, the one where she states in the first paragraph: “….a great deal of misinformation is being sent around or spoken. Some is being sent without the courage from the sender to even sign it, or admit who the author is.” That person, of course, was me and my group.

The anonymous approach was a guerilla marketing tactic. The next night I appeared with Joe Caggiano on Fox61 News. We had been planning this “coming out” for a month. Of course that didn’t stop a member of the Clubhouse Committee from emailing me to tell me how “gutless” I was. I wonder where he was during the Viet Nam War?

In the end, writing takes motivation, and reading that again not only got me motivated to write, but also to read on. I encourage you to read on too, because if one side wants to start accusing the other of using “misinformation”, that other side should get a chance at rebuttal. And what follows is mine, a paragraph by paragraph dissection of her letter, sent to all residents. I’ve already covered the first paragraph, so let’s see where an analysis of paragraphs 2-11 takes us:

PARAGRAPH 2

In this paragraph she states that “fortunately we don’t have a debt problem, but we are well aware that additional members are necessary for us to return to a break-even point.” She’s half right here. No, we don’t have the kind of “debt problem” that caused Tumble Brook in Bloomfield to go bankrupt; but that’s because we have a resident base that pays off the debts every year with increasing fees and taxes and reduced services. It’s a zero sum game.You can’t have both.

PARAGRAPH 3

In paragraph three she states in reaction to the accusation that no cost/benefit analysis or feasibility study was done before spending $43K for architects, lawyers and bond brokers, that their cost/benefit “analysis” was done, not by an outside accountant, but by Farmington Woods accounting staff, “in effect updating part of the 2009 Sub-Committee Study on Golf.” That would be the study that was done mostly by in-house staff who were of course, as objective as they could be, considering they were employed by Farmington Woods.

PARAGRAPH 4

The next paragraph should make every reader who has ever owned or operated a business in the real world, the world of the marketplace, where success or failure is determined strictly by the bottom line, gasp. Here she reminds us that “You should remember, that even in these tough times, Golf is contributing over $1M in revenue, and this, of course would all go away without the golf course.” OK, so I’ve got a business I want you to invest in. It brought in a cool $1B last year, unfortunately they fell short of expenses by a quarter billion. And the’re projected to do the same next year. Want to invest?

PARAGRAPH 5

If you ever get a chance, get yourself a copy of the esteemed 2009 Ad-Hoc Select Committee to Study Golf. You can pick one up at the MA. No, it’s not a Harvard study. I doubt that I would have gotten away with turning something like this in as a term paper even in my undergraduate days. After admitting they haven’t made a profit for 5 of the last 6 years they come to the conclusion that residents should foot the bill for the golf operation whenever membership is too low to fund it.

In her letter she list costs for maintaining open space at $323K. Aside from the fact that it was OK to stick us with bond payments of roughly $360K per year to keep two losing operations alive, the final figure from the report for maintaining open space is highly suspect. Four full-time employees and $15K for keeping God’s green Earth groomed? Please. Of course we’re now being told that we would still need an irrigation system for open space. Been outside at all this week?

PARAGRAPH 6

I guess the misinformation in this paragraph is really disinformation or perhaps just a matter of definition. When she says that “We all devoutly wish...we could return to the 30-year period that (the course) could still be provided to all of us non-golfers free of charge.” she’s ignoring the fact that for the last 20 years we have all been paying an on-going assessment in the form of restaurant minimums that they wanted to increase to $35 a month this year. And they’ve clearly stated that their goal is to run the restaurant at “a slight loss or break-even policy for the restaurant”even after collecting $400K per year from us to keep it going.

PARAGRAPH 7

In this paragraph she makes the statement that there is “a one-time closing costs of shutting down all golf operations, which have been estimated at over $100K." Excuse me, but the 2009 Golf Committee estimated that after filling in sand traps there would be a “Net Benefit” of $130K if a conversion were made from a golf course to open space. If you want to check my numbers, go straight to the MA and get a copy of this report. They’re free.

PARAGRAPH 8

This particular rationale has been used over the years to keep residents fearful of outsiders, especially those outsiders who would come to play golf here if it were open to the public. She states that if the course were open to the public “Farmington Woods would no longer be a private, gated community, but totally open to the public.”

So, the next time you see a delivery truck, contractor, plumber, electrician or a member of a wedding party headed to the club, or for that matter an outside golfer headed up to the club to play in a charity tournament, be sure to contact security at the front gate and have them removed. The reality is there’s only one group here that doesn’t want “outsiders” here and that’s the members of the cozy and always private, golf club.

PARAGRAPH 9

Sometimes misinformation comes in the form of myth. In this case, I’m referring to the myth that the golf course, despite the fact that it loses money annually and is kept alive by using resident fees and taxes, thereby reducing the actual amount available for upkeep of our community, actually increases property values at Farmington Woods.

And, Irene for one, believes the myth to the extreme. She says that “I personally feel our values would decline 10-15% without the course.” That’s quite a claim, considering that in early 2009 when the economy was much better, of the two realtors that were consulted for the study only one “reluctantly suggested between 5 and 10%”. They both “thought non-golfers bought units here because there was a course or at least groomed open space.”

PARAGRAPH 10

In this paragraph she claims that “if we close the course a complete assessment of our Club House/Restaurant operations would be necessary. A reduction in that operation would definitely lead to even more fees and taxes to unit owners.” Yeah, if we close this losing operation down it’s going to cost us even more.

But I’m sure some of us would make do by spending our $30 per month minimum somewhere else. Did you know that a study done at “real” country clubs found that even high-end members of exclusive clubs resent having to pay minimums? And did you know that our pseudo-country club now has Section 8 housing? How’s that working out for ya?

PARAGRAPH 11

OK, last paragraph and it’s short. Can’t be any misinformation here. What’s more, I’d like to be done with this analysis; but unfortunately I’m not. In this final paragraph she says she’s “sure I have not answered absolutely every question you might have (very true, actually), but I’m hoping this information is helpful..”. You be the judge of the veracity of the second part of this sentence. If you can honestly say after reading what I’ve just written that everything in her letter was information and not misinformation/disinformation, I’ll give her a pass and let her have this one.

I’d like to wrap this up by saying that since the night of February 7^th, the date of the first informational meeting on the $4M bond, I’ve been studying this issue by reading documents created by the boards and MA, by researching the internet and by talking to experts on this issue from all over the country. My group, Farmington Woods Residents for Fiscal Responsibility has tried to present information clearly, concisely and honestly so that voters could make an informed decision on May 10^th. I believe we did that. And the voters spoke. End of story.

It’s time for a change here at Farmington Woods and if the present board refuses to recognize that and offer something other than the status quo, it’s time for a new board.


Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

HIDDEN CHARGES OR DON'T FORGET TO READ THE SMALL PRINT

I just got off the phone with CBS Interactive Sports. Seems that in January I had watched a college basketball game on the web using their service and because I approved this "one-time charge" they saw fit to sign me up for a monthly subscription of $9.95. And I used their service once. Now I have to go through Bank of America to get those charges removed.

This got me thinking about our yearly budget here at Farminton Woods, which comes up for approval tomorrow. On the surface it looks like a good deal: virtually no increase in district taxes and a modest 1.43% increase in condo fees for a total increase of 0.99%! Sounds too good to be true and when you look at the fine print, it is.

On the back page, under Golf, the budget notice reveals that residents will again be covering the losses of the golf operation to the tune of $124,397. Under Capital Fund it lists $46K for bridge and cartpath repair.

And if you look under Clubhouse and do the math, that operation will lose $62,479 in the coming year.When you consider that we just wasted $43K last year to hire architects, lawyers and bond brokers for a project residents rejected in an overwhelming manner, it makes you wonder when the madness will stop. By the way, until residents protested, we were looking at a $35. monthly restaurant miniumum next year. Even without these minimums, we're advancing these losing operations more than a quarter million dollars in the next fiscal year! Money that could be used for improvements to the residential community that is Farmington Woods.

If you think that an increase of 0.99% looks good after hearing about the funds that continue to flow to the golf course for infrastructure and operating expenses then think again. All that money should be going into fixing our driveways, completing the sidewalk that passes by the guardhouse, so that mothers with baby carriages and anyone else who chooses to walk there, can walk safely, or buying new pool furniture. But it's not and if we approve this year's budget it's just as bad as approving the charges made by CBS to my credit card. I got nothing for it.

So, one more time I'm going to ask something of you. If you haven't turned in your condo budget proxy yet, save it for tomorrow night. Bring it to the Budget Vote in the North Lounge of the Clubhouse and vote this budget down, both the condo and the district budgets. In one of the articles I wrote for CTwatchdog.com there was a section I called "The Board Jumps the Shark". I was referring to the bonding proposal. But what do you call it when the board on a yearly basis uses public funds to support an operation that is having disastrous financial effects on our community?

Like I told the guy at CBS sports, who by the way could only cancel my "account" but not clear the charges, "It's like you came into my house, found my wallet and took out $10 a month for the last three months." CBS is a huge corporation and I'll have to write a letter to Bank of America to get the charges rescinded. All you have to do to stop the piracy that happens here, every year at this time, is to VOTE NO ON THE BUDGETS. PLEASE COME AND SEND ANOTHER MESSAGE TO THE BOARD!


Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

THE WAY FORWARD

Now that Mother’s Day, 2012 is in the books it’s time to look forward to next week and where we go from here.  It was hard not to celebrate the defeat of the bonds and to be honest I did. Then reality raised its ugly little head. And on this beautiful spring evening, in early May, I have a sad announcement to make: we didn’t win anything last Thursday.

Please pardon these, but to use another sports analogy all we did was stop the boards's offense. We didn’t score a single point.  And that's some superior defense considering that the odds have been stacked against us since Dirk Aube announced that they "had enough votes to win" on February 21st at the Public Hearing on the bonds. If you want something to celebrate, here it is: if we had not won by an overwhelming landslide on Thursday, the series would be over. We’d have been locked in to a losing proposition until 2032. And to a yearly payment of $360K for life support.

So, if we won anything it was the right to continue the fight to make Farmington Woods what the majority of residents want it to be. We’ve had years of the opposite of that happening here and we know where that leads. As my wife said the other day “the residents here finally woke up and spoke up.” And in a resounding way.

I said on Thursday that after speaking with Richard Matt, a Director on the District Board of Directors, who lamented the lack of a “Plan B” to turn to, I would present my own B, C, D, E, F, & possibly G alternatives. Of course, the decision to go forward minus a Plan B was the board"s, but they were sure they had enough votes to pass the bonds and get their plans approved. Otherwise they wouldn't have spent $43K of our district taxes on architechts, lawyers and bond brokers. So those of you with any Plan B, any idea beyond more years of losing money supporting golf, are ahead of the board that leads us here at Farmington Woods.

I’m going to briefly describe my plans B through possibly G now, plans that could get us out of our current dilemma and extricate us from the enterprise that has had its grip on Farmington Woods since it was purchased in 1985. And when you finish with my offerings, please add your own alternative plans for the way forward. I encourage you to in fact. After all, you and I own the entire operation.

B.     Sell it. This is the option that Heritage Village, Heritage Hills and Oronoque Village all used in the 90’s to get out from under the burden of running a golf operation. I have spoken to two golf brokers since this bonding issue started and both said people are still buying courses. Oronoque was purchased by Century Golf Group and is managed by Arnold Palmer Golf. They have 385 members and resident of the village are considered “social members” and pay no minimums.

C.     Hire an outside company to run it. Arnold Palmer Golf is just one of many companies that manage courses both public and private. And they are doing a stellar job at Oronoque. The staff is extremely friendly, membership is up and the restaurant makes a profit, and serves delicious food without the need for minimums.

D.    Lease it to a private company or the town. The 2009 ad hoc Committee to Study Golf said this option needed to be revisited. As a matter of fact after recommending that residents sustain the golf club during lean years they also said that the whole issue, including yearly losses over almost a decade, should be revisited yearly due to the decline of golf worldwide since 2008. Instead we got a $4M bond proposal. That the board entusiastically endorsed.

E.     Members form an LLC and purchase it, thereby maintaining control. This is what 67 members at Tumble Brook Country Club in Bloomfield did when that club went bankrupt. This option, like the previous three, would free us of the burden of funding the golf operation and return $30 per month into the hands of residents who have been shoring up the clubhouse operation with monthly assessments since the 90’s.

F.      Reduce the course to nine holes and open it up to the public. According to one source I spoke with if we do this we may as well hang an “Out of Business” sign on the front gate. He claims this would be the beginning of the end of golf at Farmington Woods. And given the state of golf, both in  Connecticut and worldwide this would probably lead to my last option and one that many believe would be the ideal use of the natural beauty that we all own.

G.     Close the course and turn it into a giant park available for use by all. This option scares some and is the top choice of others. The town of Avon is in the process of developing commercial and residential property which will include a park for residents to enjoy. It’s often said that the golf course increases our property values, but not when it's losing money. And I’ve yet to hear of one resident of Park Avenue East complaining of Central Park being next door. The board warns that it would cost residents $25 a month to maintain it, but we would be saving $30 per month in restaurant minimums. Fortunately for us, this option is available to us if things get dire, thanks to the defeat of the "20 year debt sentence."

So there you have it, my plans B through possibly G. And I’m sure there are others. The 2009 committee had some other wild ideas like building a wind farm or running a tree farm on the open space. But they concluded that using it for golf “produced more resources” than any other use for the land.  They were adamant that using it as open space was not cost effective, based on their own in-house surveys. But losing resident's money every year was just fine.

Unfortunately, they also came to the conclusion that “The long range goal should be for the Golf Operation to be fiscally independent. However we just don’t know whether or not that is achievable.” That was in 2009 and this year they came to the conclusion, after focus groups overwhelmingly voiced their desire that golf be "self-supporting",  and with golf still losing nearly  $200K per year, that it was in the best interests of residents, who were already supporting it with condo fees, district taxes and monthly minimums, to float $4M in bonds to keep these money losing enterprises going.

I can only draw one conclusion from what I just wrote. I’ve read it several times and more importantly I’ve been studying and writing about this issue for months now. And that conclusion is this: We need new leadership here at Farmington Woods. The people in charge had a chance to do something about the problem that has been ongoing for a decade now. They chose to stay the course.

We need for Irene Loretto, Dan Sullivan, Adam Briggs, Ivan Mendelsohn and Dirk Aube to step aside and allow people who can represent all of us lead us into the future. We need to rid ourselves of the myth that we are a "golf community" dependent on golf for our property values. Lots of things add value here: the excellent school systems of Avon and Farmington, our beautiful setting, our access to Rails to Trails bike and walking trails. our proximity to Unionville our own little town. 

We have been led to believe that one special interest, golf,  binds this community together and defines it. We have discovered otherwise. Times have changed, the economy has changed and the demographics of our little village have changed in the last tweny years. I see more baby carriages here now than golf carts. That should tell you something.

The bonding issue was a referendum not only on where our money should be spent, but on what direction Farmington Woods should take in order to be fiscally solvent in the next twenty years. The present Tax District Board has shown us that they don’t or won’t listen to what residents want and don’t have the ability to “think outside the box” in a way that will help this community move forward into the future.

They have given many years to Farmington Woods, but it’s time to find a new direction with new ideas and that requires new leadership.


Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

CAN YOU SAY LANDSLIDE?

The results are in and the people, as they say, have spoken. And we're not done yet. There is a better way to conduct the business of golf at Farmington Woods and we're going to make it happen.

After voting, I spoke with the man who was handing out the ballots. I asked him how the vote was going and he said it was going very well, that there had been 800 votes cast. That was at 3:30pm. The final tally was 1023 total votes.


HERE ARE THE CERTIFIED RESULTS OF THE BOND VOTE: (1023 Total Votes)

$2M Golf Course Irrigation System

Yes:  337          33%

No:   684           67%

$2M for Clubhouse Upgrades 

Yes:  194           19%

No:    826           81%

Congratulations to all who took part in this expression of democracy at Farmington Woods, those that voted Yes and those who voted No. This was an inspiring day, but we are not done yet. Today was just the beginning. The fellow handing out the ballots also had this to say: "It's just too bad we don't have a plan B."

Well, tomorrow I will present Plan B, C, D, E, F & possibly G to the residents here. They are the ones who should determine the future of Farmington Woods and they have spoken in a big way today. This was a referendum on an outdated business model and there are many viable alternatives to be examined as we move into the future.

             

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL VOTERS

Just stopped by the MA office to cast my vote. I was told while I was there at 3:30pm that 800 people had already voted. That's an incredible turnout for Farmington Woods and there's still four more hours to go. If you haven't already done so get up, get out and VOTE. Take a neighbor. Let's show them democracy in action!

TIME FOR A 21ST CENTURY BUSINESS MODEL

Just finished sending out 766 emails with the help of a half dozen folks who volunteered to take time from their busy schedules to make their community a better place. Like me, they believe that the vote Thursday can be the beginning of a better future for Farmington Woods and a more modern, financially viable approach to funding the golf business that we inherited in 1985.

Very few of us were here then or took part in the initial decision to purchase and operate a private entity using public funds in the form of district taxes. In case you missed it, it's not 1985 anymore. The business model that was used to run Farmington Woods Golf Club is not working because it was developed in the 80's using voodoo economics; it left us at the mercy of every downturn in the economy over the last 27 years. And the only thing trickling down are the losses.

Club membership has slumped along with the ailing economy, especially since 2008, leaving only one source to keep things out of the serious red: you, me and the rest of the residents here, golfers and non-golfers alike.
At last count the course had 179 members and next year's golf budget is based on 200 members. Unfortunately it takes 300 members to break even. And you know where the balance comes from.

I know Irene Loretto likes to say we've never had an assessment at Farmington Woods. If that's so, then someone needs to check the machine that prints my bills. Every month for the past 13 years there's been a charge for "restaurant minimums" of $20, $25 and now $30. They wanted to raise it to $35 this year so the club wouldn't have to sacrifice. You would think they could get by on our $400K advance every year and the $140K in unused minimums that probably should have been returned to the community, but didn't.

It took me 13 years to realize that I am not a member of anything here, but am obligated to pay for something I wouldn't use if it were not forced upon me. Monthly minimums are nothing more than an assessment. If you own a unit at Oronoque Village in Stratford, you're automatically considered a "social member" of Oronoque Country Club and your minimum is, well, there is no minimum.

How do they do it? They have a good product and good management. They are in a business to make a profit and not allowed to go to the well, the residents, every year when they can't get by with what was fronted them the year before. And they're not asking for residents of the village to cough up $4M over the next 20 years paid for with an 18% tax increase.

We need a new business model suited for the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Unless you're in agreement with the "too big to fail" mantra that Wall Street used to rob you of your retirement a few years ago, you've got to agree that Farmington Woods Golf Club needs to take responsibility for its own success or failure.

And I don't know about you, but we never thought we'd be keeping a private golf course open with our retirement funds either. We were thinking we'd only have to support ourselves.. How naive of us.

The course should have been sold years ago, but a small group of people here wanted to keep it for themselves and understood that by using the fear tactic of "decreased property values" they could get residents to cough up enough to keep it going, even while losing money on a yearly basis. It's a cozy club for those who join. But the rest of us get to pay to keep the necessary clubhouse open. 37% of us don't even use it.

I have been running a national business for 17 years. If my record of profitable vs. unprofitable years over the last ten had been as bad as the golf operation, I would have closed up shop long ago. I don't want the club to go out of business, I want it to be profitable. And the only way that's going to happen is for the course to be sold or leased to people with an incentive to make a profit.

Right now there is none.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE NO TOMORROW.

Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

CHICAGO POLITICS, FARMINGTON WOODS STYLE

I told you it was a slow news day earlier, but that's all changed now:

From CTwatchdog.com:

Like Chicago, we have our own little history of scandal here at Farmington Woods. In 2009, our General Manager, a man who had held that position for almost twenty years, a man that everyone loved and trusted, was released because a forensic audit had found “irregularities” with Farmington Woods accounts attributable to him. When asked at a meeting whether the amount of misappropriation warranted criminal action, we were told by the president that a decision had been made to move forward. We were now without an accredited general manager. Read on:
http://ctwatchdog.com/finance/farmington-woods-a-tale-of-what-happens-when-chicago-politics-takes-control-of-a-ct-condo-association

IT'S A SLOW NEWS DAY, BUT NOT FOR LONG

Don't have much to say this morning. I used all my words up this weekend writing another article for http://ctwatchdog.com/. I hope it doesn't take you as long to read it as it took me to write it. I was lucky it was a rainy weekend. Watch for it later today.

ORONOQUE "ROAD TRIP" REPORT

Before things get real busy here I'd like to tell you about the road trip that my wife and I took to Oronoque Village in Stratford the other day. That's the condo community that was built in the early 70's by the same developer as Farmington Woods, with a golf course designed by Desmond Muirhead,  just like ours. The course was sold many years ago and is now managed by Arnold Palmer Golf as Oronoque Country Club. The club has 385 members and is "membership by invitation only." 

We were lucky enough to get an invite for lunch from the Membership Director who treated us to lunch in the pub which was hopping even on this drizzly New England day. As we looked out the window onto the course the number of golfers either just leaving or returning from their rounds of golf was a sight to behold. The pub itself was almost full and looking the other direction you could see into the pro shop which was also bustling with activity. On a Wednesday.

As we continued our tour after lunch we ran into groups of golfers, all of whom treated us as welcome guests.We met the General Manager/Director of Golf who explained to us that if we bought a unit at Oronoque Village we could be sponsored for membership by a resident member or if we chose not to join, the course was available for use on Tuesday and Wednesday of each week with a charge for greens fees and cart rental only. We also met the Golf Pro, who, like everyone else younger than forty these days, looked like a baby to me. But he was extremely knowledgeable, well spoken and a pleasant young man.

The best thing we heard was that as residents of the village, or as a member of the club the monthly minimum at the restaurant was exactly nothing. That's right, when you move to Oronoque Village you are considered a "social member" of Oronoque Country Club and it doesn't cost you a dime! And since the course is owned by Century Golf Group, residents don't have to worry about shoring up a losing operation. This place makes a profit with membership, not by making residents shell out to keep it operating in the red year after year.

Then it was on to our tour of Oronoque Village. We were amazed to find variations of a lot of the buildings we see here at Farmington Woods. And since it was developed between 1971 and 1979 it had the look of the original sections of our little village. The grounds were well-kept, some buildings were in the process of being resided and despite the fact that it's an over 55 community without a gate house, not one resident cowered at the sight of the two "outsiders" driving through their community. In fact, many waved to us. But they also don't have to worry about their safety given the fact that they have round the clock security, seven days a week.

We saw the two community buildings, the tennis courts, the beautiful pools and didn't see an idling diesel truck anywhere. The landscapers drove little "mules" which made the whole environment a lot quieter than it is here on a busy day. Inside one of the community centers there is a putting green and driving range owned by the community, not the golf course, and people were practicing their skills.

At one point we were given a copy of their publication, "Oronoque Village Bulletin" which contained announcements about upcoming social events and group meetings. More importantly though, it contained a flyer inviting residents to attend the annual budget meeting for the Oronoque Tax District. There was a sheet with all the numbers, but what impressed me most was the invitation for people to attend and the following statement regarding voter eligibility:

Voting Eligibility

1)      Must be a registered voter (Town of Stratford) residing in Oronoque Village or,

2)      A citizen, 18 years of age or older, who owns property in the district assessed at $1,000 or
more on the Grand List.

Voting Registration

Opens at 7:00 p.m, Voters to be checked against registration lists (proper identification required) in order to obtain ballots.                                                                           .

Absentee ballots are available in the Oronoque Village Business Office if you cannot attend the meeting. 

All in all, the road trip to Oronoque, both the village and the country club was enjoyable and eye opening:  The golf course is independent of the village and therefore, self-supporting, there are no minimums, which are in reality an assessment, and if you happen to be a non-resident owner, they allow, just as most tax districts in the state do, voting by absentee ballot. We could learn something from them.


Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

WE REACHED A MILESTONE

Shocked, stunned, astonished, flabbergasted and awestruck. Those are just a few of the reactions I had when I realized the hit count on our little community "insider" had reached 3000!  In 8 weeks. It seems that folks at Farmington Woods really do have an interest in how their community is run. Congratulations!

WE GET HELP FROM THE MEDIA, AGAIN

A good time was had by most, if not all attendees at Tuesday night's bond presentation. If you missed it you can view it here:  http://www.courant.com/videogallery/69699069/News/Farmington-Woods-Residents-Split-On-Renovations#gl-0  I personally thought the clubhouse looked pretty nice for a place that needs a $2M renovation. The reporter was pretty impressed too.

MY "DEEP THROAT" LETTER

I took a road trip to Oronoque Country Club in Stratford today, had lunch and met some very nice people. I learned a lot from the trip and had intended to write about my experience when I got back. That plan got cancelled when I opened my mailbox and found the letter below, delivered without return address and unsigned.

I don't generally trade in rumor and gossip, but I think the scenario presented deserves some inspection. What makes me think this is a conversation I had two weeks ago with the owner of a local landscaping company who knows a lot about the golf business, having worked in it for 13 years in addition to growing up around it.

His advice regarding our golf losses was to "keep your eye on the house". Not being familiar with the term I asked him to define it. "House," he said, "Clubhouse. If you're losing money on the golf operation that's where you look first."

As I said earlier, my first intention when I got back was to write about my experience at Oronoque, but I found this is too compelling to ignore. I'll tell you about the road trip tomorrow.

 Anonymous thoughts from the sideline-

Power Corrupts. Do you recall that when Paul Schorno was GM, then board
president Dan Sullivan had a sort of witch hunt. Yes, Mr. Schorno mismanaged
some deposits but there was never any money missing, nor was he an
"embezzler" as Sullivan made him out to be in neighborhood gossip. So there
was a forced resignation and Sullivan took ultimate power as seemed to be his
plan. At that time, there were not too many residents actually paying attention to
the actions of the board as there are now through your enlightenment. There
was supposed to be a hiring committee to find a qualified M.A. manager,
however Sullivan could retain power by putting Al Miller in that spot, as Al is not
as forceful as Paul and defers any decisions to the board. Mr. Schorno seemed
to know that the GM duties were to advise the board since they were volunteers
and not professional association managers and persuade them through
knowledge not to make bad decisions that would affect the community. During
the Sullivan regime, with Al Miller in GM command, Roland Kelsey was fired as
Clubhouse Manager, and a new very costly position was made, hiring Ed Jarrett
as the "Director of Golf and Clubhouse". Used to be that the general manager
managed Golf and the Clubhouse and their managers. Ed Jarrett subsequently
made up new management positions as the restaurant, that Roland did not seem
to need. Banquet manager, food manager, or whatever they are called, seemed
everyone on restaurant staff became a sub-manager, etc. etc. The failing
restaurant/clubhouse got a bigger payroll budget, as well as the new Director
position getting" commission" yearly bonuses. Add to this Dan Sullivan's firing

of longtime golf pro Rick Churchill, which has led to a costly ongoing lawsuit.
New golf pro hired, new positions, new expenses added to the golf budget as
there was now a "Director of Golf" which was previously managed through the
GM, Golf Pro and Golf Superintendent Greg Bradley. Where has all this new
managing gone and what has been done? Where is the professional
management? 

Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.

THE DEVIL'S IN THE DETAILS

Take a look at what I wasn't allowed to finish at tonight's meeting: Oronoque Village in Stratford started out like Farmington Woods in the early 70's, a golf course surrounded by a condominium community. But they had the good sense to sell their course at the end of the last century, (which I'm not sure Farmington Woods ever left) and are free and clear of the financial obligation that ownership entails. Us? We're still a company town, subsidizing  the company store with restaurant taximums, condo fees and district taxes. And how's that working for ya?

Below are comparisons of expenses and amenities for my Carriage House in Farmington Woods and a unit in Oronoque Village in Stratford called a Melville. I picked this unit because it was the closest I could come to the sales price of my unit. Note: Since the Oronoque unit is 50% larger, town and district taxes would be roughly 50% higher. I did not increase condo fees, however. (Figures in parentheses have been
prorated to reflect this difference.)  http://www.oronoquevillage.com/home.asp

            

DETAILS	FARMINGTON WOODS	ORONOQUE VILLAGE
Market Value	$150,000 (asking price)	$144,900 (listed price)
Square footage	964	1,480.
Town Taxes	$2,050 (3,075.)+	$5,018
Yearly District Taxes	$964. (1,446.)+	$2,645.
Yearly Condo Fees	$2,988.	$2,448.
Total Condo Fees/District Taxes	$3,952.  (4,434.)+	$5,093.
Yearly Restaurant Minimum	$360.	Free Social Membership*
Total, Including Rest. Min.	$4,312.  (4,794.)+	$5,093.
Bonds Pending	Total of $4M.	None
Tax Increase from Bonds	$200/yr	None
Total, Including Bonding	$4,512.  (4,994.)+	$5,093.
Golf Membership, Resident	$3,650.	$3,300.*
Golf Membership Non Resident	$3,925.	$3,588.*
Club Membership Total	179	385*
Golf Club or Country Club	Golf Club	Country Club*
Initiation fees	Waived	None*
Course Clubhouse	Yes	Yes*
Golf Course Management	Self-Managed	Arnold Palmer Golf
Course/Clubhouse Ownership	Owned by FW Residents	Century Golf Partners
Total Units	1,084	929
Total Acreage	375	300
Gated Community	Yes	No
7day, 24 hour Security	No	Yes
On site Management	Yes	Yes
Swimming Pools	4	3
Tennis Courts	9	5 soft surface
Library	No	Yes
Fitness Center	No	State of the Art
Garden Plots	Yes	Yes
Community Buildings	No	2, includes 1 with indoor driving range & putting green

*Oronoque Country Club         +Prorated for 50% more square footage


Comments? You're welcome to email me at 2chewman@gmail.com.