20,000 PAGEVIEWS: SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN

Nothing like a little controversy to bump up the numbers: hitting 20,000 page views shows that things are heating up around here and it's not just the late arrival of spring that's responsible. 

When you draft a budget with projected losses of :

-$130K for golf (usually increased by the following January) 
-$60K for golf infrastructure, including new irrigation and another cartpath 
-$60K for a new clubhouse roof 

THAT INCLUDES:

-$1.1M in salaries for these two money losing operations

AND

-post a "profit" of $22.5K for the restaurant courtesy of "restaurant common fees" (otherwise known as unused monthly minimums) of $145K out of $390K residents contribute in restaurant assessments in this and every fiscal year,

it's hard not to get upset when a line item for a measly $5K, chiseled down from $15K, for a playscape and a basketball hoop cause ageing males to play Kojak with resident children on bikes and flyers to be passed around, anonymously and unbelievably "person to person", that show nothing short of contempt for the children of Farmington Woods and their parents.

"They will move on" say the detractors, as if they themselves, won't be moving on anytime soon. It's not easy getting old, I ought to know.  But to me children represent light, life, laughter and vitality. I'm sorry some folks see them only as an irritant.

I just hope this is not the "way of life" that our newly elected President wants to "preserve" as stated in her profile statement from last fall's campaign: continued deficit spending on the golf and clubhouse operations, with a penny-pinching, Scrooge-like approach to the needs of those who will inherit the future and the loving parents who will guide them there.

MARCH BOARD MEETING: STATUS QUO NOT GOING OUT LIKE A LAMB

This month’s report is rather long so I’ll keep my comments short and to the point, not an easy task for me as some already know.

As usual I think I’ll start with a short history lesson, this time involving golf and how it’s funded. Contrary to what many would have you believe, when we purchased here in 1999 we were told that the course was self-funded. While that may have been true until about 2005, things changed drastically that year.

Around that time golf started losing money on an annual basis. At first this was covered by profits from earlier years. But by 2009 things got so bad that a committee was formed to address the problem.

After reviewing all possible uses for the course and admitting that it was now losing money and membership on an annual basis, the Ad Hoc Select Committee to Study Golf, a group made up entirely of golfers came to the conclusion that for the time being residents were going to have to make up for any shortfalls encountered by the golf operation.

They also stated that this temporary fix should be evaluated yearly to measure progress in both increasing membership and stemming the tide of the losses. Supposedly that approach has been taken every year since 2009. That makes five years now that residents have openly been supporting the course.

Something else happened in 2005. The 20 year bond floated in 1985 to purchase the course was due to be paid off leaving us with about $100K to use on other things. And we did. That year $75K was used to replace the pump house that serviced some of the course. That didn’t sit well with some residents and a minor battle ensued. The district won in the end.

Then, as we all know, last year a plan was announced to bond $4M dollars, again over twenty years for course infrastructure and clubhouse improvements, including an elevator and a much needed horseshoe bar. That boondoggle was voted down by an overwhelming 2-1 majority in May of 2012.

And yet here we are in 2013, five years after the “select” committee announced that residents were now responsible for golf operating shortfalls, a decision that was to be reviewed annually, while the tax district funds the very improvements to the course that residents rejected almost a year ago. 

It’s part of the 10 Year Stategic Plan that was produced after a series of Focus Groups showed that residents' number one concern in 2011 was that the course be self-sustaining. Now that's responsive government!

This was supposed to be short and I would end it here, but now there’s a new twist. Last year, a small group, known as the Mom’s of Farmington Woods was formed. They had the idea that since so many young families were moving here for all kinds of good reasons the demographics might now call for a playscape to be built for the 80 or so children now residing here. After all, 89 residents have a golf course of their own.

That turned out to be a big mistake. When you read the following report you will see that not much changes at Farmington Woods. Fees can go up, taxes can increase and golf can lose all the money it wants, but if a group from a new demographic requests a pittance, say $5K to build a playscape, well they have declared war on the powers that be here.

I’ve gone on long enough with this and the story just disgusts me, but apparently some individual or group of individuals thought it would be fun to pass out flyers anonymously that showed their contempt and downright animosity for the parents and children of Farmington Woods. Since I’ve gone on long enough, if you want to see the flyer and get a different slant on how this is playing out you need to visit a blog I recently discovered at http://livinginfarmingtonwoods.blogspot.com/.

Some philosopher, I believe it was Machiavelli was fond of saying “It is not enough that I succeed, you must fail.” I think we have a small group of people at Farmington Woods who are not happy taking from residents to support their lifestyle, they want residents to suffer as well.

To them I can only say be careful. As a student of history I recall a lawsuit being filed a few years ago that involved Farmington Woods barring children from some of the pools. I remember the outcome of that. I'm not sure that the aforementioned group does.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT HERE, MOVE


March's minutes give us a look at how some residents of Farmington Woods view children and it's not pretty.

At the pre-meeting question and answer session, half a dozen individuals spoke out against the proposed playscape for children. One resident stated that the majority of children at Farmington Woods belong to parents who are renters or young starter families that have no intention of staying here anyway, so why make such an investment? She told the audience that just five minutes outside our gate are plenty of places for kids to play, so she didn’t want it in her back yard or funded with her dime.

Another resident feared that the maintenance and liability of such an investment would only hurt Farmington Woods as a community. She was extremely concerned about maintenance costs of the playscape, stating that we can’t currently maintain the green area next to her house on Eagles Glen.

Either way, the overwhelming feeling in the room that night was that playscapes for kids did not belong in Farmington Woods; the general manager smiled and nodded as each resident spoke out against it.

Interestingly, this is a $5K line item in the budget, the same amount added to the golf club’s already six figure budgeted deficit. The irony contained in the fact that the playscape screamed investment while the golf course cried loser was lost on this crowd.

(Mom’s, you need representation at these meetings; it appears you are being hoodwinked by our GM. His job is to say yes to you but his alliance is to the board that hired him. And although we do have new members, five of the old guard still reside on the board and block every effort for change that new members bring forward. This is evidenced by the budget information two paragraphs down.)

One very brave resident named Lou stood up with a series of questions but was only allowed to ask a couple. So he chose wisely and asked, “Why are we still investing in an irrigation system when it was overwhelming voted down last year?” No real response for him other than to tell him his time was up. He was told he could ask the question at the end of the meeting.

By the way Lou, you’re right,  not only was the irrigation system voted down, so was the 10 Year Strategic Plan and yet it seems like we are on course to squeeze it through somehow, by any means possible. Get ready for the elevator ride next. And the return of the horseshoe bar!

It was reported that the clubhouse has plans for some improvements of its own. Clubhouse locker rooms will be updated for 89 resident golfers while 80 resident children will just have to wait for their playscape, or move. 

The budget was the big ticket item and 4 board members voiced strong opposition to it. One member insisted that her comments go on record. Another talked about all the empty units in her area because of high fees and fixed incomes. Her point was affordability.

Despite the resistance, the budget passed 5 to 4 with the additional $5K allocation to the golf course’s projected loss for the next fiscal year, for a total of about $129K of resident funds going to a once self-sustaining golf operation. This has been going on for years now.

Yes, our budget was calculated to accommodate a loss to a project that was voted down. And you should expect the loss to be higher by the time this budget is all said and done. The MA’s budget is projected at $4,386,130.00, an increase of $120,648.00 for a 2.83% increase while the FWD budget projection is $1,928,275.00 an increase of $99,729.00, a 5.45% increase! The proposed budget packet should be coming in the mail soon.

We were once again told the tale that we have NEVER had a special assessment at Farmington Woods but that is categorically untrue. There has been a monthly assessment in place since 1998, delivered to us by folks who were tired of paying restaurant minimums and decided to spread the burden of the restaurant around to all residents, not just golfers. These are minimums that 43% of us don’t use but must pay regardless.

One resident mumbled in disgust, “we get nothing for it” which led to another rather rude resident blithely responding with “just move!” I guess she thought she had come up with the perfect solution to the problem. But can you imagine if all of those who disliked paying the minimum just moved? 43% of all Farmington Wood’s units would be empty.

Irene Lorretto countered by saying that many area condo’s had a special assessment for snow removal during the last blizzard and we are lucky because we didn’t. We also didn’t have snow removal for three days so many residents shoveled out their own driveways. Should we be pass that assessment on to the MA?

Margaret Darby gave a power point presentation on her idea to make golf profitable. She calls it the Platinum Program, kind of like the American Airlines rewards program. The idea came to her while she was on vacation watching airplanes fly overhead. I'm assuming it was an American Airlines plane.

The plan goes as follows. Basically, if you play golf here for 10 years, you would have a fixed annual rate for golf for the rest of your life. It would include bag and golf cart fees with average annual membership of $3,500 for single and $5,500 for a family.

She says there’s already interest in the program and some residents have signed up. It’s also open to non-residents. The program is designed to retain our long time golfers with some kind of reward.

Not quite sure how that’s going to attract new members, but I guess it’s a good deal for those who already have a good deal here at Farmington Woods. Ah yes, life is good.

As the meeting ended, they thanked us for coming and announced that a budget meeting was about to take place. Apparently they were going to tweak the numbers before the packets went out to residents. Expect change.

There is hearing scheduled April 18^th to discuss the District Budget in the North Lounge of the Clubhouse. If you care how your taxes are being spent, you should attend.

AT FARMINGTON WOODS, WHEN GOLF RULES, WALKERS DROOL: A TRIBUTE TO PAUL SCHORNO

“Always walk on the sidewalk; if there is no sidewalk, walk facing traffic.” from Safety Tips for Pedestrians at www.walkinginfo.org



Author's Note: I wrote this post as someone who has logged 5-6K miles over the last 14 years walking at Farmington Woods. It's intent was to show the glaring difference in priorities when it comes to residential vs golf course infrastructure and what happens when the business (golf) of Farmington Woods takes precedence over residential needs.

So, to the anonymous person who left an unsigned letter in my mailbox calling for me to "retract" certain statements in the post, I have two things to say: One, you yourself, just broke a federal law by using the Postal Service box for private distribution. 

And two, when you get the courage to put your identify out there on a blog of your own, you can then decide what the thesis of your posts will be, what statements they contain and how they are titled. You have clearly missed the point of my post and are blind to its ironic intent. 

History is my favorite subject and I know the history of Farmington Woods very well.


ANYWAY

When we moved to Farmington Woods in 1999 there was one stretch of sidewalk that ran from the top of Heritage to the upper clubhouse driveway. At the time, the Woods still considered itself a golf community and the attitude was “if you want to walk, join the golf club”.

No, seriously, that was the response you would get when you asked board members or administration about the chance of getting some sidewalks built, you know, for the safety of walkers. So if you walked, you did so at your own peril. And walk we did, as did many others.

Somewhere at the turn of the 21^st century the mindset began to change. I wasn’t part of the push, just an avid walker, however slowly but surely sidewalks started popping up year after year. One year, Paul Schorno, our general manager actually consulted me as to where the next stretch of sidewalk should go.

In no particular order we got sidewalks built on Heritage from the clubhouse to the crosswalk near the guardhouse, on upper Byron to the Byron Pool, on Mallard in various stages and finally on lower Byron. We celebrated the completion of each one. 

There was some controversy concerning the Mallard stretch. For years golf carts had to travel out onto the street to go from hole 3 to hole 4. When the sidewalk was built, someone decided to make it a dual use proposition: as a sidewalk for walkers and a cart path for golfers.

While walkers were ecstatic to have a new and safer way of traversing Mallard, the dual use aspect soon became a problem. Carts got parked on the sidewalk, forcing walkers onto the road, inpatient cart drivers would follow on the heels of walkers to get them to move faster. Finally signs were erected requiring carts to yield to walkers and a cart parking area was constructed at the end of the path.

All of these improvements were done during the tenure of Paul Schorno. Many things accomplished during his time here benefited the golf community, but he seemed to understand that in order to keep the community as a whole happy, things like sidewalks and yield signs went a long way. After all, there were then, and are now, more walkers at Farmington Woods than golfers and he seemed to understand the dynamics of that.

Unfortunately Paul left in 2009 just at about the time that golf worldwide and especially at Farmington Woods was beginning its decline. With the exception of golf, budgets tightened and as a result a moratorium was placed on funding for sidewalks. With the exception of two short pathways to the front and rear entrance for children exiting school buses, no resident fees have been appropriated for new construction since.

Back in the early 70’s when Farmington Woods started out, it was a much smaller place with a lot fewer residents than today, so there were fewer cars to contend with. Unfortunately Farmington Woods has grown considerably since then and the number of cars on America’s roads now totals around 250M, more than twice the roughly 120M on the road in 1970.

The demographics have also changed since then. There are certainly more children than when we moved in, certainly more walkers and as we all know fewer golfers. And yet every year since the last significant sidewalk was built here, the residents have been asked to subsidize the golf operation to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Believe me, the folks that plan the future of our community can accomplish things when they set their minds to it:

That’s the new cart path on the 9^th fairway. Another project accomplished with resident fees is found between the 1^st green and the 2^nd tee:

There are folks at Farmington Woods who would rather I “sing a different tune”. Why do I constantly target the golf operation/clubhouse for criticism? Rather than go into some rant about the “zero sum” game that our budget process is, let me just once again repeat that every dollar borrowed from resident infrastructure funds for golf improvements is one dollar less spent on improving things for average residents.

As a result we get a painted "invisible shield" to protect walkers on lower Heritage:

And at the busiest intersection in Farmington Woods walkers are forced to do this:

With traffic coming at them from three different directions these walkers are forced to break the cardinal rule of walking with their back to the traffic and their next steps will take them to the second most traveled street in Farmington Woods, Mallard:

And while walkers are constantly reminded of the dangers of walking on the course, no one seems to even mind that hundreds of people take their life in their hands by trying to navigate the busiest area of the Woods protected only by an invisible shield and the kindness and (hopefully) sobriety of drivers.

No it’s not the 70’s anymore. Our condominium has twice as many units, there are twice  the number of cars and from my experience folks are just too busy to stop for signs like this:

How about a pedestrian-controlled walk light instead? And a real sidewalk instead of the invisible shield we have now that forces you to walk with your back to the traffic coming down the hill behind you?

As I said earlier, the demographic of the Woods has changed considerably since its beginnings. There are a lot more walkers. There are more school kids left at the front gate. I see some of these kids walking up a street with no sidewalk where I’ve had people almost hit me to avoid an oncoming car. I’ve seen mothers pushing baby carriages through this hazard. I've seen folks walking adorable dogs too. How is this acceptable?

It just doesn’t make sense. In their efforts to market Farmington Woods as an upscale condominium with a golf course and full service clubhouse, our leaders have put a lot of ordinary residents at risk by not properly finishing the walkway from its end on Heritage and through the hazards of the front entrance on up Mallard to Great Meadow.

As demographics have changed over the years and more families with children as well as young adults who enjoy running and walking as an activity move here, I think they have missed the mark. Why don't we have a fitness course that says we value resident's health?

With fewer golfers and more walkers why not market Farmington Woods as the safest walking community in the area? For that matter why aren’t our leaders speaking with the town of Farmington about constructing a sidewalk into Unionville?

We could then market ourselves as “within safe walking distance” to the center of Unionville AND the safest community for walkers in the area.

The reason this doesn’t happen and won’t until new leaders are elected is as I stated at the beginning:  “At Farmington Woods, when golf rules, walkers drool…”  

The $50K our leaders spent on a plan to spend another $4M on the course and clubhouse (that was soundly rejected last May) could have been used to design an alternative walking path for the 21^st century and to redesign the front entrance to give Farmington Woods the look and feel of a condominium community that takes the health and safety of its residents seriously.But that would require compromise and vision.

I don’t know where Paul ended up, but I can say we could use another general manager just like him, that is, with the sense to know when you take from people you have to give at least a little back to keep them safe, healthy and happy.

FEBRUARY BOARD MEETINGS: NO SEQUESTER AT FARMINGTON WOODS

The U.S Government may be having trouble balancing its budget, but it appears from the following report that the Boards of Farmington Woods see no urgent need for austerity, at least not when it comes to our golf operation. There always seems to be an endless supply of Fifty-thousand dollar bills laying around for "strategic planning", cart paths and golf infrastructure. 

I realize some of our leaders believe the Long Range Strategic Plan is still in place, despite its being soundly defeated by 2-1 margin last May, but there are other needs like providing safe sidewalks for walkers, a playscape for children or upgrading our ageing pool areas, that never seem to make the Public Works priority list. 

Maybe we'll be surprised when the actual budget comes out. Maybe some of the increased revenue will be used for things that benefit all residents for a change, not just one special interest. If not, it may find itself sequestered.

MA Board Mtg.    2/25/2013

Golf had projected it would run about $125,000 for the coming budget. Newer figures indicate that it could run an additional $50,000 shortfall.  Total shortfall would be about $175,000.  They will review proposed expenses to see where they might save money over the coming four months. How about scaling back on the number of holes we are trying to complete this year or raising revenues from the people who actually use the course?

Golf lost only 28 members this winter. Golf Committee members were pleased that the number lost was fewer than last year.  There was no discussion of what percentage of membership this number represents, and no mention of what level of memberships were lost.

There was a vote to accept Gary Zahorodni as a new member of the Community Awareness Committee. Passed unanimously.

There was a vote on whether to renew the contract with FW’s current CPA.  The vote was 4 in favor and 4 against. President Sara Harrigan used her authority as President to break the tie, and the CPA’s contract will be renewed. It is nice to see the Board members expressing varying points of view. 

Report on Storm Nemo by Lou Parrott.   Difficulties in clearing snow were hampered by the extra hours spent responding to requests by individuals who said they were medical personnel or first responders and needed to be dug out right away.  It seems that some of these requests were coming from people making false claims.   FWMA will continue responding to emergency requests but will also ask all medical and emergency personnel, as well as people with special health needs to register with the MA so that we can plan for future storms.  There was mention of asking for proof of employment.  Does this mean we are going to ask doctors for a letter from another doctor? Are we going to require that people with special health needs get medical excuses?

Pool Committee is developing a process for residents to apply to hold pool parties. Want to charge $100 per party. Chair of the Pool Committee explained that they would want to have a lifeguard on duty. Estimated cost of lifeguard is $9 per hour and expected time of coverage is 6-7 hours (determined by having the lifeguard arrive an hour before party to help with set up and to get his/her equipment ready and then stay longer for lingering guests, plus for an hour of clean-up). The Pool Committee hopes to be able to put aside a little of the $100 fee to create an income for its purposes.  Here's an idea: maybe they can borrow a few bucks from the golf operation to spruce things up!

James Caldwell presented summary of safety issues associated with outdoor cooking.  How to handle the matter is difficult because Connecticut did not adopt the guidelines put forward by the National Fire Prevention Association, and even the Farmington and Avon Fire Marshals have different ideas.  Charcoal grills seem to present the biggest problem, and propane is less of a problem.  A number of years ago there was a fire on a balcony, but there has not been a problem in recent years.  The Board is sending the issue back to the Covenants Committee for more consideration.

Margaret Darby is working with the Board to help the members work together more efficiently.  The Board has established  4  committees to concentrate on different aspects of their concerns:

                        Requirements to become a Board member

                        Governance and Operations

                        Finance

                        Farmington Woods District Policies and Board reporting.

Hopefully the requirements to become a Board member will not be so limiting that only past experience as a Committee or Board member in Farmington Woods will allow a new volunteer to serve on the Board.  If that does become an absolute requirement, then it should not take effect for several years.  Otherwise it will take forever to get new thinking in the Board.

The Finance Committee is working to produce a budget proposal for the Board. When Finance originally reviewed the proposed expenses before it, the figures indicated that our MA and Tax District Fees would need to be increased between 7 and 11%.  The Finance Committee is working to reduce the budget and the size of the increases to residents ---- perhaps 4 -7 %.

Very brief budget discussion at the end of meeting.  Katherine Rogers proposes that the budget be developed on price-based costing. She explained this to mean that the budget would start at zero, with items being added to it according to the recognized needs rather than simply accepting something because it was in the budget last year. It would also include using competitive bidding whenever possible.

FW Tax District Board Meeting 2/25/2013

The Minutes of the November 4 meeting were approved.

The Net Capital Income of 2012-2013 year’s budget fell short by $40,000 due to unbudgeted golf expenses. Chairman of the Finance Committee, Brian Petrovits explained that the 2012-2013 Budget had been passed without the $40,000 included. Did the Board know the $40,000 would be coming when they passed the budget last year?

$33,000 which had been awarded in 2012 for a solar project, appears in the 2013-2014 as a line item. 

The Board discussed whether to approve a contract, which included a pay increase of about 3%, for Farmington Woods part-time CPA.  Board member Peter Janus questioned the proposed contract because of the fact that the CPA had given the Board a letter listing several aspects of work which she does not accept responsibility for, including inaccuracies and assessing management’s financial decisions/actions, and the fact that there was no attempt to go out for competitive bidding on this contracted position. Peter Janus asked if the Board should open the position to additional applicants who might be willing to undertake more responsibilities. Other Board members did not want to do so, saying the CPA’s charge for the part-time work was acceptable and her familiarity with Farmington Woods was valuable. The contract was approved, with Peter Janus as the one dissenting vote.

There was discussion of the “jobs” of each of our Farmington Woods Committees.  President Sara Harrigan said that the Charters for each committee describe the job of that committee.

Margaret Darby suggested that if the Board “raises the bar for qualification to be a Board member, it may get better qualified applicants.”  She will assist the group which is working on board member qualifications, with their work.  Margaret Darby is also interpreting the By-Laws.  She said she believes the Board can work with the By-Laws we have rather than go to the expense of filing new ones.

The Finance Committee will meet on Monday, March 4, 2013.  Brian Petrovits reports that the Tax District budget will be challenging.

            

1 YEAR: 17,000 PAGEVIEWS

We're getting close to the anniversary of our first blog post on March 7, 2012. (We actually created the blog in February of last year.) The fact that we've had 17,000 pageviews since then leads me to believe that we're reaching quite a few residents at Farmington Woods with our little blog. 

As long as you keep reading, we'll keep writing.

STORM RESPONSE: NEGLIGENCE OR MISPLACED PRIORITIES?

We all know this storm was a bad one. It caused us all some inconvenience and for many, a healthy dose of anxiety. But this woman's experience, shared with others in her four-plex, is downright scary and inexcusable. 

This is what happens when Farmington Woods uses funds that should be available for the safety and security of residents to shore up two losing operations at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. It's really a sad, scary tale.

Farmington Woods Snow Storm of February 8-9, 2013

I am very grateful to our grounds crews and road crews for working long, hard hours with insufficient equipment and too small a staff. I am grateful to staff members who took calls from residents and worked hard to keep residents informed and to coordinate snow removal.  I am grateful for their efforts to free doctors, nurses, first responders, and residents who had important medical appointments.

Let’s thank them as soon as we can and, then, start to honestly look at the risks we faced during the February 8-9 snowstorm.  Although this was record-breaking storm, we were warned of it several days in advance. While weather reports forecast 30 or more inches of snow and hurricane force winds, which they warned would cause serious problems with drifting snow, governors and mayors all around New England put their emergency plans into action.

We should have been prepared. We should not have had at least 2 snow blowers broken and one truck out of commission. Rather than plowing a parking area around an empty Club House, we should have been clearing the walkways to the homes of people.  Instead of subsidizing the golf course, and continuing to make plans to re-design/re-decorate the Club House, we should be fixing equipment when it breaks down and purchasing or leasing whatever is needed to keep residents safe.

I live in a 4-plex, and those of us who were at home on the night of the storm were literally trapped inside our building.  The two doors to the building were blocked by more than 30 inches of snow and could not be opened more than two inches. Had there been a fire, or had one of us suffered a medical emergency, we could not have gotten out of the building, and any emergency response crew would probably have taken 30 - 60 minutes to get into our building. Those are precious minutes in the event of a stroke, a heart attack, a fall which breaks a major bone.

In my courtyard there are two 4-plexes, and two buildings with 2 side by side units in each.  Not all units are occupied at this time, but I know that 4 of the 11 occupied units are home to people who are physically compromised and who might require considerable assistance in an evacuation.  In any case, our homes were firetraps --- deathtraps.

On the second night of our confinement, using a Loctite penetrating oil and some tools, I was able to detach the screen window on the building’s front door, move the Plexiglas windows, and stick my hand through the door to scoop away enough snow that I could push the door about 7 inches and squeeze through.  Once outside, I was able to shovel off our front doorstep, so that in case of an emergency, we could escape the building, or open the door to a rescue crew.  On the third day of being so confined, my neighbor dug a 60 foot path away from the building and another path to a neighbor’s home, while I dug the path to a second neighbor’s home.  On the third night, working well into the dark of night, our road crew came to dig out our garages.  We can return to work now.  Hopefully the rest of our community will be freed soon.

Now it is time to ask, “What can we learn from this experience?  Do we prefer subsidizing an expensive irrigation system, cart paths, and other golf course improvements to keeping ourselves and our neighbors safe?  Do we prefer a fancy Clubhouse entrance or even an elevator, or would we rather feel we have provided for the safety of everyone? What are the prudent decisions we need to make to protect our community?”

Lucinda Hannon           

73 Mallard Drive

THE REAL DISASTER? THE RESPONSE TO IT!

Seems like the storms keep getting bigger and the disastrous ones more common.The last disaster to devastate Farmington Woods was Alfred, the Halloween Storm of 2011. It was an experience so dreadful that I hope to never repeat it again. We were without power for 10 days, those that stayed the course were tired and irritable, especially when they learned that the clubhouse had a generator but wasn't available for residents. In years past, the clubhouse has been a "refuge from the storm" for residents without power but not so much anymore.

By noon today, myself and the many residents I spoke to had the sinking feeling that no plows were coming to free us from the grip of Storm Nemo. So a group of neighbors, mostly women, started shoveling the driveway and clearing two feet of snow from in front of garages so that we could get our cars out. Five women and one man shoveled out a total of 6 garages and the driveway. And, as happened during the Alfred disaster, one neighbor took issue with our communal efforts; this time, however, we kept our heads down and continued working. We hoped this would send a strong message. By 2 :00 pm  we were all out of our garages and offering assistance to others who needed it. 

At 3:00 pm I decided to walk the neighborhood to see what other residents were doing and what they had to say about the storm. Everyone I encountered was "pissed", as one man said, with the plowing, or lack of it. Some talked about times in the past when the plow woke us at 4:00 am scraping a mere dusting off the driveway between our units. At one point a resident confirmed our previous fears of being stranded when she told me she received an email blast stating we would not be plowed out until Tuesday. She was concerned because she had to work on Monday. I later received an email blast that said the clubhouse would be closed and that “all snow removal efforts were on resident units.” 

My walk ended at the Clubhouse and I was flabbergasted to see that all the parking lots had been cleared, for a restaurant that was closed until Tuesday at 6:00pm, while residents were digging themselves out in order to get to work on Monday.

The clubhouse was closed and not scheduled to open until Tuesday but when I spoke with the plow driver he told me that he was told to clear the clubhouse parking lots. So he did. All of them, lower and upper. Then I saw three trucks on Heritage with their plows up. There was only room for one car at a time and yet clearing snow from the closed Clubhouse parking lot took precedence over widening the road. I saw two plows parked on Mallard with no driver in sight, but garages and driveways blocked by deep snow. I saw snow blowers running but no operators.  Below is a a picture of the units on Heritage two driveway’s down from the clubhouse taken on the same walk.

 The contrast is striking, isn't it?

Farmington Woods needs to be accountable to unit owners, especially during disasters. Not every resident is retired; some of us are professionals who have to work nights and weekends. We don’t have 9-5 , Monday through Friday jobs. Plowing should have taken place all through the night of the storm. If there are power outages, the clubhouse should be made available to residents without electricity. When will the board wake up to the real needs of residents?

BTW: Matthew’s is OPEN!