FREE THE EASEMENTS
" Why should I waste my time monitoring the gate for compliance, when I don’t use it ....."
BCL Board Member
" Why should I waste my time monitoring the gate for compliance, when I don’t use it ....."
BCL Board Member
BACKGROUND:
· Sometime in the Spring of 2020, the Board unilaterally placed a lock and chain on the Access Easement despite the fact that the BCL Board are not the Grantees of the easements. Prior to this action, the Board unilaterally decided to place a gate on the easement. In early July of 2020, the Board unilaterally constructed permanent fencing through the easement with a steel post in the middle of the cart path. All of these aggressive and hostile actions were done without any community input from the BCL residents , knowledge of any easements, nor Lakecliff.
· NO SIGNAGE was present on WHOM TO CONTACT for more information to access the gate, or who was the responsible party for BLOCKING ingress/egress ACCESS to the easement. This is a major oversight of courteous communication.
· A BCL resident's (Moore McDonough's) son approached the gate (going to work at Lakecliff) and it was locked without SIGNAGE on whom to contact! Moore made several phone calls to Lakecliff and the RV Resort. Lakecliff had no knowledge and he left a message with Joe Conner (Open Air). He instructed his son (Hunter) to cut the dang lock to "get out" of our neighborhood and get to work at Lakecliff. This information was voluntarily conveyed to a BCL Board Member once Moore found out it was actually the BCL Board that was restricting access to the easement with the placement of a locked gate.
WHY:
According to a BCL Board member, there has been "serious and frequent incidents of trespassing" from the Open Air RV Resort and the soon to be Ascension neighborhood. Note: We have a very permeable Kentucky horse fence that borders Open Air and Ascension. It is easier to cross the Kentucky fence vs. climbing over a gate!
A Public Information Request (PIR) was made to the Travis County Sheriff’s office seeking information about the severity of the trespassing issues (incident reports) in the BCL community. (No trespassing incident reports are on record with the Travis County Sherriff’s office, see attached)
According to the owner of Open Air Resorts, Joe Conner, as of 7/16/2020, Joe has had no communications about trespassing issues with the BCL Board.
NOTE: The BCL Board failed to post No TRESPASSING SIGNAGE or PURPLE PAINT at the gate warning people that beyond a certain point is private property and will be considered trespassing. Again, a failure of courteous communication.
THE ISSUE:
Several months after privately placing a lock and chain on the gate, On July 6th, 2020, the Barton Creek Lakeside (BCL) Board of Directors and the Security Committee formerly notified the residents that they have decided to permanently block ingress/egress of the Easement, (golf cart and walking trail) between Lakecliff Country Club and Barton Creek Country Club (despite several public recorded easements). Please click the links directly below to view these legal documents that were unknown to the Board prior to their decision to block the Easement.
We could be wrong, but we have been unable to find any advanced and courteous email notifications with the subject line concerning the blockade of the easement except the announcement of the permanent closure on July 6th from: BCLmanager@goodwintx.com. In addition, we have been unable to find any emailed announcements/information about the Cisco Gate from; carrie.martin@goodwintx.com, sandy.williams1947@gmail.com, etc….
(We should expect the same type of email notifications once the BCL community strongly objected to the mandatory fiber optic Clarus Assessment of roughly $3,000 to each property owner and roughly a $3 million debt burden to our HOA was announced and forced upon the property owners by the BCL Board or Directors.)
THE FACTS:
· The use of the easement has been in use every day for over 20+ years. Bobby Day has expressed to many residents and members in both communities that this path is an “EASEMENT” for the convenience between the two communities.
· For over 20 years, residents of BCL and Lakecilff have used the easement with their golf carts, walking or riding their bicycles between the two respective communities.
· Bobby Day had made improvements to the road by asphalting the surface back in the early 2000’s. and around 2007 or 2008, fencing, etc…
· There are no other safe and accessible routes by golf cart and foot traffic between the two communities.
* This is a LIABILITY issue to every resident in our community HOA.
Shortly after the blockade of the easement, one of our residents and her 13 year-old son were riding their bikes to see friends at Lakecliff. They were blocked by the barricade and they had to lift their bikes over the fenced barricade.
* A few of our residents have voiced concerns that the actions of the Board are considered adverse, hostile, litigious, and not neighborly.
FAILURES of the BCL BOARD: (Courtesy and Effective Communications)
· We have never received any email notifications from Goodwin Mgmt. Co or the Board about the severity of the trespassing and safety issues….ie, people walking their dogs, looking for golf balls, playing golf, claimed by the Board, etc… According to a member of the Board at the July Board of Director’s meeting, “the safety of the residents is more important than the convenience of a few”
· We have never received advanced and courteous notifications about the need for installing a lock/chain.
· We have not received any advanced and courteous email communications of the combination code to access the easement.
· In June of 2020, a proposal was generated by Lakecliff and submitted to the BCL Board to install a keypad entry for both sides of the Easement. Lakecliff was willing to pay $1,800 to install a keypad on their side. The BCL Board declined to pay $1,800 for a keypad entry on their side of the easement. Lakecliff has subsequently offered to pay 100% of the costs. Again, this offer of "Free" has been rejected by the BCL Board of Directors.
· An attempt was made to place this item on the Agenda for the Board meeting. The requested agenda item was not placed on the agenda......without any type of acknowledgment or response from the Board. See Email.
* A request was made to provide the names of those on the Safety Committee. No response or acknowledgement from the Board. See Email
SIMPLE and FREE SOLUTIONS EXIST to PREVENT TRESPASSING:
· Install a keypad entry and NOTIFY the residents of the code.
This item will be donated to the HOA by Lakecliff.
· Install APPROPRIATE SIGNAGE at both entrances of the Easement and effectively COMMUNICATE to the BCL and Lakecliff community.
This item will be donated to the HOA.
· Install NO TRESPASSING SIGNAGE – Private Property.
This item will be donated to the HOA.
· If problems persist….install a web based VIDEO GAME CAMERA with live feed.
*A Game Camera was offered, but it was rejected.
· BCL and Lakecliff residents will VOLUNTEER to monitor the use of the easement.
PETITION: “Stop the Blockade”
A list of residents objecting to the Board’s decision is being accumulated. We have reached out to residents that have used the easement and we will continue to accumulate more input from residents. Some residents do not use the easement but disagree with the Board’s decision based on principle. IE; the lack of prior due diligence, lack of stakeholder input, lack of cooperation and transparency, costs incurred by the Board, etc... Even residents that do not use the easement realize the value of the easement to potential and future resident/buyers in our community. It is safe, easy and convenient access to Lakecliff C.C. to visit friends or use the amenities between the two Clubs. This was the original intent of the Easements by Bobby Day.
If you disagree with the actions of the BCL Board, please fill out this petition/poll. on this website
......as of 8/17/2020
Good morning to all of our "friends of lakeside"! I am only responding to this post to make sure our side is told. We asked for a town hall meeting with all BCL and Lakecliff residents and we were denied by BCL Board. We are the ones who asked to meet with your board and the dates had not worked out so far - one was Dave's grandson's graduation (in Louisiana) and another was when he was in Scottsdale for a member guest. Both of these events were planned a long time ago. Our attorney has also been out of town...and we had responded with more dates last Thursday. But, I see it's too late. That's ok. Here are a few facts for everyone.
We moved to BCL in 2005, joined the club and fell totally in love with this area. BCL and Lakecliff are special. We were lucky enough to be neighbors with the Days and Caleigh had some fun times with their kids. We learned of Bobby's love for Lakecliff. We rode our bikes and golf carts through both neighborhoods and loved enjoying both. In 2010, we moved to Lakecliff (to be on the water). We continued our membership at BCL and joined LGC. During our time in Lakecliff, we continued to ride our bikes to workout at BCL and just ride around and look at our old homestead.
Fast forward...we purchase LGC in 2021 and went to work cleaning up ALL the legal issues Bobby Day did not do correctly...and the list is long...we are still working through them all. One was the golf cart easement. We hired attorneys (one to write easements, the other to do the legal background work). After much work, they both advised that the parties we needed to contact were the lot owners on the BCL side. They advised the BCL POA had no legal part of the discussion (but out of courtesy, we had already met with Ron to give him a heads up that we were pursuing this issue). In fact, they advised that BCL POA had illegally constructed a barrier over an easement. I'm not an attorney, I am letting you know what they advised to us. Both lot owners were receptive and during the writing of the easement - the BCL board inserted themselves into the conversation and reached out to the lot owners. The lot owners then contacted the attorney and advised they did not want to upset the BCL board, so they did not feel comfortable finalizing the paperwork.
The final step of this process was to add controlled access gates at both ends of the path to allow residents of both neighborhoods to enjoy the amenities of both clubs, as was the intent of Bobby Day when he developed the two neighborhood golf clubs. Last item, this is of NO financial benefit to LGC. We did this for ALL the residents of both neighborhoods to continue to create community where we all enjoy each other (safely) and finalize all legal issues for any future owners of LGC. We wanted a win win for both sides that didn't cost either neighborhood security or financial burdens. This was going to be our gift, our legacy to the two neighborhoods we love the most. So, that is our heart and our intent. And we still love both today as we have for the past 18 years. We love all of you. And we LOVE this place...!
Laurie, Caleigh, Jan and Barbara…..Bravo! This whole thing is petty and childish. I encourage all to find out the TRUTH on how this drama started in the first place by visiting the www.stoptheblockade.com website. The days of “heavy-handed” governance needs to stop, as we experienced in the Clarus matter. Compromise and a “No Cost” solution have been offered by the Chapmans and ignored since the infancy of this Cisco gate fiasco. Personal agendas, control, and saving face are taking priority over the benefit and proper representation of our community. This is shameful and an embarrassment to our community. The behavior displayed is simply “Clarus 2.0”. This Culture of “authoritarian” and “bullying” leadership must stop for the benefit of both communities. Please go to www.stoptheblockade.com website to learn the facts about how “No Cost” amicable solutions and improvements were offered early in this saga, but rejected.
Our 2023 Budget shows a 30% deficit, with our expenses $384,000 shy of revenues. Fortunately, our reserves will cover this shortfall. Our HOA does not have the funds to be involved in a potential lawsuit over this ridiculous matter. The questions our community must ask:
• Are our residents willing to absorb the costs of a lawsuit in the form of an assessment?
• How much money has our HOA spent on this already?
• Can we have an itemized list of expenses as requested?
• When will Leadership step forward and work to solve the issue vs. trying to find ways to disprove the use of the easement which has been in existence for over 20 years.
NOTE: I asked Goodwin for our Financials and Budgets to be posted on TownSquare. Thankfully, they are posted, except the 2020 and 2021 Budgets. I have asked our leadership and Goodwin repeatedly for the 2020/2021 budgets, to no avail. Why?
As Laurie mentioned, it has been suggested, and rejected by BCL, to have a town hall meeting for the BCL community and Lakecliff to share truthful information and the benefits of this convenient link between the two communities. Our community needs to be informed, to make an educated and financial decision moving forward, and to direct our Board on next course of action(s)…….(similar to our community voting to overrule the direction and intentions of the Board in the Clarus matter). Our community needs to have a voice and a vote in this Cisco Gate easement debacle. Most importantly, the community must vote for our appetite on legal proceedings that we absolutely cannot afford financially. The “optics” of this whole ordeal is just awful.
We have global conflict, inflation, rising interest rates, budget deficits, societal issues, and we are wasting time, money, and resources on a golf cart path between two communities? The intent of Bobby Day (Developer and Grantor) was for these two communities to enjoy each other, not to isolate and divide each other.
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