Visioning Summation Synopsis...

Let's start with an old adage, often true...but not always. This is one of those times i believe it misses the mark: "You only get one chance to make a first impression." We all watched in horror in November of 2024, as the membership at large was introduced to triArc via the flawed and failed PAC atop the Lakeview Lawn Bowling greens.

It was a three week whirlwind rush job that left many of stunned by its breath and scope of stupidity (my opinion). It was fairly easy to understand how we got there. With a couple of board members finishing up at the end of the year, it appears their hopes for a better Sun City could be pushed through. Bad idea.

Sadly, triArc was the caught clearly and cleanly in the crosshairs. They had done the legwork to assess which center best met the criteria (set by the board?). Low and behold, square atop the lawn bowling greens, smack dab in the backyards of members and perfectly situated on the water for pleasant wine, cocktail and coffee moments was the recommendation.

It was the culmination of almost ten years of searching for the best possible outcome for the 6.5 acre Mountain View remodel. Beginning around 2016/17, town halls were conducted and decisions were made. And then, the board decided to buy available land on Grand Ave and build the Grand Center. MV quietly kicked to the curb.

Not exactly how a Master Plan would have worked, but the board had a vision and walla, our 8th rec center was born. Now some half a dozen years later, we've added the necessary fortress walls to protect the property giving it the ever welcoming vibe of a prison. I admit, hyperbole, but when it was being built i asked the board if we were going to gate it and they looked at me like i was nuts. Go figure eh?

Coming out of the pandemic, the board resurrected the Mountain View renovation. This time they were going to get it right. The first whack was a doable project. Within a month or two, an architectural firm (not triArc) was asked to upgrade the project and literally plow everything under and start over.

Yikes, did that go well. The new and improved plan had a guesstimated cost of 40-50 million dollars and being completed in three phases over an 8 year period. Little things like county mandated parking requirements weren't factored in and wild suggestions of multi-level parking garages were floated. It was nonsense at its finest. How about that rock climbing wall suggestion?

That all fell apart in 2021 when three board members abruptly quit rather than being part of the minority. The newly elected and newly appointed board members took what i viewed as a remarkable approach; the Strategic Alternative Committee (SAC) was born.

It was truly a community engagement effort. A large committee of volunteers representing the various stakeholders were seated and meetings were open and recorded for membership viewing. It could have been handled better had they brought the architect (Marlene) in earlier rather than later, but having sat through most of the meetings, i was impressed.

It should have, could have worked, but there were forces at work behind the scenes. Rather than pointing fingers, suffice to say the efforts collapsed. It took three or was it four town hall meetings and a host of folks who all appeared to think their plan was better than the next persons. Doesn't matter, water over the bridge at this point.

Anyway, as we muddled along, the members living around Mountain View were getting really frustrated by the delays. The pool has always been the mainstay and has grown more dilapidated by the day. Even now there is a question regarding the decking and how to proceed.

As always, i digress. The entire point of this long winded post has been to get you to click on the link posted below and watch the triArc Full Visioning Summation Synopsis (this is linked so click to watch). I watched it last night and found it to be exceptional. It was a throwback to the SAC, but on steroids.

Better yet, the phrasing used by the triArc employees sounded like it came straight from the early DEVCO promotional pieces. Plus, they included the RCSC recently written Mission, Vision and Values statement to support their findings. It is really well done in a video format.

As long as i have prattled on this long, here's a gentle reminder about attending the:
Mountain View Recreation Center Special Session.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 5:00-8:30 pm at
Sundial Center Main Hall.

If the session is half as good as their video, being there will be fun and informative.

 

Kudos to the BOD for releasing this detailed, comprehensive video in advance of the meeting to allow members to digest it and get their questions ready for the Member Q&A immediately following the triARC presentation. I suspect the presentation will follow the contents of the video very closely. It will be very interesting to see if any BOD discussion occurs on what process will be used in the decisions on Repurpose, Expand, Enhance, Maintain, etc for each element.

 

Bill,

I found the presentation to be very well thought out as well as informative. Publishing it before the meeting shows the board is making a genuine attempt towards transparency. IMHO Triarc did a bang-up job bringing all the input together and setting the stage for the next step. I particularly liked the fact they started out broadly with the Mission, Vision and Values and then gradually brought it down to earth with the amenities at the site, their condition and data on usage. They recognized we are cost conscious consumers with a focus on affordability.

There is still a long way to go but this start is much better than last time.

John

 

I wasn't aware that the Board voted on issuing the contract that was actually awarded to TriARC to take this next step? I thought they were only contracted to find the best location for the PAC which is how and why they selected the Lawn Bowling court at Lake View.

 

Tom, I think you will find that management requested approval from the Board to have Triarc take this next step. But I could be wrong. John

 

I took a quick look thru the Board Minutes as far back as last June and didn't see any motions authorising that next step, but I may have missed it?

 

It was good to see them wrap the project into the Mission, Vision and Values piece of the puzzle. As i was writing this opening post, it quickly brought to mind the question: Had there been a Mission, Vision and Values statement, or had there been a master plan, would the Grand Center ever been built?

It truly was an all encompassing presentation. As you know better than most John, they summarized a good portion of what the SAC had established until some of those participating budgets got bigger than what was practical. Mountain View needs to get done and it needs to be affordable. There-in is the rub. That will be the balancing act and it was really good to see triArc include that aspect in their video as well.

As i watched, there was the stark reminder, nothing ever gets done as quickly as any of us want or expect. Being realistic, even if every piece falls into place, Mountain View completion date won't be done much before the end of 2027. If the costs to get us there are able to be held in the 20-25 million dollar range, i would be surprised/delighted. That matters and in the next paragraph, you'll read why.

We know the PIF budget has massive expenditures for the 2025 water management plan that include 6 million dollars for Quail Run and another 12 million dollars for the conversion of the South course to desert landscaping. We also know there is an internal struggle between the board and management between what type of maintenance building to put on the Riverview golf course. A steel prefab is far less expensive than recreating the Lakes East/Lakes West really expensive block structure that came in at over 4 million dollars 4 years ago or so. At some point, hopefully common sense will prevail.

The point here is, the total of the projects listed above will blow past 40 million dollars and more likely be bumping up against 50 million. We have nearly that much available now, and we will add roughly 6 million dollars per year (unless sales start picking up again). This matters as the push for a master plan unfolds and the all eyes shift to the Lakeview renovation.

The downside, that remodel is the one that will ultimately break the bank once it starts. 40 or 50 million dollars to do it right, would be a bargain. The challenge is, we will have nowhere near enough money in the PIF to even begin that project until 2030. That has always been the problem for anyone being realistic with the numbers. There simply isn't enough money to do everything small collective groups of members want.

It's also pretty clear, after watching the presentation by triArc, the PAC on top of the Lakeview lawn bowling greens was as you stated, a board driven project. The difference we watched in the current video was wholly different than the energy we watched unfold the end of October, 2024. That slam-bam-thank-you-mam, 3 week whirlwind sales pitch was distasteful on too many levels to recant.

Let's hope for a good turnout at Tuesday's presentation, let's hope members come prepared to be practical and logical and let's hope we can actually start to create a small neighborhood center with limited capacity at a reasonable cost. God forbid common sense becomes common again.

 

I think there will be a good turnout for the Tuesday meeting, perhaps for the wrong reason. Special Interest Groups may be there solely to ask what is in it for me? In the presentation I kept hearing an underlying theme - We need to use data to avoid making decisions based on need not greed. Perhaps I have mastered selective hearing, and my interpretation is WIWTH (what I want to hear). Don't know.

IMHO the process is as important as the project. If we follow a more logical and rational process it sets a tone for things to come. If we revert into the squeaky wheel gets greased process again it will be ugly and unproductive. I hope we use Triarc as a resource to expertly guide our decision making. Too often we have used architects as extensions of special interest groups to design what they want.

All that being said, there will be bumps in the road ahead. It is inevitable. I hope we can all keep in mind the National Civic Foundations motto: There is nothing we cannot accomplish if we work together.

 

Meeting is Tuesday. Lest we forget.

 

Meeting is Tuesday. Lest we forget.

 

Good catch Tom, i'd already forgotten, Changed in the article but here's a reminder:
Mountain View Recreation Center Special Session.
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 5:00-8:30 pm at
Sundial Center Main Hall.

 

Thanks Tom - Edited comment to correct.

 

I had to double check the day.

 

Had to double check the day myself.

 

As i read back through this thread again, i couldn't help think back to 1981. It was the ugliest point in our history with lawsuits flying, recall petitions and locked doors for board meetings with admittance by request. That folly of requesting admission died quickly (one meeting). What didn't die fast was the controversy over staying cheap, or investing in our future by increasing fees.

We know, little is new and history repeats itself. We know DEVCO subsidized the "new active way of life" for the first 18 years. We know they gave us the rec centers we paid for because they wanted no part of owning and running them. We know the golf courses were the hardest sell because of the fear of them becoming a "money pit." We know we finally took ownership (1977/1978) of the 8 courses rather than letting the company sell them off to for profit operators. Now we know, their fears were warranted.

All of which got us to this point in time. Through all of the tumult, challenges and angst, we survived and flourished. It wasn't by accident, but hard work, dedication and commitment from tens of thousands of members who stuck their hand in the air and said, "I'll do that." And after all these years (65), we are still asking members to stick their hand in the air and helping out, pitching in, taking ownership.

What is often lost in the translation (mostly because we do a poor job of helping members understand), we don't need members to give up their retirement, we need them to pay attention and get involved at least minimally. Opportunities abound in our community with some organizations looking for one or two 4 hour shifts per month, while others can be slightly more, and still others (like being an RCSC board member) being an even larger commitment.

And, while some whine about volunteerism being a non-starter for the coming generations, Sun City has always been about members making personal choices to be involved, or not. In a survey the Home Owners Association took in the 80's, less than 50% of the respondents said they volunteered. Buying into Sun City doesn't mean you have to volunteer, it simply means for those inclined, there are ample opportunities to find their area of expertise and add to their retirement (or while still working) and help sustain the concept that made us unique from all the other like communities.

I know i run full circle with virtually everything i write. The continuum, the loop of repetition invariably leads to one place: Our community functions best when we (the members) are involved. While some would argue and remind me of the flawed membership meeting this past week, i would respond and say; exactly.

That turnout and frustration was stunning and if you think the board and management didn't take note, there's little i can say to help you. We know this about our community; the RCSC and other organizations that usually function away from the maddening crowd always react to large, vocal crowds. It's the one measuring stick that has always worked.

Which is exactly why the meeting on Tuesday evening (March 18, 5 pm till 8:30 pm) is so important). The Sundial gathering will let the board and management know we (the members) do in fact care about where we are going and what we are doing. As several of us have mentioned, we know individual stakeholders with their own special interests will help fill the room. Nothing wrong with that, but if you watched the presentation from triArc, you saw the data and usage numbers.

For too long, those moaning the loudest were often pushed to the front of the line. For years we pretended the data mattered, then we actually started processing it and using it. Then, some started twisting it to fit a narrative and create outcomes we simply couldn't afford. Which is another reason the video they produced was so good; everything we do has to be tempered and balanced about what we can realistically pay for.

Sadly, those that just want what they want, will see their need as more important than the next persons. There's nothing new there and in fact, if we look honestly at the Grand Center we see the results of folks wanting what they want without regard to the costs. Nope, not being critical, because that's how Sun City started running once the members voices were quieted. Personal preferences and agendas became the norm.

We need to be better than that in my humble opinion. If at all possible, show up Tuesday for at least part of it. Become part of the solution...that is always how Sun City has worked best.

 

REMINDER: Mountain View Recreation Center Special Session
Tuesday, March 18, 2025, from 5:00-8:30pm at Sundial Center Auditorium Join the RCSC Board for an in-depth presentation from triARC regarding the Mountain View Recreation Center.

During the session, triARC will provide a recap of the findings from member feedback. A member Q&A session will immediately follow the presentation.

Consider viewing triARC's findings in advance:


• Source RCSC e-mail blast https://mailchi.mp/be322c35ee38/exchange-video-link-7787613?e=f18f779945

 

Did they ever order an engineering study for the site?

 

Why did the prior board order more D&P shows and not an engineering study first?
Check out the May 2014 Sun views page 9.
We don't even know what's feasible for renovation at this site given the age and limitations of the property.

 

It's just the way they roll.

 

A poster on Facebook suggested the triArc video looked a lot like Marlene's work product produced during the Strategic Alternative Committee (SAC) efforts. Indeed it did! From my vantage point, that's a good thing. Marlene, had she been brought on at the start of the project, might have actually pulled off the impossible...found common ground and moved forward.

Instead, we watched 3 or 4 town halls sessions where individuals were able to inject in their vision for the project. And then it really imploded as board members added to the discourse and the whole process went down the crapper. The challenge was, again from my perspective, we didn't trust the process and we allowed individual egos to control the outcome.

If you think i am off base, think no further than the PAC atop the Lakeview lawn bowling greens. It came from out in left field and using triArc as the fall guys. It clearly wasn't a community based decision, but one pushed from within the board. The really good news is it appears we are past that point and tonight's session should prove to be an interesting exercise in community building.

We know individual groups will be pushing their agenda. Data matters and that should be the compelling reason for direction, not a small group whining about their wants. Nope, i have no skin in the game other than i want the process to work and Sun City to come out the other side of this foolishness that has gone on far too long.

We either trust the process, or we don't.