$2.3 Million Marinette Project should be brought to RCSC Membership vote!

Discussion in 'Sun City General Discussions' started by annereport, Sep 19, 2013.

  1. annereport

    annereport Guest

    130919-Marinette.jpg
    The value of homes around Marinette are being devalued by the destruction of four amenities that the members already paid for and are in fine condition: tennis courts, mini golf, horseshoes, and bocce ball courts. Covered pickleball courts, a bigger gym without more dressing areas and converting an indoor spa to an outdoor one does not make up for the losses.

    The board has been taken over by the Pickleball Club that wants big-time tournaments; however, there is not enough parking to accommodate them.

    This multi-million project has not been thought through. It will ruin the diverse neighborhood center idea that Del Webb envisioned. It was always the center constructed first and then the models and then the lots to build on surrounding it. People buy their homes next to the center they will frequent. The more variety, the better.

    The board is voting to approve this project at the next board meeting as well as $30 million worth of projects all together. All without a membership vote. Attend and protest:

    RCSC Board meeting (Agenda and Motion#1)
    Sundial Auditorium
    Boswell Bl & 103rd Av
    Thursday, 9/26/13
    9 a.m.

    Article X of the RCSC Articles of Incorporation requires a vote of the Members for "indebtedness or liability, direct or contingent" over $750,000 and Article VIII.7 requires a Membership vote when conveying real property worth over $50,000.

    Also, protest the board's removal of Membership meetings. September 26 should be a quarterly Membership meeting. The quorum was illegally increased by the board which will be challenged in our class-action lawsuit.
     
  2. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Really ars? Devalued? Prove that interesting snippet if you could.

    The tennis courts at Marinette get little play and there is slated a million dollar renovation next year for the tennis courts at Bell. Two courts will be added and the entire court area will be resurfaced. A covered pavilion area will be added as Bell will become the primary place for tennis players to gather.

    But back to Marinette: There are in fact larger dressing areas added and the outside of the buildings will be given a wonderful stucco facelift. The number of horse shoe pits will be increased and improved. The entire area will be walled or fenced and a padded walking track will be one of the primary features of the new complex. Bocce will move to Sundial where there are awesome courts and a great group of Bocce players looking forward to people joining their club.

    We are guilty of one thing; we are adding pickleball courts; there will be 20 of them with 8 under roof. Sorry though, it isn't about tournaments, it's because the game is growing in popularity and boomers are loving it. Mini golf is being taken out, but that leaves courses at Bell, Sundial, Lakeview and Mountainview...hardly eliminating them from the community eh kiddo?

    But thanks for the information...wrong as it may be. I too would invite all Sun City residents to come to the Sundial board meeting on the 26th. I won't belabor the point, but there is no indebtedness, we will be paying cash for the entire project, which, by the way, is more than you reported. It will come out of the PIF so as not to burden those living here for years.

    Hope that helps clear up the confusion from the above post.

    Your humble servant Bill.

    PS. By the time this project is completed, home values should increase nicely. Adding amenities has a way of doing that you know.
     
  3. Fairness

    Fairness New Member

    I'm kind of a "newbie" to these discussions, but I certainly enjoy reading the wild, big brush statements of annereport and then the corrections to them by BPearson. I live in the area of Marinette. My property value is going down? I guess I'd better check with my friends who live in the area of Bell and Fairway to see if they have been able to measure the devaluation of their properties after those projects. That was a clever statement about not increasing the number of dressing rooms at Marinette--and true. Neglecting to mention the huge increase in size to the existing dressing areas might be what is known as distortion by omission. I believe it was former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who is credited with coining, "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion but not their own facts." It is advice unfortunately lost on annereport.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2013
  4. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    You've got to love Senator Moynihan for that kind of insight Fairness. And i really encourage folks to show up the next board meeting. Over the summer Jim Wellman firmed up the numbers and enhanced the Marinette project an we previewed it last week, it truly was impressive.

    Interesting footnote most are arware of; DEVCO was not going to build Marinette because of the cost overruns on the Bell Rec Center. Residents threatened legal action and begrudgingly they put up an underwhelming center to placate them. Shortly thereafter the RCSC tried to make it better, but for near on its entire existence it has been minimal at best.

    I'm delighted by the recommendation from the long range planning committee to finally give it the improvements it so desperatly needed. The center will look and feel like it belongs in and to the community. Both the walking track and the pickelball courts are directly in the wheelhouse of items boomers are looking for. The enlarged fitness center will be impressive and the stucco job will bring it all into this century.

    Nice!
     
  5. archer

    archer New Member

    And....when does Oakmont get it's facelift? We are, and seem to always be, the forgotten Rec center.
     
  6. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    That's an interesting question Archer in that a couple of years back, there was apparently some who felt Oakmont maybe should be closed. Obviously it didn't happen and won't any time soon. In fact the board is working with Jim Wellman and there's going to be some type of retrofitting of the entire pool area. As you know, that pool is very popular with folks, in part because there is no chlorine.

    No decisions have been made yet but plans are being kicked around and when we get something together we will bring to the community for their input. One of the things about Oakmont is the historical ties it has and frankly I love the idea we have preserved some of it's original charm.

    Stay tuned, good things are coming.
     
  7. archer

    archer New Member

    Original charm? Is that board speak for we can justify doing little or nothing to an aging amenity by claiming it has original charm? Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, it's just that we see millions being spent to upgrade rec centers that were already better than Oakmont, and all we have seen in improvements are the solar panels. We are unimpressed.
     
  8. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Ouch, must have touched a raw nerve i guess A. I thought the pool upgrade was a start but maybe i'm wrong. The reality is we have heard a myriad of folks claiming they like their little Oakmont Center. I'm told one of the reasons they rebuilt Fairway from the ground up was to just put bandages on it would be like lipstick on a frog.

    Doing the same for Oakmont would be a good thing? If the folks from Oakmont want something better or different, they need get involved. If you look at the long range plan, there is nothing in it for that center. The pool may or may not meet the criteria to be funded by the PIF, it just depends how extensive it is and if it meeets the required $300,000 minimum.

    The board has become more cognizant of usage (numbers) and you know when Fairway opened, utilization exploded. It didn't all come from Oakmont, but certainly some of it did. I'm not arguing either way, for or against, but the reality is in Sun City that old adage is alive and well..."the squeeky wheel gets the grease."
     
  9. archer

    archer New Member

    Usage numbers are exactly the problem, as the Rec Centers around Oakmont blossom with new amenities they draw more and more people from Oakmont into those facilities. I often suspect that is the plan, make Oakmont obsolete, encourage those who frequent it to go elsewhere, then claim the numbers don't support any improvements and quietly close it and it's declining numbers. This, of course, would save money for the RCSC, but the casualty would be the loss of an original amenity in the oldest section of Sun City, and a loss of the promise Sun City made in the very beginning. Many people walk to Oakmont, they also travel in scooters and, of course, golf carts. Where is the promise to these Sun City residents if Oakmont is eventually reduced to nothing more than a picture that resides in the Museum next door to an empty space?
     
  10. archer

    archer New Member

    I know Bill that there are many people who think Oakmont should just stay the same, and I understand their desire not to change anything, but keep it a sleepy kinda rec center. This is a fairly stable neighborhood with long time residents that do like the status quo.....but if the intent of Sun City is to appeal to baby boomers, and newer younger residents, then a Rec Center like Oakmont is not going to further that cause for this neighborhood....
     
  11. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    Better you saying it than me Archer; but you are spot on about how many of the long time Oakmont users feel about "their" rec center. Let's be clear, I don't mean that in a mean way. People become protective of what they are comfortable with. As we were kicking around ideas about the pool there, we took into consideration requests we were getting. Many of them came from younger residents looking to expand activities.

    The initial plan was for it to cost less than $300,000 but when we looked at a band aid versus doing it right and well, it was a no brainer. When it falls under a capital expense it comes from the yearly working budget. By expanding the scope of the project it fit the criteria of the PIF and that works well for all concerned.

    Mark my words though, I suspect we'll hear some gnashing of teeth as we update the Oakmont pool and create something more attractive to some of the newer Sun City residents. Once we get something for you to look at, we will schedule meetings at Oakmont to get feedback.
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2013
  12. archer

    archer New Member

    Thanks for the feed back. To be honest, if we were house hunting in Sun City right now we probably would be looking in areas closer to the "nicer" rec centers. But, we inherited this house, and now are completely invested in the neighborhood. We have the golf course, the proximity to shopping, and some of the coolest houses in Sun City....our lots are bigger too. I want to see our neighborhood thrive and continue to attract people, we have Sun City history on our side....we just need RCSC to recognize that we are part of Sun City too, and have the same desire to see our retirement dreams realized.

    OK.....I'm off the soapbox, if I can be of any help going forward, just give me a shout.
     
  13. BPearson

    BPearson Well-Known Member

    It's not going anywhere Emily; what we are doing is trying to improve it without losing some of the historical application it has. Most of you don't know but while I was president of the Museum we tried to get historical designation of both the museum and the Oakmont Center (originally called Community Center). Unfortunately there had been too many changes to the center to qualify. Fortunately the museum got state recognition.
     

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