May 31, 2006
Dear Board Members,
I have read your letter of May 22 and must respond due to its inaccurate and
misleading statements and because The Board continues to demonstrate an
ability to create more problems than it solves.
The Problems:
1. Initially, The Board contended that the Common Use Recreation Easement
had moved on to what was formerly private beachfront property due to a
hurricane and that it was now the responsibility of The Association to armor
that property. That "myth" having been exposed, The Board now contends
that
the government can be sued for this same private property by deeming it
"public" land requiring the government's compensation to private property
owners of $200,000 to $250,000 per month for up to ten years. If the
property is deemed public land, what authority does The Board have to place
geotubes on it? Better still, why would the government want geotubes
installed on it? Realistically speaking, who believes the government is
going to pay individual beachfront owners up to $24,000,000 to $30,000,000
for this property? More importantly, just who does The Board expect to pay
the costs of attempting such an extraction? Suing the government is very
difficult, time consuming, and expensive. Usually only the attorneys
benefit in such cases. Besides, The Declarations require 75% approval of
the entire Association to engage in any lawsuit. The Association is also
bound by the Bylaws which require beachfront owners to maintain their own
property to the Mean High Tide Line. Consequently, the responsibility of
pursuing such "public land" claims is that of the beachfront owners and
their attorneys, not that of the Association and its attorney.
2. Why is The Board insisting on placing the geotubes in the Conservation
Area? It is a major hindrance to the ability to acquire permits, especially
from Fish and Wildlife. Lot 24 can easily direct the geotubes to the north
and west, as in Lot 1, to minimize end scouring.
3. Deflecting your inability to "aggressively armor the dunes without
proper permits" by trying to place blame on other property owners through
your injurious comments needs to be substantiated. If you have such proof
that any group has "threatened to sue the County" and is responsible for
geotubes not being installed, present that proof; otherwise, you are to
retract such libelous statements and inform the entire Membership of this
retraction. You were stopped from installing the geotubes because the
County saw it as a violation of its laws. It is also a violation of The
Retreat's Bylaws, which require adherence to the permitting process. As a
Walton County Code Enforcement Board Member, Mr. Lovell is well familiar
with the fines, costs for removal, etc. resulting in such irresponsible
actions.
The Solutions:
1.
a.) Instruct the 24 Beachfront owners that, according to the Bylaws, the
maintenance of their private property is their responsibility to the Mean
High Tide Line. Advise them to organize some type of LLC (Limited Liability
Corporation). Tell them that they should hire an engineer, obtain permits,
take construction bids, etc. to determine how much to assess each of its
members.
b.) The LLC then can ask The Association to pay the per footage cost for
armoring the Pool Building and the dune walkovers; this cost to be equally
divided among its 90 members. THERE WILL NOT BE THE QUALITATIVE
"GUESSTIMATE" THAT MR. LOVELL ADMITTED, UNDER OATH, THAT THE BOARD USED
FOR
THE PRESENT ASSESSMENT.
2. A vote, according to the Bylaws, put before the entire Association for
its consideration/approval to pay The Association's share of the cost for
the installation of the geotubes/dune armoring.
3. All monies collected for the present Assessment returned to each
property owner, with interest earned, until another Assessment is "properly"
determined and passed according to the Bylaws.
4. All liens on properties as to the present Assessment nullified.
5. Seek legal counsel that tries to avoid rather than incite litigation;
that works within rather than around the laws of The Retreat and the
governmental agencies, in an effort create a more cohesive community and a
better working relationship with local authorities.
Doing the above will not only achieve greater success but will probably get
you greater support from the Membership in the future.
Respectfully,
William G. Foss
58 Tortola
// posted by Shawn O'Neal @
7:22 PM 
