HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – What everyone knows is that for 40 years Hidden Valley Lake has been a fenced community, protecting its 7,500 or so member-residents from outside elements.
What they may not know about is a more recent fence – a barrier composed of disunity – that has sprung up between the HVL Association and its seven-member Board of Directors.
They are divided by the issue of building a new Hartmann Complex/Community Center and a new clubhouse, including a restaurant, bar and golf pro shop and improvement of existing amenities.
Most notably, the HVL golf course, which stands as the only regulation 18-hole course in Lake County, is a bone of contention.
At the center of this dissension is the price tag for the proposed community facility and related improvements estimated at $8 million.
A number of HVL residents are up in arms over the board’s alleged position that it can go ahead with this project without their approval.
The issue has been addressed from the podium by several residents at recent board meetings.
Most recently several individuals in a group of about 70 residents attending a Facilities and Design forum at the HVL Community Center on Sunday, April 27, reiterated their position that the board cannot move forward absent a vote by the HVL community.
To support their claim they cite a section of the HVLA Property Owner and Tenant Information Manual which states that association debts of more than 5 percent of regular member assessments cannot be entered into without the prior vote or written consent of two-thirds of members who have voting rights.
Some residents claim that the directors have already usurped their authority just by contracting with facility design professionals. By not going through a request for proposal process, they say the board “has put the cart ahead of the horse.”
“By proceeding without the votes (the directors) are wasting money because they have no idea of what the members will approve,” said Ted Helminski, a resident. “I personally don’t believe the members will approve the amount of money they’re looking for.”
There have been numerous other charges by the residents – the most frequent one being that the proposed project favors the golfers because more than one director is a member of the HVL Men’s Golf Club.
“That’s one of the things that was understood when I got here,” said Dr. Will Tuttle, a HVL resident for a little over a year. “They just sort of discovered early on that they could get what they wanted if they got onto the board of directors, then hire a general manager. They literally run the place through the general manager. It’s a dictatorship.”
For the most part, Tuttle’s view is shared by many HVL members and possibly a majority.
Their position, a document presented to directors reads, “If this board has respect for the community and the rules established for its governance then it must submit their eventual plan for the construction of the Hartman Complex/community Center to the required vote for approval.”
Just where progress on the proposed project stands is anybody’s guess.
Bill Chapman, who recently stepped down as HVL’s general manager, asserted that the opinion of legal counsel for the board is that no vote by the general membership is required.
But Tuttle fired back, “An opinion by a lawyer is simply that – an opinion.”
Bill Waite, president of the board, meanwhile, said, “We want a legal opinion. It all depends on where we are and what we’re doing and how much it’s going to cost.”
Regarding the question of a need for a membership-at-large referendum, he responded, “To give you a direct answer to that isn’t possible at this time because we’re still in the central design phase. We are into a phase of the project which is conceptual design of what might work for the community and what it might cost.
“We want it to be built right for the community and the board members are members of the community,” he added. “We don’t want increased fees or a special assessment either.”
To the question of golfers dictating the proposed construction project when they comprise only 5 percent of the total residents, Waite said: “That’s what they say, but that's just a barrier that somebody has put up. I’m not a golfer, although I do have clubs, I do play golf and I’m a member of the golf club.”
But, parenthetically he added, “I would say that a number of the people who addressed the community today are not golfers.”
Opinion is divided on the issue of sediment in the HVL lake, which is critical to its maintenance. Tuttle and Waite seem to be in agreement that a study has been done. But by who and to what effect?
Tuttle advances the opinion that the buildup of sediment in the lake is a concern that has not been properly addressed while the golf course has been scrupulously maintained.
“At an April 3 meeting one of the board members said there hasn’t been a study,” Tuttle said. “That is absolutely incorrect. There has been a study done and we do know the sediment is serious.”
Waite: “We did get a study done on the sediment in the lake. That was all addressed.”
The split between the HVL residents and the board is more than vaguely familiar. It’s been going on for at least a decade even if the principals in it have changed. At one point the issue was whether there should be a pool table in Mulligan’s, the HVL bar.
“Whether we build the facility or not, it has to be done at some point in time,” said Waite. “Can we do it without a (member) assessment? The answer is yes. If we don’t do it now we still have to put the money away so that we can pay cash some time in the future.
“I think some members disagree with the board and a number of members agree with the board,” Waite said. “The board’s job is to function in the way their constituents want them to function.”
But that seems to be what this whole disagreement is about.
John Lindblom is a Lake County News correspondent, Hidden Valley Lake resident and a golfer. Email him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .