Property owners approve replacing track hoe for Water Department

BELLA VISTA — The Property Owners Association board approved spending $63,000 from the Water Department emergency money to cover a track hoe to replace one damaged in a traffic accident earlier this year.

Association general manager Tom Judson said during the board’s April 23 meeting insurance was covering the old unit at $39,000 and the Water Department, which will be the only entity using it, needs to make up the difference for a new unit’s $103,000 price tag. A new unit should last 15 to 20 years, he said.

“While they’re expensive, they last a very long time,” Judson said.

The track hoe damaged was one of the association’s oldest such vehicles and would have been due for replacement before long, he added.

Judson said the accident occurred when a worker towing the old piece of equipment was in danger of a traffic collision and swerved off the road instead.

“The driver decided to go into the ditch. The trailer tipped over; the track hoe was damaged,” he said.

The board also acknowleded a project to paint the backside of Lakepoint, budgeted at $15,000, came in over budget at $17,900.

Judson said the increase was a result of unexpected needs for the project and the association intends to make cuts elsewhere in the budget to compensate.

During his financial report, Judson said the association is short $68,000 compared to revenue projections, although the Water Department has seen a $238,000 increase.

Part of that is a $120,000 refund for annual golf passes purchased before the new assessment plan was approved.

On the bright side, he said, assessment revenue has increased and activity card sales are up. Further, the association has been cutting costs during the pandemic.

“The team did a very good job reacting,” he said.

Judson said the association was able to cut $120,000 from labor, $51,000 from supplies and $43,000 from tools and equipment, with contributions from every department.

“April will be a challenging month, we will eat into this lead by a large margin,” he said. “Right now, the biggest challenge is we don’t know when we’re going to get back to normal.”