POA approves funds

The Bella Vista POA board of directors unanimously approved $63,000 in emergency funds from the water department to cover a track hoe to replace one that was damaged in a traffic accident earlier this year.

POA general manager Tom Judson said during the board’s Thursday, April 23, regular meeting that 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 that was damaged and needs to be replaced was one of the POA’s oldest examples 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 voted in favor of acknowledging a capital project to paint the backside of Lakepoint, budgeted at $15,000, came in over budget at $17,900.

Judson said the increased cost is a result of unexpected needs for the project and the association intends to make cuts elsewhere in the budget to compensate for this.

During his financial report, Judson said the POA is currently short $68,000 compared to revenue projections, though the water department has seen a $238,000 increase in profits.

Part of that is a $120,000 refund for annual golf passes that were 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 as the pandemic threat looms.

“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.”