Brandenburg proud of POA improvements
David Brandenburg has been chairman of the Property Owners Association since 2020 and on its board since 2017. He said recently that he enjoys working on the board and proud of the work that’s been done recently.
He’s lived in Bella Vista since 1987 and ran a successful landscaping business before retiring in 2016.
“Amenity usage has increased since the 2020 plan and that’s a good thing,” he said. The 2020 plan included an assessment increase and abolished many user fees in favor of an activity card.
While he’s not sure additional trails are in the POA’s future, he’s not ruling them out either.
“We have to remember that the trails are a gift to the community,” he said. “They are extremely popular and heavily used.”
The Trailblazers, the group that oversaw construction of the trails, has been busy the last couple of years enhancing the trails. They make recommendations and the board considers each project. If they recommend a new trail, the board will consider that, too.
Although there may be other amenities that POA members might enjoy, Brandenburg doesn’t believe any new amenities are practical right now. Any new amenity would have to be funded and that isn’t easy, he pointed out.
“We need to maintain what we have,” he said, adding that inflation has made that difficult.
The membership approved two assessment increases in the past four years and the governing documents limit increases to every three years. That leaves some members worried that the POA will be looking for an increase every three years.
“The assessment needs to keep pace with inflation,” he said, “but our governing documents aren’t set up to facilitate that.”
But he believes the majority of members understand that and will be willing to approve small assessment increases as needed.
“A board member is responsible to all 39,000 property owners. I will honor that responsibility as I work with our members, our management and the city to make Bella Vista the place we are proud to call home,” Brandenburg wrote for his POA biography, “I am retired, I have the time and I will make that commitment.”