CROSSVILLE — FGCC President Bob Stackhouse opened the Oct. 25 board meeting with an announcement that the board plans a town hall for presentation of the 2013 budget at the end of November. Chambers will be invited to make an updated presentation on the Master Plan. The Amenities Survey is being analyzed and the amenities are being ranked by the Board. The amenities that were ranked by the membership are now being looked at as to the cost, return on investment, benefit to the community and possible impact by the Peavine Road expansion. The board will look at what is to be done over the next 10 years and that will be part of the town hall presentation.

Stackhouse continued, “We will start with the less costly projects to gain credibility during 2013 and build from there.”

One of the items on the survey was Robin Hood Park which will be affected by the Peavine Road project. The state also wants to straighten Snead Road. So any park changes will have to wait until the state finalizes or finishes Peavine and Snead. Another project is the four-way stop “sense of arrival” at Stonehenge, which may be delayed until state plans are finalized. The replacement of Druid Hills Country Club would cost $6M-$7M.

Stackhouse said, “Since we do not have $6M-$7M, that will be put off for a number of years.” The fish fry was very popular. Since it is not expensive to do, it makes sense to budget it next year. There have been many meetings on the amenities to determine the best way forward.

General Manager comments:

Bob Weber said the Hit the Trails event at Mirror Lake on Oct. 13 was very successful. The grand opening of new hiking trails was well attended. Weber commended the trails committee for all their work. He thanked Misty Keyes of Fairfield Homes for donations made to the trails.

There has been confusion about the hours of operation at Druid Hills Legends Restaurant and the Fireside Room for November and December. Weber encouraged members to read the article on hours of operation in the Oct. 25 issue of the Glade Sun.

Weber said board focus is now on a lot of repairs and maintenance as identified on the Existing Facilities Survey. We are watching the dollars spent – no major improvements at this time.

The club has made no commitments to the county on recycling, as may have been suggested by a newspaper article. The member’s survey on curbside recycling has been forwarded to the county. The ball is in their court. When they provide revenue projections to the club, then the program will be evaluated by the board to see if it makes sense for us to participate. Weber announced a satisfaction survey on golf that will be done in November.

Steve Kraft asked Weber to remind golf course property owners to please not blow their leaves onto the golf course. On a cautionary note, Kraft pointed out, “We have bigger blowers than you do.”

Architectural Committee:

Fran Williams reported September: 44 single family detached homes vs. 40 last year; two mobile homes in Wilshire Hills vs. one last year; 54 new homes under construction; 44 homes completed and 501 miscellaneous projects approved to date.

Golf Committee:

Dave McElroy reported the Handicap Committee is interviewing candidates. A letter is being sent to GHIN members that possibly are incorrectly or inaccurately posting scores. The Golf Committee will be interviewing candidates for the 2013 Golf Committees in November. Anyone interested should turn in an application now. The committee is still looking for volunteers for the 2013 Member-Member and the Member-Guest Tournaments.

The first Stroke Play Club Championship was held Oct. 5-6. Congratulations to Jean Roise (151) and Ted Lancaster (149) for being the 2012 Club Champions. There will be a reserved parking space for each of them at Heatherhurst.

The Golf Committee gave Kudos to the golf department for their great support of the Club Championship by running it very well and by providing gifts. All the participants were very pleased.

Lakes Committee:

Wayne Baker spoke of the draining of Lake Sherwood last year due to the dam problem. The lake bed was seeded with wheat and fertilized. Structure and a gravel fish bed were installed to protect the fish and help with spawning. It was expected to take two years for the lake to refill. However, due to the exceptional amount of rain, the lake refilled in only six months. It is a 16-acre lake with water depth of 34 feet. The lake consultant looked under the surface and found the lake is thriving. We recommend the lake be reopened in January.

The committee is still looking for a minnow lake to breed minnows to provide a food source to increase the fish population. The prior minnow lake had to be evacuated due to the construction of the new wastewater system. There is concern over the need for silt removal at Malvern, Spring and Oxford lakes.

The recent survey showed the lakes are used for boating 40 percent and fishing 20 percent. However, the lake usage responses are still very low.

Strategic Planning Committee:

Pat Gruet reports that interviews of nine candidates for three or four openings on the committee are progressing. Gruet said the candidates are outstanding and the final selections will be difficult.

Trails Committee:

John Conrad reported that the five-hour Oct. 13 Trails Festival was held to announce the opening of eight miles of trails. Trail maps are now available at the Administration Building. Tommy Lee and the Community Club provided music and food; plus, the weather was great. A big thank you was given to all the volunteers.

Long range plans will be made during the winter. 

Financial Report:

Regina Welch reports through September $5.5 million cash on hand: $2.0 million capital, $1.8 million sewer, $500,000 golf, $1.1 million operations.  660 lots have been returned to the club. Capital expenditures are $2.5 million. The drip field at the wastewater treatment plant is being installed now. The Dorchester irrigation system project will start soon.

Welch said her door is always open for any member questions. Just give her a call. Usually a simple phone call is less tedious than several emails going back and forth.

Fire Department:

Chief Howard Robb reported four incidences, three service calls, no structure fires. Home smoke and CO2 detector batteries need to be replaced by the homeowner regularly. The Engine #5 Campaign has reached a little over half the goal of $100,000.   

Community Services:

Tim Martin reported the drip disposal field clearing is complete. Over 25 percent of the drip lines are installed. TDEC has approved the construction permit. The plans by McGill are near completion for the Dartmoor spillway erosion project. In November we will be applying for the permit and bids will go out. It appears we will not start on the project until January.

Martin reminded lake residents that blowing leaves into the lakes and culverts is prohibited. When the leaves break down they will cause problems and extra expense to the club for silt removal.

Leaf pickup begins Nov. 12 to continue through the middle of December. The leaves and light brush dump is still available to residents. The county will pave Eagle and Fairway in November.

A lake resident asked Bob Weber about getting targeted data on each specific lake as opposed to general overall lake data. Methods to try to improve lake survey responses are being pursued.

Unfinished Business:

The Board passed a motion to refinance the Conference Center loan and to open a $4 million dollar line of credit. Two officers of the board must sign any draw; one officer must be either the president or the treasurer.

President Stackhouse explained: “We are refinancing the $2.1 million loan on the Community Center. This will save us about $200,000 in interest over the life of the loan. This is an excellent deal. We sent it out for bid and have narrowed it down to one bank. We are finalizing it now and we hope to tie it up in November.”

The loans on Stonehenge and the wastewater treatment plant were sent out for renegotiation also. But, due to swap agreements tied to those loans, the penalties would cost about $1.2 million dollars. So, the banks came back and said that refinancing those two loans would not be feasible due to the huge penalty involved.

“We thank Pete [Cahill] for suggesting we do it and Regina [Welch] and Bob [Weber] for following through with it. We are using a good local bank.”

Stackhouse then addressed the line of credit: “We have been paying cash for projects such as the wastewater drip field and the Dorchester irrigation installation.” That reduces cash on hand. The board and management wanted to be sure the club is financially viable.

Stackhouse continued, “Because interest rates are very low, we went to a line of credit. It makes financial sense for the club. When the drain pipe went [broke] at Dartmoor Lake. Out of the blue, that will cost us $1M. We have talked about this for months. The Board wants to make sure we can take a big hit and still be financially viable.” The rate will be less than 4 percent."

New Business:

The board passed a motion to reopen Lake Sherwood for boating and fishing Jan. 1, 2013.

Diana Chalfant was pleased to announce ground breaking for a new Wyndham timeshare check-in Center.

Comments from the Floor:

There was some discussion about chain restaurants in Cookeville vs. Crossville. It was pointed out that Cookeville has a large university that is an excellent labor pool for servers and greeters. Here in Cumberland County attracting good workers for our two Fairfield Glade restaurants is a challenge due to the limited labor pool.

A member asked about the lake resident email list project. Bob Weber explained that they are working on it and names are being added as they are provided. Each lake representative on the Lake Committee is also working on getting all lake resident names into the email list. Recent email blasts to all residents included some lake information. For that reason, lake-specific emails have not been needed recently.