Welcome to the LVLO HOA Blog - Community Blog

This blog is created for La Verne Live Oak Homeowners to communicate. Right now there is a situation going on regarding gate enhancements. Much communication is taking place amongst neighbors and this blog will allow everyone to hear the discussion. Names will be removed from the comments. The source of the comments will come from the emails that are going around to the neighbors.

If you do not want your email on this blog, you can comment anonymously to have it removed.

If you would like to have your thought added to this blog, email them to: LVLOGates@gmail.com

Here is the first letter that got it all started:

ATTENTION LIVE OAK HOMEOWNERS
PROPOSED GUARD SHACK AT SOUTH ENTRANCE IS BACK!!!

Even though concerned homeowners were able to put a stop to this ill advised and extremely costly proposal twice before, quite unbelievably it’s back again.

In June we saw the cryptic term “gate enhancement” on the agenda for the June 25th meeting of the Live Oak Home Owner’s Association Board of Directors Meeting. Being somewhat familiar with the true implication of this highly evasive term, I took it upon myself to attend this meeting, and learned that the infamous guard shack proposal has once again been raised. This project would involve total demolition of the current south entrance area, erection of a guard building (complete with toilet and shower facilities and sophisticated electronic equipment), and hiring of guards to man it on a 24/7 basis. It should be noted that the north gate would only be upgraded with the installation of a video camera, which would be remotely monitored at the guard shack.

This time the madness is being proposed by realtor --, who has formed and chairs an “informal committee” consisting of himself, Live Oak Board HOA President, --, and --. The stated purpose for the formation of this committee was to develop a proposal, obtain “best case scenario” costs and “sell” the project to the homeowners. Mr. -- stated that this project is not designed to increase security within the community, but rather to increase property values. Another realtor, who also lives at the south gate, takes exception to that rationale.

While at the June meeting, I strongly voiced my opposition to this proposal but, as might be expected given the minimal details provided to homeowners in advance of the meeting, I was the only opponent in attendance. Two of the HOA board members, --- and --, live near the south gate and support the proposal.

With word of the proposal getting around the community, the July meeting was attended by many more homeowners who also voiced their strong opposition. It should be noted that, at this meeting, -- did express concern about the potential costs involved to the homeowners.

Under the draft proposal, each homeowner, regardless of location within the gates, would be responsible for paying a one-time assessment of approximately $1,000.00, and possibly more. There would also be an ongoing homeowner assessment of approximately $88.00 per month to cover the costs of guard wages, insurance, building and equipment maintenance and repair, etc. This assessment, with anticipated increases, would continue in perpetuity. When it was suggested that some homeowners living on a limited, fixed income might not be in a position to absorb the initial assessment, the “committee” suggested that a payment plan be made available.

It’s important to note that all of the guard shacks constructed at the entrances to various gated communities in north La Verne are currently empty. It’s blatantly obvious that these homeowners have found that the costs involved in maintaining guards simply doesn’t make economic sense. Add to this the extreme inconvenience to visitors and guests of homeowners in dealing with a highly controlled entrance that, admittedly, does nothing to increase security, and one must question the value and return on investment of such a proposal.

Aside from the irrational and extravagant costs to existing homeowners, it’s been noted that the monthly assessments would be a significant deterrent to potential home purchasers, making homes in the community even more unlikely to sell in these difficult economic times.

The next meeting of the Live Oak Homeowners Association is scheduled to be held on Wednesday, August 27th beginning at 7:00 PM at the La Verne Community Center at 3660 D Street, Class Room 1. Please attend this meeting to voice your opposition to this proposal. It should be noted that parking is quite limited due to ongoing sports activities at the Bonita High School fields, so it would be advisable to arrive early.

A homeowners committee has been formed to oppose this project. If you’re among those who oppose the project and you’d like to help or simply receive regular status reports.....


Meeting Results - 8/27/08

Earlier this afternoon we sent you an e-mail stating that the guard house proposal would be eliminated this evening at the Live Oak HOA meeting.

Unfortunately, that was far from the case. They have no intention of eliminating this proposal. Instead, they are continuing to press ahead with the Gate "Enhancement" Committee planning meetings, with -- as chairman, to look into all aspects of gate improvements, including the guard house. They are also looking at simply installing new gates as another option. A number of our own committee members have requested inclusion in -- committee. We requested, and the Board agreed, to hold a public meeting about this issue at a location large enough to hold everyone. At this time we do not know when this meeting will take place but all homeowners behind the gate will receive notification.

In order to speak at this meeting you will need the notify the appropriate entity shown on the notice prior to the stated meeting. You will not be able to fill out a card at the beginning of the meeting and speak at that time. The Board also has every intention of sending out a survey to let people vote on which type of gate improvement they want, i.e., replace gates, build a guard house, etc. The majority (a simple 51% of the homeowners behind the gates), must approve of one of the options presented in order for the work to proceed.

Many of you came to the meeting to show your support and some of you voiced your opposition to this proposal. We sincerely thank you for your support.

We are very disappointed at this outcome but we will continue to fight the guard house.

Response to Meeting by homeowner 8/28/08

Thank you for bringing all of this to light for people like me that only open their bills once a week and throw the other stuff out. If -- didn't live on my block, I would have just found a bill for $1000 plus dollars for a guard shack one day in my mail box.
Thoughts:
I think that people who did research on the subject should make a written statement and send it to the board/ HOA, per -- email regarding HOA's.
When the next proposed meeting is or isn't announced we need to be sure everyone is aware of when it is by letter or flyer.
A simple beginning statement about what is proposed. Not emotional, just fact. asking everyone to be there or at least stay informed, then bullet points from concerned homeowners , with authors names attributed to statement. Short statements condensed from letters sent to HOA. Nothing that could be considered libel.
At the end of letter, state that yes this letter is sent from homeowners who oppose this proposed project but please come and make up your own mind so that we the Homeowners are properly represented.
They are counting on passive people like me, that just open the letter to see if they are in violation and then throw the letter away when it says "gate enhancement". I thought that meant they were going to paint the gates.

Neighbor Response 8/28/08

To All,

Hopefully the survey the board sends out will also include an option to keep the gate as it is, if that is also a feasible option. I am not convinced that those wanting to "enhance" the gates have proven that the current gate set up actually needs to be completely torn out and replaced. And I really question this logic since for many years the idea with some has been to rebuild only the south gate, leaving the north gate as it is, and only adding a remote/guard camera system on the north gate. If the gate system is so inadequate, then I wonder why it was only the south gate that was a problem? I suspect that there is really nothing structural or mechanically wrong with either gate, and that this has nothing to do with any real need to completely replace the current gate system. Although at least now with new members added to the 'gate committee' I am confident that a more balanced review of the current gate system will be presented for association members to consider.

Many may recall that the gates were in fact altered a few years back to divide the gates (each exit and entrance side) so that there are now two swinging gates with two motors each. This was done because it was decided that with having only one large swinging gate, the weight of pulling a longer gate open on one motor alone, was too much for that motor to handle, and therefore causing too many break downs. To my knowledge that change has made the gates function much better, so I would be interested to hear once again the reason why they feel that a complete change in the current gates is warranted. And then of course the question of why if a change in the current gate system needs a 24 hour hour guard? There are so many unanswered questions about this proposal -- and stated "need to replace the gates", that I hope that those who signed up to be on the gate committee, will bring these points up.

I wasn't able to attend the meeting (I work the night shift), however from what others have said, the gate committee chairman did not seem very pleased to have to answer the concerns being raised by other members of the association. I feel that this is an unfortunate attitude for him to take, as we all share an equal interest in every proposal within this home owners association, and are all entitled to having our questions answered, and our points of view respected. It was also troubling to hear that some inappropriate comments were made in the hallway outside the meeting by a certain person, which were directed at a few our concerned homeowners who showed up in opposition to this guard gate proposal. I don't believe that type of attitude is going to help this situation, or is one that any of us needs to accept.

Thank you for allowing me to share my views on this matter. I hope others feel comfortable in doing the same... and also with discussing the matter with other neighbors not already included on this e-mail list. I feel that this is not an issue that should require people to fight over, but all points of view do need to be considered and also respected. I can say that for myself, I am not convinced that a 24 hour guard is either warranted, or a good value for our money. But with that being said, I also would not be unwilling to consider some changes/upgrades to the gate system, as long as they are logical and have been thoroughly reviewed by a fair and balanced gate committee. One open to all of our neighbors' concerns and questions, and in keeping with a good fiscal policy for the association.

Thanks again -- for providing us with this information forum, and to all the other neighbors who have shown support and interest in this issue, and also those who signed up to be on the gate committee.