Productive Meeting on Friday

I would like to thank everyone for coming out on Friday evening last. I know that George cancelled the meeting, but so many of you contacted me directly asking if we could still have a meeting.

I was really impressed that over 30 people showed up for that meeting.

True, we didn't have a quorum because Linda Schindler and Rick Graf chose not to appear. Nor did George Cordier. Had any one of them appeared we would have had a quorum and we could have actually gotten some work done. But I don't think that is fair. Let's say Rick showed up but not Linda or George. Fairness and integrity would suggest that we not do any board business until all five members can be present. This way everyone is represented equally.

It was an interesting discussion Friday ranging from issues about the wall, to the airport having too much representation and none for Plat II. Sean's conspiracy theories aside (:-), I thought much was accomplished and a true read of the community's attitude was obtained.

I am sorry that George wasn't there, as well as Linda and Rick, but fortunately, Roy Graffis was so I am confident that the three of them received an immediate update as to the status of the meeting.

I have to confess, I am more than a little frustrated when I have to learn of board business through Roy Graffis. At the meeting, Roy announced to the community, that "I just want everyone to know, the property issue with the tank is resolved. We found the document and I signed it as chairman of the board."

Wha, Wha, What?

Perhaps I'm out of line, but does it not seem that Margot and I should have been informed of that right away? I'm quite confident that they had the document for quite a length of time, but yet, no word to the other board members, but as long as Roy has got the situation under control, it's OK.

If I am a little frustrated by that, you should be outraged. If you thought that this board didn't have a shadow force behind it, think again. Allow me to illustrate:

(1) The letter received by the community from George Cordier was postage paid at a discount rate. Who was able to obtain that discount rate?
At the last public meeting almost two weeks ago, when asked about the mail rate, George said, "I don't know, you'll have to ask Roy about that." Clearly, then Roy was involved in the mailing of the letter allegedly written by George.

(2) When the Bennett Wall issues came to pass, it was Roy Graffis who went down to the County Commissioner and the Planning Department for Lincoln County to 'deal' with the situation. If Roy is not on the board and is not an immediate neighbor of the Bennett's, why did he undertake this activity?

(3) At our information meeting last Friday, it was Roy Graffis who stood up expecting to get a 'pat on the back' for his fine work, but instead simply drove home the fact that he is one in the same with our three members of the board.

Incidentally, I called him George during the meeting on several occasions. He answered every time. Freudian slip? I don't know.

These are just a few of the questions you should ask of your board the next time you get to see them.

Here is something else I've been pondering.

At the last public community meeting, George stated that we need the water system improved so we can have a 500 gpm flow out of the water lines. Fair enough.

However, I and a few others have looked into this a little more deeply. Deer Meadows has a fire truck that will pump 250 gallons per minute, but it won't make it over to Seven Bays. We do not currently have a 500 gallon per minute pumper fire engine.

OK - where do we get one? Well, we could ask the County Commissioners. However, pumper trucks aren't of much use in Lincoln County as there are no fire hydrants except in the towns. Pumper trucks cannot be used to fight farm, grass, or forest fires. Do you think the County Commissioners will be willing to buy a pumper truck at 500 gpm for Seven Bays?

Maybe, what will the cost be? Well, the City of Davenport bought one 12 years ago for about $250,000.00. Do you think the County Commissioners will spring for a pumper truck for us now? Probably not.

Very well, let's buy our own pumper truck.

Wha, Wha, What?

At $250,000.00 that is a pretty big price tag! Let's say we find one on eBay for $120,000.00. That's a third of our entire budget! Doesnt' sound like we will be able to get that one paid for out of the annual budget, even if our dues are $1050 per year. That means a special assessment.

So, I ask you, the thoughtful citizens of Seven Bays, why are we spending thousands upon thousands of dollars to make this water system such a priority when at the end of the day, we still won't have the equipment to hook up to the hydrant to provide you with the fire protection you were told you so desperately needed.

You need not rely on my word or supposition to figure this one out. Make the call directly. Dean Reinbold is our fire commissioner. Ask him what the plans are for new fire equipment out at Seven Bays. Ask if we will be getting a 500 gpm pumper truck.

Now, be kind to Dean, he's doing his job and the fact that he doesn't have plans to put a 500 gpm pumper truck doesn't make him a bad person. He has a limited amount of resources to cover all of Lincoln County.

However, you might want to ask your board members when the last time they had a conversation with the County to find out what the plans were for getting us a new fire truck to handle our new and improved water hydrant system. I think that would be a good question to ask before we start spending our entire budget for Phase II and Phase III.

Thanks again for your meeting and time on Friday. I enjoyed it immensely!

Jay S. Jump
Seven Bays Board Member
Airport Representative.