ROCC Meeting October 13, 2009

News from the meeting:

(1) We had 6 residents attend the meeting including a new couple that are firmly convinced that the actions of the golfers has become atrocious since the residents have stopped using the bike path. They read a full page letter they will be sending to the board, the golf course, and the Amherst police department.

It describes how conditions have deteriorated over the summer months. They have reached their worst level since this couple moved in during the 1980s. The number of golfers urinating around their house and the incidents of obscene language has increased significantly. They are convinced that before, when we individuals and families were walking the bike path, the golfers were less likely to display such disrespect for residents.

They described one case where a car alarm went off somewhere in the neighborhood. A golfer kept yelling "shut the f... up" at the top of his lungs. He keep repeating this as he teed off, returned to his cart, and drove off.

There doesn't seem to be a good solution to this other than recording the actions, getting the cart number and hoping the Amherst police can get to the club house before the golfer finishes. I wonder how many other residents have to put up with this while the golf course no longer has to"put up with" us. And how much worse it can get.

(2) There is some confusion about letters the board may write. It wasn't clear if one letter would be in support of the deteriorating actions by the golfers and a second letter would retract the December 13 letter saying we didn't have access to the bike path. Perhaps the second letter was just being "considered".

Since some of us stayed for the second phase of the meeting wherein theboard conducted its business and nothing came up about any letter, we don'tknow where this stands. But you can bet it has, or is in the process of, petering out. We'll see what can be done to keep it alive.

The second letter is based on the new information that many sections of the bike path do not belong to the golf course. Even if the golf course may have easements to some subset of the bike path, the easement does not give the golf course the right to exclude us from using those sections.

(3) We heard that 13 of the 29 residents responded to the "encroachment"letter so far. It requested responses by October 15. There was a discussion about how many surveys were provided, which had easements, and what the surveys showed. Many showed no bike path encroachment however, it is a known fact that the bike path crosses many of those very properties. All this serves to exemplify the confusion around this issue. A good title and boundary dispute lawyer should be able to spin these facts into a very strong case for us.

(4) We heard again from one board member how "good" our present lawyer is. It is interesting that the new couple, who never heard any of this before, came to the conclusion that we need a new lawyer to "take a fresh look" at this. I don't understand why the board doesn't see this.

(5) That same board member, at one point jumped up and shouted, "Enough is enough with this foolishness", and "Shut up, I'm talking". When in fact he was interrupting one of the residents. I pointed out that there are provisions for removing a board member and they are not very onerous. I also pointed out that many many residents have asked me questions like, (a) Does the board realize they were elected to represent us? (b) Whose side is the board on, ours or the golf course's? (c) Which board members are on our side and which are on the side of the golf course?

I need to put in my $0.02 here. I believe we should consider forming a "probike path" slate of candidates to replace those board members that are against or even passive to this issue. As I understand it, there are three positions up for a vote this January. One of those is held by our strongest supporter. That leaves two open for us. Also, a board member with an additional year term has resigned. I am considering asking to be appointed to fill that position. I don't know if I can pull that off, but I do know that I would need a lot of support from you to do it.

Good News, the Letter is Printed

We got an email from Mark Walsh, the ROCC board President yesterday. He
said the majority of the board agreed with Gene's version of the letter that
requests assistance from those encroached on by the golf course.

It includes a request to return the response by October 15 and a space to
indicate if they have submitted their surveys, will submit one, or don't
have one.

I printed all 29 of them and delivered them to Mark today around 5:30 PM.
He will sign and mail them.

We are on our way!!!

Now to make sure we get the right kind of lawyer on this.

Pete