They say that I'm a Dreamer

IMHO 

To: Directors Lenefsky

CC: Directors Akins, Collins, Ege, Fimmel, Lehrer, Nowalowski, McAdam, Wilson

From: Jean Totten

Date: April 8, 2022

Regarding: 90-Day Moratorium on Mountain View



Thank you for the opportunity to provide one final opinion regarding the Mountain View Project.

Until the last Board meeting when management outlined the next steps to be taken, I had not realized that any actual construction or demolition would add another 12 – 18 months to the timetable. The present PIF Budget Summary showed over $15 Million for Phase I in the Year 2023, so I was under the impression construction would be starting then.

While some may view that as an agonizing 12 – 18 months, I view it as a gift. The gift of time. These 12 – 18 months are not the time to sit idle; not the time to stop thinking about Mountain View. Not the time to stop planning. Rather, it’s time to be absolutely certain that renovating an existing center is the best plan for all members of this community.

First, rethink the budget. Start with a clean slate. Do the two projects that center around water - Viewpoint Lake and the obligation that we have to the AZ Department of Water (ADWR) 5th Management Plan Golf Course Water Reduction. Watch the housing market; will we stay in this boom cycle? How will that affect home sales here? Will the PIF remain healthy? Watch inflation; will it continue to rise to make each project more costly than projected.

Second, fix the IT problem. Give any monies that are needed now. Bring us up to the standard we should be at. Doing so will enable you to capture even more data about who uses the facilities, how often, and whether more space is needed for clubs, sports, etc. Data is key.

Third, use the tools you have; the existing Long Range Planning Committee, the data from the 2022 Facilities Activity Report, and the ability to conduct polls/surveys/meetings with those who actually use Mountain View and those who live in the surrounding neighborhoods who will be most affected. You might even consider adding another committee; a committee that should be in existence now. Every planned community needs a Master Planning or Strategic Planning committee. Just because the buildings are up doesn’t mean we stop thinking about the future. We should never stop doing that.

Brainstorm. Think outside the Box. Consider merging two projects into one – Lakeview and Mountain View. And then flip your ideas about them. If Lakeview has structural defects and needs to be razed, and Mountain View only needs to be “spiffed up,” why not work on both at once. Because Mountain View is located in a residential neighborhood, why consider building a “high rise type structure” that will dwarf the homes nearby? Wouldn’t a more commercial, centralized area – like Lakeview – be more appropriate. Raze Lakeview and make that your Theater Arts Hub with a stand-alone theater. Restaurants are nearby for folks to have dinner out before a performance. Renovate Mountain View and make that your “sports” complex with more pickleball courts (Data shows that they are needed and right now the popularity of pickleball is a known fact.) There are no clubrooms at Mountain View; take the existing auditorium and renovate just that building into offices for staff that is presently at Lakeview. Leave the pool at Mountain View as is but consider adding another. Fix that horrid spa. Make a better fitness area with the new machines you are on the path to approve and try out. Does anyone utilize the picnic table/BBQ area? If not, what could it become?

While you’re planning that, take a hard look at what is at the other centers; what’s not being utilized to the fullest. I’ve never been in the auditorium at Bell. Could that become a gym? Are we confined by previously signed deeds that say golf courses have to be golf courses? Isn’t data already showing a decline in golf? Could one of those be turned into a xeriscaped area containing a walking path and/or a bicycle path? Maybe build one or two smaller buildings that could be community centers where folks could gather for coffee, chatting, Board games, and pot lucks. Experiment for a year or so of keeping one of two of the centers (maybe one in the south, one in the north) open later at night for those who still work.

Take a hard look at each and every center; what is being used? What is sitting idle? Why do we need another inside walking track at Mountain View when there is one less than a mile away at Fairway? And speaking of Fairway, who uses that large room on the second floor? I didn’t even know it was there until I took advantage of your movie program.

In a nice way, wake us up to the fact that we’re spoiled. Bigger is not always better. Not every recreation center has to contain every sport – even though the one down the road has the same offerings. Those in the past had the vision to create this community where the farthest one might have to drive is 6 miles to get to a center. How lucky can we be?

I hope some of these thoughts may pique your curiosity enough to contemplate looking into them.



"You may call me a dreamer. But I'm not the only one.”