What’s going on with the vacant middle school property?
What’s the latest shakeup on the HOA Board now that another Board member has stepped down? Will another Friends of North County member be put on the board?
Will the Board vote to move over a million dollars to a different financial institution?
Attend the HOA Board meeting and find out for yourself, or even have some say in these matters.
Do you want to change who uses the pool, and when?
Give your vote in the following poll and show up at the next HOA Board meeting to voice your concern.
At the last La Costa Valley HOA board meeting (May 12th), a concerned homeowner brought up a proposal to restrict use of the pool. His concern is that during the daytime in summer, the pool gets so busy that kids don’t have enough room to play.
His proposal is to remove the lane lines at 10am and replace them at 4pm throughout the summer.
Many homeowners were in attendance and voiced their opinions and concerns.
Some of the comments were:
Since there are many adult swimmers, there should be more lane lines, not fewer.
What about swim lessons? Honey needs the lane lines and not all swim students can come early in the morning.
Safety is a concern, because kids get in the way of swimmers, some of whom can’t see the kids.
The pool is only busiest on certain holidays and the hottest days. Most of the time, the pool has lots of room.
We’ve been able to work it out among ourselves for nearly 10 years, so why change things?
Some swimmers have been swimming outside of the lane lines, in the way of kids
Some parents do not want to have their kids reminded to stay off the lane lines and out of the lanes when there are swimmers there.
Some parents do not mind having their kids reminded.
The lane lines are fragile and removing and replacing them twice a day will likely break them. They also cost something like $800 to be replaced.
It takes two people to remove and replace the lane lines. Asking a homeowner to do that or assist with that might bring up liability exposure for the HOA. Hiring extra staff to remove and replace the lines each day will add more expense.
There are plenty of places for kids to play: playgrounds, the wading pool, the larger part of the pool outside the lane lines, but swimming is only in a small part of the pool.
The pool is one of the greatest things about living in La Costa Valley so should be kept available for everyone.
Not everyone can swim as early or as late as the time blocked out. Many swimmers have a work schedule that only permits mid-day swimming.
Lap swimmers can’t use the lap lanes when Honey is teaching.
After the discussion, the HOA Board voted 4-1 in favor of keeping things the way they are.
Take this poll to let your voice be heard. Immediately after you take the poll, you will be able to see how your neighbors have voted. Tell your friends to visit this site and make their wishes known.
Also, come to the next HOA meeting, especially if your opinion is different than your neighbors. See the official La Costa Valley HOA website for details about the place and time of the next Board meeting, and if this issue will be on the agenda.
The La Costa Valley HOA has formed a committee to look at options for the vacant land. To help them set their budget, take a moment and tell them how much extra you, as a homeowner, are willing to pay in the coming year.
This would be their budget for consulting fees, research, legal fees, meetings, and possibly to buy the vacant land. This would be a one-time assessment that each homeowner would need to pay within the next 12 months.
How much can we put you down for?
Immediately after you take this poll, you will be able to see the results. Visit this site again, and you’ll be able to see the latest results as your neighbors give their votes. This is only a straw poll, so it not legally binding! It’s simply a way for us all to know where our neighbors stand.
However, think about it. What would you do with an extra $5,000 and $800 per year?
If, for some reason, the SDUHSD followed the original terms of the Mello-Roos Bond, yet sold the vacant property in La Costa Valley, they’d be obligated to pay the bond back. (Okay, you lawyers and finance types that know how to read bond-speak can sift through this and confirm or deny)
There is no current lawsuit about the vacant land owned by the school district.
On some questions, there may be as many opinions as neighbors. Some neighbors may believe it’s worth risking legal action to prevail over the school district, developers, or whoever is at fault for not building a middle school as advertised. Others may be concerned that any legal action will have a negative effect on property values.
What is your opinion?
Check back for the sentiments of other La Costa Valley homeowners.
The La Costa Valley HOA is having a special HOA meeting on Tuesday May 6th at 7pm, at the Coastline Community Church on Calle Barcelona.
The topic of the meeting is the vacant property next to the church, and how much we will be involved in its future. Specifically, the meeting is regarding La Costa Valley Master Assoc.’s authority-limitations and capabilities regarding School District property.
Can La Costa Valley Homeowners have a say in the use of the property?
Will this be as citizens of the City of Carlsbad?
Will this be through the LCV Homeowner’s Association?
Will our voices be heard as parents of middle-age school children?
It’s very important that homeowners get involved now however they feel about the school district’s property.
Please tell your La Costa Valley friends and neighbors about the meeting, because we did not get much advance notice.
There’s the possibility that this special HOA Board meeting may not be valid for any voting purposes.
According to the HOA by-laws, we need to be told about upcoming meetings well in advance. Notice for HOA special meetings must be within 20 days after a board president calls a special a meeting or after the board receives a petition asking for one, and must be no sooner than 35 days and no later than 90 days after that decision or petition. See section 4.6 in the by-laws on the official La Costa Valley HOA website (you will need Adobe PDF).
The notice will be in the paper newsletter, but at best that will only arrive one or two days before the meeting, certainly not enough time for busy La Costa Valley HOA homeowners to change their schedules.
In mid-April, be sure to check out the official La Costa Valley HOA website before you head to the pool. Sometime in mid-April it will be closed for a few days for repairs.
It’s great that the HOA is keeping the pool in great shape, even if they need to take a few Spring days to fix things up.
[Okay, the following was our little April Fool's day joke. Glad so many of you liked it and have a sense of humor, well most of you. Sorry if you're disappointed that Schwarzenegger won't be moving to La Costa Valley. We know this is a serious issue.]
In a surprising announcement, the High School District today reached settlement with homeowners who have been paying into Mello-Roos CFD 94-2. In addition, a parcel of land within the La Costa Valley (LCV) development which had been pegged for a middle school will be transferred to the LCV Homeowner’s Association.
“We simply made a math error,” said Peg Linch, School District Superintendent, in a prepared statement. She continued, “We had anticipated that middle-school enrollments would increase based on the many young children in La Costa Valley, along with irrational exuberance about continued population increase. Our consultants had assured us that life was so good in that area that families would get busy and have more children than average. Instead, those projections were optimistic.”
An advocacy group, sometimes going under the name FONC-Friends of North County and other times referred to as SOLD-Save Our Lawyers and Developers, claimed credit for the transaction.
A member of FONC/SOLD, who preferred to remain anonymous, disclosed “we were able to reach an agreeable formula which took into account the many hours we have spent on this single issue, in preparing and presenting meetings, creating graphics, keeping up with email, and other vital tasks.”
The total settlement of $55.9 million is made up of $7.6 million for accumulated Mello-Roos payments with interest, plus $48.3 million for the agreed-on value of the middle school property. The amount will be used to fund development of the land, provide rebates to LCV homeowners, and satisfy the financial claims of the FONC/SOLD group.
LCV Homeowners are expected to receive their rebates of approximately $1.3 million before the end of 2008, working out to $1,200 for each household. Another $1.3 million will be transferred to the LCV Homeowners’ Association for maintenance of the property and related reserves. The balance of the settlement, $53.4 million, will be transferred to the FONC/SOLD group for unspecified purposes.
An LCV homeowner who was interviewed shortly following the news release shared his sentiments. “Well, we never expected to get a nickel and everybody knew there would be no middle school, so at least it’s settled and behind us. Plus, now I’m getting $1,200 and won’t need to pay that $800 per year. So, it’s a win-win.”
Although plans for the vacant property have not been formally announced, unspecified sources have estimated that the settlement amount provided to the HOA might be enough to allow development of a mixed-use day and night moto-cross track, dog park, pet kennel, and compost-processing center.
