No golf, no pool, no lawn bowling or making crafts at the ceramic workshop.
Those are among the punitive consequences looming for close to 300 Friendly Valley residents about to lose their country club privileges as the dispute over dues deepens and lawyers get involved.
The residents say they’ve paid their dues, while officials with the Friendly Valley Recreational Association Inc. say they’ve not been paid.
On Tuesday, 294 members of Association One – one of 13 similar homeowner associations that make up all of the Friendly Valley residents living inside the same gated community on Sierra Highway – discovered their “gate cards” which, with a swipe, normally allow them into the gated community no longer work.
Recreation Board officials who hold the keys to Friendly Valley Country Club entitlements such as access to pool, spa, golf course and other amenities, deactivated the “gate cards” held by Association One residents.
In a letter dated Sept. 15, the “Recreation Board” – officially called the Friendly Valley Recreational Association Inc. – warned Association One members about the card deactivation, and notified them that other recreational privileges would be suspended.
Legal Counsel
Officials with Ross Morgan & Company Inc. – the property management company contacted by members of Association One – took issue with services being withheld.
“FV1 (Association One) is consulting legal counsel and believes that before the REC (Board) may suspend privileges each owner who may be impacted, must be provided with notice of the alleged breach of duty, and then given the opportunity to defend him/herself at a hearing,” Warren Davidoff, chief operating officer for Ross Morgan, told The Signal Thursday.
“No member has been provided with notice of their alleged individual debt or a hearing to our knowledge,” Davidoff said.
“A blanket suspension of all FV1 members without due process is not appropriate nor in accordance with Civil Code.
“That being said, as of Wednesday Sept. 20, 2017, (Wednesday) outstanding country club dues, insurance, cable TV and security fees were hand delivered to the REC from FV1,” Davidoff said.
“We expect that any and all suspended privileges will be immediately lifted,” he said.
“In closing, FV1 hired a Property Management firm and the transition has been difficult but the Board stands by its decision that it was the right long term move for the community.”
No Comment
Did the Rec Board receive its dues from Association One members and have their suspended privileges been restored?
“No Comment,” Friendly Valley Office Manager Linda Radtke told The Signal Friday.
“Our official comment is the same statement as before – no comment,” she said. “The Rec Board has no comment.”
Friendly Valley Recreational Association, which also operates under the name Friendly Village Community Association, has been around for more than a half century.
According to Association One residents who contacted The Signal about the loss of their privileges, still report having gate cards that no longer work.
Association One resident Jean Dunn, who makes dues payments for other residents, said she’s received no word from the Rec Board regarding the payments she made.
Recreational privileges were described in the letter as: “use of the Gold Course and Golf Lounge, Lawn bowls and Lawn Bowls facilities, use of Pool and Spa, use of the auditorium, annex, gym, woodshop, ceramics room and all other recreational facilities and amenities provided by the Friendly Valley Recreational Association.”
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