Welcome to the O.A.C.S.
The purpose of the Owners Advisory Council of Smuggs (OACS) is to engage Smugglers' Notch Management in a constructive dialogue for the betterment of the entire Smugglers’ community. As Owners, we are dedicated to the long term enhancement of the Resort, the vacation experience, and our property values. This Council is necessary to advise Smuggs and work with them on behalf of our membership.
An Open Letter to All Homeowners from OACS
January 29, 2010
Dear Homeowner,
It’s the beginning of a New Year and time to turn over a new leaf. As fellow Homeowners, we at Owners Advisory Council of Smugglers’ (OACS) ask you to please read the following material and consider choosing us to represent your interests here in the Village at Smugglers' Notch starting in 2010. The OACS leadership has worked very hard over the past few months to understand the needs of fellow Homeowners, to develop the organizational structure and to plan our agenda for the coming year.
The Homeowners we have spoken with have told us that they want to enjoy their home at Smugglers’, knowing that their interests are looked after, and that the relationship with the Village is strong and friendly. They said that a major reason for their Smugglers’ vacation home purchase was because of the harmonious atmosphere where owners, management and staff worked as a family. The contentiousness of the last two years has upset most Owners and they’ve expressed that they want to return to the Smugglers’ that they love.
OACS member representation involves positive and constructive dialogue with Smugglers’ Management. OACS is not a rubber-stamp organization, but we do work to avoid needless, expensive and counterproductive adversarial confrontations. OACS has been working with Smugglers’ and Smugglers’ has agreed to supply to any Regimes/Townhouses the following, Insurance, Propane Gas, Administration and Reserve management and Long Term planning programs.
Our further mission is to keep our members informed of news and events that may affect owners’ rights, renting owners’ income and the impact that may have on property values. For example, the negotiations of the last two years have legitimized self-renters and allowed a third party renter to enter the Village and compete not with the Village, but with Smugglers’ renters! This has been done supposedly in the interest of choice, but it clearly undermines the interests of the renting Owners at Smugglers’. Meanwhile, the Smugglers' Renter Agreement which assured a Smugglers’ rental program for the next thirty years was severely gutted when it was reduced to a one year term, giving the Village the right to cancel with just one year’s notice. OACS believes Owners need to be aware of the implications of the outcome of the past two years of negotiations.
OACS believes it is time that Smugglers' renting Owners are given the opportunity to evaluate the results of the new contracts, particularly given the present economic climate. The SNHA Board brought in Wise Vacation Rentals and TPW Property Management – TPW cost owners more money and subsequently they have left the Village. In our opinion these actions do not serve the interests of the 236 renting Smugglers’ Homeowners.
Remember, in Vermont, membership in a Homeowner's Association is voluntary.
The following pages outline the OACS direction for the coming year:
OACS's Structure
The Role of OACS
Smugglers’ Renter Agreement objective
Smugglers’ Property Management Agreement and Utility Agreement objective
Please take the time to carefully read our presentation. If you would like additional information or have questions that you would like answered by a member of OACS please send an Email, containing your name and Unit number, and a telephone number where you can be reached, to our Executive Director David Kenley at dkenley@sympatico.ca and you will receive a call ASAP within the following ten days..
We wish you and your family a very Happy and harmonious New Year in 2010.
Yours sincerely,
Les Zellan
Interim President, OACS
les@zgc.com
OACS STRUCTURE
Dues - $ 275.00 per year, per unit owned
Fiscal Year - January 1 - December 31
Elections for Board positions will be held on the Saturday closest to July 4. The first election will be held in 2010. Directors will be elected for two year terms.
OACS Office - The OACS will run a virtual office with all activity conducted electronically. On-site activities, such as annual meetings and Board meetings, when face-to-face is necessary, will be held in Smugglers’ facilities. Staffing will be limited to a part time Executive Director.
Interim Executive Committee
President - Les Zellan
Les will provide organizational leadership and interface with the Smugglers' owner. Les is well suited for this role having led several successful businesses over the years. He is President of ZGC, Inc., a company that supplies equipment to the Motion Picture and Television industries and is Chairman of Cooke Optics Limited, a 120 year old UK company that makes lenses for filming movies. Les and his wife, Barbara’s first purchase at Smugglers’ was in Evergreen in 1986 followed by MV- 38 in 2000. les@zgc.com
Director - Jan Loeber
Jan will assume responsibility for Regime and Smugglers’ coordination related to the Property Management agreement as well as the Utility and other services agreement. He is Chairman of the Board of Newfound Communications, Inc. in Massachusetts and on the Board of Interxion bv in the Netherlands, SENSeOR Inc. in France and founder of Succes Europ in France. Jan holds a BS Physics (Mich. Tech Univ.), MS Business Admin (Geo. Wash. Univ.), and is Cert. in Systems Mgt. (Geo Wash. Univ.). He and his family have owned at Smugglers’ for 32 years, SS-28 followed by TE-15. janloeber@msn.com
Director - Robin Milstein
Robin assumes responsibility for the direction of Audit Function Volunteers. As such, she will recruit volunteers who will monitor activities of the Village that impact our members, for example, rental rates and rental balancing, real estate re-sales, membership function planning and owner benefits. Robin is an active volunteer and had a successful career in sales. She and her husband, Ari, were Club owners in 2004 and have recently acquired MV-14. robinmilst@comcast.net
Director - Maureen DiPasquale
Maureen assumes responsibility for the direction of Audit Function Volunteers. As such, she will recruit volunteers who will monitor activities of the Village that impact our members, for example, Housekeeping, star rating, seasonal home maintenance, damage fund and arbitrator. Maureen is a retired teacher and is involved in numerous community organizations. She has been the owner of Liftside 57 for the past 17 years. moe220@hotmail.com
Treasurer - Ari Milstein
As Treasurer, Ari assumes responsibility for treasury, budget and audit of regime trust funds. He brings a wealth of experience to this role with twenty two years of financial experience and degrees, including BS (UNH), MBA (Bentley) and CSS (Harvard). Ari is a CPA and currently COO and CFO of Schwartz Communications. Ari owns MV-14. arimilst@comcast.net
Secretary - Lorrie Korn
Lorrie was one of the founders of OACS and she has, to date, served well as our recording secretary, responsible for member record keeping and correspondence. Moving forward, she will also undertake member surveys. Lorrie has spent her career in health care, most recently as ADA Recognition Coordinator/Case Manager, Middlesex Hospital. She has been an owner of L35 for the past 15 years. lkorn@sbcglobal.net
Executive Director - David Kenley
David will provide professional guidance and counsel to the Board of Directors. He was a long time owner in Hakone (1986 - 2008). As an SNHA board member (1989 – 2007) he held the following positions: Star rating chair (1990 -1993), Treasurer (1991 – 1993), President (1993 – 1996), Past President (1996 – 2007) and Chairman, Contract Negotiating Committee (2003-2007). David lives in Quebec and is a retired Chartered Accountant/CPA. dkenley@sympatico.ca
The Role of OACS
OACS will offer representation to those Full Owners who have signed the Smugglers' Renter Agreement at the Village of Smugglers' Notch.
OACS will offer representation to those Full Owner Non-renters, who do not rent their home and who have signed the Smugglers' Utility and Other Services Agreement.
OACS will not represent the Full Owners who do not meet the above requirements.
OACS is committed to providing a level playing field for the distribution of rental guests amongst all sizes of rental units. The lack of occupancy in our larger homes has created a desire in a minority of our owners to self rent. This is to the overall detriment of the Village and all owners. This long standing issue must be resolved.
OACS will represent those Regimes that are a party to the Smugglers' Notch Property Management Agreement; however, the Regime Directors will be responsible for the activities of their Regime.
OACS, through its audit volunteers, guided by its Directors, with the assistance of the Executive Director, will monitor each and every aspect of the major contracts that cover the relationship between OACS members and Smugglers’.
OACS will, in conjunction with the Regime Directors and Smugglers’, develop a management protocol for all activities contemplated under the Smugglers' Notch Property Management Agreement and OACS will verify that work orders undertaken by Smugglers’, at the request of Regime Directors, have been completed in accord with the agreed upon protocol.
OACS will continually dialogue with Smugglers’ regarding contemplated changes affecting our members, and will undertake a survey of our membership before a major final decision is taken.
OACS and Smugglers’ will mutually agree on and appoint a volunteer Arbitrator who will rule on all disputes between an individual OACS member and Smugglers'.
OACS is an incorporated, voluntary, not-for-profit organization. A set of Bylaws will be presented to the membership for approval at our first annual meeting.
OACS will enter into a letter of understanding with The Village covering the annual audit procedures of all areas of our contracts that impact our members.
Smugglers’ Renter Agreement
OACS strongly believes, based on an earlier Homeowner survey, that the market value of our homes is directly related to the Owner’s enjoyment of their Smuggler’s experience, received at a minimal cost, while at the same time seeing the total growth in value of their home exceed their total net cost over their years of ownership. There is no secret formula that creates this phenomenon; it is solely the result of the Smugglers’ Renter Agreement that provides quality guest programming, quality accommodations, consistent property management, dedicated staffing and consistent high value to our rental guests.
We therefore believe that a guarantee of a long term renewable rental agreement with provisions for continuance in the case of the sale of the Village, for the ability for only the Homeowner to opt-out of the agreement with one year's notice, and for the transfer of the agreement to the new owner when a unit is sold, are the major requirement in a new rental agreement.
The Easement
The easement to be added to our property deeds as described at the SNHA annual meeting last summer is of most significant value to Non-renters and Self-renters as the major component of the easement guarantees fee based access to the facilities and recreational activities that are contained in the Smugglers’ Renter Agreement. The majority of the Home owners, 83%, are already Smugglers’ renting owners and therefore already have these benefits provided by the Renter Agreement at no charge.
Should Smugglers’ decide not to provide a rental program in the future then all owners would become either Non-renters or Self-renters, but since the programs would not exist the easement would be moot -- if there is no program available to purchase. If however there was a long term commitment from Smugglers' to provide a rental program, then the easement is just about a non-issue. Therefore you as a renting homeowner are being asked to pay for ongoing legal fees for an outcome that never had significant value to you.
Property Management Agreement, Utility and Other Services agreements
OACS will monitor and audit all activities related to these agreements, on behalf of Regimes and Townhouse renting owners. Smugglers’ will offer umbrella insurance coverage and propane gas to any Regimes and Townhouses in an addendum to the Property Management Agreement. Additionally Smugglers' will provide reserve management and long term Regime/Townhouse planning. Any charges will be billed and included in the quarterly statements, streamlining payments for owners.
We also believe, provided that the quality and pricing of product is monitored by OACS that these agreements, should be provided on the same Length of Term as the Smugglers’ renter agreement.
Smugglers’ has stated that they will negotiate in good faith mutually beneficial contracts for these services based on the expressed desire of a majority of the Homeowners.
Conclusion:
We believe that the aggressive moves by the SNHA Board, including the launch of legal proceedings against the Village that were subsequently dismissed, have eroded the highly regarded Smugglers’ brand by publicly projecting spotty quality, pricing confusion and financial harm to the ongoing business. These kinds of actions lead, inevitably to erosion of homeowner value. All of these actions by the SNHA, in our opinion, constitute a major error in judgment.
We believe it is in the best interest of the entire Village that Smuggler’s renting owners have a guaranteed long term renewable renter agreement.
If you believe, as the members of OACS do, that you, as a Smugglers’ renter need a more focused organization to represent your interests, then as one of the 83% of Smugglers’ Homeowners that are in the rental program please join OACS. We welcome your participation and we promise to provide a mechanism for open communication among OACS members. A membership application form as well as a Paypal payment facility can be found on this site.
Should you like additional information or have questions that you would like answered by a member of OACS please send an Email, containing your name, Unit number, and a telephone number where you can be reached, to our Executive Director David Kenley at dkenley@sympatico.ca and you will receive a call in the following ten days.
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