I said I was going to try to stop the Town Halls if at lease 20 didn't attend. I may have to rethink that position.
There were a couple people as usual who just wanted to re-hash issues that had already been covered but I must admit there was also some productive discussion on a couple topics.
Time was spent discussing why our homes are not more prominently featured and pushed harder when they on the market. Don Parisi brought up a number that surprised me. Don is a realtor and said last year 91 properties were sold in Candlewick. Sure, part of them were foreclosures, but that is still a lot more sales than I would have guessed. Realtors have difficulty meeting with prospective buyers because they can't simply call in guests and meet them at the property. They have to meet at the office or some other location then go to the home. The suggestion was made to allow realtors to call in guests to a specific property when it is to be shown. Marketing was discussed, and there was agreement we should be marketed as a recreation community with all the included amenities stressed. It was a good discussion that led into another related area.
We are currently working on a re-write of the Rules & Regs. We are trying to get rid of silly rules and put teeth into areas that need to be corrected. One of those areas is maintenance of properties by owners and residents. All agree we need to step up enforcement of violations on properties that have become eyesores. Our deputy chief was there and knows we want this to happen. An attractive, well kept community will add to the property values as a whole. We all know that and going forward we intend to gain in that area.
There will always be problem properties, such as foreclosures or those close to foreclosure and bankruptcy, when we can issue all the citations we want and there will be no changes because some people just don't care. This will never be perfect but we can always work to improve.
Ken