To the Massanutten Community:
Now that there’s a completed Agreement between MPOA’s Board and Massanutten Resort, we thought it would be worth discussing what it means from our perspective.
Essentially, what MPOA and Great Eastern/Massanutten Resort has agreed to is a formal agreement that both will operate with complete financial independence from one another going forward. That doesn’t mean we’re no longer closely connected in our interests; we most certainly are (for example, Massanutten Resort will continue to promote MPOA amenities in the welcome packets; MPOA members will continue to enjoy the same Gold Card discounts and privileges that timeshare owners do). But with regard to the overall operations aspect of the community, there is now a clear understanding of exactly who pays for precisely what, and previous agreements have been superseded.
The most significant change has to do with the shared roads. Though MPOA will retain ownership of all of its roads and streets, the Agreement transfers essentially all of the financial and operational responsibility for the maintenance of several key roadways (Massanutten, Peak and Del Webb Drives; Killy Court; Colo Road and the Overlook area, and parts of Litton Lane and Palmer Road) to Massanutten Resort’s management. This responsibility includes road treatments for snow and ice; plowing; mowing and brushing; milling; resurfacing; culvert and drainage maintenance; guardrails; signage; even the taxes and insurance. We’ve already purchased two additional plow trucks with sand/salt apparatus and are awaiting their arrival.
Given that these roads are the ones used most by MPOA residents, Resort guests, and vendors and contractors, they require by far the most robust maintenance within the community. There will be no chargebacks or fees to MPOA and its members. Further, MPOA will no longer be exposed to liability concerns on these roads; just as MPOA’s membership was exposed to liability related to the Police Department, it is also exposed on the community’s roads. But that’s not the case any longer on those that are most heavily-used.
There are some other aspects. Under previous agreements, Great Eastern had legally-binding, perpetual utilities easements across the residential lots of all MPOA homeowners. That, too, has changed; the new agreement guarantees easements but they’ll be along the course of right of ways, not across your private residential property. Further, MPOA and Massanutten Resort have agreed to responsibility for their own security services beyond law enforcement provided by the Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office. Both may provide roadside assistance, but Massanutten Security will not be expected to become involved in MPOA areas, nor will MPOA Security be expected to become involved in Resort areas.
As part of the agreement, we will also release to MPOA $150,000.00 held in escrow since January. We started the escrow funding upon withdrawing from the Association, because we always agreed that we have shared financial obligation for the primary roads and we knew that at some point, a mutually-acceptable agreement going forward would be reached.
Neither side got everything they wanted, but I think it’s safe to say both got what they needed to ensure the community and the Resort remain attractive for the long term. We think that this amounts to a significant windfall for MPOA and its membership. Because the agreement assigns costs related to the most heavily-used roads solely to the Resort, MPOA can move forward with significantly reduced operating and capital costs related to them. It still bears responsibility for capital and operating expenses for the smaller residential streets, but I’m optimistic that this portends stronger MPOA finances and a better community going forward.
We appreciate the hard work and diligence of MPOA President Liz Walker, the MPOA Board, and MPOA’s management and legal team. And I look forward to once again working with MPOA for the betterment of the entire community.
More to come about how things look going forward.
Cordially,
Matthias Smith, VP and General Manager, Massanutten Resort
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