The Invoice Letter received by SSSFHOA residents from the Board.

Residential owners in Silver Springs are preparing the dissolution of the Master Association.  The Articles of Incorporation of the Silver Springs Master Homeowner’s Association provide for this action: Article X: DISSOLUTION

 

“Upon the dissolution of the corporation, the Board of Trustees, after paying or making provision for the payment of all liabilities of the corporation, shall dispose of all the assets of the corporation in accordance with the laws of the State of Utah, and the appropriate provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.” https://www.silverspringscommunity.com/master-association/ma-docs-index/

 

The MHOA was established with one responsibility: the Common Area properties.  The Developer-Homeowner Agreement, written for the benefit of the developer, signed by six of the seven named subdivisions, dated October 1989 states: “And whereas, it was intended by the original developer of the Subdivision and was provided certain of the initial master planning documents that a master homeowners association would be formed for the purpose of representing all property owners [for developer ease of communicating and assessing the property owners] within the Subdivision with respect to maintenance, improvement and administration of Subdivision common areas:

 

The Master Association is responsible for these Common Areas: the 2.01 acre Park south of the lake; the .67 acre portion with one Tennis Court (the second Tennis Court belongs to Meadow Spring and Meadow Wild as shown on the Section map).  There are other miscellaneous parcels owned by the MHOA, and also undesignated, undeveloped parcels, within the Silver Springs Community that are listed at https://www.silverspringscommunity.com/master-association/ma-common-area-parcels/

 

In 2004, the then president of the MHOA signed a Lakes Conveyance Agreement transferring the maintenance and liability of the Little Lake and the Big Lake from Mountain Regional to the MHOA.  This was done without notification, approval, or a vote of the General Association Members.  Klinefelder Engineering and Cross Marine had given Summit County’s Mountain Regional Water an assessment of the extent of work necessary to take these bodies of water up to State standards.  Rather than doing the necessary work Mountain Regional off-loaded their problems to the SSMHOA along with $32,000 to clear their conscience.  In 2005-2006 the Large Lake was drained, the “dam”, which is actually the entire north bank of the lake from NorthShore Lot 1 to Lot 12, and now the private property of those homeowners, was reinforced at a cost of $145,000.  Though only 29 homeowners around the “lake view” area benefited from this work, the remaining 475 homeowners paid the brunt of this expenditure.  Each year the lakes take the majority of assessments collected either for facility repair, chemicals to control milfoil and other vegetation, liability insurance, etc.

 

In 2008 the MHOA board discussed that they had accumulated $80,000 and by the end of the year would have accumulated $120,000 for the work necessary on the “dam” along the north bank of the Little Lake SouthShore Lots 1 through 11.  At the February 9, 2010 MHOA meeting, the board members did not account for these funds, yet they proposed a 2010 Budget that would include additional funds for repair of the Little Lake “dam” raising the MHOA assessment by over 200%.  See aerial photo indicating the locations of these “dams” at:  https://www.silverspringscommunity.com/lakes-in-silver-springs/

 

 

On this same meeting it was discussed that not only did the exclusive “Private Enjoyment Easement” preclude any association member from access to the Little Lake, but it also precluded access to the Large Lake as the NorthShore side lake view owners had successfully petitioned so that their property lines were extended to the water line.  You can read the 1989 Agreement at: https://www.silverspringscommunity.com/wp-content/uploads/1989private-enjoy-easementagree-exh.pdf

 

The result is that 29 Large Lake view owners and 25 Little Lake view owners have exclusive access and benefit of the 1980 man-made ponds a.k.a. lakes.  The original 1980 Enjoyment Easement around the perimeter of the Large lake and the access parcels for General Member use have been absorbed by the contiguous lake view lots.  Before the existence of the MHOA and the Conveyance Agreement, the Silver Springs Water Company and the Silver Springs Single Family HOA administered the functions and use of the ponds/lakes with around $75 per year annual dues.  There has not been a MHOA audit since 1990, and little disclosure has been provided to inquirers.  See MHOA’s meager Budgets disclosures at: https://www.silverspringscommunity.com/master-association/budget-master-association/

 

At the February 9, 2010 MHOA meeting, which many of the 54 lake view owners attended, there were several non-lake view resident owners who discussed the inequity of this situation and how the MHOA board with their 200%+ lake assessment increase was creating “an elephant from a fly.”  The HOA letter received today by the Members shows that Silver Springs 2010 assessments of $462 per household is two times to 4½ times what our neighbors pay.

 

The MHOA dissolution proposals included these comments:  The Little Lake and the South Berm should be deeded to SouthShore.  The one Tennis Court should be deeded to Meadow Spring and Meadow Wild to join the other Tennis Court they already own and that are situated side by side.

The Large Lake should be drained, again, and its 20.84 acres should be converted into a Park contiguous not only to the existing 2.01 acre Park but also to Parcel R (the north berm parcel containing 5.21 acres) to develop a Community Park and playing fields that all residents can enjoy.  This would eliminate the concern by NorthShore residents below the lake and built in its “inundation flood plain” from much worried flooding damage and liability.  

 

The dissolution of the MHOA would eliminate the $357 annual assessment (which we were told would continue to increase as lake conditions are expected to continually degrade despite the lake committee’s best efforts). 

 

Dissolution would eliminate a nonessential layer of governance that has been dysfunctional from the onset.  The MHOA documents are a conundrum of conflicts and whereases and pages of “this agreement has not clarified this, that, and the other provisions….” There are various versions of some documents. One document was signed only by the developers, one document was signed only by one HOA president, etc. The MHOA has spent thousands of dollars on legal advice. The MHOA board rarely follows the MHOA documents, whether they are in conflict or understandable.  Not all the board trustees are qualified to be on the board, and meeting guests are allowed to make motions and vote.  Trustee attendance is sketchy.  It is time to clear the board and dispense with the manager.  Dissolve the Master Association and allow the subdivisions to again manage the parcels within their boundaries or contiguous to them.  Three subdivisions have already resigned their membership and participation on the MHOA board, others may soon follow.

 

Petitions for dissolution of the MHOA will be distributed in your neighborhood.  The MHOA board does not have the last say on the abolishment of this dysfunctional “corporation”, the power is with the majority of the “Residential Unit Owners”, a.k.a. the General Association Members, “to amend, alter, change, or repeal” the MHOA plaguing the Silver Springs Community residents.

 

If you would like to assist us in this matter write to [email protected]

Your comments and input are important.

 

For more Silver Springs and MHOA information that does not cover up the facts and provides maps, minutes, budgets, etc. visit: www.silverspringscommunity.com