Some Lake Forest residents are concerned that the Lake Forest Property Owners Association board members’ proposal to change covenant bylaws will raise dues and give the administration complete discretion as the association’s governing body.

A special meeting on the issue has been set for 7 p.m. Tuesday at the 19th Hole in Lake Forest.

“We just feel like this is totally the wrong time to raise dues,” resident Ed Kirby said, citing how the slumping economy has left many homeowners facing economic challenges.

Kirby, an ex-LFPOA president, and a former board member of six years, said he expects an increase in dues that would be used for operating costs such as LFPOA’s payroll and maintenance fees.

Former president Mitch Davis said the association in the past has relied on an optional, annual $50 assessment to cover these items; the one-time assessment would raise approximately $150,000. Property owners currently pay $35 per year in membership dues.

A fee increase, if it were proposed, may also go toward building up a reserve account — helpful during natural disasters and for potential legal fees — that the association desperately needs, according to association President Brian Frater.

From his column in September’s Lake Forester, the subdivision’s monthly newsletter, “The lack of a reserve account is the great Achilles heel of this association. A way must be found to provide one.”

“They’ve been fretting over the amount of money available to them the last couple of years,” Davis said of the board.

A Daphne Bulletin reporter e-mailed board members Frater, Marie Bidney, Clint Martin, Joseph Mosley, Travis Stone, Ray Sturch, Willie Robison and Sherrie Weller but none immediately replied with comment. Bidney and Sturch were contacted by phone but deferred comment to Frater and Jernudd, respectively; Frater, Martin and Robison did not answer phone call attempts and Moseley was reached, but did not immediately return several calls.

However, Lake Forest Yacht and Country Club General Manager Steve Jernudd said that he believes some residents are making premature conclusions about Tuesday’s meeting.

“There’s a lot of assuming going on here,” he said. “The change is to give the power back to the board.” He said he does not expect dues to be raised as a result of next week’s meeting.

“There is a meeting to discuss 2-4 (the bylaw that could be amended), but there might not even be a motion made,” Jernudd said.  

Still, Davis said he believes the board expects the general membership to vote any dues-increase down. The only way the board can raise dues, under current bylaws, is with membership approval. Therefore, by changing the bylaws, Davis believes, board members can increase dues without the membership’s consent.

“The bylaws currently state that dues can be changed by membership,” he said. “That’s the problem. The members will not vote to raise dues. The board is trying to change the bylaws in order to raise dues.”

In 2003, Purcell Corp. sold 325 acres and 715 undeveloped lots to Friday Construction.

According to covenant bylaws, if a corporation owns more than one lot, an individual will serve as the member’s voting representative.

Friday’s more than 700 lots translate into 1,300 votes — or one-fourth of the possible 4,500 votes ; essentially, one person has the potential to affect 25 percent of Tuesday’s vote.