TRPOA - SP Steering Com

Strategic Planning Steering Committee Report

by T. J. Ramey, Chair

The SPSC has remained virtually inactive during the past year due to the ongoing lawsuit. However, I would like to make the property owners aware of the status of several projects that have had some activity since 2005. Any activity concerning road maintenance will be reported by the Road Issue Task Force.

The Strategic Plan in 2005 called for an electrical upgrade with an estimated cost of $13,300.00. As of December 31, 2007, approximately $5,787.00 has been applied to the partial completion of the project.

We had an estimated cost for renew cabana/patio covers project of $1500.00, of which $470.00 has been applied as of December 31, 2007.

A project to replace cabin porches at an estimated cost of $61,600.00 was approved in 2005. To date, $3,900.00 of that estimate has been spent on repair to porches needing immediate attention.

A project for replacement of carpet in cabins where needed was estimated at a cost of $8,000.00. Total spent on this project as of December 31, 2007 is $1,600.00.

I hope that during 2008 we will be able to resume working on projects previously approved by the Board of Directors. However, this will depend on the outcome of the current lawsuit.

SPSC Road Issue Task Force – January, 2008 -- by Tom Durham, Chair

As with October’s report, there has been very little activity in communication with this task force. The primary reason being the uncertainty created by the on-going legal action as it affects Policy and Operational issues related to finances, as well as the holidays, which always have a tendency to divert one’s energies. With the proposed settlement of the legal issues at hand, hopefully we can get back to our required tasks. Mapping of the problem areas is still progressing. It is certainly my intent to revitalize this task force in the coming year for the future benefit of all property owners.

STRATEGIC PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE REPORT—APRIL, 2007

by T. J. Ramey, Chair

The original Strategic Plan provided a roadmap to help the committee make both short and long-term decisions regarding the future of Terlingua Ranch operations over the next three to five years. Overall, the plan focused on four areas…

Financial strategies to ensure POATRI operates in a cost-effective and fiscally responsible manner.
Road Rehabilitation programs to better serve the ownership by improving the quality of our roads and reduce labor and expenses and excessive road repairs.
Marketing and Resort strategies to provide high-quality recreational facilities and services to increase revenues to supplement ownership income for the association.
Management/Organization/Communications evaluations to improve communications with property owners and contacts with surrounding government, develop staff to high-level of customer care and quality service, and support management with effective policies and procedures.

It is the committee’s responsibility to focus their efforts in the above four named areas, whereby the overall achievement of our Mission Statement can be realized. However, we are VERY limited on what projects we can recommend to the board this year. This is due primarily to a severe budget deficit associated with the current lawsuit. This no doubt will necessitate the board making very painful decisions regarding the revamping of the current budget and will severely limit any short-term projects involving the Strategic Plan.

Therefore, I would like to concentrate our efforts on finding ways to make improvements in each of the four areas mentioned above. In the Financial strategies area, we need to look at ways to help the corporation reduce costs in light of our current budget problem. Of course, with Tom Durham’s help, we will continue to look at ways of improving our road system that is within the scope of our current budget. In the Marketing and Resort area, we need to analyze what we have now, and do some brainstorming to see if there are any low cost improvements that will enhance the quality of our owners stay while visiting the ranch. Lastly, we need to be ever aware of our customer’s suggestions and concerns.

I want to thank each POATRI member who has agreed to serve on the SPSC this year. It will be a new commitment for all of us, but I am sure it will be an enjoyable one. Your service to POATRI will help make Terlingua Ranch a better place for all our property owners to enjoy. Last, but not least, let me make you aware of SPSC’s own special email address, spsc@poatri.org. This is our Steering Committees web site for communicating with property owners.

2007 SPSC Members

T. J. Ramey, Chair

Tom Durham

Alicia Gill

John Cataldi

Tom Gilbert

Alida Lorio

For the Quarter ended December 31, 2006

The SPSC is pleased to report on three topics for this quarter:

Summary and actions taken on Strategic Plan suggestions received through the SP Input Process.
Delivery of a one page summary of our Strategic Plan.
Delivery of a report on our current and future road maintenance requirements.

Property Owner Input Process

We received three suggestions from property owners during this quarter. The suggestions were more operational in nature and were resolved as follows:

1. The first suggestion was to use lighting fixtures around the resort that are friendly to star gazing, minimizing the impact on the night sky. This suggestion was especially helpful as the property owner did the research and provided information on the fixtures and where to acquire them, and it was forwarded to Operation and will be implemented.

2/ The second suggestion was for the ranch to implement the use of credit cards and Paypal as a way to help and encourage property owners to pay assessment fees. We think this is an excellent idea since ranch operations has accepted credit and debit card payments for the past few years and certainly plans to continue this service.

3/ The third suggestion was to do a trial of adding a dorm frig, microwave, coffee maker, and TV with satellite, to four of the cabins, and rented them at a higher rate. This suggestion also included adding WIFI service in the lodge area for those that need communication to the outside world.

There are a couple of considerations in the response to this suggestion:

These services would require a very expensive upgrade to the electrical service to the rooms. This would be a major investment decision for POATRI and there would have to be a plan to show how the ranch would fund this project and recover its investment.
Adding amenities to the resort has been considered many times over the years and the last review was a year ago. This review again confirmed the strategy of providing only the existing services which are consistent with 1/ the culture and environment that is characteristic of the Ranch, 2/ the types of low impact property owners and customers that the Ranch wants to attract, and 3/ the budget.

We responded to the property owner that we could not make a recommendation to the Board to pursue this suggestion at this time, but that if the idea of adding amenities was part of a larger concept which was perhaps different than what is in our Strategic Plan, and if there was more information about how to market the resort and recover the investment, then we encourage further input and certainly consider any new suggestions.

POATRI Strategic Plan – a One Page Summary

The SPSC took on the challenge this last quarter of producing a one page summary of our Strategic Plan so that we could publish it in the newsletter and all property owners would receive a copy and understand what our Strategic Plan is and how it works.

We have copies of the one page plan here today and we encourage you to take one with you, read it, and give us your feedback. We will publish this in the next newsletter and post it to the web site. We hope this will enable all property owners to understand the Strategic Plan and encourage them to participate through the Input Process.

Road Maintenance Report

An issue was raised through the Strategic Plan Input Process asking how the ranch was going to handle the future growth of road maintenance.

The SPSC agreed to provide a preliminary study to the Board to help them determine if the road maintenance issue should be addressed further. We are please to submit this report to the Board and hope that it is enough information to determine how best to proceed.
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Expanded Property Owner Input Process to Strategic Plan

The Strategic Plan Steering Committee is pleased to announce a new property owner Input Process for the POATRI Strategic Plan. Through email and sending letters, all property owners can make suggestions regarding the future direction of the ranch.

Having a Strategic Plan is a new process for the ranch. It has been in place for less than a year, but it has already provided a common set of values and direction that influence all ranch activities from our road maintenance program to our new Communications Policy and the new board candidate application questionnaire. We encourage your contribution of constructive suggestions with regard to the long term strategic direction of the ranch. A brief overview of the Input Process is as follows:

Email your strategic suggestions to SPSC@poatri.org or mail them to the ranch office, SPSC, c/o POATRI, P.O. Box 638, Terlingua, TX 79852.
The SPSC will send you an acknowledgement, evaluate all suggestions and make appropriate recommendations for changes and additions to the Board.
The SPSC will prepare a quarterly report of the suggestions made and actions taken and make this available on the web site and in the newsletter.

The full Strategic Plan is posted at the Strategic Plan link below, along with various update reports from the General Manager and the Steering Committee regarding SP progress.