A Sea Of Red

http://wset.com/news/local/liberty-univ ... homeowners

I'm sure this will help the university's reputation as a good neighbor. Where's that PR dept again?

I put this initially at the feet of the developers. How is there no HOA to deal with this? My parents have a condo at a 'lake' (glorified pond) similar to this. They have yearly HOA dues that go to cover maintenance costs. They also have a place at a real live lake where they habe taxes and a special fee that go to DNR to help maintain it. How did this not happen at IVY? If you don't want the Lake, why did you move there?
On the other hand, if LU has more money than they know what to do with, what's a million dollars in the grand scheme of things? Then at that point they can be a good neighbor and basically 'own' the lake they were given.

Yeah, I agree. I'm not sure why this wasn't all sorted when that area was developed.

I'm not sure what terms LU put forth but it's obvious that they weren't acceptable to a great many of the homeowners.

133 of 411 are ok with it. Lots of questions:
What can you do on this 'lake'? Swim? Fish? Non motorized boat? Is there a beach?
If you don't benefit from the lake why should you care? There doesn't appear to be any walking/biking trail around the lake. So why would someone with no benefit care what happens or be responsible?
Why shouldn't the people with land directly next to the lake or good views of the lake pay for it?
What were some of the options offered? A good 'compromise' would be LU to pay for the repairs to bring it up to speed. Then put in an HOA or make it an addendum to any new purchase or refinance. Maybe even go 50/50 on trails and a park? Make the current residence feel they are getting something out of the deal?

I dunno. It does look bad for sure. Especially in light of all the money being thrown around the Campus. But to not have something in place when it was developed is just negligent

Some of the owners over in Ivy Hill are wackos, but leave it to leadership at Liberty to really make this thing go south. For being so good with assets, someone at Liberty who handles large land donations really screwed all parties with the exception of the guys who got the tax write-off. With the way the last year has gone I'm really beginning to think that we give to much credit to the Adminstration for their "wisdom."

Liberty constantly undergoing construction on campus that nearly all probably easily costs more than a million dollars but they have to sue residents to cover the cost of the dam? What a dick move.

Yeah, it's a real dick move to go halfsies with the actual people who live on the lake. Don't be stupid.

I have been hard on liberty here lately but I don't really get why people wouldn't want it to be maintained. Wouldn't it hell their property values that they are complaining liberty is killing?

thepostman wrote:I have been hard on liberty here lately but I don't really get why people wouldn't want it to be maintained. Wouldn't it hell their property values that they are complaining liberty is killing?

This is why you are valued member of
There are a lot of questions still out there. On one hand, knowing Lynchburg and the JF types, they feel since it is not 'their' lake it's not their responsibility. On the other they are not thinking long term about property value. OR they are thinking they can sue LU if the lake cause their homes any damages.

thepostman wrote:I have been hard on liberty here lately but I don't really get why people wouldn't want it to be maintained. Wouldn't it hell their property values that they are complaining liberty is killing?

I think that the suggestion that Liberty or the lake is harming their property values is suspect, at best. One man said that his 400000 property was now only worth 300000... BS

rogers3 wrote:

thepostman wrote:I have been hard on liberty here lately but I don't really get why people wouldn't want it to be maintained. Wouldn't it hell their property values that they are complaining liberty is killing?

I think that the suggestion that Liberty or the lake is harming their property values is suspect, at best. One man said that his 400000 property was now only worth 300000... BS

I saw that and thought the same thing. Unless he bought it in like 06 at the height of the housing bubble
What will hurt the property value down the line, I think, is if it doesn't get fixed. But yeah, no way it whacked 25% off someone's home value at this point

Yeah there are a lot of questions. It's just, once again, not a good look for the university in my opinion. There have to be better ways to reach an agreement. And to be honest, if that many of the residents don't want to do business with you, maybe just cut the lake loose. Let it be someone else's problem.

I'd also be interested to know how they chose which owners to take action against. Is it all homes with property bordering the lake? Is it homes that have construction such as a dock at the lake? Would some sort of usage fee help mitigate Liberty's concerns? I'm just honestly surprised nothing was sorted out when those homes were built.

rogers3 wrote:

thepostman wrote:I have been hard on liberty here lately but I don't really get why people wouldn't want it to be maintained. Wouldn't it hell their property values that they are complaining liberty is killing?

I think that the suggestion that Liberty or the lake is harming their property values is suspect, at best. One man said that his 400000 property was now only worth 300000... BS

The only thing I could see impacting price at this time is the pending litigation. That hanging over a property could definitely impact the price. I believe LU has threatened to drain the lake. At least I thought I read that awhile back.

The state has said they will drain it if nothing is done.

We can spend $40 million on TV advertising but can't spring $1 million to take care of property we own. Welcome to the new Liberty Way!

Those things don't have anything to do with each other.

Personally I think it would have been the wiser thing to just let it go. Let the residents take it over or let the state drain it. I dont even see what purpose it has to LU. I think it's fair to expect the residents to share the expense but it wasn't worth having to sue them. It's a legal way to get things done but it has an ugly sound.

Who would want ownership of the lake and financial responsibilities that come with us? We are stuck with a lemon and walking away really isn't an option.

I'm really not sure what LU is expecting here. LU owns the entirety of the lake, including the dam. Just because the homeowners are impacted by the quality of the lake doesn't mean they should legally be required to share the cost in maintaining the lake.

As far as I know, LU acquired the lake via a donation, meaning it cost them nothing. They made some land improvements to the lake such as building a retaining wall and laying sand in to create a beach. I believe they also held practices for the crew club team out there so there is some sort of storage shed. Beyond that, the university gains nothing by having control of this asset and are merely creating a headache for the homeowners whom are impacted by the university's decision to not pay the full cost for repairing the dam. The fair thing to do in my opinion is to have Ivy Lake homeowners create an HOA and pay LU the price it cost for the land improvements around the lake. Then the ownership of the lake can be transferred to the HOA so that they can deal with the state in suring up the dam so that the water level can be restored. LU gets away with less damage to it's name and relinquishes itself of a future liability/safety hazard.

http://wset.com/archive/paying-for-need ... -in-forest

"This week, lake residents and Liberty got a reply from Richmond that said that someone needs to pay to fix the dam. If not, the state will drain Ivy Lake."

Easy decision

LUconn wrote:http://wset.com/archive/paying-for-need ... -in-forest

"This week, lake residents and Liberty got a reply from Richmond that said that someone needs to pay to fix the dam. If not, the state will drain Ivy Lake."

Easy decision

That was 3 years ago.

Right. But it's still the problem. That's what we're talking about.

David Correy, LU General Counsel, was on the radio this morning and clarified some of the ongoing items related to this issue, including why it is that they are suing ~450 property owners in and around Ivy Lake.

According to David, it was always a part of the plan to sue the property owners as a part of the process to transfer the rights of the lake over to a new HOA. The reason why is that apparently the property owners are split, with some of them wanting to keep the situation status quo (ie. not wanting to take ownership of the lake) and the others wanting to move forward. Apparently, LU has offered an interest free, 20 yr loan for the cost of repairs to the dam to the new HOA. The amount each property would be responsible for depends on the outcome of a property assessor whom will consider the "benefit" that the property gains from their location on the lake.

If this is the whole truth, it would seem to be a pretty fair shake for the property owners. Apparently, it's possible that some could pay ~$700 annually to cover their property's portion of the lake. You can see why some of them might be against taking ownership, because as they see it right now, they are basically getting a free ride.

Well don't some of you feel like jerks.

LUconn wrote:Well don't some of you feel like jerks.

Why? Because I said there were a lot of questions that still needed answering?
Because I said this should have been a part of an HOA when the development was planned?
That this was a horrible job of PR management by LU?

How can LU do a bad job of PR management when they have no PR management?