THE STORY

The Story: A work of creative nonfiction. The CMP is off and running. Our $500,000 dollar plan is set to guide Hot Springs Village over the next 20 years. Started by Twiggs, our last manager, and completed by our present CEO with the hiring of Crafton Tull & DPZ, the plan has been approved by the Board of Directors and has started to be implemented. Reasons this is a bad idea:

1.      We have been turned into a corporation rather than a community. This has numerous problems, the biggest being the CEO is now in charge rather than an elected board.

2.      The CMP has us building communities within a community. Developers will be hired to build mini-communities within our borders, identified in the plan as “Town Centers.”  The first is scheduled for the Woodland Auditorium area. Five or so others are also in the plan. These centers will include housing, and numerous proposed retail outlets, along with theaters, eating establishments, and other popular amenities.

3.      These centers are stated to need 400 customers per day, milling around, hopefully spending some money. Most of these proposed customers will come from 20, 30, and 40 year old people we will be inviting to live here. That’s in this Village, with a median age of 65. And I’m pretty sure I’m going to win the mega-lotto tomorrow.

4.      All this will take money to do. And lots of it. It is estimated, using the figures in the CMP, that even if the plan is executed perfectly, there will be a $3-5 million dollar shortage each of the 20 years. Let me put it this way: I wouldn’t buy stock in this, although I suppose I already have. I’m a property owner, and it will be us footing the bill.