7.5 – MPOA Post Town Incorporation

An incorporated town of Massanutten could include many different variants in terms of town services, governmental make-up, and budgeting to include taxes. It could also include many different variants in the transfer or turning over of assets and functions from the Massanutten Property Owners Association (MPOA) to an incorporated town of Massanutten. If the Massanutten community were to incorporate into a town, this subsection provides a framework for how MPOA may look afterwards. It should be first recognized that, if Massanutten incorporates, the MPOA Board and the Massanutten Town Council must jointly determine what, when, and how any assets would be legally turned over or transferred. That is, the MPOA Board would have to vote to turn over or transfer assets and a Town Council would have to vote to accept them.

Subsection 7.3 of this report discussed five (5) possible alternative scenarios for services that could be provided, if Massanutten were to incorporate into a town. The amount of town provided services increased from alternative 1 (T1) to alternative 5 (T5). And, the number of professional town staff members also increased from T1 to T5. Conversely, the amount of MPOA provided services and the associated number of MPOA professional staff members would largely decrease from T1 to T5. This is because MPOA is essentially transferring responsibilities for services over to an incorporated town of Massanutten. With a reduced workload, the MPOA Board would have to decide what staff and duties are still needed with fewer responsibilities. Post incorporation staffing would be a major part of this post incorporation realignment.

Using the alternatives defined in Subsection 7.3 for an incorporated town of Massanutten, the following corresponding alternatives were developed for MPOA, each related to residual services it could provide, post incorporation. Please take notice that the abbrs related to services provided by MPOA are slightly different than the abbrs related to services provided by an incorporated town of Massanutten. Therefore, each MPOA alternative is designated with the letter «M» for «MPOA» followed by a distinct number.

M1 — Administrative Services (AS), Road Maintenance (RM), Law Enforcement (LE), & Recreation (REC)

This alternative is an incorporated town of Massanutten that just provides its citizens with the services of comprehensive planning and zoning, as required by the VA Code of Law. MPOA provides its members with similar existing services as provided in 2009 (less trash collection and recycling).

M2 — Admin Services (AS), Expanded Road Maintenance (ERM), Law Enforcement (LE), & Recreation (REC)

This alternative is an incorporated town of Massanutten that provides its citizens with the services of comprehensive planning and zoning along with limited maintenance services for roads already in the VDOT Secondary Road System (see Section IV for details) plus Massanutten Drive and Del Webb Drive. MPOA provides its members with similar exiting services as provided in 2009 (less trash collection and recycling) plus provides maintenance services for the few roads in an incorporated town of Massanutten. It was assumed that an incorporated town of Massanutten would contract MPOA for these maintenance services.

M3 — Administrative Services (AS), Law Enforcement (LE), and Recreation (REC)

This alternative is an incorporated town of Massanutten that provides its citizens with the services of comprehensive planning and zoning along with maintenance services for all qualifying town roads and maintenance services for all town parks, including those in Massanutten Village that are owned by MPOA. MPOA provides its members with administrative services, law enforcement, and the operation of the commercial ventures.

M4 — Administrative Services (AS) and Recreation (REC)

This alternative is an incorporated town of Massanutten that provides its citizens with the services of comprehensive planning and zoning along with maintenance services for all qualifying town roads and maintenance services for all town parks, including those in Massanutten Village that are owned by MPOA. Additionally, the town would also provide all town citizens with law enforcement services. MPOA only provides its members with administrative services and the operation of the commercial ventures.

M5 — Administrative Services (AS)

This alternative is an incorporated town of Massanutten that provides its citizens with the services of comprehensive planning and zoning along with maintenance services for all qualifying town roads and maintenance services for all town parks plus operations services for all town recreational facilities, including all those roads, parks, and facilities in Massanutten Village that are owned by MPOA. Additionally, the town would also provide all town citizens with law enforcement services. MPOA only provides its members with administrative services and the operation of its Timeshare Rental Program.

It should be noted that the last alternative (M5) has the least likelihood of ever becoming a reality. It was determined that the MPOA recreational facilities generate valuable net revenues that help defray MPOA administrative costs plus help offset the costs of operating MPOA amenities for exclusive free use by its members. These benefits likely outweigh any benefit of transfer to an incorporated town of Massanutten.

Using these defined MPOA alternatives, full staffing profiles were developed for MPOA, post town incorporation. These MPOA alternatives, shown in the table below, provide a framework of what MPOA might look like from a personnel staffing standpoint and allow associated budgeting to be evaluated in the next section using the same MPOA alternatives. In the table, the Roman Numerals indicate levels of experience/expertise needed for a given staffing position with «I» being the lowest level and «III» being the highest level. Parentheses represent additional responsibilities for a given level of expertise.

Levels of Staffing for Levels of Service for MPOA after Incorporation

* Roman Numerals shown in the Administration portion indicate levels of experience/expertise need for a given staffing position with «I» being the lowest level and «III» being the highest level.
** Parentheses represent additional responsibilities for a given level of expertise.

Please note that the MPOA Timeshare Rental Program, which is an MPOA commercial venture that helps defray the costs of MPOA essential services, was not considered as a viable service for an incorporated town of Massanutten. It was determined that this program would best remain with MPOA to continue generating net revenues to help defray administrative costs after any town incorporation. The Timeshare Rental Department was considered to be a separate cost center with staffing not shown in the table. Similarly, the MPOA Recreation Department was also considered to be a separate cost center with staffing also not shown in the table.

It is interesting to note that the staffing levels for MPOA, specifically for the Maintenance Department, actually increased from alternative M1 to alternative M2. This is because it was assumed that an incorporated town of Massanutten would contract for the limited maintenance services of town roads and that the contract would be given to MPOA. Thus, MPOA would begin to maintain the town roads which are currently in the VDOT Secondary Road System (primarily Routes 644, parts of 646, and part of 645 — see Section IV), along with all of the Massanutten Village roads they currently maintain.

While there may be a reduction in staff, if services were transferred over to an incorporated town of Massanutten, MPOA would still need to fulfill other specific obligations. Many of these obligations are delineated in the Covenants of the sixteen (16) residential subdivisions that make-up MPOA, which would survive the incorporation process. One such obligation is to maintain the architectural and ecological integrity of the Massanutten Village community. The implementation of associated standards is done by the MPOA Architectural Ecological & Control Committee (A&ECC). Another such obligation is that MPOA assures enforcement of its existing Rules & Regulations. This is done through the MPOA Rules Committee. It would be necessary for these two Committees to continue functioning even after any town incorporation, because the MPOA subdivision Covenants would still be binding on property owners. In addition to the Covenants, MPOA property owners also have By-Laws to which they must adhere. Should the properties currently within MPOA become part of an incorporated town of Massanutten, the MPOA By-Laws and associated Rules & Regulations would also still apply to these properties. It is very important to note that the MPOA Covenants, Bylaws, and Rules & Regulations would not apply to residential areas outside of the Massanutten Village.

In addition to the above two Committees, the Finance and Nominating Committees would still be needed for the smooth operation of MPOA, but may be the only other MPOA committees still necessary. Other existing MPOA committees, such as Social and Long Range Planning Committees, may not be needed, some may even be divisive. For example, would an MPOA Social Committee have separate social functions for only those who live in certain parts of the town? That would scarcely build harmony in the Massanutten community. The functions of the Long Range Planning Committee would probably be duplicated by similar town functions. Regardless, the MPOA Bylaws would need to be modified in order to change the status of any Committees.

In addition to having fewer Committees, it is possible that the MPOA Board may also shrink in size accordingly, since their overall responsibilities would also be reduced. If the MPOA road system and open spaces were to be transferred to an incorporated town of Massanutten, then participation on the MPOA Board by the Mountainside Villas Owners Association and Great Eastern Resorts representatives may not be warranted. Therefore, an MPOA Board of five to seven members may be all that is necessary. A streamlined MPOA Board may not only be more appropriate with fewer responsibilities, but may also operate much more efficiently.