New user fee for next year ?

[DebbyA]

My husband and I have been owners in River Ridge for 20 years started in leisure and now we’re in adventure the dues were $250 per lot $60 user fee on water then there was a $250 user a fee added for the electrical upgrades for five years Five years later it was increased to $400 to complete the electrical upgrades and now that user fee has ended and we haven’t received any information from from River Ridge board for exactly what the fee should be the board would need to run the place and fix problems we have why can’t we just leave it where it’s at $710 per lot and start replacing the sewer and water lines one village at a time just like we did the with electrical upgrades. We cannot do everything at once A1&2

[TLMilligan]

We had two open meetings with Property Owners to ensure we received input from Property Owners before we discussed this issue. Thanks for your input, the BOD will now begin discussing an increase.

[DebbyA]

I hope that the board of directors take into consideration that there are retired and other people living in River Ridge that are on a fixed income and there also are young families and retired folks that come in just for the weekend many of them are on fixed budgets and have a hard time just making ends meet these days I hope that you take that into consideration when you consider increasing the user fees higher than they are now. John Absher A1 A2

[TLMilligan]

The BOD are aware of these situations. We held two meetings to obtain input from Property Owners. All information will be discussed and agreed upon before any recommendations are made. Thanks

[breezesocks]

I can promise you one thing.  Regardless of what fees the Board of Directors determine we will pay next year, there will be moaning, groaning, complaining and griping.  Everyone wants to have clean water with adequate pressure, electricity that does not drop when the temperatures hits 100 degrees, toilets that will flush, paved roads, remodeled bath houses, a clean pool, a working boat ramp, updated boat docks with lights and cameras, a Park Manager and security AND no one wants to pay for it.  We have all reached a reality point and it is time to wake up and realize that River Ridge is not the Federal Government.  Everything is not free!  If you want these things, it is going to cost you.

I have heard these arguments for years that we have retired people, disabled people, young people, drug addicts, poor people who cannot afford to pay fees any higher.  Well, I am sure many of you would be surprised to find out that River Ridge was never created and built to be a place to house retired people, disabled people, young people, drug addicts, and poor people. With the exception of the mobile home villages, it was designed and built to be a place for WEEKEND camping.  I know, I have owned a lot in River Ridge since 1971 and I still have the original covenants which were ignored through the years by former Board of Directors thus creating the mess we have today.  

Throughout the years, I have researched the cost of leasing a space for a travel trailer from Myrtle Beach to the mountains of NC to the mountains of Virginia and all around Lake Gaston.  If you will perform similar research, you will find that people are paying $4000-$7500 a year for the privilege of parking their travel trailer in a campground for a year.  Many of these campgrounds are not even open for twelve months like River Ridge is.  And I have heard the argument that "we own our lots" and River Ridge does not have to cut our grass or rake our leaves (from the looks of some sites, River Ridge needs to start doing so and billing the owner).  To these people I say research buying a lot in one of the travel trailer resorts in NC or Virginia.  There are many to choose from and you are going to paying from $35000 to $65000 for a lot PLUS yearly annual maintenance of $1500-$2500.

In short, River Ridge has been the "best deal around" for many years but it cannot continue to operate on this mindset. The cost of everything is going up and unless River Ridge has the revenue to maintain and upgrade, everything will just go downhill and everyone's property will become useless.  Personally, I would like to see River Ridge hire a full time Park Manager, hire off duty police officers with arrest powers to work on the weekends from Memorial Day to Labor day, pave the roads, sell the existing bath houses and build 3-4 centrally located new bath houses, build a laundry and I do not care what all this will cost.  I want River Ridge to be much nicer, cleaner, saver than it is and I am willing to pay for it.

It is way past time to return River Ridge to a true "Golf and Camping" resort, not a low income housing project full of problems.

[George Powell]

Be careful what you wish for ,your dues increase will send the poor people out ,cut half the retired people,and then just cut the remaining people down by a big chunk ,so in the end you have 500 people paying 10 times the dues with less income than you had before !! They do need an increase but don't act and think because We Are The Board We Can Do As We Please ,It's Not Going To Fly !! This is a process that needs to happen over say a 3 year period and a Real Plan Not Just Because We Want This Now And We The Board Said It Is Going To Happen!!Be Careful What You Wish For !!! George Powell

[Sponsored content]