Vandalism is not a pleasant topic, but sadly one we periodically have to deal with within our community. As members of this Association, the buck stops with you, so you might want to be aware of how some of your money is being spent and why.

Our recent renovations of our lower recreation hall were performed with care and at considerable cost, including the many pieces of enticing entertainment pieces like a ping pong table and a basketball backboard and nets. Pictures of these rooms and equipment are adorning our Amenities pages.

Sadly, sometime during the labour day weekend 2023, the ping pong mallets were damaged beyond usefulness, and the two basketball backboards were smashed. Clearly this is not the work of a small child, but instead someone with destructive force.

The cost of vandalism hits us all. Not only are the amenities not available as damage is replaced, but often the subsequent repaired amenity is offered under more restrictive usage conditions, including a loss in privacy as surveillance is added and improved. The repairs themselves and costs of surveillance equipment show up within our annual maintenance fees. The renovation of the Lower Rec Hall rooms was just under $83,000, which is $264 per site. To not repair damage leads to an overall lowering in the value of the park and each and everyone’s sites, as nobody wants to move into that sort of environment. At 314 sites, the easy part to calculate is for each $3000 in damage costs, every site is paying $10 in repairs. Multiply it out and you quickly see that our lower recreation room is currently $300 from each of you that you currently can’t use. What is the value of the lost functionality you chipped in to pay for? What is the decreased value in our park, and your site, if these repairs aren’t addressed? How happy do you feel about additional fees for added security to protect these park assets from the very few.

There is no easy answer and of course these facilities will get upgraded video surveillance and surveillance storage at additional costs to the membership. When vandals are identified, the associated member will be responsible for the repair costs of the damages, though the increased security infrastructure costs will probably sit on us all.