2 THE CHARBONNEAU VILLAGER March 2021
CCC President ’ s Column
By GARY NEWBORE
Looking back on Gene Tish ’ s contributions
“ His brain power , legal background and innovative ideas will be sorely missed !”
— Gary Newbore
These columns are due to the paper early in the month prior to the month they come out in the Villager so
NEWBORE they are not always current as significant events sometime occur between the submission and when you read them . Such is the case in this instance .
As I write this article Gene Tish is our Charbonneau Country Club ( CCC ) Board of Directors president , but has announced that he will be stepping down from the board . As you read this , however , Gene ’ s retirement has probably already happened . Under our bylaws , if the president is absent or is unable to serve , the vice president assumes the president ’ s duties , not the title or position , but the duties . At some future date the board will need to elect a new president . The board could elect to do it at their next meeting or could choose to wait until the annual meeting the third week in May when officers are elected for the ensuing year at a special meeting right after the annual meeting .
This column will primarily be about Gene Tish . He accomplished more in his 17 months on the board than most of us , past and present , accomplish in one or two three-year terms . Along with the golf course board , Joe Brouillette and Kathy Harp , he was one of the architects behind the golf course merger . Without Gene ’ s legal mind and push , I doubt that it would have happened . It has been tried several times in the past without success . Why was the merger important ? Unknown to many , the deed restriction that required it to remain a golf course expired in May 2020 . After that time the private corporation , which owns the golf course could have done anything to it : sold it to an out-of-state corporation with no stake in the welfare of Charbonneau residents , or just let it turn into a weed patch . Now that can ’ t happen . Whether you are a golfer or not , live on the course or not , the beauty of the course enriches all of our lives . While the CCC does not own the course , we are the single shareholder of the private corporation which does own the course .
So , what other benefits have or will be coming out of this arrangement ? I have already seen a thawing in the sometimes we-versus-they relationship between the golf course and CCC residents . And thanks to the CGCI Board and Jim Gibbons , the mergerrequired liaison between the two boards , the golf course is making a concerted effort to provide activities for residents who don ’ t golf . This winter they opened the Red Course to walking and that has been well-received and used by many of our residents . They have other ideas as well for community participation which , unfortunately , are on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic .
But I digress . Another huge accomplishment that Gene led was getting the Capital Improvement Fund funded . Yes , it hurt us all in the pocketbook , but just as one needs to paint their house or replace a roof now and then to keep their house from deteriorating and retain its value , the same is true for our common facilities in Charbonneau . We must invest in modernizing to keep our common facilities from deteriorating and keep this a desirable place to live and to retain our property values . And make no mistake about it , our facilities have been deteriorating . For an example , just examine the cover over the walkway in front of the clubhouse and you can see that after 40 years it is full of dry rot .
We are also working to “ clean ” up our bylaws by getting rid of the Willamette Factors ( Charbonneau ’ s developer ) references that are out of date and no longer apply . We are bringing the bylaws into the 21st century by adding electronic correspondence language and revising other confusing language . Gene ’ s legal background and support have once again played a pivotal role in these revisions . We hope to have these revisions out to our residents before the annual meeting .
Another significant contribution will show up in our new restaurant . With Gene ’ s background in the hotel and restaurant industry , he has contributed numerous ideas to the restaurant planning process . Most of you won ’ t ever know what they are , but those of us on the Clubhouse Development Committee and the Village Center Development Task Force do and we appreciate his significant input . Another legacy he leaves behind .
Lastly , I wish to acknowledge his involvement in getting our loan for the new Activity Center . We have had many challenges getting the loan wording right so that it would comply with our bylaws . Our attorney and attorneys for the bank have gone back and forth trying to get language that is acceptable to both parties . Once again Gene ’ s legal mind inserted itself into the process and enabled us to achieve documents that we could sign ! We expect to break ground in March so residents will finally be able to visually see physical progress .
The board will be losing its most valuable and influential member in my opinion ! His brain power , legal background and innovative ideas will be sorely missed ! Thank you for your service Gene . Now it ’ s time to go catch the big one !
J . Brian Monihan Publisher bmonihan @ pamplinmedia . com
Clara Howell Villager Editor chowell @ pamplinmedia . com
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