Whaleshead Cabin Owners' Page

(updated 1/4/24)


 PLEASE NOTE:

This website began in 2015 when Andrew Cramer took over ownership of Whaleshead.  The website became stagnant in 2017 after a lot of issues were resolved and the need for the website diminished.  But on November 1, 2023, Flintstone Properties became the new owners of Whaleshead and new issues have come up that need to be addressed.

The purpose of this website is for allowing all Whaleshead cabin owners to communicate their thoughts to other owners.  As host of this website, I will post any communications from any owner as long as they are polite and respectful.  Email me at ray@kawal.net with your attachment and I'll post it as soon as I can so others can read it.

I understand that there also may be a Facebook page regarding Whaleshead issues, but a lot of folks (like me) don't do Facebook.  This website is not meant to compete with any Facebook posts, but it is available to all Whaleshead cabin owners. 

If you would like to skip all of the previous conversation between 2015 and 2017, please click HERE.


Introduction

The owners of cabins at Whaleshead are a diverse group, but we all share common interests.  We all bought our cabins for different reasons:  either we wanted to live full time and enjoy the beautiful Brookings area, or we wanted a vacation home on the fabulous Oregon coast for our friends and family, or we wanted a cabin to provide some income through the Whaleshead rental program.  When we bought our cabins, Whaleshead Beach Resort seemed the perfect place to allow us to meet our goals.

As the years passed, we have seen some problems develop.  The owners of Whaleshead had financial issues, which appeared to force them into taking partners for financial backing.  Infrastructure began to deteriorate, and communication between Whaleshead management and the cabin owners was mediocre at best.  But cabin owners persevered, and as long as management stuck to the original agreements we all signed, we all hoped things would change for the better and we lived contentedly. 

But that changed in June, when the new ownership of Whaleshead decided to begin arbitrary new fees in direct conflict with previous lease and rental pool agreements.  All cabin owners are now worried about what might come next, and we wonder whether Whaleshead continues to be the place we want to be.  Because there has essentially been no positive communication between the new park ownership and the cabin owners, we need a means of communicating more effectively.  This web page will allow us to post our concerns and ideas, as well as pertinent documents that affect us all.

As you'll note from the documents and emails below, we met with Andrew Cramer, the General Manager, and tried to convince him that cabin owners want Whaleshead Resort to succeed.  We would like to work with him and be supportive of future Whaleshead projects.  I believe we got his attention, but so far we have not seen positive results.

I'll try to maintain this site as time permits, although my wife, Elna, and I travel a lot and we have kids and grandkids and other hobbies that take up our time.  Please email me anytime at ray@kawal.net and I'll post your emails if you indicate that I should share them.

We wish you all the best,

Ray and Elna Kawal
Owners of cabin U-4



PREVIOUS SALES BROCHURES

(courtesy of cabin owner Bill Morrish)

                                                         


*** This website is in chronological order.  Please scroll to the end for the latest information.  ***


This is the June 25, 2015 letter that started our need for better communication among cabin owners:

We received this letter on July 19th, and met with Mr. Cramer on July 22nd.  Click HERE for my response after our meeting.


7/25/15 Text of email from Marianne Werner, cabins U-9 and B-16:

Hello Ray, I've been out and about knocking on doors and chatting with folks. Bottom line: almost no one is happy with the services they've had over the long haul and recently. They are also distressed about the non-occupancy fee...plus the cleaning fee going up to $100. Everyone I met is full-time, and all but one person supports what we are doing. I think your idea of sending out an email to the names we have and requesting that they find some more names is a good one.

7/27/15  Text of email from Marianne Werner:

I just spoke with a friend in San Diego who is an experienced Real Estate lawyer. This is what he told me:
New owner steps into shoes of previous owner...is obligated just as he was. He has no greater rights than owner he purchased from.
IF A NON-OCCUPANCY FEE IS NOT IN THE LEASE AGREEMENT, HE CANNOT ARBITRARILY ENFORCE IT.
Trying to impose something not in the lease is a breach of the lease...thus, illegal.
The governing document, the lease, which is a bilateral agreement, cannot be changed unilaterally.
He suggested a letter stating why we are not paying--I'd use above language as part of letter--and said we don't need a lawyer because we haven't been harmed yet. If we don't pay, he can sue us and then we'll need a lawyer.
Does this help?

Best, Marianne


7/28/15  Text of email to cabin owners:

Dear fellow owners of a Whaleshead cabin,  

My wife, Elna, and I first came to Whaleshead in 2007 and enjoyed it so much that we ended up buying Unit U-4 in 2010.  We remodeled it completely, making the bathrooms bigger with granite countertops, a new kitchen with new stainless appliances, new carpeting, new spa, then we continued with keeping it in Whaleshead’s rental program.  (Our neighbor’s thought we were nuts!)  We persevered for four years as we continued to replace missing and broken items, damaged walls and furniture, and damaged appliances and spa.  Finally, last year one of the renters broke into our private (locked) laundry room and walked off with about $1500 worth of tools and personal items, so we had enough of the rental program.  We advised Daniell to pull it out of the rental pool until Whaleshead could change their policies to better protect the cabin owners.  We have been enjoying our cabin with our family and friends ever since.  

Everything has been fine until July 17th when we received a letter (attached) from Andrew Cramer, the new General Manager of Whaleshead.  The letter basically said we have to join the rental pool or we will be charged an extra $150 per month on top of our already increased lease fee.  Since we have seen no changes to protect the cabin owners, we are not ready to rejoin the rental pool, but more than that, I won’t be a subject of extortion.  So when we arrived at our cabin last week with our grandkids, I immediately asked Daniell how I can contact Andrew Cramer to sort out this demand situation.  Daniell advised that she can’t give out Andrew’s physical address, his email address, or his phone number – he insists all communication must go through her.  But she did say that Andrew was probably going to show up on Wednesday or Thursday.  So I made it a point to make sure I saw Mr. Cramer to sort this out.  On Wednesday, July 22nd, my wife and I and Karl Kolthoff (owner of U-10 and a close friend of mine for the last 50 years) sat down with Mr. Cramer to discuss this situation and find out what is really going on with Whaleshead.  I was hoping that we could also talk to his partners or financial backers, but all we could learn was that Whaleshead is now owned by TW Construction out of Portland.  He has financial backers, but no information was further divulged.  There seem to be no other partners, as Andrew seems to be the only person to make decisions regarding Whaleshead.  Our discussion lasted over an hour and we learned a lot.  The attached letter to Andrew Cramer was sent to him today (via Daniell), so I’m passing this information on to other owners of Whaleshead cabins for your own information.  

Because Mr. Cramer refused to rescind his extortion letter, he has alienated at least a third of the cabin owners at Whaleshead, which includes our discriminated “group” of “non-resident” owners.  The other two thirds are those owners already in the rental program and the full time residents.  From his actions, it appears that he feels he can levy any sort of charges for any amount for any reason.  Obviously, other owners either in the rental program or full time residents have expressed a lot of concern over what may happen next.  We tried to convince him that these actions are not in the long term best interest of Whaleshead, but he still feels his letter is justified and will attract more owners into the rental program.  

Some of the owners immediately affected by “the letter” have already contacted attorneys, but as of now, I’m trying to collect contact information for all of the cabin owners (no matter what “group” you are in) so that we will have a way to provide information and a way of communicating within ourselves.  This will allow us to know what is going on at Whaleshead and what new directives are being forced upon us.  We would MUCH rather work WITH Whaleshead management, but that requires two-way communication, which we don’t currently have.  I hope it will change, but until then email is the easiest way to provide information – hence this email and the attachments.  

Many owners have already been helping me compile information to improve our communication.  Marianne Werner of Unit U-9 has helped go door-to-door to talk to other cabin owners and Peggy Titus of Unit B-14 has spent many hours going through County records to provide cabin owners names and addresses from the public record.  All of the information we have to date is shown on the attached Excel spreadsheet.  But you’ll notice that as of now, most of the owner’s email address and/or phone numbers are still not listed, so we can’t easily communicate with those folks and let them know what is going on.  I’m sure many of them, especially those who received “the letter”, are worrying what to do next, as well as what happens more long term.  We would like to get all cabin owners on board if possible, if for no other reason to keep everyone informed.  Obviously, no one is forced to provide their contact information (and please advise me if you would like to be removed from our list) but it is very difficult to pass on information without an email address.  I’m trying to call everyone first, but please excuse me if I’ve missed an explanation call and you are on the email list.  Others are helping me provide this information and our list is growing quickly.  

What I would request of each of you, if possible, is to contact an owner you know who does not have his email address listed (or at least a phone number) and either have them email it to me or you could email it to me.  It is easy to update the spreadsheet whenever I get new contact information, and you can request the latest revision from me at any time.  Whenever I have new information I will pass it on to everyone on my list so you will be updated as often as you wish.  

Regarding “the letter” I know there are at least two attorneys who are aware of what is going on.  In the coming days or weeks, we can make a decision of who we would like to use to write at least a letter to Mr. Cramer informing him that MANY owners are being represented, not just two or three.  If you have any thoughts about participating, please let me know.  

I hope you will find this letter and the attachments interesting and informative.  We love Whaleshead and are definitely not ready to give up on its future.  

Best regards,  

Ray  

Ray and Elna Kawal, Unit U-4
268 Lakeview Drive
Sequim, WA  98382
(360) 683-3027


Text of 7/29/15 email from Nel Sprague, owner of cabins C-8, M-3, and M-4:

Great letter. About 95% of Whaleshead owners are upset with the mysterious Andrew, whose address is 12726 SE Division ST #25 Portland, OR 97236. From the Sec of State website.  Keep us posted. thanks, Nelson 


Text of 7/29/15 email from Sandra Parsons, owner of cabins, T-3, I-5, and I-6:

Dear Kawal family: My deceased husband and I bought our cabin here (I-6) on 8-8-98. It was a rental unit at that time. We continued to travel in our motor home and bought a place in Arizona for winter enjoyment in 2002. Col Parsons passed on in 2011 and I returned here. At the time the park was less than half the size it is now, and as I recall, our rent was $135.We left it in the rental pool for the first couple of years, until our CPA advised us that the IRS would be questioning the validity of that, as we were NOT making enough money to warrant being in the pool. I returned the cabin to the rental pool for about 6 months, but due to filth, theft, damage, and disappearance of belonging, I removed it. I now own three cabins here. T-3 where my daughter Candace lives and I-5 where I reside. I-6 is under contract with a Baptist Minister who ministers on the Appalachion Trail. GA to ME A couple of thoughts about renters. The 5 homes that have burned here were being rented and the fires were directly caused by the renters! The park does NOT check the backgrounds of renters, and this has become known as the PARTY PLACE! We were very fortunate that the nights of the fires here were very calm! If we had any wind at all, the whole park would have burned. I do not believe that permits were given to build these units so close to each other. I believe that the solution to this would be to charge MORE rent. One cannot even get adecent motel room for the price of these cabins! I feel that these new owners were amiss in nor calling the owners together before they took over,. I will forward your note to my daughter, Candace Ware in T-3 and ask if she has any suggestions for you. Sincerely, Sandra Parsons I-5


Text of 7/2915 email from Candace Ware, daughter of Sandra Parsons:

Hi, Ray :-)

I am Candace Ware and I live in T-3, which is owned by my mom, Sandra Parsons who lives in I-5. My phone number is 541-813-1348. Thanks for all your hard work and the information provided. I'll be interested in how all this goes forward. The adversarial position the owners have placed us all in is so unnecessary. I will never understand why, when there are so many respectful and cooperative ways to go about things, grown-ups who should know better still choose the hardest, least-sensible way. Baffling to me. But, since they appear to have made their choice in no uncertain terms, we must deal with the reality of that. 

I am supportive, of course, but my voice in this is somewhat irrelevant since I am not an owner. You've already heard from my mom that you have her support. I share her opinion that the way to glean more financial benefit from this business is to do a better job of protecting the cabin owners from the risks inherent in renting the places out. SO MANY ways to accomplish that: Raise the nightly rate to bring in a higher class of clientele. Make the rate a base rate for 2 people and add a reasonable surcharge for additional guests. Require a security deposit of $100-$150, refundable as long as there has been no damage or theft. Inspect the cabins before they leave. Make it clear that the renters are fully responsible financially for any damages they incur, and retain their credit card info for such charges as may be necessary. There are countless ways to put the burden of renting on THE CLIENTELE (where it belongs) rather than the cabin owner. It's called good business. (Such a concept, I know!)

Anyway, I ramble. I think it is wise indeed to get all the owners working together. I hope there will be better communication and a suitable resolution at some point. If it takes legal action to achieve that, so be it. 

Back in 2011, my brother and my nephew and I rented your cabin when we came here for my step-dad's memorial service down on the beach. They came from Maine and I traveled from Wisconsin where I was living at the time. We looooooved the place, the renovations you undertook were beautifully done. A couple of years ago when some friends of mine were on vacation, I recommended your cabin and they stayed there, and loved it. When we stayed, and when they stayed, we took pains to leave the place spotless and fully intact. I was so sorry to hear of your bad experiences with renting the place out, but not surprised. What a world we live in these days. :-(

I really, really hope that some sense can be talked into the heads of the dodos who own this place. 

Candace


Text of 7/30/15 email from Paul Pettigrew, owner of cabin OV-4:

Hi Folks: Confirming our phone conversation this afternoon:
John Spicer of Spicer Law, Gold Beach has reviewed all of the various documents that we've sent him.  His opinion, like ours, is that Cramer's $150  assessment fee is not provided for in our lease contracts.  John states that our leases allow only for a 10% rent increase per year, as we also believe. He is willing to draft a letter to Andrew Cramer, stating that he represents us, and that the assessment is a non-starter, i.e.will not be paid.
John needs a signed, faxed note from each of us stating that we're in accord with his recommendation. He will charge us $200 for the letter.  No charge for the office time of his staff, who have organized our data and spent time on the phone with some of us.  Nor will he charge for his review of our documents.  I think that this is eminently fair.
Please fax your signature, with a brief note telling John that you're "on board", to Attention:John, Mary or Yvonne, at 541-247-0705.
If you have any questions, please call Russ, or me.

Thanks,

Paul


Text of 7/30/15 email from Jim Fischetti, owner of cabin U-24:

Good evening Ray.
My name is Jim Fischetti owner of U-24. Additional contact info is below. My step father Marvin Nasses communicated with you some initial frustration that my wife experienced upon arrival to our cabin a couple days back. We have since determined that the original reaction was overstated and the cause of the problem largely rests with the drought.
While we genuinely believe that the past 2 administrations of the park have not always been the best of partners in the rental pool activity for a variety of reasons from the seemingly deceitful actions of the original group to the consistently sub-par oversight at times of both those groups and while we are disturbed to see the desire to raise fees for the “rental poolers” I have not had a chance to talk to Daniell to personally better understand things and am not litigious by nature.
This cabin has been a wonderful source of fond memories for my family but it has not been economically fruitful.
I intend to interface with Daniell sometime in the near term as an increase in fees will require an increase in pricing.
I understand that sometimes collective negotiations may be of value and certainly am grateful for your efforts. Please keep us in the loop as to things and I will do the same.  

Thank you.  

JIM  


Click HERE for scanned documents I received from Daniell on 8/3/15.  Documents include Rental Pool Fee Increase, Non-Permanent Residents Update, "clarification" of Non-Permanent Residents Update, and new Rental Pool Agreement.


8/4/15  Text of Whaleshead Update #1 to all cabin owners:

Hello once again to all fellow cabin owners at Whaleshead,  

Since my last email, in which I shared with you my letter to Andrew Cramer, we have been getting more and more cabin owners to join our communication efforts.  If you take a look at the attached updated spreadsheet, you’ll see that we now have over 40 email address on our list.  And this is just in a week or so.  Some owners own more than one cabin, so we are close to getting half of the owners on our “bandwagon”.  Thank you for talking to your friends and neighbors and getting them to join, but we still have the other half to let them know what is going on.  So please keep sending me email addresses and/or phone numbers until we have everyone on board.  There are probably lots of out of town owners who are similarly “mad as hell” (or at least “concerned”) but don’t know about our efforts.  We need to find them.  

There are three basic “groups” of owners among us:  full time residents, part time owners not in the rental pool, and owners in the rental pool.  But we are all in this together with similar concerns about new and arbitrary fees that the current management feels empowered to create.  My letter to Mr. Cramer mostly addressed owners in “my group”, but owners in the rental pool have also taken a big hit, as the attached new rental agreement indicates.  It now looks almost impossible for an owner in the rental pool to make any profit for a one night occupancy with the new fee structure.  Owners in the rental pool have likely already figured that out.  Only full time residents have not yet been served with new fees (other than the recent lease increase), but who knows what is next?  So far, everyone I’ve talked to who received the “extortion letter” for the $150/month fee if you don’t join the rental pool is refusing to pay it, and I hope that others will see it the same way.   

A number of owners have already contacted attorneys, and we now have an initial plan of action, the purpose of which is to get Mr. Cramer’s attention that we stand together as a group of owners (and hopefully all owners, eventually).  Although three attorneys have been contacted, a few of us have decided to retain Mr. John Spicer in Gold Beach, Oregon.  Russ Jacobsen (owner of cabin C-12) and Paul Pettigrew (owner of cabin OV-4) speak highly of Mr. Spicer, who conveniently works in Curry County.  Gary Hansen (owner of cabin OV-3) also wants to join.  The other attorneys were in Grants Pass and Medford, which is a slight disadvantage when compared to a local attorney who happens to be familiar with Whaleshead and its history.  Mr. Spicer has offered to put together a letter to Mr. Cramer, advising him that he is representing a large percentage of Whaleshead owners who will not tolerate arbitrary fees and cost increases that are not justified or legally allowed in our lease agreements.  Mr. Spicer is very interested in our current situation and offered to create the letter for a couple of hundred bucks, with the objective of notifying Mr. Cramer that arbitrary and illegal fees will be met with a huge resistance, not just a complaint from a couple of owners.  

I don’t know the exact language of the letter because we have not yet seen a draft, but the letter needs to indicate approximately how many owners are being represented.  Is it just the four of us (noted above) or who else would like to be part of this effort?  Obviously, the more owners who would like to participate, the more impact the letter will have on Mr. Cramer.  If we could get 20-30 owners who are being represented in the letter, this would be a huge impact.  Plus, the cost per owner would be “peanuts” if we participated in the letter’s cost.  The intention of the letter would be to represent all cabin owners, not just any particular group.  

For those of you who are interested in this approach, Mr. Spicer asks that you fax or email your name and any concerns you might like to express.  It’s OK if you don’t have any particular concerns right now but are just worried about what the future may bring.  But he does need to know if you want to be represented in the letter.  You can fax a letter with the subject “Whaleshead Group” to Attention:  John, Mary, or Yvonne at the fax number (541) 247-0705.  If you would prefer to email him with your information, please email me for his email address, which I should have by tomorrow.  I’m hopeful that quite a few of you respond.  Please don’t worry about the cost if you feel you can’t afford it – it’s easy to cover this minor cost even with a few people.  

If you have general comments or complaints that are relevant to overall or particular issues of Whaleshead management, feel free to forward these to me, and I’ll keep track of them for future discussion.  Some of you have expressed interest in a formal organization of cabin owners, and this is certainly worth discussing.  But what is most important is maintaining a path for communication so everyone can keep informed.  As we add more and more email addresses to our list, we improve our means of communicating our comments and concerns.  Although you can certainly write to anyone or everyone on our list, I’m willing to be the “hub” for maintaining your email comments.  I’ve already received a lot of emails from individual owners – there has not been even one negative comment so far.  

If you have any questions about the letter from Mr. Spicer, please feel free to email me or call me anytime.  Elna and I are in the process of moving my 93 year old mother to an assisted living facility here in Sequim, so that’s taking some of our time right now, but I’ll try to get back to you in a timely manner.  

Best regards,  

Ray


Text of email copy 8/5/15 from Peggy Titus to attorney John Spicer:

Dear Mr. Spicer:  

We are the owners of B-14 and are considered one of the "49%" full-timers (we stay at our unit approximately 6-7 months a year); therefore, at this time, are not affected by the arbitrary $150.00 per month fee. This 49% is another one of his new arbitrary stipulations.  

What our main concern is that Mr. Cramer is in violation of the lease we all signed by attempting to add fees and stipulations whenever he chooses. We all pay to lease the land that our unit is sitting on and as owners of our unit, Mr. Cramer has no say in how often we choose to use it. If an owner wants to pay to have it just sit there and seldom use it or use it often, that is his right, since the unit is his property, not Whaleshead's  or Mr. Cramer's.  

What we see possibly coming in the future is more arbitrary, unlawful practices like these by Mr. Cramer. First the $150.00 fee for what Mr.Cramer deems as a "Non-Permanent Resident" Fee, then the outrageous rental pool fees-what's next? We thought that a lease agreement was a binding contract-not changed on a whim.  

We look forward to the draft letter and want to sign-on but it is contingent on our review and approval of the draft letter.

 Sincerely,  

Cliff and Peggy Titus


Text of email copy 8/6/15 from Mike and Sally Irish, owners of cabin U-19, to attorney John Spicer:

Dear Mr. Spicer,  

We are full time residents at U19, Whaleshead Beach Resort.  We have lived here for almost 9 years full time.  We think what’s happening with the non-resident owners is wrong.  We were once in their position going between our home in Utah and our home here at Whaleshead.  We did not buy our unit with any consideration of having it a rental unit.  Our own personal things remained in it when we were away and there for us when we returned.  If we were renting it, all that would have had to change.  Renters ruin a home and make it a “rental” instead.  We have seen that evidence through our neighbors around us who have had items, pictures, novelties, linens stolen with no repercussion to the renters who did it.  Buying a unit as your second home should be our choice.  No one should be forced to place their home in a rental pool just so the owners of this resort can make more money off of them.  All of these homes here were purchased as single family units by individuals who then had a choice to live in it themselves, either full time or part time, or at their choice, to put it in a rental pool.  There was no stipulation in our original leases or purchasing papers that said you had to rent it if you didn’t live in it full time.  If that had been the case,  we would not have purchased our place.  

We were so hopeful that having a new owner was going to be a positive thing for this resort.  We still remain hopeful that this is the case, but what he’s doing with these specific homeowners is definitely not a positive improvement , either for the resort or for his image as a new owner.  We would like to remain informed on what is going on with all units as a whole.  Except for emails from Mr. Kawal, we would not have known anything about these changes since we are full time residents and no notices of any changes have been given to us.  Since the purchase of Whaleshead, Mr. Cramer has not met with the homeowners as a whole or separately as far as we know, to find out what our wishes are for this resort.    

Thank you for your time.  We look forward to a positive outcome from your advice.  

Sincerely,

Mike & Sally Irish
U 19, Whaleshead Beach Resort


Text of email 8/6/15 to attorney John Spicer:

Dear Mr. Spicer:  

I think you’ve likely seen my correspondence to Andrew Cramer that Russ Jacobsen or Paul Pettigrew may have forwarded to you.  So you probably have a pretty good background on the issues that the cabin owners at Whaleshead currently face.  I don’t want to overwhelm you with information, but I’m attaching some documents just for your reference.  I’m finding that as cabin owners learn of our communication efforts, they are joining us quickly – I’ve already seen quite a few copies to emails being sent to you to join in an initial letter that you are composing to Mr. Cramer.  We would like to see a draft of the letter as soon as you can make it available.  

Below is my first letter to the cabin owners and I’ll forward you the second letter, just for your information.  Again, I don’t want to overwhelm you, but I think it’s better for you to have too much than too little.  

I’ll look forward to working with you in the future.  

Regards,  

Ray  

Ray and Elna Kawal
268 Lakeview Drive
Sequim, WA  98382
(360) 683-3027


Text of email 8/6/15 from Taylor and Donna Daniel, owners of cabin U-5:

Hi Ray.  Not sure if any of the following helps you.  Donna & I purchased U-5 last January and have not been to Whaleshead since May. 

Please refer to Mr. Cramer’s letter dated June 25, 2015 to all owners who are in the rental pool (attached).   Effective Sept. 1, Whaleshead Management fee will increase from 30% to 40% of net monthly occupancy revenue.

Mr. Cramer’s letter states:  “our average tenant in the rental pool program is receiving in excess of  $1,500 per month in net income”. if this number is correct, Mr. Cramer is also charging the owners who are in the rental   pool an additional $150 per month ($1500*10% =$150).   

I am not sure of the number of units at Whaleshead which are affected by the cost increase of $150  per month.  However, if 100 units are affected the additional annual income to TW Construction will be $180,000.  ($150*12*100).   

I believe Mr. Cramer has the right to increase fees charged to owners who are in the rental pool (Rental Agreement par. D & K) and that he is trying to pass the increase to part time residents who have declined to be part of the rental pool.   

Have the full time owners received the same $150 increase? 

Mr. Cramer’s letter talks about staff diligently cleaning, etc.  Haven't they been doing this?  He also talks about substantioal cost increases due to superior management.  I always thought superior Mansgement would reduce costs while improving the Park assets and and its reputation!  

We would like to be on the list to be represented as we will not be in the rental pool after September 15, 2015.  It is possible we would rent the cabin next summer.

Feel free to forward this e-mail to others. 

Taylor & Donna Daniel Unit U-5.  (805) 343-2591


Text of email 8/7/15 Whaleshead Update #2 to all cabin owners:

Hi all,  

Just a quick note on a couple of issues:  

1.        Quite a few of you (over 15 at this point) have contacted John Spicer’s law office wanting to sign on – great!  And we could use more too.  But I have seen a draft of Mr. Spicer’s letter, and it does not cover what all we need.  So I have asked Mary, his legal secretary, to not distribute the letter until we work on it some more.  I am working closely with Paul Pettigrew and Russ Jacobsen to make sure the letter covers our concerns, and it’s not there yet.  Paul has some excellent background on these matters, so he is a great contributor.  But please be assured that everyone who “signs up” will get to see the letter before it goes out, since you are being represented.  Of course, you will also have a chance to “bow out” if it doesn’t meet your needs.  Paul and I are pretty busy this weekend, but we’ll get to it as soon as possible.  

2.       I’ve been getting a LOT of emails from cabin owners expressing their concerns – that’s also great.  But many of you want to share those thoughts with others, so rather than forwarding every email I get to every cabin owner, which would overwhelm your inbox,  I’m creating a Whaleshead Cabin Owner website so I can post every email you’d like to share.  That way you can choose when to look at it at your convenience.  This should be up and running early next week.  

Regards,  

Ray


Text of two emails received 8/8/15 from Scott Holland, owner of cabin B-8:

Hi Ray,  

I own and reside at B8 with my wife, Gina. Trying to be helpful… resolving disputes with facts & fairness is what I do for a living.  

Call if you like.  

Hi Ray,  

Getting real feedback and quantifying ROI and equity valuation are to main goals of owners and the resort.  

Call if you like.  

I spoke with Andrew and he seemed (do not know the man) quite receptive to the other e-mail I forwarded to you. He has not seen this attachments. He is going to call me Monday and set up a meeting with me Wednesday.  

I’ll keep you posted.

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher
19921 Whaleshead Road – B-8
Brookings, OR 97415
541 255 2355
Cell (Gina) 530-340-0141
sholland0000@gmail.com

and Scott's email to Andrew Cramer on 8/6/15:

Hi Andrew,  

Just looked at the new rental pool sheet. Here are my comments.  

1.      Stating $1,500 to owners and increasing is… sorry… basically fraudulent inducement and/or deliberately deceptive. You are risking legal trouble in my opinion.  

2.      40% plus fixed cleaning fees and sheet purchase will not leave much for owners on a yearly basis after HOA fees & electric/gas. You simply do not want an owner’s rebellion… which from those I spoke with may be coming.  

3.      Owners I have spoken to are upset you have not had an owners’ meeting, in general, and before raising rental pool rates.  

4.      What I would do is state real numbers (you do not have to identify the actual cabin) for the highest “net” income, middle, and low. Then list the features of each… ocean view, hot tub, tv size, bed size… anything that other owners can consider as to improving their rental return.  

5.      I believe your improvements (terrific job to date) lend themselves better to focus owners on increased overall occupancy yearly (which gives everyone more money; the expected appreciation in their home value in the coming years due to improvements, America’s energy independence and becoming an exporter of energy along with drought & fires in CA; and, reversing the 40%.  

Summary: With real numbers high/mid/low so owners can quantitatively see what may (or does) makes the difference in greater occupancy/net income, and touting the expected increase in home value due to reasons in #5… is honest and makes inherent sense to owners.  

You have a great sales pitch… why toss what people see as total bs out there? And why not meet with owners to introduce yourself, and get feedback for consideration… you may learn some valuable things.  

Personally, I would be marketing this place to Wyndham, Four Seasons, Indian tribe (casino/small convention center) etc. and let them put in a convention center and market it year round. Does not take a lot of time to see if there is any interest. Year round nice weather, gorgeous location, no traffic, health orientated, lots of actives within 10 minutes year round. Might not be at all practical… just tossing thoughts out there.  

Hope you find this helpful. People are upset and feel the new rental pool letter is deliberately misleading – that cannot be what you want circulating in the behind the management owners’ circles. It decreases the equity value and discourages buyers.  

Sincerely,  

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher
19921 Whaleshead Road – B-8
Brookings, OR 97415
541 255 2355
Cell (Gina) 530-340-0141
sholland0000@gmail.com

Note: 

Scott's emails were intriguing and his letter to Andrew Cramer was thoughtful, so I called Scott and we talked for some time.  After speaking with Andrew on the phone, Scott has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, August 12th with Andrew to discuss his letter.  Scott feels that he is highly qualified to discuss the disputes we have with Andrew and hopefully he will be able to discuss and resolve these issues rather than the onerous need for an attorney.  I emphasized that Andrew would, at the very least, have to rescind his letter of June 25th, and he should reconsider his rental pool fee increases as well.  I am anxious to hear of Scott's results.


Text from email 8/8/15 from Bill Morrish, owner of cabin C-7:

Ray

  Thanks for heading up a homeowners hub  to deal with our new owner, Andrew Cramer. He is getting off to a bad start with his owner/partners and the sooner he figures this out the better. Please include us in the homeowners group. We are also in the rental pool. We live in Ashland. We may want to sign on to the letter from Spicer once we have seen it. Please send it along when it is ready. Of course, if we do, we shall want to share in the cost. I am sending separately  a copy of the letter which I sent to Andrew, first to the Whaleshead office and then again to his office in Portland . He did not respond to either one (strange behavior).

 Bill Morrish    C-7

Click HERE to view Bill's first letter to Andrew.

Click HERE to view Bill's second letter to Andrew.


Text of email 8/8/15 from Scott Holland:

Hi All,  

Here’s a good “fact” as to why litigation is worthless, except for lawyers. http://www.legalteamusa.net/civillaw/2013/01/03/what-are-the-odds-a-case-is-going-to-trial/  

The parties end up settling, without any law being “enforced” or “orders” from a court… typically once the easy emotion-based money is gone. It is a simple fact that should be considered. Why?  

Because it shows we should settle… that is… work together towards common goals.  

The goal of Whaleshead and homeowners and employees are the same:  

1.      Increase Whaleshead’s reputation (social media rules in 2015 as to where people spend their precious vacation time & money)… so that:

2.      We increase yearly occupancy rates;

3.      Which allows an increase next year in rental rates;

4.      Which increases Whaleshead’s and homeowners’ Return on Investment;

a.       That is the main yardstick by which the equity value of Whaleshead and the owners’ cabin will be based.

5.      All of which allows employees to earn a bonus and/or raises for providing great, friendly customer service;  

Further conflict between Whaleshead, homeowners, and employees… will only destroy any hopes of achieving mutually beneficial goals and result in the polar opposite of said goals. Period.  

Let’s work together. It can be done. It is the only smart, logical, fact-based course of action that is in everyone’s best interests in achieving these goals.  

Not everyone in all three parties (Whaleshead, homeowners, and employees) will ever be completely happy. But the choice is… sink divided or rise to the surface together.  

All comments are welcome and appreciated… so long as they reasonably work toward mutually beneficial goals. Sound reasonable? Why or why not?  

And to homeowners who are not in the rental pool, can you please give me facts as to (seems logical to find out why people will not drink the Cool-Aid, since you all drink from the same bowl eventually… before you try to force them to… lol ;-):  

NOTE: Not including any consideration of the new $150 fee, which personally I strongly believe will disappear on its own. Why? Because I cannot imagine someone going into court and asking a judge to agree that coercing class of homeowners into a rental pool – those who use “the least”  management, water, sewer, trash, and general wear and tear – should be supported by a court of law, if not on procedural grounds, upon grounds rooted in centuries old equitable law… it may even technically be a crime, I have not researched that… but I will tomorrow. My point is, I would not lose a lot of sleep or happiness on this issue, certainly not at this point. Let’s find out what it would take for you to “want” to join the rental pool… first. Andrew is better than the last owner… let’s work as a team, please):

 1.      Why you are not. Facts.

2.   If you were, why you withdrew. Facts.

3.   What would it take for you to consider re-entering the rental pool WITH the ASSUMPTION the fees and rental % went back to the status prior to the recent sale of Whaleshead.  

My comments and suggestions are merely that. For consideration by all affected. I like learning: I do not mind being wrong because it means I learned something, but please make any comments/suggestions based upon facts that are explicit in said comments/suggestions. And for the purposes of my assistance, please focus on the common, mutually beneficial goals, and do not clutter this with minor (even if quite important and correct) gripes at this point. It will hamper my strategy designed to achieve the above goals with all working as a team.  

Thank you. Take from this what you like… ignore the rest! ;-)  

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher


Text of email 8/9/15 reply to Scott Holland:

Hello Scott,

I read your emails thoroughly and agree completely with your goals and strategy. But I think that the previous emails I just forwarded you from Bill Morrish will give you an idea what you might be up against. Bill wrote two thoughtful letters to Andrew without any response. And I understand that others have written as well without a response. My letter to him posted on the new website has yet been unanswered (although it is pretty recent). I completely agree that we all need to work together and I believe you will find that the cabin owners want to be helpful as well. No one on "our side" wants a lawsuit. But so far, our communication efforts have been completely one sided. The only real communication from Andrew has been a few letters to "everyone" telling us about his "superior management" and the great things he has done so far, coupled with higher fees for his rental pool owners and the ridiculous "non-resident occupancy" fee of $150 for those of us not in the rental pool. So I wish you all the luck in the world when trying to discuss these matters with Andrew, but you've got a tough road ahead of you. If you succeed, you'll be the hero of a hundred cabin owners. I'd like to think we've "softened him up" a bit for you, but without any feedback from him, who knows?

You asked for "facts" about the rental pool. While there are many other owners with similar experiences, here are ours:

1. We continued with the rental pool when we bought our cabin U-4 in 2010. At that time, Whaleshead had more competent employees and more of them. Johnny (don't remember his last name) worked with Vic and knew the park as well as Vic, as I recall. Johnny patrolled the park and knew what was going on with the rental cabins. Anna and Liz worked the office, and they too were excellent and knowledgeable. When something was "not right", like perhaps a dog in a no pet cabin, or smoking in a non-smoking cabin, Liz was right there to put a stop to any poor behavior. There were also more maintenance people around, so the park looked better and was "policed" more effectively.

2. We lost Johnny to a serious accident, and Liz and Anna left for their own reasons, which could have been low pay, but I'm not sure. But in general, Whaleshead employees seem to be low paid so Whaleshead is not attracting the best employees. This seems to be especially true with the maids. They come and go often and it is a common joke when Vic finds them watching TV in a cabin they are supposed to be cleaning - and of course charging the cabin owners for their time.

3. As time progressed, we would find more and more damage to our cabin when we returned to Whaleshead to use it for our family and friends. We had spent over $50K remodeling our cabin, and when we would return we would find dents in the new appliances, marks on the walls (once even a hole in the sheetrock where someone had kicked a hole in the wall), scratches on the new furniture, damage and missing parts to the new spa, and sand in the new carpeting. There would be scratches made purposely in our new solid wood doors. Full time neighbors told us how renters would pull the mattresses off the beds, haul them outside on our deck, and use them for trampolines. We had a guestbook that initially overflowed with wonderful comments from the renters how much they enjoyed our cabin, but as renter "quality" declined, the guestbook comments disappeared. Whaleshead clientele was changing for the worse.

4. Upon each return to our cabin, we would first have to inspect our own cabin to see what was missing. EVERY time we would return, something would be gone -everything from a missing knife in the knife block to small appliances on the kitchen counter or in the cabinets to decorations in the living room or bedrooms. We don't know if it was renters who walked off with our belonging or the maids, some of which had questionable integrity. Daniell can verify all of these experiences, although she tried hard to rectify them as best she could.

5. Financially, the income from the rental pool was OK, but not great. Upon every return to Whaleshead, we would first have to make a trip to Fred Meyer and replace the missing or damaged items, which took both time from our stay and the money it cost us for replacement. During the summer months, rent was obviously better, but we also wanted to use our own cabin during the summer with our kids and grandkids, so we had to block out times during the "high season". During the winter months, rent would be low, as expected. In Andrew Cramer's letter, he spoke of rental owners averaging $1500 per month - I'm afraid he's dreaming, even with the old rental pool fees. Basically, income wasn't worth the trouble we were having.

6. Finally, we had a renter (or a maid) break into our private and locked laundry room and steal about $1500 worth of tools and other personal items. They appeared to selectively go through our private belongings and take what they wanted. It was only when we returned to the cabin after a few weeks did WE notice that one of the normally locked doors was found unlocked. Whaleshead was unaware of the entry until we notified them and the Sheriff's Office. Since there had been seven renters in our cabin during our absence, there was no way to identify who could have been the burglars. After a hassle for a few months, insurance covered our financial loss, but by that time we had had it with the rental pool. We asked Daniell to pull it out and we've been happy ever since. Sure, we miss the income, but it's so nice to come back to our own cabin that is exactly like we left it.

So, Scott, there are some "facts" about our experience in the rental pool. Other cabin owners have some other horror stories as well. One owner told me that he had renters from another cabin come over to his vacant cabin to party in his hot tub. Some even described their renters as "animals". Still, after all of this, we told Daniell that we might be interested in rejoining the rental pool if conditions changed. But the "extortion" letter from Mr. Cramer put a stop to this interest. We will join voluntarily if we can determine our cabin will be protected and better clientele use it. Previously, we found that some renters loved our cabin and were hugely disappointed when it was no longer available to them. Those are the type of people who respect other's properly and are grateful for being able to use it. We enjoy sharing our cabin with those who treat it well and appreciate it. But Whaleshead needs to find a way to accomplish this goal. Perhaps a security deposit, or perhaps cabin owner screening might be an option, maybe VRBO where cabins owners can help select renters. I'm sure other cabin owners can come up with other ideas, but Mr. Cramer must participate and solicit these ideas so we can all see what works. It is communication between the cabin owners and Whaleshead management that will solve these issues. It won't be one sided edicts and increased rental fees to the cabin owners that help attract new owners to the rental pool.

I hope this helps you a bit if you actually do get a chance to discuss these issues with Andrew. We wish you luck.

Regards,

Ray


4.     Text of two emails 8/12/15 from Scott Holland:

Hi All,  

Andrew was very receptive to all comments. He agreed to the following:  

1.      No live branches will be cut unless they pose a safety hazard and in that case WH will seek input from a cabin owner who will have sun/shade affected; AND, owners who will have their view affected. Let common sense if live branches should be cut for safety rule, please.  

2.      A crew is coming next week and will repair (or determine what is needed for supplies, and very soon after repair) roads.  

3.      The cabins put in by WH… are in. Whatever can be done externally to make them “as compatible/nice” as reasonable will be seriously considered. Removing the cabins… just not practical or realistic. Sorry. It’s  water over the damn thing… let’s control what we can.  

4.      The $150 fee for non-resident not in rental pool. Gone.  

5.      The 40% is needed currently ONLY due to not enough cabins being in the rental pool. Andrew said if 15 more units come into the rental pool, he’ll drop it to 35%. If 30 units (or I believe something close) come in he’ll drop it back to 30%. Sounds fair to me.  

6.      Theft/vandalism:  

a.       WH will look into liability insurance to cover any such theft/vandalism.  

b.      WH owners will make up an inventory sheet that will be checked upon each departure so any guilty renters will pay, and if not, WH’s insurance (if they can get it) will cover/replace/pay for it.  

c.       WH will develop a procedure for cleaning that includes a “supervisory” check list “after” a unit has been cleaned.  

d.      Cleaning fee will revert to the old system. $50 for an hour and perhaps a one night stay… that alone is 100% of an the owner’s profit? I forgot to address this exactly, however the only thing WH said about not rolling everything back to what it was… is the 40% (SEE #5).  

                                                               i.      Personally, I feel the cleaning should be incorporated and paid for from WH’s % of the rental fee.  

7.      We’re going to get a pool and small convention center, contingent on securing debt to finance it. Any owners interested in an investment note? Banks only pay 1% for CDs.  

a.       WH agreed the best place for a pool is right in front of the restaurant/office where the driveway is now… it will tie in perfectly to the existing deck/view.  

b.      A pool and convention center will allow WH to book small corporate (& other, weddings, etc.) (the restaurant wins too!) events from Silicon Valley to Seattle. Anyone with contacts at any corporation or whatever who might book such an event… put some calls in… positive feedback will no doubt speed up a pool/center.  

8.      The septic and building (the one that looks like a crack den/shooting gallery! ;-) will be addressed very soon, possibly with a construction black web fence until completed.  

9.      Every effort will be made to restore the laundry facility as soon as possible.  

10.  Homeowners are encouraged to go on Yelp and TripAdvisor and write your own 5 star reviews… free marketing in the right place for free… just a little bit of time.  

11.  Homeowners are encouraged to raise their rental fees. I agree, as does WH, this is too much of a bargain at this point.  

a.       Homeowners are encouraged to go on VRBO (vacation rentals by owner) and Craigslist and run your own rental ad… when people respond, refer them to the new online automated reservation system… it is YOUR MONEY TOO!  

b.      WH said they will hire an additional grounds person. Nice.  

c.       Homeowners are encouraged to do any tidying up, plant things, paint/stain… upgrade TVs/etc. and interior… WH will take steps to safeguard as above.  

d.      WH will look into a rate for high speed internet in all rentals… people expect it with higher rental rates and it only takes one night at an increased rate to cover this for the month.  

Send dinner certificates to Scott & Gina! Lol  

I’ll help WH and homeowners as much as I can… free… makes me happy… great investment of my time in my cabin!  

Nobody is perfect… Andrew was very nice and receptive… and now truly understands this can be a world class resort.  

Let bygones be bygones… let’s all do what we can to help.  

If there is something not addressed… please do not panic. Nicely let people know what it is. There may be some mistakes in the above… do not think so… but do not panic if it turns out there are.  

Thanks… teamwork… WH, owners, & employees. We all sink or swim together. ;-)  

Scott, Gina, Simba & Spock

Second email:

WH was also very receptive to a Christmas bonus pool for employees based upon occupancy, rate increases (due to better everything), and social media reviews/reputation (Yelp, Trip Advisor, Expedia… wherever).  

We fix the place up, WH, owners and employees all do what they can to that end. Add a pool/small corporate conference room, raise rates, raise occupancy, raise participation in rental pool… and we have a complete winner for all.  

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher


Text of email 8/9/15 reply to Scott Holland:

Hi Scott,  

Your email is very encouraging news for sure.  Andrew’s lack of previous communication and extra fees has built up a lot of distrust among the cabin owners.  But perhaps he is willing to listen to other ideas from the cabin owners, and this is a very positive sign.  

It’s very good news that he dropped the $150 fee for non-renters, and I hope he’s willing to listen to cabin owners in the rental pool.  I’m sure they will  have some good ideas and if those ideas can be implemented, hopefully the rental pool can be made profitable for both Whaleshead and the cabin owners.  In order for cabins owners to join the rental pool, it obviously has to be financially attractive to them.  

Good job, Scott.  I hope to meet you on our next trip to Whaleshead.  

Best regards,  

Ray and Elna


Click HERE for an update from Andrew Cramer regarding the $150 "non-resident occupant" fee.  Andrew has rescinded his fee, and he appears to want to work together with cabin owners by surveying their needs and issues.  Let's hope this improved communication helps improve our mutual best interests.


Text of email 8/13/15 from Scott Holland:

Hi Ray,  

Thank you. Andrew could not have appeared more interested. He readily acknowledged a lack of experience in a high level (potential) resort facility, and at the same time really seemed to understand this is one (w/improvements). Daniell was present during the entire meeting and she can confirm the discussions/attitude. Could not have been more productive.  

I really hope people will give him a chance by putting units in the rental pool… and to that end… if you plug “0” in the spreadsheet for income… all that is left is expenses.  

Personally, I think dropping the rate back to 30% will get more units in the pool faster than “get in the pool at 40% and hope for the best)… and achieve what he wants faster while building more goodwill with owners.  

In my case, we are moving soon as my mom is in and out of hospice in FL. Maybe in 2 weeks. Based upon what I heard, I do not want to sell my unit, and will put it in the rental pool. If I break even with HOA fees, mortgage, and utilities… that is a lot better than $1000/month out of my pocket while my unit appreciates (and I really believe the next 2-3 years will be very good to WH).  

My suggestion is have as many people enter the rental pool, give him a chance. It’s like we want him to climb this mountain (fix everything, which he is in agreement with)… but we are not going to give him any food (cabins in rental pool) to help him get there. For him to get the pool and other improvements, we also need to help him. And get enough people to come in and everyone’s % goes down.  

And when you give someone the resources “they” say they need… it puts the burden of performance squarely on their shoulders.  

Seems worth a try to me… people can always change their minds later.  

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher


Text of two emails 8/13/15 from Tom Miller, owner of cabin T-12:

Good morning, we recently received your letter in regards to issues with the new owners of Whaleshead in regards to "non-resident owners". We do have our unit , T-12, in the rental pool. As you might be aware, the new owners also recently sent a letter to those in the rental pool which essentially raised charges for cleaning and hot tub maintenance as well as increased their percentage take of the net from 30 to 40%. I haven't run the finally numbers yet, but I expect the net result will be to nullify the slight profit we have seen this last year ( we have owned for a little more than a year and use our unit for about 2 weeks a year as well). I do appreciate the overdue improvements/neglected maintenance work the new owners have undertaken but I would expect they figured at least some of that expense into their purchase price. The combined actions of raising charges to both non-resident owners and those in the rental pool as much as they have would seem to be counterproductive. If the increased charges to the rental pool owners eliminate any profit, not with standing problems with repair/theft you mention in your letter, it may be more cost effective for rental pool owners to pull out and simply pay the $150 a month extra resulting in the elimination or significant reduction of the resorts rental income. Do keep me posted and I appreciate your correspondence including the tone.- Tom Miller, owner t-12 

Email to Daniell:

Good morning and thanks to Daniell for listening to me today and suggesting I put my comments to writing. First and foremost, I due appreciate the improvements the new management have undertaken and my wife and I have always found the staff helpful both when we stay at our unit as well as handling our cabin's rental (T-12). In regards to the proposed fee increases please take into account the following comments/suggestions;
 
Cleaning and laundry fees- although an increase charge overall I like the simplification and see the merit on your side to productivity by eliminating the need for staff to count and justify minutes.
 
Hot tub fee- I expect you have done your analysis and it is justified so  I can live with that.
 
Management fee- Going from 30 to 40 % percent of net ! Implementing such, in combo with these other changes results in almost a 30% decline in our net, way too much. Unlike what you have stated in your letter our June net income this year was almost identical to our net income last year. Given the higher level of maintenance and repairs we must undertake due to rental use it maybe more economical to exit the rental pool and take a tax loss even given what I have heard to also be proposed as a monthly fee increase to nonresident owners not in the rental pool. Less participants in the rental pool, less  income to the resort. IF indeed the proposed booking improvements result in measurable increases year to year for rental pool participants then bring back this idea. As I earlier stated, we haven't experienced any increase in income and we have invested moneys in replacing appliances and flooring as well as other items.
 
Thoughts about counting dishes and charging for breakage- Sounds good but probably not worth the effort. Yes, dishes and the like break, and guests sometimes take things. My suggestion would be to have staff just inventory the big items like TVs, microwaves. Otherwise each cabin would have to the same type/number of plates etc. And don't forget to add staff time and costs for staff to tae inventory each time.
 
Anyway, these are my comments and hopefully you will listen.- Tom Miller, owner T-12


Text of email 8/13/15 from Les and Loretta Stilwell, owners of cabin T-8:

Hello Ray and Elna, 

We just received a hard copy in the mail today of your letter dated August 6, 2015 regarding the problems at Whaleshead. 

We are Les and Loretta Stilwell and we own T-8.  We ordered our unit in 2003 and took possession and began a 25 year lease in 2004.  Our lease contains no requirement to join the rental pool and we have never been in the rental pool.  We have absolutely no desire now, nor have we ever, to be in the rental pool. 

We also received "the letter" from Andrew Cramer attempting to impose the $150 a month "Non-Permanent Resident" fee.  Our lease does not have any provision which would allow Mr. Cramer to impose this or any other fee beyond the monthly rental fee.  We have attempted to correspond with Mr. Cramer through email several times, but have only received a response one time which reiterated how wonderful he felt the rental pool was and all the improvements he has been making.  It did not rescind his attempted fee. 

Needless to say, we were very upset by these attempts to coerce us into the rental pool.  We had a relative who is a California lawyer (since we live full-time in California) look over our original lease and all the email correspondence.  While he is not necessarily fully versed in Oregon law, he did advise us that Mr. Cramer's actions could well be considered retaliatory in nature and his attempt to impose this fee was not legal. 

The last correspondence we sent to Mr. Cramer, with a copy to Daniell, was dated August 3, 2015.  We stated clearly that our lease agreement does not have any provision for a "Non-Permanent Resident" fee or any other such fee.  We reminded him that we had previously requested confirmation in writing that the fee had been rescinded; but to date, we have heard nothing further from him.  We also again reiterated that we have no desire to be in the rental pool and that his attempts to force us to do so will be considered retaliatory.    

We also stated that if Whaleshead pursues this attempted fee, contrary to the lease provisions, we would pursue whatever legal remedies are available to us and that we would seek reimbursement for any fees or expenses incurred by us to enforce the lease provisions.   

We also have asked repeatedly for the name and contact information for the actual new owners of Whaleshead Beach Resort but have not received anything. 

We were most interested to receive your letter and definitely wish to be kept in the loop regarding any future developments.  We will include all our contact information at the bottom of this email and have no problem with you adding our info to your spreadsheet. 

We did not, however, receive anything but your letter.  We received none of the attachments you referenced.  Could you please send them to us via email? 

We were very interested to hear that you actually met with Mr. Cramer and would love to hear more about your conversation with him.  How was it left with him?  Since you say he refused to rescind his letter, did he say what he intends to do next?  We would also be interested in hearing what the two attorneys you mentioned have to say about the whole situation. 

We also enjoy Whaleshead very much.  Everything was fine until Mr. Cramer tried to coerce folks into the rental pool.  As we mentioned in an email to him, there have been two multi-unit fires over the years at Whaleshead that destroyed units and in both cases the fires were started by renters.  We have observed over the years the abuse of the various properties by renters and the failure to honor rental policies in the units.  We have also observed poor cleaning and maintenance over the years of the rental units.   

So, thank you very much for reaching out to us regarding this issue and we look forward to the receiving the attachments as well as being kept informed by any further developments with yourselves or other owners. 

Warmly, 

Les and Loretta Stilwell


Text of email 8/14/14 from Les and Loretta Stilwell:

Hi Ray, 

After looking through most of the great info you have put together on the owner website, we were glad to see that Mr. Cramer appears to have backed off the $150 fee.   

You may post our email if you wish, although it seems it may be a moot point now with the fee rescission. 

As other owners have referenced, however, his actions to this point have generated a good deal of distrust.  The wording in his rescission letter, which we have not yet received from him or Whaleshead, carries the qualifying words "until further notice."  We truly hope that he has realized the inappropriateness of any such fee, in light of our leases, and that he is truly rescinding the fee permanently and not just temporarily until he tries to reinstate it under cover of different wording. 

If there is still a $200 fee remaining with Mr. Spicer, we would be interested in making a contribution towards the cost.   

Thank you so much for all the effort you and others have put into this.  In years past, we lived in a community with a Homeowner's Association.  There was a problem with the management company and the accountant, and Loretta was actively involved in a grass roots effort to protect the homeowners.  So we are very well acquainted with the level of time and effort that is necessary to undertake efforts such as you have here.  It has been very difficult for us to stay in the loop since we live so far away and only visit several times a year.  We have both since retired and hope to be able to spend more time there at Whaleshead, although we too are dealing with the difficult issues of the failing health of elderly parents. 

We hope to be able to meet you in person when we are all up there at Whaleshead and to thank you in person. 

Thanks again. 

Les and Loretta Stilwell


Text of email 8/14/15 from Scott Holland:

Hi Ray,  

Can you try to solicit feedback, cabin by cabin:  

1.      Do you have any interest in joining the rental pool, on any terms? If not, no problem, enjoy, I think WH will see a nice future with better amenities for all. If yes, please answer #2 explicitly.  

2.      What would it take to have you join the rental pool, again, explicitly with suggested solutions?  

We all win big if we increase participation, increase rates (I think now… before Fall salmon season), and increase occupancy year round.  

Getting enough units now not in the rental pool, into it, will allow a clear financial path to putting in a nice pool and small corporate/event center.  

Due to Andrew’s very receptive attitude and understanding this is not an RV park, but a mismanaged world class potential resort/vacation home property… I am putting my home in the rental pool and delisting it for sale.  

Thanks. What a better looking future! Can’t wait for a pool overlooking WH beach!  

Scott, Gina, Simba & Spock  

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher

19921 Whaleshead Road – B-8

Brookings, OR 97415

541 255 2355

Cell (Gina) 530-340-0141

sholland0000@gmail.com


Text of email 8/16/15 from Steve and Sandra Medaris, formers owners of cabin U-17:

Hi,

We are Steve and Sandra Medaris of U-17. Our unit burned down last November so we are no longer cabin owners at Whaleshead.  However, we wanted to respond to your letter.  It has always been our belief that the cabin owners at Whaleshead would greatly benefit from having a homeowners association. It seems to us that in order to have any influence on the management it needs to come from a significant group not just one owner.  We applaud the steps you are taking and believe the time will be well spent in your behalf.  

Our experience with the rental pool was not bad for the first several years but in the last couple there were many problems, including constant theft.  We believe there is a great possibility that some of the staff was involved in these losses, but management simply shrugged their shoulders. The attitude of the owners and managers of Whaleshead toward the owners of the cabins has alway seemed to be less than satisfactory, to put it mildly.  We think the owners en masse, have a very significant investment in the park, (in fact, cabin owners' investment far and away exceeds the value of the park without the cabins!) yet in our experience, management tended to dismiss owners' issues and concerns.  This reality figured heavily in our decision not to rebuild and to abandon our lease.  We miss our cabin, but feel relieved to be free of park, rental and management issues.  

The contact information we have for Andrew Cramer is: Cell 503-438-8622, office 541-813-2501, e-mail acramer04@gmail.com. We hope this is of some help and wish you all the luck in this endeavor.  

Steve & Sandra Medaris


Text of email 8/17/15 from Scott Holland:

Hi Ray,  

Andrew e-mailed me and asked for feedback on this idea:  

What are owners’ thoughts on taking the 10% increase in rental fees and putting it in a dedicated escrow account towards a pool in front of the restaurant and tied into the existing deck?  

I’m in.  

And I believe with the increased rates/occupancy he will drop the rental fee back to 30%.  

Having owners on board and getting a pool… we all win… both in enjoyment of WH and increased rates/occupancy.  

Can you float this and get feedback?  

Thank you to all! Scott & Gina & Simba & Spock

I called Scott and advised him that at this point I would not want to ask cabin owners, or any group of owners, to support any increase in fees for a pool, because there is too much mistrust among cabin owners towards the management.  Until some more important issues are resolved, like increased rental pool fees and perhaps future lease agreements, there are no cabin owners who will be receptive to new fees for new amenities.  The first thing that has to happen is that communication and trust must be restored, and this is not an easy task in itself.  For a new pool, or other amenities, we should first ask the cabin owners for their opinions and certainly take those opinions into consideration.  I received a copy of the following email from Scott to Andrew Cramer:


Text of email 8/17/15 from Scott Holland to Andrew Cramer:

Hi A,  

Just spoke with Ray. He, by chance, ended up being the focal point of the owners’ rebellion.  

He had a good point I agree with. Increase the monthly fee to pay for the pool, to be rolled back upon full funding. And WH benefits quite a bit too… so WH has to put the first funds in (whatever that amount may be) to show good faith.  

Sadly, you came into a new situation you were not familiar with (high end resort potential) and were undoubtedly crazy busy (and personally I think you have accomplished a lot of valuable things)… did not consult owners, jacked up fees… and people are now “emotional” and “mistrusting.”   

A meeting with Ray (who says he was a land developer for 30 years and is the one who said, if the water issue was truly solved, he would have considered putting together an offer to buy WH) where he can see/feel the attitude I did… will really help you and all.  

Can you do an August 26 meeting? Ray has to drive down from Washington.

Scott W. Holland, Legal Strategist/Researcher


 Text of email 8/17/15 from Andrew Cramer:

Hi All  

I would greatly appreciate the chance to meet!  Could we do Sept 2?  

Also, what do you think of converting the old office unit (next to the lobby) into a mini spa/massage area?  Might be another nice amenity and a great use of that home since it doesn't really work as a rental...  

Thanks

Andrew

Text of email reply 8/17/15 to Andrew Cramer:

Hello Andrew and Scott,  

September 2nd will work.  We’ll likely come down the previous weekend and stay for part the following week.  

I want to clarify Scott’s email a bit.  I didn’t suggest increasing the monthly fee to pay for the pool.  What I said was that if an amenity, such as a pool, or any other amenity for that matter, was to be added to the park, the cost should NOT be shouldered by any specific group of cabin owners – in this case, owners in the rental pool.  That would rightly cause an immediate opposition to the project by those owners.  Amenities that could be used by all should be shared by all.  The cost of such an amenity could be a basis for a lease fee increase, within the bounds permitted by the lease agreement.  

Since there are about a hundred cabin owners, we all know there will be lots of opinions about the desirability of a pool, where it should go, and how much it will cost.  And I’m sure Andrew doesn’t want to get a hundred emails with everyone’s opinion.  BUT, these opinions are important to consider in order to have the support of at least the majority of the cabin owners or we will be right back in the situation we are now in, with almost total mistrust by the cabin owners.  Once trust and good communication between Whaleshead ownership and the cabin owners can be reestablished, most cabin owners will be amenable to understanding increased costs that are well explained and supportable.  I could volunteer to serve as a liaison for a cabin owner’s group if they so desired such a group.  Of the hundreds of emails I have received in the past month or so, many have expressed the desire for a “homeowner’s association” or some such group.  The main purpose for this group would be to have a means of communication so that everyone can have a voice if they choose to contribute.  So far, it is working excellently, with everyone who writes and volunteers their email address so they can be kept in the loop.  

Perhaps we can discuss the above at our September 2nd meeting?  

Regards,  

Ray


Text of email 8/17/15 from Andrew Cramer:

Hi Ray  

Sounds great I look forward to discussing with you; the only caveat I would add would be that cabin owners IN the rental pool arguably stand to gain more than the other owners since their occupancy rates and lease rates could increase with the addition of the massage/spa, pool, community center, etc.?  

Having said that, my ultimate goal is to get all non permanent residents into the rental pool anyway, so I'm open to suggestions!  

As far as a homeowners association, I couldn't agree more; all my other properties have elected tenant organizations to liase effectively with management; its best if I stay out of the formation of such a group other than to say I would strongly support it, and will recognize any such group provided the appropriate formation, voting procedures are undertaken (there are several online resources on how to set these up).  

Thanks!

Andrew

Text of email 8/17/15 from Bill Morrish, owner of cabin C-7:

Dear Ray  

  Having read your recent letter again and more carefully, I agree that perhaps the best course to follow, at least for the present, is to share ideas among our fellow cabin owners in hopes of reaching consensus on some issues, and presenting them to management  as from a group rather than as ideas from single individual. Perhaps we will get to the point where a Cabin Owners group will arise and specific proposals will be made to management  but that does not appear to be on the horizon at present.  

  The attached letter to Kathy and Anna was written in 2011 when it appeared that Management might be interested in improving the Parks public perception. Anna, in particular, seemed eager to do something. Unfortunately, she was soon let go and nothing came of the suggestions made. Now, nearly four years later, Whaleshead continues to receive negative comments on Yelp and Trip Advisor, often receiving guest ratings of 1 on a scale of 5. Moreover,  the comments appear to be justified. When I mentioned this to Daniell, she seemed surprised and said she would look into the matter. Apparently it had not occurred to her to do so on her own.  

These suggestions will be of interest principally to those of us in the rental Pool. Management has stated that they want to increase the Park’s rental income.  A good way to do this will be to improve the visitors’ Park experience. This  often appears to be disappointing or worse for very simple causes, often just plain “dirty”. For those interested in our latest ratings, you can go to the Internet, look up Whaleshead Beach Resort and open the pages identified as Trip Advisor and Yelp.  Of course, these ratings are highly subjective, often rambling and are more likely to be posted by those who were unhappy than by those who had a good experience. Still, they do represent a public perception, often to our detriment.  

   A personal experience may be instructive. Several years ago a person whom we did not know bought a two night stay at our cabin at a fund-raising event . Several days later we received a call from the purchaser who read us the riot act over the ‘phone. “I’ve just read up on Whaleshead on Yelp and on Trip Advisor and it appears to me that the place is anything but a resort, it sounds to me like a dump”. We had some fast talking to do. They enjoyed their stay and have returned several times. The cabin pleased them but they were less complimentary toward the Park.  

    Should some of the ideas expressed in the attached letter be embraced by other owners in the rental pool, I don’t know what the next step should be. But it may be worthwhile to at least consider them and see where that leads us.  

  Please do post on our new website  

  Many thanks  

  Bill

Click HERE for a copy of Bill's letter.


Text of email 8/17/15 from Steve and Sandra Medaris:

Hi Ray & Elna,  

After checking out your website, there are a few things I would like to add and hope they will be helpful. If anyone is considering putting their cabin in the rental pool, I highly recommend they carefully check out the WH insurance coverage required for all units in the rental program.  Warning: it is some 180 pages long and is (deliberately) confusing.   We found Liberty Mutual impossible to deal with after our loss.  It took 6 months for our settlement and we had to fight for every cent. If you look at your insurance rider and it says you are covered for a certain amount you need clarification as to exactly what replacement value vs current market value is.  The agents from Liberty Mutual were masters at stalling. The local agent from Brookings was no help at all. I will say that Andrew Cramer was very helpful in finally getting the claim settled.  

I am hopeful that the promises being made are in fact kept. For all their talk about superior management and cleaning, there are reviews from this year with negative comments about both on Trip Advisor. I find the suggestion that owners should go on Trip Advisor and write their own 5 star reviews totally dishonest.  Make the Park earn 5 star reviews first.  Renters will know when they have been scammed.  Problems at the Park started with bad management. That's where the improvement has to start.  

It appears that you are making great progress and have some experienced people working with you. We both believe Whaleshead could be a great  place with the right management and hope you are successful in reaching that goal.  

We have no problem with you posting our e-mail if you wish.  

Good luck,

Steve & Sandra


Text of email reply 8/17/15 to Steve and Sandra Medaris:

Thank you Steve and Sandra,  

I found it interesting that you also had problems with Liberty Mutual.  When we had our locked and private cabin laundry room broken into last year, about $1500 worth of personal belongings were stolen.  This is nothing compared to what you lost, but it also took us about six months to get our claim settled.  Over my long life, I've had a few claims with insurance companies in the past, but never one as bad as the one with Liberty Mutual - most all with other companies were settled quickly and easily.  Now, when my wife and I see ads on TV for how great Liberty Mutual is, we laugh from our horrible experience.  

Actually, in our case, the local Brookings insurance folks were somewhat helpful, but they weren't able to help much.  It's encouraging to hear that Andrew Cramer helped in your case.  But we'll never choose Liberty Mutual if we have a choice.  

Thanks again for your emails.  I'll post them on the website for other cabins owners to see.  

Best regards,  

Ray and Elna


Text of email 8/18/15 from Wendy Ray, owner of cabin OV-10:

Hi Ray.  Glad you have a meeting set up with Andrew, I had a few thoughts and suggestions, please share any with him that might be helpful.
Whaleshead does get comments on Yelp, Trip Advisor etc.  Former manager Bill used to sometimes respond to them.  Does Andrew read them and will he respond?  Does Whaleshead have a policy on this?

restaurant is nice, owners should use it.  It is in all our best interest that it succeeds, many renters were disappointed when it closed last time (per comments in my guest book)

White Rock cabins just over the border are very similar (although right on ocean) and rent for more than Whaleshead.  Andrew might want to investigate what they are offering and look at if Whaleshead can use some of their ideas.  I think they have wifi and cookies but still......

Wifi would be a nice addition for us and more landscape cleanup and maintenance to improve park appearance.  A pool could be very pricey-would we need a lifeguard too?  an outdoor pool wouldn't be used full time and would cost to maintain.

I have never -not even once-netted $1500 in a month of renting my cabin.  My cabin is small but it rents often.  I am guessing that most rental pool owners need/want their cabin to cover its expenses-space rent, electric, propane, taxes, insurance and some repairs and improvements and replacement costs for broken and missing items.  Some things cant be avoided but a brief inventory checklist when renters check out is worth considering and for rental pool cabins that have locked cabinets cleaning staff can lightly test to make sure they haven't been broken into (this happened in my cabin and by the time I discovered it several parties had been in and out)  Common sense dictates not having very valuable items in a rental cabin of course but I have had the oddest things go missing( an old hairdryer, an old cookbook, 2 small wine racks and 3 or 4 bedspreads etc-go figure!)

My family and I love our cabin and really enjoy the time we spend there.  I think it has the potential to be even better and hope we can all work together to make that happen.

Wendy Ray   OV 10 owner


Text of email 8/24/15 from Jan and Dave Nickum, owners of cabin U-1:

We are pleased that the new owners of Whaleshead have a vision of improvement for the property.
It’s good to see some infrastructure items are being addressed and it’s wonderful that the restaurant is now open.
Hopefully the restaurant menu will continue to evolve and the shop/boutique area will expand its offerings.  

We’re  happy to hear that Mr. Cramer would like Whaleshead to become a 5 star resort.  Maybe it can be so but that seems a long road from here.
As a basis of local comparison, take a visit to Tu Tu’ Tun resort in Gold Beach or check out their web site http://tututun.com/
Whaleshead is a great location.  The stunning beauty of the Oregon coast nearly says it all.  People from all over the world tour our coastline and there is no reason why this resort could not become a highly desirable vacation destination.  

Some very basic items we would like to see addressed include: 

      1)   Upgrade the laundry facilities.  Two of the five washers have been out of service for over a year.  The dryers are nearly ineffective.
2)     
Make the restroom/laundry facility a smoke free zone.  
3)     
Add the Whaleshead logo to service vehicles to enhance the image of care,  maintenance and ownership of the property.
4)     
Provide a fenced pet exercise area complete with poop scoop bags and garbage cans.


Text of email 8/24/15 from Tom Miller, owner of cabin T-12:

Hi Ray, again much appreciate your work in maintaining this forum for thoughts and suggestions . It appears to be somewhat of a trend to consider adding  a "special charge" to those in the rental pool for new amenities which everyone, all cabin owners and new resort owners, will benefit.  The comments I have read is that supposedly only this group will benefit from increased rental use. Perhaps there might be some rental increase....but I can't imagine the benefit will exceed the cost. This is the Oregon coast and not the central valley....and again the benefit, if there is one will benefit all, thru direct use, increased value of cabins, increased value of the resort, etc. I truly doubt there would be enough income from the rental pool to service debt of such improvements. If there is a desire to provide for more amenities there clearly needs to be more detail as to costs as well as representation from those in the rental pool. Feel free to post. Tom Miller, owner T-12


Text of email 8/25/15 from Joe Adams, owner of cabin U-9:

Concerning the month to month rental agreement now being required of
all new owners at Whaleshead:  several questions/objections should be
directed to Cramer:  1)   are buyers and/or realtors informed about this loss
of lease protections?   2)   Can Cramer arbitrarily change the nature of our
community from “55 and above park”  to a “family” one?   3)  do we all
understand how the above changes will impede the future sale of our 
properties -  making them hard to sell, without the clarity and protections of
a lease, and thereby lowering their market values?  

Hopefully, all owners will  resist the above scenario and organize ourselves into
a cohesive effort to protect our leases.   Post this  if you want to.  

And thanks for your organizing efforts, so far.  

J  Adams        U9


Text of email 8/26/15 sent to Andrew Cramer:

Hello Andrew,  

Elna and I will be arriving at Whaleshead this Saturday, and we are looking forward to our meeting next Wednesday at Whaleshead.  Karl Kolthoff, owner of cabin U-10 (whom you met before) will be joining us.  To give you a “heads up”, attached is a list of issues we’d like to discuss with you.  We can go into detail on each item as much as your time permits.  And of course, please feel free to bring up any other items you feel is important – we have plenty of time.  

Best regards,  

Ray  

Ray and Elna Kawal
owners of cabin U-4
268 Lakeview Drive
Sequim, WA  98382
(360) 683-3027
cell phone 360-460-6668
cabin phone 360-504-9785

Click HERE for Meeting Agenda items for discussion.


8/26/15:

Today I received a number of documents from Daniell, including a 99 year lease agreement, a monthly rental agreement, a rental pool agreement, and another untitled document.  At this point, the purpose of some of these documents is not clear.  A very important issue and agenda item for our meeting is to get clarification of Andrew's intention.  Perhaps we can help modify or combine some documents to make them more understandable for not only existing cabin owners, but future cabin owners.  Clarification of these documents will have a definite impact on any future sales of Whaleshead cabins.

Click HERE for the 99 Year Lease Agreement.

Click HERE for the other documents.


Text of email 8/26/15 to Karl Kolthoff, Paul Pettigrew, and others regarding monthly cabin expenses and rental pool income:

Hi folks,  

At our meeting next week with Andrew, I’m going to hand the attached document out, the purpose of which is to show Andrew that renting your cabin at Whaleshead is not going to make you rich.  Certainly these numbers are arguable, and they could be very different for each cabin owner, but these happen to be my numbers for the last couple of years we were in the rental pool.  The expenses are about what we end up paying every month.  

As can be seen, it costs us a minimum of about $1300 a month to keep our cabin.  And rental income for two years in a row was only about $1000 a month.  So the point is to Andrew, that even when the owner’s take was 70% (instead of the new 60%), renting your cabin for income is no money maker.  That implies that the cabin owner wants his cabin for reasons other than income.  In most cases, the cabin owner wants it for his residence or his personal enjoyment or his family’s enjoyment.  

For those in the rental pool, squeezing more out of them will make it an almost certain money loser.  Who will want to join the rental pool under those circumstances?  

Ray

Click HERE for example document.


Text of email 8/26/15 from Bill Morrish:

Ray

  Thanks for bringing us up to date on your plans for meeting with Andrew on Wednesday. You have an ambitious agenda. Like you, I wonder if we can find out his intentions for the park. So far he has not been forthcoming.

  As you have mentioned in your most recent post we, and I would expect many others, did not buy our unit at Whaleshead for the sake of making money. The rental pool income has enabled us to pretty much offset our operating costs. It is a woodland retreat for us ( C for Creekside -7). We come over from Ashland roughly once a month for two or three days, walk the beach and hike the Boardman Park trails with our dog, make side trips, do some dining out, and always tackle a few projects to keep the cabin in top shape.  We get very nice reviews in our guest book from visitors. We are not really interested in major “amenities” (e.g. dog park,  swimming pool) nor in substantially boosting our rental occupancy. Instead, we would like Whaleshead to address the numerous maintenance and service problem we and others have consistently identified. These improvement by themselves should over time boost occupancy and can be done without major capital improvements ( I am not familiar with the water problem, that may be another matter).

  One further consideration prompted by your earlier post: should we be looking for another insurance carrier? Not every insurer will cover RV Parks(including our carrier, USAA) but there may be better ones than Liberty Mutual.

Best wishes for a successful meeting on Wednesday. 

  Bill Morrish  C-7


Text of email 8/26/15 from Bridget Williams, owner of cabin U-12:

Hello Ray,  Glad that you have added my name to the new WH members website and you may post my phone number if you want: 707-464-3114.  There has been a lot of interesting and great responses on the new WH members website. I am still uncertain about many issues that have surfaced...new lease, fees...management can set rental rates...? I will be coming to WH soon. Better get my reservation made, sounds like there is a new rule about that too. Looks like the 60/40 split is still in the works for September. As stated by several of the rental participants, my monthly net is definitely not  $1500 either. Now it will be even less. I relayed that fact to Daniell when I called...which was the same day that I got "the letter". One of the things that I am unsure of...the new billing for "cleaning"...$50 for two people, is that including laundry? Not sure how this is structured to work. I just got my rental proceeds check for July yesterday. I would like to see a date set for us to receive it just as we have deadlines for paying our lease. Only fair that we expect to get paid in a timely manner just as they do. There is a mistake on my statement, wonder how many I miss. At one time there were many days that I never got paid for at all. I matched the names on the statements to the guestbook. At a meeting with Bill Dukes I told him of my discovery and asked how I could be compensated. His reply was to get in line...I wasn't the only one who was missing money. Still feeling uneasy about what is really going on...so happy that there is now a forum to voice concerns and issues. Thank you and the others that have taken the time and effort to make it possible. You are welcome to post my emails if you like. Sincerely, Bridget Williams U12


Text of email 8/27 from Scott Holland, regarding the meeting with Andrew on 9/2/15:

Hi Ray,
What would you like to accomplish?
I would like to nail down:
1.	Long term rental terms;
2.	Short term rental terms;
3.	Schedule & plans for laundry;
4.	Schedule & plans for treatments building;
5.	Plan for non-junk yard vehicles;
6.	Plan to ensure consistent dress code in WH uniforms;
7.	Plan for pool;
8.	Plan for water;
9.	Consider not having "for sale" signs on homes; instead have Ron Reel place one sign that will be seen when entering WH. I believe it will benefit Ron and WH owners: It will drive serious buyers to call Ron's office so he can ask relevant questions and make informed suggestions; it will make it seem like the "supply" is less… too many in your face signs scares a lot of people.
10.	Marketing plans.
Unfortunately, at this time, I have little trust in Andrew's words. I had an older brother, top salesman… but would tell you whatever "you" wanted to hear… and then it meant little or nothing to him. Pathological liar… rationalized whatever/however "for his needs."
And there is not really a good solution for people like this in my experience. I sincerely hope I am mistaken and believe forming a homeowner's committee is paramount to WH's future.
Just wanted to touch base to ensure as productive a meeting as possible. Thank you so much for driving down. Very nice.
Scott & Gina

Text of email reply 8/27/15 to Scott Holland:

Hi Scott,  

I have sent the attached Agenda Items to Andrew.  What I want to discuss are those issues for which I have received hundreds of emails and phone conversations from other cabin owners.  These are the big issues that must be discussed for a path forward.   

I first want to explain our communication efforts and the cabin owners group, noting that we now have all but about 20 cabin owners on our list, and we are working towards 100%.  I want to point out that there are three general groups of owners (residents, non-residents in the rental pool, and non-residents not in the rental pool).  But all of these groups have a primary interest in protecting their investment and the lifestyle they chose when they bought their cabins.  So all cabin owners are tied to Whaleshead and Whaleshead is tied to them, like it or not.  

Andrew has been discussing a Five Star Resort, and I want to get his views on what that means.  But overwhelmingly, the cabin owners view is that five stars to them means a well-managed place that looks good with a solid infrastructure and deserves a five star rating when they visit Whaleshead.  There is little or no interest in extras like a pool, spa, etc.  

We MUST get clarification on the new lease and rental agreements.  I have all of the documents and it is unclear what the intention is for some of them.  I want Andrew’s view on these and hopefully we can omit, edit, and/or combine some documents so they will be acceptable to both Andrew and future cabin owners.  

Regarding rental pool fees, I have a handout to give that shows that cabin owner monthly costs are higher than rental income, even at the old 70/30 split.  This will show that it is difficult to break even as a strict investment.  Squeezing the cabin owners more will have a negative effect on gaining more participants.  I also want to point out that of the 30 or so owners not in the rental pool, his goal of 100% participation is impossible, when in fact very few, if any, are interested no matter what the fees are.  

There are quite a few suggestions from cabin owners on how to improve the resort.  We would like to participate in developing a survey to be sent to all cabin owners to provide feedback to Andrew.  

I want to discuss the infrastructure, especially the water system.  The water system can’t even handle present guest loading, much less Andrew’s vision of more guests.  This must be a top priority.  I’ll ask what Andrew’s plans are and offer to help, since part of my engineering background included developing and maintaining water systems for property developments.  

I want to point out that Whaleshead and the cabins owners MUST work together to be successful, because we are all tied together.  When Andrew bought Whaleshead, he also bought an extra 100 partners because we can’t move our cabins.  The only solution is to work together rather than as adversaries.  

Finally, we’d like to ask to a schedule for future meetings if possible.

 Some of the items in your list below will be covered, but in a more general way.  We may not be able to get into specifics in the time we have for a meeting.  Perhaps another meeting should be scheduled for items like the laundry and other buildings, vehicles, and dress code.  Those are not top priority from the majority of cabin owners at this time even though they are important.  There is no interest in a pool.  Water, however, is a huge issue, as mentioned above.  Regarding signs and marketing, I’d rather leave for another meeting.  

Karl Kolthoff, owner of U-10 and a friend of mine for 50 years, will be attending as well.  I’ve suggested to Daniell that our meeting be in our cabin to give us more space and she thought that a good idea.  I guess it will be up to Andrew.  I don’t know a time, but likely after noon on Wednesday.  

Regards,  

Ray


Text of email 8/27/15 from Paul Pettigrew, owner of cabin OV-4:

I have read all of the WH website correspondence to this point. I must say that I have spoken/corresponded with many of the various WH owners, rental pool and non-pool alike.  

You have captured the very essence of the concerns and fears of the different groups. I can say with great assurance that we agree with your summary of points to discuss with Andrew on 9/2.  

The lease and rental agreements are of paramount importance.  Infrastructure improvements are top priority. Andrew's realistic long term plans/goals for WH are an important concern. Uniforms and swimming pools aren't even on the list. Many of us, myself included, bought our home as coastal retreats.  I can say with great confidence that the majority of part-time, non-pool owners will NEVER place their units in the rental program.  

Yours truly,

Paul Pettigrew OV-4


Text of email 8/27/15 from Terry McGraw, owner of cabin S-1:

Hi Ray, 

Good job on the agenda for your September 2nd meeting with Andrew Cramer ( herein after, the Company). I concur in all of your talking points.     

Here are my thoughts and concerns about the seemingly arbitrary Rental Pool fee increases  and related matters 

I  believe that the fee increase notice should have been accompanied by a statement as to the needs of the Company for increased revenue. 

If the need for increased revenue is due to unanticipated infrastructure expenses, those costs should be shared by all cabin owners, perhaps by means of a limited term mutually agreeable assessment..  

I strongly object to the increases for Cleaning and Laundry. Depending on how these increases are applied, these increases could range from  43% to 122% of current costs and could result in negative monthly cabin income to cabin owners. If the current fee structure is inadequate to cover  the actual costs, the rates should be increased to cover the actual costs. 

I also object to the Management Fee increase to 40% of net revenue, in addition to the above increases could reduce owner monthly income by 25% to 53%. One would have to ask; What is the point of being in the Rental Pool or even owning a cabin at Whaleshead?   

The current fee structure has enabled owners in the Rental Pool to maintain  the condition and appearance of cabins to the benefit of cabin owners as well as to the Resort owners . 

As to the idea of building a swimming pool at Whaleshead.  I believe that if there was a real interest among a majority of owners, such a project would be in the very distant future and should  be based on a cost/benefit analysis. 

Wishing you a pleasant and  productive meeting with Andrew. 

Terrence McGraw S1


Text of emails 8/28/15 from Peggy and Cliff Titus, owners of cabin B-14:

Hi Ray,  

Cliff and I believe your agenda for the meeting covers the most important issues concerning the owners of all groups here at Whaleshead. You explained it thoroughly in your 8/27 email to Scott Holland. We agree with Paul Pettigrew's text of 8/27 which also emphasizes the most important points.  

It should be an interesting meeting. Anything that Mr.Cramer agrees on get in writing! Though we know from all that has been transpiring since he purchased Whaleshead can be changed on a whim.  

Thanks for all your hard work,  

Peggy and Cliff Titus  

Hi Ray,  

Safe trip! Look forward to finally meeting you.  

I know I have emphasized this before, but please keep in mind that Cramer's main goal, as he has stated, is to get all non-permanent residents in the rental pool. Somehow, he needs to be convinced

(nicely) that this is not going to happen nor can he force anyone to by either arbitrary fees or whatever.  

The other thing that still resonates in my mind is the "until further notice" concerning the $150.00 fee or any other arbitrary fee he chooses to implement. I'd like to see that removed-permanently.  

See you soon,

Peggy


Text of email 9/3/15 to Andrew Cramer after meeting with him on 9/2/15:

Hi Andrew,  

Thank you for your time yesterday at our Whaleshead meeting.  Many cabin owners are very interested in the results of the meeting, so I would like to send the attached summary to all cabin owners and post it on our website.  Before I do that, however, I would like you to take a quick look at it to make sure your recollection is the same as ours.  Please let me know if I need to make any changes.

See below for the summary of the meeting.


Text of email 9/3/15 from Andrew Cramer responding to the summary:

Hi Ray,

This looks like a great summary and thanks for putting it together; I look forward to continuing to make good progress like we did yesterday!

Andrew

Text of email 9/3/15 to all cabin owners:

Hello fellow cabin owners,  

Yesterday Andrew Cramer drove down from Portland for a meeting to discuss a number of important issues.  The meeting agenda was posted on the Whaleshead Cabin Owners website last week.  

Attached is a summary of the meeting, which we felt was very productive and should alleviate many of the concerns we cabin owners have been discussing during the past few weeks.  When Elna and I get home this weekend, I’ll post the meeting summary on the website, but I thought you might find the attached interesting.  

We would have liked even more time to cover some of the subjects in more detail, but soon after our meeting Andrew had to turn around and hit the road back to Portland.  I don’t envy his schedule.  

You will note, when you read the meeting summary, that we have some work to do regarding a number of the documents and a survey that Andrew would like to send to all cabin owners.  Please email me your comments.  

Also, we still have about 15-20 owners who have not yet responded to our requests for their email addresses.  Those folks likely will not have a clue as to what is going on at Whaleshead.  If any of you know the owners listed on the master spreadsheet that don’t have email addresses listed, please contact them and get them on our list.  It’s easy to keep them informed once they are on the list.  

Regards,  

Ray

Click HERE for the summary of the meeting.


Text of email 9/3/15 from Tom Miller, owner of cabin T-12:

Thanks Ray. I appreciate your leading the way on this. It does sound like a productive meeting and I believe Andrew benefited from the experience and insights you and others offered. It is also good he exhibited sound judgement  by rescinding some of his earlier decisions. As far survey suggestions, I recommend that the owners be asked if they support Whaleshead setting rental rates, or at least strongly recommending or reviewing and approving rental rates after the other resort survey is completed. Some standardization makes sense to me both as a member of the rental pool as well as if I were a person seeking a rental. It has got to be strange to call Whaleshead seeking a stay  and being advised of such an array of rates, some of which have little to do with the offering. Also, I agree with Andrew's request that we form an organization so that he deals with a collective voice. To keep it simple to start with, I recommend you ask all those on your e-mail list to give a vote of confidence to you and at least 2 others whom you have confidence in to continue to act in all of our behalf until we collectively form a Cabin owners association, or something similar. Say for the next 2 months. If you need support in any way to accomplish such, including a monetary contribution, please let me know.- Tom Miller


Text of email 9/4/15 from Bill Morrish:

Ray

  Just a short note of appreciation for your taking the lead in representing us cabin owners in dealing with Andrew. Your report is thorough and your conversational writing style gives us something of the feeling of having been present at the meeting. It appears that Andrew has recognized how “out of synch” with the owners he has been and has made a number of concessions. I hope we can count on some sort of communication from him confirming the conclusions reached during your discussions.

  Your report seems to confirm my earlier conclusion that Andrew is trying to run Whaleshead “out of his back pocket”: no time, no staff, no backup,  no solid business plan, no clue on how to deal with his homeowners, at least  until now. Some of the ideas he has suggested so far ($250k pool, spa) seem, at best, to be naďve. Not a good start, it seems to me , for a run at the 5 star rating. I would be happy to see us reach a solid 3 star rating, which under present circumstances, seems a considerable reach by itself.


Text of email 9/7/15 to all cabin owners:

I need some help with a few things:  

1.        I don’t like sending out mass emails to people who don’t want them.  For those of you who would prefer NOT to get emails about Whaleshead, please email me and let me know.  You all have access to the Cabin Owners Website, so you can always pick up whatever new is posted by simply going to the site and reading the latest information.  

2.       In our meeting with Andrew Cramer last week, we discussed all of the latest documents that cabin owners sign when buying a cabin.  Two of the documents are very important, and we need to resolve issues with them.  The first (and easiest) document to “fix” is the 99 Year Lease Agreement, posted on the website.  The other one is the new Month to Month Rental Agreement that appears to have a lot of conflicts with the lease agreement and likely is not even relevant to a cabin sale.   

A.      Since the 99 Year Lease Agreement is fairly straight forward and relatively easy to edit, I would like to have some volunteers to help edit the document so we can present a better document to Andrew for his approval.  Fred Caldwell, owner of cabin T-17, has already offered some suggestions.  I would appreciate any cabin owners who would like to join a small “committee” to edit this draft for presentation to Andrew.  Please email me if you would like to help.  We can then email just between ourselves instead of bothering every cabin owner with the details.  Of course, once a modified document is completed and accepted by Andrew, it will be posted on the website for all cabin owners to see.  

B.      The other document, the new Month to Month Rental Agreement, is more of a problem.  We explained to Andrew that it doesn’t even seem to pertain to cabin owners, and Andrew stated that “if it is a real problem” we can address it.  I think it IS a real problem, but we didn’t have time to get into the specifics of why.  Personally, I would just like to see it eliminated altogether for cabin sales, but we need to go through the document and point out the conflicts and problems areas.  Again, I’d like to have a committee to resolve this issue and present something to Andrew.  Maybe the same committee that addresses the 99 year lease agreement can do this one as well, but I’d like to tackle the easier lease agreement first, so we can show Andrew we know what we are doing, then present the more difficult document editing (or elimination).  Would those of you who would like to help out with this editing please email me?  

C.      If you want to join either or both of these committees, please email me with a subject line “Document Review Committee”.   You can download both documents from the website.  

3.       Another issue discussed in the meeting was developing a survey from Andrew to the cabin owners so he can get feedback from all of us, or at least our group.  We, as a group, need to make sure that the survey addresses all of our concerns, so I would like to assist Andrew in preparing the survey.  I’m not sure the best way to accomplish this, but again, perhaps we should form a core group of cabin owners to evaluate and select questions, and maybe even a format, for the survey.  If you are interested in joining this group, please email me with a subject line “Cabin Owners Survey”.  

4.       Finally, if you read Tom Miller’s (cabin T-12) email from 9/3/15 on the website, you will see that he suggests a small group of cabin owners to be able to communicate with Andrew Cramer.  I don’t think it’s appropriate that only I have access to him, but he obviously does not seem to have the time to meet with a large group of owners – this is very unfortunate, but it seems to be a fact of life.  This group will have to be small, it has to represent the concerns and attitudes of as many cabin owners as possible, and very importantly, it must be constructive in nature.  It can’t be just a bunch of complaints about what we don’t like about what’s going on.  We have to think carefully about what we can do as cabin owners to influence and assist Andrew in making decisions in the best interests of Whaleshead.  It’s hard to form such a small group because cabin owners are spread out all over the country, but let’s think about how we should accomplish this.  We’ll have to cover this in a future email.  

Thank you and regards,  

Ray


Text from email 9/7/15 from Bill Morrish:

Ray  

  I have not given close attention to the Month to Month document but in my mind, it appears to fail the first test: are we cabin owners temporary or long term lessees of our spaces in the park? If short term (such as the trailer spaces) we sign the Month to Month. If we are long term (cabin owners) we sign the 99 year lease. It cannot be imagined that a future buyer of a cabin might consider a purchase with no more than a three month lease. Nor can I imagine a long term owner signing both a 99 year and a Month to Month Lease. Which would govern?  I wonder if Andrew has written them, appropriated them , read them or even understands them himself.  

   I am finding Andrew’s behavior to verge on the bizarre. On the other hand, your patience in dealing with him verges on the heroic.  For example, he appears to have delivered to us three documents which he wishes to have us execute. But there is no transmittal (that I know of), no explanation of their intent, essentially no communication at all. It appears as though he has dumped them on the conference table, looked at his watch, said” I have to be on my way now” , you guys figure these out and get them back to me”. Other examples verging on the bizarre: lopping of perfectly healthy and pleasantly screening spruce boughs in the lower park to eliminate “widow makers”, drilling 5 dry holes in search of water for a cost (I’m told) of $12,500 only to claim later that the park does not have a water source problem but merely a water storage problem, moving on to the burned-out cabin site a structure whose only redeeming feature is that the designer forgot to include the crescent moon over the door, advertising the(cheap, non-conforming)  new structures he planned to introduce to the park as though there would be a land rush to claim them, telling you that in the event cabin owners were to host a  get acquainted barbecue, he would (deign to) attend (if he had any class he would be the host), entering the office/restaurant building each time he comes to the park without noticing (in his quest for 5 Star ranking) that the entrance looks like the  rear entrance to a thrift shop , in a bad part of town, etc. etc.  

  Well that’s about all for the present. I enjoy our correspondence Ray,  and repeat my admiration for your willingness to rally the troops.  

Thanks  

   Bill


Text from email 9/8/15 from Joe Adams:

Ray:   Bill Morrish E-Mail dtd 9/7/15.  Bill has perfectly summarized the most
          important and confusing Cramer issue, so far.  Hopefully, everyone will
          reread paragraph one and seek a written answer from Cramer to clarify
          things:  why provide two documents that contradict one another?  what is
          the monthly rental one being used for?  will new buyers be discouraged by
          WH's apparent ineptitude and/or dishonesty?  This puzzle must be solved
          and removed before the value of our lease protections become lost in the 
          fog of rapprochement.
          
          J Adams

9/10/15:
Two new letters to the cabin owners from Andrew Cramer are being mailed to owners by Daniell.
The first letter discusses some positive changes to the rental program that should please those in the program.  
The second letter discusses Utilities and the Water System.
Click HERE to download the two letters.

Text of email 9/11/15 from Bill Morrish:

Ray

  I believe Andrew’s two letters are very  well done and reassuring. I have revised my opinion of his management style and ability . I think we should be able to work with this guy to our mutual benefit. I don’t doubt that your meetings with him have brought about this transformation and thank you again for leading the way.

  Regards

   Bill


Text of email 9/23/15 from Vickie Dishman, owner of cabin I-8:

Hi Ray,

I didn't know if you'd seen or heard about the new "homes" that Whaleshead brought in from North Dakota. They have put six down in the lower area on Orca Loop, and Vic says that they have plans to put in more in the lower part of the park. Needless to say, they don't look anything like the park models that are here - even the new one they put on top looks better, if that gives you any indication. I'm attaching a couple of pictures so that you can see them. Plain old storage containers look just as good.

Our concern is that we don't know if Andrew Cramer is intending to try and sell or rent, because of course, he doesn't communicate his thoughts with anyone (other than you, maybe). We've heard that they intend to rent, or maybe sell, but either way, we believe that the kind of clientele they will attract will be bad for the park, meaning if they're priced low enough we could get a criminal element in here doing drugs, etc.

Right now, there's a lot of concern that these will decrease the value of everyone's property, not just the homes in the lower loop, and that when people try to sell, it will become very difficult to do so.

If Whaleshead gets a reputation that there's some drug activity going on, it will be very hard to get rid of it. We speak from personal experience because my husband and I used to be on-site property managers of a mobile home community in South Lake Tahoe. When we first got there, there was a lot of drug activity, police raids, etc. It was nearly impossible to get these people out oft the park. We were successful in getting some of them out, but it seemed like when one of them left, another moved in.

Could you voice that concern to Andrew? Knowing that he and his partners own "trailer" parks that have had criminal activity, I just don't think they thought this recent acquisition through completely!

CLICK ON PHOTOS BELOW FOR FULL SIZE IMAGES:

    

NOTE:  We hope to address these cabins with Andrew Cramer at a future meeting.


On another subject, text of email 9/29/15 sent to Andrew Cramer regarding a new Space Lease Agreement for cabin owners:

Hello Andrew,

At our meeting last month, we advised that we formed a documents review committee to try to improve and clarify some of the various documents that cabin owners are asked to sign when they purchase a cabin. Most important to tackle first is the Space Lease Agreement, since many parts of the SLA were unclear and seemed to be outdated. There are many sections that are not written well, nor do they appear to serve the best interests of either the Lessor (you, as the owner of the park) or the Lessee (the cabin owner).

Seven cabin owners volunteered to join this committee, and over the past few weeks we've spent considerable time rewriting and modifying the SLA with many revisions. Last week Elna and I drove down to Whaleshead to meet with other committee members who also drove to Whaleshead from California and Nevada to complete our task. We think we have a very nice document attached that certainly meets the needs of the cabins owners and we think will also meet your needs. We would appreciate you looking this over carefully and if it meets with your approval, please adopt this for future lease agreements for cabin spaces. It is a Microsoft Word .doc file, so it easily editable. If you find that something needs to be changed or added, we can easily modify the document for a final form.

Please note that our next task is to improve the Statement of Policy form, because there are some conflicts with both the old and new lease agreements. If you find that you would like to add something, depending on what it is, perhaps the change or addition might be more appropriate in the Statement of Policy rather than the lease agreement.

Also attached is a second document, the "SLA Highlights". You might want to read that first, since it summarizes the changes from the old SLA and describes the reasons for the changes. This is intended to make it easy for you to understand the differences so you don't have to compare both the old and new documents side by side and read each word.

After finalizing the SLA and the subsequent Statement of Policy, we will then take a look at the Month to Month Rental Agreement. Our first impression is that it is not well suited for a cabin owner because the cabins are a permanent fixture at Whaleshead and can't be moved, hence cabin owners need a long term agreement. It seems to be much more appropriate for short or long term rentals of spaces for movable RVs. But we are happy to further evaluate the document and see if we can improve upon that one as well.

We are anxious to get your response to our efforts, and we will continue to help where we can.

Click HERE for the modified Space Lease Agreement.  Click HERE for a second document, the SLA Highlights.


Text of email 10/13/15 to all cabin owners:
Hello fellow Whaleshead Cabin Owners,
 

I’ve updated the cabin owners website again:  

http://www.kawal.net/whaleshead.htm  

and posted a short summary of an ad hoc owners’ committee, a group of six of us who volunteered to work with the Whaleshead owner until we can form an elected homeowner’s association.  We think that the initial members form a good cross section of owners, since we have residents, non-residents, and non-residents in the rental pool represented.  Please see the attached summary as well as the updated website.

We would certainly welcome any comments you might have.   

On another subject, many of you have emailed me about the ugly cabin units that have been moved into the Orca Loop.  Photos are also posted on the website.  They certainly do not blend in well, and I can’t imagine who would ever buy or rent those units.   We hope to be able to convince Andrew Cramer that they will be a money loser for him, since we are assuming his goal is increase revenue to the Whaleshead operation.

Regards,  

Ray

Click HERE for the Whaleshead Ad Hoc Owners Committee summary.


Text of email 10/13/15 from Mike and Sally Irish:

Dear Ray,

I have seen the new units that Andrew has brought into the park and they are just plain ugly….no other description.  It is degrading to the park and to the value of the existing units.  What’s even more disturbing is I hear he has 9 more units currently stored at Pistol River that he plans on putting into A section.  Gary & Marge Vickerman, U13, who do not have a computer, are concerned homeowners as well.  These units look like emergency housing for disaster areas and have no business being in this park.  We all were required to choose our units from standard designs so we would all be similar in look and colors.  This should continue to be the requirement for any future additions to keep the park standardized.  

What can we do to alleviate this situation with Andrew?  

Mike & Sally Irish, U19 

My reply:

Hi Sally and Mike,  

Elna and I were down at Whaleshead a couple of weeks ago and saw six of them in place on the Orca Loop.  You are not the first owner to complain – in fact, at least eight owners have emailed me and one sent photos as well that are posted on the website:  

http://www.kawal.net/whaleshead.htm  

Donnie and Kathy would never have allowed such ugly units in Whaleshead, and I hope to talk to Andrew about them, as well as forward everyone’s comments about them.  He kept talking about a “five star resort” and I can’t imagine how he thinks units like those fit in.   

What is happening now is that we have a new lease agreement that our committee has put together and we’ve given it to Andrew for approval (hopefully).  Once we get approval, I hope to pin him down on these unit and how it will be just a money loser for him – since I can’t imagine who would ever rent or buy those.  Money seems to the be overriding issue with him, so I’m hoping that will deter him from spending even more money connecting them up with sewer, water, and power.   We can only hope he’ll listen.  

Should I post your comment on the website?  

Regards,  

Ray

Sally's reply:

Thank you Ray for getting back with us.  Feel free to post my comments.  I hope there’s something we can do as homeowners to get those tractor trailers out of here.  I can’t imagine his thinking these will help bring this resort to the quality rating he is wanting.

Sally


Text of email 10/14/15 from Andrew Cramer:

Hi All  

I will be on site this Tuesday if anyone is around please let me know!  

Also, I'd like to introduce (via email) Gio Stevaggio; Gio is fresh off a successful 5 star conversion of a hotel lodge in San Diego and had joined us at Whaleshead!  I have cced Gio here please join me in welcoming her to our resort!  

Andrew

and Text of email 10/14/15 from Gio Stevagio:

Dear Mr. Kawal,  

I will be assisting Andrew Cramer with all communication and actions regarding the new Ad Hoc Owner's Committee.  Andrew has forwarded a copy of your last email to me for review and I look forward to speaking and meeting with you soon.  I am in the final stages of relocating to the Whaleshead Beach Resort and expect to be fully moved in and ready to move forward by November 3, 2015.   

Again, I look forward to speaking with you soon.  

Thanks and have a great day,  

Gio Stevagio


Text of email 10/18/15 from Glen Dishman, owner of cabin I-8:

Ray,
I don't think it's any surprise that any owner concerned about their homes here at Whaleshead object to the "storage container homes". I can see how they would've worked in the North Dakota oilfields as they are easier for security with the lack of windows and less heating concerns in their brutal cold with less windows. Our concern is that if we don't offer Andrew an alternative idea and just complain about their ugliness and inappropriate placement here, then he won't even consider removing them if he hasn't got another avenue to pursue.
Vickie and I were working with the Fleetwood Factory Expo manufacturer in Woodburn, Oregon for building a unit for the Mt. Hood area. It may very well be that if there were an interest in a number of units being built that a very appealing discount would be possible to their already very reasonable prices. These are beautiful units that not only are completely compatible with our present units but would also move this park in the direction of the 5 star park that Andrew claims he desires. We have the contact information for the manager we were in contact with and would happily pass that on to you and Andrew if he should express an interest.
Again, I've always felt that people who complain about things without offering a solution to existing problems don't make any head way but if they have some viable ideas, others will at least listen and consider. Feel free to post this on the Whaleshead website.
Thanks for your liaison work on our behalf!
Glen Dishman


Text of email 10/27/15 from Bridget Williams, owner of cabin U-12:

Hello, We made the trek to Whaleshead last week and I was happy to see lots of comments in the guestbook on how clean the cabin was. It did look cleaner but there are still issues...just like last years visit AGAIN the windows upstairs were left open in the rain and the room was in disarray. The cleaning staff could not have checked upstairs or it wouldn't have looked like that. Screens were torn, the CD player had the face torn off and there were missing items. Business as usual I guess. A few days ago I noticed that the rental rate increase on the WH website has gone into effect. The rental proceeds statement arrived and the 30/70 split was taken out of the GROSS instead of the NET, which is not how it has been calculated in the 8 years that I have been in the rental pool. I called Danielle and she contended it was always SUPPOSED to be this new way...she would have to look at the contract. She commented that  WH should NOT have to pay for the expenses. It was evident that they are evaluating the situation. Even though she acted surprised at my discovery, I had already spoken to another WH owner in the rental pool who had already contacted Danielle about the situation, so I wasn't her first phone call about this matter. The amount is considerable. During our conversation I asked about the "ugly" trailers in Orca Loop. She said Andrew is planning on residing them and then renting them at a reduced price. So much for the "Five Star" concept. Anyway, I still am holding my breath about how things are going to end up with the new owner....and keeping my fingers crossed....I am so glad the we have forum now to communicate issues and concerns. Thank you for posting and keeping us informed. Bridget Williams U-12

and text of email 10/28/15 from Wendy Ray, owner of cabin OV-10:

Bridget and I discussed our statements -she noticed first and I agree-that with the new program the 30% to Whaleshead came off the gross rental income.  In the past it has come off the adjusted gross after housekeeping and laundry costs were deducted.  The hot tub cleaning fee (was $50 now 100) always came off the owners 70% at the end.  This change makes a noticeable difference in the owners profit as cleaning and laundry costs for a cabin that rents often are high(my September cleaning costs were 320, hot tub fee 100=420)  so that 30% of 320 is a new charge)  For rental cabin owners this will be a big impact!

I talked to Bill Morrish on the phone today, he hadn't noticed yet but was going to look at his statement and see if he comes to the same conclusion.   There is a new software program and rental owners Sept statements look different than our past statements, Bridget and I went over ours on the phone together, she owns U12 in the park. 

Thanks Ray, wanted to bring this to your attention so someone can clarify this with Andrew.  I did ask Danielle, she wasn't aware of this change in where the 30% came off.  I know it is new software and there are usually bugs to work out.  

Text of email reply to Bridget Williams, Wendy Ray, and Bill Moorish:

Hi Wendy and Bridget,  

I just spoke to Daniell and she is correcting the problem.   Until Bill Duke left, Daniell was not taking care of the rental payments and it was her (mis)understanding that Whaleshead’s 30% came off of the gross income, which was not correct.  The rental agreement verifies that the 30% comes off of the net income (after cleaning/laundry fees), and Daniell is having the software correct this mistake.

 Regards,  

Ray

Note:  I spoke to Bridget on the phone after the above email and suggested she email Daniell regarding the rental cleaning issues, which Bridget agreed to do.


Text of email 10/28/15 from Gio Stevagio:

Good Evening Ray,
Just a short note to let you know that I arrived at Whaleshead Beach Resort late this afternoon.  I'll take tomorrow to acclimate and unpack and then I look forward to speaking / meeting with you and the other owners at your convenience.  Andrew has expressed his desire to work towards the best outcome. 
Have a great evening.
Sincerely,
Gio Stevagio 

Text of email 11/1/15 from Penny Odom, owner of cabin I-7:

Hello Ray, Hope all is well. Was great to finally meet you & Elna I recently had the pleasure to speak with Daniell. She informed me the outside of the restaurant/lobby will soon be painted. Wonderful!! She also mentioned the "old" office will also be painted and remodeled to become a spa. My hopes are for that to be successful but is that something we really need at this time while there is still so much more that needs to be done? Andrew wants a "5" star rating? Park maintenance still needs improvement. I still see the trusses on the ground in the T section (2 years). There is still a large section of fencing on the ground in the same area (trees hide it) & rental units there. I would have thought it have been repaired by now. The maintenance (water treatment?) shed down the hill from the T section is very unsightly with scattered debris for 2 years. Often a sewage smell in that area. Is there anything that can be done about that? Many fences and missing pickets still need repair & painting. The rain runoff pond was recently cleaned as best could be by my son & neighbors. Looks better but does that mean the dredging is delayed? Is there a way we can eliminate some of the invasive plant growth in the pond? New bridges to the pond area have been built but not stained. The 1st (2nd, weather permitting) was by my son (permission granted) using materials I bought. Provides an attitude that anything an owner does to fix something is less WH needs to do. Rather than creating a spa I would think priority should be on existing structures. Is there a centralized location that could be used to park maintenance vehicles, trailers, etc. owned by others in the park. Possibly a centralized location? I know of areas that could work and maybe acceptable. As to the removal of the deck from the laundry house. I have been told it would be replaced, when? It's very unsightly & I would think RV'ers/renters would appreciate a pleasant location to do laundry (rather than a Spa) while enjoying the beauty of the RV area. Rock lined water runoff canals weed filled. Yes, would take some work to clean but would certainly add to the beauty of the resort. In my opinion, maintenance of the park should be a priority to get more bang for the buck. Hopefully some of my concerns are effective, feel free to contact me at any time. Feel free to post my letter.

Penny Odom, I-7

P.S. Tks Ray for being doing all you are. Much appreciated.


Text of email 11/1/15 to Gio Stevagio:

Hello Gio,

I received your emails and I tried to call you the other day (left a message) to let you know that my wife Elna and I will be arriving on the 9th or 10th and staying the week. We'll look forward to meeting you when you get some time available.

I asked Andrew about the Space Lease Agreement feedback, but I didn't see him mention it in his reply. Might you know where this stands? Perhaps we can discuss it when we get a chance to meet?

We hope to see you soon.

Thank you, and regards,

Ray

Text of email 11/2/15 to Gio Stevagio from Fred Caldwell:

Hi Gio…I'm on the Cabin Owner's Document Review Committee and a "Full Time" Whaleshead resident [T17] for 11 years. The Cabin Owners have some concerns and I would like to meet with you this afternoon, if possible, to review some of them prior to Andrew's arrival tomorrow. We know his time is limited when he visits.

I'm going to town for a couple of hours, but otherwise could be available to meet. 

Regards…Fred

Text of email 11/4/15 from Fred Caldwell:

Hi all…I met with Gio on Monday evening

For starters, Gio clarified that Andrew made two mis-statements in his email. The lodge was in Carmel Valley not San Diego and got to four star rate on Trip Advisor versus five. She participated in the restoration and upgrades. The lodge had been formerly owned and operated by the same family for years, but was quite run down. The new owner is a Korean with a vision of a Vegan Wellness Center.

Gio evidently had helped her former husband through Law School and ran his office until 2004 when she entered the SPA field, "her real passion". My understanding from her is that Andrew has hired her to oversee upgrades at Whaleshead and work with our AD-Hoc Owners group. "He doesn't feel he can give us the attention we deserve." She will be onsite to meet with our group as needed. I'm not sure she knows yet what authority she will have. I relayed my availability the meet with her and Andrew if the opportunity presented itself. I didn't probe into her education.

She mentioned that Andrew came down Monday night and was to meet off-site with her early Tuesday morning. They were then to meet with the Restaurant Manager and others. I shared some of my experiences at the restaurant, and observations from myself and others in the community.

I shared with her some of the intense concerns of the Owner's regarding the "Green Monsters". I gave her some pictures of some PMs I saw in RV Parks on my recent trip to central Oregon, see attached. One of the parks was a 10/10*/10 rating in Trailer Life Directory (equivalent to Five Stars). I emphasized our Owner's concerns about the impact of these units on our property values and the type of renters they would attract.

One of the upgrades is to convert the old Office PM to a SPA. I suggested she might check the Demographics of the area before going too far with the SPA plan. I gave her a brief picture of Curry County and Brookings-Harbor Community.

She took notes on some of our concerns and observations. She thought our committee's Space Lease Agreement (SLA) was very well written. She looked forward to meeting with members of our Ad-Hoc Owners Committee as they visited Whaleshead in the coming weeks. I am hoping for an update soon on her meetings with Andrew yesterday.

Regards…Fred

PS. Internet Observations: From Carmel Valley Chamber of Commerce for Carmel Resort & Wellness Center also doing business as Carmel Valley Lodge: "Gio Visconti Stevagio, General Manager, Program Director, Director of Marketing"

Carmel Valley Lodge was only three stars on Yelp, and three and half stars on Travelocity.

Click HERE for the sample cabins photos.


Text of email 11/15/15 from Bill Morrish, owner of cabin C-7:

Fellow Whaleshead Cabin Owners

Eva-Marie and I had a fruitful one hour meeting with Gio. I'll break down my notes to separate the several topics we covered.

1. Gio
Our impression is that she is a mature professional woman with considerable business experience. According to her account, she ran her ex- husband's law office, his campaigns for political office (City Council and Board of Supervisor) and most recently has consulted for a hotel-spa developer in Carmel Valley where she was in charge of taking a run-down 32 room hotel and transforming it into an attractive 3 Star Spa and hotel: remodeling, redecorating marketing (and perhaps managing) the property. She proved to be a good listener, took some notes and told us she is in touch with Andrew multiple times each day. She is difficult to reach by phone (all calls are on call-forwarding) but does respond to text messages. Her role is as a consultant for three to six months, she appears to have no management responsibility and operates with no apparent connection to Danielle, Vic or the front office staff. On her "to do" list are "warming up" the office/ lobby/ reception area, redesigning the refrigerator area in the entryway, improving restaurant lighting and ambience, improving the menu (more seafood, smaller portions for seniors), advising on the proposed Spa, writing a Newsletter for owners beginning sometime before year-end, remodeling the laundry/washhouse building to replace worn out appliances, add a sunporch and some exercise equipment, communicating owner's concerns to Andrew and helping Daniell grow into the job of local Park Manager. One particular piece of good news is Andrew's plan to host a Whaleshead Holiday get-together on December 17th from 12 to 3. I expect there will be an announcement to come. We found her to be amiable and smart and pretty good natured as well. A few days earlier, some guy in the parking lot had backed his truck into the front of her late model BMW and given it a $4,000 nosebleed. She just shrugged it off.

2. Spa
The definition of what constitutes a "Spa" varies widely: from what one might expect in Europe, to Carmel Valley to Brookings. Andrew's idea seems modest enough: he has partnered with a local massage therapist and they intend to offer hair care(?), facials and perhaps massage in Bill Duke's old office building. It is not going to be a major investment. Remodeling is underway, they hope to be in business by year end. Gio hopes to get some coverage in the local paper and has joined the Chamber of Commerce to help build local support.

3. SLA
Andrew and Gio met last Wednesday to go over our document. They came up with some modifications which Andrew then took back to Portland. Gio expects his changes to be sent to her in time for her meeting with Ray this coming week. She is hopeful a final document can be agreed to at that time. Ray may want to verify this with Gio early in the week.

4. Restaurant
Contrary to my earlier understanding, the restaurant is not leased out but is a part of the Park's operations. Andrew has partnered with Eric, the operator, the staff are Whaleshead employees and Andrew, Eric and Gio intend to make it a successful operation.

5. Green monsters
Andrew has bought 16 of them (we are told). Six of them are installed in the Orca Loop and it seems clear that they are here to stay. Ten more are stored offsite, to be moved in once the parking spaces are properly prepared (and perhaps waiting to see what will be the success of the first six).
A number of the Park's small, fenced porches near Orca Loop have been upgraded to make way for their arrival. They will not be covered by cedar siding but painted and trimmed instead, the equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig. We were told that Andrew did not consider the siding cost/benefit analysis favorable. I will be sending you a photo I took showing the paint job and skirting they have received. There is a crew of four now working to clean them up, inside and out. Gio will be in charge of furnishing them (from local suppliers, not Ikea).They appear to be one of Andrew's top priorities; to have them available for rent before year end. No one at the Park likes them: not owners, not staff. They will be put in the rental pool, presumably at a much lower rental rate that the cabins. The addition of 16 new units will increase available rental units by 50%, thereby putting rental pool owners in competition with the Park. So far, our complaints have fallen on deaf ears. The time to nip them in the bud, if there ever was one, would have been before Andrew bought them. It appears that their cost, delivered, is around $5,000 (we are trying to verify this). If one estimates another $5,000 for installation, remodeling and furnishing (our own informal estimate), his cost basis might be around $10,000.There are no building code issues, we are told. Might he decide to sell them as well? We wouldn't bet against it.
6. Conclusions
a. It appears that Andrew does have some idea of what he would like to make of the Park. So far he has been unwilling to share it with us, perhaps wanting to keep all of his options open, but he is spending money and does have a lot of projects underway.
b. Probably, we should not expect much to come of our occasional well-intended advice. Andrew does appear interested in the views of those owners in the rental pool, for the obvious reason that they represent a significant income stream for him.
c. The fact that Andrew has partnered with both the restaurant operator and the Spa operator is probably a good thing: he will have a stake in their bottom line and will want to see them succeed.
d. It appears the Gio is willing and may prove able to be a constructive liaison between Andrew and we homeowners. If she and Ray can work out the new SLA next week that will be a big step forward.

Bill and Eva-Marie Morrish C-7


Click HERE for a Whaleshead Beach Resort Open House announcement for December 17th.


Text of email 11/18/15 to our ad hoc committee members:

Howdy folks,  

Elna and I and Fred Caldwell met with Gio and Daniell last Thursday at the restaurant.  Gio brought the SLA draft with her, along with Andrew’s comments.  Before Fred arrived, I offered Gio some background information about Whaleshead “pre-Andrew” and after Andrew purchased Whaleshead so she could get an idea about how cabin owners felt about the overall situation.  I pointed out that the previous owners were not spending enough money for general maintenance and that Whaleshead was deteriorating from its “glory days”.  Cabin owners were hopeful that the new owner would bring some “love and affection” to Whaleshead, as well as be willing to spend the necessary funds to upgrade Whaleshead to its previous “status”.  We were disappointed, however, when Andrew failed to introduce himself to the cabin owners and soon proceeded to levy new fees that were not justified.  That bad start is what initiated our efforts to bring the cabin owners together as a group so we could all communicate.  Subsequent meetings with Andrew improved the situation and communication progress has been made, but we welcomed Gio’s extra efforts at communication since she advised that she talks to or emails Andrew several times a day.  This is encouraging since Andrew does not appear to have the time to devote to Whaleshead’s ongoing issues.  

We discussed the new “park models” installed (or being installed) on the Orca Loop.  They are being painted but they likely will not be sided.  But they appear to be there to stay, with possibly more installed on the Orca Loop as RV spaces become available when existing RVs move out.  They are very close together, with small windows on one side only, so the “view” is of the next “park model” – not very nice, in my humble opinion.  After the meeting, we were able to go inside one unit, and although they are very small (especially seeming smaller because of the small windows and lack of a view) the cabinetry that they are installing does look like pretty nice quality stuff – new appliances with granite countertops.  The two bedrooms on each end are very tiny.  The purpose seems to be to rent them out whenever possible once they are completely installed.  

When Fred arrived, we began discussing the SLA that Andrew had discussed with Gio.  Overall, it appears Andrew is pretty satisfied with the draft document, but we discussed his comments in some detail with Gio.  Perhaps the most controversial comment was his changing the 99 year lease to a 25 year lease, by basically crossing out “99” and inserting “25”.  We explained to Gio that without further explanation, a 25 year lease is not satisfactory for a cabin owner since the cabins are permanent and 25 years goes by pretty quickly.  The problem is there is no explanation what happens after the 25 years – no one wants to have the end of the lease looming with completely unknown terms for a new lease.  Gio understood our concerns and will discuss them with Andrew.  There were also some other issues, but we’ll follow up with the details in another email.  Fred offered to scan the document with the comments so our committee could discuss them in detail.  There were enough comments that it will take some thoughtful discussion to resolve the issues.  

I was encouraged by Gio’s enthusiasm and dedication to “bridging the gap” between the cabin owners and Andrew.  It will take quite a bit of communication, and Gio appears willing to take on that responsibility, even though she acknowledges that she has no power to make decisions – she just relays information to and from Andrew.   She was basically hired to improve the park towards the “five star rating” that Andrew desires.  This is difficult without improving the infrastructure and installing less than desirable “park models”, but she is doing her best.

Regards,  

Ray


Text of email 11/19/15 from Gio Stevagio, Andrew's resident assistant at Whaleshead:

Good Morning Ray,

My how time flies! A entire week has gone by since our meeting and my intention was to follow up with you before today.  Both Andrew and Todd were in town this week and we have been working on moving forward on all of our improvements.  I am in constant contact with Andrew and I can assure you that your concerns are also his concerns.

Have you received feedback from the other home owners regarding the proposed changes in the SLA?  I provided details to Andrew about our meeting and relayed everyone's concerns and responses.  We look forward to receiving the home owner's feedback so that we may finalize the last few details.

At the meeting we spoke about the positive changes that have made in the Rental Pool Agreement.  I hope these changes in policy will entice you as well as the other home owners to give us a chance and try the rental pool again.  I welcome the opportunity to continue to address your concerns about the rental pool as it is our sincere intention to offer a win-win for all.

Also, I want to share with you a few new exciting developments:

1)  Very soon, Whaleshead Beach Resort Restaurant will be offering home delivery for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We will also deliver beer, wine, and Champaign, closed bottle of course. And, as an added convenience, the tab may be signed on account and added to the owner's monthly statement.
2) Signing privileges are also available for in-restaurant and bar tabs.  We are creating a Senior's Menu and the food portions and pricing will be adjusted accordingly.  We are also expanding our bar offerings and have lovingly named our cozy bar "The Blow Hole." We're creating a specialty drink menu and small plates of amazing appetizers.  We hope to offer a Happy Hour where everyone is, well, happy.
3)  Owner's will also have the same tab signing privileges for spa services.  "Indulgence Spa at Whaleshead Beach Resort" is scheduled to open on December 18th.
4) As we discussed at our meeting, we are moving forward on upgrading the laundry area.  We have an appliance representative scheduled to meet with us on the 24th and our construction team has already started the conversation as to how to best move forward with the outdoor deck and enclosed sunroom. 
5) We are scheduled to correct the parking lot lighting and the County is also assisting with the repairs.  Because of the proximity to the electrical lines, even though the lamps are owned by Whaleshead, we are prohibited from changing the lamps ourselves.  We are working diligently to make the parking lot a safer place.
6)  We have heard the owner's comments and agree with your concerns about the construction equipment being parked so close to the resort's entrance and every effort is being made to correct this eyesore and to relocate this equipment.

Thanks again for having met with me.  Your feedback is most welcome.

Sincerely,

Gio


Text of email 12/17/15 to Andrew Cramer regarding the proposed new lease agreement and other documents:

Hello Andrew,

Attached are three documents for your review and approval, plus a fourth "explanatory" document. Through Gio, we received your comments on our first draft of the Space Lease Agreement early last month and, we've had to take a lot of time for numerous revisions and incorporate some parts of the Space Lease Agreement into a new and revised Statement of Policy and Whaleshead Rules for your consideration. In our opinion, these three documents complement each other and all three should be given to new cabin owners for their signature and approval.

Over the years, there have been numerous lease agreements signed between Whaleshead and the cabin owners. We have found that these lease agreements were inconsistent and often with confusing language, as well as conflicting with the previous confusing "Statement of Policy" and often unpublished park rules. Our goal was to create a set of new documents that are consistent with each other as well as addressing concerns of both cabin owners and you, as the park owner. We also wanted to make sure that the language in the documents is easily understandable for both parties so there isn't confusion on issues down the road. We think that the attached documents will meet those objectives.

Additionally, we wanted to create documents that would be good enough to allow any cabin owner to feel comfortable signing the documents that could supersede existing documents. Accomplishing that would mean that a particular cabin owner would not have to be "grandfathered" in because his older existing agreement might be better than the new one. We feel this is a significant advantage to both the cabin owner and you as the park owner.

The attached Space Lease Agreement (SLA) has been reorganized somewhat from the draft you previously received, but we have attached a second "explanatory version" with added comments in the margins where changes were made and where you previously commented or requested changes. This should make it easier for you to compare the new and old documents.

Regarding your requested changes, we would like to add the following specific comments and reasons for our attached modifications:

1. Term of the Lease. While we think all of your other concerns will be addressed to your satisfaction, you requested that the lease term be 25 years instead of 99 years. We found however, that many of the existing leases are 99 years, 99 years renewable every 25 years, and some were just 25 years with renewable clauses, none of which were easily understandable regarding what happens at the end of 25 years. We don't feel 25 years is long enough because unlike movable RVs, our cabins are here to stay. We are stuck with Whaleshead and Whaleshead is stuck with us for as long as our cabins stand. Even though a cabin owner may not be around in 25 years, his heirs likely will be, and we need to be assured that the terms of our lease agreement will allow us or our heirs to be able to continue the lease for our permanent cabins. Oregon law likely protects both the cabin owner and the resort owner, but why test the law when easily understandable language can be part of the lease agreement? Also, if the new lease agreement was changed to 25 years, any cabin owner with a longer lease would have to be grandfathered in, again making the existing leases inconsistent. We are hopeful you can accommodate our request to leave the new lease term at 99 years, which allows the SLA to include simple and understandable language.
2. Basic cable TV service. You requested that the phrase "Lessor provides as a courtesy" be added. We are assuming that your concern might be that at some point in the future, a vendor might not be able to provide such a service and the lease would still obligate you to do so. Since your concern is reasonable but existing lease agreements do not have the "courtesy" language, we felt a better alternative would be to add language that protects you if basic cable TV was no longer available through an outside vendor. You will see this modification in new Section 3C. This will also eliminate the need for you to provide service to only some cabin owners and not others.
3. Lessor Approval of Proposed Structures. You requested that the language in old Section 4A be revised to say that "Lessor's approval shall not be unreasonable". You will note in the new SLA, the heading is now "Occupancy", and Section 4A has been changed to accommodate your request.
4. Lessee Payment for Services not included in the SLA. You requested that charges for LP gas, telephone, etc. be deleted from the SLA. You will notice that new Section 4C has deleted these Lessee paid charges, but we included them in the new Statement of Policy in Section 11. This will make it clear to any new cabin owner which charges are his or her responsibility.
5. Cabin Maintenance. You requested two changes: add "ground shifting" and remove "significant" for color changes. The latter is easy and you will see the deletion in new Section 5A. But the ground shifting issue is more complicated and we did not insert the issue into the SLA for a number of reasons. We all recognize that there is some ground shifting always occurring - after all, we are on the side of a mountain. And we also recognize that from time to time our cabins will "settle" a bit, sometimes requiring the cabin owner to relevel his cabin and perhaps even provide a bit more support under the cabin. Karl Kolthoff and I both recently spent a few thousand dollars leveling our cabins and providing additional support for both the original cabin and our "add-ons" and decks. We do not expect Whaleshead to be responsible to this minor ground shifting, and our costs are part of normal maintenance. However, at the other extreme, a major "ground shifting" like what occurred at cabin EL-2 (that was recently moved up to burned cabin U-17's location) cannot be the cabin owner's responsibility. The leased space became completely unusable and dangerous. So somewhere in between these extremes the responsibility must shift between the Lessee and Lessor. It is not practical to try to define exactly where this responsibility shifts, but fortunately these are rather rare issues. We felt it was better to leave out "ground shifting" and allow the Lessee and Lessor to negotiate a solution for these rare situations.
6. Pets. You requested a couple of changes, which we accommodated in new Section 4E of the SLA and we provided further details in the new Statement of Policy and Rules documents. There were also some other details about pets in the version of the SLA you previously received that did not seem to be appropriate in the new SLA. We moved those details to the Statement of Policy and Rules documents as well.
7. Short term guests. You requested a definition, which we included in both the new SLA in Section 4D and the new Rules document in Section 14. We suggested two months, which should be able to accommodate a cabin owner's kids or grandkids staying for a summer vacation.
8. Subletting. In old Section 4K, you requested adding "only" to the sentence indicating that the Lessee may do so through the Rental Program. After discussing this issue with our committee members, it was noted that in the past Whaleshead has accommodated some special permissions. We suggest that adding "only" would preclude management's ability to offer a special permission in the future. In new Section 6, Assignment and Subletting, we did not add "only" because we felt you are protected by the first sentence that indicates that the Lessee MUST have written consent from the Lessor for any subletting.
9. Insurance. As requested, we eliminated the Lessor's requirement for providing evidence of insurance to the Lessee. This is covered in new Section 8.
10. Default. You requested elimination of the Lessor's responsibility to correct a situation within a certain timeline due to extenuating circumstances. This is accommodated in new Section 10, Termination of Tenancy.

Hopefully the above discussion will explain why and how we addressed your concerns with the original draft of the SLA. Our committee worked hard and went through many revisions to try to create the "perfect" documents that now complement, rather than conflict with, each other. We would appreciate your response to the new revision as well as the new Statement of Policy and Rules documents.

Regards,

Ray

NOTE:  The documents below are proposed drafts, not yet approved by Andrew:

Click HERE for the new Space Lease Agreement

Click HERE for the new Statement of Policy

Click HERE for the new Leased Space Rules


Text of email 6/12/16 sent to cabin owners:

 Hi fellow cabin owners,

 I’ve been meaning to update our cabin owners website for the last few months, since it’s been last December since our last update.  You might remember at that time (12/17/15), we had just sent Andrew our latest drafts of the revised Space Lease Agreement and other documents for his review and approval.  We made the changes he had previously requested, and we had thought we had some documents that he would approve and all cabin owners could live with.  Unfortunately, what actually happened was that Andrew took the new documents and made many more changes that he requested we incorporate into the “final” documents.  We exchanged a few more emails through Gio and it seems we came to an impasse, since some of his changes would not be acceptable to most cabin owners.  We explained why some of these changes were not acceptable, but we were never able to meet face to face to explain the problems.

 We had no further response from Andrew until the first part of April, when we requested a meeting with Andrew, or at least Gio, to discuss the status of the documents and try to resolve our differences toward a final set of mutually agreeable documents.  In early May, I received an email from Gio basically saying they did not want to meet and instead just propose any changes via email.  We were disappointed at the lack of interest, but surprisingly, a few days later Corrine wrote that Andrew had again requested the latest set of documents, which we again provided.  We were hopeful that he had taken a renewed interest in finalizing a proper set of lease documents, so we were again in a waiting mode, hoping for a response.  I kept delaying a Whaleshead update like this one, because I wanted to report some news, and hopefully good news.  We emphasized a number of times that we were anxious to work with Andrew, so both he and the cabin owners could claim some progress in working together.

While we are always ready to be helpful, unfortunately we cannot brag about any progress being made.  It seems that quite a few new cabin owners have purchased cabins, but they seem to have unsigned or no lease agreements with their purchases.  There seem to be versions of lease agreements that were previous drafts of our committee’s efforts (which would therefore be acceptable to us), but being unsigned by Whaleshead, they are pretty worthless.  We have had no response from Andrew regarding his future intentions, so we are basically just “treading water”.

 Any cabin owners who have visited Whaleshead in the past few months can see that “things are happening”, such as work on the new spa, more work on the “green monsters” on the Orca Loop, and talk about some road repairs, but no communication from Whaleshead management (other than 10% increases in our monthly lease payments) has been sent to cabin owners.  There are rumors about Gio leaving and late payments to cabin owners who are in the rental pool, but nothing in writing.  I have been waiting for some factual information to pass on to cabin owners, and because there is so little, I’ve been lax at updating our website.

 Please feel free to comment and if you have something to offer, please email me and I’ll be glad to post your thoughts on the website.  A few comments have been made about forming a “homeowners” association, and perhaps we should do that so we can have an organized front to communicate better with Andrew.  It takes a lot of time and effort to create an association, but if you feel it is in the best interests of all cabin owners, then we should proceed.

 Our family is taking off for the boonies in Utah for a few weeks later this week, but please feel free to email me with any facts, information, or even your opinions that you’d like to share with other cabins owners.

 I’ve updated the website with this email:

 http://www.kawal.net/whaleshead.htm

 Best regards,

Ray and Elna Kawal

Cabin U-4



Text of email 7/27/16 sent to cabin owners:

Hello fellow Whaleshead cabin owners,

 Elna and I just returned from a trip to Utah and we decided we needed a quick trip to Whaleshead to see what is going on.  We’re home again now, so I thought I would bring you up to date and give you some things to think about.

 Gio is gone, so we went to the office to visit Corrine, who is “in charge” as much as anybody at Whaleshead is “in charge”.  She is working hard and doing her best, with only two assistants at the front desk, Jamie and Christa, both pretty new.  As I entered the office, I noticed that Andrew was in the next office working on his computer.  So I invited myself in to say hello and find out what might really be going on.  Andrew was quite friendly and we talked about quite a few issues.  They were quick discussions because he was in a hurry trying to get back to Portland.  This was last Friday, and that evening we were going to dinner for prime rib night at the Whaleshead Restaurant with Karl and Jana Kolthoff and their family.

 Andrew was working on a letter to the cabin owners about a proposal to provide a “bulk” package for high speed internet and expanded TV service with Charter.  This would be for every site in the park with a cost of around $35 per month to every site including park owned sites.  Since we are currently paying over $60 per month, this concept sounds interesting.  I told Andrew I would communicate the proposal to all cabin owners, but we first need some more details about what we will be getting.  I discussed this with Corrine as well, and she is trying to get a Charter representative for me to talk to so we can get some questions answered.  Some of the things I’d like to know is whether HD TV will be included, will we still need the boxes for every TV, how many TVs can we connect, what is the channel package, exactly what internet services will be provided, etc.  One of the basic requirements, however, is that ALL sites must be included for this bulk package to be feasible.  And of course, how we will pay for this monthly charge must be determined.  So I’ll be working on this proposal and talking to Corrine as we find the time, then get back to the cabin owners.

 More of the “green monsters” have been moved into the Orca Loop, but they are now newly painted and look pretty decent with some outside decks built on them.  They are being rented by Whaleshead for around $160/night (I think) and they are advertised for sale for $49K each.  Andrew said he might move in two more, but that would be it.  Only five or six are ready for occupancy now, and we noticed cars in front of three of them during our short stay.  The new U-15 (“the dumpster”) and U-17 are also for sale for $159 and $179 respectively.

 The laundry room has all new machines and they are building a new deck on the south side, which will look pretty nice.

 There is again a serious water problem and they are hauling water from some outside source to Whaleshead.  It seems that there are problems with the Whaleshead water sources that must be corrected, so we’ll see how long this problem continues.  To me, the water system is the biggest concern Whaleshead faces, and one that must be solved for the long term.  We didn’t get a chance to talk to Vic this trip, so I couldn’t learn any more about the problems.

 We had a nice prime rib dinner last Friday, and we found out that was the last night the restaurant was open.  All of the employees were laid off as of Sunday, and the restaurant is now closed.  The new spa building looks ready, but there is no word about when, or maybe even if, it will open.  It seems unusual that Whaleshead would have a spa, but no restaurant.  We are very disappointed that the restaurant closed, since it looks nice inside (office included) and the meals were good.  We thought the restaurant definitely added a nice touch to the resort and it helps bring in potential renters as well.

 After we left, I went back in to ask Andrew about the lease agreements that our committee has been working on since last year.  I asked him if he still wanted us to help finalize the agreements.  I was a bit surprised to find that he enthusiastically said yes, he did want us to work on that with him.  I was surprised because we have sent him a number of drafts with no response in months, so I thought perhaps it was a dead issue.  But there are a number of new cabin owners who still do not have a signed long term lease agreement, so it seems that this should be an important issue to finalize.  Andrew asked that I resend him the latest drafts, so I’ll do that, and perhaps we can get a long term lease agreement that will satisfy all cabin owners.

 After Andrew left we chatted with Corrine about some of these issues, and more news popped up that Whaleshead is for sale again.  We think the asking price is around $8 million.  We think Andrew paid between $5 million and $6 million.  It would seem that it will be difficult to find a buyer for Whaleshead, especially with the serious water issues we have.  That will definitely need to be resolved.  It also seems unusual to be closing the restaurant, while trying to convince a potential buyer what a great deal Whaleshead is.  So I’d guess there won’t be a quick sale.

 This leads me to another issue I think all cabin owners should think about.  During the past few years, we have seen what happens when ownership of the park is an entity whose only interest is the income the park brings in.  Originally, the McNeely’s developed the park as a family affair, and like other cabin owners, they had a vested interest in how the park ran.  As other outside entities became the majority ownership, interests changed so that “the bottom line” became the sole issue that decided how Whaleshead would be run.  As cabin owners, we all have much different perspective, since in most cases this is our home, or at least a second home.  We would much rather see income that the park brings in go towards improving Whaleshead so that we can enjoy it – not how much profit someone else can make.  So do we have to live with this situation and just watch our monthly lease payments continually go up and have no control over anything that goes on at Whaleshead?  Maybe so - but maybe not.  What if us cabin owners could own Whaleshead?  In the past, this was not possible because we had no way to communicate with each other, so there was no possible way to put something together to even consider owning Whaleshead.  But we now have access to almost every cabin owner, so at least we can talk to each other and think about some possibilities.  I think we should consider that possibility of us 100 or so cabin owners being able to own Whaleshead – it won’t be easy, but I think it might be possible.  If we don’t, we may as well realize we’ll watch our costs go up and we’ll continually be complaining about what the ownership is doing with its profits.

 Andrew may be asking $8 million for Whaleshead, but you might recall that at one time Whaleshead was up for sale for $20 million, and it finally sold for $5+ million.  So a $5M price isn’t out of the realm of reason.  If we have 100 cabin owners, that’s about $50K apiece if everyone participated.  Now I realize most of us don’t have $50K lying in a drawer in our closet, but that doesn’t mean we all have to have $50K cash to hand over.  Andrew didn’t have $5M cash to buy Whaleshead; he got a loan to finance it.  If we formed a corporation or a limited liability partnership, we could also finance part of the purchase price.  Obviously the more we can put down in cash, the less we’d have to borrow, but interest rates are still low so this isn’t a bad time to get a loan.  Also, we don’t have to have every cabin owner participate.  We could sell shares and some owners might choose not to participate while others might be able to buy more than one share.  Like any corporation, the more shares, the more ownership any particular cabin owner would own.  But although every cabin owner does not have the exact same motives for owning and participating, we all have common interests that would be far more consistent than an outside interest like Andrew or whoever might buy from Andrew.  We could elect a Board of Directors who represent the cabin owners and make policy decisions about what to do with income and profits, with the guiding principle that that income would go towards the betterment of Whaleshead and keeping lease payments as low as possible.  I’d like to hear from you about your thoughts and interest in this concept.  It’s not too early to think about it, because we can never make it happen overnight.  If we were to try to buy Whaleshead, we would have to be ready at the right time.

I’ll post this email on our cabin owner’s website, and you can reply with your thoughts anytime.

 Regards,

 Ray


Text of email 11/1/16 sent from Marianne Werner (U-9) to Loretta Stilwell (T-8), with permission by Marianne:  

 

Hi Loretta,

Finally back in the swing after a magnificent trip to Iceland...stunning scenery!

 

It seems as if the Whaleshead Train has slowed down a bit, predictable given that everyone's interests are so different.  This means levels of commitment will be different.  One thing that comes to my mind is that most folks there seem to feel a high level of isolation; I came to that conclusion based on knocking on doors and talking to people when we first began gathering personal info.  That state of mind, along with Andrew's cavalier attitude toward disregarding us at every turn, has created a fairly high level of anxiety.

 

What I am thinking is that a social component would help this thing along...coupled with the work that all of you have done in terms of the technical part of establishing some kind of a homeowners group, even if it lacks legal formality and CCRs.  I think people need to get to know one another so that we come to recognize that we likely all want the same outcome:  a retirement/living place where we are comfortable and know that our service needs will be met...not a contentious one in which staff/residents are alienated from one another and so distrustful that we can't function.  We don't want to worry about our water, whether anyone will take care of the property, the safety of personal effects in rentals, etc.  I am thinking that if there was a way to recognize that we're all on the same ship, we might be more affable in dealing with the major issues.

 

I think, too, that some kind of "community outreach" would benefit most of us; by this I mean some way in which to offer services to one another...some way of coming together with shared interests.  This would lessen the level of concern if we felt like neighbors instead of victims of a non-commital, semi-hostile landlord.  What if we had a bulletin board somewhere in the main office.  Those who can provide a service or who have an interest or who might want to form a book club could provide info on it.  Ultimately, with more of a sense of neighborliness in place, we might make the kind of progress we want in the more formal areas of establishing an association that would deal with the elements we have all been concerned about.

 

I think you and the rest of the six-pack have done an excellent job of creating a plan for dealing with the technical aspects of what we will ultimately need to do.  I hope this perspective is not perceived as being too simplistic.  I have just been wracking my brain to think of what I can see as a successful follow-through with what we ultimately want and this element seems very much a part of that plan, at least to me.

 

Best,

Marianne


Text of email 11/20/16 sent to cabin owners:  

 

Hello once again to our fellow Whaleshead cabin owners,  

It’s been a while since I’ve last written and updated our Cabin Owners website at http://www.kawal.net/whaleshead.htm.  Over the past summer a number of issues have arisen and you’ve heard from some other cabin owners and even an attorney.  Prior to that, and since around the middle of 2015, an unelected “group of six” volunteers have been communicating with Andrew Cramer, the owner of Whaleshead Resort, in an effort to resolve issues common to all cabin owners.  This “group of six” includes permanent residents, part-time residents, and owners participating in the rental pool.  These cabin owner volunteers are Paul Pettigrew (OV-4), Loretta Stilwell (T-8), Fred Caldwell (T-17), Bill Morrish (C-7), Karl Kolthoff (U-10), and Ray Kawal (U-4).  

The purpose of our past communications with all cabin owners has been to not only keep everyone informed of ongoing issues but also to form a collective voice representing as many cabin owners as possible when communicating with the owner of Whaleshead.  We have been careful to avoid single personal issues, so there is always a balance between what might be considered an individual issue and one that might be supported by most all cabin owners.  For that reason, we try not to send anything out until all of our “group of six” approves of our message.  

Having a “group of six” cabin owners trying to represent everyone is difficult because we are not only unelected but we are also not a formal organization.  So I’m sure you can understand that our “power” to communicate is certainly limited.  We need a formal association to make our communication efforts more efficient.  Two of our “group of six”, Loretta Stilwell and Fred Caldwell, authored the attached letter to cabin owners, which we support.  Please read the letter and give it your consideration so we may have some guidance as to how to proceed from here.

 I will also post the letter on the Cabin Owner’s website as well as some other recent correspondence.

 Yours truly,

 Ray

and the letter attached to the email:

 

Fellow Whaleshead Cabin Tenant-Owners:

For more than a year now, discussions have been going on at different levels about forming an association to better deal with our mutual concerns and issues at Whaleshead. As owners of our cabins, but lessees of the land, we have found ourselves confronting different issues as the ownership of Whaleshead Beach Resort has changed hands a couple of times in recent years.

In response to widespread concerns about proposed new fees and rental pool issues, a group of folks researched all of our contact information and Ray Kawal started a website open to all Tenant-Owners so we could share information and concerns amongst ourselves.

Much has happened since Ray started that website. There have been concerns with the availability and quality of the drinking water, concerns with policies and fees for the rental pool, concerns with increases in monthly lease amounts and electricity billings, etc.

A small group of volunteers worked together to draft new lease documents, along with supporting rules and policy statements, and tried to work with the owner in an effort to obtain more standardized leases that would clear up any confusion and benefit both us as tenant-owners and Andrew Cramer as owner of Whaleshead. While some progress was made, there is more work to do in this area.

More issues arose this last summer and tenant-owners were invited to meetings to discuss the issues. At the invitation of a few tenant-owners, two attorneys were invited to those meetings to provide added perspective. You have previously received email correspondence from one of those attorneys, Rebecca Gougé of Eugene OR.

After several meetings, a group of tenant-owners voted to form the Whaleshead Tenant Association and efforts have been ongoing to determine how an Association could best help us in our mutual concerns and goals. You have previously been sent minutes of several meetings which explored how to proceed.

This seems like a good time to summarize where we are in terms of an Association and discuss where we might go from here.

1. An Association has been formed, through the vote of those present at an August meeting.

2. Although we have received some consultations and opinions from the two attorneys, the Association has not hired an attorney to represent it or us.

3. While some tenant-owners may have retained their own legal representation for their particular issues, there is no intent at this time to retain legal counsel for the Association as a whole.

4. The goal and focus of the Association has been clarified as follows: to improve communication between the tenant-owners and to have a collective voice on issues with the owner of Whaleshead Beach Resort.

To best serve that goal, focus on communication, and follow Oregon Law, we need to have an elected Board of Directors who will hold meetings, publish minutes and website updates, and meet with the owner of Whaleshead Beach Resort.

As tenant-owners, while sharing a number of mutual concerns and issues, we are all very different. Some of us live here full-time, some visit seasonally, and some place our cabins in the rental pool run by Whaleshead management. And, our issues may vary somewhat depending on where our place is located within Whaleshead.

It would be best if our Board of Directors reflected all those perspectives -- full-time resident, seasonal visitor and rental pool participant.

So the purpose of this letter is to not only update you on the formation of the Association but also to solicit your participation in a number of ways. First, and perhaps most important, we would like to compile a working list of the issues that you feel need to be addressed by the Association. For example, on the list of items we need to continue to monitor and communicate about might be: water availability and quality, electricity billing, common lease agreement, any proposed fees or increases, etc. So please respond with brief descriptions of the three most important items, from your viewpoint, that you would like to see become a part of the Association discussion and communication.

Second, we encourage more folks to volunteer to be a part of the elected Board of Directors. If you would like to make a positive contribution to the communication process, please send an email or call indicating that to Paul Pettigrew. Paul’s email address is pngpetti@yahoo.com and phone is (916) 208-4439.

Once the Board of Directors has been elected, through a vote open to all tenant-owners, the Board will take your input on the issues and get to work. Since we already have the website available for communication among ourselves, we can keep using that as a way of staying in touch with each other and for posting periodic updates by the Board of Directors.

The hope is that by combining our efforts and all our knowledge, we can work with the ownership/management -- both the present owner and any future owners -- to prevent future problems and resolve existing issues. Better communication can only help all of us.

If you do not wish to participate in the association as it is currently being envisioned, that is absolutely no problem. Participation is entirely voluntary. But the organizing committee hopes that you will join with them and your other fellow tenant-owners in this effort to improve our communication and resolve issues before they become bigger problems.


Text of email 8/4/17 sent from Loretta Stilwell (T-8), with permission by Loretta:  

 

Hi Ray,

After reading over the minutes of the last meeting that Nancy McClelland put out to everyone, I did a little quick research.  The results are in this email and you may want to post a copy of this email to our website so that we can share this info with everyone.

Regarding the most recent fire at WH, there were actually four different articles in the Curry Pilot last month about the recent fire and other problems.  Here are the links:

http://www.currypilot.com/exports/newsletters/main/5441279-151/fire-guts-whaleshead-resort-cabin

http://www.currypilot.com/news/localnews/5448261-151/cabin-fire-prompts-safety-meeting

http://www.currypilot.com/news/5456385-151/whaleshead-residents-officials-talk-fire-concerns

 http://www.currypilot.com/news/5473004-151/chief-seeks-solutions-to-resort-fire-risks

 

After reading all four of these articles, it raised a number of concerns for me.  While I understand that these firefighters are volunteer, unpaid folks and I certainly thank them for their efforts to put out the fire, I find that I am a little concerned about how some of these well-meaning efforts with the volunteer fire departments and the subsequent articles in the Curry Pilot could possibly negatively impact all of our ability to continue to have reasonably priced fire insurance.  While I agree that the fire safety issues certainly need addressing, both among ourselves as cabin owners AND with WH management, I don't think we want to go about it in such a way that would cause insurance companies to consider us higher risk and thus higher cost, or possibly even to choose to no longer cover our cabins at all. 

I also believe that we need to carefully balance tactics such as trying to apply pressure on management through press articles against potential decreases in the value of our cabins or decreases in the salability.  We need to protect our investment in our cabins in every way -- physically against fire and other perils AND financially by not creating a negative public perception that ultimately hurts our values.

While I agree we have very serious issues that need some work, I disagree with the Fire Chief that we are at the point of hiring lawyers or not paying rent.   We need a more carefully considered plan of action, in my opinion, and we need to try again to lay out our concerns to management and propose some mutually feasible solutions.

I'm aware of four separate fire incidents over the years at Whaleshead.  Three of those incidents have involved adjacent cabins (the fire starts in one cabin and damages or destroys other cabins close by as well) but all three of those were started due to the actions of renters.  The first fire (at least during our 13 or so years here) involved several cabins on the OV loop and was started by a renter in the late evening hours inside one cabin -- a cigarette or some other source.  The second fire was at U-17 and destroyed the cabin next door as well.  That one was apparently started because a renter placed a plastic or styrofoam ice chest directly in front of the heater vent outside and a fire ignited when the ice chest overheated and/or melted.  The third fire was the one that just happened -- again at U-17 -- and apparently was started because a renter accidentally left a BBQ or some type of fire pit going on the deck and left it unattended when they went inside for the night.  I understand that there was also some sort of fire in the cabin that is now the spa, but I believe that one happened during the renovation construction.  It seems fairly obvious to me that the biggest risk to us for fire danger is the actions of renters and we need to work with both management and those folks who own the rental cabins to better protect against renter accidents.

That is not to say that we also don't need to work on emergency notification systems and evacuation plans, etc.  Those are certainly important as well.  But first and foremost, we must work together to try to prevent these incidents from happening in the first place.

 

Ownership of Whaleshead Beach Resort

The issue of who actually currently owns Whaleshead was apparently discussed at the last meeting.   I checked the Oregon Secretary of State website.  Andrew does appear to still own WH; he's just been revising or updating the entities and registered agents.  Previously, Whaleshead Beach RV Resort Limited Partnership was the business name, with the General Partner being KC Real Estate LLC and Andrew being the registered agent, or the one to accept legal service, at a Portland address. 

In January 2017, the business name and the general partner remained the same, but the registered agent changed to Charles A. Kovas, an attorney with Warren Allen LLP. 

In June 2017, the business name remained the same, but he filed an amendment to the Limited Partnership stating that Whaleshead GP, LLC is the General Partner and that KC Real Estate LLC had withdrawn.  He signed that amendment as the Manager of both KC Real Estate LLC AND Whaleshead GP, LLC.  He didn't file the required 2016 annual report for KC Real Estate LLC and in February 2017 the state took administrative action to dissolve it.  But in May 2017, he filed the proper paperwork and it was reinstated.  The listing for that entity, KC Real Estate LLC, shows Andrew as the registered agent at an address in Mulino, Oregon and it shows James Kusko as a member, at Andrew's Portland address, and Andrew as manager, again at the Portland address. 

Interestingly, I also found two other companies of Andrew's using the Mulino, Oregon address:  ADA Management LLC and Lilliput Homes LLC.

Bottom line, Andrew clearly still owns WH but appears to be doing some shuffling with all the owning companies and registered agents who accept legal service.  But one last wrinkle, the Articles of Organization for Whaleshead GP, LLC show the organizer of the LLC as C. Paul Dagle in Portland, yet another Portland attorney.

 

Water

A check of the state water system files shows that the classification of the water system for WH changed in March 2017 from the previous "transient non-community water supply" to a "community water system".  That change brings more requirements for testing than previously required.  The website shows that some sort of seal is missing from one of the wells and that while the last test DID NOT find e coli in the sample, it did find total coliform which is not supposed to be a hazard to humans.  In my opinion, the amount of water consistently available for use at Whaleshead AND the quality of the drinking water are two of the most important issues that any association formed should immediately attempt to courteously resolve with Andrew and/or his legal representative.

 

When you add the yearly rent increases Andrew has implemented each year since assuming ownership to all the other concerns we have been facing, it is easy to understand the level of frustration and aggravation many of us have been feeling for some time now.  However, as we began to discuss last summer, the laws and regulations that govern our very unique community at Whaleshead are complex.  I believe we should be cautious and courteous as we try once more to work with Andrew.  As any good attorney would likely advise, we need to first thoroughly exhaust all other means to resolve these problems with management before we seriously contemplate any legal actions or withholding of rents as was suggested in the news article and/or at the meeting. 

 

I welcome others' opinions on these subjects and would be happy to further research whatever I can to help out.

 

Best wishes,

 

Loretta Stilwell

T-8


UPDATE AS OF 12/9/23

On December 6th, Flintstone Properties Operations Manager Deanna Strange organized a virtual meeting attended by about half (my guess) of all Whaleshead cabin owners.  Flintstone took over ownership of Whaleshead on November 1, 2023, so it has only been a month, and it's only fair to give them time to work out impending issues resulting from the takeover.  There were many comments offered by Deanna and many cabin owners.  The fact that Flintstone organized the meeting is good news for all cabin owners since they obviously want to improve communication that was so lacking with the previous ownership.


NOTE:  ALL COMMUNICATIONS BELOW ARE IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER AS THEY ARE RECEIVED


Text of letter sent 12/8/23 from Ray Kawal (cabin owner U-4) to Deanna Strange:

Dear Deanna,

First, let me compliment you on organizing last Wednesday’s virtual meeting between Whaleshead cabin owners and your employer, Flintstone Properties.  You provided a useful agenda to all cabin owners, and I would say you had a very good turnout with I believe somewhere around half of all cabin owners.  There are over a hundred of us and Flintstone has only been the property owner for a little over a month, so it’s impressive that you were able to put together a pleasant, well organized, and beneficial meeting in such a short time.  Prior to our meeting, you and I have had only one telephone conversation and exchanged a few emails, and I’ve enjoyed our discussions, feeling that you have the best intentions for establishing good communication with all of us cabin owners.  Since the past change of ownership of Whaleshead took place in 2015, what little communication we had was very poor at best, so it is refreshing to find your enthusiasm.  With that said, I’d like to elaborate on some important concerns that require further discussion.

Secondly, let me state that I am not an elected representative of all 100+ cabin owners, but I’ve been around long enough that I think most cabin owners will support my basic comments.  I’ll let them follow up with their own comments as they feel necessary.  Prior to the previous owner, Andrew Cramer, taking over the ownership of Whaleshead properties, a cabin owners group really wasn’t necessary, and I’ll go into the reasons why in the “history” section following.  But the new ownership did not understand the basic needs of our community, and it became obvious that we needed to form a group of owners to communicate those concerns to Mr. Cramer.  I was part of the leadership of that small group and we had some fruitful discussions that alleviated some of the more serious issues between us.  Now that Flintstone Properties has assumed ownership, it is again obvious that a cabin owner’s group needs to be organized to have effective communication with you representing Flintstone.  Fortunately for all of us, you seem receptive to learning about our concerns.

I believe our most basic concern is that Flintstone Properties doesn’t have the necessary background to understand the history of what and how Whaleshead developed, nor does it understand how different Whaleshead is from your other properties.  You have created rules and regulations that you feel are pertinent to your other properties, but much of them are unrealistic when applied to the unique situations of Whaleshead.  Whaleshead has very different requirements for basic needs because of its mountainous location and immovable and permanently located cabins.  In last Wednesday’s virtual meeting, one of the agenda items was “Expectations”.  Flintstone has some expectations of us cabin owners and in turn, we have our own expectations based upon our years of living at Whaleshead.  To get us to come together in these expectations, I think it will be helpful for you to be aware of the history of Whaleshead.

Whaleshead Background

The McNeely family created the Whaleshead project in the 1990’s from the land that had long been in their family.  My wife Elna and I have been coming to Whaleshead since 2007 and we bought our cabin U-4 in 2010.  Some owners have been here considerably longer and they have even more experience than we do.  The McNeelys created a thriving community of cabin owners by providing the infrastructure of roads and utilities as well as the basic park model cabins that were then added onto to create the permanent structures we have now.  This includes major additions to cabins on concrete foundations, annex bedrooms and bathrooms, garages, carports, sheds, and walkways and driveways to each cabin unit.  The utilities infrastructure consists of roads of barely adequate quality, electrical supply to each cabin of adequate quality, sewer and waste disposal of barely adequate quality, and a water system of inferior and unreliable quality.  There is basically no adequate fire protection.

But our basic needs of power, water, and sewage disposal have been here since the beginning.  The McNeely’s understood what it took to run the park of this size as it continued growing.  They had a permanent staff of at least six full time employees (and sometimes more) to maintain the park and its many issues.  And as the property aged, those issues increased in number.  Interruptions in basic water service became more frequent and landscaping issues became more important as trees and shrubbery grew.  These increased issues required more costs to alleviate them.

When we began leasing our property for our U-4 cabin we purchased, our monthly rent was $410 and we were told it would likely remain near there because past experience did not require the McNeely’s to increase the rent often.  What protected our investment was a 99 year lease with acceptable rules and a set of basic amenities that were stated in the lease.  These amenities provided by Whaleshead included electrical supply to each cabin, safe drinking water, basic cable TV, sewer service, garbage service, and landscaping for all leased properties including roads and all common areas.  These common areas are defined as everything outside of the cabin and associated structures purchased by the cabin owner.  There have never been any “lot lines” established to define any boundaries.  With our leases signed by both Whaleshead and the cabin owners, we therefore established our expectations for ownership.

In 2015, the McNeely’s sold to Andrew Cramer, a Portland owner of other trailer parks who saw the beauty of Whaleshead but did not at first understand the uniqueness of Whaleshead compared to his other properties.  Unlike the McNeely’s, who created the property and understood and wanted to be part of the project, Andrew took little interest in Whaleshead’s problems and did as little as possible to keep it floating.  Water system issues were never seriously addressed, with only emergency patching of new leaks as they began to occur more and more frequently.  Road quality and landscaping issues deteriorated, as did the satisfaction of cabin owners.  The permanent staff was cut to bare minimum, but it was supplemented by outside contractors because a bare minimum staff cannot possibly handle the many ongoing problems of such a large park.  During the growing season, landscaping issues multiply, which are only added to the other basic services promised to all cabin owners.  While reducing the quality of Whaleshead’s living experience and allowing the infrastructure to deteriorate, full advantage was taken of our lease’s provision of allowing a maximum 10% annual increase in our monthly lease fees.  The result of this neglect and constantly increasing monthly fees forced many cabin owners to sell as their investments and/or permanent homes became unaffordable.  All of these issues diminished cabin owner’s expectations for their future.  But those of us who remain still feel protected by our leases.

The Future with Flintstone Properties

Flintstone has begun to improve communications, which is much appreciated by the cabin owners.  This is certainly a good start which tends to raise the expectations of us cabin owners.  But we first hear that for Flintstone to be able to afford to maintain Whaleshead, the staff is to be cut further with now only one permanent employee, Rob, as our Maintenance Manager.  While it took at least six full time employees to run Whaleshead when the infrastructure was newer and in better condition, a staff of one permanent employee is obviously woefully inadequate to cabin owners who understand the realistic requirements of maintaining this large property.  While we are conscious of the cost to Flintstone, what concerns the cabin owners is the ability of Flintstone to provide the promised services included in the terms of our legal lease agreements.

First we hear our basic cable TV promised in our leases will not be provided.  Flintstone offers us credits, which possibly might mitigate the loss, but credits are not what the lease terms provide.  Then it is suggested that at least some landscaping will no longer be provided by Whaleshead, and some of those responsibilities will be passed on to the cabin owners.  Again, another breach of the lease agreement.  Finally, basic garbage service, which has been part of our agreed upon services since the beginning of Whaleshead, is to be discontinued.  Flintstone advises this is appropriate because “basic garbage service” is not adequately defined in the lease, and they define what we have is “curbside” service, not promised in the lease.  But to all cabin owners, garbage service is defined by what has been provided since Whaleshead began.  Since this is a controversial subject, let’s talk about it a bit.

There are no curbs at Whaleshead, but we have a huge park in a mountainous area that ranges from a few feet above sea level to almost 500 feet above sea level.  Unlike other Flintstone properties that lie on flat land where homeowners can roll their trash cans to a street for refuse pickup or dumping, cabin owners at Whaleshead have no such luxury.  Almost every cabin is located on a steep hill or road and the only practical way a normal 40 gallon can with wheels can be handled is by driving some sort of vehicle nearby to retrieve the garbage and trash.  Many owners cannot even lift a normal size can to dump it.  The obvious answer to what Whaleshead has always provided as basic garbage service is a routine pickup by Whaleshead staff, usually twice a week.  This is what cabin owners were promised and have expected since Whaleshead began.  We saw the service in place when we bought our cabins and why would we not expect it to be continued?

So what are the alternatives to the basic service that we all expect?  Probably a typical assumption is that a cabin owner produces about a 40 gallon trash can full of garbage in a week, and perhaps more.  If the service was reduced to once per week, this could be accommodated in some cases by using a larger trash can or perhaps two cans.  But in either case, it is impractical to expect any owner to lift such a can and fit the full can in his or her car and drive it to a central location.  A strong person with a pickup truck could do it, but is this now what Whaleshead expects for “basic garbage service”?  And this would apply to only those cabin owners who are capable of lifting a full garbage can and also have the empty pickup truck available for this operation, likely a small percentage of cabin owners or renters.  Personally, I could lift the large trash can, but I don’t have a vehicle at Whaleshead to accommodate such a can.  If I couldn’t use the large can for transport, would I be asked to go through my garage after a week and separate it into smaller bags so I could then fit many bags into my vehicle?  Or just store the many bags accumulated throughout the week outside in view of the neighbor’s cabins?  Raccoons, by the way, love to tear into trash bags or even into cans, and spread the mess all over.

Another option suggested was to have all owners just take their garbage with them when they pick up their mail.  Every owner has his or her routine for checking their mail (I rarely check mine for example because I don’t live at Whaleshead full time), but this option would require the use of a trash can small enough to fit in a car, which is likely to mean something that would hold only a day’s worth of garbage.  Does the new “basic garbage service” mean that every owner must find a space in their car for bag of garbage and drive it daily to a central location?  As yet, it is undetermined where this central location of the dump is to be located – at the bottom of the park near the creek and those nearby cabins?  Or at the top of the park at the 500’ elevation near those cabins?  Or at the restaurant in the middle of the park, which likely is most central but still requires a drive up the hill from the lower cabin owners or down the hill from the upper cabin owners.  Certainly no owner would be expected to carry or wheel their trash container over the steep road system.  Obviously, this basic garage pickup at Whaleshead is a far different problem than at a “normal” trailer park on flat ground.  This is not what cabin owners expected or paid for in their understanding of their leases. 

The above garbage issue is emphasized because as cabin owners we continue to see higher lease fees accompanied by less services.  Until now, even with Andrew Cramer as the owner, the lesser services have just been a gradual deterioration of the property.  But Flintstone is further reducing our expectations by trying to reduce the amenities that are part of our leases.  Many owners purchased their cabins because these basic amenities were included, and many depend on those amenities because of age and health challenges. 

Deanna, we do appreciate your desire for improved communication and your willingness to discuss these important issues with us.  We hope that the discussion above will help you understand the position of cabin owners who purchased at Whaleshead.  It was very encouraging that in our virtual meeting you acknowledged the legality of our existing 99 year leases and the transferability of those leases to new future owners of Whaleshead cabins.  Thank you for your time and effort.

Yours truly,

 

Ray and Elna Kawal
19921 Whaleshead Road, Unit U-4
Brookings, OR 97415

 

Mailing address:
268 Lakeview Drive
Sequim, WA  98382
(360) 683-3027


12/9/23 Comments from cabin owner Jerry Eddy:

Jerry copied the written comments made during the Flintstone virtual meeting on Wednesday, December 6th.  They are 16 pages long, so a bit much to post directly here, but click HERE for downloading them.  This does not include all of the verbal comments, but these are still helpful.

Thanks Jerry, for permission to post them.


Text of email from Theresa Larrabee sent 12/9/23 as her summary of last Wednesday's virtual meeting with Flintstone:

 

This is (one person's) summary of the Google Meet held Dec. 6, 2023, with cabin owners and Flintstone management Deanna Strange and Jazz Ansell, 

 

1. The current 99-year leases can be assumed (upon sale) by a new cabin owner WITH THEIR (FS) APPROVAL which can not be denied without a very good reason. (Win?)

2. Our current leases have been assumed by FS so "nothing changes"."We can't change anything in that lease "  Except....

3 Once Deanna figures out what she's doing, curbside pickup is going away. She said this at least 6 times. She said "garbage service" just means FS pays for removal. The fact that we have to haul our own is still "service". She stated she was "going to sink her heels in on this." By the end of the meeting she had agreed to cut pickup down to once a week for now (thanks, Fred???) to save $ for FS up front, but curbside pickup is still going away. Until you receive written notice, pick-up will continue as it is now. Please do NOT put items in the dumpster until you are officially notified to do so. 

4. Even though "nothing changes". landscaping is changing. Rob (along with all his other duties) will be instructed to go to each lot and draw up lot lines that delineate what is mine and what is my neighbors and what is FSs responsibility. Once notified in writing, we will be responsible for landscaping on our lots. She doesn't want cabin owners involved when Rob draws the lines because she doesn't want arguments. Again, until you are officially notified, assume the responsibility for landscaping will remain "as is". 

5. And in addition to having to landscape your own lot, you will have to get rid of the green waste on your own and at your own expense. By the end of the meeting she had stated that she would consider figuring out a way that they could do green waste pickup once a quarter (coinciding with free CTR days) or maybe once a month. She'll have to talk to Rob to figure that out.

6. Flintstone will continue to reimburse people for the full cost of basic cable. But she will need to see bills from Spectrum and Beacon and other providers broken down to show just what part of the fee is for basic cable channels, as they are not paying for additional channels.  The suggestion that we get a reduction in our rent if we're not using cable was ignored.

7. All pets currently in the park will be grandfathered in. If roaming cats become a problem she will deal with it when the problem arises and owners complain. She hopes we're all adult enough to take care of our pets. 

8. She argued about the terminology that was required on insurance when people told her that their insurance company said legally it had to be worded differently. After being read statements directly from said insurance companies, she did say "as long as Flintstone is listed on the insurance papers somewhere we're okay with that". 

9. We do not have to sign to agree to the rules. The only thing we have to sign is the tenant site lease protection. She was asked by several people to reword the document to make it reflective of our leases... I don't believe she ever agreed to do that. 

10. There was no clarification as to who is the licensed property manager (required by Oregon law). . 

11. Yes, there will be rent increases every year. If FS has an unusually large capital outlay for major projects, they can apply with the state to have the state cap deferred to help cover those costs. Our leases cap the yearly increase at 10%, but that will be less if state law dictates a lower rate cap. 

12. Lighting throughout the park will be assessed  They will be considerate of the desire to keep the park serene and beautiful, avoiding light pollution, while also considering safety.

13. Hot tubs are okay but FS will at some point be asking for copies of our homeowners insurance to prove coverage for hot tubs  

14. The water system! (Deanna: "What took you guys so long to bring it up?" Cabin owner:"Maybe the fact that it wasn't included on the agenda and we were told we had to stick to the agenda?") They are looking at the system but that is not Deanna's area so she knows very little about it. She stated "we test the water every single day" for contaminants. 

15. Back to landscaping. There will be a yearly assessment of trees to determine what preventative maintenance needs to be done, keeping in mind that "wind needs to be able to go through trees". She is looking into a landscaping company to hire on a short term basis to "get things back in shape" to the point Riley and Rob can manage the grounds on their own. She was reminded that there has historically been a crew of 3-5 workers to deal with landscaping, plus part-time contracted landscaping companies, and even they couldn't keep up with the requirements of such a large forested property. 

16. Laundry room will have all new equipment as well as some other repairs. This will include an app payment system IF the lack of available WiFi situation can be addressed. 

17. The 14-day visitor rule was questioned. She pulled out one of the MHCO "leases" and said it was the same on FSs list as on that lease. She was told that, according to county officials and the MMCRC (Manufactured and Marina Community Resource Center) we're not zoned or classified as a manufactured home community. She was emailed contact info for the MMCRC. She concluded with "Don't worry, unless your neighbors complain "FS is not even going to know you have visitors." 

18. Deanna was asked about the possibility of holding this type of a meeting monthly or quarterly. She stated FS would be unable to do that, but homeowners are welcome to meet as often as they would like. 


Letter from Attorney Richard Stark to Flintstone Properties, dated November 27, 2023:

This letter was written at the request of Theresa Larrabee to inform Flintstone Properties of the conflicts between our 99 year leases and the new rules that Flintstone Properties is proposing for Whaleshead cabin owners.

Please click HERE to download this letter in .pdf format.


Second letter from Attorney Richard Stark, dated December 28, 2023:

Please click HERE to download this letter in .pdf format.


Letter to cabin owners from Cheryl Swenson-Harmon regarding legal costs incurred by Theresa Larrabee in support of all Whaleshead cabin owners.  Recognition of the terms of our 99 year leases is extremely important for the Flintstone Properties to understand.  Well written letters by attorney Richard Stark are very helpful in this regard.  

Please click HERE to download this letter in .pdf format.


Text of letter sent 1/4/24 from Ray Kawal (cabin owner U-4) to Deanna Strange regarding garbage service at Whaleshead:

Dear Deanna,

Shortly after our virtual meeting that you graciously organized for Whaleshead cabin owners, I sent you an email on December 8th with my response and comments about the overall situation at Whaleshead.  I’m hoping to get a reply to my letter, but I understand that everyone is busy for the holidays and it takes time to think about all of the subjects covered.  But since I haven’t heard from back from you, I thought I would like to offer some more thoughts on the garbage pickup situation.  From the meeting I’m sure that you could see that the subject of garbage service is a very controversial subject.  From the outpouring of comments on the subject subsequent to the meeting, garbage service is obviously important to the over one hundred cabin owners here at Whaleshead.  As you search for options to provide this service, the theme of your comments was that the service we have been provided for well over two decades is a luxury service that Flintstone cannot afford.  Unfortunately, we cabin owners disagree that the service is a luxury, and instead it is a service that is not only essential to living at Whaleshead but it is a service protected by our legally signed long term leases. 

Since you mentioned numerous times that Flintstone is very concerned about operating costs, we suggest that you continue the existing service until a mutually acceptable plan is created and avoid the expense of building covered trailers or structures to hide the smelly and ugly dumpsters that Flintstone has already put in place.  We suggest this will be a waste of money that won’t work in the long run, but the existing service, perhaps modified a little, will be required anyway.  New ideas are certainly welcomed, but the suggestions we’ve heard so far appear to be only options that avoid Flintstone’s obligation to provide what was intended in our leases.

Our lease terms at Whaleshead clearly state that the Lessor shall provide “water, sewer, cable, and garbage service”.  When we purchased our cabins and signed our leases, the clear intention of Whaleshead, understood by both the Lessor and the Lessee, was the provision that garbage service was defined by what was occurring at that time – the routine pickup of garbage and trash at each cabin.  This was because it was obvious that in our mountainous and steep road system, it is totally impractical for anyone to wheel a heavy garbage can up and down any driveway or road to a central location.  A motorized vehicle is obviously necessary for this operation.  At the virtual meeting you attempted to define our existed service as “curbside pickup’, suggesting this was not intended in our leases.  This is a new term to us cabin owners because we have no curbs and while this might be appropriate in your other trailer parks that are on flat ground with flat driveways, the original owners, the McNeely’s, and the Lessors at the time, understood the obvious that “garbage service” required the use of a vehicle to provide every cabin owner that service.  Not only did the original Lessor recognize that fact, but the subsequent owner of Whaleshead, Andrew Cramer, also recognized and continued the essential service.  During the meeting you acknowledged that you have only been to Whaleshead once last July, so you haven’t been able to fully understand the issue that cabin owners have been experiencing for the last twenty plus years.  Andrew Cramer was certainly also interested in cutting costs in every area he could, but at least he recognized that he couldn’t breach the terms of our lease by redefining the service we’d had since the beginning.

If it is mutually understood that “garbage service” requires a vehicle to dispose of the garbage normally stored in standard trash cans, then the question becomes who is responsible for providing this vehicle and the labor to move the trash to a central location.  Without “garbage service”, each owner would then be responsible for hauling his or her trash to that location.  Around Whaleshead and the Brookings area there are several disposal sites that can be used.  The owner would be responsible for transporting their garbage to one of these sites.  What seems to be being proposed is that Whaleshead will provide a closer “central location” for the owners to drive to in order to dump their trash.  At the moment that central location is in the restaurant parking lot, where a large ugly dumpster is now located, with a heavy lid that is not usable to the average cabin owner.  As a result, garbage bags of rotting garbage are piling up around it unless the staff can routinely come and alleviate the situation.  But the basic problem is that owners are still required to provide their own vehicles and labor to transport their garbage to this central location.  There is essentially no difference, other than distance, for the owner to transport his or her garbage to a Whaleshead central location or a nearby community central location designed for the purpose of garbage disposal.  This is definitely NOT what was intended in the leases we signed that provided “garbage service”.

Most owners purchased their homes at Whaleshead because of the basic services provided so they could enjoy a reasonably comfortable life where essential services were provided for them.  This is why cabin owners agree to pay a high monthly lease fee instead of purchasing a home on land they own.  Garbage service is one of those essential services that has been defined as the service provided since Whaleshead began, and we urge Flintstone to continue this legally obligated service.  Perhaps we could modify the frequency of service, but we don’t feel the basic concept can be eliminated.

I’m sure, Deanna, that you have your hands full with lots of other Whaleshead issues, so I’m not asking for an immediate response.  But I believe that being a new owner of the park, Flintstone should understand the concerns of the many tenants we have here.  The terms of our leases are very important to us, just as the obligation to pay our high monthly lease fees are important to Flintstone.  The leases protect both the Lessor and the Lessee.

Thank you for your consideration, and Elna and I hope you have a happy new year,

Ray and Elna Kawal
Whaleshead Unit U-4

 

Home address:

Ray and Kawal
268 Lakeview Drive
Sequim, WA  98382
(360) 683-3027
cell phone 360-460-6668