A ‘floating’ stage was recently approved by the Lake Mission Viejo Board of Directors. The $300,000 stage will be constructed over the water in the current concert area, anchored to the bulkhead. It will replace the current stage.
No architectural plans or concept drawings have been done pending discussions with the City’s planning department. An initial meeting is anticipated within the next couple weeks.
The Lake has a favorable financial situation, and an interactive water feature was also proposed. That idea has not yet been approved by the Board.
The concerts at the Lake attract big audiences. Last week members of the former Doors band played to a large crowd.
Following are variations on floating stages in British Columbia, New York and South Korea, respectively:
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These two projects would indicate it is time for a Lake Association fee reduction !!
The lake is the primary reason for our continued enjoyment of our property values, even while others around the country have dropped, we still maintain a higher than average valuation. Improvements there means we strengthen our collective protective bubble against the recession/depression. I’m for it.
It looks interesting. But someone needs to explain to me how the idea of a floating stage came about and why we need one. It seems like we wouldn’t need more space for more people at these concerts. I was at the last one on the 21st and it was way overcrowded.
[Editor's Note: The Lake Assn says the floating stage is not intended to increase capacity.]
I second that.
For the first and probably the only time I agree with Joe. Many Casta del Sol residents that have had to pay dues to the lake would like to get rid of their membership because they don’t now or will never use the facilities. People in their 80′s and 90′s have no use for the lake. Since Bert Zucker, who was a representative of Casta del Sol on the Lake Board, has moved out of the area who is there to fight for the Casta 1920ish homes that pay dues? I would volunteer but I am not a member of the lake nor do I want to be. Since my house, the last house in Casta owned by the Mission Viejo Company, did not belong to the lake I don’t have to pay dues. I have talked to many people who would like to belong to the lake but were told the membership is closed. How about letting residents that don’t want to belong give their memberships to those people who do?
I agree with a Lake Reduction fee. The concert cost to us are ridiculously high for the relatively few people out of our population who attend. I also feel that those concert costs should be funded through attendance admission tickets by those who really want to be there. The choice of artists doesn’t really appeal to most of us.
I am interested in finding out the budgeted cost for a floating stage. It sounds similar to the Rose Bowl float that the City of MV participated in a few years ago. If they have so much excess money in this down economy, WHY NOT REDUCE THE LMVA dues. This is a lake to benefit the community. Let us use our eyes and ears and be aware that a reduction in fees will be spread to the 18,000 to 20,000 members. That is community caring and giving.
[Editor's Note: The estimated cost of the floating stage is $300,000.]
Hear! Hear! I vote for a LMVA dues reduction as well. If the Lake has so much money, let’s help the community and spread the wealth by giving back to the members. I also agree that a new way to determine membership should be researched. Many pay but do not use the Lake facilities. I and my children use the Lake, but rarely do we go to concerts because of the throngs of people attending and saving spaces ahead of everyone else.
Let’s cut dues and have people pay for admission to the events that they want to attend. My kids have an aluminimum rowboat that we keep at the Lake, so we are hit by the high prices of a rental boat space. If I could sell the thing, I would since I am hit hard quarterly by the rental and hit biannually by the increasing price of membership fees. Enough already! Reduce the Lake fees, forget the floating stage and….anyone want to vote on this one or don’t we members matter?
Oh and by the by, isn’t voting for Lake Board members coming up? I would like to attend the meeting to make sure our dues aren’t raised. I appreciate the Lake facilities, but this economy is not for adding more taxes or increases especially since LMVA is doing so well.
What is sad is that while there are perhaps 1,000 dues-paying members in Casta and Palmia who are unable or simply choose not to use the lake facilities, and they cannot trade their obigation for the benefit of those living in the Aegean Hills part of our city who cannot use the lake. Everyone east of the railroad tracks that moved into their planned community homes when the lake opened, around 1978, has mandatory membership.
What the lake Board should have done is to add an insert in their newsletter with a clip-off survey for us to send in prior to this vote to see what their CUSTOMERS, us that is, feel about this costly Board action. This is not the same as purchasing a few replacement boats for the lake.
We don’t need to micromanage their actions but this is not chump change.
On a sidebar, I recently contacted the GM and commended him for an enjoyable July 24th concert.
The dues at the lake keep going up every year, and now we need a floating stage? Why?! As Joyce Saltzgiver said, “Many elderly people do not and never use the lake.
Let those of us who do not use the lake and never will transfer memberships to those who wish to join and take the membership. For once do something fair for the people.
I agree………reduce the fees. If you have 300,000 dollars for a “floating stage” with the economy in a sad state with people out of jobs, some losing their homes it would seem the wrong thing to do considering the hardships that many homeowners are experiencing. Lower the Lake fees and put that 300,000 dollars back into the homeowners pockets where it would be appreciated.
Do you people really think $220 PER YEAR is excessive??
Sure, older people probably don’t use the lake but when they bought their house they probably weren’t old or if they were, they knew that they would have to pay the dues. We bought our La Paz home 16 yrs ago and the yearly dues have gone up something like $50-$60 which equals out to about $4 a year.
And when we were house hunting we specifically looked in neighborhoods that had the lake membership and most importantly, NO HOA’S! My kids are grown and have moved completely out of Orange County and I can’t remember the last time I was at the lake, but every six months I pay my dues and tell myself it will be a good selling point.