Club situation that needs fine tuning

[lkb]

Here's the background: I am the sole owner of a ski lake that has just about every amenity you could ever want. Enclosed boathouse, new or nearly new 196 for the last 8 yrs, boat on a lift(no trailers needed), areas for storing ski gear, ideal lake depth, totally accurate course, bathouse with indoor plumbing and frig, etc., etc.

The way I run the club is by selling for a flat fee memberships that give you unlimited access to the boat and lake. There are 8 members including myself. Basically the only rules are that you pay $0.50 per pass for gas, you try your best to take care of my boat, you pick up after yourself, you contribute to the functionality of the club by driving for others and by taking the 5 gallon jugs to the store 3 miles away to get boat gas.

My members are all good people and the same core group has been with me for several years. We have had a lot of good times together and having the lake has been a rewarding experience. Some of the guys work their tail off at the place and some of them don't because they don't have time or whatever. Some of them instinctively know what needs to be done and they do it and some of them have to be reminded. The only part that bothers me is that some of them aren't very generous when it comes to driving for others and going to the store to get the boat gas. Some people end up driving way more sets than they ski and some people never go to get the gas. To make it fair for everyone, I am considering charging a 10% higher fee to the ones who don't drive at least 1 set for every 2 they ski and the higher fee would also apply to the ones who don't make at least one gas run for every 20 sets they ski.

Do you'll think this is fair? How have you handled things like this?

Thanks

[bxroads]

I've been in numerous hunting clubs and the same type of issues come up.  It's inherent to a club and there's really no way to avoid it.  You will always have givers and takers.  We've tried everything and learned that you can't create enough rules, and more rules = less fun.  The method that ended up working the best was the organizer (you) went to a system where membership prices were not set in stone and were pretty much arbitrary.  He'd raise the amount for the slackers and explain to them the reasons why their amount was higher.  If he got tired of dealing with it he'd price them out.  If they were willing to pay it then the extra cash was used to compensate for their short coming. 

 Sounds like you have a nice setup.  Wish you were in SE alabama.

[lkb]

bxroads,

It sounds like we are on the same page as to how to handle the problem. Thanks for the input. BTW, I am in Alabama...far north. If you're in the area look me up. Where do you ski?

[bxroads]

I'm in SE Alabama around Dothan.  I ski on a private lake.  My issues are the opposite as yours.  I'm the only one with access to use the place and I'm limited to skiing by myself.  My wife pulls me but doesn't ski.  It's not a bad problem to have but sometimes I wish I had other skiers for tips and encouragement.

 

 

[LeonL]

If you charge $0.50 per pass for gas, then who pays when someone other than you makes a gas run?  How do you handle that?  This may sound overkill but have you considered putting in a bulk tank?  I also assume that there aren't many of your skiers that have regular ski partners.  In my experience that just always seemed to happen.  If they did you wouldn't have the driving situation.  No help here just some thought provoking questions.

[lkb]

LeonL,

When you finish your ski day you put your gas money in the piggy bank. It's there waiting for whoever that makes the next gas run.  I have thought about the bulk thing, but I don't know all the issues of safety, getting deliveries, storing it close enough to the lake to reach the boat, water accumulating in the tank, etc.

We mostly ski as a big group about every afternoon instead of in pairs. Thanks.

[Boody]

Got to get a bulk tank, that will solve 90% of your problems. Ours was super cheap, holds 300 gallons, is gravity fed. Skiers log passes and which determines you gas bill when it's time to refill. Running cans to the store is a pain, driving there, securing, spillage, and collecting the money. No permits or anything needed.

[jipster43]

Price them out/in. If I had access to a ski lake but didn't have time to contribute as much as I'd like, I'd be happy to pay more to ease my conscience while I'm rounding a bouy.

 

JP :)

[skidawg]

Similiar situation here, but I do 80% of the driving. Our club members pay x for everything, but typically I handle boat cleaning, maintainence, etc. But it is better than not having a lake n ur back yard

[skidawg]

And a bulk tank is a must

[h2odawg79]

A Bulk tank does sound Great. With a filter/water separator you could possibly have even better control of the quality of your fuel. You could still refill the cans from the Bulk tank if location is an issue.

Or, Assuming all memebers have vehicles that will transport smelly, leaky gas cans, then why not Buy a 5 gal. can for each member and have them bring a 5gal. can for every X amount of sets they run. -No Gas, ='s No skiing sets!  But, we do need a driver! http://www.ballofspray.com/vanillaforum/js/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-laughing.gif-ha,ha...

 

[clemsondave]

Our club has the same issues but we don't have a club boat. We've talked about dividing up the property into sections and each member would have to maintain their section. Then it would be obvious who was not doing their part. In the end though, we're happy doing whatever it takes to have such a beautiful place.

 

Another lake here has a great solution to the gas problem. They made a board in the boat with an hour meter for each member. Each hour meter is controlled by individual keys. When you ski, you insert your key and turn on your hour meter. They then charge by the hour for fuel/depreciation/maintenance. Of course, they have a large fuel tank on site.

[ForrestGump]

We just don't have these issues.  Out of the 10 or so of us that ski at our site, the only ones who don't pull their weight driving are the kids. Everyone brings 2 gallons of gas per set they take. And when it's time to work, everyone works. Maybe we just got lucky with our group. Or maybe that it's that we don't have a fee. Instead, we split maintenance and project costs 6 ways with the two owners.  It usually works out to be about $300 a year for each of us.  We need to look at a bulk fuel tank, though.

[tsixam]

We took the back seat out an installed a frame that can take 3 gas cans. Every member brings their own gas and put their gas can in the boat when they ski. We also put a valve in so we can change from the cans to the main tank. Tsixam

[Deke]

Lots of good ideas on gas. As for the driving duties, why not set up a quota? You could use a white board to log driving sets just like you might log or schedule sets. The totals will tell the story and maybe add some peer pressure.

 

Our club just has to pay an equal share for permits, spare parts, etc. for public lake site. I still have not received payment from everyone for this season. Some people just won't do any repairs or maintenance. There would have to be three buoys missing or the course would need to sitting in two feet of water before they would do anything and then, maybe not. I actually had someone call me 70 miles away to tell me after skiing all weekend that they thought one of the buoy arms wasn't fully extended. They were right. Did they bother to fix it? No. Wow, don't get me started!

[lkb]

The bulk tank does sound like a good idea especially if I could get it put in about 150' from the dock that way the deliveries would be easy. Maybe I could pipe it underground to a junction where the flexible hose and spigot would start.

We do log all our sets. Driver, observer, and skier. I think at the end of the year if your sets driven divided by your sets skied isn't greater than .5, I will charge the additional 10 %.

 

Shane does your boat use 2 gall a set? I make them pay in $0.50 a pass and we have accumulated a fairly large excess in the gas kitty. I think my 196 must uses close to a gallon for a six pass set.

[LeonL]

lkb, I assume that where your tank would have to be (in order for a truck to get to it) is 150' from the lake?  That might be tough.  I'd be a bit leary of piping it underground unless you shut off a valve at the tank everytime you used it.  I just got a new tank (old one sprung a leak) from our local gas distributor on a loan agreement, free.  If you go with a tank be sure you get a pump with a meter.  Gravity flow with a meter puts you to sleep while waiting for the boat to fill up.

[lkb]

Yeah about 150 ft would put it atop a small hill for the gravity part. I agree about having a tank shutoff. Maybe that would keep some from always sitting in the line if it was piped from a distance. I guess the gravity part wouldnt matter if a pump was involved but in my case I couldnt really get it close to the dock and have it accessible to deliveries too.

[baja]

Put your tank right by your launch ramp. You have to get a boat and tow vehicle there so the gas delivery truck can make it as well.

[Thomas Wayne]

I would be a little leery of running any gasoline lines underground.  You undoubtedly have a number of state and federal agencies that would be more than happy to fine your asses off and require environmental impact studies if they were to somehow find out.

Fuel delivery hose is fairly expensive, but I'd be inclined to run it in one continuous length, and house it inside a tough flexible plastic tubing - which is how I ran electricity to our lakeside power drop.   A fuel line placed above ground is undeniably temporary, making it [most likely] exempt from government oversight - unless you suffer a major spill/leak, and are foolish enough to tell anyone...

TW

[Boody]

We have our tank right by our boat houses on a 5' stand.