Our most pressing need is a buyer for the property.
Most of you now know, that this project, headed by John H. (The Big Cheese) is not going to be at this location--- at least under this current set of variables. There was the case of the township planning board not approving all the variances that both the design firm that represented us, and John asked for. This would cost an inordinate amount of money that was not available. Certain parts of it might have been negotiable, but under the current circumstance, John would not of been able to, "wait it out".
So, John put the property up for sale in May 2006, hoping that a buyer would come through in the "good part of the season" That was not the case. So, after 7 months with this real estate company that was based too far away from the property, for the agent to come up and show the property, we switched agents to someone a lot closer, and a different marketing ploy to garner interest. This listing started on January 4th. But, this does not mean, that the vision for this dream, in this location is done with. One of the guys in our "frat club" (one of the guys who has been coming up for a while, coined the term) drew up the below proposal, and I wanted to get your ideas on it, and if it is something you would like to be a part of, or think it would work. Email those ideas to us
context of the written up proposal by Dov on December 8th, 2006
Dear Friend of Mountaintop,
The Owner of Mountaintop has given up hope for making this a commercially successful enterprise and has placed the
land and buildings on the market for sale. To date, there have been no serious inquiries, but there does remain a
core of us who are interested in preserving what we have come to know and love as a gathering place for gay men
uninhibited by fabric to express their feelings openly and enjoy safety, fellowship, and friendship.
To that end, a Committee has formed to explore the idea of creating a Cooperative Not-For-Profit Corporation
to buy and run the facility on a permanent year-round basis. This Committee consists at present of some of
those who are and have been on the staff of Mountaintop, those who have donated many hours to its development,
and a real estate attorney with some level of expertise in related areas of the law.
Roughly stated, the plan is to attract 50 or more members, all of whom would be screened by the initial Board of
Directors for commitment to the ideas and ideals of Mountaintop and an ability to contribute to the general social
congeniality of the facility. Each member would be called upon to pay in $20,000 or in some very few instances,
the equivalent in labor, based upon a demonstrated ability to render services of that value to the Cooperative.
Annual membership dues are envisioned at being approximately $1,500. Overnight fees are envisioned at being $50\
per diem per person. Two persons who are an established household could share a single membership.
Use of the facility would be on a first reserved, first accommodated basis and limited to members and the
guests they personally escort. The Membership would have the ability to suspend use privileges for members
who failed to conform to the overall vision of the facility.
Those purchasing memberships would have the ability to sell or will their memberships to anyone who meets the
same membership criteria.
* The Board would be elected annually by the membership.
* The membership fees would be used exclusively for capital repairs, improvements, and enhancements of the facility
(and would enable us in the short term to upgrade the entrance road and install a swimming pool and in the long term to add an industrial grade kitchen, additional bedrooms, an upgrade of the barn to a dancehall, and other capital improvements as the membership may find worthwhile.)
These are the core ideas and are subject to change as the Committee finds what interest there is for pursuing them.
If there is substantial interest, the next step would be to collect a relatively small amount of money from each
person expressing interest so that legal counsel can be retained to obey the laws for putting out this kind of
PRIVATE offer. It is envisioned that this will NEVER be a public offer. That small amount would be nonrefundable
to the extent that it is spent on legal fees and other experts necessary to put a full blown plan into place.
If you wish us to pursue this idea further, you do not need to commit yourself to ANYTHING at this point.
Simply drop an email to Dov
and/or Dave N (the hat wearer)
expressing your interest and what additional ideas, if any, you would like to contribute at this early phase.
Very truly yours,
Dov and Dave