WE ARE DEBT FREE!!

The subject line of this email probably made you think it was spam. It’s not. The Huntley Hills Swim and Tennis Club is now DEBT FREE! Last month we made a final principal pre-payment of $38K and paid off our $130K 10-year loan in less than 4.5 years. And we’re so excited, we just had to shout it out!!

Now, for the details...

Here’s a brief 14 year history of our club, which explains why we had the loan and how we paid it off...
 
1998 - borrowed $80K to resurface pool deck and tennis courts, redo pool electrical, re-plaster pool, new pool tile and coping. Pool did not open until July. Resurfacing aspect proved to be inadequate with sub par installation. Decrease in membership.


1999 - 2004 - pool deck crumbling, facilities fell into disrepair, membership stagnant.
 
2005 - 2007 - improvements/repairs made, membership grew slightly.

2008 - a very precarious year for the club!

• DeKalb County wouldn’t allow the pool to open without new concrete pool deck and fencing (both out of code and unsafe); still owed $50K of the $80K borrowed 10 years earlier in 1998; borrowed another $80K ($130 total, 10 year loan), assessed members $250, raised initiation fee from $150 to $400; lost 37 renewal memberships, membership under 100 in April.
• Pool deck construction was well managed and under budget, replaced fencing, added baby pool fence, replaced all furniture, painted everything, improved grounds/curb appeal, removed pine trees, added shade structures, increased pool hours, new website, massive marketing effort; gained 27 new members in May/June.
  

2009 - 2012 - tremendous growth in membership, added Board members with skills in landscaping and construction, new accounting software implemented, increased communications, started Friday night cookouts, resurfaced the tennis courts, replaced the tennis deck, new roof on pump house, resurfaced the baby pool, new baby pool cover, new pool pump, added shade sails, additional repairs and improvements.
 
Prepayments made to the $130K loan (using new member initiation fees and additional revenue):
 2009 - $30K
 2011 - $15K
 2012 - $38K (10 year loan paid off in less than 4.5 years!)

2013 – loan is gone (was $18K/year) and we will begin the season with approximately $12K in emergency reserves. This was all possible thanks to the hard work and smart decisions of lots and lots of people, over many years. There really are way too many people to list and thank ­but if you’ve ever donated your time, talents, services, money, etc to the club, ­you know who you are, and we THANK YOU!!


We would also like to thank all of our members! Without the continued support of long term members (especially those who stuck with us in 2008) and the addition of wonderful new members, we would not have survived. Our Club is successful because we have terrific members and we hope all of you will be with us for many, many years to come.

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Now that we are debt free and membership is strong, we are beginning work on the Master Plan! We’ve already had our first meeting and have gotten the ball rolling. You’ll be seeing more about this in the weeks and months to come. In the mean time, take a look at our attached financial summary (not posted on the blog) and be on the lookout for a detailed membership summary. All of this information will help you make informed decisions, as we begin sending out a series of membership surveys to help us guide and prioritize the Master Plan.

Thanks again to everyone who has helped us get to where we are today!

- HHSTC Board <http://www.hhstc.com/Board.html>

Ps. We hope to see everyone at our annual HHSTC Halloween Party (details coming soon).