Pat had been at the meeting when the sign project was presented. She remembered glossy drawings, photographs from similar neighborhoods, and a discussion of curb appeal that went on nearly an hour. There had been charts showing what percentage of the reserve fund could be spent without affecting planned maintenance. Nobody had brought a comparable presentation about water storage, hydrant flow, or clearing brush from the northern boundary.
"If they'd told me the choice was lights or fire access, I would have asked harder questions," Pat said.
Elliot pointed out that it was not necessarily an either-or choice. The reserve fund, assessments, county programs, and phased projects all had different restrictions and opportunities. A study might have cost less than a new entrance sign, but a full utility improvement could have been much more expensive than anything in the annual budget. The true failure, he said, was that homeowners had not been given the information required to decide how to allocate their priorities.
I agreed, though I also knew what people were tempted to do after a scare. It would be easy to look backward and declare every ornamental expense irresponsible because a brush fire had eventually occurred. That was not how planning worked. The responsible question was why a documented risk had not received an open evaluation at all, even after the county invited the association to consider mitigation.
When I returned home, there were three new messages waiting on my telephone. One was from Mara, confirming that the association's counsel had finally agreed to review the enforcement file. Another was from Henry Ostrander, asking whether I could recommend a contractor to inspect the shed foundation. The third was from Grant, requesting permission to visit with two directors before the emergency meeting.
I said yes to Grant but asked that they come as a group rather than separately. I was finished with private conversations that later became memories people could interpret to suit themselves. I had nothing to hide, and I did not want board members feeling obligated to believe my version because I had spoken to them one at a time. The documents should be examined together.
They arrived on a Wednesday evening while I was watering the oaks. Grant came with a director named Paula Ingram, who had supported the original citation, and another named Martin Coyle, who had abstained at the hearing. Both looked uncomfortable when they stepped onto the driveway and saw the tank. I invited them around the side of the garage, where the fire connection was visible without entering the restricted rear yard.