The Arc 1950 Owners’ Association (“The OA”)
The Arc1950 Owners’ Association is the only independent organisation representing apartment owners in the village.
Why Join the OA?
As written in our Rule Book (and as registered with the French Authorities), the OA exists with a number of aims, principally to:
- provide a platform for discussion and communication amongst owners,
- provide representation of the owners to our service providers
- work with and influence our service providers
- help promote the village, to the benefit of all stakeholders
- use Association funds to seek appropriate external advice
- provide the opportunity for social events and gatherings.
It is run on a volunteer basis, by owners, for owners, and has an annually elected committee as well as other members who willingly give of their time and expertise. Subscription is kept to a minimum – often being zero, and voted each year at the AGM.
So how do we meet these objectives, and what have we done so far?
The website
We have a lively and informative website, where fellow owners share ideas, information on all subjects, and can buy, sell or swap car park spaces, equipment and even owner weeks internally. Access is restricted, so that a full spectrum of views can be expressed without fear of reputational damage to our investment, or causing upset to our providers (They are of course informed when a subject ‘trends’, but names are removed!)
It also provides contact possibilities with like-minded others when in the village, or for children / teens looking for company of their own age.
Documents of general interest are also stored here, such as ASL releases, the P&V price lists, lift prices, opening dates, guides to tax returns, commentary on restaurants and ski runs, etc.
Representation / Working with our Service providers
With 700+ owners in the village it is not suprising that between us, we posess many professional skills. Leveraging those for the commoon good is something the OA is particularly well placed to achieve. See HERE for what we’ve managed to achieve in the past.
But we don’t rest on our laurels. Current activities include:
For the past 4 years the OA has been instrumental in both re-negotiating the lease renewals (for those with PnV) and the refurbishment process. This will conclude with the Manoir residence in 2019. We’ve also provide an information conduit for those choosing to move to the ‘Classic’ model, with advice and connections being made between different owners through our portals.
Note: P&V originally determined to work with individual owners, but have now officially recognised the OA as representing a substantive group, and are talking to us about the future. Together, we are more effective.
The current Balcony situation is closely monitored by the OA, and as a result of our insistence, have formed with Sogire, the Syndic for the 7 residential residences, a “comite de pilotage”, or steering group, ensuring that communication lines and the costs have proper oversight.
One of the biggest tasks currently being undertaken is revisiting the syndical / sydic / syndicat relationships and the contracts that are set up in our names. This is especially important now the village is moving to a larger ‘Classic’ population. What is actually paid for at a building level, what at a village level, and what at an individual level? It is a little unclear. So we are working to bring transparency and insight into who pays for what to whom, and what happens if it isn’t delivered. Much as we all love the village, this is a commercial enterprise and investment, and must be treated as such. The outcomes of this work will be published to the OA members va the website.
The usual structure for doing this type of work is through the Syndicaux, the oversight committees of each building. We think there are instances when we need to work as a village community, so are bringing together all these individual and legally disparate bodies, to present a united front when offering amd measuring village wide contracts. Of course, it also means we need fair and engaged representation on each of the Syndicaux, and this is a parallel task during 2019. Both activities are being driven by a sub-committee, again volunteering their time on behalf of the OA members and village.
Other benefits
We have negotiated an annual discount of €60 (more if you have two apartments), with both of the main suppliers of Accountancy services to village owners. This discount is not available to non-members.
A new Supplier, M&G is also offering a discount to any OA member who switches to their service.
Advice relating to Foreign Holiday Lets and the potential for tax relief, plus discounted advice for tax returns to HMRC were negotiated through the OA network; again, with expert owners sharing knowledge and contacts.
Two highly enjoyable summer social events have been organised in London, and we hope to encourage more members to take advantage of the opportunities to run their own local meetings, anywhere in the world.
Your current OA Treasurer, Andrew Beale through happy circumstance, is also the President of the ASL – and that facilitates regular dialogue with the Mayor’s office in Bourg St Maurice and the lift company. So whilst they may not always do exactly what we want (we acknowledge that they may have other political pressures to consider…), our voice is heard: loud and often. For example, details of the discounted lift pass scheme now in operation across Paradiski were finalised with representation from the OA.
There are close ties between the OA committee and the Head of the Bourg St Maurice Tourist Office (Eric Chevalier, previously an Ops Director of 1950) and the Head of France Montagne, Jean-Marc Silva – also an ex Operations Director. These influential network links keep us informed about the mountain and the market, enabling us to keep our members in the loop.
We are currently in talks with owners from our sister Intrawest development in Flaine who are learning about how we approached the lease renewals. Since we have the second renewals coming up in 2024 (!) their experience and input is also useful to us. The more engaged users, the greater the influence.
And it is worth noting that other apartment owners or re-sellers in and around France have spotted the work being done at 1950, and publicly acknowledge the benefits of our strong Owner’s Association – to the extent that it is becoming a factor in the decision-making process of new purchasers. This helps maintain the value of your investment, and the quality of our village.
But on top of the ongoing work listed above, there are plenty of other opportunities for a village-wide representative body to act: for example working with the ASL to improve the service quality of the village retail outlets; injecting new options to improve the summer returns; voicing concerns to the Ski lift operators about the impact of increased beds, or giving (positive!) feedback about the new lift infrastructure. As the ‘voice’ of the Arc 1950 owners. the OA can and does make a difference.
So: why should you join the OA? Simply because we help you get more out of your investment in Arc1950, and the more of us there are, the more representative and effective we can be.
Want to know more? – please email president@arc1950owners.com with your questions – I’ll do my best to respond quickly.
Convinced? Please go to the Registration Page and join us.
Jim Wilks
Arc1950 OA President 2019-20
Vision, Mission & Strategy
