To Our Valued Community,


The Jefferson Equestrian Association Board of Directors are writing you today with heavy hearts. We have determined through years of effort, energy, research, and expenses that it is time to let the horse park go. We believe for a plethora of reasons, that if the horse park is meant to be, it is not via this property, the requirements set forth in the Conditional Use Permit, and the expectations by the county.


These are the steps that we are choosing to take:

  1. November 1: Notify members and contact list of our decision
  2. November 15: Deadline for a new board or group to take over JEA
  3. November 16: Begin steps to dissolve the organization and board
  4. December 31: Dissolution effective December 31, 2019


We know many of you know the struggles that the Jefferson Equestrian Association has faced over the years. There have been too many obstacles to overcome and in the process of trying to jump these hurdles we have lost the community support that we so desperately need in order to complete the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) as part of the lease agreement forged with the County. We want to share and be transparent of how we came to these decisions, as this process was not easy.

The entire Board has been trying to determine a pathway through the challenges JEA faces in tackling the requirements for the CUP. We have reached out to the county, sought council with Parks and Recreation (P&R), County Commissioners, advice from founding members, professional contractors, even investigating how other counties handle similar challenges. We have brainstormed and strategize to come up with a plan for the way through to common goals. 

The fact is that we have a 30-item punch list of requirements to fulfill for the CUP. Unfortunately, the bulk of this binding lease contract and the CUP puts all the burden on JEA to raise funds and shepherd the facilitation of the CUP through the county permitting process in order to open the park to the general public.

What this means is JEA is responsible for hiring site engineers who can stamp site plans, for the connector trail plans, the Horse park site, plus professional site managers, contractors, buying the materials needed, and more for both the connector trail project, and the site plan for the park. We can parse out various projects, but it all needs to be completed by the deadline.

The county is treating JEA (a non-profit organization), as a professional site development company, the kind of company that clears land to put up a subdivision. In the eyes of the county we are no different and are treated the same in building and permitting requirements. We have 1 ½ years to complete the CUP, or the land simply goes back to the County.

Over the last three years since finally obtaining the CUP we were not idle. We raised enough money to fund the completion of the Road Access permit this past summer. That project had a total cost of $4,463. But JEA still owed Levitt Trucking $4,632 from years past. Two of our Board members stepped in and loaned JEA $3,500 to get Levitt paid.

We still owe these Board members $2,442.

In addition, we rewrote our bylaws to be more inclusive of attracting resources to our Board of Directors and to hold those directors accountable for actions and responsibilities typical of a non-profit board.

We produced newsletters to let interested folks know what was happening and we have overhauled and produced a new website.

We held fundraisers and encouraged membership, but it simply was not enough. It has been so long since the initial excitement of a Horse Park that it seems our community has simply lost interest. Our active membership is 16 people, 6 of which are our Board of Directors.

We have had to reset our expectations for completing the next phase of the project which is the Connector trail from Larry Scott trailhead to the Horse Park (so equestrians can cross Cape George Road safely). Based on the financial burdens we currently face, we simply do not have the funds to even get estimates of what it will take. Yes, that is correct. Engaging engineers even to simply consult requires a paid retainer.

The JEA board of directors has decided, based on our current roadmap towards completing the CUP, that the finances needed to complete this phase, and our current resource restraints, are unattainable at this juncture.

Each of us have great passion about this project, and we have a responsibility to our membership to do the best we can.  But we believe there are insurmountable obstacles that we do not have the manpower or finances to resolve.

We wanted to appeal to you through our communication channels and inform you that the current Board of Directors will be dissolving JEA as a 501(c)3 charity organization as of December 31, 2019. 

However, as a first step of action, we would like to see if anyone or non-profit group would want to take it over and replace the current Board.   We would need to know this by November 15th. Otherwise, we will take dissolution to our membership for a final vote. If you are an interested party, please contact the Board President, Raina Baker.

Understand that the current Board will help with any transition.

Thank you to our founders, members, board members, community, and dreamers that saw this adventure and wanted it to become a reality.

If you have any questions or are interested in taking over the Jefferson Equestrian Association, please contact Raina Baker, Board President at [email protected]


Sincerely,

Jefferson Equestrian Association Board of Directors
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