Sins of the Fathers

    When I started getting involved in the inner workings of Pine Mountain Club in the early 80's, it soon became clear that a few things were amiss. Not the administrative or political problems that plague most communities-- those are facts of life, especially in California. But Pine Mountain Club was barely in its teens, and some "cracks" were showing.
     Anyone who watches reality TV has seen, or is aware of, the "flip" programs: "Flip This House", etc. Well, Pine Mountain Club was a real estate "flip". Dart Industries and Georgia-Pacific started the trend in the '60's, buying tracts of land in or near "resort" areas, making necessary improvements, and then selling the properties at a tidy profit. Tenneco did not acquire the land that became Pine Mountain Club with the primary intention of developing it. Tenneco was an OIL company, and Kern Land Company was for sale in the 60's. Kern Land Company, which came to be as a grab for water rights in the late 1800's and early 1900's, owned a vast tract of land (more than 170,000 acres) that had once been a Spanish/Mexican land grant, and had subsequently belonged to General John C. Fremont, called Rancho San Emigdio. Tenneco primarily was after the OIL that lies beneath the grassy hills to the north of us; the water rights to the land, and the 3000+ acres nearly surrounded by national forest on the southern edge, were a bonus. Tenneco knew that the likelihood of extracting oil from this particular area (PMC) was nil, but you never know. (If you check your property documents (deed), you'll see that Tenneco reserved ALL the mineral rights after the first 100 feet to themselves, and ALL the water rights to Mil Potrero Mutual Water Company.)
     Tenneco managers left their mark on our community: Symonds was CEO; Askin and Freeman were VPs of Tenneco in the 60's/70's.
     Anyway, Tenneco, coming somewhat late to the game, decided to get into property development. Following the "flip" concept, the plan was to buy cheap (already done), invest the minimum amount to pass inspections and have "curb appeal", and then sell getting out with a tidy quick profit. Like any good flipper, they cut corners everywhere possible, and "worked around" any unforeseen obstacles. Case in point: the original plan submitted to Kern County called for underground utilities throughout the entire project. Once excavation began, it became clear that the terrain and the size and quantity of rock where the trenches for utilities would go made it extraordinarily expensive to put underground service everywhere (cutting into their profits). There's no proof that I know of, but it's been rumored that SC Edison, (then) PacBell, and Tenneco lobbied Kern County (maybe with cash), to forego the underground requirement, except in the area immediately around the Clubhouse--the original real estate sales office. (there's your curb appeal). All three companies benefited by significantly lowering their construction costs.
     Like an undertaker that gets to bury his mistakes, Tenneco cut lots of corners on drainage. Streets and lots cut across stream beds, and only the absolute minimum was done  to mitigate any possible damage in the future from water flow. Drain pipes and culverts worked fine for a few years, but when the development was turned over to PMCPOA, no plans or procedures were given to the maintenance department to keep the system working as designed, so gradually those systems clogged with silt or deteriorated. The Association inherited an expensive problem that still continues to give its managers headaches, and keeps its lawyers in billable hours.
     Those unforeseen hazards can have frightening consequences. A culvert and gutter up on the top of St. Bernard Drive backed up and partially washed out during an autumn rainstorm in 1989 or 1990. The rush of water flowed down the ravine for three-quarters of a mile or so, eventually ending up in a gully just above San Moritz Way. Tenneco had built the county-required catch basin to absorb and deflect just such a water flow, and to protect the homes on San Moritz Lane. But nobody knew that the catch basin needed to be cleaned out occasionally, and so it had become filled with silt and debris. The water overflowed the basin and started eroding the foundations of two of the homes below, wiping out most of their yards in the process. PMCPOA didn't cause the problem, Tenneco's poor design and lack of foresight did, but the Association (all of us) accepted the development from the Developer with all its flaws, so we were legally and financially responsible, and we paid-- attorneys, and engineers, and contractors.
     The electrical system in the clubhouse was barely adequate for the original small structure, and when the building was enlarged (several times), the system was just expanded, instead of being upgraded. I once got a call from the then General Manager, Mike Duffy, that the power in the Club bar area was out, and it was New Years Eve. I'm not an electrician, but he asked me to look at it anyway and see if it was something simple (is it ever??). I found one of the bar sinks had overflowed and gotten an outlet wet, causing the breaker to trip. I turned off all the breakers for that area so the water could be cleaned up. While the crew was working, I saw some of the equipment was still on. One of the crew said there was another breaker box. After some extensive checking, and getting a real electrician to come out on the holiday, he found that TWO panels were hooked to the same circuits, so turning one off didn't cut the power! You'd think after the fire a few years earlier (caused by a faulty circuit), that nearly destroyed the entire clubhouse, SOMEBODY would have hired a licensed electrician to properly install the wiring in the clubhouse. (Note: it should ALL be up to code, now. :-\ )

There's Always a First Time

      Our first experience with PMC was almost 40 years ago. We rode up to Pine Mountain from the San Fernando Valley with Mike Schmidt, who had previously told us all about it. He owned a lot that he planned to build a home on some day, and he thought we should take a look. Property in PMC was a good investment then (real estate almost ANYWHERE in California was a good investment in the early 1970's!).
     Mike had a Jeep CJ5, and it was a lot of fun (NOT!) riding on the old road from the freeway. When we got to the "Y", the turn-off onto Mil Potrero Highway was backed up with cars to about White Rock Road (it was spring, and there was a lot of snow on Mt. Pinos). Our first experience with snow bunnies (yippee!!). Mike took a "shortcut" through the trees around the roadblock and on to Mil Potrero (don't try this at home, kids).
     Pine Mountain was as beautiful as any description I had heard. The sky was blue, the air was crystal clear, and scented with something between pineapple and vanilla (one of the "up" sides of Jeffrey or "sugar" pines---they have their "down" sides, too.) And trees, LOTS of trees.
     We pulled in to Pine Mountain General Store, where we met Floyd Bolton. Floyd was an ex-LAPD who decided to trade the security of a pensioned job for the unknown future of an entrepreneur,  moving his wife Pat and young boys to a tiny no-stoplight town in what almost seemed like wilderness compared to the San Fernando Valley.
    At that time, the General Store was one of only three buildings in the Village (although it was commonly referred to as the "Commercial Center"; there were no signs). The other two structures were the Pine Mountain Real Estate office (a 3-room, one-story building where the Jennings Realty building, that was built over and around it) stands, and the Gold Coast Realty office, which consisted of the one-room front portion of what is now Montana Joey.

Chuck & Marge Tidwell next to Pine Mt. Real Estate Bldg.    

     We drove by the PMC clubhouse, about a quarter of the size it is now. There were just 4 houses on Beechwood Way, near the clubhouse, and the only near structure across Mil Potrero Highway was the KCFD fire station.
     We drove over to the Stables (it wasn't the Equestrian Center, then), turned around, and went up the hill on the street next to the corral. One of the only houses on the street, nestled in the pinons, belonged to Rick Young. It was early on a Saturday morning, but Rick was up working around the house. He invited us in, and asked if we would join him in a Bloody Mary. We did, and come to find out, Rick considered Bloody Mary mix to be a garnish! ;-).
     Thus fortified, we went to the Pine Mountain Real Estate office (above), and met the Tidwells-- Chuck and Marge. They, along with son Tommy, sold most of the property in PMC. The commission on real estate sales, homes or empty lots, was 10 percent then. Actually, the Tidwells got ten percent of most everything then. Dave Peters owned Pine Mountain Real Estate, but the Tidwells did most of the selling
     We met Fred Westlund, a local building contractor. He built many of the homes in PMC-- as many as 54 in one year! Fred never met a corny joke he wouldn't tell you. When you bought a lot from Pine Mountain Real Estate (not affiliated in any way with the current Pine Mountain Realty), the Tidwells got a 10 percent commission. They would recommend (strongly) that you have Westlund Construction build your home or cabin on that lot. They (the Tidwells)would get a ten percent commission from Westlund Construction on the construction contract. They would sometimes have to persuade Fred to cut his price to make the deal, but they still got their full commission. Thus, it happened that in one particular year Westlund Construction built over 50 homes and lost money!