History of The Cacapon Highlands Property Owner's Association, Inc.

The property which is now known as Cacapon Highlands was purchased by The
Tuscarora Land Company in March, 1980. It was developed into Sections,
Section A, made up of 20 lots, Section B made up of 17 lots, Section C made up of
31 lots, and Section D made up of 30 lots. These lots contained at least 5 acres of
usable property, although a number of Lots on the ridge contained considerably
more than 5 acres, the excess was land on the hillside which was considered to be
unusable for construction.
In March of 1981 an initial meeting was held where the Tuscarora Land Co.
turned over ownership of the Cacapon Highlands to a newly established
organization called The Cacapon Highlands Property Owners Association.
This Board was made up of property owners and became the controlling panel
that would operate according to the Tenants, the Constitution and Bylaws as
recorded at the Morgan County courthouse. The first recorded Board of Trustees
were; John Eaton, Chair; Gus Gruen, Co Chair; Elenore Gay, Secretary; Steve
Biegle, Treasurer; Richard Cook, Trustee.
This Board tackled some very touchy subjects like road fees, snow removal and
the most visible, cabin security. Over the first three or four years break-ins were
our biggest concern. There were No Tresspassing signs, security personnel (paid
and unpaid) and gates of one kind or another. This combination caused a
significant reduction in break-ins over time.
When the Mountain Memo was first published, March 1985, it began a paper
trail for this historical archive. It so happens that the gypsy moth invasion began
in our area and it became a major concern, not only to the property owners, but
to an extended area of West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland the northern states
had already been devastated by these pests. Spraying, by crop dusters using
Dimilin', is the recommended solution. This will be an ongoing event for most
areas and can be costly as well.
The first 7 years, 1981 to 1988, it was only through good fortune if you were able
to get phone and power lines to your cabins. Much of the area had no power lines
and the phones available were split between two carriers. C and P service was a
local call to Berkeley Springs, whereas, GTC incurred a toll charge. However, C
and P only serviced about a third of the community.

Thanks to Shirley DePaolis, who petitioned the Public Service Commission, both
services were able to come to agreement about the coverage. The C and P service
area was extended through the whole community and power lines were also
extended without the original exorbitant charges.
In 1993 the Annual Meeting was held at Capon State Park where a group
portrait was taken, the only group photo taken to date and, I believe the largest
turnout for an Annual Meeting.

Capon State Park 1993

One of the notable accomplishments was the installation of an Association sign at
the entrance gate in the summer of 1997, and later a similar sign to recognize the
North gate. However, things took a turn and the Association in 1998, had to
defend itself, in court, to keep loggers from enticing members, with money, for
their trees. This ended up putting the Association into a huge debt. The members
were assessed $200 per lot. This cost was returned a few years later, through the
efforts of Dennis Talley, by reducing their yearly fee by $20 per lot. This caused
the Board to keep watch on their budget for a number of years.
The Board, in late 2012, got into a disagreement over the need for insurance and
the fear of being sued. Somehow it came to a head in January 2013, four of the
five trustees resigned. Sandra Wilson, an alternate, who was one of the
protagonists, took the bull by the horns and called for an emergency meeting in
February. At the meeting four members were selected to the new interim Board,
Sandra Wilson being the chair person. Immediately the new Board tried to
stabilize the situation. The first order of business was to initiate the incorporation
of the Association. This provided protection against board members from being

sued. Then a Board meeting solved the missing Trustee problem. Past members
of the Board were asked to work as liaisons and a roads committee was
established. Thus, a group of diligent individuals became the phoenix that
resurrected the new Board of trustees.
The Board has been quite stable since those days thanks to Sandra Wilson's
constant urgings. There is still a matter of the tax exempt status of the
corporation.