HISTORY

In the late 1960s, the Ernest Cochran family of Livingston began the development of Resort Country Subdivisions I and II. The 90 acres of Resort Country is what remained of the Cochran family’s 6000 acre ranch. The rest of the ranch is now under the lake. Originally governed by separate deed restrictions that were implemented with the initial developments, Resort I and II Associations were merged into one ‘Resort Country’ in 2001, with one set of governing documents being recorded with Polk County.

Resort Country is comprised of 189 residential lots, three of which are assigned to Resort Country Water Company, and 1 for our common property, where the Community Clubhouse is located.

During the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s about 55 homes were built in the subdivision. Since the year 2000, another 35 homes have been built for a total of about 90 homes. Approximately 60% of property owners are weekenders and 40% are full-time residents.

Dr. Emil and Leah Vogely were some of the founding property owners and until 1992, owned the Resort Country Water system, providing water to Resort Country residents only. Emil and Leah bought the Water System in October 1987 to assure the water well was reserved for Resort Country property owners. The Water System was sold to Bob Dodd and he sold it to the property owners in 1995. The Water System has been through some major upgrades in the past decade and is managed by a ‘volunteer’ Board of Directors, appointed through by-law election processes. The efforts to keep the ownership of the water system within Resort Country are primarily to maintain the quality of water we have today and to provide reliable service to residents. Many thanks to Dr. Emil and Leah for making this happen as well as the countless volunteer efforts to make the upgrades happen.

Resort Country’s Clubhouse, located at what is referred to as The Point was built in 2000 to replace the existing open structure where community meetings were previously conducted. The building was built primarily through volunteer efforts of the property owners.

Over the past twenty five years, Resort Country has had gradual increases in maintenance fees from $25 annually to the current rate of $150 per lot. Most of the funds are directed toward maintaining our streets and the bulkhead at the Point. In 1993, Resort Country began a joint effort with the Road Commissioner’s office to ensure paving of our roads was foremost in our maintenance efforts and timeline assurances of new paving about every 7 years. Through community efforts, our Point bulkhead has been repaired in the past five years and we have come a long way from the narrow dirt roads that could easily turn into terrain obstacles with the summer rains of thirty years ago.

Resort Country Property Owners Association is governed by a Board of Directors. The Board is composed of 5 members with offices of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Member at Large. Directors are elected by members of the Association at an annual meeting held in August each year. Board members serve for a period of two years.

A couple of history points Dr. Emil has reminded us of are:

1. When the first lakefront lots sold in Resort Country, the estimated time for the lake to fill was 3 years, but a large storm hit and filled it in 3 weeks. Lots of heavy equipment was lost in the north end of the lake during this storm.

2. Some of the homes of the early residents (Owen, Cook, and Vogely) were exclusive designs of a young Houston University architecture graduate student. He was working to earn enough money to get married and so he helped Resort Country as well in getting started!

Resort Country is fifty years young and continues to grow and still enjoys the benefits of having some neighbors that have been here since the beginning. There is a consensus among neighbors that once you come to Resort Country and spend a little time here, it is very hard to leave!