May 17, 2001
Dear Sir,
I would like to know what is going on with the water system, I heard that there are problems (leaks and does not work and may not work at all) so that what we are being access extra $31/month per lot, all these time besides the original $4K plus/lot when we first purchase the land. Please fill me in on what really is going on for I try to e-mail the water commitee to inquire about it I got no response.
Thank you.
Tom Wei
May 20, 2001
I have not had the pleasure of meeting you yet, I believe. If I have, please forgive my lack of instant recall. I would like to respond to your e-mail to Pat Roehl. First, I would like you to know that I am personally not aware of any prior inquiry to the water committee other than that just received. If it was by telephone or e-mail to another individual or through another property owner, it may not have made its way to the committee. If that was the case, I know you were not ignored intentionally.
We are having some difficulty in getting the water system to the point of operation. The hold up is because we have not been able to complete testing and sanitization required to get approval for use. In general, this was caused by some design errors in the pump system (hopefully now fixed) and some design errors in the engineering, which we are currently assessing and seeking remedy for. As the engineer and contractors involved are not aggressively pursuing remedies, we have contacted the bonding company, party to the project, seeking their assistance in getting us to the point of providing service. All of this information has been provided to property owners by written attachments to Board Meeting minutes and, more recently this year, on the web site. I'm not sure how you may have missed this.
There is also a documented history of how the Metro District was formed and the subsequent tax-exempt bond issue that was done, which accounts for the $31 per month debt service payments. If you are a relatively new property owner or somehow escaped the flow of information surrounding the POA membership decision to proceed with this project, or for that matter, why the $4000+ we each paid for all three utility services was not sufficient, I invite you to call me at my office at 719-846-2248 or at my home at 719-845-9060 whenever you have an hour or so to discuss the history of our utilities projects.
My involvement goes back to the spring of 1997 and I had to learn a 6-year history even then to understand myself where we all stood in the evolutionary process. Anyone who represented to you that the system "may not work at all" probably wishes that to be true for their own unfortunate reasons. However, we have been told by the Colorado Rural Water Association, the City of Trinidad (our water provider), and an independent consulting firm that the system should work, once the corrections and adjustments are made. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience.
Jim Davis
May 21, 2001
Patrick,
Thanks for responding, and please thank Jim Davis for me too for the info. I must have missed the report before. One more thing if I might ask you is that how long do we have to keep paying this 31 dollars /lot/month? I appreciate what you all are doing a great job voluntarily, and still getting criticism from some is really unkind of them, But keep in mind we majority of the property owner who live far away know what a great job you all are doing.
Thanks, please keep up the good work.
Tom Wei
May 22, 2001
The tax-exempt bond issue was for $1,800,000, amortized over 20 years at 5.75%. Divided among the 444 properties currently in the Metro District, it came out to $31 per month, per 35-acre lot. With the September principal and interest payment to investors in the 5th year, anyone who desires can pay the balance of their principal off ca do so. That will avoid approx. $1800 of additional interest over the remaining 15 years. We intend to notify each property owner at the beginning of the 5th year the exact amount of their principal remaining so they can decide their course of action. We are required to notify the bondholders of our intent to prepay any amount of bonds. Starting with that Sept. payment in the fifth year, we will have similar opportunities every March and September until the remaining bonds are retired. Once again, if you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact me.
Jim Davis