Road Subcommittee Charter

The charter of the Road Subcommittee is to monitor, maintain and improve the private road system of the Santa Fe Trail Ranch while remaining within the established budget set by the P.O.A.  Board of Directors.  This private road system includes the entrance bridge, all primary roads, all cul-de-sacs, and all devices for the purpose of drainage such as culverts, swales, bar ditches, and cattle guards.  The primary goal of this activity is to provide a safe road system for use by the property owners of the Santa Fe Trail Ranch while remaining within a limited budget.

The Road Subcommittee must point out that in order to properly maintain the roads we must consider an eight-year, long-range plan, which is the life expectancy of rural roads.  Based on reality, our annual budget is not sufficient to meet the eight year schedule for all roads.  Our current budget requires a more modest, prioritized plan of action.  Improvement of roads must be prioritized by usage requirements as determined by the number of occupied lots served by a particular road. Road base will be applied on the through roads first, with occupied cul-de-sacs having next priority.

The road system will be maintained, improved, and snow plowed on a priority basis due to the limited budget currently available for this purpose.  The first priority will be the 36.8 miles of primary roads.  Primary roads are divided into four major loops, which are the snow emergency access routes.  (Click Here to view the snow plowing map.)

Other roads will be maintained, improved, and snow plowed on a secondary basis.

All other 28.5 miles of roads will be maintained, improved, and snow plowed as cul-de-sacs on an "Occupied" basis.  "Occupied" is defined as a cul-de-sac that is occupied by any property owner on a regular basis.  The purpose of these classifications is to focus the expenses associated with road maintenance, improvement and snow plowing on the roads that are currently being used to access individual properties.  It will be the responsibility of the property owners to notify this Subcommittee that a cul-de-sac is occupied on a regular basis.  Property owners who intend to occupy their property during the winter months must notify this Subcommittee in advance in order to guarantee that their cul-de-sac will be snow plowed.

Road Maintenance Guidelines

Road maintenance of this Subcommittee will focus on road surfacing and drainage.  Road maintenance, such as grading, culvert cleaning, and clearing of bar ditches, will be done on an as required basis.  The goal of this Subcommittee will be to create and maintain a properly surfaced, crowned, and drained roadway system which will require minimal maintenance.  All road issues observed by Subcommittee members will be discussed and resolved by the Subcommittee at a Subcommittee meeting.  At the meeting, the committee will endeavor to propose permanent solutions to the problems, as opposed to temporary repairs.

Snow plowing will focus on clearing snow on a priority basis.  The first priority will be the clearing of the primary roads to facilitate emergency activities.  The second priority will be the clearing of secondary roads and then occupied cul-de-sacs to allow property owner access to their driveways.  Property owners will be responsible for informing the road Subcommittee of the fact that their cul-de-sac is occupied and requires snow plowing.  This Subcommittee will maintain a record of all occupied lots and insure that the roadways accessing these lots are cleared as soon as possible.  The goal of snow plowing will be to provide maximum access to all property owners in a minimal time frame.  Snow plowing activity typically falls into one of four categories.

1. A snowfall of less than five (5) inches will not be plowed.  The rationale behind this guideline is that less than five inches of snow can be safely negotiated with four wheel drive vehicles, the expense associated with plowing less than five inches of snow is prohibitive, and typically, five inches or less of snowfall will largely disappear from well maintained roadways on the next sunny day.
2. Once the snowfall depth exceeds five (5) inches anywhere on the ranch, within two (2) hours, snowplowing activities begin.  The goal of this activity will be to clear all primary and secondary roads as well as occupied cul-de-sacs in the shortest possible time period.  The Subcommittee reserves the right to determine what roads may or may not be plowed based on the snow depths at different places on the ranch.
3. Once the snowfall exceeds one (1) foot anywhere on the ranch, attempts to clear secondary roads and occupied cul-de-sacs will be abandoned in favor of maintaining the primary roadways.  When the primary roadways are clear, the secondary roadways will be cleared followed by the occupied cul-de-sacs.  The rationale behind this guideline is to maintain access to the majority of the ranch at all times.  Members of this Subcommittee will be available to communicate with property owners by telephone or e-mail.
4. Spring snowfalls may be deep but seldom remain on well-maintained roadways beyond the next sunny day.  Snow plowing of spring snowfalls will only be done when the roads are frozen.  Plowing of snow covered muddy roads is dangerous and merely leads to the destruction of the road surface.

Property Owner Responsibilities

All property owners need to be prepared for the possibility of limited access to and from their property during winter and early spring months and are encouraged to avoid travel on the roadways when they are wet or snow covered.  Every attempt will be made to provide continuous access by this Subcommittee, but the maintenance of an adequate stock of life necessities by every property owner and neighborhood cooperation will greatly reduce the possibility of life threatening emergencies.  In the case of emergency, this Subcommittee will direct snowplowing efforts to the scene of the emergency.

All individuals using these private roads must be aware of and abide by the following in order to maximize the safety and minimize the expense of road maintenance:

• Travel at your own risk.  The roads are private roads, maintained to best ability of the P.O.A.
• The speed limit on all roads is 25 mph.  This speed limit promotes safe travel and minimizes road damage.
• Yield the right of way at all intersections.
• Many roads are very narrow with steep drop-offs and sharp curves.  Drive on the right side of the road and yield to uphill traffic.
• Avoid travel on muddy or snow covered roads unless absolutely necessary.  This practice is both dangerous to you and detrimental to the condition of the roads.
• Be aware of possible road obstacles and hazards such as wildlife, fallen rocks and trees, vehicles, etc.
• Four-wheel drive vehicles with aggressive tires are highly recommended.

Subcommittee Member Responsibilities

In order to minimize the quantity of work to be performed by any one Subcommittee member, the basic functions of the Subcommittee will be subdivided into separate areas of responsibility.  A secretary will take and publish minutes of all meetings as well as maintain a "Things To Do" list; a list of projects that have been accomplished as well as those projects that the Subcommittee has agreed to undertake.  This list will also serve to guide the Subcommittee in prioritizing and executing the projects to which the Subcommittee has agreed while remaining within its budget.  The accountant will create job requests based upon the input of the Subcommittee and maintain a record of invoices.  The majority of the membership will be responsible for road monitoring.  Members will travel the roads on a regular basis and take note of road problems that need to be brought to the attention of the Subcommittee.  The Chair of this Subcommittee will be responsible for overseeing the activities of the membership, conveying the job requests of the Subcommittee to the road contractor, returning the road contractor input and invoices to the Subcommittee, and conducting meetings on a regular basis.  At each meeting, new road projects will be discussed and added to the "Things To Do" list, job requests will be specified, invoices will be reviewed, and upon the consensus of the Subcommittee, invoices will be submitted for payment to the chairperson of the Common Area Committee.  All invoices will require the approval of the Road Subcommittee chairperson as well as the Common Area Committee Chairperson prior to check writing or bill payment.

Click Here to view the Road Subcommittee member list.

This page updated 1/14/2008