Santa Fe Trail Ranch POA
BOARD MEETING
July 22, 2000
TSJC - Sullivan Meeting Room
Board Members present: Board Members Absent: Guests:
Jim Davis none Bill Quigley
Will Potter Vaughn &
Joanne Roundy
Bill Wenstrom
Frances Pursewell
Carol Rawle
Kathleen Kelly
David Hulstine
Michelle Minion
Dennis Manifold
Betty Withington
Neil Sexton Wallace Sharts
Michael Hughes
Jim & Jennifer Mathews
Paul Miner
Harry Ritchie
Derik &Dan Olin
AGENDA
I. CALL TO ORDER
II. PROOF OF NOTICE
III. INTRODUCTION AND ROLL CALL
IV. DETERMINATION OF QUORUM
V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
VI. COMMITTEE REPORTS and OLD BUSINESS
VII. NEW BUSINESS
VIII. FROM THE FLOOR
IX. RATIFICATION OF THE ACTIONS OF THE BOARD
X. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
XI. ADJOURNMENT
CALL TO ORDER: the meeting was called to order at
9:00 am on Saturday, June 22, 2000.
PROOF OF NOTICE, INTRODUCTION, ROLL CALL, and
DETERMINATION OF QUORUM: Bill Quigley gave proof that the notice of the meeting
was mailed and posted. It was determined that a quorum was present and that the
meeting would be held.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Will Potter moved that the
minutes of the last meeting be approved as presented. Jim Davis seconded, and
it passed unanimously.
RESIGNATION: Neil Sexton
submitted his resignation from the Board. Jim Davis moved to accept Neil’s
resignation, Will Potter seconded, and it passed unanimously.
BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT:
(see attached report). Paul Miner presented information indicating the status
of the current budget. The Board agreed to begin work on the budget for 2001 at
the next budget meeting scheduled for Saturday, August 19th at 8:00
a.m.
CONSERVANCY COMMITTEE
REPORT: (see attached report). Jim Davis noted that the next step was to meet
with Kevin Meyerof Land Properties and Howard Holman of Greenlands Nature
Conservancy to work out contract and lease fee details. He stated that there
was no conflict to threaten the grazing lease. The annual fee would be paid for
by the POA out if its budget and funds to be received from the State
Conservation Trust Fund. Jim also noted that there was no conservancy conflict
caused by normal use of Gallinas Parkway. Carol Rawle said that Ken Lutz with
the Agricultural Dept. assessed the cattle grazing and gave the Ranch a good
rating. He recommended that the Ranch straighten out the streambed to prevent
flooding and gouging of the terrain. He also suggested that the Ranch continue
to stay on top of the weed control. Jim explained that Greenlands lease fee is
a result of recouping their costs to fulfill on-sight of and filing reports.
The good news is that grant money is available from Greater Outdoor Colorado
Corporation (GOCO) which comes from State lottery money (Any grant writers out
there? We need one!) Also the Conservation Trust Fund, which is based on the
population of the ranch, will start paying this year. Jim estimates we will
receive between $300-$400 for the Gallinas Conservancy this year.
COMBINED EMERGENCY SERVICES:
It was noted that the purchase of a camera surveillance equipment at the Ranch
gate would put the Emergency Services was over budget by $981.00. Jim Davis
moved to authorize purchase of the equipment that would go over the budgeted
amount. Carol Rawle seconded. It was voted 4 yes and 4 no, therefore the motion
did not pass for the lack of a majority vote. The new equipment would
include two cameras mounted on top of the guard shack with the monitors and VCR
equipment located in a locked box inside the shack. Tapes would have a
continuous 30-day capacity. It was suggested that a new fluorescent sticker
system for autos would show up better at night. Also, the Committee is going to
install a phone and it was suggested it be mounted on the outside of the guard
shack, placed inside an electrical junction box and limited to local calls. It
would discourage public use but still be available to any property owner in
case of an emergency. The new equipment will be installed when an acceptable
way to make up the shortfall is determined.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE:
(see attached report). Carol Rawle said the committee has a crisis. They are
broke and, therefore, she stated that she would “throw herself at the mercy of
the Board for additional funds.” She noted that lack of money is not the only
problem; she has been frustrated by the lack of volunteer help and will not be
offended if the Board decides to terminate the publication of the newsletter.
Bill Quigley said that normally a POA newsletter is funded by general
assessments. Michael Hughes discussed the web site and noted that it isn’t
working as expected. He stated that someone must spend roughly an hour a day to
maintain a web site. Jim Davis suggested that the web site might be premature
at this time. He thought that the minutes of the quarterly Board meetings could
be more extensive and informative. The Board will consider budgeting funds
sometime in the future for the web site and Ranch Review.
Will Potter moved that the
POA not fund the publication of a newsletter or the web site. David Hulstine
seconded. Paul Miner abstained from the vote; it passed with a majority in
favor.
COVENANT COMMITTEE: (see
attached report) Will noted that forms need to be mailed in order to solicit
nominations for the Board positions that will become open in October. The
nomination form is included with these minutes. Each proposed change in the
covenants would be put up for a separate vote and sent out with annual meeting
package.
ROAD COMMITTEE: (see
attached report) David Hulstine reviewed his report as presented. Jim Davis
noted that one of the bills presented by the road contractor were a surprise.
Although cost of the work was less than projected at $31,000, he didn’t realize
that the initial work (costing $20,000) would be so much. David Hulstine stated
that no one was certain of the cost of resurfacing Fisher’s Peak Parkway from
Cottonwood to Gallinas with road base. This section was selected because of
heavy traffic and numerous potholes. Now that is has been done we know the
future cost of this application will be around $20, 000.00 per mile. David
complimented the commitment of the members of the Road Committee. Jim Davis
asked the Board to review the draft road maintenance contract and he will ask
them next week for comments in writing. Once it is finished, it will be mailed
out by Century Small Business Solutions. David promised that the Committee
would not be in danger of going over budget. Any roads scheduled for
re-surfacing this year that were not done because of budget shortfalls, would
be first on the list for next year.
UTILITY COMMITTEE: (see
attached report) Michael Hughes reviewed the report as presented. Jim Davis
stated that the Committee met with the contractors. The contractor that
installed the pumps will come back and fix the problems. It was noted that, as
yet, there has not been a date set for turning on the system.
EXIT #2 STATUS: The issue
concerns an alternate access to the Ranch through G-17. A property owner felt
that the access is a road easement and, therefore, the POA must maintain it.
Jim Davis stated that this is a utility easement, and in such a case the POA is
not obligated to maintain it. Wally Sharts asked if the Board had made the
decision regarding cleaning up this access. Jim Davis replied that if it were a
road easement, they would. It was finally decided that Mr. Sharts would have
his attorney contact the POA attorney to determine the status of the land in
question.
OLD BUSINESS:
1. It was suggested by a property owner that since the time
Michelle Minion left as secretary of the Board it has become apparent that
there is a need for expanded minutes.
2. It was suggested that the Emergency Services Committee
present the contractor with a counter offer for the new camera equipment for
security at the front gate due to budget constraints.
3. It was suggested that a separate sub-committee address
the exits #2 and #8.
4. It was determined that no action on Mr. Nagy’s request
for an easement across Lot C46 was necessary at this time since it involves
property belonging to Mr. Baldwin.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Assessments will be discussed at the August Budget
meeting.
2. Will Potter asked that the Board donate $1,000 towards a
pumper truck for the Fisher’s Peak Fire Protection District. The board decided
to donate funds individually.
3. The board discussed the feasibility of funding the
newsletter and web site and decided that the budget would go into deficit
spending if this were done. It was decided to discontinue the newsletter and
web site. (See Carol’s letter in this mailing).
FROM THE FLOOR: The issue of
voting was discussed.
RATIFICATION OF THE ACTIONS OF THE BOARD: No attendee
other than the Board Members was willing to ratify the actions of the Board.
The actions of the Board are not ratified.
DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING:
The next scheduled meeting will be the Annual Board Meeting on Saturday,
October 14, 2000. It will be held at the TJSC Massari Auditorium at 9:00 am.
ADJOURNMENT: It was
moved, seconded and passed to adjourn the Board meeting at 12:40 pm.
BUDGET COMMITTEE REPORT: (Paul Miner)
The Budget Committee membership consists of the POA
Board of Directors and meets monthly to review the financial results and to
approve expenditures. In June the Budget Committee reviewed the May year to
date financials results. At this time we are within the budget in all areas for
2000. The committee estimates that we will be within the budgeted income and
expenditure levels for the entire year. During the first six months of this
year the Committee has been preparing a five-year plan to be presented to the
POA members at the annual meeting in September. The purpose of this five-year
plan is to identify key expenditures for the next five years and to provide POA
members additional information on the future plans of their POA Board of
Directors.
Questions regarding the Budget Committee can be
directed to Paul Minter at (719) 846-1536 or (817) 571-4869.
GALLINAS CONSERVANCY
COMMITTEE QUARTERLY REPORT: (Carol Rawle)
On June 20th the Committee met with Kevin
Meyer and Jim Davis to discuss terms for the Greenlands Reserve accepting the
donation of the Gallinas properties Lots J-6 through J-10, Unit 12, to be
managed by the SFTR POA.
Two options were presented to the POA, both of which
require us to lease the Gallinas Canyon property for a yearly sum. Included in
both options was a 4% annual escalation. The first option called for an annual
lease payment of $1,850 with a proposed acceptance fee of $5,250 to be paid by
the current owners of the Gallinas property. The other option called for a
smaller annual lease payment of $800 but the current owners would have to pay a
much larger acceptance fee of $14,700. Kevin Meyer indicated that the current
owners were leaning toward the former option.
Jim Davis will be discussing the matter further with
Howard L. Hallmon Jr., President of the Greenlands Reserve, to iron out the
fine points of the agreement and hopefully to talk him out of such a high
payment which would necessitate yearly POA dues increases.
It is hoped that an agreement can be reached and that
the matter can be voted on by the Board at the July Board meeting.
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
REPORT: (Carol
Rawle)
At the last Board meeting in April the communications
committee erroneously reported that it had $1,500 in its account. That number
represented the entire amount of revenue at that time from newsletter and web
site subscriptions as well as donations. In fact, the communications committee
was quickly depleting its account due to incurred expanses to develop the SFTR
web site.
Between
July 1999 and November 1999, $568.75 went to Data Mine Corp to develop the web
site. After that, Nuro Tec Consulting took over the web site and from December
1999 to the present, we’ve spent $295 to maintain the web site. We’ve spent
$1,171.76 from November 1998 to the present producing seven edition of the
Ranch Review, two editions going out to the entire membership. We have about
150 subscribers to the newsletter and only a fraction of that amount also
subscribe to the web site. Renewals are dwindling in at such a snail’s pace
that we have run out of operating revenue.
For this reason, at the June
Budget meeting, the communications committee asked the Board to consider
adopting the Committee’s operating expenses as part of the general SFTR POA
budget. The alternative would be to cancel the web site or the newsletter or
both, since we’ve run out of money. In fact, after paying for the last three
months of the web site services, we find ourselves with no money to put out the
July newsletter.
The board promised to take
action on this request at the July board meeting.
ROAD
COMMITTEE REPORT: (David Hulstine)
Dear
Neighbors and Friends:
Since our last quarterly Board
meeting, our road contraction gave 30 days notice, and the Road Committee began
the process of obtaining a new contractor. This consisted of running an ad in
the local paper, calling back interested contractors, and giving specific
details and requirements necessary for our Ranch roads.
We conducted interviews with
three contractors. We felt the three contractors interviewed were competent,
carried the proper insurance, and were more than willing and capable to handle
our Ranch. However, availability, response time for snow plowing, and price
were also factors in our decision.
Febbrarro, although close to the
Ranch, was quite a bit more across-the-board than the others and we felt we
couldn’t afford him. Castillo’s prices were right, yet we felt we would have
been behind his oil company contract.
Ciarlo gave us firm numbers on
road grading and negotiated with us on grader pricing from $90.00 per hour to
$70 on the 1991 grader and $75 on the 2000 grader for snow removal. He also
assured us we would be first on his list of ranches to plow, would start on the
north and south end simultaneously and work until complete, replacing operators
in shifts. (The only other ranch he plows is Cuchara Ski Resort and he keeps a
loader on site for it.) He also guaranteed us a one-to-two hour response time.
His pricing for our semi-annual road grading is $258.75 per mile (That is a
$41.25 per mile savings) All required insurance is in place, current and on
file at Quigley’s office.
After interviewing the above
mentioned contractors, subsequent phone conversations with them, and numerous
follow-up meetings, the Road Committee’s recommendation to the Board was Ciarlo
Excavating (pronounced Charlo). We also recommended a two or three year
contract to lock in the current prices. The Board of Directors was phone polled
by the President (Jim Davis) and agreed with the Road Committee’s
recommendation. All information has been sent to the attorney for review and a
contract is in process.
We have also obtained a new weed
sprayer (Yates Pest Control). Our new person is saving us substantially over
our previous sprayer and has done a great job on killing the various noxious
weeds. Our current bill was $1,593.58. The Conservancy area cost $515.24 and
was paid by Kevin Myer of LPI this time. However, we will be responsible for
paying it from here on out. Currently, we have been spraying only once per year, however,
according to Mr. Yates and Ken Lutz (US Department of Agriculture), we should
be spraying twice per year, as that is the growth pattern on the noxious weeds
we encounter on the Ranch. So, even after we add the Conservancy and spray
twice per year we should be under budget approximately $4,297.60. Please keep
in mind these numbers are estimates based on our current weed spraying and may
fluctuate some, up or down, depending on weed growth. Your quadrant leaders
have checked the quadrants and feel Mr. Yates did a thorough job. If anyone
needs their weeds sprayed to keep within Las Animas County’s regulations,
please call Bill Yates at 179 829-4394. Please call him for personal use only,
if you have any questions or sightings of weeds on common areas, please contact
your quadrant leader.
We have replaced and/or repaired approximately two
and one-third miles of fence on the south end of the Ranch between SFTR and
Vermejo Park Ranch. Vermejo Park Ranch has agreed to split the costs with us.
The lease money we receive from Alan Walters (our cattle rancher) goes into
fencing to keep the cattle in, to keep our property designated agricultural,
keeping property taxes levied as agricultural instead of residential. Grazing
cattle also keeps the fire hazards down on our Ranch. As our new lease was due
to expire, we negotiated an increase with our cattle rancher from $5,000 to
$6,500 per year for a five-year period. We may be slightly over-budget in this
one line item as we had a balance of $3,000 due Berg Ranch for fencing on the
south border between us. If we are over, it will be approximately $600 to $800
in this one line item only.
Our spring road grading is nearing completion. The
Committee feels our new contractor has done a good job. There were a few bar
ditch concerns on quadrant four and these have been turned over to our grading
contractor (Matt Ciarlo) for his attention. He has assured us these will be
taken care of.
There are several culverts on the Ranch that have
ends crushed or damaged and are in need of repair. Ciarlo has been given the
list. There are also a few that are plugged and the Fisher’s Peak Volunteer
Fire Department has agreed to let us try to blow them out with water to save
the cost of digging them up and replacing them.
Now that OPEC is done, our road-surfacing program has
begun. We have approximately ten miles of road slated for surfacing
(approximately 1.6 miles are completed). To date, Fishers Peak Parkway has been
surfaced and has a minimum 3” to 4” compacted road base 20 feet wide from
Gallinas to Cottonwood. The Road Committee felt it necessary to road base this
stretch of road, as it was full of huge potholes and rocks and gravel would
only spread and disappear. An additional consideration is that these are the
two most traveled roads on the Ranch.
The roads that have had gravel put down on them, and
where it works well, are the clay and mud roads. We put it down ten feet wide
(the width of a dump truck) and 1 ½” to 2” thick (one layer the size of the gravel). This has
helped immensely on these roads. The roads we have scheduled for gravel this
year are as follows:
1. Timber Park Drive - 1.5 miles from Rainbow Springs Drive
to Squirrel Lane
2. Timer Park Drive - 0.6 miles from Rainbow Springs Drive
to Alpine Meadows
3. Squirrel Lane- 0.5 miles wet from Timber Park Drive
4. Fisher Peak Parkway - 0.9 miles from Bridge to Gallinas
Parkway (already done w/ road base)
5. Fisher Peak Parkway - 0.7 miles from Cottonwood Canyon
Drive to Bridge (already done w/ road base)
6. Oak Park Drive - 0.5 miles between Elk Park Road and
Ponderosa Ridge
7. N. end of Old Mission Ridge West - 2.0 miles
8. Turkey Creek Lane - 0.5 miles from the B48/B49 lot line
west to the red ash
9. Tin Cup Trace - 0.1 miles, Intersection with Alpine
Meadows Drive
10. Gallinas Parkway - 1.5 miles from Fisher Peak Parkway to
Old Mission Ridge
11. Cotton Canyon - ? Additional gravel as needed in muddy
areas
12. Owen Baldwin Parkway - ? Additional gravel as needed in
muddy areas
Again, these roads are slated for this year. However,
this Road Committee is committed to staying within its allotted budget, as
it has done since the Blame Ferguson fiasco over three years ago. And while
staying within our budget, any roads that don’t get completed this year will be
at the top of the list for next year’s surfacing program. To date we have
invoices for $20,359.99 worth of road surfacing. At present we are within our
budget for road surfacing and will ask for Board approval to use savings in
other line items for surfacing.
This is your Road Committee:
David Hulstine, Chairman 846-3500
Will Potter (quad 3) 846-9508
Denny Manifold, co-chairman 846-6635
Vaughn Roundy (quad 4) 846-2234
Tom Stephens (quad 1) 846-8111
June Stephens 846-8111
Michael Hughes (quad 2) 846-4080
Bill Bumstead 845-8269
UTILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT: (Michael Hughes)
The phone system was recently purchased from the
Metropolitan District by US West according to the “buy-back” agreement. In the
last month, US West has completed most of the orders for phone service on the
Ranch.
The last Utilities Committee report mistakenly
reported that the water system is owned and operated by the POA. Since the
Metropolitan District raised the funds to pay for the installation of the water
system and hired the contractors to install it, the water system is owned by
the Metropolitan District. To date, no arrangements have been made for the
transfer of ownership of the water system to the POA.
Several projects still need to be accomplished by the
Metropolitan District contractors before the water system will be ready for use
by the POA. The pumping system needs to be repaired and slightly modified in
order to function automatically. The piping system has several leaks which are
indicated by water volume loss from the tanks and pressure loss experiments.
These leaks cannot be detected by surface observation or by acoustical testing.
A Colorado Rural Water Association technician has concluded that the leakage is
probably the result of many small, undetectable leaks as opposed to one large
leak. Once the pumping system is functional and the leaks have been repaired,
the system needs to be sanitized. The Colorado Rural Water Association also
believes that some chlorination capability within the system needs to be
installed.
The last Utilities Committee report outlined some of
the activities that are included in the water system operation, monitoring and
maintenance. Since no Operation and Maintenance Manual for the water system
exists as yet, the cost to operate and maintain the system cannot be accurately
projected.
COVENANT
COMMITTEE REPORT: (Will Potter)
Since
the beginning of February the Covenant Committee, consisting of Jim Davis, Dick
Goellen, Byron Hines, Michael Hughes, Rick Johnson, Denny Manifold, Lazaro
Martinez, Michele Minion, Will Potter, Francie Purswell, Tom Stephens, and Walt
Wolff, has met five times.
The
Committee has reviewed the Articles of Incorporation, By Laws, and Covenants.
It has tried to simplify and clarify the Covenants and add a few items that
appear necessary as more people reside on the Ranch.
As
the Committee is completing its work it has discovered a few violations of the
current covenants which it is bringing to the attention of the Board so that
the property owners can be notified and compliance achieved in a common sense,
neighborly fashion.
An
area of concern is the number of dogs running loose on the Ranch, not under the
control of their owners. These dogs pose a potential threat to other property
owners and wild life. Dogs running in packs will drive the wild life from the
Ranch and thus eliminate one of the major reasons people purchase property
here. Dogs that chase wild life, threaten neighbors who are walking, or chase
cars and 4-wheelers are a major nuisance and negatively impact the quality of
life on the Ranch. There are some amendments to the covenants addressing this
problem.
Shortly
after the April 15 Board meeting each property owner will receive a document
showing each old covenant, the proposed changes, and the reasons for each
change. There will be a two-week period for each owner to offer suggestions and
criticisms by letter or E-mail. The Committee will review all the comments
prior to the July Board meeting. The final changes to be voted upon will be
mailed around the middle of August. Property owners will be asked to vote for
or against each change. A 60% approval of the individual lots is required to
amend a covenant.
It
is vital that each property owner carefully read the proposed changes, gives us
his or her comments, get questions answered, and commit to voting. This process
will contribute to an even stronger and better-informed community of good
neighbors.
Will Potter - Chairman, Covenant Committee
Address: 3215 Owen Baldwin Parkway, Trinidad, CO
81082
Phone: (719) 846-9508 (voice/fax)
E-mail: wbpotter@activematrix.net
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PLEASE HELP US TO UPDATE OUR FILES. We are quickly approaching
the point where it will be much more cost effective to contact POA members by
e-mail. We’d appreciate it if you would take just a minute to fill out this
form, fold and drop it in the mail. Thanks.
NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY, STATE, ZIP:
PHONE:
E-MAIL:
Comments, suggestions, jokes
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TO: Ranch Review and Web Site Subscribers
FROM: Carol Rawle
DATE: July 31, 2000
It is with deep regret that I must announce that the
newsletter and also the web site must be discontinued. The expenses incurred
developing the SFTR web site combined with the failure of enough subscribers
renewing has resulted in the depletion of operating revenue for the
Communications Committee. The SFTR POA Board was not able to fund the
continuation of the newsletter and web site out of the POA budget since all
money has already been allocated.
In addition to the lack of money, the Committee has
also suffered for much of the past two years from a severe lack of volunteers
and contributors. While not wishing to whine and complain, I must, however,
state that I am completely tired of trying to put together a newsletter with
little or no support from my fellow Board Members and the rest of the POA
membership. Out of all our property owners only a little over a third were
interested enough in ranch affairs to subscribe; One-third of the Board of Directors
never bothered to subscribe.
Even if we were to suddenly come into some money, it
still would not solve the biggest problem which is the man-power (or
woman-power). Michael Hughes has been trying to get an over-view of the
problems that have caused the web site not to have been updated in so long. In
talking with Paul Zahnle who has been hosting the SFTR web site, it has been
determined that it would take a very dedicated volunteer in possession of a
high degree of technical expertise at least an hour a day, everyday to keep the
web site current.
Both the newsletter and web site require volunteers
to gather information, report on Board and Committee meetings and other ranch
affairs, and write articles. Perhaps even someone with a digital camera and the
ability to take photos at the POA events and get them onto the web site and
into the newsletter. We would need a couple of volunteers to do typing, and
several to help with the printing and mailing chores. It’s a job for a team,
not one person.
My gratitude goes out to the few people who have
actually contributed articles, to Morgan Flygstad and Sandy Manifold who have
helped out with the typing, and to all of the property owners who supported the
newsletter and web site with subscriptions and donations.
I feel badly for those folks who have recently
re-subscribed and sent in new subscriptions. The Communications Committee’s
account is completely depleted, however I will refund your money out of my own
pocket if you will get in touch with me.
It is my sincere hope that this won’t be the end of
the web site and the newsletter. Perhaps some of you out there will feel
strongly enough about these two communication forums to organize yourselves,
raise the necessary funds, and continue these efforts.