Santa Fe Trail Ranch POA
BOARD MEETING
April 26, 2003
Trinidad State Junior College, Sullivan Room

Board Members Present: George Gonzalez, Ed Hockett, Diane Rader, Bob Santoro, Mike Shelton, Harriet Vaugeois, Jerry Withington   Board Members Absent: Rick Johnson Monica Leche   Also Present: Gail Thomas

Guests: Mary Allred, Val Allred, Bret Bolton, Chris Bolton, Jim Davis, Susan Davis, Dagney Gahlu, Linda Frost, Michelle Minion, Lee Phelan, Frances Purswell-Montoya, Carol Rawle, Mary Jo Shelton, Fred Vaugeois, Betty Withington, Joyce Wolff, Walt Wolff

1. CALL TO ORDER - Vice-President Mike Shelton, in place of the absent Rick Johnson, called this regularly scheduled meeting of the Board to order at 9:05 A.M.
    
2. PROOF OF NOTICE - Gail Thomas affirmed that notice of this meeting had been given at the meeting in February.
    
3. INTRODUCTION AND ROLL CALL - Gail Thomas called roll, and found Rick Johnson and Monica Leche absent.
    
4. DETERMINATION OF QUORUM - Seven of nine members were present establishing a quorum for voting purposes.
    
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING - Mr. Withington moved that the minutes be approved.  The motion passed.
    
6. APPROVAL OF MONTHLY FINANCIALS - Treasurer, Diane Rader, asked that this report be postponed until she gave her presentation on the budget later.
    
7. OLD BUSINESS
    
   1. Committee Reports
       
      1. Common Area:  Mr. Shelton reported on the snow plowing following the large March and April snowstorms.  The bill for March alone was $16,000 exhausting the projected budget for the year.  When the snow melted there were some problems with culverts becoming clogged, but these have all been resolved.  Mr. Hockett mentioned that he had heard several complaints about the lack of plowing on the South end of the Ranch after the April snow.  Mr. Shelton responded that the decision to plow was difficult to make in April when the melting can happen so quickly.  Since the snow was so wet, it was decided it was best to just leave the roads alone, and not destroy any more road base.  As a result, only five - six hours of plowing were done only on main roads.  Mr. Santoro reported receiving complaints about road base being pushed into ditches which then caused problems for water to flow.  Mr. Shelton and other members of the Road Committee pointed out this is inevitable with plowing especially in heavy snow where the location of the road can not be determined.  The bar ditches will be cleaned during regular maintenance provided the finances allow it.  Schrepfer Industries, the road and water system contractor, will be applying road base as they complete the sanitizing work on the water system.  Guest Michelle Minion observed that if there is such concern about the roads, then may be it is time to do a special assessment.  Guest Mary Jo Shelton replied that it would be better to wait until the water system work was complete.
          
      2. Fencing Committee:  Mr. Withington had spoken with Terry Surveying.  We paid $2,636 last year for the project, but they did $1, 274 worth of surveying last summer before the fence work was halted.  We will be refunded $1,362 for work not done.  The refund check has not yet been received.  Mr. Withington will check back on this.  Mr. Withington also met with Mr. Roybal about resuming fence construction on the Vermejo boundary.  Mr. Roybal had begun work and believed that he had sufficient materials on hand to complete the project.  Unfortunately the snow storms have hampered progress.  Mr. Withington guesses that there are about 2,000' still to fence, and that $200 - 300 worth of materials may still be needed.  It is a priority to complete this project because Vermejo will reimburse us half of the $6,827.93 cost when the project is complete.
          
      3. Grazing Contract:  Mr. Withington did not yet have any particulars, but expects the contact to be more productive this year.  The cattle will probably be brought to the Ranch earlier may be in three weeks.  The contract allows for 225 units to be grazed on the Ranch.
          
      4. Emergency Services:  Chair, Michelle Minion, noted that the committee has been working on the new edition of the Emergency Services Handbook.  Diane Rader in particular has been heavily involved in its creation and editing.  Area meetings are being scheduled to review the procedures with all property holders.  Michelle was not sure whether Bill Quigley would be able to donate a computer for the guard shack security system.  Gail Thomas will check on this. Work on improving Neighborhood Watch is in progress and will become a major focus once the Handbook is complete.  The entrance gates approved at the last Board meeting were installed by Jerry Withington.  They still need a sign and reflective tape before the short side will be closed.  Ms. Minion indicated there would be gate supervision during the Memorial and Fourth of July weekends.  Mr. Withington asked if there was any problem with removing the old automated gate posts.  They were installed by a Mr. Falsetto who runs a security company in Trinidad.  It was recommended he check back with the installer to see if there is any value in the old posts.  Otherwise, he is free to remove them.
          
      5. Budget:  Ms. Rader made her financial report delayed from earlier in the meeting at this time.  She explained that she has been involved in correcting errors from previous years.  She has just received the 2001 and 2002 amended tax returns, and will review them prior to obtaining the necessary Presidential signature.  Regarding the budget, she noted that snow removal had gone well over the projected amount.  She also observed that $1,258 in finance charges had been received since the charges called for in the Covenants had been enforced.  At this point 84% of the dues income for the year has been received.  Mr. Gonzalez asked for the record if the errors Ms. Rader had discovered had been intentional.  She responded that they were bookkeeping errors and reclassified postings which would be difficult for anyone not an expert to catch.  Having made that clear Mr. Gonzalez moved the report be accepted.  The motion passed.
          
      6. Covenant:  Ms. Vaugeois reported that the committee had met in April to deal with Covenant language pertaining to mobile homes.  The report she presented may be accessed on the Ranch's web site (see Appendix A).  It contains a history of mobile home construction, a history of mobile homes on the Ranch, a current description of mobile homes, and a conclusion of recommendations for Board approval.  She then moved the following recommendations be accepted:  1) The Covenant Committee report be accepted, recorded, and kept with other Ranch governance documents.  2) The Board accept the Committee's reasonable interpretation of what a mobile home is.  3) Current permanent residences on the Ranch fitting the description of a mobile home be grand fathered into acceptance.  4) The information in the report be communicated to local realtors.  During discussion Mr. Gonzalez felt that the grand fathering be allowed only until the time the dwelling must be replaced.  This additional language was accepted and added to point number 3.  After all the parts had been considered and discussed Mr. Hockett moved that discussion be closed.  The motion passed unanimously.  A vote was then taken on Ms. Vaugeois' motion, and it too, passed unanimously.  Mr. Shelton thanked the Committee for their work on this issue, and the report they had prepared.
          
      7. Communication:  Mr. Gonzalez thanked the committee members for their work.  He announced that Pat Roehl had renewed the web site license for half the previous cost.  He disclosed the committee has debated the merit of accepting "anonymous" postings on the web site forum, but members were equally divided on the issue.  Mr. Shelton instructed the Committee to continue to discuss the issue.  In a straw vote, however, the Board did not approve the concept of anonymous postings.
          
   2. J-Lot Update:  Mr. Shelton reported that he was charged at the last meeting to resolve the governance issues about reincorporating the J-Lots into the POA.  Despite trying repeatedly to arrange an appointment with Mr. Baldwin, all efforts had failed.  At this point, he was giving up, and placing the responsibility of arranging a meeting in Mr. Baldwin's hands.
       
8. NEW BUSINESS
    
   1. Phelan letters:  Mr. Shelton asked that two letters received from property holder, Lee Phelan, be read into the minutes (see Appendix B and Appendix C).  At the conclusion of the reading, Mr. Hockett observed that it would cost the POA $300 for copying plus postage to send out copies of Mr. Phelan's letters to all property owners.  In light of budget shortfalls and underfunded important ranch projects was this a good use of POA money?  Mr. Phelan volunteered to donate up to $150 to cover the cost of the mailing.  Mr. Shelton felt that the letters only contained issues which had been addressed previously on several occasions, so there was no need for the Board to provide any additional response.  A majority of the Board members agreed.  Ms. Rader moved that the minutes reflect that the letters may be read on the web site, and were available for reading in the Century Small Business Office, but that they not be duplicated and sent.  The motion passed.
       
   2. Picnic/town Hall meeting:  Mr. Shelton reviewed the difficulty finding someone to organize the summer picnic.  In view of no one stepping forward to do it, it probably would be canceled this year.  Several people spoke to the need for having a summer gathering of property owners.  The final result was the Women's Group would discuss the possibility of a more informal picnic at their next meeting.  Meanwhile, Mr. Hockett would research the possibility of finding an inside meeting place for a Town Hall meeting.
       
   3. Pine Beetles:  Mr. Gonzalez wondered if the Board had an obligation to notify property owners about the destruction and fire hazard caused by pine beetles on the Ranch.  It was decided Carol Rawle would revise her article on the web site and place it at the top of the list of feature articles.  (Click here to view the article.)  A warning would also be placed in the minutes.

      WARNING!

      The pine trees on your property may be in the process of being destroyed by Western pine beetles.  If you have not checked your property recently, you may be unaware of the destruction and fire hazard they have created.  Please review Carol Rawle's article on the web site and act now to limit this destruction.

9. FROM THE FLOOR - No comments.
    
10. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING - The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for June 21, 2003 at 9:00 A.M. in the Sullivan Room at Trinidad State Junior College.
     
11. ADJOURNMENT - Ms. Vaugeois moved that the meeting be adjourned.  The motion passed and the meeting was adjourned at 11:30 A.M.