Santa Fe Trail Ranch POA
Regular Board Meeting
August 16, 2008   9:00 AM
Lazaro Martinez Station (Fire station on SFTR)

Directors:		Present	Absent
	Bob Scott, President
	Jim Davis, Vice President
	Tony Riley, Vice President
	John Sanders, Secretary
	Nancy Allred, Treasurer
	John Albert
	Rick Kinder
	Doris Noard
	Sheryl Smith

Guests:  Linda Brown, Geobett Schneider, R.C. & Mary Ghormley, John Noard, Don Ruward, Steve Rening, Walt Rening, Ernie Parker, Betty & Jerry Withington, Carol Rawle, Walt Wolff.

Agenda

1. CALL TO ORDER – Tony Riley called this meeting of the Board to order at 9:07 AM.
    
2. PROOF OF NOTICE – Tony Riley gave proof that proper notice of the meeting had been given.
    
3. ROLL CALL & DETERMINATION OF QUORUM – Seven of the nine board members were present, which made a quorum and all business official.
    
4. OLD BUSINESS –
    
   1. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES – A motion was made to approve the minutes of the April 2008 board meeting.  The motion carried.
       
   2. COMMITTEE REPORTS – The following committees reported:
       
   1. Common Area / CBM – Tony Riley reported that the old dumpsters should be removed from the mailbox area soon, and the new dumpsters will be located at the intersection of Fisher Peak Parkway and Cottonwood Canyon and at the intersection of Fisher Peak Parkway and Gallinas.  In addition, an engineering consulting company will begin evaluating the bridge at the ranch entrance soon.
       
   2. Roads – John Albert reported that approximately 4.5 miles of road base was applied this year, a culvert will be installed on Fox Trail soon which will block traffic during the construction, and plans are forming for the 2009 roadwork schedule, but will not be finalized until spring.
       
   3. Covenants – Rick Kinder reported minimal activity (one report regarding dogs that has been resolved) since the last meeting.
       
   4. Finance – Jim Davis reported that the collection/foreclosure procedures are proceeding on our most delinquent accounts.  Legal documents have been filed, all required attempts have been made to serve property owners, and public notices are being published.  John Albert moved to approve an additional $600 in legal fees related to the current activities, and Jim Davis moved to approve an additional $2000 for legal fees to begin collection/foreclosure procedures related to the next group of property owners.  Both motions passed.
       
   5. Addresses – Tony Riley reported that 3 to 4 new addresses were issued per week all summer.
       
   6. Community Preparedness – Sheryl Smith reported the Handbook has been updated, published on the website, and some hard copies have been distributed by area leaders.  The obsolete residency listing was removed from the website to avoid confusion in an emergency.  Numerous SFTR windshield stickers were distributed and more were ordered.  Property owners should request stickers from their area leader.
       
   7. Communications – John Sanders reported no activity.
       
5. NEW BUSINESS –
    
   1. Cleaning/stocking ponds - Doris Noard introduced a suggestion from the SFTR Women’s Group regarding cleaning and stocking the ponds.  Jim Davis suggested that there may be alternate funding available and agreed to research the issue.
       
   2. Forest Health Coalition (FHC) – Sheryl Smith reported that an FHC board meeting was held this week where the federal requirements for the 501(c)3 were discussed.  Since it stipulates that there needs to be a broader effort (not just SFTR) and all FHC board members were SFTR property owners, Tony Riley and Sheryl Smith resigned from the FHC Board so that their positions could be filled by non-SFTR property owners.  The following areas of responsibility were also recapped:

      The SFTR POA Board will be responsible for CWPP updates, Fire Wise updates and establishing any effort for ranch specific defensible space/internal fuel breaks.  The coalition will continue to help us write grants but we will need to provide a project outline and then if approved project management for the activities.  Also, an aggressive effort of tracking in-kind will need to be established for both internal or parameter grant efforts.

      The FHC will continue their efforts in acquiring grants and project managing fuel break activities for the parameters of SFTR.  They have been negotiating with the new owner of the Wooten ranch who has indicated he would allow mitigation of a perimeter firebreak on his property.  Unlike the Vermejo perimeter we would have to provide all matching hard/soft in-kind.

      The FHC just received notification that the 2008 WUI grants were not approved.  An increase in grant requests and decrease in funds, as well as our unusually high previous grant awards influenced this decision.  There is another grant that can be applied for, however, the FHC would need a commitment from the ranch/POA of diligent tracking of in-kind.

   3.  Annual Meeting Planning – John Sanders reported that he will arrange for the nomination pages to be posted on the website.  There was a discussion regarding educational presentations.  Sheryl Smith agreed to contact the Forest Health Coalition regarding their plans.  Jim Davis agreed to make or verify meeting room reservations.
       
   4. Las Animas County Health Services Project – Jim Davis presented information about the project.
       
   5. Las Animas County Energy Cooperative – Jim Davis presented information about the project.
       
   6. Grazing lease – Jerry Withington reported on details of the grazing lease.  John Albert moved to approve renewal of the grazing lease.  The motion passed.
       
6. NEXT MEETING – The next meeting will be held on October 18, 2008 at Trinidad State Junior College immediately after the Annual Meeting of Property Owners.
    
7. ADJOURNMENT – Rick Kinder moved that the meeting be adjourned.  The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned at 11:00 AM.

Submitted in draft form by John Sanders, Secretary, on August 16, 2008.