Common Area Committee
General Appearance Subcommittee
Meeting Minutes
Friday, December 8, 2000

Present: Bill Bumstead, Peggy Obrey, Harriet Vaugeois.
Absent: Greg Beaumont, Suzie Davis, Chuck Ferrero, Jan Ferrero, Kathleen Kelly, Stan Obrey, Simone Potter

I.  Minutes from previous meeting approved.

II.  Old business - Action reports

  1. The guard shack: roof will be repaired by Dan Olin.
  2. Gates: Peggy and Harriet researched. Lots of information has been gathered. Peggy will devise a means for recording all the information about gates already researched. General feeling is that interest in an entrance gate has waned.
  3. The SFTR entrance sign, ours and Baldwin's: we'll pursue having a new SFTR sign made to be placed near the guard shack. We've decided to leave the Baldwin sign alone for the time being.
  4. Railroad ties: permission to use the railroad ties at the north end of Fisher Peak Parkway has been granted by Rich Babnick These will be moved to the entrance area in early spring and will be used to delineate the perimeter of the new parking area and as foundation for rocks and/or planters as needed.
  5. Entrance of Spanish Peaks Ranch: Suzie was not able to visit the site. Peggy and Stan will visit the development.
  6. Xeroscaping: Greg Beaumont and Peggy Obrey have gathered lots of information which will be used for planning an entrance improvement budget and for ordering/choosing appropriate plantings.
  7. U.S. Disposal and Qwest: Harriet still has to call these two about placement guidelines for their equipment

III.  New business - Appearance Plan to be submitted to POA Board

  1. No Outlet signs: The Emergency Services committee and the Fisher’s Peak Fire Department have asked that some type of "No Outlet" sign be placed at the intersection of the 37 dead-end roads on the ranch. The universal symbol for "dead end road" or "no outlet" will be researched by Harriet. These symbols will be made from thin metal and bolted onto the appropriate street signs, at the end closest to the deadend street. Harriet will also investigate a supplier for these metal symbols. Once the research has been done, the sign design will be checked with the Emergency Services committee, the Fire Department, the Road Committee, and Topar Welding for a fabrication bid.
  2. Hiding the emergency road barricades stored behind the guard shack: Framed wooden walls will be constructed and attached to the side walls and roof of the guard shack then covered with siding. A hinged door will be placed in the side walls at both sides of the guard shack. Both the barricades and the ranch emergency phone will be housed behind the shack and these walls. Materials for the walls will be sought from property owners who have recently built on the ranch and labor will be provided by ranch members.. The side walls will be painted to match the guard shack.
  3. Entrance signs: A committee-approved proposal. One sign will be placed at the left side of the road prior to the bridge. On that sign will be all the warning and consequence information such as Private Property, Trespassers and Poachers will be Prosecuted. By the guard shack will be a much more attractive sign made of wood and routered/painted letters that will read Santa Fe Trail Ranch, a private covenant community. In the middle of the wooden sign will be a large area where the rest of the pertinent ranch information will be listed. This center section will be covered with plexiglass and will be structured so that information can be updated as appropriate. The information on this sign will include:
  4. Guard shack area: All signs will be removed from their scattered places around the entrance and incorporated into the one large sign or eliminated if redundant or no longer relevant. Current basic paint scheme will be kept, but door will be painted to match the trim. Weeds and scrub brush will be removed by volunteer workers. Native rocks and no-maintenance native plantings will be placed near the shack but far away from areas that would interfere with the snow plow. If approved by Qwest, the large wooden sign will be installed in front of the phone transformer boxes.
  5. Dumpster area and Ranch bulletin board area: Tabled until next meeting.

IV.  Committee assignments

Harriet will talk to Dan Olin about repairing the shack and the ranch bulletin board. Harriet will stay in contact with Greg Beaumont who is working on some xereoscaping designs. Peggy will talk to Dennis Manifold about previous Emergency Services signage. Bill will talk to Dale Swett and Vaughn Roundy about making the SFTR wooden sign. Harriet and Bill will take these ideas to the Dec. 16 Board Meeting for feedback. Harriet will call U.S. Disposal and Qwest with questions about space and accessibility needed for their equipment.

V.  Next meeting

To be scheduled when a greater number of committee members are available.

Action Focus: Entrance to the ranch.
Considerations based on two months of research
  Considered the needs of the Emergency Services Committee
  Considered needs of the Road Subcommittee
  Considered wishes of the wide diversity of opinions on the ranch:
    Those who want us to do absolutely nothing, add nothing to the ranch, no signage of any kind.
Those who want to add a multitude of signs and beautification objects.
  Hopefully found an acceptable middle ground

This "middle ground"
  Minimizes the human impact on the natural environment
  Minimizes the use of signs
  Minimizes expense and ongoing maintenance
  Maximizes the security and the natural beauty of the ranch