February 2018
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Snow! Finally!! Hopefully we will get more over the next month or so.
This letter and the attachments are to help communicate what is going on in our subdivision.
LAWSUIT: The lawsuit with Sandra Pratt and Richard Young has been resolved and closed. We have been directed not to discuss any details and we won’t.
NEW CONSTRUCTION: Three major construction projects are under way. Florian and Shelley Walchak have moved into their home at 726 Pine River Ranch Circle and are in the final stages of completing a major addition to their home. Next doormat 696 Pine River Ranch Circle, Dean and Susan Wells are building their new home. At 232 Pine River Ranch William and Kathleen Nowell are building their new home. All agree full time residents and plan to be in their homes this summer. Join me in welcoming them to the neighborhood.
ROAD AND BRIDGE IMPACT FEE: All these construction projects were subject to our Road and Bridge Impact Fee. Unfortunately the old criteria we use (1.2% of the valuation listed on the building permit) had to change as La Plata County Building Department no longer lists the valuation. After considerable research and analysis we concluded the fairest and most equitable way to collect funds at a rate similar to what previous lot owners had paid was to base our fee off of the fee charged for the building permit. For more details check the minutes of our January Board meeting as posted on our website. Pineriverranchloa.com.
ROADS: In May we are scheduled to have a Chip and Seal applied to the paved road from CR501 to the Bridge. This along with filling the cracks was the number one priority established in our last Annual Meeting. Completing these two items hopefully will keep our paved roads in good shape for several years.
Rob McLaughlin donated his time and tractor to grading Ludwig from the bridge to the Y before Christmas. Given the mild winter our roads are holding up pretty well considering the traffic loads they face. This spring we expect there will be need for more extensive grading and some additional gravel brought in. Some fill may also be added to build up the shoulders of the paved section of Ludwig Drive. We probably will not have enough in our 2018 budget to do any dust abatement before the Annual meeting this summer. At that time the Association can decide if they want to use some or all of the Road Impact Fee collections for this purpose and/or apply those fees to a contingency fund for the Bridge.
BRIDGE: As you may recall from our Fall meeting, the Fire Chief is concerned about our bridge if we have another flood more severe than we had three years ago. Richard Diedrich has been working with him getting grants to help cover the cost of replacing our bridge with a two lane bridge that would span the river without a pillar and would also provide more high water clearance. Issues of easement, funding, and traffic flow across the existing bridge during construction all need to be considered. We have authorized a bridge inspection as a first step in securing grant funding. This will be one of several important topics for discussion at our Annual Meeting.
CC&R’s and BY-LAWS: Changes in Colorado Law necessitate we make revisions to our CC&R’s and to our By-Laws. The Board has a committee working on these necessary changes. The plan is to have them
ready for your review and vote at our next annual meeting. As you will recall, to change our CC&R’s we must have 51% of all lot owners vote in favor of the changes. Your vote will have to be a signed and notarized. We will have one year from when the voting begins to get the necessary votes to make the changes that are necessary. We hope to get most of those votes at the Annual Meeting.
HIGH OR NOT SO HIGH INTERNET CONNECTIONS: Many of you have expressed frustration with our landline internet connections had often result in download speeds of under 1 MBPS. Proposed legislation in Denver may give us some help, but the timing and certainty are questionable. Other options you should be aware of are AlignTec and HugesNet. AlighTec is installing a tower just south of Bayfield now. Later this spring we will help them try to locate a site along the ridge to our west that can be used to relay the signal from Bayfield. If a spot can be found and landowners agree, we could be getting high speed internet from AlignTec as early as late summer. Their web page shows multiple plan options ranging from 3 MBPS on up. Hughes Net provides satellite high speed internet service. I selected it this last month and am very pleased with both the internet and phone service. I am recording download speeds averaging 45MBPS and my cost is similar to what I had been paying for 1 MBPS. Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages. Just wanted you to know some of the options developing for our subdivision.
FISH FUND: We have a safe source for Rainbow Trout again, so I would like to stock both the river and pond early this summer. We had been doing this for years until two years ago when our local supplier had his ponds infected with swirling disease. Now that he has corrected the problem and has state clearance we can get fish without having to go to Alamosa or Montrose. All fish are purchased with donated funds. No Association money is used. Pat LeRoy however, does keep track of our fish fund donations. Hopefully we can collect $1500 to $2000 this year. You can make your donations to either Pat Le Roy or Jim Clay. Donations may also be mailed to PRRLA, P. O. BOX 602, BAYFIELD, CO 81122. Thanks!
Best wishes,
Jim Clay
President, PRRLOA Board