PINE RIVER RANCHES LANDOWNERS ASSOCIATION, INC.
Annual Meeting – 20 July 2019
580 Pine River Ranch Circle, Bayfield, Co 81122
(Clay’s Residence)
Minutes
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:05 a.m. by Jim Clay, PRRLOA Board Chairman.
Introductory remarks: Jim Clay presented an overview of the Board’s activities during the past year in behalf of the PRRLOA membership. Significant items included the revision and approval of the CCRs to keep them aligned with Colorado state law; weed mitigation; road maintenance and filling the shoulder of Ludwig Drive from CR 501 to the bridge with 18 tons of aggregate; Richards Drive improvements; the chip and seal (paving) of lower Ludwig Drive; roadwork on upper Ludwig Drive; cleaning of ditches; and dust abatement. He also introduced the present Board: Pat LeRoy – Treasurer, Florian Walchak – Secretary, Susan Wells – Member (and Member of the Design Committee}, and Chip Burkett.
Introduction of new landowners: New landowners introduces were Duane Nelson, Lynnette Good, Rusty Walker, and Dan Holloway.
Approve Minutes of 7 July 2018 Annual Meeting: John Dustin moved to approve the minutes of the last Annual Meeting. It was seconded and approve by voice vote.
Approve Minutes of 28 September 2018 Budget Meeting: Jim Clay asked that it be moved to approve the Budget Meeting minutes. A move and second came from the collected membership present. It was approved by voice vote.
Treasurer’s report: Pat LeRoy presented a handout that contained current expenditures to date along with the amount budgeted for each line item. Expenses to date are $43,128.07. She anticipates about $1,600 in additional expenses (e.g., mowing equipment rental, annual meeting costs, and legal expenses). There is $1,607.03 in the winter account; there is $8009.86 in the reserve account for chip sealing lower Ludwig Drive.
The Fish Fund of just over $3,000 was able to purchase $1,500 worth of fish for planting in the pond; a further $1,500 went for fish to be distributed along the river (possibly next week).
Discussion and Updates:
Bridge replacement – Chief Evans: Chief Evans gave a lengthy and complete overview if the bridge project to date. The FEMA grant of $1.2M has been approved by the Agency. The Agency now needs to conduct a verification audit. Bruce has not yet been notified of their visit. Chief Evans also said that the funding could be subject to delays if the Federal Budget is subject to a series of continuing resolutions during congressional budget negotiations. The upshot is that the actual funding may not be received for some time and that there is no immediate need for a PRRLOA special assessment right now to meet our share of the bridge cost, but that we should begin the planning for one.
The fire district has established a line of credit with TBK Bank so that they can fund bridge project activities as required. Chief Evans anticipate issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) that specifies a fixed-price response from qualified bidders. He will ask CDOT for a list of who they consider to be the best bridge builders. A survey will be an important part of the RFP and will be carried out as part of the funded bridge project by the fire district. A possible road realignment would be included in the survey. This would involve negotiations with BP regarding easements.
Chief Evans mentioned that grant writer Danielle Coronado has taken a full-time position with the State of Colorado and will not be as involved in the bridge project as she was in the past.
As the project proceeds, the fire district will expend FEMA funds before needing any assessment money from PRRLOA. Once the grant opens, the fire district can draw on the FEMA funds as needed. The Project Manager will be Van Cheney, an experience construction engineer. Chief Evans expects that a full abutment and new bridge will be in place before the old bridge is taken out. The Association might want to think about an alternative use for the old bridge such as a bicycle/walking bridge or fishing bridge.
Chief Evans does not want to build the bridge in phases; there are too many repeating approval processes that need to be completed using that method. He envisions the bridge to be completed in a single effort requiring only one inspection. He emphasized the need for a new bridge from a public safety, emergency equipment access, and fire evacuation perspective. He intends to have a “dry” fire hydrant (essentially a stand pipe reaching into the river) built into the bridge so that fire fighters have the ability to pump water from the river.
This raised a question/comment from the membership as to what utilities can be brought across or through the bridge. He will contact LPEA regarding the electric lines; the Association or members can contact Black Hills Energy (natural gas) and a telecommunication company (fiber optics) to inquire about their requirements.
A member asked about the configuration of the access road to the bridge. Chief Evans would like to see a “straight shot” from lower Ludwig Drive to facilitate large emergency vehicle access. This will depend upon what we can negotiate with BP regarding easements. Another member asked about the impact and disruption to homeowner living near the bridge. Chief Evans answered that he expects the project to take three to five months to complete. Working hours (e.g. 8am or 9am start; specified stop work time at the end of the day; no Saturday or Sunday work, restrictions on work noise, dust control, etc.) can be written into the RFP. We will have to meet and discuss what restrictions we may want. A contractor would probably want to work 10 or 12 hours a day and maybe weekends to complete the project as fast as possible.
Regarding contractors, the RFP will require a fixed-price contract. Chief Evans believes that this type of contract allows for tighter financial management and cost control. He will require at least three competitive bids. The Association and its members will be able to comment on the RFP and the bids – it is an open process.
After talking about the bridge project, Chief Evans went on to describe some of the activities and notable actions taken by the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District:
Amendment to the Articles of Incorporation – HOA to be able to mortgage: A quorum was present that enabled a vote regarding a change to the Article of Incorporation to allow for PRRLOA property to be used as collateral for a loan/line of credit. Discussion of the topic included:
A move to vote came from Jeannie Widner and was seconded by Fred Brown. There was no further discussion. The change to the Articles of Incorporation was approved by voice vote.
Property for loan for the bridge replacement: The PRRLOA property collateral (Lot 91/Pond) is intended to be used to establish a loan/line of credit in order to help manage the Association’s cash flow requirement during the course of the bridge replacement project. We are not eligible for a loan without some sort of collateral.
Bridge Special Assessment: There will be a special assessment for PRRLOA’s required portion of the bridge replacement costs. It will be in the year in which the money is to be spent. The actual amount will be determined when we have a firm price from a qualified and approved bidder. The Association is composed of the owners of 104 lots (this includes Subdivisions 1 and 2, and the Alpha lots. Each lot will share equally in the final cost. As a hypothetical maximum, since the grant came in at $1.2M and we are obligated to fund 25% of the cost, PRRLOA would need to cover $300K. That comes out to about $2,884 per lot. The cost is expected to be lower. A vote to establish a special assessment will take place after firm bids are received – sometime in early 2020. Once a special assessment is established, lot owners have 30 days in which to pay. The entire amount of the assessment is due. If not paid, lot owners face a potential lien on their property.
Comments/questions from meeting attendees included:
Proposed 2020 Budget draft: Pat LeRoy handed out the 2020 proposed budget to all attendees. Comments and suggestions are welcome. The Annual Assessment will remain the same; the Board want to keep the current assessment at the current level for as long as possible. The Association receives approximately $35,000 from the Annual Assessments. Additional monies come in the form of lien fees and interest and impact fees, though these are unpredictable income streams. For next year we have a total budget of $39,625 for operating costs. Carry over from 2019 will cover the amount above $35K. Pat noted that since survey costs were now going to be incorporated into the bridge project, eliminating those costs would result in a more closely balance budget.
The Board has established a reserve fund for the asphalt chip sealing of lower Ludwig Drive. The roadwork costs about $25K – $30K and needs to be done every five to seven years. We are putting $4,000 a year into a reserve account so that when the time comes to repave the road again there will not be a large hit on the budget or a need to increase assessments to cover the paving costs. This is part of the long term planning the Board has undertaken.
A comment from the membership noted that we have tiered assessments (100%, 80%, and 40%) for different residency categories (full-time, part-time, no residence) of the lots; the member wondered if having only one single, full-assessment fee for every lot might be a better and more secure way to ensure adequate funding for the annual budget. Jim Clay responded that he was against such an initiative. He observed that all the PRRLOA documents would have to be changed in accordance with the established procedures and that would be a lengthy and arduous process. Jim called for straw poll of those present to see if there was any sentiment to change the tiered assessment structure: there were many more against changing than for.
Chip Burkett noted that the rationale for tiered assessments was based on infrastructure usage. Since the majority of the budget is for roads and snow removal, it was originally felt that part-time residents or non-residents, since they use the roads and benefit from snow removal much less, if at all, than the full-time residents, and should pay less than a full assessment.
Another comment concerned the need for increased assessment to increasing cover costs. Jim responded that so far, we are good to keep the Annual Assessment the same and will address the need for any increase in assessments only when it is clear that that is the only alternative to funding budget line items.
Design Committee report: No activity to report.
Nominations for Board of Directors: Barb Wickman nominated the existing Board for service next year. Jeannie Widner seconded the motion. John Dustin moved to close the nominations. It was seconded. A voice vote to close was unanimous.
Nominations for Design Committee: The existing members (Teri Bonham, Susan Wells, and Granville Conway) will remain the same for next year. They are appointed by the Board of Directors. They serve three-year staggered term. There were no volunteers from the membership present to serve.
Election of Board of Directors: A voice vote to elect current Board members to the 2020 PRRLOA Board was unanimous.
Miscellaneous Comments: Mowing is complete; Jim asked for volunteers to help return picnic tables to the pond; Barb Wickman asked if it was OK for individuals to trim some hanging roadside branches that were hitting high vehicles; Richard Diedrich suggested that lot owners mow any high pasture grass to reduce any fire hazard.
Meeting adjourned: Jim Clay adjourned the meeting at 11:08 a.m.
A bar-be-que and potluck followed the meeting
These minutes were approved by a vote of _______ on ___________________________
Date
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Jim Clay, President Date
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Florian Walchak, Secretary Date