August 12, 2008 Board Minutes
The meeting was held at the home of Tom Gering. In attendance were, Eric Cohen, Tom Gering, Sheri Spykerman, John Corcoran, and Manager Keith Edquist. Director Jodi Jacobson was unable to attend. Guest G.R. Fielding of Pitkin County, and George Johnson, owner.
Approval of Minutes—There was a motion, seconded and carrier unanimously, to approve the July 8, 2009 minutes. Minutes are posted on the website after approval.
G.R. Fielding and Pitkin County Roads—G.R. works for Pitkin County Public Works, and is the County engineer. He came as part of a public outreach program regarding Pitco’s 20 year master plan for the county’s roads. The master plan has identified 14 capital improvement projects, for which Public Works believes the present level of funding will only allow completion of 4. Mr. Fielding said the general state of the county’s road would drop from the present “fair” rating to “poor” should this funding remain in its present status. Funds for these projects presently come from two sources: Pitco General fund, and the Highway Users Tax Fund (HUTF), which are state funds.
Mr. Fielding was seeking input on a proposed new county tax for roads of $16.00-$23.00 per $100,000.00 of assessed valuation of a property. This would allow the county to complete the 14 identified capital projects in the 20 year plan. The tax would “sunset” after 20 years. The Board of County Commissioners would be the determining body to place this on the November ballot. Mr. Fielding was looking to reactions to this proposed tax. Mr. Fielding gave his business card and contact information for further homeowner input on the proposed tax. That information is:
Pitkin County Public Works Department
970-920-5390
GR. Fielding-Engineer
970-920-5206
gerald.fielding@co.pitkin.co.us
Mr. Fielding identified the number one and two projects on the list as redeveloping the streets and parking in the Aspen Business Center, and addressing existing problems with the intersection of Smith Road with Woody Creek. There were questions from the Board on the Watson Divide road, which is on the list but of lesser priority. Tom Gering was not in favor of paving this road due to winter snow and ice conditions on pavement versus a gravel surface. Mr. Fielding also identified correction of the sharp curves near the Capital Creek bridge on the Old Snowmass road as one of the projects, but also farther down the county list.
George Johnson, report on the Boram-White irrigation ditch. Owner Johnson gave a brief report on the Boram-White irrigation ditch, which he manages and which recently held its annual meeting of shareholders. The B-W supplies water to a majority of the homes in LEC (66 of 78), and flows through the subdivision in several ditches, all of which collect again together downhill to supply water to the B-W’s other users. LEC has strong water rights related to the B-W, but also the responsibility to deliver enough water to meet the needs of the other owners of rights to this water downstream. George passed out a map of the B-W ditch system and its users.
George said the ditch committee was presently working on improvements to the head gate upstream of LEC, which will ultimately help preserve LEC rights to the ditch water, by insuring downstream users can receive their fair share. LEC pays the ditch company annually for its rights (28%) in the Boram-White. George said costs this year were reduced from those of the prior year for all users. He said there were no significant problems, at present, supplying water to downstream users, but noted that some of those users were new owners of property, and that several downstream users owned 40 acres or more. He said that it is important that LEC ditches allow downstream users access to their rights in the water.
Manager Edquist then reported on a conversation he had with Laura Smith regarding a part of the B-W ditch system that runs through her property. Occasionally the culvert under her driveway will be unable to handle the water flow and her pond will back up over the driveway. Mrs. Smith asked manager Edquist to her property to discuss this. Mr. Edquist said he saw two culverts on the Smith property, both 12 inches in diameter. On the day of the visit, the upper culvert was running 2/3rds full, while the lower was closer to 9/10ths full. Mr. Edquist observed, and spoke with Mrs. Smith about, the pond immediately below this lower culvert being at too high a level to allow free flow through the culvert. Basically, the lower culvert must push against the water in the pond, and this reduces its ability to flow freely and to capacity. Mr. Edquist suggested lowering the outlet level of the pond.
This led to a general discussion of ditch maintenance on private properties within Little Elk Creek. The Board is of the unanimous opinion that each owner is responsible for the functionality of the ditches as they cross their properties. In regard to the Smith situation, they felt if the ditch floods the driveway or other parts of the Smith property, it would be up to the owner to correct the situation. This has been a long standing practice in the subdivision.
Review of Accountant’s Report—owner and association accountant Bruce Anderson brought current financial information to the meeting. The documents provided were a ‘Balance Sheet as of July 31, 2008’, ‘Profit and Loss July 2008’ and an ‘Aging Summary as of July 31, 2008’. The Board is concerned about one homeowner, Mahaffey, who is 3 quarters behind in association dues. Manager Edquist will call her to explain that if some payment is not received this week, the association has no choice but to put a lien on her property
Unfinished Business-Manager’s report Road work—Keith reported that contractor Martin MacDonald had assured him Tuesday evening that work on the roadways would be done this week, either Thursday or Friday.
Bridge repair—the horse and pedestrian bridge over the Little Elk Creek ditch is to be repaired either Thursday or Friday of this week by Mr. Edquist, dependant upon the paving work above. There was discussion of using the old decking in other common areas to bridge wet areas. Sherri volunteered to look into this.
Curb stop markers—the board has purchased 6 foot, blue fiberglass markers for the curb stops. Mr. Edquist was asked to notify those 22 owners whose curbstops had not been located requesting their approval to have Aspen Earthmoving locate them with metal detectors. No more than one hour is allotted per home with homeowner expense limited to no more than $100. Also, all curbstops are expected to be marked prior to winter, and owners are to be notified of this via email and requested to please leave the markers in place.
Playground discussion—Manager Edquist, Tom Gering and Sherri Spykerman met on site earlier in the month and measured out the playground area and inspected the existing structure. The present playground equipment is very solid and firmly attached to the ground. There was discussion of both wholesale replacement of the existing play structures, and renovation and enhancement of the existing structures and area. There was again discussion of a need to understand what the owner’s want in a playground renovation. The Board asked Manager Edquist to do some more research on costs and availability of playground equipment for the September meeting. There was recognition that this project might not proceed prior to next spring, but also determination not to lose momentum in coming to a decision on improvements.
New Business—
Smith Ditch situation—see above.
Water system work—Manager Edquist made a brief report on his tour with owner Dan Harris of the LEC water system. He said Dan had determined the system was leaking at a rate of 6,000 gallons per day, and that possible causes were a leak at the Gib Gardner’s home, and/or leaks in the cistern under the pump house. Dan expected to have Aspen Earthmoving out to excavate some areas of drainage retention that had silted in, and Samuelson Pump out to check for leaks in the cistern. There is also a spike in consumption, from 35,000 gallons per day to 50,000 gallons, which Dan believes attributable to owners watering lawns from the domestic water system. He is monitoring water use at various times of the day to more closely determine when the excessive use occurs. Mr. Edquist has done some research on the lack of functioning pumps. It is difficult to determine who may be watering from the domestic system.
Polsky and water assessment—there is some question as to whether owner Polsky has one or two water taps on the LEC system. There is no dispute among the Board members that this homes uses the domestic water system and to date has not been billed for that use. Manager Edquist offered to call Mr. Polsky in regard to this matter, rather than sending a billing and letter as a first contact. Sherri is to provide Mr. Edquist with contact information, and Bruce Anderson is to determine the water fees owed.
Smart barn work and water tap fee for second tap to barn. Manager Edquist was asked to contact owner Smart in regard to his plans for the barn, which has large holes in the roof at present. There is a building permit from Pitkin County for dormers, but the Smarts have implied that they will not be constructing dormers. The Board’s requirement is the standard procedure for construction which includes new drawings, signed off on by all neighbors, and a construction deposit fee of $3,000. In addition, there is no record of a tap fee having been paid for the barn by the previous owner who built it. Smart’s have recently cut into the road to tap into the water main which has been a standard assessment of $1000.
Property below reservoir tank—this property has changed hands, and no one is sure if the new owner is aware that domestic water from the system is not to be used for landscape watering purposes. Sherri was to gather more information for Manager Edquist to follow up with, both with Dan Harris regarding the property itself and previous agreements regarding access, easements and water use, and with the new owners.
There being no other business to come before the Board, there followed a motion to adjourn at 9:15 pm.
Respectfully submitted
Keith M. Edquist, Association Manager
Sherri Spykerman, President