July 13, 2011 Board of Trustees Meeting
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LITTLE ELK CREEK VILLAGE
HOME OWNERS’ ASSOCIATION
Post Office Box 420
Snowmass, CO 81654-0420
July 13, 2011
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING-
The meeting was held at the Firehouse. In attendance were: Beth Blackmer, Andrew Ernemann, Kent Meager, Bruce Anderson, and Bob and Valerie Wright. Also in attendance were owners Tom Gering Dan Harris, Michael Vernon, and Manager Keith Edquist
Meeting topics: ACA update Davenport/Vernon projects, review of ACA process and administration, ACA record keeping, current financial reports, curb stop locates and procedures for locating unfound stops, road maintenance contract, trash and recycling contract, water tank painting, vegetation in ponds and approaches to control, update on playground surface/irrigation.
Approval of Minutes—the Board approved the minutes from the May 18, 2011 Board meeting without changes.
Architectural Control Authority- President Blackmer reported the Davenport deck is completed, said she would walk the site and report to the Board on this work. This would authorize return of the construction deposit associated with this work. Manager Edquist reported that the Stahl home appears complete, including landscaping. He provided copies of an email from owner Tim Lindholm requesting a six month extension for his project, which the ACA approved. There was brief discussion of the impacts to Alexander Avenue from these construction projects.
Owner Michael Vernon attended specifically to apologize to the Trustees for proceeding with his deck and deck roof project without ACA review or payment of the construction deposit. He submitted a photo of the new deck roof with signoff from adjacent owner Marsh, but did not have, at this time, the requested sign off from adjacent owner Smith. Mr. Vernon indicated he would get this and provide to ACA/Edquist. The Marsh signoff on this project retained by Edquist.
The Trustees again discussed written communication with applicants to ACA, after Manager Edquist commented on recent ACA applications going forward without adequate paper trails and notice of all specifics/requirements to applicants. Trustee Ernemann has drafted a generic letter to be used for future communications in this regard. The Board acknowledged administrative expense on the part of the HOA and management in respect of ACA applications and follow through on the process from application to completion. There was consensus agreement to charge a standard $150 administrative fee, to be deducted from the construction deposit, to address these costs. Manager Edquist was requested to provide separate invoices for any work he performs in this regard, by owner/project.
Curbstop discussion –With the assistance of owners Gering and Harris, the Board discussed at length the procedures to be used in assisting owners to locate unfound curbstops. This was discussed as a separate project from the related work of assuring all found curbstops are operable. At present, locate service had been called to locate utilities on the 17 properties where the stop is unfound. In practice this proved of limited usefulness, as the locates were only for phone service, and for main electrical lines, neither of which traced lines onto private lots, but only in the roadways.
The next step to be taken was to see if a special reduced rate could be obtained for paid locates on private lots, then solicit owner participation in the process individually. It was agreed that locating electrical service may also provide water line location, as experience has shown electric service to sometimes be laid in the same trench as a water line, at a shallower level. It was clear also that locating a curbstop near such found electrical service would require a detection device. The Board agreed to borrow or consider buying such a device for this purpose.
Owner Tom Gering was asked if he could be paid to locate water lines and search for curbstops, which he agreed to do at a reduced rate of $75 per hour; owners agreeing to participate in allowing Mr. Gering to search for their stops would be billed by addition to their quarterly assessment billings. The Trustees agreed to move forward with this project by email solicitation of owner participation. Manager Edquist and Trustee Wright were to coordinate the efforts. President Blackmer has offered use of rental equipment at no charge, should the above initial attempts to locate stops fail to do so.
President Blackmer said attorney Hal Dischler felt he could draft a document which would allow the HOA to enter private property to install curb stops or do other work on the common water system, which may be necessary should curbstops have to be located by excavation outside of the utility easements surrounding each lot, and on private property.
The Trustees again discussed the need for a protocol to be established with owner Harris with respect to his authorizing work done where the HOA and/or the homeowner is responsible for payment. Such situations have arisen in emergency fashion largely due to unfound curbstops on the system. Also, found and non-working stops could lead to serious issues, so the Board affirmed a further project for later this summer to check the operation of all curbstops.
Financial Reports –At the meeting, Bruce Anderson briefly reported on current aging matters. It was noted that an owner significantly in arrears had paid near half of what was owed, thereby causing the Board to hold off sending the Notice of Default letter discussed in the May meeting. There were no questions regarding the balance sheet or income statement, as Mr. Anderson had not provided these for the proper time frame of July 2010 through June 2011 at this meeting. (The financial statements were emailed to Trustees shortly after this meeting).
Unfinished Business— The Trustees briefly discussed the present costs of trash and recycling service from Waste Management. Manager Edquist brought a proposed new contract for these services for a three year period. The Trustees took no action in respect of the contract; content to let the situation rest at its present status. Manager Edquist provided an update on the playground borders and surface, which he says seems to be well received by users. He said the irrigation system needed work to be operable in this area. He was asked to have owner George Johnson have a look at it, since George has maintained this in recent years.
The recent chip seal work done by Edward Davis Paving was discussed with general satisfaction in respect of the work done, personnel, timeliness etc. There was a motion, seconded and carried to approve the contracted work. This had been agreed by email communication prior to this meeting, at a total expense of $40,000. Actual incurred expense was $38,000 due some negotiated payment structures. There was work involved in pavement and chip seal repairs made to 3 areas relating to work done by Aspen Earthmoving on the water system. These costs will be billed to water operations instead of road maintenance.
There followed brief discussion of the growth of vegetation in the ponds, with reports from owner Johnson that manually pulling is effective and not too difficult. Beth also reported that George is proceeding with the Source Water Pollution study, and has suggested and is pursuing production of an owner’s handbook highlighting possible source pollution from septic systems, how to test and maintain these, and the importance of this to the aquifer supplying the LEC wells and water system.
Next meeting- Due to conflicts in August, the next Board meeting will be held on Wednesday August 17th. Location to be determined, but likely at the Firehouse.
There being no other business to come before the Board, there followed a motion to adjourn at 8:55 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Keith M. Edquist, Association Manager
Beth Blackmer, President