GCCHLA MEETING September 27, 2008

Location: York Gulch Fire House

Time: 1PM

Adjourned:  2:30PM

Attendees (Board Members):

Beckel, Laurie
DePoyster, Curtis & Tina
Gallaher, Dave
Hicks, John
Huntoon, Heather & Darrell
Panelo, Sergio & Eva
Stewart, Rusty
Vogt, Jim & Stephanie
Wandrey, Craig 

Next Meeting: TBD

Road Expenses: Installing culverts did result in placing the income/expenses in the red for the past year.  However, this was a calculated/expected expense and it was decided (at a prior meeting) that installing the culverts is a necessary first step in order to prevent road erosion prior to eventually bringing in road base.  This is part of the 5-year road plan and the hope is that people benefiting from the culvert installations will put in additional funds over the next couple of years to help offset the expense.

Mailbox Update (Jim Vogt): No significant movement however the following points were raised:

• Jim recently obtained the name of a new postal contact for the Rocky Mountain Region.  This should facilitate getting the required postal approvals. He expects that he will be able to start to see movement by spring.
• In addition, an impromptu query was asked of the attending home owners and it was determined that just within attendees, there were approximately ten people who currently do not have mailboxes that would be willing to have a mailbox if they were located in a safer location such as near the firehouse.
• Jim indicated that letters or emails from locals indicating their support and reasons for support (e.g., the current dangerous location and potentially becoming more dangerous if/when the snow park goes in) would help move the process forward.  Additional information will be emailed.

Fire Department Update (Kelly Babeon – Chief of Clear Creek Fire Authority): Kelly indicated the following:

• They are always looking for new volunteers throughout the county;
• It is increasingly difficult to train and keep volunteers;
• If we were to lose our current fire protection rating, it would likely mean an average homeowner insurance increase of $350; and
• All that is required of a fire department volunteer is 36 hours per year of training.

5-year Roads Improvement Plan: There is a 5 year road improvement plan that Heather created and was approved by the board at a prior meeting.  This plan calls for multiple culvert installations prior to bringing in road base in order to eventually reduce the amount of maintenance required on our roads.  The plan does stipulate, however, that it can only go forward if HOA members are willing to donate additional monies toward road maintenance.

New Neighbors:  John & Steffi Bottomley introduced themselves.  They recently purchased and moved into Candace Wooley’s old house.  Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Forest Service Land Acquisitions: Phase 1 is complete.  Dave Gallaher would be willing to help someone else get started on phase 2 but that it will require someone to step up and take responsibility for organizing and working with the Forest Service.  Some additional facts from the Phase 1:

• 12 years to complete;
• Land survey cost of $22,000.00
• Appraisal cost of $18,000.00
• Reselling cost of $8,000.00
• Road hazard cost of $5,000.00

Monies for Pisgah Grading: It was agreed that, like last year, the HOA would provide money ($600) to the Pisgah area residents to perform their own road grading operations.  The people in the Pisgah area donate to the road fund but are willing to do their own maintenance using their own equipment at an amount that is typically less expensive than what the HOA would have to pay to do the same roads.

(Secretary’s note: The following topic has since been overtaken by events as Renaud has been contracted to perform the grading and they are fully insured – Thank you Rusty for your efforts in identifying the issue and in lining up a more comfortable solution.  The information below is provided simply for completeness of the meeting activities)

Insurance for Road Grading Activities:  Rusty indicated that in his conversations with the HOA insurance company (Travellers through Banks Insurance in Golden), he had determined that our current insurance does not insure against negligent accidents caused by the grading process if the HOA is performing the grading.  The company from which the grader was to be rented did cover items like acts-of-god and vandalism but specifically not operator error.  In order to add insurance of that type, the HOA would have to pay for a full year of coverage to handle the single week of expected grading.  That coverage would be an additional $2500 making grading prohibitively expensive in the near term planned.  As a result two motions where made, and voted upon:

1. Should the HOA hold off on grading until such a time as the additional insurance could be purchased?
   On this motion, the vote was 8 to 1 against.
2. Should the HOA go ahead and perform the planned grading without the additional insurance (i.e., additional risk to board members if an accident occurred – but we have done grading this way in the past oblivious to the extra risk).
   On this motion, the vote was 8 to 1 in favor.

Snow Plowing Clarification:  A common misconception is that the homeowner’s association performs snow plowing as part of its mandate.  This is not true.  During the blizzards of two seasons ago, the emergency fund was tapped to help stranded neighbors dig out but this not the normal procedure and was only performed due to the dire need of some of our residents.

Ballot Results: (Note: The results were not available until after the meeting was adjourned) The following is the list of board members and alternates for the next year.  Officers will be selected from this list at the next board meeting.

 
Board Members:

Beckel, Laurie
DePoyster, Curtis & Tina
Gallaher, Dave & Judy
Hicks, John
Huntoon, Heather
Liggett, John & Brenda
Panelo, Sergio & Eva
Stewart, Rusty & Jodie
Taylor, Matt & Missy
VanGeet, Otto & Kelly
Vogt, Jim & Stephanie

Alternates:

Karshbaum, Amy Sue
Wandrey, Craig

Treasurer’s Report:

Emergency Fund Checking:       $283.15
Emergency Fund Savings:         $9,528.24
Homeowner’s Checking:            $138.15
Homeowner’s Savings:              $5,822.15 
Total Accounts:                        $15,771.69