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Dakota Ridge Annual Meeting Minutes
May 30, 2019, 4pm
Hampton Inn & Suites
Board Members Present: Sarah Jones, Jim Lob, Holly Van Deursen, Nancy Pyle, Paul Orzech
Others Present: Medora Fralick & Andrea Wilhelm (Commercial Property Group), Mary Andre (Civil Design Consultants), Tim Gibbons (Water Operations Mgt)
Homeowners Present: See Sign-In Sheet & Proxies (Ron Lemieux present by phone)
The meeting was called to order at 4pm by President Sarah Jones and Medora Fralick from Commercial Property Group reported that per the sign in sheet and proxies received to date, a quorum could not be established.
There were no comments or changes to the 2018 Annual Meeting minutes.
The next order of business was a review of the 2019/2020 budget which is similar to the previous year with the exception of a $1000 per lot increase in the capital reserve dues. Various board member and committee reports were provided to all owners in the Annual Meeting Packet mailed and emailed in advance of today’s meeting. From a financial standpoint, Dakota Ridge ended to previous fiscal year on 3/31/19 with a $250K in reserves, a minimal AR list, and nothing else to note.
In the second order of business, Sarah and Jim provided a brief history of the Capital Improvement Committee which was formed about three years ago with a goal to establish a long-range capital and financial plan to cover ongoing water system, road, and wildfire mitigation costs. The 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (provided in the Annual Meeting as “Sources & Uses of Capital) was developed in conjunction with Mary Andre from Civil Design Consultants, Brian Len from NWCC and Tim Gibbons, the Water System Operator. Brian could not make today’s meeting but Mary & Tim were present to answer questions.
Mary Andre reminded those present that the CIP was intended as a dynamic & fluid document that will be adjusted over the next 10 years but is beneficial as a general planning document guideline. Focusing on the first/next 3 years, it’s recommended for the neighborhood to focus on sustained yield to the infiltration gallery (ie horizontal well). This will in turn change water rights from conditional to absolute and result in a higher pumping capacity. Tim is currently monitoring water chemistry and treating it so that copper from the water pipes doesn’t leach into the water and also to ensure the PH is at the right level. This CIP also includes water distribution improvements as there are two remaining segments of ductile iron piping to be replaced with PVC. One of these segments, not currently included in the CIP towards the entrance of the neighborhood, could require boring on river road, which is an example of one way in which this plan could change.
Tim Gibbons introduced himself as the water treatment operator and gave an overview of his job which consists of managing the water testing and analysis required by CDPHE and EPA, distribution system, fire hydrants, PRV’s, communicate with CPG, and a remote software to view storage tank levels, monitor for leaks, etc. Since the implementation of the new Chlorine Contact Basin, there’s a continuous remote chlorine monitoring system along with PH, temperature, etc. The new system also has a contact chamber which makes adding the Seaquest chemical for corrosion control & chlorine much easier it’s now continuous. Tim is also on call for Dakota Ridge and works with local contractors as needed. He ended his report by mentioning that water loss/accountability in the neighborhood has dropped below 20% instead of the previous 40%.
Brian Len couldn’t be present but Holly reported that in addition to continued road patching, sealing and eventual re-paving, there is some road side erosion in various places of the neighborhood that needs to be addressed and is included in the CIP. In addition, easement E on Upper Trail Ridge is in more distress than the rest of the neighborhood. There was a request by Steve Hofman to question Brian on the frequency/necessity of ongoing road patching given that the roads were resurfaced over 10 years ago
The final order of business was a Wildfire Mitigation update from Sarah. The neighborhood had some tree clearance done last summer in the common area but obviously the risk of fires has increased as was the case last year. She is working with Bob Brown at the Forest Service to do a neighborhood wide assessment/report which will be shared with the homeowners upon completion and cost roughly $2000. There are funding options to assist with mitigation if the board can convince all homeowners to engage in doing their part beyond just addressing common areas of the neighborhood (included in the CIP for $5000).
The meeting ended with the board explaining to homeowners that they will be distributed a neighborhood-wide survey to all homeowners in an effort to seek input on these capital issues and funding options.
With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:15pm.
Submitted by,
Andrea Wilhelm