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Dakota Ridge Annual Meeting Minutes

May 18, 2021 @ 4:00pm via Zoom

President Sarah Jones called the meeting to order at 4pm and began with introductions of board members and management company members. She then asked other lot owners present on the call to introduce themselves. The following owners were present: James Ruthraff, Nancy Jarchow, Sarah Burg, Julian Allen, Sharon Pace, Martyn Redgrave, Steven Hofman, Holly Van Deursen, Tomas Stone, Ron Lemieux, Michael and Arlene Zopf, Larry Jaynes, John Blenke, Paul Orzech, Jim Lob, Scott Prochazka, Dana Thorne, Don Jackson, Debra Lynch, Brad Neglia, George Mennen, Sarah Jones, Wentwood Capital, Bill Scholle, Robert Ells, Carrie Rawlins, and Jean-Luc Nauleau. Others present were Andrea Wilhelm and Emily Conkling from Commercial Property Group. An additional five proxies were received, totaling 32 owners so unfortunately, a 50% quorum of 37 owners was not reached. As such, the consent agenda items were skipped. Andrea informed everyone that if a quorum could not be attainted for formal budget ratification, the association could operate with the previous year operating budget or schedule an additional budget ratification meeting. Regarding the Board seat that was up for election, the Board member, if willing, would continue serving until the following year’s annual meeting at which point there would be an election for the remainder of that Board term (2 years instead of 3).

All owners received a series of committee reports (Financial, Water System, ARC, Wildfire Report, and Roads) along with the Annual Meeting packet. As a quorum was not reached, Holly reported that the association could operate on the 2020/2021 operating budget and this would not be problematic because assessments for the 2021/2022 fiscal year were the same as the previous year; there were also no material variances from the prior year budget to actuals. Holly also spoke to the association’s long-term capital project plan (CIP) and directed owners to the information posted on the homeowner website. Jim gave an overview of the DRHOA water system noting pumped gallons were down in 2020 as compared to 2019 and that the focus in 2021 will be to have smart meters installed at all residences. He also touched on some of the forward-looking larger capital items related to water, including ductile iron pipe replacement and looping. He informed owners that all of this information, including the full water CIP be found on the homeowner website: https://cpg.appfolio.com/connect. On the topic of Roads, Carrie reported that the association came in roughly $8K ahead of budget last year on annual road maintenance and capital road repairs. She reported that there is no major maintenance scheduled for this summer besides the annual crack-filling but another full sealcoat is tentatively scheduled in the capital budget for next fiscal year. Ron moved onto the ARC report encouraging association members to: talk to their neighbors before beginning any work, inform the ARC committee of any plans ahead of time, and ensure contractors have knowledge of the association rules and documents. Sarah touched on wildfire mitigation and highlighted that the Routt County Wildfire Mitigation Council is hosting a series of free weekly virtual conferences. Owners can register for these webinars and view previously recorded topics at http://routtwildfire.org/events. Sarah also reminded everyone that last year’s fire assessment performed by the Colorado State Forest Service can be found on the “links” page of the Dakota Ridge website and covers both common areas and individual lots. She also reported that the association will be hosting another educational meeting this summer with the local fire marshall and a state forest service representative. CPG will send out a meeting invite to all owners once this Zoom event is schedule. Lastly, she reported that the association will be working on an emergency evacuation plan this summer.

Sarah then opened the discussion for questions and comments regarding those reports:

• Scott Prochazka asked if the fire development plan was available to be used for insurers to which Sarah noted that it was.

• Sharon Pace asked for a reminder to be sent out that fireworks are not allowed and that fires in outdoor fire pits are not allowed if the county has open burn restrictions in effect. CPG will monitor county restrictions and will send out a reminder to the association before the July 4th holiday.

• Arlene Zopf brought up a concern about a dangerous situation at the end of their blind driveway as it pertains to bikers and other vehicles coming down the hill. She asked for permission to put in signage alerting downhill traffic to the driveway. Sarah agreed that the Board and CPG will work on getting a “caution” sign to place there.

• Scott Prochazka questioned whether the association had considered amending the bylaws to suggest a voting majority of those in attendance in order to address the quorum issue. Andrea clarified that the Board does not have the power to change quorum requirement so the covenants would need to be amended which requires a super majority vote. Holly responded that, in previous years, to assure a quorum, the Board requested proxies from all homeowners regardless of intent to join the meeting. The Board will consider reverting to that approach in the future.

• Steve Hofman brought up the capital increase that was assessed around two years ago and asked about the result of that increase. Martyn Redgrave further commented that the increase was intended to cover future capital costs and minimize the need for special assessments. He asked if the expectation was for the current assessments to remain at the same level in the future. Holly responded, noting the CIP was updated/extended this year out to year 2028 and that DRHOA is pretty well balanced on cash in vs. cash out in that timeframe. She also acknowledged that yes, the intention based on projected future needs to keep the capital assessments consistent with what they currently are. Lastly, she said the NWCC road report would be updated again in 2022 which will provide key information to updating and determining future road expenses.

• Steve Hofman mentioned that the water issues being discussed seem more operational vs. capital and wanted to make sure that distinction is being made in the association budget. Holly responded that it is, pointing out that there are both operating and capital sections of the budget related to water costs.

• Paul Orzech thanked the Board for the service and the two new board members for volunteering to serve on the board. He also asked Sarah to clarify whether last year’s fire assessment included an evaluation of each lot or if individual owners need to engage a third party for that study. Sarah noted the evaluation was in fact performed for each parcel in Dakota Ridge and it is included on the Dakota Ridge website for each owner to view. Holly pointed out that this assessment was performed only from road and satellite viewpoints such that any property not viewable from these avenues might benefit from additional analysis.

• Paul Orzech questioned whether the association is planning to measure water in a couple different main line locations with the smart meters so the association can analyze and account for all of the water pumped and better identify where lost water is going. Jim mentioned that the Board has spent an endless amount of time on the water loss issue and has decided the first step is to complete the installation of smart meters. The various experts that have been engaged believe the smart meters will result in more accurate data, accounting for approximately 20% of the loss. It was also noted that a few meters will be installed within existing vaults and that acoustic leak testing will be performed at each residence while the water is shut off during meter replacement.

• Paul Orzech asked about the water contract Jim had mentioned that used to be $1,700 per year for a 30-year term. Andrea clarified that the association’s water rights are managed by the state vs. the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy who manages the flow and calls for water out of Stagecoach so this contract is more of an insurance policy in the case of a drought. Paul wanted to ensure that DRHOA is getting the same access to water in terms of quantity in this new contract and that the right legal professional will be negotiating on the association’s behalf.

• Steve Hofman questioned whether the water loss data indicated a specific quarter with an overwhelming amount of leakage as opposed to the other quarters. He mentioned they put in a sprinkler system when they built their house (all done properly to their knowledge), then found out two years later via a plumber that their sprinkler was not running through their meter. They corrected it, but he questioned if similar instances could be occurring elsewhere. The Board responded that they asked this same question to the water engineers, the water operator, and the plumber who recertifies meters while checking for taps prior to the meter. Per the responses from all three professionals, water losses appear to be systemic throughout the year, not concentrated during sprinkler season.

• Martyn Redgrave brought up the copper concentration in the DRHOA water report from 2019 and asked when will the next report be completed and available. Andrea commented that the prior year report is published in June of the following year, such that the 2020 report will released by end of June and sent to ownership. Several owners discussed their filtration systems and Steve Hofman invited all owners to come look at his installation. Michael Zopf noted that Tim Gibbons performs lead and copper testing each year at certain homes, which are selected based on owners who consistently use water but expressed concern that this sample might only references a cross section of all users. Michael also noted that he believes that the lead and copper concentrations are related to piping within homes and not from the original water source.

• Michael Zopf also noted his opinion that it is essential the association hire a water attorney to make sure everything is done properly as the association enters into these contracts with the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy. Several attorneys were recommended and the association has previously engaged Moses, Wittemyer, Harrison & Woodruff, P.C for all water right issues over the past 10 years.

With no further business, Sarah Jones adjourned the meeting at 5:20pm.

Submitted by,
Emily Conkling