Dakota Ridge Board Meeting Minutes

July 19, 2021 @ 8:30am

Present: Sarah Jones, Jim Lob, Ron Lemieux, Holly Van Deursen, Carrie Rawlins

Others Present: Emily Conkling and Andrea Wilhelm (CPG), Jean-Luc Nauleau (Lot 72 owner)

The first item on the meeting agenda was the ARC hearing request for lot 72. The decisions reached at last month’s meetings were communicated to Lot 72 owners, and a violation notice was provided. Per the Dakota Ridge Responsible Governance Policies, the owner requested a hearing to discuss the matter with the Board. The owner of lot 72 presented his position and then left the Zoom meeting. The Board discussed the matter and asked Andrea to consult with HOA counsel and seek his guidance regarding various issues raised in the previous discussion. Following this advice, the ARC will make a final recommendation to the Board for a formal vote and decision. Sarah suggested putting an item on a future agenda to discuss, clean-up, and review the Guidelines.

The second order of business was the YTD Treasurer’s Report. Holly stated the financials are in good shape, noting revenues are less than $1k off budget while expenses are more substantially over budget, mostly due to water. The Balance Sheet shows capital is over $600k; approx. $200k of that resulting from the recent annual dues collection. These amounts will be drawn down in the next quarter with the smart meter project and potentially for the road work to be discussed later in the agenda. The money market account is slightly over the FDIC limits, but is expected to correct in the current quarter for the reasons mentioned above.

The third order of business was an update on water. Andrea commented that the HOA is on track with the smart meter project, looking at mid to late September on endpoint delivery. She also noted Native is still on track to do the excavation work for DIPRA as well as the 3 PRV replacements and 3 ARV vault installations by end of September. Sarah provided an update on the discussion with the Upper Yampa Water Conservancy District (UYWCD) which Mike Zopf coordinated with UYWCD and Erin Light, the local Division Engineer for the State, noting the HOA is in good shape with access to water. The agreement with the UYWCD is essentially an insurance contract for a call on water in the case of a drought. The previous 20-year agreement is coming up for renewal in the fall and will now be an annual negotiation. Sarah and Mike’s conversation with the UYWCD stressed the desire to have a longer-term agreement with an annual price adjustment. Andy Rossi with the UYWCD will set up a meeting in the fall for all HOAs impacted, as well as the city, to discuss. Jim questioned whether there was any concern about access to water and water rights and Sarah replied that access is not a concern at all; the HOA has 50 acre feet in storage at their benefit which equates to roughly 16M gallons. Holly questioned whether there were any homes where the plumbers will not be able to install the smart meters after the snow falls. Emily noted only the Hayden residence, whose meter is outside at the curb stop. That installation will need to be prioritized once the smart meters and endpoints arrive.

The fourth order of business was an update on roads. Ben Schreiner with RMA recently drove the HOA with a few Board members identifying areas for crack-filling and potential repairs/patching. In particular there were two areas on Aspen Ridge Road where edges had settled and a significant stretch on upper Trail Ridge Road where asphalt repair and additional drainage work is needed. Carrie noted it would be helpful to push those two projects up this year if the HOA has the capital to spend. Ron questioned if the $30k estimate includes any culvert work and Andrea reported that it does not. The $30k includes the whole stretch on Trail Ridge where the $2,300 in the estimate includes only the worst 150 feet. Jim questioned whether the group who drove around with RMA got the feeling that the roads are in better condition than anticipated. Holly reported that Ben Schreiner did feel that was the case and indicated that with proper maintenance, the roads should last at least another 10 years, maybe 15. Ron noted his son, who is also a road engineer, agreed that our roads were in good shape except for the problem areas already noted. Andrea asked the Board what they wanted to do in regards to the RMA bids sent the night prior. With the capital currently in place, Holly recommended they approve the Aspen Ridge Road work - as it has a higher traffic pattern and contains a water line underneath - and plan for the Trail Ridge Road work next year after the updated engineering report. All members present agreed with Holly’s recommendation. Holly noted with this work, the DIPRA testing, the cottonwood removal and possible overruns on the meter replacement project, the capital spending could be at least $20K over estimates in the CIP for 2021. During the meeting, Andrea received an update from RMA that they had currently crack filled $14,500 worth of rubber, with another $2500 to go. They were also planning on laying a half pallet of mastic in some of the larger cracks on Agate Creek Road, estimated at $3k. All members present voted to have RMA go ahead and do the mastic and document its location for evaluation next spring.

Sarah asked Ron if there were any additional ARC updates. Ron noted that the owners of Lot 17 had submitted a plan to attach their greenhouse. The ARC was meeting to review and would provide an update on both Lot 17 and Lot 72 to the Board. The Board discussed the correct process for changing the guidelines for the addition of greenhouse, if there was agreement by the HOA for this change. The Board also discussed the need for additional language in the guidelines related to the installation of solar. Ron asked Andrea if other HOAs had language we could use for solar installation and Andrea reported that she did not have any examples because all of the other associations managed by CPG are silent on this issue. Sarah suggested that the Colorado Solar and Storage Association (COSSA) may have some language and Andrea was asked to investigate with them.

The fifth order of business was an update on fire mitigation. Aspen Tree will be completing the work on the common areas within the next two weeks. Sarah noted she still hasn’t heard back from Fire Chief, Chuck Cerasoli, regarding materials to present to homeowners, but will keep working on that. In regards to the Cottonwood near the south entry, Andrea received a bid for $2,500 from NRSG to remove the whole tree as well as a bid from Aspen Tree for $1,500 to remove the tree limb only. She noted per GIS, the tree may not be on common area property and has reached out to the property owner for approval (not part of Dakota Ridge). Depending on his response, CPG will move forward with removing the entire tree or tree limb as previously approved by the Board.

Andrea asked whether CPG could help with organization/communication of the homeowner gathering proposed for August or September. Holly suggested picking five dates and sending out a survey to gauge availability. Based on responses, the Board will pick a date, as well as a back up date in case of inclement weather, and to plan for the 4-7pm timeframe.

Discussion was held regarding the potential construction of a structure in the common area for garbage collection in the upper area of Trail Ridge Rd. to which Carrie noted the problem was with the size of the trash truck being used, not the road. Andrea was asked reach out to Nate Burns at Waste Management to try to get clarity on this issue before deciding whether a structure is truly necessary.

The next meeting was tentatively scheduled for either October 18th or 19th at 8:30am after Andrea confirms with Jim which date works better. The goal with be for an in-person meeting at the CPG conference room if everyone is in town.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:34am.

Recorded by,

Emily Conkling

Commercial Property Group