PID Annual Owners and Advisory Board Meeting - 2023-06-10

Storm Mountain PID #55 Annual Owners and Advisory Board Meeting
June 10, 2023
 
Recording – the recorded meeting is available via the following link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DtTLCaXqTLR6zzuz_PC4cAIYKsJiEvW-/view?usp=drive_link

Board Members Present
Andy Hitch, Chairperson

James Toland, Treasurer
Connie Garrett, Secretary 
John Lodico, Advisory Board Member

The meeting was started by suspending Robert’s Rules.  The Annual Owners meeting and Advisory Board meeting will be blended into one meeting. Board members were introduced, and officer roles were re-confirmed.

2022 Budget – The 2022 budget was reviewed. The slide from the 2022 budget review is provided below. No funds were spent from the chipseal or emergency reserve in 2022.  There was less snow in 2022 which only used about 60% of the allocated funds for the snow removal.  We exceeded our summer maintenance budget, and this was mainly due to a miscommunication between the county, contractor and advisory board, specifically because the county does not take into account the chip seal funds that the board reserves for future use.  This miscommunication will be remediated in 2023 by ensuring the county’s PO aligns with the board approved budget.

Note: If you’re having trouble viewing 2022 Budget, the PDF can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1a88quF6YZqj-nu6J_llPm-CxkuYQwcES/view?usp=drive_link

2023 Budget – The proposed budget for 2023 was reviewed and approved.  The slide for the 2023 budget is provided below. The carryover from 2022 is higher than last year and is mainly comprised of chip seal reserve and the snow removal funds not used. The 2023 tax revenue remains consistent with 2022 and is anticipated to see an increase in 2024 from the property tax increase that property owners are seeing this year.  The county engineers recommend that all the chip seal be resurfaced. We estimate that the amount budgeted, or chip seal will cover the cost. The PO Box was cancelled last year, reducing the budget for communications & mail. The budget for snow removal was reduced due to less snow fall this last season.  More funds were allocated to the summer maintenance.  The funds allocated for tree services were also reduced as we have not been using all the funds allocated.

Note: If you’re having trouble viewing 2023 Budget, the PDF can be viewed here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dahZ5rUVfT4u8Yq7r2Lph7FsGKSNRkTO/view?usp=drive_link

Road Maintenance – Foster Dirt has done initial grading to the Access Road and main thoroughfares to remove major potholes and some initial ditch repair. The Access Road will be re-graded and mag chloride applied in June.  A final grade and mag chloride application will be planned for September.

Four county engineers met with James this week to evaluate the condition of the Access Road. The county engineers had recommendations for the chip seal and pavement, wash out areas, road base and grading.  The county engineers felt the chip seal is due for a new layer from the stop sign to above the switch backs, and then from Bergs Hill to the T.  Failing areas will need to be patched by Foster Dirt and then a new layer will be applied by A1 Chip Seal.  The county puts this out to bid, and it usually is completed by a contractor, A1 Chip Seal, based out of Fort Collins.  Ed Ostransky will reach out to a contractor in Estes Park to encourage him to also bid on the work to ensure we are getting a competitive bid.  James is currently working with the county to determine estimates and scope for resurfacing the chip seal. Current cost for chip seal is about $5.50 per square yard (price is subject to change).  With our current chip seal budget, we estimate we can afford one mile of chip seal, and we have just under one mile of chip seal on the Access Road.  Once official estimates are in from the county, we will confirm how much chip seal we can afford this year. It was noted that the chip seal is only about a half inch thick as compared to asphalt pavement which is 3 inches thick. The county advises against chip seal because our roads are not to the specifications recommended for chip seal, however the board must maintain the existing chip seal.

Regarding road base on the Access Road, both the county engineers and the contractor have advised that much of the material on the access road is exhausted with mostly silt and sand in the base. Both the county and contractor advise that road base is replaced on the Access Road with recycled asphalt.  The exhausted (or spoiled) materials will be reused on the mountain either to fill in areas of washout on the Access Road or to firm up areas that are prone to get muddy where it is only native dirt with no road base. 

The county engineers also evaluated areas that have washed out on the Access Road.  For these wash out areas, the county recommends that we rebuild the areas by cutting the area back, filling in with exhausted\spoiled materials to rebuild slope and then fill with rip-rap. We are waiting for cost estimates on rip-rap.  Washout areas will be an on-going problem for gravel and dirt roads.

Guardrail is highly desired on the Access Road in the Forest Service section.  The Forest Service will not officially grant permission to install guardrail.  However, Foster Dirt does install guardrail, and James purchased guardrail from the Cedar Springs HOA last year.  While it is not likely that we can get official approval to install the guardrail on the Access Road Forest Service section, the board will continue to look for a favorable time to install the guardrail.

Other road maintenance topics discussed:

• Palisade from the T to the Bears needs new material. The existing material is exhausted and will not hold its shape even with mag chloride.
• Storm Mountain from the Y to the hi-lo needs new material. Bed rock is exposed and the S curves get very rough and difficult to travel.
• Wren and Spruce Mountain intersection needs trees removed to widen the area, and a new culvert needs to be installed.
•  Common areas that see washout, rutting, or culvert blockage each year: Snow Top Drive, Spruce Mountain, Bobcat, Cedar Park, Palisade, Meadows, Elk Way, Bowser, Jug, Possum, Wild Turkey.  Many of these areas have been identified and documented. Foster Dirt will improve these areas as the budget allows with grading, re-shaping, re-establishing ditches or cut outs to ditches, and cleaning culverts.
• The advisory board will reach out to private property owners to request culverts on private driveways be cleared. If a private driveway is causing significant damage to public roadway, the board will evaluate possible solutions within the PID scope.

Additional Comments – There was some discussion about fire mitigation on the Access Road.  The PID may only clear trees in the Forest Service section once the trees are on the road.  The PID may not thin trees from Forest Service land. LFRA, the Ember Alliance, and the Forest Service have multiple projects in Colorado to protect forest lands from wildfires.  More information was shared by Deb Green to the Storm Mountain Groups.io email forum for the community to participate in those projects.

The previously scheduled quarterly meetings will be cancelled as they have not been necessary. If a meeting is required outside of the annual meeting, the board will schedule as needed and provide notice to the community as required per the by-laws.

 
Thank you,
Connie Garrett
Secretary
Storm Mountain PID # 55