GCCHLA MEETING February 26, 2012

Location: Crouse's Home
Time: 6:18PM
Adjourned: 7:08PM
Attendees (Board Members/Alternates):
Aragon, Karen
Crouse, Lance & Mari Jo
DePoyster, Curtis & Tina
Huntoon, Heather & Darrell
Gallaher, Dave & Judy
Stewart, Rusty & Jodie
VanGeet, Otto & Kelly
Wandrey, Craig

Next Meeting: TBD - First half of May planned.
Previous Meeting Minutes Acceptance: Previous meeting minutes were accepted.

Old Business

• Road
• There was a lot accomplished last year with the redistribution and grading in areas around the Gulch.
• Clear Creen County Road Base Pilot Project
• The County delivered road base to the areas requested by residents.
• Neighborhoods/groups who requested the base are expected to spread the base this Spring on their roads.
• The web page still requires updating to correct the board members link.  Curtis took an action item to get this oversight fixed (done).

• Dave asked if there had been any movement on the Forest Service & Small Track Act - Phase 2.  Curtis responded having the most recent information: There has been no new developments and it is Curtis's understanding that no developments should be expected for years due to the lack of funding and staffing resources available to the Forest Service.
• The idea of putting together a calling list (calling tree) for the neighborhood has been suggested.
• With the current lack of precipitation, we could be in for a very severe fire season.
• A calling tree would allow individuals who remain in the neighborhood the majority of the time to call people's contact numbers in the event that fires are encroaching on the neighborhood thereby enablling the remote person time to return home and perform evacuation activities if needed.
• Further organization is required from identifying individuals willing to do the calling to confirming contact information and willingness of being called in emergencies.
• Curtis will send out an email requesting volunteers, work phone numbers, permission to be called, and where everyone lives.
  
• Just a reminder that people living off grid should supply the fire department with a map of their homes showing the location of their batteries and shutoff switches.
  
• Dave has talked to the county and there is a possibility of getting road base again this year delivered free from the county.  He will follow up on that possibility.
• Heather has identified the possibility of available grants for the purpose of wind downed tree removal.  She will follow up with Kathleen Krebs (Office of Emergency Management, Emergency Management Coordinator/Director) as to the availability of these funds for the many trees downed in the last high winds.
• Dave provided a proposal as to the methology for the HOA road responsibilities going forward.
  This is only a proposal at this time; The expectation is that at the next HOA meeting there will be a board vote to determine whether the following will be implemented.
  
• The idea going forward would be that the HOA would no longer perform road maintenance but rather would coordinate and obtain road base.
• Individual neighborhood areas (sections) would be responsible for covering the (hopefully) discounted cost of the road base through road fund donations and for the spreading/grading of their own roads with the provided road base.
• The reason for this switch in approach is largely due to the lack of road funds.  The roughly $3000 per year that can be counted on in road funding falls far short of the money required to perform the road grading activities currently required in the neighborhood areas.  For example, the re-distribution and grading project undertaken last year cost the HOA well over $7000.
• By having the ability to buy in bulk, the HOA expects to be able to purchase road base at significantly reduced prices.
• By making the individual neighborhood sections more responsible for their funding and road work, the hope is to get more involvement of the home and landowners in the road repair process.
• The idea is to try this approach for a couple of years and then re-evaluate the success of the approach to determine how the HOA can proceed in the future.
• The complete proposal may be found here on the website: ../Articles/Articles.php?Articles=20120226SectionBossProposal.php
• Dave  suggested an HOA project to re-paint the firehouse.  Possibly the county could supply the paint and the HOA member supply the work.
• Last year's neighborhood party following the cleanup was a big hit.  We would like to try to do the same thing again this year.
• Dave proposed having the next HOA meeting at a non-home location like the Red Ram in Georgetown.
• Other locations were also suggested including locations in Idaho Springs.  The main key need is that the location has to be free of fees.
• Dave has already verified with the owner at the Red Ram and we could use the downstairs area for our meeting.
• People would also be able to purchase food and drink.
  

Treasurer's Report (Karen Aragon - treasurer@yorkgulch.com)