TAOS PINES RANCH PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

MARCH 14, 2007

 

 

VIA E-MAIL TO BOARD MEMBERS

 

MINUTES:  Attached are the minutes of the previous meeting dated July 6, 2006 which was the annual Membership Meeting.  These minutes will not be approved until the next Membership Meeting but if you see any corrections or other comments, please let me know.

 

FINANCIAL STATEMENT:  Attached is the financial statement for the current period.  I move that they be accepted.  If you have questions, let me know.

 

OLD BUSINESS:

 

            Fire Substation – The substation construction will begin in April.   I am sending a site map showing the location of the building in another e-mail.  It will house 2 vehicles.  The dumpsters placed on the site will remain until Angel Fire and the County resolves their trash collection problem.

 

            Water Tank:  Money for the water tanks at the upper road has been approved but installation will not be until summer of ’08.  Once done, we’ve been assured our ISO rating will improve.

 

            Liability Insurance:  The Errors & Omissions Policy has been obtained for the Board.

 

            CWA Grant Project:  The project conducted by the Cimarron Watershed Alliance is ongoing at this time.  This is the project that will thin forest land on the back 50 or so feet of properties belonging to Taos Pines owners who own property along the forest and pueblo fence lines.  The project has  been hampered by the deep snow we have received this winter and by the fact that some property owners have not responded to requests for permission to do the work and/or have not been located.  However, where possible, thinning is taking place.

 

NEW BUSINESS:

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – PLEASE READ

 

            Collaborative  Forest Restoration Program Grant:   In the summer of 2005, the Camino Real Ranger District of the Carson National Forest conducted the La Jara Fuels Reduction and Restoration Environmental Assessment.  They received approval to proceed with their proposal for their project.  The next step in this project is the acquisition of funds and as a result several collaborative groups have formed to raise money, mostly through state forestry funds.  Taos Pines is one of those collaborative groups.

 

            The area of work which concerns Taos Pines is primarily the land adjacent to our upper boundaries, i.e., the Carson National Forest.  The work for which we are seeking funds will be done on forest land and will serve as added protection from fire and environmental concerns currently being carried out through the CWA grant.  Meetings have been held with several possible collaborators who have been asked to support our request for the CFRP grant and to support it through their own projects from which each collaborator will benefit.  Collaborators include such entities as the Taos Pueblo, CWA, CCCFC (see below), Girl Scouts, schools, etc. 

 

            As examples of what a collaborator may contribute to the project, the Pueblo has proposed to take the small diameter wood and teach fence building to their people.  The fence they will build will be along the Taos Pines boundary and will keep cattle from entering and harming Taos Pines properties.  They will use larger diameter wood to provide firework for their elderly.   They have other project ideas as well.

 

            The CCCFC will educate local property owners in Firewise principles to safeguard living in Wildland Forest Urban Interface areas. They will construct a demonstration garden of native plants and a Firewise hiking trail which will be coordinated with Taos Pines.

 

            After the collaborators provided Taos Pines representatives with their reasons for supporting the CFRP, the data was attached into a 10-page request for a state forestry grant of $150,000 per year for 3 years or $450,000 total.  (The grant can be resubmitted for 3 more years or $900,000 total).  This grant is a matching 80/20 award.

 

            Linda Ford has done the lion’s share of preparing and submitting the request for the grant.  It is a very impressive document representing untold number of hours to prepare.  She has had some guidance from many professionals but she has basically given up the last 3 months of her life on the behalf of Taos Pines and is to be highly commended.  Linda presented the proposal to the Grant Committee Members in Santa Fe on March 5th. 

 

            The Grant Committee will meet in April to review all of the requests.  There are 30 requests to be considered.  Ours is number 20.  This meeting will be held:

 

                                    WHERE:        Holiday Inn

                                                            5050 Jefferson St. NE

                                                            Albuquerque, NM

                                    DATE:            Wednesday, April  25

                                    TIME:            Between 1:15 and 3:15 p.m

                                    INFO:             505-944-2222 or Linda (505-377-1264)

 

IMPORTANT:  The Grant Committee gives a lot of credence to those requestors who show a lot of support for their project.  If you (or anyone you know) can attend this meeting with Linda, it will be greatly appreciated.  (Unfortunately, I cannot attend.)  The awarding of grants will be announced in June.

 

I will be sending you a map of the area to be worked on via this grant.  If this grant is awarded to Taos Pines, Linda has other projects in mind.  Let us support her as much as possible.

 

National Firewise Conference:  Linda and Troy Ford attended the conference held in Denver in November.  Linda was presented with a well-deserved Firewise Leadership Award at the conference.

 

            Colfax County Coalition of Firewise Communities – In June 2007 the nation’s first coalition of Firewise Communities was formed in Colfax County.  In October 2 more communities were added for a total of 6 communities (1 in Colorado).  More recently Shield’s Survey (next to Hidden Lake) is looking at becoming a Firewise Community and joining the Coalition.  Jody Gray of Ute Park is serving as President of the organization which has been meeting approximately once a month. The mission of the organization is to:

1.      Plan and sponsor educational events including seminars, field trips, and Firewise site demonstrations.

2.      Annually review Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP) and submit changes as required.

3.      Promote Firewise fuel reduction in the forest areas and create defensible space around structures.

4.      Explore sources of private and public funding to provide for fire hazard mitigation. 

5.      Encourage restoration of a healthy fire-adapted forest in the Coalition communities.

 

 Since Taos Pines was the 1st Firewise Community, it looks like Linda Ford really started a very important movement which is benefiting all of us.  The meetings are open to anyone interested in attending.

 

            Thermo-Gel Presentation:  The latest meeting of the CCCFC was held at Philmont on Feb. 17th.  A demonstration of a fire-retardant product manufactured by Thermo-Gel was given.  This product is easy to clean –up after usage and has a fairly long shelf-life.   Further, Thermo-Gel will replace expired product once its shelf-life has expired free of charge.  Linda would like to purchase a supply of this product to be stored at the MV fire station for the exclusive use by Taos Pines owners.  She is not certain of the cost (it is expensive), but if this seems like a good idea, she will get some quotes.  We are also looking at having the manufactures on our annual meeting agenda.

 

            Fire, Forest and Water Fair:  The FFW Fair will be held at the Angel Fire Fire Station on July 7th.  Taos Pines will have a booth at this Fair which Linda and Troy will man.  Let Linda know if you can help her out on that date.  The CCCFC will also have a booth at the fair.

 

            Colfax County Board of Commissions:  Whitney Hite continues to wreck havoc for the County and the Moreno Valley in particular.  He has managed to eliminate the position held by Roger Terry and Roger has resigned from serving Colfax County.  The Commissioners are also “investigating” Fire Marshall Larry Osborn.  He also plans to tear into the County’s budget and set up his own accounting system.  A subscription to the Raton Ranger may help keep you apprised of the Commissioners’ activities (phone 505-445-2721).

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 

            SAD Board – The County Commissioners have appointed a new Board of Directors for the Special Assessment District.  Chairman is Troy Ford, members are JM Johnson and Jim Lewis.  There may be another member but we are awaiting confirmation.  A new contract for a road contractor to do the work needs to be in place by June 1.  Since our current contractor is the only one interested in doing the work, the contract will most likely go to him again.  Troy plans to meet soon with his committee and they will discuss project priorities.  If you have any input in this, please let him know.  You can e-mail your thoughts to Linda.  The $1,000 set aside by the Commissioners in their last term has not been received yet but Commissioner Bill Conley promises to see to it that we get the money.  We now have our Firewise signs installed at both entrances.

 

            Architectural Committee - JM Johnson reports there have not been any new plans submitted during this report period.  However, that should change as the weather will allow new construction to begin.  New owners will be advised that if their plans do not include driveways (including a turn-around area and grades) that will allow fire fighters to enter their property safely,  the fire fighters will make no attempt to rescue their homes.

 

OTHER BUSINESS:

 

            Officers – Linda Ford has agreed to serve as President for the 2006-2007 year and Diana Johnson has agreed to serve as secretary/treasurer.   If you concur, they will be elected by acclamation. 

           

            CWPP Revision – During the big snowfall during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, Linda was inundated with phone calls from owners who were stranded in their homes, unable to get down their driveways and running short on food and fuel.  Therefore, we need to think about adding a snow survival plan to our CWPP.  Please give this some thought and let’s discuss it at our annual meeting.

 

            Annual Meeting – We would like to set up our annual meeting on Saturday, June 30th, at 1:00 p.m. This would also be a time for a face-to-face Board meeting.  Please let us know if you cannot attend a meeting on or about this date.  Otherwise, I will not be available until the last week in July or sometime in August.  Since everyone is wondering what’s going on, we think the meeting should be sooner rather than later.  Linda has already reserved space at the bank for the meeting.  She will have Alan Johnson give us an update on the CWA project.

 

RESPONSE:

 

At this point, please respond to the questions on the e-mail cover letter as soon as possible.  I need to get this information posted on the web-site for the members.

 

Thank you,

 

Diana Johnson

Secretary/Treasurer