TAOS PINES RANCH PROPERTY OWNERS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

June 30, 2007

I. CALL TO ORDER

President Linda Ford called the meeting to order at l:00 p.m. at the 1^st National Bank in Angel Fire, New Mexico.

Board Members Present: Linda Ford, Diana Johnson and Diana Pospisil

Property Owners Present:

Anne Faust Lot 7 Ron & Elaine Rosandich Lot 88

Glenn & Deborah Hotze Lot 94 Diana Pospisil Lot 79

Kenneth McQuade Lot 89 Shawn Howard Lot 25 & 35

Bob Melanson Lot 29 Avery & Terry Cox Lot 32

JM & Diana Johnson Lot 27 Troy & Linda Ford Lot 75 & 76

Roger Goette Lot 57 Jim & Geri Wisingwski Lot 4

John Loupe Lot 1 Bill Mascolo Lot 16

Mark & Marybeth Sheinbaum Lot 21

Guests:

Bill Conley, Colfax County Commissioner

Alan Johnson, Cimarron Watershed Alliance

Jim Badjar, Artesia Fire Equipment, Inc.

Herman Manzanares, Rancher

II. MINUTES

Roger Goette made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous annual meeting held on July 15, 2006. Ronald Rosandich seconded, motion passed.

III. FINANCIAL STATEMENT

Diana Johnson presented the financial statement for the period of March 14, 2007 through June 30, 2007. It will be accepted at the next Board Meeting. She announced that 2007/2008 dues of $60 will be due on August 1, 2007.

IV. ELECTION OF BOARD MEMBERS

An election of Board Members to replace or extend the terms of outgoing Board Members was called for. Diana Johnson and Linda Ford agreed to extend their terms for another 2 years and Marybeth Sheinbaum agreed to replace outgoing member Klaus Steinbrecher for 2 years. Mark Scheinbaum agreed to serve a 1 year term replacing Bob Randall who resigned his position on the Board. Ken McQuade made a motion to accept all four candidates by acclamation. Ann Faust seconded and the notion passed unanimously. The other 2 Board Members are Jim Diamond and Diana Pospisil.

V. OLD BUSINESS

1. CWPP: Linda Ford suggested that additions should be made to the Taos

Pines Community Firewise Protection Plan (CWPP) that would include other emergencies beyond fire protection. As a result of the severe winter storms in December and January, several emergencies and other problems arose. These ranged from inability to dig out driveways, food and prescription drug shortages, and low supplies of propane gas. She asked the members to think of possible emergency situations and how to deal with them so that this information can be included in the CWPP.

2. CRFP: Linda Ford wrote a grant request for the Collaborative Forest Restoration Program (CRFP) and submitted it for consideration by the New Mexico Grant Funding Committee in Santa Fe earlier this year. The proposed program, which was in collaboration with the Carson National Forest (La Jara Project), included several important projects. It would have created a fire break between the National Forest, Taos Pueblo and Taos Pines Subdivision. The students at the Eagle Nest School had planned a barn building project from the wood taken and the Pueblo had planned a fence building project. Trail making and other projects from several organizations collaborating in the overall project were also included in the grant request. The Grant Committee was highly in favor of the proposal in all aspects but one. The Carson National Forest collaborators had requested that the proposal include fence rebuilding along private properties at the upper end of the Taos Pines Subdivision. Since New Mexico is a “fence out” state the entire grant request was turned down. However, the Grant Committee, CWA and others are encouraging Linda to re-submit the grant request in November without the fencing included. She has agreed to rewrite the request and asked for assistance in doing so from anyone interested in helping her with the rewrite. Look for an announcement of the collaborators’ meeting and please attend. Your input is vital.

In regards to the private fence, it is the responsibility of the public who do not want cattle on their property to “fence them out”. It is not the responsibility of the forest area or the cattle permitee to do so. However, Herman Manzanares, who is the holder of the cattle grazing permit, has agreed to assist in maintaining the fence in cooperation with the property owners. Last year Herman did repair and replace a lot of the fencing at his own expense. Also, it was reported that Steve Biggs with the Department of Transportation also saw to it that a lot of fencing was repaired. Herman was in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions owners may have regarding this issue. Bill Conley said that if people would let him know about stray cattle, he would be happy to contact Herman. Lot owners can also call the State Police.

Mark Scheinbaum has designed some signs to be put on the gates asking everyone to be good friends and neighbors and to close the gates behind them. The Forest Service needs to approve the signs before they are posted.

3. Fire Station: Construction of the fire substation to be located at the entrance to the lower road has finally begun with lot preparation. However it is currently delayed once again awaiting the final building permit. It is hoped that construction will be completed soon. The site will house fire tenders and a 40,000 gal water tank. Once the construction is completed, there will be an open house. Taos Pines has offered to assist with the open house by providing a hot dog lunch. Plans are still in the works for a water tower at the entrance to the upper road.

VI. NEW BUSINESS

1. Firewise Day: After completion of the fire substation, Taos Pines will be able to schedule a chipper day for its owners. The chips will be placed on the road. This will probably happen sometime in August. Once the date is set the owners will be notified. Owners will be responsible for delivering their slash to the fire station site. The description of the slash that will be accepted will be explained in the notice (no pine needles).

2. Property Security: Linda reported that two house break-ins occurred earlier in the spring. One house was on the lower road and one off Elk Run. Owners should do all they can to protect their property and their neighbor’s. A Neighborhood Watch plan needs to be established.

3. Fire, Forest and Water Day: Taos Pines will have a booth at the FFW

Day Fair to be held at the Angel Fire Community Center on Saturday, July 7.

VII. REPORTS

1. Architectural Committee: JM Johnson reported that there was only 1 set of plans submitted for approval since the last Board Meeting. That was for lot 10. One property was recently sold by owners who apparently did not submit a set of plans to the Committee and the house was built without the required double garage. The new owners have stated that they will build the garage on the property. JM plans to meet with an attorney to determine what the Committee is able to do when owners do not comply with the Covenants.

2. SAD Board: Troy Ford reported that the County Commissions have

recently appointed the new members to the SAD Board. They are Troy Ford, Chairman, JM Johnson and Jim Lewis. He again explained that all of the SAD funds are maintained by the County. A new 5-year assessment has been approved and the amount assessed to each property owner is based upon the value of the property, i.e., those with structures will have a higher assessment than vacant lots. The County has just finished a 1-year contract with the road contractor, Greg Carlisle, and the County has extended the contract for another year. Scott Berry Engineering was selected by the County to assess the work to be done on the roads. Speed and directional signs have been posted at a cost of $1,000 and the SAD Board has requested more signage where needed. Other monies spent this year include $2,100 to Scott Berry and $39,000 to Greg Carlisle for snow removal and maintenance. There is currently $12,000 in the road fund account.

VIII. MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

1. Trash: There was a discussion regarding the placement of the trash

dumpsters. They have temporarily been placed by the County on the lower road. They were placed further into the subdivision in order to discourage non-residents of Taos Pine from using them. However, it is apparent that building contractors are dumping their waste in and around the dumpsters. All property owners are asked to tell their contractors that they must take their waste to other locations. Property owners are also advised to use the dumpsters only for ordinary household trash and not large items that will not fit into the dumpsters. Once the fire substation is completed, the dumpsters will be moved back to that site and as much out of sight from Hwy. 64 as possible. Pick-up is currently 3 times a week for the summer. If more dumpsters or pick-up times are needed, call Bill Conley. He will contact the County.

IX. CWA THINNING AND RESTORATION PROJECT

Alan Johnson, representing the Cimarron Watershed Alliance, reported on the nearly completed thinning project on the upper road. Taos Pines was awarded a $500,000 state grant in order to establish a fire reduction and forest restoration project on properties adjacent to the Kit Carson National Forest and Taos Pueblo lands. The CWA was the fiscal agent for distribution and execution of the thinning project. The CWA was able to thin 23 properties. Our thanks go out to the owners of the following properties: Lots 1, 5, 6, 8, 11, 39, 41, 43, 46, 47, 48, 49 ,50, 80, 86, 87, 88, 91, 94, 95, 96, 97, and 98. Some clean-up work still needs to be done and a few other lots are being thinned through another source of funds. All of these lots are also being re-seeded to aid in the growth of healthy ground cover.

Since the thinning included the removal of diseased trees, the appearance, health and value of these properties has been greatly enhanced. Pictures of the project will be posted on the website.

A final report will be prepared by the CWA and it will be posted on the Taos Pines website once it is received. At this point, the approximate cost of the project is $421,162.73 for thinning and $3,314.90 for reseeding.

Not all funds were utilized because the time frame imposed by the State ran out sooner than expected. However, it should be noted that the contractor did start the project during the worse accumulation of snow seen in this area for some time in order not to lose any time in completing the project.

X. THERMO-GEL DEMONSTRATION

Jim Badjar with Artesia Fire Equipment and who is a representative for Thermo-Gel fire retardant gave a demonstration of the product. Thermo-Gel is a gel concentrate, that when added to water, transforms water into a fire preventing and heat absorbing gel. It will adhere to any kind of surface such as shrubs, trees, windows, siding, cars, and fuel tanks. It protects these objects from heating, charring and flame impingement. It can be used to create a home defense barrier around a structure so it can be used to create a fire free zone around a house. It can be stored for up to 3 years after date of purchase. Many part-time residents in some New Mexico communities have purchased the product and left it in storage with their local fire departments to be used in case of fire. Taos Pines POA will be looking into making similar arrangements with our fire department. It would be particularly helpful if it can be stored in the new fire substation. For more information regarding Thermo-Gel, contact Jim Badjar at 1-800-748-2076.

XI. DRAWING

The door prize drawing was won by Ron Rosendich.

XII. ADJOURN

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:20 P.M.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL:_______________________________________

Diana Johnson, Secretary