Minutes of the NEPCO HOA General Membership Meeting July 12, 2008 The bimonthly NEPCO general membership meeting was held Saturday, 12 July 2008, at the Family of Christ Lutheran Church on Baptist Road from 10:00 AM to 11:45 AM. Attendance: The following homeowner association’s representatives from NEPCO members were present: Bent Tree Homeowners Association, John Heiser Donala Club Villa HOA, Joy Baldwin and Walter Paul Eagle Villas Owners Association, Alice Sweatman, Robert Mossey, Dennis Beasley and Doug Jenkins Gleneagle Civic Association, Bob Swedenburg Gleneagle Townhomes Association, Gloria Milhoan High Meadow at Fox Run HOA, Louise Link Kings Deer Homeowners Association, Allen Alchian and Tony Winslow Nichlas Homeowners Association, Roger Gomas Paradise Villas, Ray Hazlip Ridge at Fox Run Homeowners Association, Dave Patton Summer Glen Estates, Peter Pasquale Sun Hills Association, Joe Dixon Woodmoor Improvement Association, Hans Post and Terry Holmes NEPCO Board members present were Walter Paul (President), Bob Swedenburg (Secretary), and Dave Patton (Facilitator). Ginny Markl (Vice President) was out of town and absent. Treasurer Kim Scherschligt had to resign recently due to her moving out of state. A quorum was present. NEPCO’s guests were Ryan Shoemaker of Critter Control and Chris Amenson of the Front Range Environmental Resource Coalition. Opening: Walter Paul, President, opened the NEPCO meeting at 10:04 AM. Walter welcomed all attendees and our guest speakers, Ryan Shoemaker and Chris Amenson. Walter introduced the NEPCO Board members, and then asked each representative and guest attending to introduce themselves and the HOA they represent. 1 Secretary Report: Minutes Approval: Bob Swedenburg, Secretary, asked for a motion to approve the minutes of the 10 May 2008 NEPCO meeting. There were no changes recommended, a motion was made and seconded, and the minutes were approved. Walter will post the approved minutes on the NEPCO web site. All meeting minutes are on the NEPCO website at www.nepco.org. Membership Status: Bob stated that NEPCO now consists of 25 HOAs which has approximately 6389 homes or lots. Two additional HOAs have recently expressed interest in joining NEPCO. Treasurer Report: Financial Status: Kim Scherschligt, previous Treasurer, had to resign her post as she is moving to Michigan. Walter provided a summary of financial transactions since the last NEPCO meeting. He stated that all financial transactions are maintained by the Treasurer, and this information is available to any NEPCO member requesting it. He reported the current balance is $3095.24. Program Facilitator Report: Dave Patton reminded everyone that the program schedule is to have HOA Attorney Lenard Rioth speak on legal issues affecting HOAs at the 13 September 2008 meeting, and Commissioner Wayne Williams speaking on county issues at the 11 October 2008 meeting. Land Use Committee Report: Terry Holmes, NEPCO Land Use Committee Member, provided a summary of recent reviews and comments by the Land Use Committee on county and Monument development plans. - - - - - Gleneagle Golf Course Driving Range Townhomes: The plans submitted were for building housing on the driving range on the east side of the golf course near Eagle Villas. NEPCO provided written comments on this request for a zoning change on June 30, 2008. NEPCO’s major concerns included the increased traffic density at the dangerous intersection of Mission Hill Way and Gleneagle Drive and a waiver of the required 300 year water rule addressing the availability of water for the housing. Land Next to the Mining Museum: The City of Colorado Springs wants to annex a small portion of land on Northgate Road east of the Mining Museum where the old road used to be. It will then be agriculture. This is apparently just a holding category until someone submits plans to do something with this land. NEPCO responded in May with no comments. Retail Behind Walgreens on Baptist Road: Plans for retail stores on the southeast corner of Baptist Road and Struthers Road appeared to be quite satisfactory. NEPCO responded in May with no comment. KFC and LJS Restaurants: Plan are for a Kentucky Fried Chicken and Long John Silvers restaurants on the west side of Jackson Creek Parkway. NEPCO responded in May with no comment. FEDEX Building: New FEDEX building on Northgate Road. NEPCO responded in May with no comment. Sanctuary Pointe Phase I: NEPCO provided written comments on July 7. Comments addressed the entrance off Baptist Road, the size of lots, and the buffer zone. 2 Guest Speaker – Ryan Shoemaker of Critter Control: Walter introduced our first guest speaker, Ryan Shoemaker, of Critter Control, who was asked to speak on Wildlife and HOAs. Ryan has worked at Critter Control for 10 years, and has been the owner for the past 2 ½ years. The company has expertise in “relocating animals from houses” such as removing a raccoon from a home’s attic. Critter Control is the nation’s leading wildlife control company with over 100 offices coast-to-coast. Ryan described his company and said that rather than prepare remarks he’d prefer to take questions from the audience. He stated that he has successfully removed and relocated lots of raccoons, snakes, bugs, voles, pocket gophers, pigeons, swallows, etc from homes in our area. Ryan responded to numerous questions. Typical fees would be $129 to remove woodpeckers, repair the holes, and apply a deterrent spray. A two-phase treatment process to get rid of voles, including a warranty, would typically cost $189. He said the basic prevention is simply to keep the house well sealed. He will also perform an animal entry inspection” for homeowners concerned about how well their house is sealed from critter entry. Ryan can be reached at 719-473- 4663 or 1-800-CRITTER. His email is cscrittercontrol@aol.com. His web site is www.crittercontrol.com. Guest Speaker – Chris Amenson of Front Range Environmental Resource Coalition: Walter introduced our second guest speaker, Chris Amenson, of the Front Range Environmental Resource Coalition (FRERC), who was asked to present the situation regarding experimental drilling along the front range and Mount Herman. Chris provided a briefing with charts depicting the experimental drilling situation and the concerns being addressed by his organization. The Front Range Environmental Resource Coalition is a legal entity and community group with about 350 individuals and 6 homeowner associations involved. FRERC has raised about $16,000 to date. They hold informational meetings about every 6 weeks. More information on FRERC can be found at www.FRERC.org. Some points made in Chris’ briefing are the following: Dyad Corporation of Texas leased about 20,000 acres on the front range from north of the Air Force Academy to north of Palmer Lake in 1997 for experimental drilling for natural gas sources Dyad Corp has a 10 year right for drilling, and are now in their 7th year because they’ve been on hold since 2004 A primary concern to FRERC and the citizenry is the results of the “fracing” process which uses a chemical mixture inserted into holes to prepare the rock formations for more ease of drilling holes The fracing process is a possible concern because it may pollute the aquifers and water sources used by residents of the area The exact chemical make-up of the fracing has been requested by FRERC, but Dyad will not divulge the ingredients El Paso county has no oil and gas drilling regulations The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) owns the land starting at 1 inch below the ground surface and underneath The Forest Service (US Dept of Agriculture) owns the land on the surface After an Environmental Assessment is completed and released a 30-day public comment period begins followed by 45 days in which the BLM and Forest Service respond 3 The Environmental Assessment is now expected in the Spring 2009 The points above do no justice to the excellent presentation by Chris. The full briefing is available on the FRERC website, and NEPCO will try to link or obtain a copy if the briefing for posting on the NEPCO website. Chris thoroughly addressed numerous questions from NEPCO representatives in attendance, and Chris received a well deserved applause upon his conclusion. Walter thanked him for his time and effort in presenting this information on an important situation developing in northern El Paso County. Old Business: Membership Drive. Walter reminded everyone that NEPCO would like to include as many HOAs in our area as possible. If anyone knows of a person on the Board of an HOA not currently in NEPCO please contact Walter or another member of the NEPCO board and we’ll contact the HOA. We need everyone’s help. Board Vacancies. Walter reminded everyone that there will be three NEPCO Board positions available in September when we will hold annual board elections. We are looking for motivated candidates. Please help us in the search. Petition. The NEPCO rep from Eagle Villas announced that the Eagle Villas HOA has a petition for signatures against the development to build townhomes on the Gleneagle Golf Course. New Business: No new business was presented. Closing: Walter thanked the HOA representatives for their attendance and participation. Walter again thanked Ryan Shoemaker of Critter Control and Chris Amenson of FRERC for discussing issues of interest to all HOAs in northern El Paso County. Walter called for a motion to adjourn. The motion was made, a second was provided, and a vote to adjourn was received at 11:50. Next NEPCO Meeting: The next NEPCO General Membership meeting will be Saturday, September 13th, 2008, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, at the Family of Christ Lutheran Church on Baptist Road. This meeting will focus on legal issues facing HOAs and our guest speaker will be famed HOA attorney Lenard Rioth. The Secretary will send an announcement to all NEPCO members prior to the meeting. //approved// Bob Swedenburg Secretary, NEPCO Walter Paul President, NEPCO 4