January 2000 Newsletter

PHA  HOMEOWNER

PUBLISHED BY THE PINERY HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION

PHA BOARD POSITIONS

Four PHA Board positions are available. Elections will be held at the PHA General Membership Meeting on Wednesday, January 19, 2000. These are two-year terms. PHA Board members are expected to attend monthly Board meetings and the thrice-annual general meetings. Board members share operation of PHA by working on community projects. No experience is necessary, only a willingness to serve the community. If you are interested in running for a position, please contact the PHA office. 

You will have an opportunity to meet the candidates at the January 19th General Meeting prior to the election.

Douglas County Master Plan Update Workshop

James VanHemert and Jennifer Drybread, Douglas County Planning and Community Development, will present development updates and issues of which they are aware at the upcoming PHA General Meeting, to be held Wednesday, January 19. See page 1 for meeting details. Additionally, they will be seeking input from Pinery residents (you!) relative to Master Plan policies specific to the Pinery. The purpose of this key document is to guide County staff and elected officials as they make development decisions. Attendance to this meeting is critical in our ongoing efforts to have our voices heard! 

PHA APPOINTS TWO NEW DIRECTORS

Fred Slick and Will Mechem were appointed at the November PHA Board of Directors Meeting to fill out the terms of Lou Elmo and Peter Condoulis, both of whom stepped down due to personal commitments. 

PERMATEK DEADLINE MARCH 20, 2000

The PHA has learned that a class action lawsuit related to Permatek Roofing (cement and wood fiber composite roofing tiles and shakes manufactured by American Cemwood Corporation, including but not limited to Permatek, Royal, Cemwood, Cascade, and Pacific Slate shakes and Trieste tiles) is about to be settled. Many homes in the Pinery have Permatek roofs and even if a settlement has already been made, further remedies may be available to homeowners from this class action case. To be eligible, homeowners must file a notice of intent to participate in the Class Action Settlement. Forms and materials about this settlement potential are available at the PHA office. Click here for more information on the Proposed Class Action Settlement.
Don’t Wait - Act Now!

RADAR PROGRAM NEEDS VOLUNTEERS

The Pinery Radar program is in need of volunteers to staff teams to monitor speeding within the Pinery. The 1999 Program was a great success but the speeds are up again all over the development. We would like to again establish five teams. Moves and job reassignments have decreased the number of volunteers. Anyone who would have a couple of hours a week to devote to this project will be making our streets a safer place for everyone. We do not write tickets or cause people to get tickets! We simply let speeders know that the Sheriff’s Office is aware of their actions. This normally slows the pace and solves the problem without cost or penalty to anyone. Anyone who would like to join our effort can call the PHA and leave their name and number and someone will get back to them with more details. Help us make our streets safer for everyone. Join us in this effort to increase neighborhood safety.

TRASH A PROBLEM AGAIN!

As we walk or drive throughout the Pinery, the sight of trash and discarded bottles, cans and paper cups is overwhelming. What can we do? As residents, we can help control this trend by being aware and reporting those who violate our property. If we see someone throw or dump waste onto our roadways or properties, we can get a license number or description of the vehicle and call it to the Pinery HOA office. We must try to stop this “trashing” of our community or suffer the consequences of reduced property values and the obvious appearance that “we don’t care”. Every time we are able to identify someone dumping trash or waste we should encourage them to stop and to make them clean up the mess created. Join your neighbors and try to stop the “trashing” of the Pinery. It is in our best interest!

Stolen Cars In The Pinery

On the night of Dec. 10th, unknown persons took a car from a home near the Mountain View School. After driving around various areas of the Pinery, the suspect(s) deposited the car into Bingham Lake. The suspect(s) obviously wanted to sink the car as the rear window was broken out and other windows and doors were left open to let water into the car. Were it not for five inches of ice on the lake, the vehicle would have floated into the lake and sunk. Water district personnel and PHA representatives were alerted, thanks to the keen observations of a nearby resident. This was the second stolen car left in the Pinery that night. The second was left on Betts Ranch Road near Sunridge Hollow Rd. This car was supposedly taken from a nearby church. Anyone with information about these thefts is asked to contact the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

CANYONS UPDATE

As you may have read, the Planning Commission did not support the Canyons development. While this is good news, it doesn’t mean that this project will disappear. The proposal will be presented to the full board of Commissioners, however, the hearing has not yet been scheduled. It has been the goal of the PHA Board to protect the view shed of our residents as we look toward the Rocky Mountains, as well as to minimize the impacts of any development from this area upon the residents of the Pinery. The PHA Board has been involved in the review of The Canyons development over the past five months and has voiced its concerns to the county and the developer. Douglas County did strive for viable solutions to our concerns and incorporated them into the Planned Development Guideline, the enforceable documents of the county.

Additionally, to address the impacts The Canyons development will have upon the area of visual significance, we approached the developer and requested that the development owners minimize the viewable developments from the Pinery, Timbers, and High Prairie Farms. The developer did carefully listen to our concerns and was cooperative in addressing them. We reached a tentative agreement between the Canyons’ owners and the PHA on concerns regarding the view shed. This approach allows the Pinery and other HOA’s to have an enforceable and legal means to enforce the final covenant agreement.

While The Pinery feels that the Canyon’s project is neither necessary nor desirable for Douglas County at this time, the PHA withdrew its objection to the Canyons project, subject to final negotiation and execution of a covenant agreement between the PHA and the Canyons. We continue to follow the project and keep the necessary lines of communication open with Douglas County and the owners of The Canyons.

GAS PIPELINE UPDATE

The following letter was recently received from Colorado Interstate Gas Company concerning location of a natural gas pipeline.

“Colorado Interstate Gas Company would like to express its thanks to all who participated in the process to select a preferred route for the new Nixon Lateral natural gas pipeline project. We appreciate everyone’s comments and are taking them into consideration. Based upon the comments and questions received at the three public meetings, we have compiled a list of commonly asked questions along with our answers.* We hope these will help you better understand the process of building and operating a pipeline.

Questions about pipeline safety were raised frequently, and rightly so. Safety is our number one concern, and whichever route we select, we will continue to make safety a top priority.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind you about a simple step you can take to provide for your own safety whenever you plan to dig on your property. You must call Colorado’s One Call System, Call Before You Dig, at 1-800-922-1987, anytime you plan to dig on your property whether it’s to construct a new building, plant a tree, build a fence, add on a deck or any other reason. By calling One Call, the utilities in your area will locate, at no charge to you, any lines or wires that are buried on your property, so that you don’t accidentally damage them.

In mid January, we will be making a decision on the route option that we will be pursuing. You will be notified of our decision at that time.

Once again, thank you for your assistance in this process. Should you have any additional questions, please feel free to write us or to call Floyd Robertson at (719)520-4455.”

William H. Sparger, Vice President, Engineering

*These are available in the PHA Office.

Pinery Logo Baseball Caps & Jackets

Have you gotten your Pinery hat or jacket yet? We have a few top quality nylon micro fiber jackets available in adult sizes small through 2XL at $50.00. Also in stock are the popular green denim caps that have an embroidered Pinery name and logo, adjustable leather straps and cost just $9.50. These can be purchased at the PHA office, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.

Covenant Corner

Upcoming ACC Election

An election is planned for April for three open positions on the Architectural Control Committee board. Those interested should contact the ACC office at 303-841-5305 prior to February 9. Please consider serving on this vital committee.

Streetside Parking

Overnight, streetside parking is increasingly an issue in the Pinery. In addition to giving the neighborhood a cluttered look, parking streetside is a traffic and pedestrian hazard and makes the job of snowplow drivers very difficult. Also, overnight parking on Pinery streets is a covenant violation in all filings of the Pinery. An excerpt from the covenants follows:

OVERNIGHT PARKING: No vehicle of any kind, including but not limited to, automobiles, trucks, buses, tractors, trailers, camping vehicles, boats, boat trailers, snowmobiles, mobile homes, two- and three-wheeled motor vehicles, or other wheeled vehicles shall be permitted to be parked on any public street within the subdivision projects between the hours of 2:00 o’clock A.M. and 6:00 o’clock A.M. of any morning.

Please park regularly used vehicles properly, in your garage or on your hard-surfaced driveway, and make arrangements to store other vehicles off-site. Thank you for helping maintain the beauty and safety of the Pinery. This article may be clipped for use by residents wishing to post it on windshields of cars parked streetside; extra copies will also be available in the PHA/ACC office.

NEWS FROM THE WATER BOARD…

 Charlie Krogh, District Manager

On Monday November 29, 1999, the District had a large water leak on Ponderosa Way between Falling Leaf Circle and Powell Road. A contractor working for IREA caused the water line “leak”. This contractor was installing a new electric line under Ponderosa Way using a boring technology. The contractor drilled through the water main causing the leak. The water main in that area is a 10-inch line which serves approximately 250 homes. The District became aware of the water leak shortly after it occurred, but because of the size of the leak we estimate that about 180,000 gallons of water were lost before all of the valves could be turned off. We were able to restore water service to most of our customers in a couple of hours by manually operating valves and controlling the water pressure at a fire hydrant. The customers on Falling Leaf circle and between there and Powell on Ponderosa Way were without water until the problem was fixed. The water main was repaired by about 7:00 p.m. that evening.

This sizable project forced us to close one lane of traffic on Ponderosa Way until the water main was repaired. This was a complicated repair, because it was located on a blind corner and was completed in the dark. It also stretched our resources because of the staff needed for traffic control, and the necessity of manually operating valves to feed the area that was out of water.

We appreciate the cooperation and patience of most of our customers during this service outage. However, we did have difficulty with traffic during this repair. Although traffic was being controlled with flaggers, a few cars ignored the stop signals, and we had many drivers who proceeded through the work area at an excessive speed. This was not only hazardous to the safety of our employees, but it also caused the repair work to take longer. When construction work is occurring anywhere in the Pinery please slow down and obey the signals given by the construction crew. If we continue to have difficulties controlling traffic during emergency repairs we will be forced to either close the roads to traffic completely, or wait until a Douglas County Sheriff is available for traffic control.

As always, if you have any concerns or questions you may contact our office at 303-841-2797 and you are invited to come to our board meetings. Board meetings are on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m. in the District office.

Pinery Bird Sanctuary

Calling all Bird Sanctuary enthusiasts!! Big things are happening this spring, thanks to the donation of 90 bushes by Robert Kelley and an offer to install them by Boy Scout, Kit Summers. Pencil in planting for the weekends of April 15 and 22nd!! This is a major step towards attracting birds to our site. You can call Kit to volunteer at 303-841-0376.

Another major step was the completion of the installation of our sprinkler system. Congratulations and many thanks to Will Keogh and his many supporters. Will is well on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout!

Yet another major step toward enhancing our site was the big help given to us by Northeast Elementary 5th grade Girl Scouts. They planted wildflowers in two beds on a snowy, but beautiful December Sunday. Many thanks to Kara Joiner, Theresa Prescott, Ellen Conaway, Kaitlyn Brum and Chenoa Becker. We relax on all fronts but fundraising in the winter. Please consider a donation, as our funds are depleted after so many wonderful projects! Call 840-4360 to donate. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season and you’re looking to a spectacular new millennium!! Deb Dieter

Kindergarten Registration for 2000/2001

Mountain View Elementary will be holding Kindergarten Registration:

 Kindergartners must be 5 before September 15 in order to enroll for the 2000-2001 school year. School will begin July 10, 2000. Please bring proof of residency (Lease Agreement or Warranty Deed) and your child’s birth certificate and immunization records.

PHA Membership Opportunity

With the beginning of a new year, century and millennium our thoughts turn to the future and how to best approach it. In the Pinery, every resident has an opportunity to contribute to the health and vitality of the community by supporting the Pinery Homeowners’ Association. The PHA is responsible for maintaining Pinery neighborhood parks, greenbelts and north entry, as well as building community spirit through Pinery Pedal, the Community Garage Sale, Kids Fishing Derby, Cleanups, etc., and by putting you in touch with developments that may impact you as residents. More than 1,230 of you have already given your support through participation in the Pinery Trash Program. We truly do value and appreciate your support!