[VCHPOA Agenda] Minutes March 2, 2006 Special Meeting (Roads)

[Agenda distribution list]

[As received from VCHPOA Secretary, 3/14/06]

Virginia City Highlands Property Owners´ Association
Minutes Special Meeting - Thursday March 2, 2006
Virginia City Highlands Fire Station Training Room - 7:00 pm
 
Present:  Woolley, Gravenstein, Lumos, Bent, Landaburu

I.       Call to order, declaration of a quorum and approval of meeting 
agenda (Action)  

There being a quorum present President Woolley called the meeting to 
order at 7:05 pm.

II.     Approve minutes of February 14, 2006 regular meeting (Action)

*   A motion by Gravenstein, seconded by Bent to approve the minutes as 
    presented was approved unanimously.

III.    Comments by Association Members (NRS 116.3108(3)) (Discussion 
Only)

No comments were offered by those attending.

IV.   Long Term Road Plan (Action)

President Woolley did a presentation on the current state of the roads, 
the status of the operating fund, and some suggested ideas for future 
road improvements.

There is approximately $42,000 in the operating account as of the 
beginning of March.  There about $10,000 in outstanding dues and late 
fees.  The attorney is working on approximately 15 who are in arrears 
from prior years.  

Our vehicle insurance is currently $14,000 per year.  Sale of the older 
equipment will not lower this number markedly.  There is an additional 
$7,600 for liability and property insurance due in the spring.  We are 
currently spending about $23,000 per year on roads.  Total income from 
dues and fees is about $66,500 per year.  If there are no extraordinary 
expenses in a given year, there should be $8,000 to $10,000 left at the 
end of the year.

He proposes spending approximately $6,000 in April and May to grade the 
roads and clean and shape ditches.  He has inspected all the roads in the 
last few days and found the gravel roads to be in very bad shape even 
though a great deal has been spent in gravel and maintenance over the 
years.

It is possible to have an additional 300 homes in the Highlands within 
the next 10 years which would double the traffic in the area.

In the next 10 years, Cartwright will need resurfacing, the grader will 
need to be replaced, and 5 miles of the more traveled roads (collectors) 
will need to be upgraded.  Some of the dead end roads need to be 
reworked, but have little traffic, so don´t need as great improvements as 
the collector roads.

We have $125,000 budgeted in the reserve plan for resurfacing Cartwright 
over a multi- year period.  It is possible to do slurry coat and chip 
seal instead of repaving but it would have to be done sooner.

President Woolley has done a significant amount of research on gravel 
road construction and maintenance and has consulted with engineers and a 
professional engineering geologist who specializes in this field.  He 
discussed some of the problems of road maintenance due to the soil 
conditions in the area.  He has prepared a long term plan spanning a 10 
year period which includes a number of alternatives for repairing and 
maintaining the roads.  The work could be done all at once or spread out 
over a period of years.  It is anticipated that those roads that carry 
the most traffic will be the ones to receive the most repair.  The feeder 
roads can be re-graveled and maintained from the current road budget 
until such time as more building is done in those areas, increasing 
traffic and wear.

A summary of the alternatives detailing pros and cons and approximate 
costs for each is included in Appendix A to these minutes.

A questionnaire with all the alternatives and costs will be developed and 
sent out to all property owners for a vote.  If approved. a special 
assessment will be necessary to pay for road improvements.  The amount of 
the assessment will depend on the outcome of the vote of the property 
owners.  The cost to send out the information and ballot will be about 
$700.

It is possible that we may do test sections of the various alternatives.  
Some applications have to be done on dry roads in warm weather.

The cost estimates are based on the existing road width which averages 16 
feet.  This is less than a standard road width.   Costs would be 
significantly higher to widen the roads.

President Woolley explained that the ditches will always be a problem due 
to the steep terrain.  Installing rock chevrons (weirs) at intervals will 
help slow water down but the ditches will always silt up and need 
maintenance.    

John DuFresne stated that we need to upgrade between 30 - 40% of the 
drains prior to the road work.   

Debra Gravenstein expressed concern about some of the dead end roads that 
are steep and have had little improvement.  The property owners on those 
roads have been paying dues and assessments equal to those who live on 
the collector roads.  She feels that those property owners warrant 
maintenance and improvements on their roads as well.  She is doubtful 
that property owners will approve a plan which does all the roads at one 
time due to the expense.  

Woolley explained that just continuing to place gravel on the existing 
roads without additional work is just wasting money since the soils 
condition causes it to just sink down into the roadway.

Al Drake stated that the demographics of the area are changing as more 
homes are built.  He feels that there is a good chance that the current 
owners will vote to approve doing all the improvements at once.

Cecelia Lak pointed out that there are many people who own multiple lots 
so a high assessment would be a heavy burden on them. 

Keith Judson commented that nearly half the owners are absentee owners 
and it will be difficult to convince them to approve the more expensive 
alternatives.

Debra says that most people know that existing dues are not enough to 
maintain the association facilities and need to be raised.  They have 
been reluctant to approve an increase since they haven´t seen positive 
results for the money.  If we can show a potential benefit for all, folks 
may be more receptive to a raise in dues.   

Many properties do not have culverts under their driveways. In these 
cases ditches might have to be cut across those driveways in order to 
provide adequate drainage.  Property owners would have to be notified 
prior to the work being done.  It was suggested that this might be 
addressed in the mailing.  

John DuFresne was asked if he would be able to get the roads and ditches 
graded for $6,000 as an interim measure.  This amounts to about six weeks 
work.  He indicated that he could get most of it done.  There needs to be 
an agreed upon plan for the work.  If approved, there will not be much 
additional road work until fall.

Rita Lumos thanked President Woolley for all his work and research on 
this project

*   A motion by Lumos, seconded by Gravenstein authorizing an expenditure of 
    up to $6,000 for road work, not including fuel and supplies, under the 
    direction of Woolley was approved unanimously.  The motion called for 
    priorities to be set by Woolley with DuFresne reporting his progress to 
    Woolley on a weekly basis.  Any problems that arise should be reported 
    that day. 

V.   Adjourn

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 pm.
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Rita Lumos, Secretary
 
APPENDIX A
ALTERNATIVES FOR ROAD REPAIR / MAINTENANCE
Cartwright Road Resurfacing    
Asphalt top coat	±$125,000
Slurry Seal			$50,000-$70,000
 
[Webmaster note:  The Appendix is in table format which does not 
translate very well to text.  The formatted version of the tables are 
available on the VCHPOA website at:

http://www.vchpoa.org/Minutes/Board_Minutes_20060302_special.htm
]