Ranch and Reservoir: There seems to be a lot to report to our members this month. With hopefully the warmer weather and less snow/rain the roads seem to be finally getting into dust season. Seems like it is always either dust or mud. Still lots of snow up in them thar mountains which means the streams and rivers are going to be running full blast for quite awhile. Be careful out there if you are going to fish any of them. Speaking of fishing, unfortunately the reservoir will remain closed for fishing until further notice. The flood last year after the fire really did a number on it. John is arranging to have the water tested so that we can make a better determination as to when re-stocking can take place and fishing can resume. With regard to the reservoir, there will be some repair work being done in the very near future. The inlet creek will be cleaned out and a culvert removed upstream which should help reduce unwanted flooding. New weir boxes, which act as sediment traps, will be built and installed and a metal grate will be placed over the outlet box in the bottom of the reservoir to keep unwanted debris from blocking it when we need to do a controlled release.
We also welcomed in a new board member this month. Rich Mumm agreed to fill the vacancy created when David Loring resigned. Rich is the new Vice President. Welcome aboard Rich.
Hartsel Fire District News: Chris Tingle from Hartsel Fire reported at the last Board meeting that new this year for Park County residents only is a requirement to obtain an open fire permit before lighting and using a campfire. The permits can be obtained at Station 5 which is at the intersection of Ranch Road and Campfire Road (where the annual Christmas party is held) or at the main station in Hartsel. Rich Mumm, the Hartsel Assistant Fire Chief has his office at that station and is there normally Tuesday through Saturday from 8-5 unless he is on a call. You can call him at 719-836-9177 or email him at asst.chief@hartselfire.org . The cost for the permit is $10 and is good until December 31, 2019. Once you obtain your permit, anytime you are planning on having a campfire or any type of open fire you will need to call Hartsel Fire or you can e-mail your notification to them. The permits have been finalized and approved and will be available for purchase soon. When you pick up your permit Rich will go through all the specifics of what number to call or email. Gas grills and fire pits that have a means to turn off the flame are exempt from this requirement.
As a reminder, slash burning and trash burning is not allowed at any time in Ranch of the Rockies. Also, during any burn ban the use of a gas powered chain saw requires that both a fire extinguisher and a pointed shovel need to be nearby and charcoal grills and smokers cannot be used. Gas grills and fire pits can still be used if they have a means to turn off the flame.
Chris Tingle also reported that Hartsel Fire has two new fire trucks. One was free from the state as a result of Chris submitting an application explaining the reason why Hartsel needs the truck. The state gives away only two new trucks each year based on the needs of a specific fire district as expressed in the application. There were over 300 applications. Thank you Chris. He also reported that a second wood chipper has also been acquired and can take much larger diameter wood. Wood chipping will be done the same time this year as last year, which should be September.
Open Top Dumpsters: There was considerable conversation at the June Board meeting regarding the recent open top dumpster annual Memorial Day trash weekend. There were 35 residents who were able to take advantage of them but unfortunately they were full by about 10:00am leaving many members very unhappy with not being able to off load their trash. There have been several ideas submitted to the Board on how to handle the use of the dumpsters in the future, and the Board appreciates those comments. The Board has budgeted two dumpsters in the past for both the Memorial Day weekend and the Annual members meeting/picnic weekend as a convenience to members for getting rid of larger items that are not acceptable for disposal in the trash compactor. However, considering the small number of members who were able to take advantage of the dumpsters and the number of members who were very upset and inconvenienced with not being able to use them because they were filled in such a short time frame, and taking into consideration the cost for the dumpsters for the benefit of a small number of our members, the board has decided that it is not a fair and equitable use of member’s dues. Therefore, after this year, the dumpsters will no longer be available. As a replacement option for getting rid of your large unwanted items, Mountain View Waste Systems, a family owned business, has five transfer stations within Park County, with the closest station to the Ranch being at Hartsel on Highway 9. All of the transfer stations are open different days and hours but the Hartsel station is open on Sundays from 2-4. They do charge but it is based on what you want to get rid of and they seem to be very reasonable. Check out their website at www.mountainviewwaste.com for more details. We would ask members that were able to use the dumpsters over Memorial Day that they not use them again during the August weekend so that other members who were not able to use them can. Also, please only one load per member and no overly large loads like hot tubs. There will still be two dumpsters available during that weekend, one on Friday afternoon and one Sunday morning. They will be at the burn pit. Specific hours will be announced later. We have also found out that Chaffee County Landfill will no longer accept trash from outside of Chaffee County.
Document Changes: The Board is required to do an annual documents review meeting of our “By-Laws” and our “Policies, Procedures, and Rules” (PPR’s) documents. That meeting was held on March 9th at the Ranch office immediately after the regular monthly Board meeting. There were only a few changes made to either of the two documents and they can be reviewed by members on the documents page on the website or by clicking here for the Policies, Procedures and Rules, or here for the Bylaws. The changes are highlighted in red, bold, italic and the wording they replace has been struck out. One change was required to be in compliance with state law CRS 7-127-104-3A which requires a minimum of 10 days instead of 6 days to notify members of member meetings and no more than 60 days prior to the meeting. Another change updated dues/fines/interest charges dates. Other changes involved clarification of subjects and also increased the number of volunteers who can serve on committees. I have started a thread in our discussion forum area for the document changes if anyone would like to make any comments. This may be a good time to reacquaint yourself with the various policies and rules for the Ranch. There is also a new architectural review form on the web site along with some guidelines for how to proceed if you are planning on building on your lot. Good first place to start in your planning.
Call for Volunteers: There are still many openings for volunteer committee members on the three different committees; Architectural review, Rules enforcement, and the new Water committee.
Hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe summer.
Mark Wefler
RORA secretary
