1. WELCOME
President Linda Nuzum called the November 20, 2003 Annual Meeting of the CPN Master Association Board of Directors to order at 7:05 p.m. Nuzum welcomed all in attendance and stated that the purpose of the meeting is to elect two new members to the Board of Directors of the Master Association and to transact such other business as may properly come before the meeting.
Nuzum explained the roles of Directors and Delegates as elected representatives of CPN-area Homeowners.
Every neighborhood that is a full member of the CPN Master Association may select a Delegate to represent their Delegate District. Where the builder still owns a majority of the lots, the builder appoints the Delegate for their District. Otherwise, the Sub-association for the District selects their Delegate, according to the rules of their HOA.
The Delegates’ primary legal role is to meet once a year at the Master Association's Annual Delegate Meeting to elect the Board of Directors, to fill those seats where the Director’s 3-year term has expired. Delegates vote based on the number of lots in their District. Directors are chosen because of their individual qualifications, and are expected to take into account the interests of the whole community, not just their own neighborhoods. The director’s vote on association issues and business but discussion and input on topics is open to and encouraged from all delegates.
Throughout the year, the Board of Directors holds regular meetings that are open to all residents of CPN. All Delegates also receive notice of the Board meetings and are invited to attend, provide communication with their neighborhoods, and participate in all discussions prior to formal vote by the Directors.
Nuzum made sure that everyone had a copy of the handout outlining guidelines for Homeowner input at Master Association meetings. She invited guests who wished to speak to indicate so on the sign up sheet. Homeowners with topics to add to the agenda should sign up for the Open Forum portion of the meeting; guests may also sign up to address a topic that is already on the agenda, and they will be recognized to speak during that agenda item. The “Additional Homeowner Input” agenda item at the end of the meeting can be used for other questions or comments.
2. INTRODUCTIONS
Introductions of all in attendance were made.
Attendance
Delegates present: Linda Nuzum, Maureen Shul, Cheryl McDade, Brian Stopps, Sheri Brummett, Bruce Thompson, Ted Lohr, Mel Cunningham, Nancy Clarke, Elisa Trebilco, Mike Smith (Alt. Delegate, Pine Ridge), Mark Feilmeier and Connie Dahl
Delegates absent: Steve Mimnaugh, Chris Fellows, Debbie Smith and Linda Sweetman-King Kyle Linhardt (Hidden Pointe, Associate Member)
Staff: Alison Gibbens and Kathleen Nash
Guests: Carol Grant (The Retreat), Norbert Cygan (The Hamlet), Ann Baker (Canterbury), Jerry Jacobson (Forest Park), Rex Lucas (Bramble Ridge), John Thompson (The Hamlet), Paul Griffee (HOA 2), Norma Kerklo (Canterbury Park/Broadwick), Jim Mason (HOA 2), Andy Lyon, South Suburban Fire Rescue, Robert Rinne, South Suburban Fire Rescue and several Firefighters from Castle Pines North Station #36.
3. ESTABLISHMENT OF QUORUM
Director Brummett took roll call and a quorum was established with 11 delegates voting and 1 voting by proxy representing a total of 1,815 votes (quorum - 1514 votes). Delegates in attendance are noted above.
4. MINUTES
MOTION by Thompson to approve the minutes from the annual meeting held on November 21, 2002 as written, seconded by Stopps; motion approved and carried.
5. ELECTION
Nuzum opened the floor for nominations for the two Board of Director positions needing to be filled. It was noted that McDade and Thompson wish to re-run for these director seats. No other nominations came from the floor. MOTION by Stopps to close nominations, Shul seconded; motion approved and carried.
MOTION by Shul to appoint by acclimation McDade and Thompson to the two director positions on the Castle Pines North Master Association Board; terms expiring in 2006, seconded by Brummett; motion approved and carried.
Andy Lyon, Public Affairs Director for South Metro Fire Rescue, introduced several of our local firefighters as well as Robert Rinne, Fire Chief for South Metro Fire Rescue. VP Shul then presented the firefighters with a resolution of thanks for their tremendous effort in fighting the Cherokee Ranch fire. Motion by Thompson to accept the Resolution of Thanks, seconded by Brummett; motion approved and carried.
Fire Chief Rinne then presented a pictorial presentation of the front line of the Cherokee Ranch fire enabling those present to get a true sense of what firefighters were up against. Through the effort of our own firefighters and that of 19 additional units and over 200 firefighters, there was no loss of life or property.
The Emergency Phone Network or Reverse 911 was used for this emergency; however, notification of the evacuation was not consistent within CPN. There were also questions about the evacuation process and routes. Chief Rinne noted that the Sheriff’s Office had lead responsibility for both of these issues, and that he would raise these topics during the Post Incident Analysis that will be conducted by the Fire District, Sheriff’s Office, and Douglas County.
Chief Rinne and other fire district personnel reviewed actions that residents can take to protect their homes in the event of wildfire, such as creating “defensible space” around their homes, and clearing dead scrub oak. They asked meeting participants to take copies of the District’s free video on this topic and share it with their neighborhood HOA and their neighbors.
7. YEAR IN REVIEW
Telecommunication
Nuzum stated that the Telecommunications committee successfully achieved the goal of eliminating the “Distance Charge,” a monthly phone-bill surcharge which every homeowner in CPN paid for each phone line. The removal of the distance charge was approved by the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, effective August 1, 2003. This saves CPN residents $144 per year, per phone line.
A large concentration of effort and time was put into challenging the surcharge. This campaign was started by Mark and Lisa Towne who filed the original PUC complaint. Over the initial months, it became apparent that additional resources would be required to overcome bureaucratic and legal hurdles. The Master Association engaged an attorney who specializes in this area, and other CPN residents added their time and expertise. Meeting participants extended a “Thank You” to the group of dedicated committee members who worked on this issue for over two years, especially the Towne’s, Mark Fei, Harris Adams and Linda Nuzum.
Schools
Nuzum reported that with the completion of Timber Trail, we now have two elementary schools within Castle Pines North and both will attend the same middle school and high school. This was a huge accomplishment and CPN is not only the direct benificiary of one of the newest elemetary schools in Douglas County but also the newest middle school and high school.
She noted Jim McCormick, Retreat resident, has served on the Douglas County School District Board for the past several years and recently turned in his board resignation. Huntington Ridge resident, Kristin Sherman ran for the vacant postion, won, and will be serving on the board until her term expires in November, 2005.
Nuzum touched on the growth rate of Castle Pines North and stated that the number of CPN homes closing each month continues to exceed budget projections adding to the stability of Castle Pines North further noting that attendance at our schools continues to exceed district expectations at this growth rate.
Parks and Trails
Nuzum reported that there have been many developments with regard to parks and trails in Castle Pines North. The completion of a new section of the east west regional trail linking CPN to additional regional trails and paths is the most recent. The county will eventually build a trail segment to tie Coyote Ridge Park into a regional trail system extending from Cherry Creek Reservoir to Chatfield Reservoir.
The Metro District also has a parks and open space master plan for the future of CPN. The next park being planned is one that will be located at the north east corner of Castle Pines Parkway and Yorkshire.
Daniels Park now has an active citizens group who has been working with City of Denver and Douglas County officials on the future of this beautiful area. Talks have centered on what the future holds for this area and what type of park residents would like to see. There are still no firm plans for the future of Daniels Park Road; there are several possible choices: keep it as an unpaved road, apply asphalt to the existing alignment, move it off the ridge line closer to the Daniels Gate area, or realign the northern portion of the road to travel through the Romar area.
Roads
Douglas County and the state have come to an agreement for improvements to the I-25 interchange, continuing four lanes of traffic across the overpass. Residents can look for a clover leaf entrance to north bound I-25 with a 100 car park and ride lot on the east side of I-25. No date has been given for the extension of Castle Pines Parkway east to Parker; the funding for this project has been set and costs will be split with no requests for funding from Castle Pines North residents.
The County is also planning on building a frontage road from exit 188 to Lincoln. Surry Ridge and exit 191 will eventually be closed and a new interchange will be created south of Lincoln at the new hospital.
The association also saw completion of issues surrounding the Forest Park/CPV emergency road, an emergency access road between CPN and Castle Pines Village at Forest Park Drive. The board and residents pursued a definitive commitment from the county on the use of the emergency-only bridge. Resolution has been completed legally but construction has not physically been completed, once done, the Castle Pines North Design Review Committee will inspect the structure for final Master Association approval.
Safety and Traffic
Nuzum communicated that the association now has an active Safety Committee who is seeking more volunteers. Interested parties are encouraged to email safety@cpnhoa.org and volunteer.
The committee was initially formed to focus on Traffic safety issues that exist within our neighborhood. Additional emergency preparedness issues became apparent from the Cherokee Ranch Fire, such as emergency communications and evacuation planning, and the committee plans on looking into these issues first.
Development
Stopps reported that the CPN Design Review Committee has been very busy this past year with the completion or starting of the following projects: Big O Tires, Washington Mutual, Shell, Wendy’s, Compass Bank, CPV Water Tank and several residential issues.
Stopps informed the group that Castle Pines North has no control over the commercial areas in or surrounding our association. The DRC works with the county through a referral process whereby the committee is able to give feedback on specific topics such as design and traffic patterns. Overall, he said that the County has been very supportive of our requests to keep the look and appeal of new development consistent with the design of CPN as a whole. The association has no direction on the type of businesses that commercial owners lease to.
The CPN DRC has not received any update or information on CC20, which is located at the northwest corner of Castle Pines Parkway and Monarch and is zoned for commercial development. The DRC would be the committee who would review plans for any development of this property through the referral process.
Library
Nuzum stated the Library District had previously discussed bringing a a library branch or bookmobile to CPN, but does not currently have any plans do so. Brummett suggested that a calling campaing might help.
Powerlines
Nuzum reported that Oak Hills resident, Kim Steinhoek, contacted the Master Association in March, 2003 informing us that Xcel Energy had notified her of a public meeting regarding Xcel’s plans rebuild one power line along the eastern border of CPN. It was discovered that Xcel failed to notify effected Castle Pines North residents about the project and Nuzum was able to get Xcel to commit to an additional public open house meeting.
In August, CPN’s attorney filed an official request to intervene in the PUC hearings on that Xcel’s application for the power line rebuild. The Public Utilities Commission’s administrative judge has made a preliminary ruling (which could be overturned by the PUC Commissioners; their action is expected by early January). The ruling said that Xcel could build the line, but agreed with CPN arguments on a couple of critical points. The judge did not grant Xcel’s request to protect Xcel from private lawsuits regarding noise nuisance from this power line. The judge also ruled that Xcel would need to submit another application before it could operate the line at higher voltage. CPN attorney Thor Nelson will continue with his efforts on the case until the issue is finalized.
The Douglas County Planning Commission approved the project on November 17th.
At the same time that the regulatory hearings are underway to determine if the project will proceed, Xcel is working on the engineering plans for the project and has offered to consider CPN-area homeowners' requests for minor adjustments to pole placement. When Xcel’s engineers complete their preliminary design, they will place stakes in the ground to enable homeowners to view the exact location of the new poles. Xcel will then schedule a meeting in CPN to discuss pole placement and possible minor pole location adjustments.
Communication
Nuzum reported that the newsletter received a new format this year with positive reader feedback.
This year saw a change in webmasters and a change in our web host. Both transitions were successful with residents seeing little interruption in service. The asssociation continues to track site usage and is encouraged by the continued increase in visitors.
Community emails have been very successful at keeping our residents current between issues of The Connection. The association has further expanded its email list and encorages all residents to particitpate as the list is kept in house.
Community Events
The Master Association’s Social coordinators successfully hosted several events this year including; the Easter Egg Hunt, Summer Family Picnic, the Octoberfest and a Garage Sale.
Business Partnership
Shul has been working toward putting together a program for collaboration between the Master Association and the CPN business community such that fundraising and comminuty awareness work together. Sharon Kollmar recently joined the CPN team and has worked hard to establish relationships, gain advertising exposure, and provide more sponsorship opportunities for our business community.
HOA relationships
The Master Association is also begininng to host colaborative efforts between all of the sub-associations covering topics such as pool maintanance, landscaping contractors and trash collection services. The most recent workshop dealt with noxious weed issues and was well attended.
Hidden Pointe
Nuzum re-communicated that the Hidden Pointe Homeowners Association has has filed a lawsuit in District Court, summoning the Castle Pines North Master Association to defend the Parks Authority Agreement that was signed in 1999 between the Hidden Pointe HOA and the Master Association.
The Master Association’s HOA attorney has started compiling and indexing the documentation related to the agreement, and will present the documentation to the plaintiffs’ attorney for review. This consists of communications prior to signing the agreement, including the correspondence from the committee of Hidden Pointe residents who requested the agreement, as well as contracts that were later executed as a result of the agreement, including the pacts signed by CPN’s Parks Authority and Metro District to take over responsibility for building and maintaining the portion of Coyote Ridge Park that Hidden Pointe would have built and maintained.
8. FINANCIAL
McDade reported that the number of closings year-to-date is on budget and the closing pattern thus far continues to show CPN in good financial standing. The association’s legal expenses will exceed budget due to the PUC actions regarding Qwest and Xcel, as well as the Hidden Pointe lawsuit, however other expense areas are under budget and the overall balance will be within budget.
The 2004 draft budget was presented. This is the budget that is scheduled to be presented for approval at the December 4th Board of Directors meeting.
Thompson MOTIONED to accept the November Account Payables; Stopps seconded; motion approved and carried.
9. CPN METRO DISTRICT UPDATE
Judy Dahl, Castle Pines North Metro District Manager, acknowledged that it has been a very busy year for the District.
The district will be completing the refinancing of 50% of its variable rate bond debt into long term fixed debt. By doing this, the district has reduced its scheduled payoff by four years while keeping the mill levy at the 2003 level.
Dahl thanked all Castle Pines North residents for their water conservation efforts during the 2003 spring and summer watering season. The conservation effort saved 17 million gallons of water last spring and summer.
She discussed water infrastructure projects completed this year and planned for next year, including new wells and a new water storage tank. The Plum Creek water reuse system is now complete and enables the Ridge Golf Course to be watered with this irrigation source. A water meter change out program will be completed by April, 2004; this will reduce meter-reading time from 3-4 days to 3-5 hours.
The District is also working on other water conservation projects for the future, including the recapture of runoff and the possibility of alluvial wells within the district. The District is also participant in the Douglas County Water Resources Authority, which is evaluating regional water solutions for the future.
The 2004 Metro District Budget has incorporated an overall master plan for trails, open space and parks in CPN. The Parks Authority has developed a conceptual plan for the new park to be located on the north side of Castle Pines Parkway at LaGae Road. The Metro District will participate in this project by contributing construction dollars to the project thereby shortening the construction time. The Metro District is currently negotiating to complete acquisition of the park land, including parcels currently owned by Douglas County, the Library District, and the Lagae family.
Plans are underway to erect stone signage at Coyote Ridge Park and The Retreat Park. Dahl also plans to switch the north entrance signage from Daniels Gate to read Castle Pines North as this is the northern entrance to the District and Association. Dahl also expects completion of the stretch of sidewalk along Castle Pines Parkway on the south side between King Sooper and Yorkshire to be completed in 2004.
The district is also working to improve the drainage areas through a clean up program and is working with a local Scout Troop on this project.
The district is developing a brochure to communicate what items can and can not be put in our sewer systems and what can and can not be put directly into the exterior drainage systems.
The Metro District worked with the county this past year on West Nile Virus issues using tablets to kill mosquito larva.
10. ADDITIONAL HOMEOWNER INPUT
There was no additional homeowner input.
11. MEETING DATE
Next Board Meeting:
December 4th 2003, 7 p.m., CPN Community Center
Next Annual Meeting:
November 18, 2004, 7 p.m., CPN Community Center
12. ADJOURNMENT
MOTION to adjourn by McDade; seconded by Brummett; motion approved and carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Alison Gibbens
Recording Secretary
Approved _________________________, 2004
_____________________________ ________________________________
Secretary President
