PIKE TRAILS RANCHES IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION
PTRIA – PO Box 45, Guffry, CO 80820
May 23, 2021
Another year, another PTRIA Newsletter/Dues Request. I think spring is finally here! Although this year’s snowfall season of about 62 1/2 inches was about 3 1/2 inches above average, and for the 2020-2021 snow season (Sept 2020 — May 2021) up through today we got 76.75 inches of snow. So far for 2021 we’ve received 2.13 inches of rain. And when the wet snow finally melted, there was lots of MUD!! So, we’ll be needing a lot of grading and gravel spreading.
For those of you who missed the annual meeting last September, some highlights are as follows:
- 34 people (including Board members) attended, representing 22 properties. With that said, attendance is down.
- long discussion re: fences around Pike Trails need repair to keep cattle out. This is individual landowner’s responsibility.
- Complete details of this and other news items are available on our website, piketrails.org.
As usual, the landowner address for this Newsletter is based on Park Co. Assessor’s data as of May 15th, so if it is not correct, please notify them (cc: me too, please).
TREASURERS REPORT– We have $15,934 in our Treasury as of 5/05/20. Details are
available upon request to Jon Klima and at our annual meeting in September. This does not include the $10,260 in our CD. We had 95 landowners pay dues during our fiscal year of 6/1/2020 thru 5/31/2021 in the amount of $14,165. Thanks to all of you who have helped make Pike Trails a better place to live.
FISH/PONDS – Last summer, we had several volunteers drag the lower pond with a big cable and a few tractors. It was very successful. Thank you to everyone that helped! Our supply of rainbow trout was delivered on May 19th and there are a few whoppers in there. Remember, these PTRIA owned ponds are open to fishing to all dues-paying Pike Trails landowners and their guests. You DO need a valid Colorado Fishing License also to fish in these ponds. Please be considerate when catching fish….in other words, “catch & release” is encouraged so that everyone can enjoy this activity, but it’s OK to keep a few for supper! But if you are live bait fishing and they are swallowing the hook they will die, so take them with you, but stop fishing after you have a few. These ponds are not meant to catch your limit. And you can help keep these pond areas clean by picking up your trash and “packing it out”.
PTRIA ROADS — We will continue to grade all the Pike Trails roads as needed, weather permitting. We have contracted with a local excavation contractor who is insured to operate our grader. His name is Scott Butz. He owns Rock Mover Excavating LLC and is insured as an excavation contractor. He has been doing a fantastic job on our roads. Scott also does private roads, driveways, septic systems, culverts and snow removal. You can reach Scott at 610-301-9016. We have another resident Ernie Cox who does road work and snow removal. As of this letter he is not insured. You can call Ernie at 270-875-3536. We have several good folks, who do a good job of keeping most roads passable for the benefit of the LANDOWNERS. Winter snowplowing is not included in your dues…we simply do not get enough dues-paying landowners to afford to sub-contract snowplowing. So please stop telling folks that snow removal is included in the dues. It is Not! We will continue to do our best to keep the PTRIA roads cleared on a volunteer basis.
We’ll begin spreading gravel on our roads within the next few months. In the meantime, if you see a pothole near you on “ranch” roads, there’s a pile of gravel on Stream Drive, about 100 yards from Antelope Lane for that purpose…help yourself!
I’d like to remind everyone that PTRIA owns the private roads within Pike Trails Ranches. These 17 miles of deeded roads include 30 feet on each side of the center of the roads. So, if you’re putting up a new fence, please keep it back 30 feet from the center of the road. Also, we have several driveways that really should have culverts under them as they enter Pike Trails roads…without them, erosion occurs. These culverts are your responsibility. At least a 12-inch diameter culvert is required, and depending on the runoff, maybe even a 16 inch.
I just want to give a little on the grading operation of our roads in Pike Trails. I’m sure you have noticed more dirt, rocks and grass clumps on the road compared to the past. The reasoning for this is we are cutting the roads back to their original widths. These roads have begun to narrow over the years. As the grading continues on our roads you will see great improvement. We apologize for any inconvenience that this process may have caused you. I promise if you have patience the road conditions will greatly improve.
“TAZ”, our PTRIA owned grader is running good. Scott Butz has been helping with the grader maintenance and is very mechanical, as well. He had been very generous with his time to say the least. We had 2 new tires purchased for the grader. Scott took them off, took them to town, and put them back on. That guy is strong. I helped him load them in his truck and they are very heavy! I will be available to help with the grading when Scott is busy.
MISC. – We’re still having a problem with cows getting into Pike Trails Ranches. Frankly. I’m getting very tired of this issue. We have homeowners that call about cows on their property and yet they think the rancher is trespassing when he comes to get them! We will discuss this at our meeting, so please attend. Colorado State law states that it is the landowner’s responsibility to keep cattle out, NOT the rancher to keep them in.
Many Pike Trails current landowners have totally fenced in their property, therefore are not concerned with this issue. But there are PTRIA common areas, such as our roads and ponds that are affected as well as parcels that are not fenced in. Cows generally migrate to our ponds to drink, damaging the banks. There are approximately 60 parcels on the perimeter of Pike Trails Ranches, many of which are owned by people who do not live here. However, most of the sections that need re-fencing are on the west and north side of the ranch.
SNOW FENCE – We installed 1000 feet of snow fence on Buck Dr. We were able to get permission from the landowner to do that. I want to thank all the volunteers that helped with that project. We have had several requests for snow fence on Elk Lane on the hill north of Hawk Lane. That hill drifts very badly and last winter it was unpassable at times. I’m sorry to report that the landowner will NOT allow us to put snow fence on his property.
THIS N THAT – There are several “newcomers” to Pike Trails. I encourage you to attend our Annual Meeting on Saturday SEPTEMBER 4th to meet your neighbors. We also lost a long-standing member of our community, Joan Lepage. I only met her a few times, but everyone talks about what a big part of this community she was. She will be missed.
ANNUAL DUES – We’ve managed to keep our Dues, as shown below, since 2009. If everyone chips in, we can maintain these rates for the foreseeable future.
Single lot with driveway on PTRIA road $125.00
Single lot with driveway off of CR 88 or Hwy 9 $50.00
Second (or more) unimproved lot (each) $50.00
Second lot with home on PTRIA road $125.00
If you can’t afford to pay the dues, please let me know… at least I’ll know you care. As in the past, we have provided a return envelope. Many thanks to all of you who have paid extra….it helps make up for those that don’t pay.
WORK DAY – A work day will be set up at the meeting to help with picking up trash, repairing snow fence, clearing culverts and other needs. Please sign up. We can use all the help we can get to keep our community a nice and clean place to live.
Leslie Thomas – She has been a big help with the cattle. She helps take the cows back to where they belong with her horse and helps me get in contact with the ranchers to come get their cattle. Please, if you see Leslie riding on your property, she is NOT pleasure riding, she is moving cows. Leslie had an accident riding and broke her leg. We all wish her a fast recovery.
2021 ANNUAL MEETING – Our meeting this year will be September 4th. That is Labor Day weekend! A few people have worked really hard during the year to handle all matters pertaining to our community! The least you can do is spend an hour or two to come to the Annual Meeting!!! Meeting is at 11:00 AM, chow to follow!!! We will have fried chicken for the potluck. Bring a dish if you can…if not, still come! You know the place…Fire Station on Co Rd 88 near Cougar Lane (SPCFPD Station#3). As usual, I’ll put up reminder notices near all the mailboxes in Pike Trails. I especially encourage new residents to come and meet their neighbors.
See you in SEPTEMBER….PLEASE!!,
Jay Mulholland – President
Pike Trails Ranches Improvement Assoc.
(719) 479-2290
P.S We occasionally need to contact a landowner quickly, so please include a phone number or email address. We won’t be sharing this contact information with other