2022 Newsletter

Pike Trails Ranches Improvement Association

PTRIA – PO Box 45 – Guffey, CO 80820

PIKETRAILS.ORG

May 5, 2022

Hello Pike Trails Property Owners,

It’s that time of the year again when we get things set-up for the upcoming year. We’ve had some changes in our community and I’m sure that you’ve seen some of those on our website. But time for the newsletter/dues request stays the same. Fortunately, we have not had massive road damage from wash out and erosion caused by insufficient drainage and “gully washer” rains, yet, and let’s hope we don’t. We, as the board, are hoping that does NOT happen and allows the opportunity to work on the drainage to prevent having to keep replacing road base and gravel that is getting washed away. Material and supply costs are going up by the day!! Several of our members have offered to help out with assessing those needs and helping get a plan together to make those repairs. Scott Butz is operating our grader as time permits, has offered his help for finishing the brake repairs and is willing to help with several issues, and we are grateful. Please let me know where some of those problem spots are at our annual meeting, or any time before, so that we can put a plan together for repairs.

Annual Meeting: The board has set the Annual Meeting for Saturday, 9/3/22 at the firehouse on CR 88 as we did last year. We’re planning on holding a Fried Chicken lunch with a pot luck for side dishes and desserts afterwards. The Meeting will start at 11:00 AM and lunch will follow the meeting. Please come join us and let your voice be heard.

Treasure’s Report: PTRIA Dues – The bulk of the PTRIA dues go for maintaining the 17 miles of Pike Trails roads. Ten years ago, gravel cost $199/load.  The gravel quote on 4-23-2022 was $348/load, a 75% increase.  Thirteen years ago, grader fuel cost $2.10/gal.  On 4-22-2022, our supplier said the price is going up daily and would probably be $6 by mid-summer, a 186% increase.  Twelve years ago, insurance cost $752 for one year.  On 8-2-2021, we paid $1271 for one year, a 69% increase.  If every property owner would pay their dues, we would be able to maintain the dues at their current level. However, some PTRIA members do not feel they need to contribute. So, in order to maintain the roads and services at the current level, we need to raise the association dues by 40% for those property owners who do pay their dues. This figure was voted upon and passed unanimously at the 2021 association annual general meeting held on September 4, 2021. This change will take effect on June 1, 2022 and is the first dues increase in 12 years. We’ll be discussing the Budget in more detail at our meeting, but costs are rising!!

Single lot with driveway on PTRIA road, $175.00

Single lot with driveway off of CR 88 or Hwy 9, $70.00

Second (or more) unimproved lot (each), $70.00

Second lot with home on PTRIA road, $175.00

As we have done in the past, landowner addresses for this Newsletter have been acquired from the Park County Assessor’s data. If the information we have is incorrect please let us know and notify the Assessor’s office of the correction.

Fish Ponds/Event: Everybody’s ponds are coming under scrutiny of late, ours are no exception and our Fire Chief has been in touch with Jon Klima and we have informed the Chief that they have been used for Fire Suppression in years past and he agrees that they should fall within the protection of SB114. In order to qualify for the protection under that Bill we have to maintain depth and health of the ponds so that the Fire Department can access them for drafting/dipping in the event they are needed for firefighting. With that and the fact that we like our fish ponds, we work to keep them up. Nadine (Scott Butz’s wife, we’re getting the whole family to help out) has stepped up to help us keep them in shape and has put a community day event together and has posted that on the website. Please join in on the fun and bring the whole family. Send in an email and let us know what you think.

Work Day: We’re going to be looking for volunteers for and set a day for doing some of the small things that help us all out. Those are things like fence repair, culvert cleaning, things like that and we’ll have a better idea as to what we really need by the annual meeting time. All help is appreciated. I have only had one instance where we had cows wandering around so far and that seemed to kind of fix itself but there’s a fence or gate somewhere that we need to look at!!  

Fire Danger: Unfortunately, our drought and high wind events have greatly increased wildfire danger. We are currently under a level 1 fire-ban. And open burning is discouraged. Shooting is permitted under very controlled conditions where the property owner is present and attentive. Explosive or tracer types of ammunition or targets is FORBIDDEN!! Burn permits still need to be acquired for open burns and that will probably change shortly. We need to stay in touch with our Fire Department and watch what is happening. Fire Chief “Red” has asked me to remind everyone to call 911 rather than the fire station to report fires, smoke plumes or any suspicious activity. That will put everybody around on call and keep response times effective.

New Neighbors: We’ve had some new property owners join our community and we’d like to say welcome and come and meet us. We’re all looking forward to meeting each other. Our Community Day and Annual Meeting days are a good opportunity to do just that, hope to see all of you there. Everybody’s input is welcome.

With all of that said… We’ll see you at the SPCFPD Station #3 on Saturday 9/3/22 at our Annual Meeting.

Terry Johnson – President, Pike Trails Ranches Improvement Association

Home (719)-479-4001        Cell (303)-704-6441       terrencedj8@gmail.com

P.S. If you would please, help us keep accurate contact information by completing the form below and returning it to us. We are hoping that we never need this for an emergency and it will help us get these types of communications going in the right direction… Thank You

Please complete and mail with payment to:

PTRIA, PO Box 45, Guffey, CO  80820