Archive for June, 2006

The following New release was received from the Carson National Forest on Friday, June 23rd:

Taos New Mexico, June 23, 2006 – As drought conditions continue to affect conditions on the Carson National Forest as well as other areas of New Mexico, Stage III Fire restrictions will take effective Monday, June 26, 2006. Concern for public and firefighter safety has prompted the move to mitigate the danger to forest recreationists by containing visitors to areas that can be easily patrolled and evacuated in the event of a wildfire.

Under Stage III restrictions, partial closures will be enforced. Areas to remain open are as follows:

Jicarilla Ranger District will remain at Stage II Fire Restrictions.

El Rito Ranger District will enact total closure.

Canjilon Ranger District will prohibit entrance to all areas with the exception of Canjilon Lakes for day use and overnight camping. Echo Amphitheater and Forest Road 151 access to Rio Chama will remain open for day use only.

Tres Piedras Ranger District will prohibit entrance to all areas with the exception of Hopewell Lake overnight and day use areas.

Questa Ranger District will prohibit entrance to all areas with the exception of:

Hello Hidden Lake Owners; 18 Jun 2006

Summer has come to Hidden Lake, and along with it came a drought. Our “Monsoon Season”consisted of a few days of

Spit & Quit rain. Never enough to knock the dust off our plants. Needless to say it is very dry here at HL. During one of the Spit & Quit rains we had some dry lightening that hit a dead tree on Blue Grouse Court. Luckily it was spotted by Kris, our property manager. He informed me and dirt on was thrown on it. Kris retrieved his chain saw and cut down the burning tree. He than hooked a chain to it and dragged it in the road away from the forest. Not only was that quick thinking, but he also is a volunteer fireman and called it in on his radio. Unfortunately it took 30 Min + for the Black Lake Volunteer Fire Dept to get here. We were lucky that the winds were mild that day, or it would have been blown across lots 4& 5 and been burning down the valley East of Ocate Mesa (Hidden Lake).

This is only one example of what can happen when it is so dry at HL.

The State Fire Marshall has directed: no open camp fires, no burn permits, and no charcoal grills. Only cooking permitted is on Propane stoves if kept under adult supervision. And No Smoking in danger areas, forests.

If you come to Hidden Lake, be careful, of the extra dry forest.

John G. Vlk, Firewise Board Member

CHIPPER DAY PROCEDURES
26 – 27 JULY 2006
Starting 8:00 AM

Hidden Lake development will hold a “chipper day” to assist property owners rid their properties of deadfall and slash. We will be using a Colfax county commercial grade chipper, which can handle limbs and logs up to 14 inches in diameter. Chipping will be done at the cabin.
Procedures are as follows:

Trim small branches off of larger limbs to facilitate putting them into the chipper chute.

If possible, deliver and stockpile your slash at the cabin prior to 26 July. The property manager will advise where to stockpile.

For those unable to deliver deadfall and slash to the cabin, stockpile the material along the road fronting your property. Volunteers with pickups and or trailers will transport the material to the cabin. If you are physically present, you will be responsible for loading the material onto the truck or trailer. The stockpiles should not be placed under trees and the area around the stockpiles should be cleared of brush to a radius of 10 to 20 feet so as not to serve as ladder fuel in the event of a wildfire.

For those who will not physically be at Hidden Lake on 26 –27 July and cannot deliver the slash call property manager, 505 377 3379 or the undersigned and we will be sure to pick up any slash you have stockpiled along the road.

If you would like to make use of the chips for landscaping, advise the property manager and be prepared to haul the chips away.

We can use volunteers to load and haul slash, feed chipper, and other tasks to be determined. Please call property manager or the undersigned to volunteer your assistance. Please have available gloves, eye and ear protection for those operating the chipper. I will provide dust masks.

Ridding our properties of dead and downed trees and deadfall will assist in making our development more firesafe. Thinning will be a major stride in keeping our community a Firewise Community.

Joe Stehling
Lot 11
505 377 0546
joestehling@earthlink.net

What constitutes a manufactured home?

I would venture to say that many of you have a home in which some of the components are “manufactured”… Prefabricated wall panels, floor panels, roof trusses, precut and prefitted logs… etc. Quite frankly… manufactured homes are generally of higher quality, lower cost and a better value than most site constructed, stick built homes. As an independent quality consultant of more than 25 years, who has worked with some of the players in the manufactured building component industry (trusses, wall and floor panels), I can tell you that, in my opinion, the end result of the finished product is superior to that of most site built homes.

The affordability of manufactured housing is mainly attributable to the efficiencies of the factory process. The controlled environment and assembly-line techniques remove many of the problems of the site-built sector, such as poor weather, theft, vandalism and damage to building products and materials stored on site (anyone in Hidden Lakes had construction labor problems?). Also, factory employees are trained, scheduled and managed by one employer, as opposed to the system of contracted labor in the site-built sector.

Manufactured home producers also benefit from the economies of scale which result from being able to purchase large quantities of building materials and products. As a result they are able to negotiate the lowest possible price for items that are invariably more expensive in a site-built house. Many will fall under the EPA’s Energy Star compliance program.

Here are some of the categories that “Manufactured Housing” fall under:

Manufactured Homes: These are homes built entirely in the factory under a federal building code administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (commonly known as the HUD Code) went into effect June 15, 1976. Manufactured homes may be single- or multi-section and are transported to the site and installed. The federal standards regulate manufactured housing design and construction, strength and durability, transportability, fire resistance, energy efficiency and quality. The HUD Code also sets performance standards for the heating, plumbing, air conditioning, thermal and electrical systems. It is the only federally-regulated national building code. On-site additions, such as garages, decks and porches, often add to the attractiveness of manufactured homes and must be built to local, state or regional building codes.

Modular Homes: These factory-built homes are built to the state, local or regional code where the home will be located. Modules are transported to the site and installed.

Panelized Homes: These are factory-built homes in which panels - a whole wall with windows, doors, wiring and outside siding - are transported to the site and assembled. The homes must meet state or local building codes where they are sited. A panelized home is a pre-engineered structure. The theory behind this type of construction is that as most parts of the building are pre-built in a controlled environment, the craftspeople will not be affected by weather, lack of materials at hand, unexpected costs or other obstacles that arise whenever one is building a house on site.

A panelized homes should not be confused with modular or mobile homes. Panelization should best be understood as one step above stick framing. When a contractor is stick framing, he has an assortment of lifts of wood delivered to the site where he then has the crew take the studs, cut and assemble them into ‘panels’ that are then tilted up into place and fastened down.

Pre-Cut Homes: This is the name for factory-built housing in which building materials are factory-cut to design specifications, transported to the site and assembled. Pre-cut homes include kit, log and dome homes. These homes must meet local, state or regional building codes.

Mobile Homes: This is the term used for manufactured homes produced prior to June 15, 1976, when the HUD Code went into effect. By 1970, these homes were built to voluntary industry standards that were eventually enforced by 45 of the 48 contiguous states.

From what I’ve seen… the only way you can tell if a home has pre-fabricated components is to tear into the walls or substructure and look at the assembly techniques… if you see beat up studs and joists, splintered ends and joints that are out-of-square… you are looking at a locally built/constructed home. Pre-fabricated panelized homes are characterized by square walls, clean cuts on the components and the use of steel nailer plates.

Take a look at some of these websites… these are not your fathers “mobile homes”.

http://www.skylinehomes.com/factory_tour.php

http://www.harvesthomes.com/construction_movie.html

http://www.harvesthomes.com/faqs.html

http://www.harvesthomes.com/specs.html

http://www.manufacturedhousing.org/lib/showtemp_detail.asp?id=231&cat=5

Drop the predjudice against manufactured housing… look again at how the industry has progressed

Brad Snyder
Lot #79

Lets Get everyone involved at the Board Meetings… anytime, anywhere with a Phone Bridge…

At issue seems to be that the board meetings are attended by a small minority of owners who purport to represent the entire community… I have an idea that will allow anyone with a phone to be able to participate in the HOA meetings at very low cost… there is nothing to buy… only a small bit of preparation…

The solution is in the use of a not so new piece of technology called a Phone Bridge… this works to temporarily tie together from 3 - 200 phone lines together in what amounts to a party line… the cool thing is that, there is no degradation in the quality of the phone connection… and, the party that is “moderating” the tele-meeting has control over muting the attendees, so that there is an orderly presentation of the meeting… the muting can be switched on and off on the fly as necessary.

Also, the session can be recorded by the bridge for later use. I’ve used this technique when I was president of a local assocation, and was spending a lot of time on the road… I was able to conduct meetings anytime, anywhere and keep everyone happy… they could call in from anywhere… even a conference room or a gathering at someone’s house… and yes… we even voted on the phone… with the votes being recorded. Guess what… we could then have minutes produced by anyone since they would have the recorded minutes available.

It’s inexpensive… the host (association) pays by the hour ($25 one time setup fee, then $20 per hour for the bridge, each caller pays their own long distance charges) . The time slots are reserved hour by hour… a phone number is reserved for that time slot and a PIN number
is issued. Callers simply dial the reserved number, key in the PIN number and like magic… they are then connected into the bridge, along with everyone else in the meeting…

With a bit of preparation, we can all be in attendance, and can vote real time, and hopefully, prevent future hard feelings due to misunderstandings. If anyone is interested, I would be happy to talk to you at length about how it works, and specific issues regarding its use for board meetings and/or training.

For more information on the telebridge service I’ve used in the past, see this website:

http://www.telebridge.com/faq.html

Here’s to you….

Brad Snyder
Lot #79

First of all… my wife and I are glad to see that Mr. Fink has spent a good deal of time restoring the Hidden Lake website… being owners in abstentia, we feel that this website will help us to feel more connected to our neighbors in our future neighborhood.

Our first few months as owners found us giddy with excitement, with the prospect of our new property, and the thoughts of beginning the building of our dream retirement home… we’ve even met a few of our neighbors face to face… and we’ve been thrilled with their helpfulness in getting us aquainted with the area and with the village.

Maybe the newness has worn off… hopefully, the neighbors we’ve met so far are more the “rule” than the “exception”… but we’ve been struck by what seems to be power struggles and infighting within small groups of people (some might say groups of small people), whom we’ve never met, who seem to have the ability to tap into our checkbooks and impose local “taxes” on a whim, without adequate notice and discussion among the rest of the HL community and without adequate “representation”. Bloody wars have been fought over smaller infractions…

The following is excerpted from a letter/e-mail that we sent to the gentleman who represented us by proxy at the last general board meeting… I include this only for informational purposes and not to implicate that we were in any way mis-represented at the meeting… that is not our feeling.

***11/07/2005

Dear xxxxxx

I have some concerns regarding some recent events/issues that have come to light in the last several weeks regarding Hidden Lake…

As you may remember, my wife and I are new owners of lot #79 … and we have become good friends with our next door neighbors. As you might expect, we maintain frequent contact with them, and usually the discussion comes around to what’s happening in the “neighborhood”. When it came time for the annual meeting, my wife and I were not able to attend and had intended to give the next door neighbor’s our proxy, since we generally agree on our needs and outcomes. However since the our neighbor’s were also not able to attend, we provided our proxy to you at the neighbor’s recommendation.

Let me say at the outset, that my wife and I are not questioning your ability to represent us at the meeting… in fact we feel that you believe that you are looking out for our best interests… However… we feel that we’ve been blind sided by this special assessment, especially since there was no mention of it on the agenda. Had there been mention of it, I would have canceled my business trip to have been there.

Yes, I understand that, according to the bylaws, the board was under no obligation to issue an agenda prior to the meeting, nor to provide any notice of any planned discussion of a need for a special assessment. HOWEVER… JUST BECAUSE THERE WAS NO LEGAL OBLIGATION TO GIVE SUCH NOTICE, DOES NOT MAKE IT “RIGHT AND PROPER” TO AVOID SUCH NOTICE. In my experience with other associations, when the bylaws are originally established, there is a certain amount of implied trust and respect that is afforded to the people bound by the bylaws… In my opinion, this should include providing a reasonable amount of information by which the individuals could make a judgement as to whether or not to attend certain specific meetings. I would also assume this to include those topics whose outcomes directly affect the wallets and living conditions within the bounds of the development. I also expect the outcomes of the meeting (the minutes) to be communicated within a reasonable length of time (30-60 days). I generally give the benefit of the doubt to people I don’t know… I trust them until it has been proven that they can’t be trusted. The same goes for group behavior… I will trust the group until proven otherwise. (Don’t misunderstand my statement… We do still trust you, xxxxxxx).

When that implicit trust exists, the bylaws are generally written “loosely” with respect to such provisions, to allow for a measure of flexibility to accommodate emergency situations. It is when those measures of trust are violated that the multitude of amendments come about, and generally mess up the bylaws (making them long legal documents that become virtually unusable). I don’t believe that it is necessary for the Association bylaws to become cluttered with all the “what if’s”.

Now, let me explain our feelings within that context…

1. My wife and I feel blind sided by the boards decision to require a special assessment for the snow removal equipment. All we received from the Association is a notice of special assessment… no explanation, no discussion (in the form of minutes), no invitation to provide feedback (there are other smart people in the association, not just those that sit on the board). We have only been notified that we must write a check… and that if we are late, that we will be penalized with 15% interest. Now isn’t that friendly? This does not build trust and demonstrate friendship… and we are expected to trust in the board’s decision who is not willing to have the courtesy of advising us that such a decision is pending? Shouldn’t there have been some sort of review committee formed to review the actual needs and options available prior to just gathering this pool of money?

2. If you were not sitting on the board, and were not privy to the discussion at hand, wouldn’t you feel the same way? Wouldn’t you feel slighted if you were provided an agenda that makes no mention of an important topic that was to be discussed… only then to discover that you now owed an unexpected $50,000… (of course, it was “only” $500… the principle is the same). It is not about the money… it is about the principles of courtesy, trust and respect. We think that it is disingenuous to hide behind the lack of certain provisions or requirements within the bylaws to avoid providing important information to the membership.

3. BY THE WAY… I HEAR THAT THE ROAD GRADER IS BACK… SO WHAT IS MY SPECIAL ASSESSMENT TO BE USED FOR NOW? Again, xxxxxx… I’m not attacking you personally… We appreciate that you were willing to act as our proxy… and that you did provide quick feedback after the meeting, mentioning that the issue of the manufactured housing was over… but you didn’t make any mention of the special assessment (hopefully, just an oversight)… FYI… we were not worried about the manufactured housing issue anyway..

Also, we understand that we hear most of the Hidden Lake news through our immediate neighbors… They are very good about stating what is opinion and what they know to be fact… and we’ve come to trust what they tell us… However, by their own admission, they do not hear everything, and do not know everything. We understand that what we hear may be shaded by their perspective… but so far… that is our only line of communication (by the way, they tend to be very accurate)… so we get 2nd and 3rd hand information by which to make our judgements. This is even more reason for the board to act in a manner that builds trust with its membership… courtesy, respect and trust of the membership. If what we are hearing is incorrect then speak up… don’t hide behind the lack of “rules” in the bylaws.

Bringing back this website can be very helpful in opening the lines of communication with the rest of the owners like us… those in absentia… I’ve mentioned that I would be happy to help Mr. Fink with the website, to the extent that I would be happy to review any articles… and even moderate the forum. If you are concerned with the objectivity of the website… I am happy to work with the webmaster to bring this mode of communication back current. (In fact, I am now working with Mr. Fink specifically in this role.)

Is the board willing to have an objective light shine on the issues and on their actions and decisions?

We hope that we’ve not pissed you off… but instead have given you some insight from our perspective… We want Hidden Lake to be a great place to live by the time we get our place built and get moved out there … We don’t want the HOA to be bound by unnecessary rules that will be put into place to prevent these kinds of practices, when the rules don’t have to be necessary if everyone involved is courteous, respectful and trusting.

*******

That said… we would like:

1. To see the minutes of any meeting forwarded to us (e-mail is fine) within 30 days of the close of any official meeting,

2. To see a copy of the detailed financial statements within 60 days of the end of the association’s fiscal year.

3. Adequate notification (90 days) of any agenda item which has the potential of either directly or indirectly affecting the pocket book, or our ability to choose the dwelling our our choice.

The ultimate role of the HOA is to assure that that the living conditions of our “community” is safe, pleasant and respectful of each others property and property values… In our humble opinion, the actions of the HOA board and their interactions with their neighbors, both on site and in abstentia have far more impact on the quality of life in our community than the prospect of any pre-fabricated housing (even mobile homes with wheels)… any of which would be difficult to see from any of the roads in the division.

Good people are not defined by the kind of houses they live in, but by their actions in the communities in which they live. We hope that the community we chose for our retirement is made up of good people, not necessarily million dollar homes. So far, the neighbors we’ve met face to face are good people… are you people on the board good people or rich home-owners?

Best Regards
Brad & Steph Snyder
Lot #79

Several Hidden Lake Owners have called for the recall of the Hidden Lake Board based upon the Board’s lack of responsiveness and general ineptness. It is true that the Board has failed to communicate regualarly, or even occassionally, with the owners who elected it. Only in response to letters from various owners to the rest of the owners did Kay elect to write the owners with a defense of the Board’s conduct. That letter from Kay was carefully edited by an attorney hired by the Board to defend it rather than the owners.

Several members of the Board, unfortunately a small minority, have communicated with the owners and have voted against such issues as allowing manufactured housing in Hidden Lake and substituting the purchase of a used truck with a snowplow for the owner-approved purchase of a backhoe with a snowblower. While their actions are commendable, it is clear that the majority of the Board no longer represents the homeowners, but instead has a self-serving and extremely defensive agenda. Supposedly, the Board is there to serve the owners. That is clearly not the case! While it may be necessary to recall the Board at the July annual meeting, a more fair and less devisive outcome would be for all of the Board to resign and for the owners to elect new Board members. If Board members really believe that they still represent the majority of owners, then each member should run for re-election after he/she resigns.

Mike Vorst