The Springs at Coal Creek Ranch
From the Board
Spring has sprung and all of the things you expect will start happening. The sound of lawn mowers and the smell of cut grass. Neighbors are outside chatting. The pool opens soon. We are grateful for the recent snow and rain, but the grass is going to have a rough summer if we don’t have additional moisture. We’ll do what we can to keep our grounds looking as nice as they normally do.
Western Disposal Shred
FREE 2018 Shredding Events Announced from Western Disposal!
From Western Disposal “As a thank you to our customers, Western Disposal is partnering with Shred-It, a document destruction company, to offer free shredding days to our customers.
Come visit us:
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Sunday August 5, 2018
Sunday October 7, 2018
Event hours: 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Pease note the following restrictions:
Volume limit: 5 copy boxes or 32-gallon bags weighing no more than 35 lbs. each
No separating required
Clips and staples are okay
Folders, notebooks and binders are okay
No phonebooks, catalogs or magazines will be accepted
No electronic media will be accepted—paper only!
This is a free shredding event of confidential materials; other recyclables are not accepted.
The event is open to Western Disposal customers only as an appreciation for your business and your loyalty. Our events are not open to the general public or non-Western customers. It’s Almost Trash Dumpster Time The dumpster will again be on Diamond Cir from May 11th – May 25th. As with prior years, please….nothing toxic or hazardous, no paint, no electronics, all items must be put into the dumpster. This is for normal household waste – not remodeling items. Homeowner use only. Thank you!
And it’s time to…
Add screening or lattice around the bottom of open deck areas. This prevents bunnies and raccoons from hiding under your deck.
Add mulch. Plants, bushes and trees do much better when they are mulched – they retain moisture.
Clean leaves and debris from border beds.
Squirrels and bunnies are everywhere….. Please don’t feed the cute critters. They cause damage to our homes, flowers and lawns.
Dog/Cat Clean Up – it’s the Law Pet feces continues to be a problem in our neighborhood. Boulder county law requires that you pick up your pet’s feces and dispose of it. Letting your pet loose in the neighborhood, or walking your pet and not cleaning up after it, is ILLEGAL. Homeowners, if you see this happening and can get photos of the offending pet (or clearly describe it), please contact Louisville Code Enforcement. LCE will fine the offending owner if they have proof.
Bury the cables!
Comcast does occasional work in our neighborhood and at times they leave the cables on top of our lawns. These cables interfere with the lawn maintenance crew and prevent them from doing a thorough job as well as dangerous for homeowners. If you notice any cables on your lawn, please notify Comcast and ask that they bury them.
Did you know?
You can sign up to receive emails after City Council meetings. Know what is going in your
community at: http://www.louisvilleco.gov
Home Sweet Home ARC & Landscape committees are here to help, assist and obtain approvals for any changes to the outside of your home and yard. Committee members are your neighbors. Yes, even if you’re wishing to repaint the same color a request must be submitted. Also, did you chat with your neighbors? Will you be blocking their view? Clashing paint colors? Did you check with the City about required permits? All forms should be sent to Beth Silverman at beth@dcmhoa.com. All tree trimming is handled by Sun and Shade and our arborist. If you have a tree concern – please do not trim trees on your own. They are trimmed certain times of the year – contact Beth at beth@dcmhoa.com. (forms are attached to this newsletter.)
Compliance In order to ensure that our neighborhood retains its beautiful and welcoming appearance, the Board of Directors does an annual walking tour. We look at the outward appearance of every home, both the exterior of the house and the landscaping. If we determine that some alterations or improvements are needed, the homeowner will receive a letter explaining what was observed and what needs to be done to be in compliance. We do this only as a reminder that we all need to
comply with the standards outlined in the Owner’s Handbook. That annual tour will be onWednesday June 20th at 9:00 AM.
You Need to Know this about Your Water!
Here’s some helpful information regarding our water use in The Springs, and the impact of rising water costs. We love our development, its open and free flowing spaces between houses with green grass, trees and ponds. It’s what attracted many of us to the neighborhood over the years. One unintended problem we have found is that the thin layer of sod the developer laid over a clay ground requires a lot of water to stay green. Clay doesn’t absorb water, the thin dirt layer doesn’t hold much water, so runoff and evaporation mean more water needed. When we started to look at this issue 10+
years ago we were using over 12 million gallons of water for the grass and ponds. Happily, efforts to update the sprinklers systems, a costly but necessary project, and close monitoring of when and how much to water has brought our use down to around 8 million gallons. The Board has done much to conserve water use, but that is still a lot of water. Our community sprinkler system, which includes most of the water used in the ponds, is fed by irrigation taps off the main city water lines. Water rates for irrigation are higher than those for individual homeowners, and are paid for through our monthly dues. In 2004, to remedy this inequity in pricing the Louisville City Council passed a resolution that gives us a credit for some of what we paid for irrigation water. Basically, the City compares what we paid with what we would have paid if the water was billed to individual homes, and credits us back the difference.
In past years the result was that we would usually get back about half of what we paid as a credit towards the following year. So, we would budget $30,000 annually for water and could spend $60,000 knowing we would get the other $30,000 back as a credit.
But, with rising water rates and changes by the City in the way they determine how water is billed to customers, things have changed dramatically. This year our water bill was about $70,000 and instead of a 50% credit we received only $6,600, a major decrease in what was expected. These changes, sadly, are going to necessitate an increase in monthly dues in the future, as we need to significantly increase the annual budget to cover this new shortfall. We continue to look at ways to control water use as we move forward, as well as conserving or reducing other costs to keep our budget under control.
Comings and Goings
We’d like to extend a warm welcome to our newest neighbor:
Robert Brown – 402 Fairfield
It’s been Wonderful to Have Known
Sadly we learned one of our neighbors passed away. Sabine Goble from Springs Drive. Our sympathy goes out to her family. We will miss seeing her out on one of her many walks.
Your 2018 Board Members:
Al Yates – President, 225 Springs Dr (ayates143@gmail.com) 720/635-3182
Peter Oakes – Vice-Pres, 219 Springs Dr (peteroakes44@gmail.com) 303/579-8255
Paula Reeves – Treasurer, 116 Springs Cove (paularogers19@gmail.com) 303/666-0044
Jacki Ballard – Co-Sec, 227 Springs Dr (jacki@gone2beach.net) 303/489-7240
Bette Hauserman –Co-Sec, 350 Fairfield Ln (bettehauserman@gmail.com) 720/890-9191
Information regarding monthly Board meetings – please contact Beth @ DCM. 720/771-6027 for date, time and location.
DCM Property Management
DCM Contact Information (formerly Mock Prop Mgmt.)
Beth Silverman (best contact) beth@dcmhoa.com. 720/787-9800
DCM Property Mgmt. 720/787-9800
DCM after hours emergency 303/281-9945 (fires, flooding, property damage, etc.)
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The Springs At Coal Creek Ranch 