Pine Brook PressA Quarterly Journal for, about and by

Pine Brook Hills Residents

Autumn 2015

BOULDER MOUNTAIN HANDMADE:6 WAYS TO SUPPORT VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTING

Boulder Mountain Handmade Art Craft Bake Sale, scheduled for November 7and 8, will again be

held in town at Watershed School, 1661 Alpine Ave., just a few blocks east of Broadway and Community Plaza. In its second year at the in-town location, Boulder Mountain Handmade again offers free craft activities for kids, live music performances, and the work of over 40 area artists. A craft sale area offering limited-edition crafts created by district residents and Boulder’s best bake sale deliver 100% of their proceeds to the fundraiser.

What started out as The Pine Brook Hills Arts and Crafts Show grew into a significant fundraiser for Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District. The sale attracts many repeat customers from the district and all around Boulder. Artists from within the Fire District and from the Denver/Boulder area display their work in a market setting. Art includes watercolor, oil and acrylic paintings, jewelry, photography, herbal and skin care products, ceramics and pottery, furniture and woodworking, and fiber art. Featured Fire District artists include Sue Barnes, Dana Birke, Carmen Birmingham, Chris Blue, Ernest Fetrow, Barry Kluger-Bell, Susan Maxwell, Nora Maynard, Amy Mundinger,

Francie Reel, Catherine Von Hatten, and Jean Watson. Christie Slater, owner of Tinker Studio (http://tinkerartstudio.com) returns with a children’s art activities area all day Saturday so adults can shop at leisure while kids create. Other special activities include performances by a swing band, a capella singers, and Suzuki violin students. PBH’s own Tim Triggs and friends will provide music on Sunday at noon. A full schedule of activities is found at bouldermountainhandmade.org.

Get involved and support your fire department!1. Donate or consign art. District residents are welcome to donate their own arts or to consign a selection to be sold on their behalf at the sale. Please contact the artist liaison team at BMHart@bouldermountainfire.org.2. Donate crafts or a gift basket. Nancy Callis coordinates the always-successful Auxiliary Craft sale area; she hosted group crafting sessions over the

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summer and promises a wide range of crafts donated by Auxiliary members and other district residents. Contact Nancy to add your items to the effort: NLCallis@aol.com. Creative gift baskets donated by district residents also boost sales; contact Karla Reiss: changemaven@thechangeplace.com3. Donate baked goods. Bake Sale Coordinators, Florentina Cruz and Karen Branyan, invite all Fire District residents to donate items for the bake sale: homemade candies, pastries, breads, granola, and more are welcome. For details, visit the bake sale sign up site: http://tinyurl.com/bmh2015evbake New this year is a café where customers can pick up coffee or a snack to go with their bake sale treats. 4. Staff the sale. Residents who are not members of the Auxiliary are welcome to join the fun as volunteers. Pick your job and your shift: http://tinyurl.com/bmh2015vol 5. Promote the sale. Be part of the street team; share the event flyer with friends and co-workers. Download your flyer at this link: http://www.bouldermountainhandmade.com/?p=858Join the Facebook event and share on your timeline:https://www.facebook.com/events/1535982923299730/6. Shop the sale. Watch for your postcard to arrive in the mail. Invite friends and neighbors to shop. You can enter to win a gift basket by bringing your postcard to the sale. Every purchase made in the Auxiliary craft and bake sale areas goes 100% to support volunteer firefighting.

They love the outdoors and are settling in very nicely in Pine Brook Hills.

Ann and John Harsh purchased a house on Wild Horse Circle in late April and are looking forward to

suburban mountain living. They have been living in Mississippi since 1979 so this move has certainly been an interesting one! Ann is a retired public school administrator and John is sleep scientist and sleep clinician. He will be an adjunct professor at CU teaching statistics and doing research.Ann will be occupying her time at home with their 3 companions – Rosie the Snoodle, Butterbean the Peekapoo, and O’Charlie the Poodle. When not at home she will probably be found on a tennis court, practicing Tai Chi, or playing bridge. She will be looking for people in Pine Brook Hills with the same interests. John is an avid bicycle rider and loves art from the earth – jade, wood, etc. Both are excited about their move to Boulder.

Jeff Orlowski has been living in Pine Brook Hills for the last eight years, and just moved into 1596 Linden

Drive. He is a local filmmaker and served as director of Chasing Ice, which featured a former Pine Brook resi-dent, James Balog. He has a local production company

called Exposure Labs, with an office downtown.

WELCOME TO PBH NEWCOMERSWith Jo Wiedemann

Kevin Bundy and Bradley Frey moved to PBH from Cincinnati after both kids, Allison – age 22 and Adam – age 18, finished high school. Allison is presently in college at University of Pittsburgh. She is in her last year working towards an Industrial Engineering degree. Adam is attending CU Boulder in the Busi-ness program with a desire to go to medical school after graduation.Kevin is a Family Practice doctor working for CU at their office in Westminster. Brad is a dentist at Heart-land Dental. He travels part of each week to fill in at other offices and mentor dentists. They visited Colorado for several years and had a long-term dream to be able to move west and enjoy all the activities that living here offers. They both enjoy their kids, skiing, hiking, yoga, and their dogs.

PINE BROOK PRESS AUTUMN 2015

PINE BROOK HILLSHOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONBOARDS AND COMMITTEES

PRESIDENTAllen Saville, 442-1682

VICE PRESIDENTBrian Wahlert, 425-242-8746

SECRETARYMeghan Miller, 720-320-0026

TREASURERPeter Gaal, 720-287-2426

MEMBER-AT-LARGEDave Davies, 938-0522

ARCHITECTURAL REVIEWMike Von Hatten, 997-8319NEWCOMER WELCOMEJo Wiedemann, 447-2569

SOCIAL CHAIR Veronique Foster, 444-9892

& Sally Powell-Ashby, 440-0507

FIRE CHIEFJohn Benson, 440-0235

FIRE BOARD PRESIDENTDuke Snyder, 443-0777

THIRD ARMBob Loveman, 926-0204

FIRE AUXILIARYAnn Blonston, 720-295-2660

& Catherine Von Hatten, 997-8319

WATER BOARDKirk Hendricks, Pres., 442-1308

WATER DISTRICTRobert de Haas, Mgr., 443-5394

PINE BROOK PRESSEDITOR

Catherine Von Hatten, 997-8319 LAYOUT:

Param Singh, 417-0373Aria Seidel, 546-0679

STAFFNancy Tamura, 919-961-8184

ADVERTISING: Ads@pinebrookhills.org

E-MAIL: press@pinebrookhills.org

2015 COMMUNITY CALENDARHOA MEMBERSHIP MEETING - TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27

6 PM Potluck Dinner.7 PM Presentation by George Gerstle on the Status of Road

Issues within PBH8PM Business Meeting

Meetings are at the Community Center/Firehouse unless other-wise noted.

HOA BOARD Meetings are open to all residents. Attendance is welcomed and encouraged. Meetings begins at 7 PM. Next Meeting: January 2016ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEE - Meets the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 P.M.BMFPD BOARD - Meets the 2nd Monday of every month at 6:30 P.M. at either the Pine Brook or Boulder Heights Firehouse. Call 440-0235 for specifics.BMFPD AUXILIARY - Meets quarterly on the first Sunday of the month. Next meeting—December 6 at 3PM. Email auxpresident@bouldermountainfire.org for confirmation or more information.WATER BOARD - Meets first or second Thursday of every month at 4:30 P.M. Call Water Office at 443-5394 for dates.BMFPD Fire Safety Sale, May 2 and 3 from 10 AM to 4PM at Station 1 and 2. See article on p. ___ for more information.PBH Record Drawing Distribution - November 14, 9AM to 12Noon, Station 1.Boulder Mountain Handmade - November 7 and 8, 10AM to 4PM, Watershed School in Boulder, 1661 Alpine Avenue.

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WEBSITE: www.pinebrookhills.org

WEBMASTER: Brian Wahlert, 425-242-8746

PBH NOTES: RANDOM THOUGHTSBy Allen Saville, HOA President

Thank You: Maybe many HOA presidents feel the same way, but most of the things that have been achieved during the nearly two years that I have been president of the HOA were accomplished by a TEAM of wonderful people who volunteer their time and contribute their awesome talents as HOA board members, HOA committee chairs, and in various worker-bee positions. As you might expect in Pine Brook Hills (“the most educated town in Colorado”) there is a tremendous talent pool in our neighborhood, and it is a fantastic and humbling experience to work with these folks. Thanks for all you do for our community!Change: HOA meeting topics in the past two years have been diverse: a history of early Pine Brook Hills, real estate values, the Northern Lights and solar eclipses, mountain gardening, road repair. That diversity of

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topics and issues demonstrates the level of change our community has experienced, as well as the wide range of interests of our residents. Most of the change has been very positive and many of us feel that we live in one of the nicest places on the planet. Certainly, the old saying about change is true: the only thing certain about change is that it will continue to happen – and at an ever-increasing rate. So, don’t expect that PBH is finished changing. One of the important questions about change in PBH is: do you want to have some influence on what types of changes occur? Left to their own devices, things usually atrophy – it usually takes hard work to help things change for the better. There are a number of current issues facing PBH; think about how you want PBH to look in the future and start investing in the work required to make more of those positive changes happen.Synergy: As a small, all-volunteer organization, the HOA accomplishes a fair amount for our community. As you all know there are two other very important organizations in the Pine Brook Hills community – the Pine Brook Water District (PBWD) and the Boulder Mountain Fire Protection District (BMFPD). All three of these organizations, important to Pine Brook Hills, work together in a synergistic manner to provide needed services to PBH. All three entities have deep commitment to their separate and independent responsibilities to our community, but each of these three organizations takes coop-eration among the three seriously. It is possible that this happy circumstance results in part from the fact that there is overlapping membership: i.e., some members of the PBWD board of directors are also firefighters; firefighters and other members of BMFPD also serve on the HOA board and as chairs and members of various HOA committees. It is also true that each entity has positive experience that greater things can be accomplished for the good of the PBH community through cooperation and working together. It is truly a synergistic and mutually advantageous relationship.Boulder County: It seems to be current social fashion to express dislike, distain, and even hostility, toward governmental entities. There may, indeed, be a number of areas in which our county govern-ment could do a better job to serve the interests of PBH. However, there are many services provided by the county that are essential to the safety, security, health, and welfare of PBH residents. In a number of these areas PBH entities and county divisions work very well together. For example, Sheriff’s Deputies usually respond to almost all 911 calls, and our BMFPD volunteer firefighters and medical responders work

exceptionally well with these deputies, benefiting from the part they each play in emergency response. There are other PBH–County relationships that need continuing cultivation for the benefit of our community; important among these county departments are Land Use and Transportation. Try getting things done in our community without them . . .Certainly, we should always expect, and insist on, the best from our governmental entities – AND we should continue and improve our good working relationships with a number of Boulder County departments and services. There are a number of HOA committee chairs and committee members who work very hard for PBH in this task. I, for one, appreciate and applaud their efforts in our behalf.Covenants: The various parts of the Pine Brook Hills subdivision have had restrictive covenants in place from the time that the first spade of dirt (rocky as it is) was moved. The reasons for these covenants include ensuring that PBH was, and continues to be, a very attractive, up-scale, residential community. In 2010 the several (very similar) sets of covenants within PBH were consolidated and made applicable to the entire PBH neighborhood. These covenants apply to all PBH properties, are part of the deeds to our properties, and are legally binding and enforceable on current and future owners. For the most part our PBH covenants are very similar to the provisions of the Boulder County zoning ordinances (enforceable by the County).In all but a very few cases we find that property owners are happy about the covenants – in fact most view our covenants as protection for the enjoyment and value of our home. From time to time there have been, and will continue to be, a few individuals who attempt to play fast and loose with the PBH covenants. It seems that over time this behavior in PBH is decreasing. In my view, that is a good thing. However, covenant enforcement will continue to be an important issue for the HOA and the PBH community as a whole. Please be familiar with the provisions of the PBH covenants (you can find them on the PBH website), and support enforcement of those covenants.Support: Pay your HOA dues (remember – the biggest part of that goes toward community-wide fire mitigation projects and that is very good for our community); try to keep informed about neighborhood issues; be involved – all of our work is done by volunteers, we can use your help; help keep an eye on things, express your opinion, and when you have suggestions about how to improve our neighbor-hood – let us know.

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ON THE WATERFRONTBy Bob de Haas

The District has begun work on the PBH filter plant to improve it’s performance. The parking area at

the Community Center is very limited and unless you really need to be there please don’t visit. If a trip to Station 1 is unavoidable, KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT AND MAKE SURE THEY SEE YOU BEFORE GOING AROUND THEM! The goal is to wrap up construction around the end of November or in early December.

As of the week of September 8th the Water District also started replacing the water main along Linden Drive from North Cedar Brook Road to Arrowleaf Court. By the time this issue of the Press comes out, that project should be almost done!The best news for both of these projects is that they are paid for with funds

from FEMA or other grants. This is the time of year when the Water District develops the budget for the following year. The proposed 2016 budget should be available by October 15th and public hearings will be held on November 12th and December 10th. We will post the proposed budget posted to our website (pinebrookwater.com) around October 15th. Everyone is of course more than welcome to attend the public hearings. Those meetings will be held at the Pine Brook Community Center beginning at 4:30 pm. Remember, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to call, we promise to be friendly!

FIRE SIDE CHATByJohn Benson

Hello once again from BMFPD. I trust that everyone has had a great summer here in Pine Brook Hills.

I know I have been enjoying a relatively quiet summer. We have been very fortunate that there have been NO wildfires within the District. Thank you for being vigilant and taking precautions to prevent such fires. We are still faced with tons and tons of curing grasses both from this year and last year. We still have a huge potential for a wildfire until we get snow on the ground. I have been asked many times how the rains of this spring and summer have helped us. My answer is always “It helps us and it hurts us.” More rain means more grasses and a higher potential for fires as that grass dries out. We cannot let our guard down. All it takes is one spark, one power line arc from high winds, carelessly discarded wood burning ashes, or someone parking in the tall grasses and we could have a bad fire stint. STAY VIGILANT.As we move into the fall season, residents will start using various heating devices to warm their homes. This is the time of year that BMFPD personnel will be called out for carbon monoxide alarms and chimney fires. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a deadly byproduct of burning any gas-fired appliance. It is a colorless, odorless, silent killer in residential homes, if proper maintenance is not performed at least annually. Here are a few reminders to protect you, your family and friends from a potentially tragic situation. • Have your gas-fired appliances inspected by a

qualified technician at least annually.• Ensure that all of your exhaust flues are clear of

debris and properly aligned.• Install CO detectors in accordance with the manu-

facturer’s recommendations in your home.• Test your CO detectors to ensure the detectors

are properly functioning.If you do not have working CO detectors, you can go online to www.bouldermountainfire.org. Click on the BMFPD Fire Safety Store and select the carbon monoxide detector. We have these detectors in stock here at Station 1 and would be more than happy to come out and help you install or recommend a place to install one. If you have a wood-burning appliance, have your chimneys and fire place flues inspected at least annu-ally by a reputable and qualified chimney sweep to ensure the following:• No creosote build up has accumulated in the

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chimney or flues.• Piping is properly aligned and no gaps exist within

the flue structure. All too often we see separation of the flue pipes or broken or missing pieces of mortar, allowing a fire to develop in your home’s wood frame structure.

• The area around the chimney or flue is free of burn or char marks. You would be surprised at how many chimney fire incidents we respond to during the fall and winter months.

• There is proper air spacing around the wood-burn-ing device. Check with your manufacturer’s rec-ommendations before installing any wood-burning device.

• No sparks are flying around the top of the flue. Check your spark arrestors and be sure they are functioning properly. No one wants sparks landing on decks, roofs, or yard grass.

And remember…don’t over feed your stove with wood. Putting too much wood in your stove can cause a breakdown in your stove’s ability to properly vent the heat and smoke creating a fire hazard.For a little time, money, and effort, you can buy your-self piece of mind knowing you are doing everything possible to protect your family, friends, and invest-ment. For us, there is nothing worse than getting dis-patched to a report of a family feeling ill from carbon monoxide poisoning or rolling up on a structure fire in the early morning hours caused by a faulty heating device. On behalf of the BMFPD staff, we hope these tips will help to reduce the likelihood of illness, loss of life, or the loss of your home. We would rather see all of you at a meeting, or waving to us on the streets, instead of seeing you in the back of an ambulance or putting out a fire at your residence. Until next time, enjoy the fall, stay vigilant and be safe.

during a wildfire event. We are by no means finished with our wildfire mitigation and fuel break work. Unfortunately, this year we have had to postpone working on the Wildhorse/Anne U. White fuel break due to the Douglas Fir Tussock Moth. This little pest has caused us a lot of grief and anguish…what a nightmare! We have had to take our crew members to urgent care to get medical treatment associated with the toxic hairs from the caterpillars and cocoons. The Tussock Moth epidemic is spreading wider and quicker than anyone would have thought. We have been working closely with the Colorado State Forest Service to develop a plan of action and to better understand the Tussock Moth. As always, the safety of our crews is first and foremost. We continue to work very closely with the Pine Brook Hills HOA to develop wildfire mitigation projects in areas free of the Douglas Fir Tussock Moth. Our goal is to get back to the fuel break as soon as the health hazards have subsided.For your own safety, please stay away from the cocoons and moths. The toxins found on the hairs are a skin irritant and will leave welts on the body. We are still researching what other health effects could be possible, as well as what medical treatments are available. BMFPD’s Wildfire Mitigation program continues to develop new fuel break areas we feel are essential to life safety and property preservation during a wildfire event. We will be asking the residents of the community to support these proposed fuel breaks in the near future. As most of you know, BMFPD offers a wide variety of services in our community, including:• Structure preparation, which includes weed

whacking, gutter cleaning, and removal of flammable debris from the base of your structure

• Chainsaw work and vegetation hauling• Vegetation chipping and disposal• Free property inspections and recommendationsWe serve as a contractor for the Wildfire Partners of Boulder County. And the biggest benefit of the Mitigation Program is that you have highly trained firefighters and medics present in the District who are able to respond to any emergency. We hope that you will take advantage of our services to enhance the safety of your home, your neighbors’ homes, and the community as a whole in the future. For our return clients we cannot say thank you enough for all the support you have given to us over the years. If you are in need of mitigation work, or just have

BMFPD WILDFIRE MITIGATIONBy Mike Palamara

I want to thank the Pine Brook Hills Community and HOA for supporting the BMFPD Wildfire Mitigation

program through both fuel breaks and individual defensible space projects. This past year, BMFPD was able to conduct fuel break work along Wildwood, Fountain Tree and the Four Mile Canyon Creek (Anne U. White Open Space.) This work has increased the safety of residents living in these areas as well as those who would use these areas as escape routes

PINE BROOK PRESS AUTUMN 2015

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questions about our services, please do not hesitate to email me at mitigation@bouldermountainfire.org or call 303-440-0235. We will be glad to assist you with any of your mitigation needs. On another note, our team thought residents might be interested in knowing that this year our Emergency Response Team had the opportunity to travel to California, to work on the Gasquet Fire. This fire was a huge training opportunity for our members. They learned a great deal more about fire behavior, burning operations, fire resistive wrapping of structures, water supply, fire line construction, and dealing with a bigger incident. The experiences and training our members received will further enhance their knowledge, comfort, and safety in the event of a wildfire here on the Front Range.

ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMITTEE UPDATE

By Mike Von Hatten, ARC ChairpersonFinal Call!!! The ARC has distributed record drawings for properties in PBH several times in the past months. Many residents were thrilled to find these interesting and valuable drawings for their properties. A number of residents were out of town or unaware of the previous distributions. The drawings will be available one last time at the Community Center on November 14, 2015 from 9am to 12noon. A timely reminder will be posted on the FORUM. If you will not be able to attend, have a friend or neighbor retrieve your documents. Spread the word to neighbors you think may be interested. PBH Memorial: Significant progress has been made on the ARC Enhancement Initiative “Flood Memorial” planned for the corner of Linden Drive and South Cedar Brook.• The site was cleared and cleaned by

volunteers…1200 pounds of debris were removed.• A license for improvements on the Right Of Way

has been obtained from the Boulder County Transportation Department.

• EZ Excavation will provide earthwork and site clearing at minimal cost. Earthwork will be done during the installation of the new water line along Linden.

• The Combs at 59 Beaver Way have agreed to donate rock and boulders from their property adjacent to the memorial site.

The memorial will commemorate the strength and perseverance of the community during the 2013 flood. The site at the entrance of PBH sustained damage

from debris flows that caused the death of two young people who will be memorialized there. The initiative will recognize the heroism demonstrated by volunteer BMFPD fire fighters and residents at that location and throughout PBH as the community came together to not only survive the flood event, but to come out stronger and better.We encourage residents to contribute to this community effort. There are several options to donate. Contact Glennis Walters to donate through the nonprofit MiracleFund1.org or contact Allen Saville or Mike Von Hatten to donate through the HOA. For more information and updates on this and other enhancement projects, see the PBH website pinebrookhills.orgDecks: If you are planning on a building a new deck or rebuilding or modifying an existing deck, the ARC is here to help. Boulder County requires a permit for new decks and modifications to existing decks. Their requirements include the use of Class A decking material with a flame spread of less than 200, a reasonable requirement in our mountain environment. They recently adopted a new requirement for elevated decks…the area under the deck must be cleared, a vegetation barrier placed on the ground and covered with gravel/stone to minimize fire hazards. Questions? Contact a member of the ARC or check the Boulder County website for more information.

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PBH ICE CREAM SOCIALBy Sally Powell-Ashby

Sunday August 23rd was a beautiful afternoon at the PBH Community Center/Fire Station. With the Foggy Tops, including resident Tim Triggs, playing and singing bluegrass music, everyone’s toes were

tapping. Families, neighbors, kids and poodles (no bears) enjoyed the afternoon of casual camaraderie with newcomers and old timers mixing and sharing. Several extended families from as far away as Kentucky, California, Wisconsin, and Hampshire, Great Britain attended! Participants agreed that the ice cream was delicious. Master Scooper, Tom Foster, was kept busy scooping and discreetly noting those visiting him more than once! Veronique and I thank everyone who attended. Pine Brook Hills is a truly fine community. Stay tuned for the evening gathering in Spring 2016.A note: I am stepping down as co-chair of the social committee. Veronique would welcome a new partner. The job is fun and rewarding!Please contact her at veroniquefoster@hotmail.com

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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Interested in getting involved in the community? Want to learn some new skills? Looking for a way to meet

your neighbors? Volunteering is a great way to meet those goals.

The HOA Needs…• PBH Directory Layout—We’ll begin the effort

to publish the 2016 Directory soon, and we are looking for someone with graphic design skills to work on the Directory team.

• Historian—The neighborhood has been around long enough to have a history and we would like to record some of that. If you are interested in stories and preserving our heritage, this is your job.

• PBH Social Committee is looking for a new co-chair to help plan neighborhood activities each year.

• HOA Board Membership—The HOA board is composed of five members. Every two years one member rotates off of the board and from time to time there are other reasons a board member needs to be replaced. Let us know if you have interest in serving on the HOA board.

The Pine Brook Press needs…• Authors and photographers. If you have an

idea and want to submit an article, we’d love to have it. If you snap a good photo in the neigh-borhood, send it our way. press@pinebrookhills.org

• An Advertising Manager—Our advertisers help defray the cost of the quarterly publica-tion. If you like talking to people and finding out about their work, this is the job for you. Most ads are already lined up so you would be mostly managing, not selling.

BMFPD…the Fire Department needs…• Firefighters and Medics…contact Chief

Benson if you’d like to find out more or get involved.

• Third Arm…on scene support with traffic con-trol, evacuation, communication…contact Bob Loveman, if you would like to find out more or get involved.

• Auxiliary…provide behind the scenes support for fundraising, community education, provision-ing, and recognition…contact Ann Blonston or Catherine Von Hatten for more information or to get involved. 2785 Iris Ave, Boulder // 303.443.5100

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PBH ROADS SURVEYBy Brian Wahlert

For about 20 years now, the County has had a policy of performing limited maintenance only

(snow removal, pothole filling) on public subdivision roads. More significant work like asphalt overlays and reconstruction has not been funded. In the judgment of the courts, Boulder County is guilty of “neglect of its dedicated subdivision roads... While it clearly had the duty to maintain those roads, the County did not perform that duty” (Judge J. Robert Lowenbach’s July 2014 ruling overturning the LID.) Still, the county remains unable or unwilling to allocate the necessary funds to repair its public roads.In 2015 the County allocated a small amount of money to a matching program, to incentivize subdivisions to share the cost of road repairs. Pine Brook Hills has not participated in that matching program. But every year is a new year, and 2016 may bring new and improved opportunities to repair our roads in a more cost-effective way through a partnership with the County or by some other means.

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The HOA board recently ran a survey to gauge residents’ position on the issue so that when and if a new option arises that aligns with what residents want, we can be prepared to act on it.The survey opened on June 14 and closed on August 27. Thanks to everyone who took the time to share their views. The response rate was 18% with 75 PBH households responding to the survey. When looking at the results, we should bear in mind that while a minority of residents responded, the response rate can give us some level of confidence in residents’ views. 29 of those 75 households submitted written comments in addition to their answers to the multiple-choice questions. Those comments were thoughtful and considered. We’d like to especially thank those 29. We’ll share many of those comments here.Residents are in complete agreement on a few things. First, the roads are not in very good condition. 58% of respondents characterized our roads as “poor,” and only 1% classified them as “good” (and none said “great”.) 93% of respondents either strongly agree or agree with the statement “The condition of roads in PBH is such that our roads need serious and immediate attention through maintenance, repair and

rehabilitation.”We also agree on who should take responsibility for repairs. 91% either strongly agreed or agreed with the statement, “I agree with the recent court determination that the County is responsible for maintenance, repair, and rehabilitation of roads in unincorporated subdivisions.”87% of residents strongly agree or agree that the best way to fund road repairs is “reallocation of funds in the existing county budget.” One resident said, “In terms of the overall county budget, it looks as though the subdivision road maintenance is a rounding error amount of money.” Another said, “We’ve been dutifully paying the taxes for our roads…[R]ethink and reprioritize county tax revenue and fix the damn roads.”The County insists that funds cannot be reallocated, so additional tax revenue is needed. BoCo FIRM continues its court challenge to force the County to repair roads with existing funds, but in preparation for the possibility that roads won’t be repaired without additional taxes, we asked a few questions to gauge residents’ preferences regarding tax increases.One suggestion was “increasing county-wide taxes

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to obtain enough additional funds to fix subdivision roads”. Residents were perfectly split on this one. 33.3% strongly agreed or agreed, 33.3% were neutral, and 33.3% strongly disagreed or disagreed.Residents were crystal clear that additional taxes levied only on subdivision residents are not acceptable. At the suggestion that the County might “use a PID or other arrangement to collect the required additional funding from residents of unincorporated subdivisions who have primary benefit of these roads,” 48% strongly disagreed – the strongest opposition to any statement in the survey. 13% disagreed and 21% were neutral, leaving only 17% who agreed or strongly agreed.We also asked some questions to gauge how much residents might be willing to pay (without specifying the funding mechanism – new tax, privately funded road repairs, etc.). Is $10,000 ($700 a year over 15 years) a price tag that residents would be willing to pay for repairs? 64% strongly disagreed or disagreed, while only 24% agreed.How about $5,000 ($350 per year over 15 years)? Here residents were split – 43% strongly agreed or agreed, and 44% strongly disagreed or disagreed. What if the bill was only $1000 total? At that price tag, 49% strongly agreed or agreed, and 31% still strongly disagreed or disagreed.77% of residents either strongly agreed or agreed that the HOA should publish a position statement on this issue.Our survey questions focused on the severity of the roads problem and what to do about it, rather than the reasons why good roads are so important. But many residents took the time to share their views on why the roads need urgent repair.Safety was a concern that came up many times. Several residents pointed out the danger of current road conditions. One said, “There are a number of non-subdivision bicyclists that use these roads and someone is going to get seriously hurt with all the pot holes and loose pavement.” Another said, “One day a school kid or biker may be hurt or worse.” Another: “Someone is going to get seriously hurt with all the pot holes and loose pavement.”However, several other residents believe the real danger is not potholes, but Pine Brook residents’ excessive driving speed. One said, “Frankly, as long as there will be NO speed control devices (e.g. speed bumps, speed dips, etc. ) in any eventual Road Rehab project, I am NOT interested in paying to improve the roads, especially the ‘Linden Speedway’, so people can go 50 MPH instead of 40 MPH! I would

rather see Linden be in such a condition so as to deter such unsafe driving.” Another resident echoed these comments: “I worry that if the roads are in better condition, people will drive even faster than the unsafe speeds that many already drive. When roads are redone, I’d strongly support speed control measures.”Several residents indicated their willingness to support lawsuits. “We are willing to contribute to any fund pursuing legal action against the county,” said one resident. Another said, “We are not willing to spend one more dime unless the county refunds the … taxes for the last 15 or so years that they [redirected] from the road maintenance. I am much more willing to support a lawsuit.” One resident says, “I do not believe that PBH residents should be financially responsible for poor budget decisions the county commissioners have made in the past. While only part of the county uses the PBH roads, I am sure that the funds allocated to other county purposes in the past, that should have been used for PBH road maintenance funds, benefited those non PBH county residents. They can now repay PBH for the funds not used properly in the past.” And another points out, “I don’t know any other of the 3900+ counties in the USA that charge for streets that the county owns.”But some residents just want the roads fixed and are willing to pay for it. A new Pine Brook resident said, “I’m very disappointed at the present, irrational and interminable stalemate. I’d much rather pay a $1000 a year than lose many tens of thousands on lost property value, damage to vehicles, etc.” Another says, “I think we need to take matters in our own hands, and fix our roads, as unfair as that is.”Yet another resident points out the opportunity for compromise: “Given that the County allowed the roads to deteriorate despite an ostensible legal obligation to maintain them, negotiating some leverage (and service levels) by which we can hold the County accountable in the future seems like a minimal quid pro quo for putting this issue to rest with a LID/PID.”Again, we thank you all for taking the time to share your views and submit your comments. Our HOA representatives will continue discussions to explore options, and your feedback allows us to better align these discussions with the interest of our residents. If you’d like to read the full results and all comments, go to http://pinebrookhills.org/Roads/roads_survey_results.html.

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REMEMBERING ANNE SINGH: 1943-2015By Suzanne Adams

A delightful laugh. Elephants. The color red. A sensitive, highly intelligent and empathic friend. I think of Anne Singh with those words. Param and Anne moved next door to us when we lived on Alpine Way.

We became close friends. Anne and I were co-editors of The Pine Brook Press, where she provided her beautiful photographs of our neighborhood and served as Mrs. Grammar Person, thwacking unnecessary commas from my prose. I loved working with her.

There were so many facets to Anne’s nature. A gymnast in high school and college, she competed in national gymnastic trampoline tournaments where she was ranked as one of the top competitors in the country. Had gymnastic trampoline been an Olympic event at the time (as it is now) she might well have represented the U.S. She was a scholar. Having completed all the course work at Harvard for a PhD in Sanskrit and South Asian Studies, she compiled copious notes and photographs for a book on the temples of the Doon Valley in India. Sadly, her illness prevented the completion of that book.

She had an artist’s eye. Anne’s photographs of western landscapes and images from her travels in India with Param won praise from Pine Brookers and from nationally known photographer John Ward. I remember a visit with Anne to Open Studios, when she turned from the pieces on display to a trash bin where the artist had discarded an encaustic experiment that he deemed a failure. Anne saw its evocative beauty and insisted on buying it despite the artist’s consternation about what to charge. The car she chose for its beauty, a red Audi TT, was also selected for display by the Museum of Contemporary Art. Param has said that he never worried about what house they would live

in because Anne would make it beautiful. She was adventurous. A friend remembers their “Thelma and Louise” car trip through New Mexico, where Anne once drove 95 mph on a road across the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Another friend remembers Anne pointing her skis down the steepest slope she could find and flying down with carefree grace. There must have been a sense of adventure that night in the bar at Eldora Ski Resort where Anne and Param first met, a meeting which led to 46 years of marriage, two sons, two daughters-in-law and three and 8/9ths granddaughters, all deeply loved. That love and Param’s extraordinarily devoted caregiving are credited by Anne’s medical professionals for her ability to stay with us for years after her illness would have been expected to have run its course. Even after speech was lost, her wonderful laugh remained almost to the end.We miss her.

PINE BROOK PRESS1907 Linden DriveBoulder, Colorado, 80304