Duquette
Pines Homeowners Association
General
Session Board Meeting
April
1 , 2008
Location:
It was a fairly lengthy meeting, much of it taken up with the issue of dust abatement and the proposed firehouse.
1. Steve Webb presented the Board with his analysis, based upon work he does for the city of Boise and other entities.
His bottom line: magnesium chloride, if applied properly, on a road that has been prepared properly, is our best bet.
According to Steve, one of the complaints about mag chloride -- that it gums up the bottoms of cars -- can be remedied if folks kept to 5 mph while the material is setting up. He suggested that we piggyback on the county's arrangements with the company in Emmett, to keep the costs down. Still, it will be expensive to apply a 12 foot width of mag chloride to our 6.2 miles of road. Right now, the cost is 4 1/2 cents per square foot (almost a penny more than last year). To apply dust abatement to our entire road system will cost homeowners more than $17,000.
The Board discussed doing just part of the subdivision, but decided that folks want 'their' road treated and would complain if we just treated the main roads. We hope to apply the first dust abatement treatment in May to the entire subdivision. The Board thanked Steve for coming up from Boise to spend time discussing this matter.
2. We are in need of a bookkeeper. Jon Long will contact a few folks who may have expressed an interest in the part time job.
3. Manager Jim White discussed roads, including a culvert problem on Deer Drive, which he is looking into. He also counseled that, as the big thaw continues, pot holes multiply. Gardners plowed earlier this day, but Neal Gardner warned that at this time of year, it is almost futile to plow too much until the ground dries up more.
4. There was also a rather lengthy, complicated discussion about fire hose connections and fittings. The problem is that, right now, the fittings most of us have on our fire standpipes do not 'work' with the fittings the Idaho City Volunteer Fire Department uses. That's a potentially dangerous situation, in case of a fire. Discussion centered on the Board purchasing a brass fitting for every homeowner on our water system, that allows the Fire Dept. to clamp onto it quickly.
Jim White estimated that there were 82 houses up here. So the cost to the subdivision for these fittings is around $5,000.
Another issue: while these brass fittings would allow the Fire Dept to quickly connect, they would cause problems for those homeowners who have bought fittings for their own fire hose, causing homeowners to have to spend more money for additional fittings.
The dilemma, then, is this: is it better to have something for the Fire Dept., or is it better that the homeowner be able to fight the fire, with his own fire hose set-up? Because, it may not be possible to have both, without the homeowner spending more money for special fittings.
Brent will check with a local supplier to see if the Board can get a better price on the brass fittings, and we will purchase perhaps two dozen of the brass fittings, for those who wish to use them on their fire standpipe. As more people realize the wisdom of this approach, we will purchase more. But no one will be forced to use the brass fitting. If the Fire Dept can't connect to someone's standpipe during an emergency, so be it.
5. Steve Webb relayed a request from his son, Garrett, who is an avid star gazer: Please turn down the outside lights at night. Garrett served as a fire lookout person this past summer. He could peer down on Duquette Pines from the lookout, and was suprised at the number of lights left on in our subdivision. Downward facing lights would allow neighbors to continue to gaze at the stars, while supplying some degree of safety for those who feel they need that sort of thing. In fact, some subdivisions have taken to requiring all lights to be downward facing.
6. Our annual meeting will be Saturday morning, May 24th, at 10 a.m. at the Senior Center on Bear Run Road. (Same place as last year.) On the agenda: budget, fire house, RV parking, and hopefully not dust abatement, because it will have already been applied!
7. Jim White says he and Ray Eklund will travel the subdivision looking for sick and diseased trees and downed trees, in an effort to keep our great stand of trees as healthy as possible. Ray emailed the Board about the dangers of the ips pine engraver beetle, which multiplies in downed branches, then attacks and kills the trees. So, please remove or burn the branches, not just the trunk.
8. The Board is in a real quandary about the proposed fire house. There is still no real agreement about where to put it... and even if we should build one. But the Board realizes it needs to take a position before the annual meeting on May 24th. At our early May meeting, we will decide... something!
And remember to please give us your comments by going to our blog, on our website.