Friday, May 24, 2013
Comment Archives: stories: News: Local News: Last 30 Days
Re: “Bach says teens who smoke pot may lose their memory forever”
Yo! Bach! Grow a set. If you were really concerned, have the entire city stop selling them. Count the tax revenue you will no longer have, and deduct it from your salary. As it has NEVER been about peoples health of any kind. It is about the God Almight Dollar, as you well know. So stop play games. Ca Ca or get off the Pot.
Posted by
Tony Wendt
on 05/22/2013 at 4:56 AM
Re: “Bach says teens who smoke pot may lose their memory forever”
For Yahweh's sake, Bach, smoke a bowl already and chill.
Posted by
Dave Elizi
on 05/22/2013 at 3:19 AM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
I've known Terry Rector for five years. He has represented my friends and a family member in legal matters, all that ended well. I would not ignore Terry's direction. I've never known him to plot against Parkside. If anything, he is willing to risk his personal comfort to make sure that the officers and directors don't repeat the mistakes of the past. Why would you not file a D & O claim against the Board to receive the funds necessary to offset the previous officers decision to fail to comply with Parkside covenants? If the officers truly can prove that they shopped for a master policy, then that would be encouraging. But their decision to disregard the covenants and then fail to change the by-laws eliminating the master policy insurance requirement is not appropriate. They were out of line on both counts. You individual owners and members of Parkside deserved to know BEFORE the fire that you didn't carry a master policy and that you needed to increase your coverage and protection through other means. If the D & O claim was shepherded properly, there might not be ANY special assessments for infrastructure repair. If the officers were not so unwilling to admit that they failed to carry out their obligations under the marching orders of the covenants, this piece would possibly be finished now. Terry says, it's not about digging up the past. It's about correcting a problem by utilizing the insurance in place to satisfy any and all special assessments and MOVING FORWARD. How many more special assessments will surface in the near future as these homes are brought toward completion? The moving target is going to be the Drainage piece in the reconstruction. It's a moving target and NO ONE can get their arms around those numbers right now. If a D & O claim is filed, will a board member here and there be sad about the discussion? Sure. But that comes with the territory of volunteerism and the price you pay to be the leader. People in authority make the best decision that they can under the circumstances and we go on. But we need to remedy the outcome of the decisions made. Insurance agent, Mr. Cobb's comments at the last meeting stated that this master policy of insurance was not practical, wouldn't cover the items that failed and is not affordable. What's sad is that he has made this determination public without backing it up with proof. A lot of people drank the friendly kool aid. Don't be misled. While the availability of the insurance is important to this discussion, the resistance from the board toward filing a D & O claim is not for the benefit of you lot owners in Parkside. It's to avoid the confrontation and the sadness. You don't have time for this. The one-year statute of limitations deadline for a claim against the D & O Coverage is 26 June. Don't waste time. Urge your HOA to file that D & O claim immediately or you will regret every dollar you pay toward the special assessments in the years to come. Thank you to the author of this article for not laying down on searching out the details. The public needs to know and you are a good steward.
Posted by
Watcher777
on 05/17/2013 at 1:17 PM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
A bill of $1700 sounds like a lot but really is not exorbitant at all.
When the 2006 monsoon exposed the poor drainage aspects in our area of new homes, I paid twice that to remediate drainage issues to my property left behind by a cheap-ass developer.
I also made sure that the developer fixed the community wide (Common Area) drain issues at no cost to me or our HOA and residents.
It's money well spent and I urge the residents to accept the reality of their circumstances and fix it. Our developer left us with lousy common area landscaping and sprinklers; we ended up with a special assessment of $200 per home, which the residents approved and paid. We've been doing fine since and have a growing reserve fund to cover the unexpected unknowns.
Our HOA gets by on dues of $435/year, and it's a struggle to keep our common areas looking great on such low dues.
Posted by
OldCrank
on 05/16/2013 at 10:38 AM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
While it is essential to focus on the future rather than missteps of the past; without hindsight there is no progress or learning. This is an important article and subject. In order to rebuild and move forward, financial recovery is needed! There are many folks who lost homes and were under-insured due to no fault of their own - most insurance policy face values are designed for partial damage and do not take into account the increased cost to rebuild in a total loss/catastrophic event! Not everyone can afford additional assessments which are, again, due to no fault of their own. The HOA did have a liability insurance policy as I understand it. WHY NOT FILE A CLAIM??? This is EXACTLY the type of scenario which the policy would be purchased for. Filing an insurance claim is a business transaction based upon facts, IT IS NOT PUNISHMENT FOR THE BOARD, THE AGENT, OR ANYONE ELSE. If, in fact, there was a gap in property insurance for common areas due to the judgement or decisions of the HOA Board and there was a requirement in the bylaws to have it - it is reasonable to look to them through their liability policy for recovery. Rather than attacking the messenger, consider the message and it's value to the community as a whole! AT THE VERY LEAST, THE BOARD OWES ITS MEMBERS AN EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THEY DO NOT WANT TO FILE A CLAIM!
Posted by
Kerri Olivier
on 05/16/2013 at 9:25 AM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
Shek-
Your example of neighbor-like behavior is heart warming. After reading your post, it is obvious that Parksiders cant wait to return to their homes, to live next to such a kind spirit.
Have a wonderful day.
Posted by
Parkside Homeowner
on 05/16/2013 at 8:39 AM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
It defies logic to leave such valuable property uninsured. If you own a home, you know that appropriate insurance is a necessity...in the event of a rare catastrophe. Why should property that an HOA owns be any different? The board of this HOA should have used prudent judgement and insured the common areas, in the best interests of the homeowners that it represents. Now, the D and O policy should be claimed to cover the mistakes of the board. An insurance agent that represents the HOA cannot be objectively heard, because his/her interests lie in protecting the policy against claims. The comments by the board stating the curbs and drives were "fine" after the fire carries no weight. Residents' private driveways and foundations were exposed to 1600 degrees, and so were the drives and curbs, so how can they be "fine". Also, there lacks data from an engineering crew to certify the damage. Thats alot of heat...meaning at the very least the drives were significantly stressed, and therefore more likely to crumble easier, enter damages from construction equipment.
The board provides no basis for their numbers at the two meetings to justify the assessment amount, only numbers that may work. Thus, there is likely more assessments to come. This is frowned upon by mortgage lenders, and will make resale difficult. Also, lets not forget about the 1500 refundable fee that builders (passed down to owners) need to pay, and the driveways that are shared...pay another special fee.
Parkside owners should hold board members accountable for their actions. We all want to return to the beautiful neighborhood we had, that is for sure. This scenario needs to be intelligently handled, therefore HOA board decisions should be critically examined, by the community as a whole.
Posted by
Parkside Homeowner
on 05/15/2013 at 9:54 PM
Re: “Colorado Springs joins the Waldorf-charter wave”
We are so proud to be part of this new school and are grateful our family has a different choice for our children's education. We are also extremely grateful that we have found a community of like minded individuals. Well done Neah!
Posted by
Kristi Nowakowski Hayes
on 05/15/2013 at 8:49 PM
Re: “Colorado Springs joins the Waldorf-charter wave”
As a parent of a child who will be entering kindergarten next year, I've done my fair share of homework on Waldorf education methods, as well and the Anthroposophical approach that some of the private Waldorf Schools use. I found that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the first Waldorf school, was also a philosopher. Some PRIVATE Waldorf schools very much incorporate his philosophical viewpoints into their curriculum. As a public Waldorf school, this will absolutely not happen. There was actually a case in California where a parent was convinced separation of church and state was not being upheld at his local Waldorf Charter school, and he filed a lawsuit and created a group called PLANS. He lost his suit. This man argued that witchcraft was being taught to his child, and Christian literature was being passed around the school. More on that here: http://www.waldorfanswers.com/Lawsuit.html
It is true that many Waldorf schools use stories from the Old Testament, the Koran, and Buddhist teachings in some of their History lessons, but do not present the stories as fact, rather as a point of understanding people from different times. The courts recognized this.
If you are looking for a school where gardening and wellness are a main focus, your child's teacher will genuinely care about their emotional well-being, and that music, storytelling, art, movement, and cooking are integrated into Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic to give a richer and more full understanding of subjects, this is the school for you. Subjects are presented in a way that anyone can get excited about, and are presented in a variety of ways so children with different learning styles are all given a chance to learn in their own way. I, for one, will be sending both of my children to Mountain Song. I think a Waldorf School in Colorado Springs has been a long time coming, and I cannot wait to get my children started on this new adventure in learning!
For more info on what Waldorf is REALLY all about, check this out: http://youtu.be/tZmAX5adCl0
Posted by
laurielalalulu
on 05/15/2013 at 8:34 PM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
Good letter(s) Barb. Give 'em hell. If you frequent the Indy, you already know that the columnists only care about furthering their political agendas and will slant what they write to that end. (I know, they all do it. However, the Indy is particularly partisan.)
As to the majority of folks that comment on these pages, I certainly wouldn't take any of them seriously. (Any except me that is.)
Posted by
siggie
on 05/15/2013 at 3:12 PM
Re: “Colorado Springs joins the Waldorf-charter wave”
A former French Waldorf student/Waldorf teacher named Gregoire Perra has written two articles that are a damning expose of how the Anthroposophy cult uses worldwide Waldorf schools to indoctrinate children without their parents' knowledge (I'm a parent of former Waldorf students). It is a subtle but insidious process. The first article, “The Anthroposophical Indoctrination of Students in Steiner-Waldorf Schools” can be found at http://petekaraiskos.blogspot.com/, and the second article “Nearly Undetectable Influence and Indoctrination” can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/waldorfwatch…. Any parent considering Waldorf education for their children should read these two articles first.
Posted by
Margaret Sachs
on 05/15/2013 at 2:32 PM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
Indy didn't publish my first comment.... I live in one of the few homes in Parkside that didn't burn thanks to the brave firefighters. I'm really disturbed that the unpaid, hardworking board members are now catching flack from a 'journalist' that hasn't done her homework. I have been privy to a lot of the discussions and the numbers are open for the community to see. Our insurance agent told us NO HOA that he insures has insurance on the underground components of any system. We could have gotten insurance and paid more in premiums over the last 25 years than it will take to replace the system. The drainage was destroyed by the demolition and debris removal. Curbs, street and gutters were damaged by homeowner's contractors in rebuild and the ass'n is looking to recapture those costs from each individual lot owner. But at the moment it behooves us to get on with life as rapidly as possible . It is not constructive of you few that don't like what's going on to be so negative....we are trying our very best in a terrible painful situation to put our lives back together. If you wish to add constructive input feel free to join our bi-monthly meetings or attend Board meetings. They are open to everyone in the community.
Posted by
Barbara Franke Bamberger
on 05/15/2013 at 2:02 PM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
I'm only quoting the Gazette and other journalists. I didn't personally witness or research the Cripple Creek fire, but thanks for the heads up.
Posted by
Barbara Franke Bamberger
on 05/15/2013 at 1:52 PM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
"Most catastrophic fire in Colorado history." WTF?? Do some research on the Cripple Creek fire of 1896. Compare the cost of buildings back then to those of today. Waldo Canyon was nothing, comparatively speaking.
Posted by
Rhino2
on 05/15/2013 at 1:50 PM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
as a homeowner in an HOA controlled community, this is a good reminder to me that we need to ensure our HOA is carrying out their role. Thanks for a good update, Pam. You've done a service to all of us with this article.
Posted by
Big Cat
on 05/15/2013 at 1:31 PM
Re: “Colorado Springs joins the Waldorf-charter wave”
how VERY awesome for parents in this community to have another choice for their children! Kudos to this group of parents and educators for coming together and I wish them the best of luck!
Posted by
Big Cat
on 05/15/2013 at 1:29 PM
Re: “New laws lay out the path for Amendment 64's implementation”
i don't see warrants for suspected weed-DUIs being granted all that easily.
Posted by
Matt McLaughlin
on 05/15/2013 at 9:44 AM
Re: “Parkside residents get handed the bill for repairs”
The already very low assessment of $113 per month only covers operating expenses and a small portion, $8.35, is set aside for reserve funds (to replace things as they wear out, not get burned down in the most catastrophic fire in Colorado history). The monies collected pay for management services, weekly trash service, snow removal, landscape maintenance and community water for our formerly gorgeous neighborhood. When we tell people how much we pay for all those services most people think it's a bargain! We agree. We love our neighborhood and would love to get back to living our lives. The Indy isn't helping, really. Journalism this is NOT!
Posted by
Barbara Franke Bamberger
on 05/15/2013 at 8:04 AM
Re: “Colorado Springs joins the Waldorf-charter wave”
Please read the comments on the previous article. Waldorf schools are not what they claim to be. Critical thinking? Seriously? I suspect the author of these articles is connected to these schools in some way... nobody just closes their eyes to bad performance. Read hundreds of parent complaints about Waldorf schools and Waldorf charter schools here: http://thewaldorfreview.blogspot.com/
Posted by
Pete K
on 05/15/2013 at 7:06 AM
Re: “As water worries complicate its fight with the city, Smokebrush plans to relocate”
America the corporation, not so beautiful... and we have developers running the city now, greaaaaat!