Saturday, May 25, 2013
Comment Archives: stories
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: “Homelessness solution: Welcome to Bachville”
I would never do that to you, siggie. Children can be so cruel.
Posted by
Mr. K--
on 05/16/2013 at 10:01 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: “Homelessness solution: Welcome to Bachville”
K and progeny: What I think is that you turned over your responses to your 8 year old grandchild.
Posted by
siggie
on 05/16/2013 at 6:39 AM
Re: “Pot-shop limit is an option in Manitou Springs”
Hey Otto, maybe you should refrain from sniffing his breath.
Posted by
siggie
on 05/16/2013 at 6:36 AM
Re: “Have a say in oil and gas leasing of Pike forest”
But in Monument people actually live IN Pikes Nat'l Forest, not merely abutting it. And the Monument area will be a focus of drilling leases.
Posted by
Lalahartma
on 05/16/2013 at 6:10 AM
Re: “Pot-shop limit is an option in Manitou Springs”
please keep it local, we've got some rally good growers!
Posted by
laithe
on 05/15/2013 at 11:36 PM
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: “Homelessness solution: Welcome to Bachville”
This is a project for Mrs. Mayor to look like she is actually doing something for the community her husband is destroying. What a joke this Mayor is.
Posted by
pirate brands
on 05/15/2013 at 9:48 PM
Re: “Pitching City Council! to HBO”
At least the old group didnt lay down for Bach or his dirty attorney. Watching this Council is like watching paint dry.
Posted by
pirate brands
on 05/15/2013 at 9:45 PM
Re: “Sanders vs. Anschutz ... really”
bad and boring article, who cares?
Posted by
pirate brands
on 05/15/2013 at 9:42 PM
Re: “City Council looks to lawyer up”
Didnt the old Council actually vote at one time to get their own attorney? Chris Melcher put the old Council in terrible positions from almost the beginning of his employment. He has lied, gone directly to press to mislead, attends events he has no business attending, reported as ignoring Council requests for timely information, undermined Utilities and has paid out more taxpayer money to outside law firms then any previous attorney all while losing and settling millions of dollars of lawsuits. He was practically fired from Colorado College for dirty dealings and brought his unethical and scheming ways to the City. He needs to be fired.
Posted by
pirate brands
on 05/15/2013 at 9:39 PM
Re: “Pot-shop limit is an option in Manitou Springs”
Mayor Snyder is a known pot-head. One whiff of his breath is a giveaway. Just sayin...
Posted by
Otto Matic
on 05/15/2013 at 9:07 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: “Homelessness solution: Welcome to Bachville”
Siggie, you must think I am clairvoyant, if you think I spent "an entire week" working on a response to your "brilliant" comment, considering your post is not yet 12 hours old. Wow, indeed!
Poor siggie, can't count, can't tell time, can't read a calendar, but tells everyone else how to live and what to think!
Posted by
Mr. K--
on 05/15/2013 at 4:44 PM
Re: “Talking grilling with Steven Raichlen, the Bob Ross of barbecue”
Raichlen is a BBQ hack wannabe. Notice how much of his tutorials and pictures are using the technique of "grilling" and not true "bbqing". The outrageous price ($1996, really?) to attend his BBQ University is laughable. I would certainly pay that amount, and more, to learn from a true World Champion BBQ pitmaster such as Chris Lilly, Myron Mixon, Ray Lampe, or Johnny Trigg as they would teach the true art of low and slow BBQing methods and techniques. Raichlen mostly teaches grilling. If you watch his old show "Primal Grill" it does have a nice appeal to it, but he often does not reveal cooking temperatures or times. Just the end resuslts. It is a flashy show but not very informative. I'm sure the weekend event is fun as you get to hob-knob around with Raichlen, but call it what it is, "Grillin University" for $2K. Thanks, but no thanks.
Posted by
Arnold Ziffel
on 05/15/2013 at 4:22 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: “Want to support John Morse?”
“Attracts big money on both sides” my butt. Take the time to look at the facts and who is behind the $20,000 plus donated to help the misguided Morse and compare it to the hard working ordinary folk from Colorado who are donating to get him out. Democratic lawmakers “hard work”, well maybe, but “bravery” what horse poop. They are cowards for pushing through laws that serve no purpose other than to make them look good (only when looking in the mirror). They took the easy wrong instead of listening to Coloradoans and taking their time to do the hard right. This will be evident soon when they are looking for a job.