Residents of Boulder Park, an historic neighborhood east of downtown Colorado Springs, is a beautiful area of classic old homes, mature trees and a busy neighborhood park.

For a century,  it also has been home to Memorial Hospital. It’s also home to the Olympic Training Center at the old Ent Air Force Base. Here’s a shot of the hospital taken from its web site.

Below is a look at the neighborhood from FlashEarth.com:

For the most part, they peacefully coexist.

But, like any neighborhood, problems arise.

For months, the neighbors, the OTC and Memorial have been discussing the hospital’s growing use of its medical helicopter, seen below in a photo from its web site.

In the five years since Memorial leased its own helicopter, dubbed Memorial Star Transport, the average flights have jumped from one a day to eight a day.  Learn more about Memorial Star Transport here.

Here’s a look at the chopper parked atop the hospital:

Neighbors say the noise and vibration is getting unbearable. They want the hospital to mitigate the noise by taking several steps. Ideally, they’d like the hospital to relocate the helipad from the roof of a seven-story building to a location off campus.

The helipad is visible with the white cross in the photos.

 It’s about 90 feet above ground level. But neighbors say the wash from the rotors and the noise are too much. Here’s a slide from a report on noise created by Landrum & Brown, a Chicago consulting firm hired to study Memorial’s helicopter use. It shows where helicopter noise ranks against other sources:

 Memorial agreed to spend $475,000 to install a 6,000 gallon fuel tank on the campus, which it hopes to have operational by November.

 By pumping fuel to the roof, the hospital will cut out about 25 percent of the flights to and from the pad. Helicopters must be refueled after each flight, requiring a trip to the airport after each delivery.

 But neighbors also want the hospital to spend $2 million or more on a “roll-off pad” to park the helicopter when it’s not in use. That would reduce upwards of 10 percent more flights made necessary when helicopters from other hospitals arrive to pick up or deposit patients.

 Here’s a drawing of a proposed roll-off pad created by the aviation consultants: 

The debate about Memorial’s helicopter operations comes amid a growing concern nationally about the safety of medical helicopters, which have become a $2.5 billion industry over the last 20 years, the Washington Post reports.

An excellent Washington Post investigation  published in August reported that working in medical transport helicopters is the second most dangerous occupation after commercial fishing.

Federal officials estimate that more than 400,000 medical flights are made each year.

As the industry has grown, so have the number of fatal flights, federal safety records show. Last year was the deadliest for the profession, when 28 crew members and five patients died. In the 10 months from December 2007-October 2008, the death toll was 35.

 In response to the deadly trend, the National Transportation Safety Board held four days of hearings in Febuary to study the trend and in September the agency  called for stricter controls on emergency helicopter operators.

The agency has been pushing medical helicopter companies to beef up training for pilots, supply helicopters with night-vision equipment and require the installation of flight recorders. In its report, the board said insurance companies and Medicare pay more money to transport patients by air than on the ground, a situation that may have fueled the increase in medical flights.

Here’s a pilot’s-eye view of Memorial:

Some are questioning if there are too many medevac flights and unnecessary flight risks are being taken. The Baltimore Sun did an excellent piece last October in which  it studied 26 fatal medevac crashes in the U.S. since 2003 and found many did not involve urgent, life-or-death flights.

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CHOPPERS INCOMING! Eh? What’d ya say? Can’t hear a thing. is a post from: Side Streets

  For more than a century, folks have called Ivywild their home. It started as a small collection of homes on the old Dorr ranch on the south side of Fountain Creek, along smaller Cheyenne Creek. Below is a look at the neighborhood from FlashEarth.

 It was an unincorporated community, much like Falcon, Black Forest, Stratmoor Hills, Security/Widefield, the Broadmoor and others.

 It’s elementary school was founded in 1901 on land the Dorrs donated. At first, students studied in a two-room bungalow. Soon a second bungalow was added.

 Daniel Kennett was born in 1900 and went to Ivywild Elementary School in the bungalows.

 His daughter, Clara, above, attended the “new” Ivywild, an impressive blond brick building opened in 1917 after the bungalows were moved. See if below.

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 One of the bungalows was moved across the street and become the Ivywild Presbyterian Church and the other was moved to Ramona Avenue and now is Edelweiss Restaurant.

Clara graduated sixth grade in 1940 and moved on to junior high. Clara and her husband built a house in Ivywild in 1951 and sent their own two children, Dan and Mary, to the school, which had been expanded again.

But everything changes and that certainly true of Ivywild. And in this case, the change is not all for the better.

Over the years, Ivywild was surrounded by the city of Colorado Springs and eventually annexed in 1980 after a great commotion.

In addition, the Dorr ranchland and pastures gradually were transformed into neighborhoods, commercial properties like the motels along South Nevada Avenue and even into Motor City Drive north of Brookside Street.

In 2005, the neighborhood got a boost when the city transformed the Dorr’s old orchard and horse pasture into a neighborhood park, seen below with its restored Wishing Well.

Here’s  a plaque placed next to the wishing well:

   Now, Ivywild is struggling.

 Ivywild Elementary did not open this fall.

 Seen here last week, it is vacant and up for sale.

 It’s playground empty.

No crossing guards helping children cross busy Tejon Street or Cascade. It was among several schools closed by Colorado Springs School District 11 due to poor enrollment.

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Ivywild suffered another blow when, on Sept. 13, the Ivywild Community Church – formerly the Presbyterian Church, shut its doors after 93 years.

Here’s a look at the church.

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                                                     The closures have Clara Robinson worried. She has watched South Nevada Avenue decay. 

 She remembers when it was a family neighborhood where folks like Bob Isaac grew up to become longtime Colorado Springs mayor.

The Starsmore family lived there. And part of the Sinton dairy family, as well.

Today, it is a haven for drug dealers, prostitution, gang fights and problems associated with a heavy concentration of homeless.

 Same for Brookside Street. She fears it will creep into Ivywild and her little neighborhood.

 ”This was always such a nice, quiet, safe little neighborhood,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to it now.”‘

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IVYWILD . . . R.I.P.? is a post from: Side Streets

  Most people look out their back windows and, beyond the fence, can see into their neighbor’s kitchen or family room or bedrooms.

 Not true for folks in Oak Valley Ranch, a neighborhood tucked in the foothills between Mountain Shadows and Peregrine on Colorado Springs‘ northwest edge.

 Especially for families living on Front Royal, Coldwater and Hollandale drives.

 They back up to Castle Concrete Co.’s  Pikeview Quarry. Above is a 2001 photo of the quarry from The Gazette’s archives.

 We’re not talking Fred Flintstone here, either. This is the real thing, visible for miles along Interstate 25, just south of the Air Force Academy.

Lately, Oak Valley Ranch residents have had front-row seats for dramatic landslides that have sent upwards of 2 million tons of limestone cascading down the mountainside.

 The first slide occured Dec. 2, 2008, and dumped and estimated 1.5 million tons of limestone into the pit at the base of the cliff. The slide is obvious in the photo, above, taken the same day by The Gazette’s Carol Lawrence.

 But the mountain wasn’t done rockin’ and rollin’ yet. It let loose again Sept. 13 with a blast that sounded like thunder to neighbors who ran from their homes and ate dinner on their patios, watching as boulders the size of locomotives plunged down the cliff, dropping another 250,000 tons before it was done. 

Here’s a look at the two slides.

 Reader Chris Dorry posted on YouTube video of the slide that you can watch it on this link. At about the two minute mark, you’ll actually see landslide activity as rock breaks off and rolls. My friends at KOAA TV NewsFirst 5 also got some nice footage you can view here.

Here’s another cool video clip  that gives a great view of the landslide.

Here’s a photo of the action captured by neighbor Rob Hellem, who heard what he described as “rolling thunder” during dinner around 6 p.m. and looked out to see all heck breaking loose.

Experts say they expect further movement in the quarry.

M.L. “Mac” Shafer is vice president of Transit Mix Aggregates, which owns Castle Concrete and the Pikeview Quarry - a complex of about 100-mineable acres on a 190-acre tract.

 Transit Mix owned the Queens Quarry above the Garden of the Gods, which operated from about 1955 to 1989 and now has been reclaimed. The company also operates the Black Canyon Quarry behind Cedar Heights. And it has a sand mine along South Academy Boulevard.

Castle Concrete bought the Pikeview in 1969. It was operated for years by Peter Kiewit and Sons, Shafer said. It’s now known as Kiewit Western Corp.

Shafer said geologists agree that more landslides will occur. He said the limestone on the surface of the mountain sits on a layer of clay attached to the decomposed granite base that makes up Pikes Peak and much of the Front Range.

A year of steady snow and rain has saturated the limestone, coupled with the freeze-thaw cycle, caused it to slide, Shafer said.

On Feb. 12, federal Mine Safety and Health Administration officials issued five citations to Transit Mix and fined the company $2,564 for safety violations in connection with the slide. Shafer said the officials accused the company of mining too much of the base of the mountain, causing it to become unstable.

Since then, the company has been limited to removing its stockpiles of crushed limestone. The mine became more of a classroom for geologists and other scientists from around the world who have come to study the landslide.

After the Sept. 13 landslide, the mine has been shut down. Most of the stockpiles are exhausted. The conveyors of the rock crushers are sunning beds for bobcats. Deer and other wildlife are the only thing moving about in the mine.

Sophisticated laser sensors watch the mountainside, measuring it every few hours for any movement. Shafer said the company is developing a plan it hopes to present next June for possibly reopening the mine and finishing reclamation efforts.

Neighbors, meanwhile, are wondering if there’s any danger in rocks rolling into their backyards. Look at these bad boys hanging from the top of the latest slide. Shafer estimates the larger boulder on the right weighs at 20,000 tons! Like a locomotive perched on the mountainside.

Shafer said such a disaster is not likely. Below is a look at the mine, prior to the landslides, from GoogleEarth. It shows the pit.

For now, things are calm again. But, eventually, experts expect the mine to break loose again. They are especially watching a fault at the apex of the mine above the most recent slide. On a recent hike with a geologist, Shafer said he was able to actually look into the fault and see the spot where the limestone, clay and granite meet.

For now, the landslide have not destroyed all the reclamation efforts done over the past decade on the southern rim of the mine. More than 2,000 trees have been planted on the ledges of the mine by volunteers with the Colorado Mountain Reclamation Foundation.

LIKE A ROLLING STONE! Life below Pikeview Quarry is a post from: Side Streets

I asked. You answered. Below is what we learned.

I’ve posted two lists.

One is an alphabetical list of 80 or so homeowners associations and their cousins — community, neighborhood, recreation, condo and townhome associations. All are from the Colorado Springs region.

The second file contains a numeric list, ranking them top to bottom by amount.

On the alpha list, I’ve included comments I received in e-mails from you, the source of the information. However, I have not included any names or e-mail addresses.

If you find this interesting, informative, valuable or wrong, tell me. Shoot me an e-mail at bill.vogrin@gazette.com. Then stay tuned.

In the very near future, I will be creating a more formal questionaire about HOA dues. It will ask you to click through the amenities you recieve for your money and even comment on the quality of your HOA.

I’m hoping the database will even include a map feature.

There are two ways to look at the database. You can either read the alphabetical list posted below or follow these links to the list: Alphabetical list and Numeric list

Alpine Glen at Peregrine

38 homes pay $305 master plus $345 to the sub-division or $650 a year

Aspen Leaf Townhomes Condominium Association

20-unit townhome complex with nonthly dues of $120 or $1,440 a year

Autumn Heights Community Owners Association

Dues 223$ per month or $2,676 a year.  This gets you a clubhouse, spa, all lawn care, trash, community watering costs, fence repair, snow removal, road & sidewalk repair, external walls and roof repair, on all townhouses.  Everything inside the walls is your problem.  This HOA is down along Star Ranch road & Broadmoor Bluffs.

Broadmoor Resort Community

$3,360 – gated community above The Broadmoor hotel.

Broadmoor Village

Dues are $260.00 per month or $3,120 per year which covers lawn maintenance, water for the lawn, snow removal, gate and street repairs and just wondered how that compares with some of your research.

Carriages at Charleston Place

80 patio homes with dues of $181 a month or $2,172 a year

Cedar Heights Community Association

$602/quarter (or $2,408 annually) for Lot with House. Dues are lower for a Raw Lot. Dues cover operating costs and capital needs (like roads).

Community at Spring Creek

single-family homes pay $46 per month, or $552 annually for trash pickup, common area maintenance and not much else.

Cottonwood Creek Townhome Association

near the corner of Union and Woodmen currently charges $173 per monty or $2,076 per year. HOA dues include water, sewer, trash, recycling, landscape maintenance and snow removal. We maintain a swimming pool and tennis courts for the homeowners.

Discovery Homeowners Association

$30 a year, plus a voluntary $20 for police protection

Dublin Manor Condominium Association

managed by Haley Realty dues are  $ 2,254 per year or $286.56 per month.  This includes ABSOSLUTELY NOTHING!  No clubhouse, no swimming pool, no security checking the premises, no block get togethers, not even a playground of any sort for the children.  It has been painted one time since 1997.  They mow the grass and shovel the sidewalks

Eagle Rock Neighborhood, Inc.

charges a whopping $10/year HOA due.  For that we get an annual members meeting, which we held just yesterday, a real sense of community, a neighborhood watch and a board of 10 volunteers to address any member’s concerns.

Eagles Nest Homeowners Association

Dues 155$ per month or $1,860 a year.  This gets you commons areas maintenance, lawn care (however, water billing for sprinklers is your cost), fence repair, maintenance of drainages & thru-hood sidewalks & paths, and snow removal.    This HOA is up around the Vindicator & GardenGods zone, north of Intel. 

Erindale Townhomes

Erindale Townhomes (off Vickers & Academy behind Bally’s and Taco Bell). The complex is managed by Haley Realty. My dues are $191 a month or $2,292 a year and that covers water, sewer, trash, and all outside maintenance. The dues were $169 last year but took a huge leap due to the increase in water costs. The complex is well maintained and the association has initated some xeriscaping this year but I still wonder if my HOA dues are on the high end, especially since my complex has no ammenities beyond RV parking and a basketball hoop, both in an undeveloped corner of the complex.

Fairways Springs Ranch HOA 

Dues are $174.00 a month and $2,088 a year.  They started at $135 a month when the HOA was in legal dispute with a builder in 2003 . I was told because of legal fees. What is included: snow plowing, snow shoveling the walks leading to our door, lawn care (postage stamp sized yards in the back only), insurance on the outer structure, painting when it’s needed (around every two years) and legal fees.  There is no recreation center, and although we sit on a golf course dues are not included. It is so utterly frustrating I can’t stand it.

Fifteenth Fairway Townhome Owners Association

Near Valley Hi, dues are $125 a month or $1,500 a year

Fountain Valley Ranch  Home Owners Association, Filing 4A and 4B

 We have a five member Association board of directors that looks after all the areas of responsibility.  We have 76 homes  in our association.  Annual dues per home owner is $66.50.  There is also an Association funded Neighborhood Watch Program with block captains in each of four sectors with a Neighborhood Watch coordinator  who maintains a  liaison with the Sheriff’s Department.

Flying Horse Master HOA

$900 a year

Friendship-Crescent-Mesa Neighborhood Association (FCMNA)

Dues are $35 a year for the association of 70 single family properties near the intersection of Fillmore/Fontero Drive and Mesa Road (near Holmes Middle School).  We do not own common property. Activities include an annual picnic, winter party, yard sale, FireWise yard clean up days, and a few social clubs.

Gleneagle North

$100 per year

Gleneagle Filing No.3                                                                       75 homes in the neighborhood, dues are $300 per year. 

Gold Hill I HOA Inc.
Dues: $200.00 per month or $2,400 a year.

Golden Hills HOA

in Rockrimmon, with covenants recorded in 1972.  Dues at that time were $75 per year, and at this time continue at that same rate.  While an effort is ongoing to increase those dues to cover escalating expenses, nothing has been changed at this date.

The dues cover maintenance of the Association common area, which covers slightly over 80 acres, insurance, mowing, community signs,various supplies, several events such as a semi-annual garage sale, a summer event (this year an ice cream social and magician), Halloween Trunk or Treat event, Chirstmas lighting contest and lights in the association park.  A community web-site is hosted plus a newsletter that is mailed 4 times each year.  Attorneys fees are a necessity, especially currently when an owner is suing the HOA claiming ownership of a portion of the common area (that belongs to all deed holders) through Adverse Possession. We have an involved and informed board of directors of 8 people, plus a number of volunteers who assist with many services.

Greencrest Homeowners Association

northeast Palmer Park, pays $30 per year, and dues are voluntary.

Grove at Briargate Townhome Association

Pay $230 monthly dues or $2,990 a year

Hearthwood Townhomes

pay $136.50 a month or $1,638 a year. The property manager is MSI.

Highlands at Springs Ranch

278 houses where dues are $130 a year

Indigo Ranch at Stetson Hills

Dues are $200 a year and that includes around $100 for trash service. Hammersmith Management Co.

Kings Deer Master

King’s Deer HOA is $300 a year. This income from our 531 lots provides the HOA with a full time business office with one employee to manage the HOA business, including covenant enforcement, managing the common area maintenance, records management, finances, etc. The dues also pays for maintenance of our common areas which I estimate at about 60 acres; this includes a sports field and playground. King’s Deer also maintain six nicely landscaped entries into the community.

Kissing Camels

dues for a single family residence in the master Kissing Camels Property Owners Association is $170 per month or $2,040 annually

Knolls at Spring Ranch

298 homes with dues of $150 per year plus a $40 annual special maintenance assessment

La Bellezza at Peregrine

47 homes pay $305 master annual dues plus $275 monthly or $3,300 a year for a total $3,605, landscaping and private street maintenace

Lexington Park HOA

Dues are $125.39 a month or $1,504.68 a year. operated by Z & R Property Mgmt

Mirrillion Townhome Association

Mirrillion Townhomes is a 14 unit townhome complex with dues of $130 a month or $1,560 a year. It’s at the top of 20th Street off of Unitah.  There are three more units in the first stage that are new with plans to build 8 more units shortly, which will probably be set up as condominiums, but will be the same as the townhomes.

Mission Cove Townhome Owners Association

A gated townhome community of 20 units that pay dues of $285 a month or $3,420 a year

Mountain Shadows Community Association

Voluntary master association requests $25 a year

Northgate Highlands Homeowners Association

Dues are $95 per quarter or $380 a year which includes trash pickup, common area maintenance, and administration. We also pay $62 to Wasson Properties which maintains the common area median from Interquest to Northgate along Voyager but not within our HOA community. They do not maintain the street or remove the snow.  The “fee” was recently raised from $37 to $62 under the pretext that the cost of watering was to increase. The neighborhood consists of 321 homes, built from 2001-2007.  The dues cover maintenance and landscaping of all common areas, weekly garbage pick-up (including use of a large wheeled garbage can), insurance, neighborhood community events (advertising for our annual garage sale, movie nights, Sky Sox games, etc) “Yard-of-the-month” awards, “Best holiday lights” awards, “Welcome baskets” for new neighbors, a quarterly newsletter, all community governance (yes, this means covenants are enforced!) and the small salary paid to our very competent Administrative Assistant.

North Range at Springs Ranch HOA

 Springs Ranch has about 11 separate HOAs under one master HOA. This is where it gets complicated:  
 Some 511 home comprise North Range, one of the separately managed HOAs, and our dues total of $130 a year.  North Range is presently charged $40 per home as our portion of the master association maintenance (SRMA). So our management company attempts to collect $130.00 from each home (can we say the economy stinks and foreclosures abound ?) and sends $40 of that sum to SRMA, leaving $90.00 to North Range for all other expenses: Management, insurance, maintenance and repair of the 5 easements that lie within North Range, newsletters and homeowner info, etc.
  North Range at Springs Ranch HOA, Inc is managed by Courtney and Courtney and pays in full each year the SRMA portions as they become due regardless of state of our internal finances and needs. We post online, send budget reports with each letter that invites all homeowners to the Annual Meeting, post and openly welcome any homeowner to the regular meetings, and enforce the CC&Rs to maintain the value of the area.
 

Old Broadmoor Road Condominium Association

50-unit condo complex where dues are $250 per month or $3,000 a year (Manager: Courtney & Courtney) which includes structure insurance, exterior maintenance of homes except decks which are owner’s responsibility, lawn care & maintenance, and trash pickup weekly.  I am amazed that some HOA residents do not know more about their HOA Budgets, etc.  They should attend meetings or run for a Board Vacancy or ask for a copy of their budgets to learn about where their money is going and why.  They need to know about escrows for future expenses, and many other items.

Parkside at Mountain Shadows

$107 per month or $1,284 a year.

Peregrine Master

$305 a year for the master association which counts 850 homes. Three sub-associations bring the total in Peregrine to 1006 homes.

Pinecliff Homeowners Association

$30 per year voluntary dues, 30-year-old neighborhood of 600 homes

Pinon Glen HOA

across Pinon Valley Road from the Rockrimmon Post Office.

We have 72 homes in our development, and our dues are $165 a month or $1,980 a year. When the development started 10 years ago, dues were $120, then $150, and about 3 yrs. ago went to $165. 

 For that we get:  All yard maintenance, including water for the sprinkler systems, trash pickup, snow removal, all maintenance for the exterior of our homes which will eventually include roof replacement.

 The HOA has recently done mud-jacking of driveways and sidewalks that needed it, and replacement of concrete where needed.  We have a small clubhouse with a full kitchen which can be used by anyone if the event is open to all residents.

Pinon Springs Condominium Association

located off Picturesque Circle in Village Seven. Dues are based on the square footage of condominium design. The largest unit pays $239 per month or $2,868 a year; next in size pays $225.00; $215; $208 and the smallest which is a nice ranch style is $156 or $1,872. These are current rates having gone up on November 1, 2008. This was a 10 percent increase.

Pleasant Valley Neighborhood Association

$20 annual dues, 600 homes, 150 members

Raintree Springs Association

Raintree Springs is a complex of 28 buildings with four townhomes in each building near Academy and Flintridge. Our monthly dues are now $154 or $1,848 a year, but are tentatively scheduled to increase to $161 next calender year or $1,932 a year. With that income we are maintaining a swimming pool and buildings that are approximately 35 years old. Dues include water, sewer and trash removal charges for the entire complex. Since I help put together the annual budget each year, I of course feel that we are keeping the dues as low as we possibly can, and still be able to maintain the complex.

Raven Hills Homeowner’s Association

Dues are $60 per year and cover mowing of a neighborhood park and other common grounds and maintenance of a playground

Ridgeview at Stetson Hills Master HOA

dues are currently $121 annually (just barely over $10 monthly).  Services include maintenance of the Common areas (landscaping, snow removal, trash removal, utility bills, fence replacement and staining, and so on, Property Management (billing, assistance with Covenant enforcement, infraction notices, etc…), Legal fees, a quarterly newsletter, maintenance of a web site, and some other miscellaneous items. 

Saddleback at Newport Heights Townhome

A 48-unit townhome complex with dues of $191 a month or $2,291 a year

Saddleback Townhomes

 at the corner of Austin Bluffs and Templeton Gap) dues are $185 a month or $2,220 a year, we don’t have any amenities like clubhouse, pool, playgrounds, etc. but do have substantial, park-like landscaping which costs us about $2000 a month year round PLUS snow removal extra.

Sanctuary at Peregrine

60 homes with annual dues of $305 master, $1,224 annual to the sub association or a total $1,529 plus $135 snow removal fee

Smoketree Townhomes in Briargate

Dues are $145 a month or $1,740 a year. No pools, no tennis courts, no annual parties, no playground.  Our dues include maintenance of common areas, repainting/paving the drives  

Stepping Stones HOA condos

north of 21st and Uintah, dues are $180 per month or $2,160 and include: water, management company fees, lawn maintenance/mowing, snow removal and sidewalk shoveling in winter, trash pickup, condo building insurance, roof repairs and general maintenance.

Spires Drainage HOA 

Dues 25$ per month oe $300 a year.  This was the original Spires area development company, for upper Cheyenne Mountain, and is now converted into a standard HOA.  They maintain & lawn care the commons areas (mostly like flag-lot corners), and are supposed to maintain the two-to-four large drainage system, which deliver & control flood waters from the mountain.  At present, they also have an ACC Architectural Control Committee which screens new house plans, and approves all major landscaping and external house modifications or changes.  This group still maintains liability insurance, and legal cover, for any future damages due to drainage failures.  The original Spires Development Corporation is now defunct & extinct, and only exists as an insurance entity, until their legal-liability time expires, in roughly 4+years. 

Spring Grove Homeowners Association

the Spring Grove subdivision is located between Hwy 115/Spring Meadows (E & W sides) and Lake Avenue and Cheyenne Mountain Boulevard (N & S sides): townhouse or so-called row-houses, they havet partial common walls with neighbors – dues are $970.70 per quarter or $3,886.80 per year in HOA dues.  The principal elements of that amount comprise the landscaping, water costs (which went up significantly this year, thanks to CSU’s new water rates), road maintenance, snow removal and the night guard at the gate.

Spring Lane Homeowners Association

the 83 homes on Dawn Break Loop southeast side of Valley Hi Golf Course bordered by Chelton and Afternoon Circle are $70 per month or $840 a year, unchanged since they were raised from $65.oo in November 2006.  For that, members receive snow removal from Dawn Break Loop and all the cul-de-sacs, lawn maintenance, trash pickup,  and street maintenance.

Springs Ranch Homeowners Association

dues are $100 per year which is unchanged in 10 years 

Stonebridge at Cedar Heights

$3,133 annually

Stratton Pines

$3,600 annually

Stratton Preserve Estates

$2,208 annually

Sundance at Greencrest

dues are $2,280 a year to service 34 units. We have no clubhouse or pool. These dues cover everything outside the units, including the private street

Sweetwater Ridge Homeowners Association

Our dues here are $225 a month or $2,700 a year. We have 21 homes here finished & 23 vacant lots.

Toscano at Flying Horse

$6,000 a year

Townhomes at Rockrimmon The Residents

Our dues are currently $210 per month or $2,520 a year. The dues were $115 per month when I moved in June 1993. The complex has a clubhouse with pool, hot tub and game room, office and maintenance area; two tennis courts, not very much visitor parking a

Valley Hi Condominium Association

48 condos in four buildings catering to seniors, 55-years and older paying $212 a month or $2,554 per year 

Victoria Village at Colorado Springs Homeowners Association

$141 a month or $1,692 a year

Villages at Peregrine

49 homes pay $305 a year to the master HOA and $190.46 a month or $2,285.52 a year

Village Seven Homeowners Association Master

$250 annual dues

Villa Sierra Condominium Association

Our community at 1100 Fontmore Road is comprised of 200 units, one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom.  Most are either 2 or 3 bedroom.  When the charter was first drawn up over 30 years ago, the dues varied according to the size of the unit.  Thus our fees currently range from $137 to $285 a month or $1,644 to $3,420 per year.  This covers water usage, insurance on the units, maintenance of the properties including the common areas, grass mowing, landscaping care, snow removal.  We have two full-time maintenance people plus some occasional part-time persons.  Also we have a guard on duty 24 hours a day at the gate.

Villas at Log Hollow

part of the Broadmoor Resort Community Association. A townhome community consisting of 41 units.  Our dues are $495 per month or $5,940 a year and cover insurance, yard maintenance, snow removal, and manned security at the front gate.

Wagon Trails Recreation Association

Dues are $250 a year, include pool, splash park, wading pool, tennis court, basketball court, green space, social events including movie nights, barbecue dinner, ice cream social for 948 homes.

Windjammer Community

dues are $75 per quarter or $300 a year for trash w/total recycling, maintenance of common areas, 2 yearly roll-offs, and scheduled private security patrol.  It also sponsors our yearly yard sale.

Windjammer Pointe Townhomes

Near Valley Hi Golf Course, dues are $130 a month, increasing $5 in November to $1,620 a year, 65 units, small playground, basketball court, couple picnic tables

Wolf Ranch Owners Association Master

Dues are $22 a month or $264 a year and includes trash pickup

Woodbridge Townhome Owners Association

64 units on 10 acres off Broadmoor Valley Road built in 1981 with dues of $265 a month or $3,180 per year

Woodmoor Improvement Association

Dues $209 a year, 2,967 residences, administrative staff of 3 fulltime and 1 part time accountant, one barn, ACC, common areas covenant protection and forestry, over 2,000 acres, 51 miles of roads, 7 fulltime public safety staff patrol 24-7

Woodmoor Park Townhomes

$125 a month or $1,500 a year, pays for snow removal and trash, no amenities

HOA DUES – where do your dues rank? is a post from: Side Streets

The Council of Neighbors and Organizations, or CONO, is trying to alert residents of Colorado Springs and El Paso County about the budget crises facing the local governments.

So CONO – a volunteer umbrella group for the city’s neighborhoods - is sponsoring a series of free community forums where folks can come and listen to non-partisan experts discuss the economy and how it is crippling local governments.

Dave Munger, president of CONO, said the group wants to dispel a lot of the misinformation floating around about the city using “scare tactics” to justify a property tax increase and allegations of “socialist conspiracies” and the like.

The first forum was in August. The second was 6:30-8:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Fire Department Complex, 375 Printers Parkway, east of downtown. 

The final forum will be held 6:30-8:30 p.m., on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the West Intergenerational Center, in the old Buena Vista Elementary School at 1628 W. Bijou Street. It will feature a lengthy community discussion of the implications of the previous two forums. 

 Initial comments will be made by by:

Dave Csintyan, CEO of the Greater Pikes Peak Area Chamber of Commerce;

Jan Doran, past president of CONO

 Steve Pope, publisher of the Gazette.  Ample free parking is available on site.

  The Pikes Peak Library District is showing the sessions online and on Comcast Cable Channel 17. Below is a screen capture of Dave Munger at the first CONO forum.

CONO’s first economic forum featured Colorado Springs City Manager Penny Culbreth-Graft and El Paso County Administrator Jeff Greene. That session can be viewed on cable on this schedule:

• September 21, Monday 7:30 p.m.
• October 11, Sunday, 6 p.m.
• October 15, Thursday, 9 p.m. 

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CONO Sounds the Alarm is a post from: Side Streets

Budget projections. For Colorado Springs in 2010, it looks pretty bleak.

Just check out the city’s Web page. You can’t avoid the numbers or the city’s efforts to convince voters to approve a property tax increase on Nov. 3 to avoid drastic cuts. Here’s an example of the city’s efforts to educate voters on how little they pay in sales tax compared to other cities.

Income from sales taxes and other sources is in a free-fall.  The city planned to spend about $237 million from its general fund in 2010. Now, it  is projecting a $25.4 million shortfall in revenue.

Here’s a link to a presentation by City Manager Penny Culbreth-Graft , left, on Aug. 24 in which she laid out the ugly numbers.

Everyone knows the greatest savings are achieved through reductions in personnel. And you are probably thinking: look, the city has 1,800 employees. How hard can it be to save $25.4 million?

Really hard if you take 1,200 employees out of the equation.

That’s how many police and firefighters are on the city payroll. Voters don’t like cuts in public safety. And politicians like to brag about all the new cops and firefighters they put  on the streets.

That leaves just 600 city staffers to shoulder the cuts. And, again, nobody likes to see their pothole fillers and snowplow drivers cut. Here’s a look at the budget pie. The big slice is police and fire. The smaller slice is every other department in city government.

So the budget ax is taking aim at so-called “non-essential” services like parks, recreation and cultural services. I guess that’s true, if you consider quality of life a “non-essential” item. Check out these numbers.

 That agency has 216 folks work to maintain six community centers, seven pool complexes, the ice center, museum, historic sites and thousands of acres of parks from Garden of the Gods and Red Rock Canyon down to dozens of neighborhood parks.

Who needs them? I’m guessing there isn’t anyone reading this who doesn’t use one or more of the facilities on that list.

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READ ‘EM AND WEEP is a post from: Side Streets

Lorine Zukowski thinks it is wrong for Colorado Springs to allow developers leave dirt trails where sidewalks are supposed to go.

She understands that heavy construction equipment can ruin sidewalks. But she’s tired of shuffling through the dirt and mud, getting scratched by weeds and dodging snakes as she walks her neighborhood.

The mess can’t be avoided because a long stretch of sidewalk along Centennial Boulevard is missing near the Chesham Village South Townhomes, being developed by Clancy Building and Design.

Below is a look at the project’s Web page. This architect’s drawing shows six buildings. Only three are built . . . the two along Chesham Circle on the north and the building on the western edge of the project. The three on the south side of Chelsea Village Heights have not been built.

Here’s a look at what actually exists on Chelsea Village Heights:

The street is blocked by a fence. Beyond it, you can see the corner and the missing sidewalks where neighbors deal with a dirt trail.

Here’s a closer look at the dirt trail, facing south along Centennial Boulevard.

Below is a vew to the north, showing how kids must dodge a steel structure to make their way down to the bus stop:

Developer Al Clancy said he’d love to finish the project and install the sidewalks. But he said there’s not much he can do until the economy improves and he can resume construction of his townhomes.

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DIRT TRAILS are not “happy trails” is a post from: Side Streets

We’ve all see yard signs promoting political candidates. Or signs urging drivers to Slow Down, Drive 25 and Keep Kids Alive. Or advertising the landscaper/roofer/concrete company doing work at someone’s home.

But recently I noticed a new kind of yard sign in the Discovery neighborhood in Rockrimmon  that could start popping up all across the Colorado Springs region.

Here it is below:

That’s it, you are asking?!? What’s so special about that sign?

It represents an end to phone calls from people wondering if their neighbor has approval for whatever is going on in the yard behind the sign.

That’s huge if you are one of the hundreds of volunteers who sit on a Homeowners Association, or HOA, board or an “architectural control committee” that governs improvements made in covenant-controlled communities.

That simple blue and white sign with seven words will stop the phone calls.

It immediately tells people that the paint color being put on the trim is approved, or the roof meets ACC guidelines or the garish curbside driveway pedestals are OK, no matter how ugly and ostentatious you think they are.

The signs have another, perhaps more important, value.

If folks get used to seeing signs in front of houses where projects are underway, they will immediately notice when work is going on and the signs are absent.

In other words, it will be harder for people to get away with doing work without HOA approval.

The signs are going to be featured at an upcoming monthly meeting of the Council of Neighbors and Organizations, the umbrella group for the city’s HOAs.

I suspect we’ll start seeing similar signs in neighborhoods across the region.

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SIGNS OF THE TIMES is a post from: Side Streets

The Colorado Department of Transportation ought to just park a backhoe and dump truck along Rusina Road so they’ll be handy the next time it decides to rebuild the adjacent Garden of the Gods Road exit off of Interstate 25.

Here’s a look at the interchange from FlashEarth:

The problem is to the left of I-25, on the north side of Garden of the Gods Road, where the exit ramp abuts Rusina Road.

Here’s a better look at the trouble spot that developed after CDOT rebuilt the exit in 2006.

Imagine trying to get off I-25 onto Garden of the Gods during the evening rush hour when hundreds of Pinecliff and Rockrimmon residents are trying to cut in front of you to turn north on Rusina.

Happened every day and caused a lot of wrecks. Folks in Mountain Shadows neighborhood feared someone would get killed and lobbied CDOT for changes. Here’s a previous Side Streets on their complaints.

So CDOT held neighborhood meetings and decided the safest option was to stop traffic from turning off Garden of the Gods onto Rusina. They painted a solid white stripe and erected plastic pylons to prevent the turns.

But neighbors howled in objection. They wanted their shortcut back. More meetings and some hard-ball politics led to the installation of a stop sign on the far right-turn lane and a traffic signal on the middle right-turn lane. Here’s the Side Streets column I wrote on that development.

The idea was to stop interstate traffic to give preference to the neighborhood shortcutters.

Now, CDOT is plowing up the exit once again. The signs and signals were too confusing. So they are simplifying the intersection. You can see some of the signs that left motorists befuddled:

Here’s a look at the construction already underway and the plans for the new exit. One of the islands is already removed and the exit is being widened to create a double right-turn lane:

 Here is a drawing, taken from CDOT blueprints, showing the previous allignment and the new design.

 Next is a crude drawing on a FlashEarth photo of how the new exit will look.

For you history buffs, here’s a link to a blog I posted in September 2007 on the Rusina Road cross-over controversy. It was just the second blog I had ever posted. You might chuckle at the contrast between it and the long-winded blogs I create today.

DOING THE RUSINA ROAD SHUFFLE! is a post from: Side Streets