Need your advise and assistance

[edan...@aol.com]

Dear sir,

My name is Ed Hills.  I am a property owner in Red Feather Lakes and have recently encountered an issue of serious concern with what is becoming an adversarial relationship with the county engineering staff.  This issue has historically had serious financial consequences for us and, apparently, will continue to impact us for years to come.

Ou RFL address is 68 Fey Drive.  We have owned this property for 15 years.  On Friday, August 14th we returned to our place to find that someone had graded our private road (Fey Drive), ruining 14 years of  careful tending and significant investment to perfect the drainage and condition of our road.  After investigating, by talking to neighbors, we found out that our road was graded by a newly hired contractor who was given the list of roads to grade by the County Engineering staff under the guidelines of GID13A.  Additionally, our local GID13A board recently had a complete turnover and the "corporate knowledge" as to our private road was lost.

For background, although I see it discussed on Nextdoor often, I was never really aware of what GID13A was until last year.  One of the previous GID13A board members mentioned that our property was included in the GID during a discussion on snow removal at our annual POA silent auction fundraiser dinner.  A close neighbor had the snow removal contract and told me he would include our road when he did the plowing.  Our road stays relatively clear of snow due to the fact that it is wide open to wind and sun unless there is a substantial snowstorm that dumps a lot of snow in a short period of time.  Wayne only had to plow our road twice. 

We bought our place in 2009.  The original plat was 2.43 acres and Fey drive traversed a tract of land about 200 yards wide between our property and Creedmore Lakes road (CR73C).  The land between us and the county road was owned by the Quaintance Trust and we negotiated the purchase of this extra 5 acres in 2017.  Being good stewards and law biding citizens, we combined the two plats and our road became truly private.  Doing this increased our tax burden because the new parcel had been previously zoned agriculture.  

I also need to point out that, although created in 1992, GID13A  maintenance has never touched Fey Drive.  Neither the original builder/owner Lynn Fey (a RFL legend and pillar of the community) nor the subsequent owner, Mike Devitch ever had any road maintenance nor snow plowing done under GID13A.  In fact, Mike tried to sell me the tractor, originally purchased by Lynn, which he said would be needed to maintain the road and remove snow.  I declined, choosing to rent equipment as needed.

I rented a tractor with box scraper and had road base trucked in every three or four years and groomed our road so that it banked and drained perfectly.  I used the most expensive road base available for its compactibility.  Unlike the gravel that is laid down by the county and its contractors, the roadbase I buy becomes almost like concrete after getting wet and well compacted and is almost completely free of any weeds.  I have invested about $5,000 over the 14 years to get our road nearly perfect only to have it completely torn up, the grade changed, edges broken down and vegetation debris graded into a crest down the middle of the road.

I reached out to our GID13A board chair Ryan Zigray who quickly involved Katie Bielby from the County Engineering department.  Both of them were sympathetic and understanding, assuring me that they would make it "right".  Katie advised me, over the phone, that they would work with the contractor to correct the damage and return our road to its original condition as closely as possible.  I asked that they return it to its original grade, replace roadbase that had been graded off the sides and compact the roadbase.  They assured me that they would do so, adding that it might not be possible to use the quality roadbase I have been using.

The contractor quickly graded the road back close to its original levels and Katie assigned Matthew Johnson to coordinate restoration. Matthew questioned the need for additional roadbase and the need to compact the roadbase but, after my insistence, had a small load of gravel spread and compacted on a portion of the road that had been graded down to dirt that was becoming muddy with the monsoon rains.  I thanked them and accepted their limitations.

When Katie Bielby first contacted me by phone she was VERY supportive, apologizing for the fact that county engineering had directed the grading contractor to grade our road and advising me that I had been paying $300 annually for the GID13A services and encouraging me to petition for exclusion from GID13A.  Her position changed over the following weeks as we worked to set up a hearing for the exclusion when Engineering management, I believe Frank Haug, who was copied on Katie's email, met with Katie and Matthew to discuss my petition and they decided that, although Fey Drive does not intersect Hiawatha Hwy, the spirit of the GID was such that ANYONE who could reasonably be expected to use Hiawatha Hwy should be included in the tax.  Therefore I was advised that Larimer County Engineering could not support my petition.  I told Katie to cancel scheduling a hearing until I could determine whether I had ANY chance of getting my petition approved given the opposition in Engineering.

I have spent $1200-1500 every third or fourth year for roadbase delivery and equipment rental to groom and maintain Fey Drive.  During that time I have been taxed $4800 for services that neither I nor the two previous owners enjoyed except for the two times it was plowed last year.  I plow the road myself usually.

I must add that I NEVER drive Hiawatha Hwy.  In winter my truck is caked with mud and in summer covered with dust if I do, not to mention the wear and tear on a vehilce with all the washboarded sections.  Unless I need to visit someone who lives on or just off of Hiawatha Hwy, the only time I am on that road is when I walk my dog to Shagwa Lake.  I prefer to drive Creedmore Lakes Road which is ALWAYS plowed by 9AM on snow days and is paved, free of dust and mud.  By the Engineering Dept's stand on the "spirit" of the GID (which, by their admission is not written but their estimation since none of them were involved in setting it up), the constant train of vehicles to and from Crystal Lakes should also be taxed for its maintenance.

I would also like to add that I am not an isolationist.  My wife and I take walks from our place (mile marker one) to the cattle guard at the top of the hill above the Deadman intersection, sometimes two or three times per day.  We always take plastic bags and pick up bottles, cans, cigarette butts, debris blown from contractor vehicles, etc.  We have filled as much as an entire construction bag of trash over a two week period.  We haul these bags to the Larimer landfill and PAY to dispose of the trash.

The purpose of this email is to ask you whether it is worth our while to pursue this exclusion, spending over $200 for the required mailings and investing the time, travel and time sitting in the hearing room only to have it vetoed by the county engineering department.  It feels like city hall is simply motivated to hang on to every penny of the tax revenue they get at all cost.

Sincerely,

Ed Hills

68 Fey Drive, RFL

303-903-6322

[edan...@aol.com]

John,

You are correct that we have not, nor have any previous owner of this property,  benefitted from this taxation.  Instead, I have expended and amount equal to the amount of my GID13A taxes to maintain the road myself, and in a far superior fashion to that afforded residents under GID13A.  I have walked my dog down Hiawatha Hwy several times since it was graded/groomed and the dust cloud stirred up by passing motor traffic is choking.  Additionally, the road was already washboarded in several places just three weeks after that grooming.  If this quality, or lack thereof, is what I could expect from having GID13A services for our road going forward, NO THANK YOU.

I just compared the road services GID13A provides for Hiawatha Hwy compared to Creedmore Lakes Road (CR73C) beyond the end of the pavement and am wondering why CR73C gets extensive dust mitigation treatment at least twice per year with residences, at best, no closer than 3/4 to a mile apart along this road while Hiawatha Hwy, with residences all along it, gets zero dust mitigation treatment, just the cheapest roadbase thinly applied and quickly worn off the sides of the road.

I also need to reiterate that we are at the absolute end of RFL, maybe two full time residences beyond us to the end of the "GID", and the lion's share of the traffic on Hiawatha Hwy into the village is Crystal Lakes residents and their contractors.  If the spirit of the GID is that, because I "could" be expected to use Hiawatha Hwy", therefore should be taxed for it, then WHY does this NOT APPLY to the constant train of drivers from Crystal Lakes, as well.

Anxiously awaiting your findings after the response from engineering.

Thank you,

Ed

P.S.  A reminder that it was the engineering dept who, at the onset, apologized, promised to make it right and ENCOURAGED me to pursue exclusion.  That support has slowly disappeared, eroded and changed from promising to restore our road, to questioning whether I NEEDED roadbase replaced, to questioning whether it needed to be compacted, to now advising me that they cannot support my exclusion.  I have accepted a poorer quality of roadbase, ONLY applied to half of my road and accepted that the portions of the road edge broken down by the heavy equipment tires can't and won't be corrected by the county.  Based on my experience working on my own road, this will take more years of gradually building it back up, much like I have been doing for the past 14 years.

On Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 06:50:44 PM MDT, John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us> wrote:

Good evening Ed,

Thank you for your detailed and thoughtful email describing your situation and concerns regarding your relationship with the RFL GID13A. First of all. please accept my sincere apology for taking 6 days to respond to your email. Truth be told, I cannot always keep up with all my emails in a timely manner. Regarding your question about an exclusion request, I've asked our county engineer a few questions, and the answers to his questions will help inform my response to your question. I understand that the road grading issues have been addressed, and the remaining problem is that you believe you are not benefitting from the taxes you are paying for the GID. Is my understanding correct? If so, are there other options/ideas besides an exclusion request to for addressing the GID issue? 

	John Kefalas (he/him) County Commissioner, District 1
	Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 W: (970) 498-7001 Cell:  (720) 254-7598 jkef...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org

[edan...@aol.com]

I was only asking for an honest assessment of how much weight "City Hall's" position carries in these proceedings.  If they have more say than me, I don't want to flush a bunch of money and time down the toilet just to get my day in court.  

On Tuesday, October 8, 2024 at 11:49:05 AM MDT, John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us> wrote:

Good morning Ed,

I spoke with Mark Peterson and Katie Beilby earlier today, and based on your emails and my conversations with staff, I have a much better understanding of the situation. The main takeaway is that you are within your rights as a property owner and taxpayer within the RFL GID 13A to request an exclusion hearing and that there is a process and a cost to send out notices to your neighbors within the GID boundary. There are statutory guidelines, and once a hearing is scheduled this becomes a quasi-judicial matter similar to a land use hearing. There would be a full hearing - presentation from staff, applicant presentation, public comment, deliberation, and a decision - at least two commissioners would need to vote in the affirmative to grant your request. Thank you, Ed.

	John Kefalas (he/him) County Commissioner, District 1
	Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 W: (970) 498-7001 Cell:  (720) 254-7598 jkef...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org