RE:
Dale Greer
I am resending this message as I have not received any response
Hi, Sydney and Larimer County Commissioners,
Larimer County’s response to these issues are more than disappointing. This is not a trivial problem. An acre foot of water equals 326,00 gallons. We received several equaling more than a million gallons.
The HOA farm land has received several acre feet of dirty storm water onto our land. It filled a dry irrigation pond to the depth of 10 feet with a surface area of more than an acre.
The environmental impact, liabilities and “right to farm” our property and the Harding farm are not trivial and need expert assistance and solutions.
Resident public taxpayers do not have professional or legal knowledge and experience to deal with land use issues.
Why, when we (public resident taxpayers) are faced with a situation like this do our county employees and elected officials not provide us with their professional knowledge, experience and credentials to assist us to resolve the issues that affect our quality of life and livelihood.
The message we get was it’s not Larimer County’s problem, it is your problem and you are on your own. Here is another agency to check with, here are other contacts (emails and phone no’s.) Since you adjoin a municipality it is up to you to work with them not us. Our support, assistance and representation does not extend to your properties.
I thought and believed that the county was here to assist, support and represent its residents in land use matters. It appears that the county’s role is to administer the rules of their choice and collect revenue.
Sincerely,
Dale Greer
Please respond to Lavonne Greer, vice president, Lapaz Homeowners Association
From: Sydney McLeod [mailto:mcle...@co.larimer.co.us]
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2023 10:09 AM
To: Dale Greer
Cc: barb...@yahoo.com; tlef...@johnstownco.gov; McGovern - CDPHE, Maura; Spencer Myrlie; Traci Shambo; Keila Flores-Burgos; Chris Manley
Subject: Re: CDPHE COR416415
My apologies - Email for Jim Harding is "barb...@yahoo.com" (wife's email).
On Tue, Nov 14, 2023 at 9:58 AM Sydney McLeod <mcle...@co.larimer.co.us> wrote:
Hi Dale,
I am hoping to answer your question about who can help you with your concerns for spills and spillway concerns for The Ridge at Johnstown Filing 2. Included below is the background of the original concerns for flooding that occurred on or about May 12, 2023, that LCDHE was contacted about. Detail is provided for all copied on this email (my apologies for redundant information and lengthy response).
- The LaPaz HOA reported "The Ridge at Johnstown," an adjacent subdivision, had stormwater overtop a spillway that spilled stormwater onto the Signet Subdivision in Larimer County. A historic irrigation runoff pond in Signet Subdivision was filled with stormwater to the point that it was approximately 10 feet in depth and nearly overtopped. There is a concern for erosion, fence and health and safety concerns for Signet Subdivision residents. (Dale Greer or Lavonne Greer, (970) 667-0088. Larimer County Parcel # 8526108001)
- The original concern for Jim Harding's property was dumping concrete into the drain (concrete washout overflow) and it flowing into his pond, which resulted in a fish kill and his concerns for hazardous materials going to his pond, and he also discussed his damaged irrigation sprinklers from the excessive sediment released into his pond, later reporting this cost him $5000 to replace. (James Harding, (303) 775-8191, bar...@yahoo.com / wife's email - Larimer County Parcel # 8525000003)
- The Ridge at Johnstown development is on property owned by J-25 Land Holdings, LLC, (Parcel Number 8526117011) located within the Town of Johnstown. The developer was reported to be the responsible party.
- Larimer County experienced a flood event during that time period that impacted properties throughout the County.
Stormwater Discharge Permit associated with construction activities - Spills
CDPHE Clean Water was contacted to investigate the complaints for the CDPS General Permit for Stormwater Discharges Associated with Construction Activities (the permit) #COR416415 issued by CDPHE. Basically, the permit for construction site operators is to make sure they have the proper stormwater controls in place so that construction can proceed in a way that protects the community’s clean water and the surrounding environment. (Included is the EPA Stormwater Discharges from Construction Activities website that may be helpful to understand the scope of this type of permit https://www.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater-discharges-construction-activities .)
CDPHE documentation of The Ridge at Johnstown Filing 2 Construction Stormwater Discharge Permit #COR416415 and post investigation documents are attached to this email
- September 1st Facility Inspection/Compliance Advisory Report for the July 19th Inspection
- September 18th Response from the developer including corrective actions taken
- October 4th CDPHE Adequacy of Response to Inspection Findings, which included a provision for any follow up inspections or future violations that may include a notice of violation / cease and desist order.
I encourage you to review these documents as the results of the investigation indicate the developer did not meet all conditions of the Permit #COR416415 at time of inspection. If The Ridge development is failing to meet those requirements (e.g., daily cleanup in areas such as the concrete washout, managing buildup of sediment for pollution control channels, securing and maintaining pollution control logs and fencing), please request a follow up inspection by contacting Maura McGovern or
Report the spill/release right away to:
Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE)
24-hour Colorado Emergency and Incident Reporting Line: 1-877-518-5608
Reference Water Quality Control Division
CDPS General Permit for Stormwater Discharge
Certification COR416415
Spillway concerns from the development and flood management
Since the development is located within the Town of Johnstown, its Planning and Development Department oversees land use and development matters as well as floodplain management for the Town and they can be contacted about spillway concerns. The Town of Johnstown provided the following contact information:
- Tony LeFevre in the Planning & Development Department 970-578-9627 will be a good point of contact. I contacted Tony today about the situation for both of the properties and have copied him in this email to provide background information.
- Mark Stanley, Deputy Director of Public Works at 970-578-9629 can be contacted if your property experiences flooding with any stormwater-related issues from the development during active construction.
- Utilities Department 970-324-4108 can be contacted for flooding issues once construction has been completed.
Going forward, I hope this helps provide you with people you can contact for your concerns about The Ridge at Johnstown Filing 2 development.
Best regards,
Sydney
On Wed, Nov 8, 2023 at 5:12 PM Dale Greer <dale....@lpbroadband.net> wrote:
Hi Sydney,
I am well aware of the inspection report since Maura sent that to me when it was available in Sept.
I am familiar with the CDPHE website and although I haven’t visited it since Maura indicated that spills and spillway locations are outside of their review process. (I sent you her response back in Sept.)
I have reviewed all the updates since then and nothing is mentioned regarding the original complaint of several acre feet of water spilled on the HOA land from their overflow spillway.
In fact it is mentioned in one report as “Some of his concerns, such as the routing of a pond discharge onto his property are outside of the scope of the division's permit”.
It took several months for the state to respond that spills and spillways were not part of their review.
We started this in June and here it is November with no involvement or any answers to our original issue.
Lapaz HOA and the Hardings about two weeks ago sent emails to all of the Larimer County Commissioners, Several Town of Johnstown administrators and the head administrator of Caliber Constructors asking for proactive involvement for our storm water issues. We have to date not heard a word from any of them regarding our request.
We don’t understand who we can hope to help us with these issues.
Who do we go to next to be ignored?
Dale Greer
From: Sydney McLeod [mailto:mcle...@co.larimer.co.us]
Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 12:39 PM
To: Dale Greer
Subject: CDPHE COR416415
Hello Dale,
After reviewing the September 19th email received from Maura McGovern of CDPHE Clean Water Unit, which I forwarded to you, I thought I would let you know what I learned from a quick record search which I've summarized below:
7/16/23 - CDPHE inspection was conducted
9/1/23 - CDPHE Inspection report and Compliance Advisory letter was issued to Jeffrey Reed, President of J-25 Land Holdings, LLC c/o Agora West Real Estate Group, LLLC
9/18/23 - Response by Jeffrey Reed, President of Agora West Real Estate Developer
10/4/23 - CDPHE Adequacy of Response to Inspection Findings that accepted the corrective actions and response. However, upon a future follow up inspection or findings of future violations, the Division may review the facts of potential violations and issue a Notice of Violation / Cease and Desist Order.
You can access these records at the website link to the CDPHE database Clean Water Unit below:
Under Search Type pulldown menu enter CDPHERM WTR Clean Water Search .
Under CDPHERM Container enter the Permit Number like this *COR416415*
Click SEARCH icon at the bottom.
I thought it would be useful to have an update and to provide information on where to access the records for yourself.
Sincerely,
Sydney
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Lorenda Volker
 | Lorenda Volker County Manager |
Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80522 | 2nd Floor |
From: tony milosevic <ynotme...@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Dec 11, 2023 at 2:52 PM
Subject:
To: <bo...@larimer.org>
Lorenda Volker
| Lorenda Volker County Manager |
Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St, Fort Collins, 80522 | 2nd Floor |
From: <30354...@vzwpix.com>
Date: Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 9:10 AM
Subject:
To: <bo...@larimer.org>