Category Archives: Uncategorized

CPRMC Current Status

As shown below in the results of the June 10, 2017 dissolution election, property owners voted to dissolve the corporation.  The official email announcing the election results can also be found on the “Meeting Minutes & Treasurers Reports” page.

I will maintain this Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation section of the website as both a repository of legal documents relating the formation of the Cedar Park subdivision (found on the Corporate Documents page) and a history of recent CPRMC activities.

As can be seen in my writing urging the community to vote NO on dissolution, I consider this result to be very short-sighted, and one that will continue to weaken our community until it is reversed.

And the possibility remains open that CPRMC can be resurrected as a strong community advocacy organization.

The law firm I consulted in this matter,  Herms & Herrera, offered the following assessment:

“I believe that dissolution of the Road Organization is not necessarily a one-way trip. The Covenants contemplate the Road Organization and require each owner to be a member. To me, this means that the Road Organization could be re-established at a future time and all the owners would automatically be members. Also, under a very recent case that is currently pending at the Colorado Supreme Court, Cedar Park may still be considered an unincorporated common interest community under CCIOA, even if there is no formal Road Organization.”

The Storm Mountain communities of Cedar Park and Cedar Springs have ongoing needs that can best be addressed by strong, formal, community advocacy organizations.  I believe that at some point, reason will prevail and the members of our community will see the value of re-establishing CPRMC.  Until that time, I will use this website to keep the possibility alive.

John Green
StormMountain.org website editor

 

CPRMC Dissolution Election Results

Sent: Mon 6/12/2017 9:36 AM
From: Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation <eaflodin@q.com>
Subject: Cedar Park Property Owner

The vote on the question whether to dissolve the Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation took place on Saturday June 10, 2017 at the Special Meeting of all property owners that was called for just this purpose.

The response by the property owners was far and away the best ever with 65% of all parcel owners either mailing in their proxies or attending the meeting to vote.

The results are: 181 Yes votes
8 No votes

State statues require that the issue receive 147 Yes votes in order for the CPRMC to dissolve.

The Board will now commence with the dissolution process. There are a number of steps that must be taken, so it is likely the process will take several weeks.

Any funds left in the CPRMC treasury after paying any remaining bills and obligations will be transferred to the Larimer County PID 55 (Public Improvement District) that was formed in 2014 and has since had the responsibility for maintaining the roads within the Cedar Park Subdivision.

Since the annual meeting in July of 2016, the Board has been able to collect past due balances on owed dues from 11 of the 15 owners that were delinquent and had liens placed on their property. Total dollars collected was $8,745.50. Those liens have been released.

The remaining four delinquent owners have each had their property sold at the Larimer County tax lien auction. Multiple efforts to contact the owners by the Board have resulted in returned mail or no response. On the advise of legal counsel, the Board will write these accounts receivables off as bad debt and release the liens prior to filing the dissolution paperwork.

We thank all of the property owners for their input concerning the issue and the unusually keen interest in taking part in this voting process.

Sincerely,
CPRMC Board of Directors

Copyright © 2017 Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation, All rights reserved.

Vote NO! On Cedar Park Dissolution

Cedar Park Property Owners

Keep Storm Mountain’s Voice Strong – Vote NO! On Cedar Park Dissolution

CPRMC is the only organization with the authority to advocate on behalf of Cedar Park property owners.  Dissolving CPRMC would leave individual property owners no choice but to fend for themselves about community-wide issues.

The CPRMC board saw fit to give you only information supporting the short-sighted result they want.  It is not too late to change your vote!   Click here to print a new proxy, also found on the CPRMC Meeting Minutes page in the menu above.  Send in your NO! Vote to keep our community voice strong, keep Storm Mountain Strong!

Your Proxy Must Be Received by June 9, 2017 to count!

 

Legal Confirmation
The determination of the law firm Herms & Herrera, who I hired to review CPRMC:

“As a non-profit organization organized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, the Road Corporation may operate a very broad mission as a “social welfare organization.”  Many activities would be proper under the Internal Revenue Code, including improving infrastructure for the Cedar Park subdivision beyond just the roadways and advocating for the interests of Cedar Park owners.  The Articles of Incorporation focus on the road maintenance purpose of the Road Organization, but do specifically empower the Road Organization to do anything permitted by the Colorado Nonprofit Corporation Act. “

The PID, as a Larimer County entity, is prohibited from advocating on our behalf with elected officials or other governmental entities.

While CPRMC has functioned only for road work in the past, it has always had the potential to do more.  The developers of both Cedar Park and Cedar Springs had the foresight to empower each governing body with protective covenants.  Reading the Cedar Park protective covenants, (under Corporate Documents in the menu above) two things should be apparent:

  • It was the intent of the developers that the CPRMC have the power to insure that Cedar Park continues to be an attractive place to live – the operational scope is much broader than just road maintenance.
  • Now being 50 years old, the existing protective covenants are largely obsolete and in need of considerable updating. In fact, the Nuisance clause may well be the only still-useful part.  As any updated Protective Covenants must be approved by owners of a majority of the properties – a pretty big deal – there has never been motivation to do this – until now.
  • Updated covenants can be written to focus on advocacy, and not be intrusive of property owner rights!

As a community we have the power to redefine the corporation to serve our interests any way we choose, subject only to the limitations placed upon 501c4 not-for-profit corporations, which we are.

The community is currently hampered by a variety of major issues that CPRMC could be empowered to address on our behalf:

  • Lack of reliable, affordable broad-band internet in much of the community.
  • Increasing traffic problems due to national forest usage – with a possible long term solution being negotiating to make the road to Masonville open during summer months, and a primary route for Fort Collins people.
  • Serious fire risk in the upper filings due to beetle kill trees – mitigation grants are likely available.
  • An ongoing vulnerability due to the lack of a reliable alternate route out of our community.

Plan for our future

Who knows what other challenges the future will bring?  Dissolution robs us of the ability to face them as a community.  Yes, there will be an ongoing cost to keep the corporation active – Cedar Springs arrived at $25 / year per property, about $2 / month – a minor amount to retain our community’s collective voice.

We have seen that Larimer County will not act quickly to address issues.  How many years did it take before that ATV business was closed down, and how many people were hurt in the meantime?  Application of the Nuisance clause of the protective covenants could have ended that.

Dissolution is final.  Dead is Dead, there is no bringing it back.
There may come a time when dissolution is a good idea.
That time is NOT now.

Keep Storm Mountain strong!
Don’t hamstring our future!
Vote NO on dissolution!

John Green
Past CPRMC Treasurer and Filing Director
PO Box 137
Drake, CO 80515-0137

Letter From Outgoing President Vernon McMillin

Dear Road Association Members

I have been President of the CPRMC for a year. I remember going to my first annual meeting in 2014 that my mother and father in-law talked about and decided to make the trip down the hill to get more informed about the community I wanted to be part of. I sat in the chair just trying to pass the time but listening to all the members’ points of view and thinking I should do more. Well within a few minutes I went from a member just passing time to a Vice President. The reason I decided to raise my hand and volunteer was and is, I truly believe we all have a voice and make a difference.

I realize for some of you, the PID has been very slow to react to any and all requests but I believe their intentions are to not continue to go back over work that has been done. They could not do business as usual as was done before. There is just too much work that was and is needed. Their road standards and goals plan show that they want to continue to make the roads more drivable but have safety in mind and a ceiling of money available to do it with. I have seen road improvements. I give my support to the PID board and their contractors to continue improving the roads that we drive on and the areas around the associated roads.
One thing about being President is you get to have the last say of the year and pass the torch on; so with that here it goes. I have been very fortunate to meet some very nice and warm people while owning a home on the mountain. I realize we will not all see eye to eye but we do need to respect others. Mary Hill was one of the people my family first met on the hill. The previous owner of our property loved and trusted her like shall we say, a daughter. Though my father-in-law and his cousin have ruffled her feathers and made amends, I have always liked and respected Mary. I believe she will continue to be a good sitting President as we move forward. Ashleigh, thanks for advice and ideas. To the filing directors, I realize that you feel like the PID wishes not to hear from you but what I think they want is an honest assessment of what realistically can be done to your filings roads on a yearly basis. John Green, thank you for your service to the board. I realize it is a grind sometimes but I think you have at least made points that people have to listen to and have served this association well.

Our annual meeting will be held at the New Fire House Saturday July 16th 1pm. I truly believe Board members and filing directors have your best interest in mind and will continue to do so in the continuing years.

Sincerely,
Vernon McMillin CPRMC, President

Letter From Incoming President Mary Hill

To my neighbors and friends and those who I have not had a chance to meet!

I want to thank all who have volunteered for the board over the last 45 plus years. We all know how thankless volunteer work can be at times. Many of you have served multiple terms on the board for probably 2 reasons, everyone loved you and you were crazy enough to take on another term or no one else wanted to do it and you got nominated again and were crazy enough to say ok. Thank you for hanging in there.

After reading Verns letter as the outgoing President it reminded me of why I originally got on the board 13 years ago, and have continued to serve on the board in some capacity. My main interest and goals have always been for the betterment of the roads, limited funding often made that progress slow. The PID has taken over this function now. There are still some things that the CPRMC can continue to do to benefit the community.

With that said it is unfortunate that many members in the past have failed to contribute their share of money owed to CPRMC, therefore we have outstanding past dues in the amount of $19,000.00 I have 2 goals for the CPRMC board this 2016/2107 year.

#1 To actively pursue the collection of delinquent road dues so that eventually the community may want to consider the dissolution of the CPRMC.

#2 To work with property owners to get the road ditches cleaned up of debris and to trim and or remove trees that are hanging over the ditches and roadways were their property meets the roadway. Please consider cleaning up in the near future. This will help the PID get road work done more efficiently and save money for more constructive road work.

I look forward to serving the association as CPRMC President 2016/2017 term.

Sincerely
Mary Hill

 

Summer Meeting July 16, 2016 1:00 PM

The Annual Meeting of the CPRMC is held on the third Saturday in July. Our next Annual meeting is on: Saturday, July 16, 2016. Meeting starts at 1:00 p.m. Meeting is held at the NEW Fire House near the “T”, 100 Palisade Mountain Dr.   Mark your calendars now so you can be there.

Directions to the Fire House are: From the “T” (Storm Mtn. Drive turns left, Palisade Drive turns right) take Palisade Drive to the right. The Firehouse is located on the right hand side of the road.

Click on a link below for related documents:

CPRMC – Election Ballot and Proxy Assignment Form

CPRMC – Owner Contact Info Update Form and CPCS_Sticker Request Form

CPRMC – Treasurer’s Report_FY2015_YearEnd

CPRMC – Treasurer’s Report FY2016_YTD_As of 5/29/2016

CPRMC_2015 Summer Meeting Minutes_July 18, 2015

CPRMC_Board Meeting Minutes_- June 4, 2016

Letter From Outgoing President Vernon McMillin

Letter From Incoming President Mary Hill

The Treasurer’s Perspective from John Green

Treasurer’s Proposed Bylaw Updates

The Treasurer’s Perspective from John Green

At a meeting on Saturday, June 4, 2016 the board of Directors of Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation (CPRMC) – the community association serving the property owners of the Cedar Park – voted to move toward dissolving the Corporation, and is also moving aggressively to get the money owed the Corporation off the books, even if it means accepting a fraction of face value.  These measures are, at best, premature.  I was the lone dissenter at that meeting.  

I am asking for the help of every Cedar Park property owner in a variety of ways noted below.    Please take the time to read and consider what I have to say.  The future of the Corporation, its assets – and your community – is in the hands of you, our property owners.  Ultimately, my sole reason for speaking out is to see that all members have fully-informed freedom of choice in these matters.

1.      PLEASE ASSIGN YOUR SUMMER MEETING PROXY TO ME – JOHN GREEN – PERSONALLY, AND I WILL USE IT TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION AND ITS ASSETS TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY.  The Election Ballot / Proxy Assignment form is found with the summer meeting notice on our website, http://cprmc.org.  Please mail it to John Green, PO Box 137, Drake CO 80515. 

2.      CPRMC will continue to exist until we have in hand votes for dissolution representing a full two-thirds of Cedar Park lots.  Until that day, we have an obligation to continue to fulfil the basic functions described in the governing documents.  This should be clear to everyone.The CPRMC Board needs people who support its goals, not work against them.  Put your name forward to serve on the board and help preserve it for our community.  There is only one legitimate reason to serve on the board of a community public service organization such as ours – to serve the community by faithfully fulfilling the duties and intentions of the organization as described in its governing documents.

3.      Please vote for my re-election as Treasurer, and for Deb Green – a very effective past President and VP – as the new Vice President.

4.      Support the Bylaw revisions shown below by sponsoring one or both of them – ten sponsors are needed to bring them to a vote at the meeting.

 

Why I Make a Good Treasurer and Officer

 My focus is always on the long term good of the community.  To me serving as I have is an aspect of personal integrity – serving the community above and beyond because it is the right thing to do.  Individual freedom of choice is an important value, and the only true freedom of choice occurs when one is fully informed and free from coercive influences.  I have done my best to keep Members fully informed, and the first of the two proposed Bylaw amendments works to that end.

  1. Did you save significant tax dollars because you read in our mailing that by filling out a form you could combine a developed lot with an adjacent undeveloped lot, and have both taxed at the lower, developed rate?  That was my doing, as was the reminder for you to let us know when you combine lots; prior boards had voted not to refund excess dues billed and paid to CPRMC because we didn’t know you had combined lots.
  2. The CPRMC books had serious issues when I became Treasurer.  Our Quickbooks showed thousands of dollars of un-deposited checks, when in fact all checks had been deposited.  Reports used to file tax returns showed four times more annual revenue than we could possibly take in, and we were paying more than $600 / year to an accountant to prepare these completely inaccurate returns.  I cleaned all that up, and began filing the returns myself, at no cost to the Corporation.
  3. I also created and maintain the CPRMC.ORG website as a place for community information.

Why is the board pursuing dissolution now?  Many CPRMC Board members feel that, with the Storm Mountain Public Improvement District (PID) in place, CPRMC serves no useful function.  To date, the PID board has produced some excellent results along with some less successful ones, and has shown weaknesses resulting from its structure as a small 5-person county-appointed board.  As long as CPRMC exists, it remains a viable alternative or compliment to the PID structure.  By moving to dissolve the Corporation CPRMC board members would deprive this community of the option to recreate our locally-controlled CPRMC for area road work.  Bear in mind that, should we vote to change the role of the PID in our community, we could also redefine CPRMC however we choose to better serve the community.

Pursuing dissolution of CPRMC is at best, premature, as is aggressive efforts to collect outstanding debt – with a significant portion going to collection costs.  With liens in place, we collect what is owed when a property sells, and the only cost is the $11 filing fee for the lien release.  If and when we receive the approximately 188 votes needed for dissolution, there will be a ramp-down period when we can deal with our remaining receivables.

Treasurer’s Proposed Bylaw Updates

TREASURER’S PROPOSED UPDATES TO CPRMC BYLAWS

We need 10 Property Owner / Sponsors to bring these to a vote at the July 16th Meeting – email me at treasurer@cprmc.org if you are willing to sponsor one or both of these amendments.

  1. To Protect Your Right to Be Informed on Issues to Be Voted On at Annual Summer Meetings – At last summer’s CPRMC annual meeting, some PID board members attended with a clear plan to produce specific results – nominating and electing Mary Hill to the board, and getting approval to give $16,000 of remaining CPRMC funds to the PID.  These major outcomes occurred with no notice to the majority of CPRMC property owners, our members.  In doing so, they deprived members who looked at the published agenda and decided “nothing significant here, I don’t need to attend” of their true freedom of informed choice.   Yes, everything followed the rules – but that doesn’t make it right.
    We need to update our Bylaws to insure that members receive advance notification of votes at property owner meetings.  The proposed Bylaw revision shown below would accomplish this.
  2. Allow a sitting President or Vice President to run for the same office at the end of their term, as we do for Secretary and Treasurer.  It is often difficult to find people willing to serve, and some may be willing to serve as Vice President but not President, for example.  This provides the President and Vice President the flexibility to stand for election to continue their service at the end of their term, if so elected by Membership. 

Treasurer’s Proposed Bylaw Revisions – Annual Meeting July 16, 2016
(Additions to current Bylaws are shown in red italics.)

 Article I
SECTION 3. Notice of meetings, – written or printed – shall be prepared, posted on the Corporation website and emailed to the last known email address of Property Owners of record at least thirty (30) days prior to any regular or special meeting of the Property Owners, and if a special meeting, such notice shall state the object or objects thereof. A notice posted on the website and a good-faith effort to send an email notice to email addresses provided by property owners shall be deemed sufficient notification of all owners.  The names of all candidates standing for election, and all matters to be voted on at a meeting, shall be published in the Notice of Meeting at least thirty (30) days prior to the meeting.  At least 61 days prior to the meeting the board shall publish, to the Corporation website and the email addresses of record for property owners, the purpose for the meeting and a request for board candidate nominations and for other matters to be voted on at the meeting.  Such nominations and matters to be voted on shall be sponsored by at least two (2) property owners and received by the Secretary at least seven (7) days prior to the publication deadline for the meeting announcement.   All validly submitted nominations and matters shall be posted on the Corporation website as soon as practical after receipt by the Secretary. 

 

ARTICLE II OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

SECTION 1. All business and property of the Corporation shall be managed and controlled by a board consisting of Property Owners of the Corporation and which shall consist of four Officers: President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and seven directors, one from each of the seven (7) filings. The offices of President and Vice President will be one-year terms, with the Vice President acceding to the Presidency. The office of the Secretary and Treasurer will be two year terms expiring on alternate years. Notwithstanding the terms of office described above, nothing shall prevent an existing officer who is willing to continue to serve from standing for election to the same office at the end of the current term.  The incumbent officer shall notify the board of their intent to stand for re-election in sufficient time for the Secretary to include such intent in the Notice(s) of Meeting described in Article 1 Section 3 of these Bylaws.   The office of the seven (7) directors will be for indefinite terms with the directors holding office until notifying the President of their intention to resign and until replaced by a majority vote of the Board. This board shall serve to advise the board of the Storm Mountain PID #55 and to fulfill its corporate legal obligations.

Spring Newsletter / Meeting Handouts

As noted elsewhere here, the Cedar Park Road Maintenance Corporation annual meeting will be held on Saturday July 18, 2015.  Here are links to the documents distributed by email with the spring newsletter.  If you are a property owner in Cedar Park and didn’t receive the emailed newsletter and attached documents, please email secretary@cprmc.org and provide at least one current email address for a property owner, so you’ll receive notices in the future – see the form linked below.

Click on one of the links below to open a document (or right-click and “save link as” or “save target as” to save the document to your computer.)

Meeting Ballot Items and Proxy Assignment Notice – MS Word Format
Meeting Ballot Items and Proxy Assignment Notice – PDF format

Map and directions to the meeting location
(In addition, you’ll find a link to a google map to the right with the meeting notice)

President’s Spring 2015 Letter

Current (2014-15) CPRMC Board Members

Minutes from last year’s annual meeting on July 19, 2014

Form to request CPCS stickers and to provide updated Property Owner Contact information to the Secretary in PDF format
or alternatively in MS Word format.