Tierra Colinas Homeowner Association
Annual Meeting 2024, Sunday, January 28, 2024
Vista Grande Library room
Board: Olivia Carril, Jan Stephens, Sharon Peterson, and Katherine Tvaronas (absent)
Attendees: Ron Billingsley, Michelle & Santiago Garcia, Jeremy Marshall, Jessica Roybal, Steve Smulka & Ginny Aromando, Mike & Kathi Miller, Mary Kingman, Jim Leipold, Jake Greene & Susan Jordan, Mary & Rick Aldrich, Jerry & Frances Griffin, Brad Fluetsch, Brad & Katherine Dye, Irania Veliz, Patty Ward (18 people, 15 households)
Proxies: Mari Howard-Cooper, Smokey & Elaine Daniels, Jack Day & Joanne Randolph, Adam Quinn, Steve & Sue Campbell, Ash Gallegos, Katherine Tvaronas, Terri & George Maguire, Maria and Bob Borden, William & Roberta Richards, Stuart & Lucy Jaffe (Ginny Aromando has their proxy) (11 households)
Meeting was started at 3:00 PM
Olivia asked if any additions to the meeting, none were given.
The agenda was altered to reflect that The Budget vote be moved up to number 3. No objections.
Agenda items
- 1) Updates on Spur Ranch Road- report given by Jim Leipold.
- a. SRRA will put up new speed limit signs with the left-over monies from the campaign. New speed limit will be 25 mph.
- b. Roads are in good condition now but speed, volume, and weight effects the road’s condition.
- c. Hank Hughes, our county commissioner, stated that Spur Ranch is one of five top roads that the county is looking at to be maintained by the county. Spur Ranch is the only non-paved road so Hank thinks it will be the top road to be considered for assistance.
- d. Jim thinks that will take two or more years before the county can get the road adopted by the county. At that point, it will also be on the list to be paved.
- e. Once the county takes over the maintenance of the roads, the TCHOA will not have to pay anything to Spur Ranch Road. The TCHOA board will reconsider the budget at that time.
- 2) Information on the solar panel proposed to go in near our neighborhood.
- a. As of now there is no update on the solar garden that might be going near our subdivision.
- b. Michelle Garcia said that she gets meeting information and will share with the board so we can all attend the meeting.
- c. Note: Developments after the annual meeting have given us considerable additional information, please see page 4, after these meeting minutes.
- 3) Vote to increase dues.
- a. Olivia explained the budget and the reason why we need to increase the budget.
- i. The main reason is to increase the amount of money we have available to care for our internal roads.
- ii. She also wants to pay Spur Ranch Road Association $11,000 of the over $18,000 they will bill us for, so that she has at least the same number of votes at the annual Spur Ranch Road meeting; votes are determined by the proportion of the bill that is paid. Whatever the HOA doesn’t pay will be divided among households, and an additional ask will be made by them. This year it will be around $140.00 if the HOA pays $11,000.
- iii. It was pointed out that in 2023, the taxes, fees, and bookkeeping were above what we normally spend. This was due to not filing four four years. Our bookkeeping is now up to date, and all of our taxes have been filed. We won’t have that large expense again.
- b. After much discussion, Jim made the motion to accept the budget as proposed, Jerry second. 25 members approved the budget with 2 against.
- c. After the vote, Brad pointed out that increasing the dues violated Section 2 of the covenants. It was explained that a discussion with our lawyer had elucidated to us that fact that the dues can be increased, if an increased budget is required to maintain the neighborhood. It was agreed that the board would contact the lawyer to see if Section 4.2 of the Covenants really does allow the budget to be increased, with dues increasing to match. If the lawyer validates Section 4.2, the vote of 25 for, and 2 against, will stand.
- d. Note: Following the meeting, Brad reread all of the Covenants and now agrees that dues can be increased to cover the expenses of a budget, if the budget has been agreed upon by a majority of those present at an annual HOA meeting. Thus, there is no need to contact the lawyer. He asked that the budget be written to highlight that overhead, administrative, and other operational budget items be separated from road reserve and maintenance expenses, to indicate more clearly how money was being spent. The attached budget (page 2) reflects this.
- 4) Maintaining of our roads
- a. This will be discussed once the budget is officially approved.
- b. Note: Now that the budget is officially approved, we will begin setting up a plan for road maintenance, including the purchase of base course, price comparison for road work, and identifying the areas of the road most in need of immediate attention.
- 5) Update on the architectural committee
- a. Ginny gave the report. Most items this year were small, and did not require variances or significant input from the architectural committee.
- 6) Any other items to discuss.
- a. Jerry asked if the RVs restriction is in the guidelines or in the covenants. According to section 7.4 (b) in the covenants, the restriction is a covenant and not a guideline.
Meeting was adjourned at 3:55 pm
Approved Budget for 2024
Bookkeeping: $1,500.00
Insurance: $810.00
Legal: $2,000.00
Neighborhood get-togethers: $750.00
Office Supplies: $150.00
Postage: $228.00
Website: $600.00
Operational budget: $6,038.00
In-house Road Maintenance: $2,000.00
Spur Ranch Road: $11,000.00
Reserves $2,112.00
Road Maintenance and Reserves: $15,112.00
Total: $21,150.00
Per household (44 houses): $450.00 $19,800.00
Per lot (6 lots): $225.00 $1,350.00
Total: $21,150.00
February 3, 2024
Meeting with Mysunshare.com
Attendees: Michael Schumpberger (SRRA), Rebecca Reynolds (former President of Rancho San Lucas), Sharon Peterson (Tierra Colinas), Leo Cox (Solar Developer of Mysunshare.com) and Troy McGee (Community Engagement Manager)
Note: They in the notes refers to Mysunshare.
To find out more about Mysunshare, here is their website https://mysunshare.com/ This will explain about subscribing to get energy credits through PNM.
- · Roads
- o There should be no traffic using Spur Ranch Road or Avienda de la Paz. The construction traffic will use Rancho Verno Road.
- · Solar Panels
- o There will be 9000 solar panels that are a bit larger than 3’ x 5’.
- o The solar panels are light absorbing and coated with a non-reflective film to reduce the reflection of the panels. The example they used was that a solar project is in line with an airport that requires no reflection due to pilots and the airplanes.
- o The solar panels do slightly rotate but never to a degree that will place a shadow on the panel next to them.
- o The panels will rotate east to west.
- o The solar panels will be placed in the ground with a steel post and no concrete to secure in place.
- o There are no batteries in this project as it will tie directly into the PNM substation.
- o The panels will be maintained at least 7 times a year unless more work is required.
- o The panels are all around 36” from the ground.
- · Location
- o The solar project is 50 acres and they will be using approximately 30 acres that will be in the middle of the 50 acre site.
- o The site will contain one inverter that will be in the middle of the solar panels and placed on a concrete bed to help eliminate any fire danger.
- o The solar farms will be surrounded by a 7-foot game fence. A game fence is a wire fence connected by wood posts.
- o They will plant natural vegetation to where the soil has been disturbed. They will plant vegetative screening such as juniper bushes to help shield the project from the nearby houses.
- o They are placing the solar panels outside of the natural swell of the land so no flooding into the homes should occur unless the arroyo floods horribly.
- · Noise
- o There should be very little noise from the inverter. They said that the low hum should dissipate after 150 ft. The decibel level is 38 and that is a whisper.
- · Mysunshare is a community driven organization. They will be working with Habitat for Humanity, low-income schools, low to moderate income families. They will be talking to the Community College and high school to teach them about solar panels and the project.
- · Notification
- o By county standards that only had to notify houses within 500 ft of the project. They went out to 1000 ft. It was explained to them that if they reached out to the boards of the neighborhoods that this might have helped eliminate concerns from the community.
- · Fire
- o The Fire Marshall must approve the project before construction can begin.
- o Each panel is UL listing standard and default tested.
- · Construction
- o They are hoping to get this project started by the end of 2024 and it will take about 2 to 3 months to complete.
- o This is a pilot project for Mysunshare in New Mexico. They have several of these projects in Colorado.
- · They are doing a study to find if there are any endangered or threatened species in the area. They are working with a group called Ecosphere.
- · There are no future plans to expand the solar panels in the area. By county law you can only have one 5W project within a certain amount of space.
- · End of life
- o They are required to give to the county an escrow that will cover the cost of removing all items from the project and returning the ground to its natural state.
- Please call Leo Cox, Solar Developer at 608-800-1786 or Troy McGee, Community Engagement Manager at 505-514-7677.