Minutes for Spinach Creek Road Service Meeting

November 6, 2003

Ken Kunkel Community Center 7 p.m.

Meeting started approximately 7 p.m. Jim Anderson, Chairman, read the budget-to-date: $22,000.00. It was briefly discussed about the ‘saved’ money from Spinach Creek that is going to be spent next summer for road upgrades. More discussion on this is in item #4 of the agenda. Moose Mountain’s ‘own’ account (monies collected privately through solicitation) spent $1,800.00 on the pullout by the new community bulletin board. Typar, tailings and grading were accomplished so next year this pullout will be ready to have mailboxes installed for all interested residents of the Spinach Creek road service area. There is approximately $600 left in this private Moose Mtn account, according to Pete Simpson.

2. Adding Road Commissioners to the Spinach Cr. Road Service area.

A vote was called for to delete the alternate commissioner position. This was seconded. Discussion. The public that was present voted to delete the alternate commissioner position. There was an unanimous vote to delete the alternate commissioner position.

A vote was called for to change the number of road commissioners from 3 commissioners and 1 alternate, to 6, total, commissioners with no alternates. This was seconded. Discussion. The public that was present voted to increase the number of road service commissioners from 3 to 6. There was an unanimous vote to increase the number of road service commissioners from 3 to 6, with no alternates.

Nominations were taken for additional road commissioners. Clint Meyer, Ed Herrgard, and Doreen Fitzgerald were nominated for road commissioners. This was seconded. A vote was taken to include the above-mentioned people for the road commission and they were elected by all present.

Jim Anderson said he will write a letter to Rural Services to request a change in number of road commissioners from 3 to a total of 6 road commissioners, with no alternates.

3. Name change of road service area to Goldstream Moose Creek Road Service.

A vote was called for to change the road service area name from Spinach Creek Road Service Area to Goldstream Moose Creek Road Service Area. There was a second to this motion. It was discussed that the new name of Goldstream Moose Creek was more appropriate for the entire Service Area as the stream that runs through both Moose Mtn. subdivision and Spinach Cr. Subdivision is named Moose Creek and Moose Cr. is located in the Goldstream valley. A vote was taken from the public present at the meeting. It was an unanimous vote to change the name from Spinach Creek Road Service Area to: Goldstream Moose Creek Service Area.

4. Road upgrades next summer.

The road commissioners will decide at a later date what contractor will actually complete the road upgrades of Frenchman, Hardluck, and Keystone roads. However, the upgrades will be completed by summer’s end, 2004. The Professional Engineer of Rural Services, Trent Mackey, will be consulted and included in all phases of these road upgrades. More details, as they unfold, will be discussed in following meetings, closer to next summer.

The commissioners living in the Moose Mtn. subdivision voiced a desire to methodically and consistently put money into road upgrades instead of waiting many years to upgrade roads. They said they thought a steady and gradual upgrade is preferable to a punctuated upgrade every couple of years. A small discussion followed.

5. Projects undertaken this past year.

Some tailings were distributed on the lower half of Moose Mtn road this past autumn. Gravel was already called for once this season for the entire service area for safety reasons during one ice storm. The issue of the roads having been machine-brushed is still being ‘sorted-out’ between the commissioners and the service area contractor, King Bee Equipt. The contractor has yet to satisfy the commissioner’s requests, and until they do so, Pete Simpson suggested they should not get paid. The commissioners will continue to communicate with the contractor.

Clint Meyer suggested there be a non-public-comment-commissioner meeting just as soon as all 6 road service commissioners are ‘on-board’. This way, the commissioners can discuss, at length, any issues or concerns they have and not take up precious time at road service meetings. He mentioned that the public will be invited to this commissioner meeting, but they will not be able to comment, only allowed to sit in and listen to the commissioner meeting. Someone thought maybe January, 2004 may be a good time, depending upon the new commissioner’s appointment.

6. Vehicle count on MM road and Spinach Cr road.

At the request of the road commissioners, the Dept. of Transportation sent the road service area a vehicle count DOT conducted on Spinach Cr. in May, 03 and on Moose Mtn in Oct., 03. It was very interesting to note that Moose Mtn subdivision gets more than half of the traffic on Spinach Cr road. This is before ski season. A handout was provided to review specifics. Also, this handout is available on the road service’s website.

There was a discussion about the recent house on Tekapo Rd. that was broken into. A general discussion ensued about vandalism in general in the service area and what to do about it. There’s a lot of cars that use both Spinach Cr roads and MM road that are unfamiliar. Neighborhood watch signs have been posted in the MM subdivision, but it was suggested that folks ‘look out for one another’ and whenever possible, stop and talk to unfamiliar cars in the neighborhood.

7. Monies received from R. Evans from FNSB agreement.

Pete Simpson said he talked with Roger Evans a number of times about the $7,500 Roger agreed to hand over to the service area, but to no avail. There was a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ between R. Evans and the FNSB Platting Board that Mr. Evans was to give the service area $7,500 released from the Platting Board as soon as possible. As of Nov. 6, 03 meeting, Mr. Evans had not given the service area any of the agreed-upon money. Both Pete and Clint said they would look further into this matter and report back. Discussion ensued about what projects the (potential) money would accomplish.

8. New mailboxes for service area.

Pete will ask Chris Worker if she will volunteer to collect money for cluster boxes, which will cost approx. $1,600, including shipping (from Canada). Chris already agreed to be the ‘key-holder’ of the mailboxes for the cluster boxes. It was discussed that once a resident purchases a cluster mailbox, this box will only be sold with the residence, in other words, the resident cannot opt-out to return the mailbox until the resident sells their house. This will eliminate a lot of extra paperwork for the main ‘key-holder’. Individual mailboxes will also be allowed. A preliminary drawing of the mail box layout will be presented at a public meeting closer to next summer. A volunteer is needed to contact all residents whether they want individual mailboxes or cluster boxes. Pete said he is willing to work on this. Jackie Debevec also said she would be willing to work on this, especially if she and her husband could contact residents through the service area community website.

9. Spinach Creek-Moose Mtn. Community Website.

Fantastic arena for information dispersal!! Jen Athey, the webmaster, has done an incredible job of keeping the website updated and informative. Folks mentioned they would like to see a “For Sale” section on the website but no money attached to the items. In other words, trailers, skiis, or even houses should be able to be advertised on this community website, but no actual monetary value should be attached. Instead, the person’s contact number/email should be available for further inquiries. It was also suggested that a Neighborhood Watch/phone tree section be added to the website so residents would be able to contact other residents of suspicious activities (other than the State Troopers). In general it was agreed upon that folks should look out for one another and whenever possible, stop and talk to people in unfamiliar vehicles ‘just to find out what’s happening’ in the neighborhood.

A resident present at this public meeting informed the group that the FNSB land disposal section just had a public comment session concerning property adjacent to the MM road, just off Spinach Creek road. Much discussion ensued around this information. Clint suggested the road service commissioners write a letter of comment to the Borough concerning the property that is up for auction. Clint will have a letter drafted up and will email the commissioners for their comment.

Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Next meeting set for the road service area is February 5, 2004, 7 pm, at this same location.

Minutes respectively submitted by resident Deborah Koons