Blackhawk Roads
Most of us would agree that the Blackhawk Ranch is a very desirable place to live. However, many of our residents do not know that our community falls into the legal category of a Common Interest Community. This term also reminds us that we all have significant common interests shared across Blackhawk, whose common interests are managed through a Property Owners Association (POA) comprised of all Blackhawk property owners and managed through an elected POA Board of Directors.
The most critical common interest that all property owners of Blackhawk share are our roads. Blackhawk maintains approximately 35 miles of private roads connecting all our 185 parcels. As such, they are also a POA Financial Asset belonging to all 185 parcel owners in aggregate. That causes them to be a POA responsibility, delegated to the POA Board of Directors. Road maintenance, repair and snow removal comprise the largest expenditures in our annual POA Budget (FY 2022 = $57,650.00). Unpaved mountain road maintenance is complex and must account for road grade, traffic, snow plowing, and rainstorms. Road work also engenders a degree of risk and liability, which the POA attempts to mitigate through careful selection of contractors who are licensed, insured, and experienced. We are lucky to use two contractors (Mike Ferrero = Roads) and (Chris Dotter = Snow Removal) who have been handpicked to be partners in our year-round road operations, helping to keep our roads at the highest level of condition that our budget allows.
While the POA Board shares the passion that many of our residents display regarding our roads, we also must point out that road maintenance activities are not random, but rather are coordinated activities. The POA Board requests that no road maintenance, road modifications, plowing, or repairs be conducted or independently contracted by individual property owners without consultation and approval by the Road Committee Chair under the direction of the POA Board. This is important because unauthorized road maintenance may create a future liability for the POA itself, given that individual property owners do not carry the required liability insurance for such commercial activities.
A review of our finances should make it apparent that we cannot grade, lay down, and spread road base on all our 35 miles of road each year. The road activities undertaken each year are prioritized to assure that all our roads are kept safe and passable and that significant damage is repaired as soon as possible. If you have a concern about roads or want to see improvements or maintenance, please speak to our Road Committee Chair (Jim Nance). Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter!
Sincerely,
Blackhawk Ranch Board of Directors
Brad Brooks, President
Susanne Bloomfield, Vice-President
Art Jackson, Treasurer
Nancy Pasternak, Secretary
Jim Nance, Road Committee Chair