Revisions to the Bylaws "Article V – Meetings" were approved by mail-in ballot in May with a unanimous vote of 38 favorable responses. Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and return their ballots. 123 ballots were mailed to members. Regular meetings will be held in January, March, May, July, September and November.  If necessary, the President can schedule special meetings in-between regular meetings to address specific and/or urgent items.

The May ballot vote was unanimous to accept the new slate of officers for the 2004/2005 term. Again we received a unanimous vote of 38 favorable responses out of 123 ballots mailed. Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and return their ballots. The officers below will assume their duties at the July 2004 meeting.

President - Tim Martinez

Vice President - Lou Montgomery

Treasurer - Harry Dale

Secretary - Autumn Montgomery

Kamie Fuller from the Colorado State Forest Service, Golden District will attend our July 28 meeting. Kamie will talk to us about tree health, insects and disease. I attended Kamie’s presentation at the EMERGE May Homeowners meeting and found it to be very informative.

We have both Mountain Pine and Ips beetles in our area. Mountain Pine beetles attack 6 inch diameter trees or larger, (typically Ponderosa Pines in our area) and Ips beetles attack 1 inch diameter to 6 inch diameter trees, (typically Lodgepole Pines in our area). Ips beetles prefer stressed trees which are numerous in our area as a result of the drought and overly dense conditions. Kamie will teach us how to recognize beetle infestation and what actions should be taken to stop their advance. Thinning tree growth is probably the best defense since it will reduce stress and allow your trees to get more nutrients from the ground, more water and more sunlight. Infected trees need to be cut down, removed, treated or chipped before beetles are able to fly and infect more trees. If you have trees that are already dead from beetle infestation, then the beetles have already left and may be attacking neighboring trees. Beetles can fly almost a mile to attack other trees. It is important to locate trees with beetles present and take action to kill the beetles before they can fly and infect additional trees. Please attend the July meeting to learn more about beetle infestation.

The new Floyd Hill station is located between Elmgreen Lane and Pleasant Lane on Jefferson County Road 65. The station is expected to be operational by mid July. The station will house a full scale Fire Engine equipped for wildland urban interface operations, structural fire fighting and auto extrication. The station will also house a Wildland Brush Truck which will improve response times with water to the scene of a potential wildland fire event.

Although the recent wet and cooler weather has been encouraging, the live fuel moisture in area heavy fuels is still fairly low because of the extended drought. This Spring’s fuel moisture readings near the 70 percent level are lower than the Spring of 2002, which was the year of the Hayman Fire. Homeowners are encouraged to pay attention to fire mitigation since we are still expecting a high fire incident year.

The pamphlet "Living With Wildfire, A Guide To The Homeowner" offers good information regarding defensible space. This pamphlet was handed out at our May meeting and I still have several copies for anyone who is interested. Please contact me at hjd173@aol.com.

Other useful web sites for fire mitigation information can be found below.

Firewise: http://www.firewise.org

Colorado State Forest Service: http://www.colostate.edu/Depts/CSFS/

The fire ban issued by the Sheriff on 5/11/04, effective 12:01am on 5/14/04, bans the following open fires in Clear Creek County:

"All fires outdoors for any purpose, including but not limited to, bonfires, campfires, charcoal or wood barbeques; lighting off fireworks of any kind; trash or rubbish burning; smoking; and lawn, weed, ditch or crop burning; EXCEPT campfires in US Forest Service designated campgrounds which are contained within designated fire pits; and EXCEPT a propane or natural gas barbecue or liquid fuel stove if it is attended at all times and is in a fully enclosed, covered barbecue grill or is contained within a liquid fuel stove;"

While this ban is in effect no person shall build, maintain, attend or use an open fire as defined above on any private or public land in unincorporated Clear Creek County. The ban is in effect until lifted or amended.

It is essential that homeowners make sure that their street address number is displayed in a distinctive location specific to your house such as the front of your house and the entrance of your driveway.  With only a street address number, Ambulance and Fire Fighting Personnel must be able to locate your home from the road. Mailbox numbers are not enough and can be confusing when mailboxes are clustered next to driveway entrances. Paramedics and Fire Fighters can't arrive if they can't find you.  Your street address number should be displayed with numbers at least 3" tall, in a clearly visible contrasting color to the background and in a distinctive location specific to your house.  The old 6-digit fire numbers are no longer used.

Free reflective numbers are available at Evergreen Fire Station #1, 4751 Hwy 73, Mon - Fri  8:00am - 4:00pm, while supplies last. For more information please contact Paramedic Brook Anderson at 303-674-2323 ext 262.

Dear Hyland Hills Property Owner, June 3, 2004

The Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department conducted training in the Hyland Hills area on Tuesday evening, June 1st. This exercise provided us with additional knowledge about many characteristics of the Floyd Hill area that would be valuable in the event of an actual wildfire. Home construction materials, surrounding fuel loads, slope, and aspect are some of the factors that we evaluated in how we can mitigate a wildland/urban interface event and best protect your home.

Thank you for working with us… and special thanks to those homeowners and businesses that allowed us to enter their properties. By assessing your properties, we not only developed a plan to defend your personal residence, but provided insight as to how we can best protect your neighbors’ properties as well. Thank You.

We are anxious to complete our new fire station on Jeffco 65. We anticipate that it will be operational within the month. This will enhance our ability to respond more quickly, and reduce your fire hazard. This could also impact your homeowner’s insurance. We suggest that you contact your insurance agent to review.

While we have been fortunate not to experience a major interface incident within our district borders it has not been just by luck. You are our lookouts! Vigilant citizens spot the seeds of such incidents in small puffs of smoke enabling our firefighters to quickly eliminate the fledgling threats with shovels and water packs. Low tech, manpower intensive, and unglamorous hard work – perhaps, but still the most effective means of rapid wildland fire suppression.

If you have any questions please call me at 720-641-2357.

Best Regards

Captain, Evergreen Volunteer Fire Dept.

To Hyland Hills Residents, July 2, 2004

The Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department conducted training with our new fire academy members in the Hyland Hills area on Tuesday evening, June 1st. This exercise provided us with additional knowledge about many characteristics of the Floyd Hill area that would be valuable in the event of an actual wildfire. Home construction materials, surrounding fuel loads, slope, and aspect are some of the factors that we evaluated in how we can mitigate a wildland/urban interface event and best protect your home.

Thank you for working with us… and special thanks to those homeowners and businesses that allowed us to enter their properties. By assessing your properties, we not only developed a plan to defend your personal residence, but provided insight as to how we can best protect your neighbors’ properties as well. Thank You.

We would like to expand our awareness of the Hyland Hills area and conduct the exercise again in the Hyland Hills area on the evenings of July 12 and July 19. This exercise will be attended by all of our seasoned wildland firefighters and, combined with our new fire station, will enhance our effectiveness in the event of a wildfire in our neighborhood.

We again are in need of homeowners and businesses to allow access to their properties as a part of this exercise.

Please contact Wayne or I if you can participate.

Joe Stein

Hyland Hills resident and EVFD firefighter

303-478-3186

Dear Homeowner/Occupant June 30, 2004

The Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department will be conducting training in your neighborhood on Monday July 12 and Monday July 16 between the hours of 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM. We are seeking cooperative homeowners who will allow us to practice structural defense on their property.

In short, a fire engine will back into a driveway of selected number of homes and firefighters will erect a ladder against the house, lay hose around the perimeter, wet down the surrounding landscape, reload the hose, and depart within 20 minutes of arrival. Techniques for removal of vegetation, preparing the structure for an impending fire, and sizing up a home’s chance of survival in the face of a major wildfire will be discussed.

Your property will not be harmed and you will assist us in providing vital training.

Do you realize that a major wildland fire has occurred within 12-miles of the Evergreen District boundaries every other year? Beginning in 1996 with the Buffalo Creek fire followed by 1998’s - Bear Tracks, 2000’s - High Meadow fire. Who could forget 2002’s big 4 - Snaking, Black Mountain, Schoonover, and Hayman? This emerging pattern is worrisome at best. And who assumes the daunting task of protecting you against the devastating potential of our district’s 120 square miles of fuel bordered by tens of thousands of acres of neighboring forest? If you answered your neighbors, volunteers, and/or firefighters, you are correct.

Every Evergreen volunteer firefighter lives here and is cross-trained to effectively suppress fires both on and off the pavement. Over half are further qualified to fight fires on a county strike team or under federal command only after passing an arduous physical fitness test. In Evergreen, a firefighter’s personal vehicle is packed with specialized gear for wildland incidents as well as the traditional rubber boots and red suspenders: 24 -7-365! Furthermore, recognition of our challenging fire environment has put Evergreen on the forefront of deploying specialized 4x4 firefighting apparatus.

As we continue to develop our formerly remote areas, Smokey’s "forest fires" are evolving into Wildland -Urban Interface Incidents. 1,000s of EVFD man-hours have been logged battling these major incidents alongside crews from throughout the region. Victory is minimizing the ominous potential of such incidents. The praises sung by local and federal authorities are earned via many more thousands of hours dedicated to training a proficient engine task force and handcrews.

While we have been fortunate not to experience a major interface incident within our district borders it has not been just by luck. You are our lookouts! Vigilant citizens spot the seeds of such incidents in small puffs of smoke enabling our firefighters to quickly eliminate the fledgling threats with shovels and water packs. Low tech, manpower intensive, and unglamorous hard work – perhaps, but still the most effective means of rapid wildland fire suppression.

Speaking of hard work, you may have seen the mountains of piled brush at Evergreen Sr. High last weekend. In conjunction with a countywide program we assisted dirty and scratched yet smiling and grateful homeowners in unloading tons of coniferous fuel that threatened the safety of their homes. The offending brush was then recycled as it was ground and processed into mulch. The schedule for slash drop off sites for the balance of 2004 can be found at the Jefferson County Web Site: emergmgmt.jeffco.us

If you have any questions please call me at 720-641-2357.

Thank you in advance.

Captain Evergreen Volunteer Fire Dept.

Clear Creek County’s Office of Emergency Management Director, Kathleen Gaubatz spoke at our May meeting about evacuation preparation in the event of a wildfire. She would like to promote Property Owner Association involvement in local emergency planning.  As neighbors, we are more knowledgeable about resident’s needs, (who is home, who needs help, etc) then county officials and emergency service workers and volunteers. The county uses an EPN system to notify a specific area of a pending emergency. The system will call home phone numbers and play a recorded message. Kathleen encouraged our Association to continue to develop and update our Emergency Notification Network to make sure residents who don't get the EPN call, (e.g. those at work, phone busy when call comes in, caller id that blocks the EPN call, etc.) can still be notified. She also encouraged us to work with area residents to address the needs of those residents with special medical or transportation needs and those with pets.

Kathleen will be producing a flyer that describes the 4P's to remember in case of an evacuation: Photos/Pictures, Papers, Pets & Pills.  She told us to leave things that you want to take with you by your "exit" door.  In the case of an evacuation you may have as little as 7 minutes to get out.  When leaving you should leave a white flag about the size of a pillow case so that is it is visible to the fire department so that they know the house has been cleared.  This could be in the front door or on a door/window that faces the street.  Some HOAs have purchased king-size white sheets that were torn into strips and distributed to homeowners as flags.

The link above is for a PDF version of the checklist handed out at our May meeting.

We are organizing a committee to update phone numbers for our notification network. Our current network is on line and will attempt to relay pre-evacuation or evacuation notices from the Sheriff’s Office to participating residents via a daytime phone number that the participating resident provided to Association volunteers. The network is only as good as the information provided by area residents, so if you have a change in your phone number, please let us know.

The Association is not acting as an emergency response agency, however the association would like to facilitate official emergency communication by attempting to pass along notice from the Clear Creek County Sheriff’s Office to area residents’ daytime phone numbers. If you are not a participant in this program and would like to become a participant or if you would like to update your phone number, please call Autumn Montgomery at 303-543-8418. or email at Secretary@floydhill.org.

We have still not received notification of the grant awards for 2004, however we expect to hear from the CSFS very shortly. The Colorado State Forest Service is reporting that the program is still in an evaluation process through the CSU Extension.

The County Road and Bridge Department has completed their cost estimate for the petition submitted for the Local Improvement District to pave the upper end of Ponderosa Drive. I am looking for several interested Ponderosa Residents to hold a meeting of all Ponderosa residents in the district to review the proposal. If anyone is interested, please contact me at hjd173@aol.com.

There is only one year left to complete the payments to save the Watershed. The President’s proposed budget includes only $600,000 for the Watershed in 2005, ($7 Million less than what is needed). Successful completion of the purchase is in the hands of our US Senators and Representatives.

Points to include in your FAX:

$7.6 million federal appropriations for FY 2005 is necessary to complete the purchase of the Watershed before the purchase option expires on May 1, 2005.

The land is being purchased by the US Forest Service and is being added to the Arapaho national Forest

If not purchased by May 1, 2005, the remaining 1800 acres of the 6000 acre Watershed will be offered for sale to private bidders.

There is broad based support for this acquisition from local conservation agencies and local government officials.

The Beaver Brook Watershed is a critical link in a 20 mile long protected wildlife and recreational corridor that runs from Mount Evans Wilderness area to Noble and Elk Meadows Parks in Evergreen.

The Beaver Brook Watershed is 6000 acres of unspoiled, undeveloped forest habitat 3.5 miles west of Bergen Park in Evergreen and just 30 minutes from millions of people in the Denver metro area.

The area is easily accessed from I-70 and offers recreation opportunities to millions of Denver Front Range residents and visitors.

Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, 202-228-4609

Sen. Wayne Allard, 202-224-6471

Rep. Bob Beauprez, 202-225-5278

Rep. Tom Tancredo, 202-226-4623

Rep. Mark Udall, 202-226-7840

State Attorney General, Ken Salazar, 303-866-5691

Scott Coors, 720-344-2764

For more information please contact the Mountain Area Land Trust at maltco@juno.com or 303-679-0950.

On Thursday, August 3 at 6:30pm at the Grace Church, there will be a public meeting with CDOT and the Clear Creek Board of County Commissioners to discuss options for the I-70 interchange at Floyd Hill based on the impact from the SDMD Tunnel proposal.

The Clear Creek Board of County Commissioners has been meeting with both CDOT and the Silver Dollar Metro District to address impacts from the SDMD Tunnel proposal.  Both CDOT and the SDMD are soliciting county support for inclusion of the SDMD Tunnel plan, (including widening of 119 to 4 lanes between the 119/US 6 interchange and Black Hawk) in the DRCOG 2025 Interim Regional Transportation Plan.  Inclusion in the DRCOG 2025 Transportation Plan is an important step for the SDMD, since the tunnel and 119 are both in the DRCOG Mountain and Plains Region and any major transportation improvement involving public highways must be included in a DRCOG Transportation Plan.