Cedarvale Estates
URGENT Road Update 2012
by Jim McCready, Treasurer
Well, today is the
15th April, 2012 and for a day that was supposed to rain it’s
not bad. As I sit here writing this to you
looking at the lake it is seasonally warm with a grey sky and lots of
sun. Having said this I will now rain a little on
our parade. I just spent some time with Dennis
Irick (Irick Excavating) going over our road, which has its usual patch
of potholes. (Jim McCready's repeated
attempts to obtain quotes from other companies met with absolutely NO
RESPONSE--it's Irick Excavating or none!)
Last year at the Road
Meeting which many of you attended we promised that the back stretch of
the road would be stoned as this had not been done for several years. After going over this with Dennis Irick here is the
conclusion. First, it is going to cost more than
it does to do the front part of the road as there are branches over the
road that impede the use of his large truck. So,
as it was explained to me, Dennis will have to bring the stone in with
his large truck and then transfer this stone to a smaller truck in order
to lay the stone down. (The other alternative would be for end-of-the-road homeowners
to have the impeding branches cut away so the big truck can pass
through, and if you are one of these and are willing to do that quickly,
let Jim McCready know ASAP.)
There is a choice that
the committee has to make regarding the stone to be used and so I would
like to ask that those people living on the back end of the road from
Alice Morgan’s property to the end of the road to please give us their
input. The choice is this, if the wish it to have
white stone on this part of the road it will cost approximately
$2,000.and will require about 4 loads of white stone. If
we use black stone, basically shale, to cover this part of the road we
can keep the cost of doing so down to approximately $1,400. This is because the distance required to haul the dark
stone to Cedarvale is shorter that to haul the white stone. Please note that your response is required
before the 4th May, 2012 otherwise the committee will have
to make a decision and all parties will have to live with it.
As regards the front two
thirds of the road--we would need to spend approximately $2,080 to bring
this stretch to a reasonable condition. Please
keep in mind that no matter where you live on the road you need to
cross part of the beginning of the road to get to your property, which
means this part of the road gets the most wear and tear.
Now down to the facts
that have to be weighed in reaching a decision. We
have started to receive a trickle of checks coming in for this year and
we are keeping the road fee the same as in 2011, at $75.
According to our records there are eight properties still owing
road fees from last year (2011). We finished the
year last year with $1,775. in the bank.
With checks we have
received this year at the time I am writing this we have $2,175. in the
bank. If all parties pay for 2012 before May 4,
2012 we will have another $1,800 to deposit, which would give us $3,975 to work with. This, in an ideal
world, may give use just enough to do our road for this year. However if we still have eight homeowners who will not
pay, then we will fall short by $600. Five of
these eight parties live at the back end of the road. Our
hope is that we will have the road done “in good faith” and that every
homeowner's 2012 dues will be forthcoming. If
they are not paid then you’re asking and allowing the rest of your
“neighbors” of Cedarvale Estates to pay your way, which frankly is not
fair, particularly as you have to make use of the road when going to
your properties whether you drive, walk, run or cycle.
With the money we have in
hand currently we can proceed with doing the “back stretch” of the
road. In order to do anything about the front two
thirds of the road we would need all money owed for 2012.
Also receiving unpaid road fees for 2011 would be even better, and
leave us a small cushion for emergencies. Please remember we
require your input and your money by May 4, 2012. For those who don’t pay or haven’t paid you may
provide your input and we will take it under advisement.
Please send your checks
payable to James McCready with a note on it Cedarvale Estates Road Fee
to James McCready, 63 Cedarvale Est., Alburgh, VT 05440 by May 4, 2012. Our books are available to be looked at by anyone with
an interest in doing so.
