UPDATE...

Though it has rained some in the past two weeks, there has been plenty of dry days to work on the road. The grader still has not moved from the current location for more than a month. The slag on the road still has not been spread out.

Today the sun is out and the roads are drying out. Everything is very green from the rain! There are only a few wet areas where a few of the the culverts are. Looks like it will be a warm weekend.

~Wendi Palmer

On A Side Note

Rather than fill this blog completely with negative stuff about the roads and such.........I thought I would add a few things about the beauty of the place we live.

This shot was taken on my way into the Ranch from the Pryor exit (#49) Rouse Rd.

If you have not come into the Ranch from that direction, I suggest you try it. It is about the same distance as the Aguilar exit but a much more scenic drive.

Progress???

This was what the hill on the main road going to the gate looked like as of this morning.

As you can see, several truckloads of "slag" have been delivered.

This material ("slag") is a mixture if road base and ground up concrete (as I understand it). It is not bad stuff when maintained properly and can harden into a decent driving surface. (We used a similar product on my in-law's place last summer).

Problem is, this stuff was delivered on Saturday, dumped in the middle of the road with a belly dump truck, and left. It has not been touched with a motor grader or spread out along the road.

In some area's the slag is 8 inches deep, 4 inches in others and some have none whatsoever.

Now, I am not a road building type guy, but you would think that if you were going to have a product delivered you would at least have the equipment on hand to deal with it when it arrived.

It has rained in the ranch for the last 2 day's and you would think that this product should be spread out properly prior to inclement weather to keep it from washing away.

I also find it interesting that this product was delivered on a weekend.......when most people visit the Ranch. Could this be an attempt to make it look like something is actually being done?

I can confirm that the grader has not moved from it's current location (next to the Lyons place) in at least a week.

So if you are at the Ranch in the next week or so, please do your part and drive on all sides of the road in a vain attempt to spread your monies worth of slag across the roads. (insert smiling sarcastic face here)

Culverts

culvert
Main Entry:
cul·vert
Pronunciation:
\ˈkəl-vərt\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
origin unknown
Date:
1773
1 : a transverse drain 2 : a conduit for a culvert 3 : a bridge over a culvert

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE???????????????

Welcome to the Blog

Hi all,

Welcome to the blog......great to see some constructive input. Please feel free to invite whomever you wish to be a part of this thing.......I think it has potential to be a great forum for ranch owners.


Just so we are all on the same page, I'll fill you in on what I know.

1. A settlement was reached......$120k is the amountI was told.

2. A mysterious meeting occurred while I was in Az. I am not sure when, where or even who was present but it was at this meeting that the decision was made to contract with the current road construction company.

3. The current construction company was paid $28k in advance and for work already begun on the 1st mile of road prior to the board treasurer departing for Europe. It was my understanding that this money was to cover the "build up" and widening of the 1st mile of road as well as 8-12" of QUALITY road base to be placed on the road.

4. I know of no other bids sought for this project.

5. I have never seen, or, for that matter, been informed of any "formal" contract for this work to be performed.

6. Last year when the Association President and I sought bids from other companies in the area NONE (save the current company) wanted anything to do with the association roads.

7. It is my understanding that the $28k awarded to this company was given on an "estimate" after the contractor used "ball park figures" to create a bill.




That being said.......I would be all for a property management group taking over and overseeing the management of BHR HOA funds. I think that this would be the only way to insure a fair and honest bidding process and contract awarding process.

Let's face it folks, the board is ALWAYS a majority rule and until the MAJORITY of the board has the best interest of the property owners in mind, things will never change.




Just my .02

This might look bleak but it is just the thing the ranch needs. I have only been at the ranch for 3 years and the roads are in the worse shape ever. The happenings this evening is going to cause a change in the way the ranch operates. The board last year had a plan and was voted out with the "new board" voted in. All of the owners have to see using the current road plan is not working and a change is needed. What has to happen now is to stop all of the spending by the board (or what is left of them) and wait until the homeowners meeting. We all want the roads to improve because we all want to get to our properties it always comes down to the "how to" which causes the problems. I will not accept the outlook the roads were cheap to start with and we all just need to move to get better roads.

The long and Muddy Journey

Hi folks!!!!


As some of you now know, my arduous tenure as the VP of Big Horn Ranch HOA has finally come to an end.

That being said, I can finally speak freely about the going's on within the ranch.

1. The roads within the Ranch are in the worst shape I have seen in the last 5 years.

2. The work on the 1st mile of road (which the company doing the road has already been paid for) is nowhere near done and is actually contributing to the further deterioration of the roads.

3. The "culverts" that the homeowners paid for are not only not functional, they are actually HOLDING water.

4. The company hired to "plow" the roads is still doing so at their own discretion and is still using a backhoe to do the work despite being told several times not to do so.

5. As a result of #4 almost all of the packing of the material used to "build up" the 1st mile of road will now need to be re-done.

AND>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Really this is the best.




The owner of that company is driving around in a brand new shiny truck!!!!!!!!!!!! (kinda poor form, considering you are still nowhere near completing the job you were PAID to do!!!)


Feel free to use this blog to post your thoughts/opinions. Couple of Rules Though.

- Please keep your posts clean

- Please avoid long distance urination contests

- HAVE FUN!!!!