Post by Admin on Oct 1, 2017 11:24:17 GMT -7
Draft Road Policy Questions and Answers
Courtesy of the GLA Road Policy Advisory Group
Courtesy of the GLA Road Policy Advisory Group
In June 2017, the GLA Board presented a new Draft Road Policy to all landowners for a thirty-day comment period. A robust response ensued, and a majority of respondents supported the Draft Road Policy as is. However, several landowners still had questions, and several shared thoughtful comments. All questions and comments were carefully studied and thoughtfully discussed by the GLA Road Policy Advisory Group consisting of Claudette Dirkers, Ia Williams, Walter Wunsch, Dennis Riley, Jeff Reiderer and Tim Brockett. Many members of the Road Committee and landowner attendees also contributed greatly. A list of questions and answers was created. We hope that the Q and A below helps all landowners understand the Draft Road Policy.
- Download the Old 2008 Road Policy 2 Pages - Enacted in October of 2008. This policy separates Landowners into 5 groups based on addresses. The higher the group number the less services they receive. Some landowners see this policy as discriminatory and in violation of the Covenants which state "The Association intends to maintain a private road system within the platted road easements for vehicular access to the various parcels within the community.". It also contains legal language that is not supported by the Covenants.
- Download the New 2017 Draft Road Policy - presented to the GLA Board and submitted for a 30 day landowner review period at the June 2017 board meeting.
Questions and Answers
1) What is a Road Policy?
A Road Policy is used by the GLA Road Committee as a mission statement. It is the policy by which the GLA Board allocates and spends money on our roads.
2) Why do we need a new Road Policy?
The old, 2008 policy put the GLA Board at legal risk because of its controversial language and implementation. Many platted roads in North and South Glastonbury were not maintained, while some private roads were.
3) Does the Road Policy supersede our Governing Documents?
No, the Road Policy is subservient to all of our GLA Governing Documents. The Road Committee serves the Board of Directors and must follow the Governing Documents. In any dispute, the Governing Documents rule. The GLA Board can revise, amend or even abolish any Road Policy.
4) Who created the Draft Road Policy?
The Draft Road Policy is a collaborative effort of the Road Policy Advisory Group, which is comprised of both GLA Board members and landowner members, and established by the GLA Board. They were also assigned the job of creating a written five-year GLA Road Plan.
5) What is the difference between a Road Policy and a Road Plan?
The Draft Road Policy is a set of guidelines that will allow for the implementation of a five-year Road Plan. The Road Plan will offer several detailed options, and costs for addressing the maintenance of paved, gravel, platted, and private roads in Glastonbury. It will be scalable to 10 years and even up to 20 years.
6) What are platted roads?
When Glastonbury was created, a road network was designed to provide access to all original parcels. Road easements were created by surveyors and placed on PLAT maps. Cul-de-sacs were drawn for safe turnaround points at the end of every road and GLA holds an easement or property interest in all roads we can maintain.
7) What is meant by an “original parcel”?
An original parcel is one whose boundaries are depicted on the 1982 Certificate of Survey maps filed with Park County.
8) Are all roads in Glastonbury platted?
No. Some roads are privately owned. Helios and Vesta Roads in Golden Age Village (GAV) and the gravel and paved portions of Aries and Sirius Drives, with the exception of the paved hill, in North Glastonbury, are owned by Church Universal and Triumphant (CUT). Dry Creek Road in South Glastonbury is owned by Park County. Subdivision roads are essentially long, private driveways, and most are considered private roads. For example: Evening Star Lane in North Glastonbury and Kenton Lane in South Glastonbury are private, sub-division roads.
9) Can private roads become platted roads?
Yes. The Covenants allow the Association to accept easements and bring private roads into the GLA platted road network.
10) Which roads are the GLA required to maintain?
The Covenants state that the GLA is responsible only for platted roads. Current roads, of which, at least a portion is platted, are:
> North Glastonbury: Capricorn Drive, Venus Way, Mercury Lane, Gemini Road, Orion Way, Jupiter Way, Taurus Road, Caspari Way, Pisces Way, and Aquarius Lane
> Low South Glastonbury: Arcturus Drive, Leo Drive, Leo Lane, Hesperus Lane, Aquila Lane, and Virgo Way
> High South Glastonbury: Hercules Road, Libra Drive, Polaris Way, Scorpio Way, Sagittarius Place, and Sagittarius Skyway
11) Hold on, but the GLA has been maintaining the private roads for GAV, Aries Drive, and Sirius Drive for over twenty years without charging the legal owners. Shouldn’t the GLA, maintain all other subdivision roads, since landowners are paying for maintenance?
Landowners were shortchanged when the GLA Board passed on a decision to require that subdivision roads become part of the Association's platted road network. That said, two wrongs do not make a right. The GLA Covenants are the laws we must follow, and they state that ONLY platted roads are to be maintained. Private and subdivision roads that are NOT platted should not be maintained. But the five-year Road Plan will offer options for maintaining private and subdivision roads while respecting our Covenants.
12) How does the Road Committee decide what roads receive the most maintenance?
The roads that see the most traffic require the most maintenance. The Draft Road Policy classifies roads as either arterial or collector, based upon traffic analysis. The old Road Policy allocated maintenance by creating a five-tier system. The further a landowner lived from a paved road, the less maintenance their road received. Tiers 4 and 5 roads received little to no maintenance. Ditches and culverts clogged, while gravel washed away. Landowners’ investments were squandered, and their safety was compromised.
13) How are road classified according to traffic?
Dwellings and traffic are directly related. Park County and the Montana Department of Transportation (DOT) use the number of dwellings as a basis to determine potential traffic. They count the number of houses that are “upstream” from every intersection. Then they can tell which roads are more traveled than others, based on the number of dwellings.
14) How does that apply to Glastonbury?
The Road Policy Advisory Group has analyzed GLA assessment information and mapped dwellings to the roads on which they are located. Then, they classified a stretch of road as heavily used to be “arterial,” if it had twenty-five or more dwellings that fed into it. All remaining roads were classified as collector roads.
15) Will my platted road finally get fixed?
Yes. Arterial roads will receive greater maintenance than collector roads. However, the Draft Road Policy includes maintenance for all platted roads, and requires that collector roads that are lacking three inches of road mix receive at least 25% of the gravel and grading budget. All platted roads will receive some regular maintenance.
16) Why do we need an engineer’s evaluation of our roads?
The Road Committee has many smart and hard-working people, but none are a Montana state-certified road engineer. Specialized knowledge will provide the best answers to difficult road problems. An engineer could save landowners from paying for costly mistakes by professionally evaluating our roads every five years.
17) Will a five-year requirement for an engineer’s analysis burden the community?
As the committee gains a fuller understanding of the road maintenance needs for Glastonbury and implements road improvements, our need for an engineer will diminish, as will the cost. The GLA Board creates a yearly budget, and if funds are tight, they have the power to reduce or eliminate funding for a road engineer.
18) Do we really need monthly reports on Road Committee spending?
The Draft Road Policy calls for monthly road expense reports. Figures for Road Committee spending are already included in the almost twenty-page monthly Board financial statements. With Board approval, the Road Committee spends a majority of the yearly budget and must have current financial data to make responsible decisions. A simplified addendum to the Road Committee minutes would help landowners easily understand where their money is being spent.
19) Doesn’t the GLA Board have the sole authority to spend landowner’s money?
The GLA Board approves a budget that includes specific amounts of money for line items including, but not limited to: snow fencing, signs, and NG paved roads. Based on comprehensive analysis, the Road Committee determines how to spend those funds so the landowners receive the best service and quality materials for the lowest price. Their recommendations are then sent to the GLA Board for approval.
20) Why is snow plowing the first road maintenance priority?
Unplowed roads prevent both landowner and emergency access to all original parcels and impairs landowner safety. The Covenants state that the Association shall maintain a road network that provides access to all original parcels. Landowner safety is of paramount importance, and has guided the order of priorities in the draft Road Policy.
21) My road has severe washboarding. Just a few weeks after fresh gravel, grading and rolling the washboards are back. What can be done?
Washboard roads are a perennial problem in Glastonbury. The reasons they form are varied and sometimes complex, but foremost, washboard roads are caused by excessive speed and strong vehicle acceleration. They could affect one’s safety by make driving somewhat dangerous. The Draft Road Policy treats them as a high priority problem. The five-year Road Plan will offer a detailed analysis and long-term solutions.
22) What about access to parcels on subdivision roads?
The Covenants only require access to platted roads and to the original parcels. Eventually, subdivision roads may be accepted into the platted road system and receive GLA maintenance. Currently $66,000.00 of landowners’ assessments comes from subdivided parcels. The five-year GLA Road Plan will address the disparity of services between original parcels and subdivided parcels.
23) Does the Draft Road Policy require that the Association keep the roads free of snow, no matter how much it costs? Could doing this bankrupt the Association?
No. The Road Committee can only spend what is in the budget for snowplowing. When the money is gone, the Board must authorize use of reserve funds. If no funds are available from the reserve account, then the Board can make a decision to cease snow plowing certain areas, or all of Glastonbury.
24) Are we paying for snow plowing to residences that are not accessed during the winter?
No. Even the highest properties in High South are used intermittently year-round. Full-time residents currently live within one mile of the highest homes in High South.
25) Doesn’t Covenant 8.01c allow varying levels of maintenance for roads depending upon topography?
Yes, it is a limiting phrase that insures that the Association is not required to spend money it does not have. It allows road maintenance to be unequal for different parts of our community. However, it does not give license to treat landowners unequally, which has happened with the 2008 GLA Road Policy. The Covenants state that all original parcels must have access, unless there are no funds available.
26) Could high-maintenance areas be forced to join a Local Improvement District and pay for their own snow plowing?
No. Special assessment districts are designed for one-time projects and not for ongoing road maintenance.
27) What percentage of the budget goes for snow plowing?
In 2017, $17,295.00 was budgeted for snowplowing all of Glastonbury. That comprises a little over 12% of the entire annual budget of $141,398.00.
28) Could 100% of the budget be used for snow plowing?
If we needed more than the currently available $17,295.00, we have a reserve fund of $26,077.00 that can be used. If those funds become depleted, the GLA Board could tap another fund account, reallocate money in the budget, or cease snowplowing. In 2010, Glastonbury was buried by an early season blizzard. The Board reallocated existing funds and all platted roads, (and several private roads), were cleared.
29) What causes the largest snow plowing expense?
Blowing snow and removing accumulated drifting require regular plowing and sanding in many parts of Glastonbury. Paved roads develop ice more easily than gravel roads do, and thus, must be plowed and sanded more frequently. Drifting affects all of Glastonbury and is a serious problem on Dry Creek Road and the hilly section of Sirius Drive. Heavy traffic further packs snow which leads to patches of ice. Over the years, snow removal and sanding costs are almost evenly split between North and South Glastonbury.
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