Save the Date!

WWROA Whitewater Wilderness Ranch Owners Association

Board Member Elections Around the Corner May 15, 2016 – Deadline for submitting notice of intent

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6

Board Update The WWROA Board met on Thursday, January 7, 2016. Our agenda covered financial review, road issues, preparations for spring weed issues, and CCR violations. Some unforeseen expenditures — both present and future — that we would like the association to be aware of are as follows:

Due to the excessive snowfall to date, our roads have required plowing five times. So we’ve basically already met our snow plowing budgeting allowance and it’s only January. We are doing things to help curb this expense. You may have noticed the old grader (which has lovingly been dubbed “Old Snort – the big hunk of metal”) is currently parked on the upper half of the mountain. That is because our Road Committee Chairman, Scott Stouder, is graciously donating his time to help plow the upper roads with this grader – meaning we are only spending money on diesel fuel to plow the upper roads. Old Snort also came to the rescue when the new grader slid off the road. We were able to pull her out with Old Snort and avoid the cost of hiring a tow truck powerful enough to get the job done. Also, rather than filling our diesel container full of fuel, we are keeping the grader tanks full by using the mobile refueling tank owned by Kern Construction. Therefore we are paying for fuel as needed rather than storing fuel for the future.

The Road Committee would like for the association to be aware that the grader is in need of new tires. Unfortunately, these tires are not free. In fact, they are quite expensive. So the board will be exploring the most cost effective way to budget for these tires in the next fiscal year.

The rest of this newsletter reflects board discussion from our last meeting and pertinent information we feel association members should know. Thank you for your support and enjoy this beautiful winter.

The Board elections are held every year at out Annual Meeting in June. This

year there are three positions open. If you would like to run for a board

position and have your bio included in the spring newsletter, please notify the board by sending your notice of intent and your personal bio to

wwroaidaho@gmail.com no later than May 15, 2016.

WWROA WINTER 2016

2

Spring Weed Awareness Sorry, Eeyore, but it’s just not true. Weeds are

not flowers and they are not our friends. Sigh.

Spring Weed Spraying – An Association Saga

Every year the association sprays noxious weeds along the road system. We do not spray on personal property, as this is the responsibility of lot owners. Please be encouraged to identify the noxious weeds on your property and kill them before they spread like weeds to your neighbors.

Every year, there are those among us who take issue with weed spraying. This year, we will be notifying the membership via our One-Call-Now phone tree system when weed spraying will occur. One-Call-Now is an expense to the association meant to be reserved for emergency notifications; however, it is the best way for us to ensure that every member receives notification of

the upcoming spray. We will not be able to provide the association with a specific date and time for spraying because variables such as weather and wind must be taken into consideration. We can, however, provide you with a window of time. During this window you will be responsible for being aware of your surroundings and taking note of work being done along the road system. Then, during this window of time, if you see the contractor out spraying the road system, please hustle your little ones and animals inside if you feel that need.

If you are adamantly opposed to the spraying of weeds along the roadside bordering your property, it is your responsibility to mark your land as indication to the contractor that they are to skip your part of the road. If you do not identify your land as a no spray zone, the roadside bordering your property will be sprayed.

WWROA WINTER 2016

3

Hunt Ethically or Become the Hunted

2

on WWR that we invited the Game Warden over to discuss what could be done. He is now well aware of unethical practices on WWR and is dedicated to patrolling our lands for poaching on a regular basis.

If you know of any unethical and illegal hunting activity on the ranch, please contact Game Warden Dennis Brandt.

Work: 208-634-8137 Cell: 208-371-2869 Email: dennis.brandt@idfg.idaho.gov

1

Whitewater Wilderness Ranch was home to some seriously horrendous hunting ethics this year. We send notice to hunters every year encouraging hunting responsibly and properly marking properties as No Hunting and No Trespassing when you do not want these activities on your land. Hunters, it is your responsibility to abide by these markings and obey the laws of ethical hunting. This means no hunting from the road, no hunting before sunrise or after sunset, obtaining permission from landowners to hunt on private land, and hunting animals only in their hunting season.

We were so disturbed by the practices observed

WWROA WINTER 2016

4

Upper Gate Protecting our Ranch

The board has spent many an hour talking about the upper gate and how to keep it secure. We thought it might be useful to make a statement explaining why there is importance to keeping that gate closed and locked.

The gate is not meant as a punishment to the owners of WWR, but rather as a protection. We are privileged to have that entrance into the national forest. That privilege does not extend to non-association members, who use our road system to access the forest through our upper gate because the road is nicer and the access easier than traveling the public road from Highway I95. Our road system is being abused and is suffering the consequences by overuse. These non-owners are also non-dues payers. Your hard earned money is being spent to maintain roads being abused by trespassers. Please keep the gate closed and locked. And to further help our road system remain nicer as well as more convenient than public forest roads, please engage 4WD and drive at a responsible speed. Road maintenance is the entire association’s responsibility. Thank you for your help and cooperation.

Dues Payment Options Changing

Every year, WWROA’s Treasurer must remind property owners to pay their dues by way of the 30-day notice, and then continue to follow up until payment is made. This occurs two times per year because we have given property owners the option of making payments in two installments. One payment is due July 31 and one is due December 31. A two-payment option is not required nor is it recommended in our bylaws or CCRs. The 30-day notice is sent primarily to the same property owners over and over again. Three liens were filed in September for non-payment of dues and this year we have ten owners (12 properties) who received 30-day notices for non-payment of the December payment.

The board is currently exploring discontinuing the installment payments to eliminate the additional follow-up required by the Treasurer to notify property owners by way of the 30-day notice for the payment due in December. It costs every member when liens are filed and when follow-up for non-payment is necessary.

We are considering implementing the one-payment option for the 2017-18 year. This will give property owners adequate time to budget for a one-time yearly payment.

If you have questions or ideas regarding this issue, please send them to the WWROA email address — wwroaidaho@gmail.com. Thank you.