Here is what I know, along with assumptions about our roads.
First Assumption. 1. The first paving of Wild River Roads occurred in the mid 70s. The primary purpose was to keep the dust down in the sparsely occupied neighborhood.
Assumption #2 In 2005 it was decided by the majority that our roads should be repaved.
The cost would be $300k (rounding up for simplification) which required an assessment of $600 (rounding up) per lot.
The agreement was that we would bank $10k a year into a “Road Fund” so that in 30 years we, those remaining, would have a better jump on the next “repave“.
The deposits into the road fund have ranged from $0 to $15k a year since 2007. We have also used road funds for road maintenance, appropriate in my book.
The premise that you could throw down a third layer of asphalt was severely flawed. Especially when starting with a poor repave.
In the summer of 2006 Vic Russell has at it, with zero oversight by anyone in WROA! The quality of asphalt was very inferior to commercial grade road asphalt that the county would use, using much less oil. That is why you see cracks every few feet as there is less flexibility without the oil. In many areas there is now a severe crown in the road making it impossible for a 3rd layer
In 2009 we funded the replacement of the road shoulder gravel. The 2006 complement had settled and where people cut the corners the gravel had blown out.
We, Brian and I, installed road markers to help reduce the blow outs, but it didn’t help whatsoever. Get rid of the road markers as it hampers snow removal and many have faded and are heeled over. Less is more.
So it’s been since 2009 on shoulder gravel and about 12 years since an expensive and wasteful seal. I have been asking for 10 years for a reserve study to be conducted to understand what are all of our future expenditures, especially road replacement.
On many occasions I’ve asked at our annual meeting, “Do we have enough in our road fund?” is it too much or not enough, only a professional paver can give you that answer!
Finally, under the cover of darkness, or maybe it was in a newsletter that I never received, a road study is conducted indicating that by 2036 WROA will need to spend $1M ($880,000) to completely replace our 2.5 miles of roadway.
A far cry from $300k! What a legacy to leave!
Early financial analysis indicates owners will need to pony up around $2k in an assessment charge! That assumes we neglect all other assets like forest, mail stations, the list of neglected assets is too long to list here.
First, the majority needs to agree on what is the right number for an assessment. Then we back into that number deciding what maintenance we aren’t including.
Once again, majority rules! After that information is sorted out we can then go about forecasting everyone’s dues for the next few years. It ain’t gonna be pretty!
Budget Analysis