Board Members: Pat Cordova (President), Michael Katalenic (Vice President),Ted Craig (Treasurer), Dan Sattler (Secretary), and John Mueller (Member at Large).
Change in Trash Service provider: Our Republic Services trash contract is scheduled to expire at the end of this year. The HOA Board is required to give notice by Certified Mail 60 to 90 days before the end of the term if they choose not to renew the contract. Buffalo Creek Management contacted 4 Trash Companies requesting Bids for pricing for the HOA. After a lengthy process and deliberations, the Board has decided to hire Ram Waste Systems, a locally owned, family operated business, for the HOA Trash Service. Ram had not wanted to expand north of Ft Collins in the past, however the City of Ft Collins decided this year to require everyone in Ft Collins to use Republic. (This is why our pickup day switched from Thursday to Friday, but it also resulted in Ram wanting to find a new market). Ram Waste answered all the Board questions and concerns and have been awarded the Contract. The change is scheduled for December 1, 2024. You will receive a 96 Gallon Trash cart and a 96 Gallon Recycle cart during the week of November 24th. The last pickup day for Republic will be Friday November 29th and they will schedule the cart pickups after that day. If you have yard waste service, they will also pick up those carts. During this switchover time, it is understood that carts will need to be left out and our Compliance people will not note these as violations. The price increase with Republic would have required an increase in dues by the 2026 year, however under the Ram Waste contract, at lower rates with built in annual increases, we will have more breathing room and should be able to cover the costs for several years at our current dues rate. Ft Collins has instituted a policy that trash can lids must be fully closed or the homeowner is fined. We are not there yet, and a slight opening is acceptable here, however there is a charge possible if you stack extra trash bags above the top of the cart. You should schedule an additional pick-up service if needed. (See "Spring Cleanup")
Yard Waste: To set up the new Yard Waste Services, you would need to call Ram and set it up. (970) 226-3396. We have negotiated rates with them for a 96 Gallon yard waste cart of $20.50 a month for the 2025-yard waste season. With this larger yard waste cart, you could share the expense with a neighbor and share the cart.
Spring Cleanup Day: Spring Cleanup Day was found to be very expensive across the 4 companies we evaluated. Over the last couple years, it’s been noticed that a majority of the homeowners no longer participate, and the Board wanted to look at a way to discontinue this Spring Clean Up Day as it added to the monthly costs throughout the year. Over the last two years it appears that only about 30% of our homes participate, if even only a little bit. The annual billing we’ve been paying is calculated at a cost for 100% participation (8 bags and one large item), so we are basically paying for more than we receive. Ram Waste will work with our Homeowners on an additional need’s basis all throughout the year. If any homeowner has anything at any time, they would like picked up, Ram will do so under agreement with the homeowner. You can call them and schedule additional pickup at any time. Place the item by your trash can if it’s a large item, or in black trash bags for smaller items, and they will bill you direct at $5.00 per bag.
Any Visible Property Change requires ARC approval: Any change that you want to make to the exterior of your house, property, and landscaping needs to have Architectural Review Committee (ARC) approval. Give us a few weeks prior to your project to get the approval process completed.
Go to the website: www.buffalocreekhoa.com, find the ARC form, fill it out and email or mail it back to the ARC Committee. The ARC committee will go over your request to make sure that everything falls within the HOA Covenants and Site Restrictions. (This is our way of helping make sure that you do not end up investing time and money in a project that is not allowed under HOA guidelines.) The ARC Committee is there to help you, so you do not have to read through a hundred pages of documents to determine if your project is approvable.
ARC forms are on website at; www.buffalocreekhoa.com or Email; arc@buffalocreekhoa.com
Projects in 2024: In 2024 we finished our 5-year objective to have all the exterior, common area fences stained. We all were affected by the huge wind storm this year and a lot of fences throughout the neighborhood were severely damaged along with the perimeter HOA fence. The HOA also had issues with blown over and damaged trees from that storm. Our North sidewalk repair project has come along nicely this spring, and the new grass has covered the scrap area. We thank Hartford Homes, our neighbor to the north.
Home Sales: Since September 1, 2023, we have had only 12 homes sell in the HOA compared to 22 during the same time last year, which was also a low. We have also noticed that the average sales prices of homes have softened during this period.
Wellington Water crisis: This year the Wellington Water issues made National news as many homeowners have reported monthly water bills in the $800.00 to $1,000.00 range. Several homeowners have also complained that their water bill is showing that they are being charged many thousands more gallons than they had ever used during their 15 years living in the same house and they have been much more conservative in water consumption these past few years. The Town Board and the Town Administration are still offering new water taps to a local builder and neither has made a public statement as to how they are fixing the issue and when it will be resolved. Some homeowners have suggested putting the HOA homeowner lawns on our Non-pot system; however, we do not have the infrastructure in place that would allow for two different water systems. A separate system would be needed and to put that in now, after development, would cost in the tens of millions of dollars, if it was even possible.
Buffalo Creek HOA: All correspondence, payments and ARC requests can also be sent to the HOA. Buffalo Creek HOA, PO Box 1182, Wellington, CO 80549 Website: www.BuffaloCreekHOA.com
All payments for dues are by Annual Payment, however the Board has authorized monthly payments by ACH. Annual billings are sent out December 15th with payment due by January 1st.
You will need to contact the Management Company if you want to set up ACH Payments.
Management Company: Buffalo Creek HOA is managed by Buffalo Creek Management and can be reached at; PO Box 1182, Wellington, CO 80549. Phone (970) 568-3170 or email at: singewald@aol.com
Share your ideas: We are continually working to keep Buffalo Creek a community you can be proud of. We like keeping you informed and are always happy to get suggestions.
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