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BENT TREE PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATION, INC.

P.O. Box 2631

Monument, CO 80132

www.btpoa.org

The Bent Tree Board of Directors (BOD), along with its several committees, is continually working to preserve the attractiveness, and therefore enhance the value, of our property. Specifically, volunteers from our community have been focused on how to maintain and enhance the appearance, how to prevent excess use of water per the governing decrees, how to enforce covenants, how to prevent beetles from destroying the trees on our properties, how to welcome new residents, and how to make Bent Tree safer.

Chairman John Stahl and his Beautification Committee are working on the trail and the entrances to Bent Tree. As soon as weather permits, you will see improvements being made on the trails that will be safer for those who use them. And then the focus will move to improvements on the entrances to Bent Tree.

Chairpersons K Wayne & Rae Jean Claybaugh and the rest of our Welcoming Committee have been visiting newcomers and sending them information and gifts to welcome them to our community. I believe we are up to date on all newcomers. Please contact the Welcoming Committee if you are new and have not been contacted, they have some great info for you.

We would like to remind all owners that, after diligent research and consideration, we have outsourced covenant enforcement. Jeanne Thomas of Red Oaks Associates, LLC is now under contract with Bent Tree. She is a licensed professional that will bring us experience and consistency in working with homeowners. She will be taking direction from our Bent Tree Covenant Compliance Committee representatives, she will be doing tours and notifying owners of things that need correction. We appreciate all owners who abide by our governing covenants, and if you have any questions or issues, please let us know.

John Anderson, Chairman of the Forestry Committee, is again sending out critical information and guidance on how to help prevent the potential of the mountain pine beetle problem and to provide advice on your other forestry needs. John is very helpful; call him if you have any questions.

Jerry Lopez, Chairman of the Water Augmentation Committee, is diligently working on putting together proactive and corrective action plans addressing our water usage problems. The BTPOA is required to monitor and report on Bent Tree water usage to the State of CO. Jerry, a professional engineer, has been doing this task for us for years, which is a very complex and time-consuming task. We want to publicly thank him for his expertise, commitment and time he contributes to Bent Tree.

All Bent Tree lot owners are required to not exceed 2000 square feet of irrigation for each lot, and it is important to understand that this is not computed as an average of all the lots, it is a requirement per lot. Unfortunately, Bent Tree has been lax in monitoring and enforcing this limit in recent years, and with the over-usage of water in 2006, we must take corrective action this year or there is the potential that we may have significant financial penalties and / or face legal action from the State. This year we will be measuring everyone’s square footage of irrigation. This will be a daunting task, but is a proactive measure that must be done to ensure each lot is compliant with the covenants, water rights, and the State of Colorado. Please read Jerry’s letter for more information regarding our water usage and concerns, and note that we will be sending out additional information on the steps that Bent Tree will be taking to proactively address this serious issue.

Of note: Some of the studies that Matt Dunston, a Bent Tree owner and owner of a water company has done, show that a family of four, on average, uses only about 1/3 of their water allocation inside the home. Therefore, it is important to note that the usage of water inside your home is not a major contributor to our water over-usage problems. We will not have to change our habits inside our homes to comply with the water over-usage problem. Generally speaking, the source of our water over-usage problem is the irrigation of our lawns, trees, landscape, etc. We all need to find ways to conserve water that is used for irrigation.

During the spring thaw, we are identifying and notifying homeowners about water runoff from some lots onto the streets, which in low temperatures turns to ice and becomes a safety hazard to traffic and those who may be walking on those streets. Most of our homeowners are understanding and make reasonable efforts to redirect the water to a ditch, and we sincerely thank them for their prompt attention to address these problems when they occur.

We also want to address the garbage pick-up problem. On many streets, there are garbage trucks that drive through our community several (sometimes up to four) days a week. This causes a potential safety issue for our pets, our children and our owners. Because not all of us use the same company, some streets will have trash out for pickup four days a week!

Members of the BOD and the Beautification Committee have done some research that we would like to share with you. After soliciting information from several trash pickup companies, comparing our needs and the collection company’s willingness to work with us, we’ve received the best rate from Tri Lakes Disposal, phone number 495-8652 at $12/month, and the second best rate from U.S. Waste, 591-5000, at $13/month. Both of these companies will also pick up recyclables, such as glass, tin, and paper, every two weeks. If we can utilize just two companies, this would reduce the number of days that we would have garbage cans sitting on the streets, and would also reduce the heavy truck traffic that erodes our roads and increases the risk of someone or a pet getting hurt. Over time, if we can get a majority of our owners to change to one vendor, that company will also supply two huge roll-off dumpsters at strategic locations twice a year for all residents to use for big clean-up jobs. Those owners that use Tri Lakes have really been vocal about the great service they have received.

There is no obligation, but we are sharing this information with you so you can consider helping us maintain our neighborhood’s roads and beauty, and make Bent Tree safer by changing to one of these vendors the next quarter when your trash collection bill comes in! Wouldn’t it be great if all of Bent Tree will switch to one vendor, so we have only one day of trash pickup? This would be more attractive, safer and there would be less heavy traffic on our streets.

We would like to emphasize that we, the BOD, and the rest of the volunteers on the various committees, are dedicated to provide the best representation of, and support of, all of the owners in Bent Tree. We invite and encourage you to attend our monthly Board Meetings, which are held the second Monday of each month at 7PM to 9PM, at the Monument Sanitation Board Room, 130 2^nd St., Monument. Bent Tree also holds two owners meeting each year – the Annual Property Owners Meeting in September, and the Annual Budget Meeting in February. Your attendance and participation at these meetings is critical to ensure that the concerns and desires of the community are addressed. An agenda for the meetings are posted on our web site.

At our recent Budget Meeting, although we had many owners attend (and we thank all of you), we did not have enough properties represented to meet quorum, which means that the BOD must postpone votes on various topics to our Property Owners Meeting in September. I hope all of you will be at the BTPOA Annual Meeting. One of the topics will be the increase in association dues. With us doing more maintenance, communication, water compliance oversight, and beautification, our budget will exceed our dues, and we will need to make a change. Remember: Your voice counts.