Much of the first two weeks in December were spent on water system issues in and around the Lodge area. The cold weather in early December caused some exposed steel water pipes to burst in the old employee RV site area. Val Jahns and I spent many cold days excavating and repairing or isolating and capping off a multitude of leaks along the line running north/south from the Road Maintenance Shed/Road Equipment Storage Yard through the Employee RV Sites. The 1” steel piping in this area is very old and in poor condition. This area seems to have been leaking a long time and has, most likely, lost a lot of water over that time. While these repairs were being conducted the water well on the east side of the ranch road that, in conjuntion with the other well on the west side of the ranch road, approximately two miles north of the office/Lodge, supplies the water for the Office/Lodge area, failed. Coleman Well Service was consulted and pulled the pump/motor assembly and found that the motor had failed. A new motor was ordered and we had a 10 day wait for it to arrive. This caused a shortfall in water for the Office/Lodge area as the East Well is the larger producer of water of the two wells. To make up for this shortfall in water, I piped the During this time, Richard Billings, installed the new water line to the lower cabins that was approved by the board before my arrival. Richard was a great help to me during this time, with the repairs that Val and I were making to the old water system. The ditch that the new line is in, is still open at the present time, and Richard will return in January to pressure test the new portion of the line. Because of the well failure he did not have sufficient water available to test the line. Coleman well service returned and the East Well was back on line in late December. I have learned a tremendous amount about the routing of the water system in the Office/Lodge area. All routes we discovered in our repairs, are cataloged in the Maintenance Binder in my possion in the business office. I plan to present an in depth summary of my experiences and my concerns about the Lodge water sysem during the January Board Meetings. In December I set up the required files for POATRI’s Texas Department of Transportation Operating Authority. We had no filing system in place and were extremely deficient in these requirements. We are required to set up this filing system as specified by the state, as part of our commercial vehicle operating authority for our commercial vehicles (Dump Truck). Holders of this authority are subject to onsite random inspection by State DOT inspector’s (TX Dept of Public Safety) either at the office or at any traffic stop involving a commercial vehicle. These files include, registration, insurance and inspection information on the vehicles, as well as, CDL Driver License, driving history, training, insurability and drug and alcohol testing on all drivers. These records are kept in the office files in the file TX DOT Operating Authority, and CDL Drivers Files in the Licensing section of the office files. Also, to comply with these requirements I have installed POATRI signage on the truck along with our TX DOT Operating Authority numbers, as well as setting up an packet to be kept in the truck containing all required paperwork. I applied the registration sticker to windshield, etc. At this time I found that the truck will not pass the Commercial Vehicle Inspection required by the state of This will fulfill our requirement on our operating authority and allow us to utilize the truck legally with myself as driver (I am only employee with CDL License). In mid-December we cancelled the maintenance contract with Porter Construction for the day to day scheduling and supervision of the road crew. After a short familiarization process I felt comfortable to assume these duties myself. This saved POATRI approximately $1040.00/month in supervision & scheduling fees, associated with the contract. Porter Construction will still be our primary contractor for road work that is beyond our capabilities. During my familiarization of the POATRI road equipment, Keith Chapman informed me that the 140 H#1 Maintainer was inoperable due to a turbocharger oil line that had parted. Keith informed me that parts were in the office to repair. I, after reordering and recieving new parts as the first parts were ordered for by serial number for the 140H#2 machine and were incorrect, repaired the H#1 Maintainer and also performed the 250 hour service on the machine, including sampling of fluids for testing by Caterpillar. This service had previously been performed by Warren Caterpillar in I am able to perform the required service, sampling and checks as of now, because we are running one (1) road crew and we switch out the machines with the crew when service is due and I perform it as my schedule allows. The road crew experiences no down time as a result of this system. If we ever return to two crews this system may be insufficient. I have, as of 1/1/10 upped the weekly working hours on the road crew from 32 hours/week to 40 hours/week, and this has been reflected in the proposed 2010 budget. Ismael and I use the extra eight (8) hours for in house equipment service and checking of roads to be repaired, as well as additional roadwork. I plan to utilize Ismael in an investigatory role, in addition to his operating duties to assist me in ascertaining road conditions. We confer on Monday mornings and schedule the work for the coming week, as well as go over the preceding week’s operations. Further conclusions and reccomendations on the road crew, equipment status and needs will be addressed at the Board Meeting in January, 2010. As a note to the Road Maintenance Operations, I would like to mention the help I have recieved from board member, Jeff Daly. His GPS/Tract Overlay mapping project, in my opinion,is an invaluable asset to the Ranch. His efforts and generous gifts of his time as well as the loan of GPS equipment allow myself and the road crew to pinpoint the location of road problems at their discovery in relation to Terlingua Ranch tract numbers. It also allows me to travel to tracts and roads when Property Owners call with road problems, but have no way to direct me to the road, other than by tract numer. This has also greatly accelerated my learning of the Ranch road system. The system is also a valuable aid to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Game Wardens in their pursuit of poachers on the Ranch, as it allows them, through me, to identify what tract an infraction occurs by GPS coordinates. As of 1/1/10 the office staff situation, which has been in flux my entire time with POATRI has finally been stabilized. Beginning Tuesday, January 12, 2010, the business office will be open Tuesday through Saturday, from 9am to 5pm. Staff scheduling is as follows: Les Bullard - Tuesday through Saturday 9am-5pm Kathy Pothier (Office Manager, Accounting, Property Services – Tuesday through Thursday (24 hrs/week) Elizabeth Thompson (Property Services, Front Desk, Water Sales) – Thursday and Friday (16 hrs/week) Val Jahns (Maintenance, Front Desk, Water Sales) – Tuesday through Saturday (40 hrs/week) General Manager: The Board of Directors regrets to announce that Les Bullard has submitted his letter of resignation as General Manager. His last day will be Friday, January 22, 2010. Les has done a good job for the short time he has been here we are sorry to see him leave but wish him well in his further endeavors. Click for link to letter of resignation.
2nd QUARTER 2009 OPERATIONS REPORT
July 25, 2009
Operations for the first six months of 2009 have been concentrated on collection of revenues and reduction of expenses.
Road maintenance continues with one crew concentrating on maintaining passable access.
Resort maintenance has been reduced to only those activities that are vital to the continued functioning of the POATRI office and maintenance to the water system and pool.
Public office hours continue at three days per week in order to sell non-potable water and give assistance to property owners.
Administrative activities continue with the updating and maintenance of the owner database and collections activities. Annual demand letters to owners who are more than one year delinquent have been processed and where necessary liens have been filed.
A POATRI Auction closed yesterday, July 24th. Results will be posted on the web site August 1st after sufficient time for all bids to be received.
As of this morning, July 25, 2009 there are 4922 owner accounts, 2472 of which are Members in Good Standing. Of the 2450 Members not in Good Standing, 480 are classed as uncollectible due to having abandoned the property and owing large amounts of property tax as well as assessments.
Of the remaining 1970 Members Not in Good Standing, 398 have not paid some combination of the 2009 assessment and/or one or both of the special assessments. Of those 398 accounts, 341 owe only the special assessments or some portion of the special assessments.
OPERATIONS REPORT -- 1ST QUARTER 2009
by Alida Lorio, General Manager
During the first quarter of the year we have concentrated on further reduction of expenses. No new projects are scheduled. Road maintenance continues on a reduced basis. The POATRI office is open three days per week for water sales and other property owner service. Efforts for the second quarter will concentrate on the collection of assessments to generate revenues and the continued reduction of expenses pending various decisions before the Board of Directors.
Operations Report for Year End, 2008
· Financial:
1) At year end the operating cash accounts totaled $24,997, $11,622 of which was 2009 assessments collected in December, leaving $13,375 of 2008 revenues to cover $15,247 of 2008 expenses. This shortage has been covered by January collections of BVC and non-2009 assessments of $14,381.
2) The Capital Reserve Fund and Contingency Funds were increased during 2008 by slightly over $22,550 each through collection of NRC revenues. NRC collections continue to be split equally between the two funds.
3) The 2008 Contingency Fund cash flow loan to operations will be paid from the continued collection of BVC and past assessments.
· Collections:
1) We continue our in-house collections program of interim billings, filing liens and taking deeds back in lieu of assessments. These properties are auctioned once or twice a year. In 2008 auctions produced net cash of past due collections of approximately $27,000.
2) The amnesty program continues to encourage purchase of properties with delinquencies.
3) We continue to experience an approximate 10% slow pay ratio where assessments charged in the current year are not collected until the following assessment year.
4) The badly delinquent, uncollectible accounts where property taxes are also owed are considered abandoned and are being worked on through the Brewster County tax assessor’s attorneys. These 600 or so accounts represent $1,148,600 in TRIPOD receivables, $650,279 of which were written off in 2005, although the full amount remains in TRIPOD.
· Road Maintenance: We continue to operate with one crew and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Where revenues allow we will be completing repair projects that require special treatment.
· Resort: The resort facility remains closed. We are doing simple upkeep and emergency type maintenance projects only. There are a number of repair projects, both large and small, which await the decision of the Board of Directors regarding the disposition of the resort facility.
· Other: The Christmas Mountains lease was signed effective January 1, 2009 and the Memorandum of Lease has been filed with Brewster County. We have submitted the permitting process for the Old Mine Road hiking trail and are awaiting final approval from the GLO.
· Interesting Membership Facts:
1) At year end we had 4893 active TRIPOD accounts. Owner account totals since 2006 have averaged 4878, so despite fairly healthy transfer activity, our owner base has remained stable.
2) At the time of the 2009 assessment our owner account total was 4908, of which 4288 non-exempt accounts were charged, which is no significant change over the last four years average.
3) Our all-exempt owner accounts currently number 620, which is a reduction from a high total of 683 in early 2008. The gain in owner account between the 2009 billing and the end of the year were all non-exempt accounts.
4) In the three years of 2006, 07 & 08 we added 1,213 new owner accounts.
5) Our resident to non-resident ratio remains at about 6.5%.
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