Meadowglen Homeowners Association

Independence Day is just a few days away, and we have some updates about times and activities.

First, our Fishing Derby check-in will begin at 7:30 am at the clubhouse for a 8:00 am tournament start. Prizes for the tournament will be given around 9:30am at the clubhouse.

Next, we have the Arvada Fire truck parade starting at 10:00 am on the intersection of W 80th Dr. and Estes St in South Meadowglen. Feel free to decorate a bike, scooter, or yourself to join in following the truck around to the pool. If you don’t want to participate you are welcome to watch us all go by. We do ask if you follow the truck to stay away from the sides. The truck can’t see and this makes for a huge safety. After the fire truck brings the parade to the pool we will be sprayed down with the fire hose.

The pool will be fully opened from 10 am-6 pm with NO reservations required. We will have 4 lifeguards posted on the corners of the pool to ensure safety. After 6 pm the pool will be swim at your own risk. We will open the side gate

We want to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July! If you have any questions or would like to help plan/share ideas contact Linzi King at: linziking@meadowglen-hoa.com 

Come to the Food Trucks tonight by the pool parking lot for a fun Monday! Gyros Express had to cancel but we have another great dinner truck and fabulous dessert by Rebel Cookie Dough and Confections (they have ice cream, homemade cookies, edible cookie dough, etc.

They will be there from 5-7:30. Hope to see you and your family there!

Here are their menus to view in advance.

https://www.rebelcookiedough.com/#menu
https://gotruckster.com/food-truck/el-turkito#menu

As you are likely aware, Covenant 5.11b prohibits pickup trucks from being parked within our neighborhood. Through the winter and spring, mounting tensions on the topic drove a grassroots movement to bring up the topic again. They modified the language from the failed 2018 effort to change this covenant, and the proposal was discussed at the May meeting. After the May Board meeting, the Board solicited comments on the proposed amendment in the state it was provided to us by the grassroots movement. In total, the Board received 28 form submission or emails on the topic. The Board also hosted an Open House Townhall event on June 5 for homeowners to come ask questions and engage with their neighbors. About 20-25 homeowners showed up and the Board fielded questions and listened to opinions. We’d like to thank everyone who sent us feedback both in person and virtually as it helped the Board in their decision making process.

At the June Board of Directors meeting (held on 6/24), after careful consideration on all of the input received, the Meadowglen Board voted unanimously (one abstention) in favor of distributing a “Consent to Change” ballot regarding an amendment of Covenant 5.11 to allow limited parking of pickup trucks.

WHAT TO EXPECT NEXT:

• HOA legal counsel is currently reviewing the proposed language for the revised covenant and we are addressing some comments that we received before the June meeting. Once finished, the Board will post the document on both the Advance HOA website and this community website for 30 days for further comment. Your opportunity for comments/questions will be communicated at the time of posting.
• After the 30 day posting, the Board will examine any feedback and determine if further changes are necessary. If no further changes are necessary, ballots will be mailed out via USPS to the homeowner on record. We expect this to tentatively happen by mid-August.
  • The details of the proposed change will be clearly outlined in the mailing in a cover letter. The full proposed amendment will also be provided.
  • This mailing will include a “Consent to Change” also referred to as a “ballot to vote.” The ballot is asking if you CONSENT TO THE PROPOSED CHANGE.  This means that if you agree with the proposed changes to Covenant 5.11 (allow the parking of pickup trucks in the community), then you would respond IN FAVOR or APPROVE of the amendment. If you disagree with the proposed changes, then you would respond AGAINST or DISAPPROVE of the amendment. A non-vote is not an active consent to the proposed change, and thus is considered a vote for the status quo, ie against the change.
  • We encourage all homeowners to vote by returning the ballot by mail, email (scanned copy) or by fax (details will be included in the ballot mailing). The mailing will contain the full amendment including the notarized signature blocks needed for the county recorder should the amendment pass. Your ballot requires your signature, but your ballot does not need to be notarized.
  • Only the recorded owner of each household can vote (no renters) and only one vote per household is allowed.
  • The voting period will be 45 days from the day of mailing (not reception) and the final return date will be noted in the cover letter.

The Board recognizes that this is an important decision for the community, and we will continue to communicate with you regarding when to expect the ballot in your mailbox, what dates/deadlines to keep in mind and to clarify the ballot process using the following platforms:

• Our community website (Meadowglen-HOA.com)
• Advance HOA portal for Meadowglen (mgho.eunify.net)
• Meadowglen Nextdoor
• Meadowglen Facebook Group
• Print flyers
• E-blasts (please make sure your email is on file)
• During board meetings

If you have any questions regarding the ballot/ballot process/proposed language, etc., please feel free to contact any board member individually or all of us at bod@meadowglen-hoa.com.

PLEASE NOTE: HOAs are governed by State Law, the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA) and the Declaration of Covenants. Our covenants, in compliance with CCIOA, specifies that an amendment to a declaration of covenants must be accomplished by written consent of 67% of the homeowners to a specific change. The Board has NO discretion to adjust this process.

The City of Arvada Parks Maintenance staff has notified us that beginning tomorrow morning, Thursday, June 24 at approx. 7:30 a.m. through the end of day, tree work will take place around Pomona Lake and along the Little Dry Creek Trail. A number of Russian Olives will be removed as they are considered an invasive species. A number of other trees will also be trimmed due to dead or dying branches and to abide by tree maintenance standards.

It is important to note that if a homeowner’s trees hang over the fence line onto City property, the City is allowed to trim the trees back to the fence line and to raise the tree canopy to a minimum of 8′ feet over sidewalks/trails as needed to clear the surrounding area for mowers, vehicles, pedestrians, bicyclists, signs, lights, etc.

The Meadowglen community, HOA and BOD have always had a very cooperative partnership with City of Arvada staff. We request that if a resident has a question or concern about this work, please contact a board member or Advance HOA. Please respect those doing the work and do NOT confront them. They are not the decision-makers regarding the work being done.

Thank you in advance.

Ari Feldman, Board President

Cross-post from Nextdoor.com: https://nextdoor.com/p/tjLdZk9gFgNS?utm_source=share&extras=NzAyNTc4

Our house received a notice from the HOA ARC that we need to replace our driveway (completely expected; it is old), and I understand several other houses in the neighborhood are in the same boat. That leads me to two questions: Does anyone have a solid recommendation for a driveway replacement contractor; and does anyone want to go in together to coordinate replacement and hopefully get a better rate from the contractor? Send me a message and I will try to put together a list of contractors and households.

Contact Karl Ohlsen at ohlsenk@hotmail.com

Trash will be collected on Fri 6/4 due to the Memorial Day holiday. On the Waste Management website, this notice is available:

Meadowglenners, it is in our 20 year Reserve plan to update the clubhouse furniture this year. While some items have aged gracefully, we hope to modernize and make the clubhouse space a bit more multifunctional. The board would like to offer the furniture to Meadowglen residents before we donate them. The clubhouse will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8-10 am for Meadowglen residents to take what they would like. All unclaimed furniture items will be donated to Family Tree, a non-profit which helps families in need.

The lifeguards don’t officially start until tomorrow, but with such a nice day and the kids out of school, the pool is open for use. Without lifeguards, please swim at your own risk. No reservations necessary today only (again, no lifeguards). Be careful, look out for each other, and have fun!

Dear Meadowglen residents,

As most of you know, the topic of trucks parking in Meadowglen has been hotly debated in the community for more than a decade. In 2018 HOA legal counsel advised the board that a 2007 policy we had written to provide flexibility to the truck covenant actually violated our covenants and had to be removed. This fact, in addition to crimes against trucks parked outside the community and conflict between neighbors within the community, caused the board to consider a change to the covenant. The BOD conducted a community survey, employed a mediator to identify a middle ground, and provided plenty of communication/engagement opportunities for community members, resulting in the Board initiating a consent to change ballot to permit trucks to park in the community with restrictions. Our covenants require 66 percent of the homeownership to consent to the change. The vote failed by 8 votes. The Board determined that the issue would not be revisited for at least 2 years and that a grassroots movement within the community would need to initiate future action. While the vote’s failure to pass temporarily settled the issue, it did not resolve it.

During the last several months, the Board has become aware through social media platforms, emails, phone calls, and conversations in the neighborhood that tensions regarding the truck issue are growing and continuing to divide the community. Residents who park their trucks outside the community experience truck theft and break-ins, causing safety and quality of life issues to be raised. Newcomers to the community are perplexed by a rule that allows a large SUVs or vans to be parked in the driveway but requires an expensive truck to park outside the community. The changing neighborhood demographics along with the transformation of trucks and their growing popularity calls the current value of the covenant into question.

In April, the Board was also made aware of a grassroots movement willing to go door-to-door to collect signatures on a proposed covenant. Their intent was to utilize the prepared covenant from the 2018 ballot with a modification of the height from 80” to 84”. To better understand the legal situation if they did deliver enough ballots, the Board met with our legal counsel before the May Board meeting. Our lawyer advised us that, based on the 2018 ballot results indicating 63 percent of the community is in favor of the change, the board has duty and good cause to bring it back up for vote.

At the May meeting, as noted in the May 12 and May 17 emails of the agenda, the Board and community members discussed the topic. Based on resident feedback received during the meeting, the Board decided to provide additional feedback opportunities to residents on both sides of the issue in person and digitally. An open house style town hall has been scheduled for Saturday, June 5 from 1 to 3 p.m. outside of the Meadowglen clubhouse to answer questions you may have or make comments to the Board. If you would prefer to record your feedback digitally, you may email the Board at bod@meadowglen-hoa.com or fill out a form on our community website located here: https://www.meadowglen-hoa.com/proposed-truck-covenant-feedback-form/.

The Board will consider all feedback before proceeding with a vote.

It is important to remember, that while our governing documents include covenants that the Board of Directors are required to enforce, the documents also include language to amend a covenant when it no longer serves the community. The question being raised is whether the covenant prohibiting trucks from parking in the community still serves the community, and if it does not, what is the community’s path forward.

Lastly, the date of the June board meeting, originally scheduled for June 17, has been rescheduled for June 24 at 6 pm.

On behalf of your board of directors, sincerely,

Ari Feldman
Board President

Last summer the City of Arvada advised us that it’s against residential code to have a food truck operate within 50 ft of a residential property line. The City did advise that the food trucks could park in the clubhouse parking lot if the Board was amenable. At the time the Board was very cautious on how to proceed with the pool, so we felt that we had assumed enough liability and didn’t want to invite more liability.

Obviously this summer is slightly different, with COVID in recession and people more familiar with COVID safety. In order for us to assume the liability, the Board discussed that we would require food trucks to apply for a permit. Here are the items required to be granted a permit:

1. The date(s) they will be parked in the lot
2. A copy of their Business License

This should also give homeowners some confidence that the food trucks are safe and authorized by the Board to be there. If you are interested in coordinating a food truck, please give them this guidance and have them email the Board at bod@meadowglen-hoa.com.