Welcome to the archive of Mapleton Hollow's community newsletter!
The Mapleton Mobile-izer is issued quarterly, following the MHA membership meetings. Special editions are issued as needed, for example before a quarterly meeting where MHA members will be voting for executives or making an important decision...
Volume 2.1 Newsletter of the Mapleton Home Association [MHA] January 1997RESIDENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE HELPS SELECT MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Inside This Issue
- Resident Advisory Committee (RAC) helps select management company
- Exec speaks out
- Meet your neighbor
- Financial report
Resident Advisory Committee (RAC) helps select management company
by Debbie Kranzler
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The Resident Advisory Committee will work with the City both in selecting the management company that will manage Mapleton Park, and in drafting a Management Agreement with the selected company. They will also represent us in dealing with both the City and the management company on issues of concern to the residents such as: infrastructure repairs; safety and security; rules and regulations for the Park; and Municipal codes relating to mobile homes.
These Mapleton Park residents have been chosen by the Executive Board to represent the MHA and the homeowners of Mapleton in discussions with the City concerning the future of Mapleton Mobile Home Park. Each brings valuable skills and experience to the committee. In addition, they have all been active in the Mapleton Home Association:
Gene Langlois
Vice President of the MHA
Jana Bashor
MHA Block Captain Coordinator
Gerald Evans
MHA Steering Committee member
Debbie Kranzler
Facilitator of most MHA quarterly meetings
If you have specific concerns, issues, or ideas that the Resident Advisory Committee should know about, please present them in writing to one of the Committee members.
Name Lot # Phone #
Jana Bashor #47 545 2567
Gerald Evans #22 448-9345
Debbie Kranzler #14 444-4140
Gene Langlois #30 444-4988
Exec speaks out
By Mark Reeder
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by Mark Reeder, President MHA
In December the Executive Board of the Mapleton Home Association held two important meetings with the Department of Housing and Human Services. The first meeting on December 16, 1996 was with Jann Oldham, the Block Grant Coordinator for the department. We will be applying through the department for grants to hire consultants who will help us with our goal of resident ownership. Since the money has already been allocated for the year 1997, we will be applying for funding for 1998.
On December 18, 1996, I met with Kathy McCormick and Cindy Pieropan. Kathy McCormick is the Executive Director of the Housing Authority of the City. This meeting was very important for the residents of Mapleton because two critical points of understanding were established. First, the City is committed to maintaining Mapleton as a Mobile Home Park. Secondly, the Division of Housing is preparing a transition team. In a follow up letter to the Executive Board of the MHA, Ms. McCormick wrote: 'The goal of this team is to provide a smooth transition from the current owner to City ownership. The team will be prepared to provide technical assistance to residents; some areas include facilitation to discuss issues around older mobile homes, tasks to be completed so residents can make a bid to purchase the park at some future date and an idea of the project time line.'
The time table for the City's resale of the property to the residents is five to seven years. The sale hinges on the Goose Creek Flood Project. There is good news about Goose Creek too. The Department of Utilities is working hard with Mapleton resident, Mike Figgs, for an equitable solution to the displacement caused by the project. A well known architect has been brought in to design the project and he seems sympathetic to the Mapleton residents who live along Goose Creek.
Finally, 1997 will be the start up year for everything. Even though we have five to seven years to put together a package to purchase the park from the City, that time does not mean we can sit back and wait. We need to push ahead and complete projects to show the City we are serious about buying the park.
One project is the survey inside this newsletter. Please fill it out and return it either to your Block Captain or to the Block Captain Coordinator, Jana Bashor in #47, or bring it to the Quarterly Meeting. The names in this survey will be kept confidential. The results of the survey will be used by the Resident Advisory Committee in their negotiations with the Management Company and the City.
A second project is a comprehensive set of By-laws to govern the MHA as the vehicle for Resident Ownership of Mapleton Park. You will have found near your mail box a new set of By-laws which will be discussed and voted on at the Quarterly Meeting.
Finally, we need to complete a list of steps towards resident ownership and a time line for completing those steps within the five to seven year time table established by the City.
There you have it: five to seven years for resident ownership. Some of you may no longer be living here, having left for new adventures and challenges. But for the majority of us, Mapleton Park is our home for many years to come and resident ownership is a dream we are striving for.
Let's get to work and make it a reality.
interview by Holly Hutchinson
As you walk or drive into our park from Mapleton Avenue, you are likely to get a friendly wave from Ralph Sporleder, sitting out under the awning of his home at space #11. Ralph and Beulah Sporleder have lived in their mobile home here since their marriage in 1970. It was Beulah who first moved into Mapleton Park in 1965. Then, when Ralph and Beulah married, they replaced Beulah's trailer with a newly purchased mobile home. Beulah, Ralph, and Beulah's son, Gary, now live in the home.
Beulah has probaly lived at Mapleton longer than anyone else still residing in the park. When she first moved here, the population of Boulder was under 20,000 and 28th St. was a dirt road. She says she and Ralph 'have known a lot of people who have come and gone.' And they've seen a few other changes in the park. For example, there are more children here since federal anti-discrimination laws required landlords to rent to people with children. And the park used to be bigger - a row of homes at the western end of the park was eliminated to make way for the expansion of Folsom Ave.
Beulah grew up in Wichita, Kansas, one of four children. Her father worked for the Sante Fe Rail Road. She came to Boulder in 1957 with her first husband who was taking a job a Rocky Flats. She worked as a salesperson at Woolworth's in Boulder (at Broadway and Pearl) for over ten years. When that store closed, she worked at Woolco on 28th Street. Beulah has two children, her son, Gary, and a daughter, Donna.
Ralph grew up on a farm near Beloit, Kansas where his family raised cattle and grew wheat on 400 acres of land. He came to Boulder because he had a friend out here. In Kansas, he had begun a profession as a baker. He continued working as a baker in Boulder for such businesses as Boulder City Bakery and Furr's Cafeteria. Ralph has a son, Jerry. Between the two of them, Ralph and Beulah have 5 great-grandchildren. Their living room has many photos of their children and children's children.
Ralph and Beulah like to play cards with friends, go for rides in the mountains and go out to eat. They know their surrounding neighbors, and a good friend of theirs lives in another part of the park. Beulah says, 'Ralph loves to help people.' For example, he has looked after neighbors' homes while they were away on vacation. Ralph and Beulah attend the Mapleton Home Association general meetings and are supportive of the resident purchase of the park, even though, at their age, they say they 'may not even be here' when the purchase finally goes through. Ralph stresses the importance of maintaining a home association and working together to protect our common interests. 'We should try to get together', he says.
MHA financial report
By Mark Reeder, President, MHA
12/16/96 Opening Balance 528.35
12/16/96 Interest 1.09
12/16/96 New Member Dues 5.00
12/23/96 New Member Dues 5.00
1/9/97 Total Balance 539.44
Total Inflows 539.44
Total Outflows 0.00
Net Total 539.44
MHA VOLUNTARY FUND:
Date Description Amount
11/29/96 0.00
11/30/96 Opening Balance 250.00
11/30/96 Monthly fees -4.92
12/21/96 Voluntary Fund Deposit 10.00
12/21/96 Voluntary Fund Deposit 60.00
1/3/97 Voluntary Fund Deposit 20.00
1/9/97 Voluntary Fund Deposit 60.00
1/9/97 Total Balance 395.08
Total Inflows 400.00
Total Outflows -4.92
Net Total 395.08
Treasurer's Report:
Our MHA Dues Account shows a balance of $539.44. As of January 1997, the MHA has 105 paid-up members. Thanks to everyone for their support of the MHA in our quest to purchase the Mapleton Mobile Home Park from the City of Boulder.
Moreover, thanks to the generous contributions by members of the MHA, our association now has $395.08 in its Voluntary Fund. A few members made the suggested full year's contribution to the fund. (The MHA Executive board recommended $5.00 per month or $60.00 for the entire year.) Other members have contributed between $10.00 and $20.00. Thanks to everyone who has given to the MHA to help us secure the purchase of the Mapleton Mobile Home Park from the City of Boulder. We still need more donations to help pay for consultants and fees associated with buying the park. Please be generous. Every dollar counts.
Last year the Executive Board tried to establish an Automatic Fund Transfer with our bank, the Colorado National Bank. Unfortunately we have discovered that at the present time an AFT would not be cost effective and we have decided not to pursue that course at this time. Because many people would like to contribute to the voluntary fund through the convenience of an AFT, Steering Committee member, Tink Wilson #58, and MHA President, Mark Reeder #14, have agreed to accept checks and cash donations to the MHA Voluntary Fund at their homes. They will then deposit them in the proper account at the Colorado National Bank. Please make checks payable to the Mapleton Home Association. Those who wish to can mail their contributions to:
Colorado National Bank
Attn. Dave McNeil
Business and Consumer Banking
P.O. Box 189
Boulder Colorado, 80306
On the back of the check write for deposit only in the MHA Voluntary Fund Account, #194312686638.
If you have any questions please call Dave McNeil at 444-1235 or 473-2311.
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The Mapleton Mobile-izer is published quarterly by the Mapleton Home Association and is distributed free to all residents of Mapleton Mobile Home Park.