Mapleton Mobile-izers

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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...


MHA BLOG Volume 2.2 Newsletter of the Mapleton Home Association [MHA] April 1997

HAST MANAGEMENT TAKES OVER MANAGEMENT OF PARK
Inside This Issue



Management Report, by Tom Hast
by Tom Hast
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It Is VERY Important That Everyone Read This Letter from Tom Hast!

Introduction - Hast & Company is pleased to have been given the responsibility of managing the Mapleton Mobile Home Park. We look forward to eventually meeting all of you. The Park will be managed by Loretta Milcarek with assistance from Tammy Jones.
If you have questions or issues which you would like us to address, you may call either one of them at our central office at 444-7575. Our office hours are 8:30AM-5:30PM Monday through Thursday and 8:30AM to 5:OOPM on Friday. Our phone is answered 24 hours a day seven days a week in case of emergency. If you have a fire or police emergency, please call 911 first and call us second.
We are also pleased to announce that Ed Underwood will be staying on as the resident manager for the Park. He will have a greatly expanded job description which includes rent collection, general maintenance, landscaping and snow removal, and responding to problems which arise in the Park including the enforcement of rules and regulations. He, like all of our employees, will carry a pager and will be on call most of the time. If you need to reach him, you may call our office number and he will be paged.
Rent payments should be in the form of a personal check, bank check or money order. We will not accept cash. Payments may be mailed to our office, put in the collection box, or given to E d. We would appreciate prompt payment. Rent payments are due on the first of the month.
We look forward to working together with the City of Boulder and the Mapleton Home Association in making real improvement in the Park community. We will discuss some of these in the sections below, but if you have any suggestions for further improvements, please let us know.

The Reasons The City of Boulder Acquired The Park:
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We thought it would be useful to give you a little background information about why the City decided to acquire the Park instead of allowing a private investor to purchase it. By understanding this, you will more clearly understand the decisions the City has made and will make in the future regarding the Park.
The first reason was to ensure the continued existence of the Park and with it affordable housing in the City of Boulder. It was clear that a private entity acquiring this property would probably decide to make different use of the property by developing residential housing on the site. This would eliminate a significant number of spaces for mobile homes with substitute spaces nonexistent. In addition, even if a new owner purchased the Park to keep it open for mobile homes, pad rents range as high as $450/month now in the City. The City is committed to helping preserve low and moderate income housing in the Park.
The second reason was to facilitate construction on the Goose Creek flood mitigation project through owning the property.
The third reason is to allow the Mapleton Home Association time and resources to acquire the knowledge and money necessary to eventually acquire the property from the City on behalf of the residents. In the meantime, the City intends to make substantial improvements to the property so that in the short run, the Park is a safer and more attractive community, and so that in the long run, it turns a much improved property over to its new owners which will be you.
To these ends, the City has instructed us to make a number of changes and improvements in the near future, and to inform you of some longer range projects.
Planned Immediate Improvements The first changes we are making concern health and safety issues. These include: improving the lighting in the Park, removing obstructions where possible from the sidewalks, closing down the dangerous roller blading and skateboarding area by the laundry room, improving access to the laundry room, and closing down and removing the dangerous footbridge over the creek (we hope to be able to replace it eventually); cleaning up flammable materials from around the homes in the Park; and pruning the trees.
In addition, we plan to make improvements to the appearance and function of the Park including: painting and sprucing up the laundry room; removing trash and dead and abandoned cars; seeing that damaged fences and other structures around the park are either removed or painted and repaired; improving the sidewalks and roads; and installing new signs.
To help accomplish these goals, we are planning to have a community Spring clean-up day sometime soon. The City will provide trucks and helpers, and we will all get together to beautify our community, have something to eat and drink, and have fun. We'll let you know the date. This event could be preceded by a community yard sale if there is sufficient interest.
We are also planning to work on revising the rules and regulations working together with the Association. These will be the rules governing your community, so your input is important and welcome. Please contact the Resident Advisory Committee with your ideas. In the meantime, we do intend to enforce the existing rules which have been enforced fairly slackly in the past. If you have a problem with a rules violation please contact Ed, Loretta or Tammy, or you may contact the Resident Advisory Committee.
Longer Term Projects: It is estimated that the City will own the Park for approximately seven years. During this time, the Goose Creek Channel project will be started and completed. While the exact timetable for this project is still unknown, it is very unlikely that it will be started before the year 2000. The City also plans to replace the water and sewer systems in the Park and will probably do so at about the same time the rest of the Goose Creek work is being done. There is no question that this work will entail a lot of disruption in the park, and will completely displace a few of you. On the other hand, we have close to three years to plan for these events. The City, the Association and Hast & Company will work together to minimize disruptions and to provide alternatives for those folks who will need to move.

Rents and Demographics
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Making all of these improvements will cost a lot of money as did acquisition of the Park. The City has a stated intention of breaking even on this entire venture excluding the cost of the Goose Creek improvements. This will require that we raise rents to some extent. At the same time, the City is committed to helping provide low and moderate income housing at the Park. This means that rent increases will not be anywhere close to market rents, but it also means that the City needs to justify keeping rents lower for individuals and families who need the help. In order to do this, we need to collect information from each household on your income and expenses, your present employment, and other relevant information. This information will be kept completely confidential by the City. Neither the Association nor Hast & Company will ever see this information. We do need it, however, to consider your household for lower rent. If we do not receive the information from you, we will need to assess you the maximum rent, whatever that ends up being.
In any case, there will be no rent increase until June I st. At that time, we will also ask you to enter into a new lease agreement with us that will better represent current law and policy. Your existing lease, if you have one, has not been revised for fifteen years or more.
We believe that all of these changes will make the Mapleton Mobile Home Park an even better community in which to live without harming the good qualities which you all have appreciated for many years. Let us know what you think as time goes by.
Tom Hast is on the Board of Directors for the Center for Dispute Resolution. He has over twenty years experience in Property Management.


Exec speaks out
By Mark Reeder
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by Mark Reeder, President MHA
By now all residents are aware that the City of Boulder has completed its purchase of Mapleton Park from Lu Nuttall. Lu had been our landlord since Mapleton was founded in 1962. Lu was a fair and conscientious man and supported the future resident ownership of Mapleton Mobile Home Park. Let me say for everyone in the Park, "Thanks Lu, for all your generosity and support over the years. You will be sorely missed."
Before the closing in March, the City asked Hast and Company to manage the park for them. In February, our Resident Advisory Committee and the MHA's Board of Directors interviewed Tom Hast, owner of Hast and Company and Loretta Milcarek, a long time Hast employee. We were pleased with their positive outlook for the Park and the residents, and for our future as resident-owners of Mapleton. Moreover, Loretta and Tom have taken on the added responsibility of helping us learn how to manage a mobile home park. We look forward to a long a fruitful association with them.
In the last issue of the Mapleton Mobilizer, I sketched two projects our resident association had to complete before we could begin to work on resident ownership of the park. The first one was passing a comprehensive set of By-laws for the Mapleton Home Association which would assist us in our drive to purchase Mapleton from the City of Boulder. The new By-laws were passed unanimously in their first reading at the January Quarterly Meeting of the Association. At the April Quarterly Meeting they will have their second reading and be put up for a second vote. Once passed at this meeting, they will become the working By-laws governing the Association as it works to purchase the Park from the City.
The second project was a list of goals for resident ownership and a time line for completing those goals. Jann Oldham of the Department of Housing and Human Services has sent the Executive Board of the MHA a list of goals for the residents and our Association to work on in the short term. In her letter to the Board she wrote:
"Whether or not the park is sold to the residents will be contingent upon a number of factors. In the short term, we will be interested in your ability to do the following:

1. Work successfully with Hast & Co. to develop park rules and resolve various resident issues;
2. Demonstrate collective fiscal responsibility; 3. Identify your strategic objectives, necessary partners and resources as well as a reasonable time line for accomplishing those objectives;
4. Identify and secure support from other public and private resources, including in-kind donations;
5. Develop broad community support by, for example, recruiting other community members with appropriate expertise to be on your board.
Jann was kind enough to provide the Association with this list of short term objectives and we are now going to have to get to work on them. Achieving some of these objectives will require filling out surveys so that the Association can apply for financial support from public and private resources.
Please remember that these surveys are strictly confidential and are necessary to fulfilling our goal of resident ownership.
Finally, I would like to remind everyone that we are coming up on our first year anniversary as the Mapleton Home Association. There are some who felt that the organization would not last a year, but we have proved them wrong. We have stepped up to the challenge of creating a working homeowners' association and are on our way to achieving our dream of resident ownership. By pulling together, we can do this. One of the ways to fulfill our dream is renew your membership in April. Dues are five dollars a year. To renew your membership see your Block Captains or Gene Langlois #30, Tink Wilson #58 or Mark Reeder #14. Make your check payable to the Mapleton Home Association.
Another way to help is to continue with those generous voluntary contributions. The five dollars a month we are asking for will help us pay for the consultants and lawyers necessary to complete all the work to purchase the Park. Many members have already contributed a full year's worth of donations. Please make these checks out to the Mapleton Home Association and give them to Tink Wilson #58 or Mark Reeder #14. Thanks again for all the help and support.
We are now in the difficult stage of becoming resident owners-- the beginning. The start of any venture is filled with uncertainty about its outcome. But we can prevail in our desire to become resident owners. We can prevail through strength of purpose, strength of will and strength of character. We can prevail to purchase this park and establish ourselves as home and land owners. Tom, Loretta and Tammy, of Hast and Company, are committed to helping the residents go through the process of becoming landowners. The management team is one of the best resources we have to accomplish our goal of resident ownership and of preserving affordable housing for ourselves. The Department of Housing and Human Services is committed to keeping Mapleton Park as a mobile home park and as a part of their affordable housing program. With this in mind they have offered us technical assistance in achieving our goal of resident ownership.
Though it may be a beginning filled with uncertainties of the future, we have the support of the Department of Housing and Human Services and the Hast management team to achieve our goal of resident ownership in a permanently affordable housing complex. We can do this. We will do this.

Goose Creek Update

by Mike Figgs

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On March 6 twelve Mapleton Home Association members attended a meeting of the Water Resources Advisory Board to hear the Department of Utilities staff presentation of conceptual plans for the Goose Creek flood control project. The staff presented two options.
Option #1 is a wide corridor where the flood channel is more open and has gentle slopes. Approximately 11 to 13 homes would be removed by this option.
Option # 2 is the narrow corridor plan where the channel is confined to a narrow zone with steep slopes. Much of the channel would include reinforced rock and concrete walls as does Goose Creek east of 30th Street. Approximately 5 to 7 mobile homes would be removed by this option. Both options include a vehicular traffic bridge and would cost the same amount of money to build.
Ironically, many, if not most of the mobile homes removed in either option, will be displaced because of the relocation of Mapleton Park's internal streets. The City Engineering Department has determined that the streets will need to be retained in order to insure emergency access to the Park. The relocated streets will need to be rebuilt to current standards. Regardless of which option is approved, the remaining mobile homes bordering the creek will be packed tightly against the relocated streets, with little or no side yard facing Goose Creek.
Other features of both plans include a bike path along Goose Creek and Elmer's Two Mile Ditch (that runs behind the shopping center facing east on 28th Street) and a small pocket park on a portion of the Branding Iron Mobile Home Park. Tentative construction dates have varied from 1999 to 2002. Unfortunately, since these plans are still conceptual, we don't know the construction dates or the precise number of homes to be removed. It is probably safe to assume that at least two rows of mobile homes will be removed from both sides of Goose Creek for the wide option and one row on both sides for the narrow option.
The Utilities Department's conceptual plans are being refined, and specific proposals will be presented to the Water Resources Advisory Board in April and May and later to the City Council. MHA is requesting that the City address two issues in the final plans: remove as few mobile homes as possible, and for those who must be relocated, the City should pay fair market value for their mobile home, reasonable moving expenses and technical assistance. Another option for the city to consider is to relocate residents within Mapleton Mobile Home Park or other mobile home parks in Boulder.
In order to motivate the City into responding favorably to these two issues, it will imperative for residents who may be relocated to attend future City hearings on Goose Creek where the final plans will be approved later this spring and summer.
The City needs to hear about your individual concerns and unique situations in order for them to clearly understand that they are severely impacting the lives of citizens. In the press of day to day affairs, city staff and citizen officials tend to overlook these details. Sometimes they get lost in the large vision of what they want to accomplish. They need to hear from you.
And for those of you who live outside the impact zone of this project, consider this: if the city successfully devalues the mobile homes within the flood control project area, you could be next. I urge every resident in this Park to think about these issues and remember that the residents of Branding Iron Mobile Home Park, just to the east of us, have never been offered fair market value for their homes., Please Help.
Mike Figgs is a resident of Mapleton and has served on the Steering Committee of the MHA and as our liaison with the City on Goose Creek. Residents of Mapleton should be notified by the City of future hearing dates for the Goose Creek project. The MHA will keep you informed of events as they develop.

RAC Report MHA Meets with the NewManagement Team
By Debbie Kranzler

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On Monday, March 17, the MHA Executive Board and the Resident Advisory Committee met with Cindy Pieropan of the Department of Housing and Human Services, and Hast and Company, the new management company for the Mapleton Mobile Home Park. Tom Hast and his management team, Loretta Milcarek and Tammy Jones, discussed their roles now that the City of Boulder owns Mapleton. Tom started the evening by telling everyone that the City had purchased Mapleton Park in order to ensure permanently affordable housing for low and moderate income residents and with a long term goal of reselling the park to the residents.
Keeping these goals in mind, two major issues were discussed that Hast and Co. will address immediately. Both are important to the MHA and the residents of the Mapleton Mobile Home Park, and support our plan to purchase the Park from the City.

First: Income Survey of residents by the City of Boulder. Included in this newsletter is a strictly confidential questionnaire/survey to collect income information from all residents. To ensure confidentiality, you have also been given a postage-paid envelope, addressed to the City of Boulder, for returning your survey.
Cindy explained that this questionnaire will help the City determine actual income levels in the Park. The information on your survey will allow the City to establish a tiered rent program where each Mapleton resident's rent rate will be based on their income, and all will be in accord with affordable housing rates. Tom Hast informed us that rents would need to go up sometime within the next four to six months and that the information collected on the surveys would aid low and moderate 'income residents by setting their rents at affordable levels. In addition, Cindy Pieropan said, "Rent considerations will be made f o r fixed income and disabled residents." The City may also encourage qualified residents to apply for Section 8 rental subsidies.
The Mapleton Mobilizer was asked to explain that any residents who do not turn in a survey will find their rent set at whatever is the highest tier of rents in the Mapleton Park. Therefore it is in everyone's best interests to complete one of these surveys.
Moreover, as was discussed at the meeting, the information provided by these questionnaires is necessary for the MHA as well. In order to reach our goal of purchasing the park from the City, the MHA will be applying for grants and loans from public and private agencies, and we will need to supply the summary information. Cindy Pieropan assured the Board of Executives and the Resident Advisory Committee that all the information on the surveys would be strictly confidential; only a summary of the survey will be provided to the MHA.
Mark Reeder, President of the Mapleton Home Association, told The Mapleton Mobilizer that all the information on the questionnaires furthers the City's long term goal of resident ownership as well as the MHA's plan for resident ownership. He encouraged everyone to fill out the questionnaires and return them as quickly as possible. "If you have any questions about this survey please ask any of the Steering Committee members or the Block Captains for help."

Second: Safety improvements.
Tom explained that the City is committed to making improvements to the Park. The management team will immediately address several safety issues. Among them: overgrown trees, flammable liquids stored on-site, debris, old cars, the condition of the laundry room, and the footbridge over the creek. In addition to improving the safety of all residents and reducing the risk of a costly and time-consuming law suit, attending to safety and liability issues now helps us when we purchase the park in the future, as we will have already taken care of these problems. Also important, by supporting the efforts at cleanup, safety, etc., residents demonstrate that we possess the determination to take care of the park as diligent owners.
Debbie Kranzler, member of the Resident Advisory Committee, stated that the Mapleton Home Association wants both the City and Hast and Co. to know that we wholeheartedly support safety improvements . However, uniformity of appearance is not necessary. "The residents of this park are a diverse group and we like the diversity expressed by our homes". Tom Hast and Loretta Milcarek agreed and said that they were not interested in establishing conformity for the neighborhood.
For the time being, the existing Rules and Regulations will be in effect and enforced. The RAC will be working with Hast and Co. to draft a new set of rules. Mark Reeder suggested that the MHA's Resident Advisory Committee could also help address compliance with the rules. The committee would work with residents to help find solutions for complaints or for problems over rules. However, in the event that a resident refused to follow the rules or pay the rent, the management company would be forced to evict the tenant. "Looking toward the future, this groundwork for establishing rules and their compliance is a great asset for the residents. We are learning management skills as well as demonstrating our ability to own the Park," the Association President explained.
Association VicePresident, Gene Langlois, pointed out that right now the City has a mortgage to pay. "In the future when the residents take over the park, we will have our own mortgage to pay." Receiving the rent payments, on time, is critical for making timely mortgage payments.
Establishing thefinancial groundwork for the future is one of the most important issues for MHA in working with Hast and Company and the City of Boulder. By working with Hast and Company in managing the park, the residents and the Mapleton Home Association will: 1) create a reasonable set of rules and regulations; 2) work with the residents to enforce those rules, demonstrating our ability and commitment to manage ourselves; 3) show fiscal responsibility in payment of rent; and 4) create a structure for owning and running the park when we, the residents, ultimately purchase it from the City.
If you have ideas for the RAC, please write them out and give them to a committee member.

Mobile Home Rights March
By Tink (Alex) Wilson
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Boulder Meadows residents marched through their park, Saturday, January 25th, to protest abuses by Uniprop, their out-of-state corporate owner, and by the park's manager Mapleton residents joined in support In spite of the cold, which kept many residents indoors, the march was met with approval. A number of passing motorists paused to add their own tales of harassment and injustice. While we can be fairly sure that similar abuses won't occur at Mapleton, the situation at Boulder Meadows serves to underscore the necessity for a resident buyout of Mapleton as quickly as possible.

Meet your Neighbor
By Nan Ledereer
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Fred Andersen and Jason Wing, two young residents of Mapleton Park, have been practicing rollerblade tricks for about five months on their resourcefully improvised ramps and jumps behind the laundry house. On Saturday morning, January 25, they gave a public exhibition of their prowess at what is known as aggressive skating to an enthusiastic audience of park residents. Flying off the ramps, they performed such tricks as high jump, 180, 360, full twist with tuck, skating backwards down a narrow ramp, "grinding" (Sliding sideways) down a metal rail, and the "Daffy" (which appears to be a mid-air imitation of Daffy Duck attempting ballet).
Fred, whose nickname when skating is "Lava Lord", and Jason, nicknamed "Style, are both eleven years old. They are dedicated to their sport, practicing one to two hours a day. When asked how they got started
in the sport of rollerblading, Jason Wing replied, "We used to play rollerblade hockey. Then we saw a video of skaters doing these tricks."
Both boys would like to do aggressive skating professionally when they grow up. For now, say Fred and Jason, their wish list for kids' facilities in the Park are, "A skate park, with big ramps and good equipment. And smooth pavement."
With the elimination of the pair's impromptu rollerblading park, because of liability issues, the two boys will have to go elsewhere to practice. There is a rollerblading area in Scott Carpenter- Park.

1997 DUES ARE DUE IN APRIL
by the editors
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While the amount of money is not great, the significance of your $5.00 dues is tremendous. Because of the MHA, the new management team, Hast and Company, and the City of Boulder work with the residents as a group. Hast and Company will work with the Resident Advisory Committee to create a fair and equitable set of rules for all residents. These rules will address safety and liability issues.
Dues this year will be collected by Gene Langlois #30, Tink Wilson #58 or Mark Reeder #14.

JOIN MHA TODAY
IF YOU ARE NOT YET A MEMBER OF THE MAPLETON HOME ASSOCIATION, YOU CAN JOIN BY CONTACTING YOUR BLOCK CAPTAIN OR A MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OR STEERING COMMITTEE AND MAKING A YEARLY DUES PAYMENT OF $5.
If you have ideas or comments for Hast and Company, please mail them to: Hast & Company, 525 Canyon, Boulder, Colorado 80302

RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP THIS MONTH
For your dues you receive the bimonthly newsletter, The Mapleton Mobilizer, and, beginning this year, a membership card with the Mapleton Home Association logo on it. Yearly dues also pay for the bookkeeping for your association and office supplies.
See Mark Reeder, Tink Wilson or Gene Langlois.


Financial Report
by Mark Reeder
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MAPLETON HOME ASSOCIATION DUES ACCOUNT:
12/16/96 Opening Balance 528.35
Balance 2/24/97 556.73

MAPLETON HOME ASSOCIATION VOLUNTARY FUND:
Balance 2/24/97 736.49

Treasurer's Report:
Our MHA Dues Account shows a balance of $556.73. As of January 1997, the MHA has 105 paid up members. All of these members have shown their support for a resident owned mobile home park.
Moreover, thanks to generous contributions by members of the MHA, our association now has $736.49 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. But we still need more donations to help pay for consultants and fees associated with buying the park. Please be generous. Every dollar counts. 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,

MHA Executive Board 1996-1997
President: Mark Reeder, #14 444-4140
Vice-President: Gene Langlois, #30, 444-4988
Secretary: Position Open Treasurer: Position Open


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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.