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 2.4 Newsletter of the Mapleton Home Association [MHA] October 1997

PARK RESIDENTS RECEIVE NEW LEASE


Inside This Issue



Mapleton Park Residents receive a new lease
by the editors
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After two meetings and much work City staff and Mapleton residents have come up with a new lease that is very good for everyone concerned. The Mapleton Home Association and the residents Lease Committee endorse the new lease and recommend that all residents sign it when City staff and Hast & Company make it available.


Exec speaks out
By Mark Reeder
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As summer ended and fall began with warm days and crisp nights, residents of Mapleton Park, City staff, and members of Council worked hard together on issues concerning the new lease and the Goose Creek Flood Project. All parties are to be congratulated for their forward looking vision.
The new lease is an excellent example of how the process works. Staff and residents worked very hard to create a document which is equitable for all parties. The MHA Board of Directors and the Lease Committee endorse the new lease and believe it is in the best interests of all residents to sign it.
Residents already know that City Council members, at the October 7 Council Meeting, voted four to one to accept the narrow option for the Goose Creek Project. Their vote means that only seven homes will be displaced by the Goose Creek Project. Those Council members who voted for the narrow option were Allyn Feinberg, B.J Miller, Don Mock and Lisa Morzel.
Just as important as the Council vote, however, was the work and effort of Public Works' staff to address the concerns of residents about the Goose Creek Project. Residents greatly appreciated the time and effort that Ned Williams, of Public Works invested visiting the Park. Ned answered the concerns of homeowners affected by the project and deftly outlined Public Works' program to relocate, within the park, residents displaced by the project. The Goose Creek Project process has been one of cooperation between residents and staff.
Now we all get to enjoy some relaxation as we enter the cooler fall weather. On behalf of the residents of Mapleton Mobile Home Park and their homeowners' association, I would like to thank Ned Williams and Terry Rogers for all their work with residents on the Goose Creek Greenway Improvement Project. Equal thanks go to Cindy Pieropan, Jackie Morales-Ferrand, and Kathy McCormick of Housing and Human Services for their work with residents on the lease. And finally, thank you to Tom Hast, of Hast & Company, for his work with residents on the lease and the day-to-day issues of management.

Farewell Mapleton

by Holly Hutchinson

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In November 1987, I purchased my first home trailer #50 here at Mapleton. I remember the tremendous anxiety that accompanied that momentous step, the almost overwhelming fear. I was a school bus driver at the time, working the part-time hours of that profession. I had been poor my entire adult life; a purchase of $6,000 was a very big step. However, I had also lived in Boulder for four years in a variety of miserable rental situations. I was ready to have some control over my own living space. I wanted quiet, privacy, safety.
Looking through the classifieds I found an ad for a mobile home for sale titled: 'Waterfront Property.' Clearly, there was some character in this place and its owner. The little yellow trailer by the creek turned out to be my future home and the owner with character turned out to be Mark Reeder. Mark and his new wife, Debbie, moved around the corner into a bigger mobile home. I settled into my new role as homeowner and debtor extraordinaire.
Now, exactly ten years later, I am preparing to move out of state and pass my home on to its new owner, Eddie Eckley. At my request, Mark Reeder joined Eddie and I for the closing of the house sale last week three 'generations' of owners sitting around my kitchen table. I am grateful to have made this passage in a way that felt warm, kind and human.
The people, the land, the animals and the unique homes of Mapleton Park will always be very special to me. When Lu Nuttall decided to sell this park, he provided us with a great opportunity. We have risen to the occasion by coming together as a community in a way that is a model for other neighborhoods. The past year and a half working with the MHA Steering Committee has brought me laughter, friendship, intelligent conversation and a greater sense of belonging. I will very much miss my neighbors and friends here at Mapleton.
Ed note: Holly has always been a great help in getting out the MHA Mobile-izer, writing articles, copying and distributing - we're all gonna miss you Holly. PS Keep on playing that drum set! Kabir and Habiba

Historical Review of Lease
By Pete Caterina

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3/6/97 The City of Boulder purchased Mapleton Park from Lu Nuttall. Until a new lease is signed by the homeowners, the old lease signed with Lu remains in effect.

5/30/97 City Staff passed out first draft copies of the new lease (taken partly from the Boulder Model Lease and City's other rental leases) while answering questions and comments at their information table next to the laundry room.

7/18/97'Copies of a revised, second draft were sent to the Mapleton Home Association (MHA) who then:
1. organized a Lease Committee to study and make recommendations, and
2. informed City Staff (in writing) that this version of the lease was unacceptable to Homeowners of Mapleton Park.

8/20/97 A very productive meeting was held between Hast & Company, City Staff and the MHA's Resident Advisory Committee (RAC) to negotiate a mutually supportive, equitable lease. At the beginning of the meeting a third draft was released to MHA with some significant alterations, including several points that the residents had planned to discuss. Negotiations proceeded from there.

9/16/97 MHA received the fourth draft of the new lease reflecting the points and clarifications discussed at the 8/20 meeting. While much progress had been made, there were still a few important issues that needed to be worked out, primarily involving the process for the City to purchase a home when a resident chooses to sell.

10/10/97A second meeting between Tom Hast and the MHA RAC was held to clear up these remaining issues.

10/14/97 After confirmation from Mr. Hast that these issues were resolved, the proposed new lease was sent to MHA's lawyer for evaluation. After a preliminary look at the lease, the lawyer approved it. He will give the MHA a detailed report later this month.

Goose Creek Update
By Pete Caterina
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On October 7, 1997 Boulder City Council: 1. Voted unanimously to approve the CEAP (Community and Environmental Assessment Process) for the Goose Creek Greenway Improvement Project stretching from Folsom to 30th St., and
2. Voted 4-to-1 to approve Option #2 through Reach III. [Voting for Option #2 were: Allyn Feinberg, B.J. Miller, Lisa Morzel, and Don Mock.]
Translation: 1. The flood project to protect us from the'high hazard flow of a 100 year flow even is going to be built, and
2. The narrower channel option, removing a maximum of 7 homes from Mapleton Park, will be the design followed when building the channel through our park. The CEAP provides that the City will buy the mobile homes of those to be displaced at the appraised value in location (also known as 'fair market value'. The affected homeowners can instead choose to remain in Mapleton Park by relocating their home to another pad, or by moving into another home in the Park. The issue of moving costs will be decided for each individual case. Two major goals have been accomplished:
1) The affected homeowners get treated fairly.
2) A precedent is set that our homes in Mapleton Park are worth what we could sell them for, not just the assessed tax value.
The CEAP also provides the exact homes to be removed: #34, #64, #78, #79, #80, #154, #167. These cannot be changed or homes added without going back through the entire process of acceptance and officially amending the CEAP. However, if details can be worked out, it is possible to decrease the number of lots affected by simple agreement.
If you're not one of the 7 affected homeowners now, you won't be later by surprise. MHA continues to work with City Staff to further reduce the total number of homes, specifically so that lots #64 and #80 may be spared. With this decision completed the 'preliminary design drawing' is scheduled to start in April 1998 and construction of Reach III (Mapleton Park) is projected to begin in 2003 AD.
Only after the project is built can the MHA start negotiations to buy the Park from the City your ultimate goal.

Historical Review of Goose Creek
By Pete Caterina
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In the mid 1980s the City of Boulder started developing a plan to make Boulder as safe from flooding as possible. Included in the many parts of their grand plan was what came to be known as the Goose Creek Greenway Improvement Project (GCGIP.) The City, concerned that urban run-off during a 100 year rain event could destroy property and threaten lives, decided to create a channel to contain the theoretical high hazard flow of a 100 year flood event.

6/4/96 City Council 'tables' the GCGIP due to concerns about the cost relative to its flood control value. During the Summer of 1996 Mapleton Park was surveyed so that the Department of Public Works (DPW) could draw up plans.

8/13/96 City Council approved Public Works' plan for a Goose Creek corridor to contain the high hazard flow after concerns of minimizing impact on the residents of Mapleton Park were answered by David Rhodes (Director of DPW), who stated that only 4 to 5 home would need to be removed.

3/6/97 The City buys Mapleton Park from Lu Nuttall.

3/6/97 The Water Resources Advisory Board (WRAB) held its first public hearing on GCGI. Terry Rogers, the GCGIP manager, presented the preliminary Community and Environmental Assessment Process (CEAP) which divides the project into three sections (Reaches) cutting through Mapleton Park in Reach III. At that time the CEAP referred only to paying 'assessed value' for those homeowners displaced, and included two options for Reach III: Option #1 (wide) removing 12 homes and Option #2 (narrow) removing 7 homes.

Spring 97 The Mapleton Home Association (MHA): 1. drew up and introduced its Option #3 (which reduced the impact to 5 homes); 2. negotiated with City Staff for fair market value; and 3. began a letter writing campaign to both the Water Board and the City Council. 6/5/97At the second public hearing, the WRAB voted (4-to-1) to recommend Option #2 with serious consideration of MHA's Option #3 ( for Reach III in the GCGIP CEAP) to City Council.

During the remainder of the Summer 1997, MHA continued its efforts to negotiate with City Staff and also individually lobbied the City Council members by inviting them to informal chats with residents and a tour of Mapleton Park.

10/5/97 The Goose Creek 12 ( homeowners affected by Option # 1) and members of MHA met with Ned Williams (DPW) at Dumpster Park where details were presented of the final CEAP that Staff was submitting to City Council. It included the exact home numbers to be displaced, a fair relocation plan, and appraised value in location. While this version of the CEAP fulfilled all of MHA financial goals for the residents, it still recommended Option #1 (wide) in Reach III.

10/7/97 City Council voted unanimously to approve the CEAP for the GCGIP, and voted 4-to-1 to approve Option #2 (narrow).

State-wide Mobile Home Coalition formed
by Holly Hutchinson
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Last newsletter, we printed an ad for the Colorado State-Wide Mobile Home Residents' Conference, held in Aspen in July '97. This conference, the first of its kind in the state, drew mobile home residents from: Boulder, Denver, Golden, Aspen, Carbondale, and Durango. Conference participants worked together for three days to build the foundation for a state-wide coalition, which has been named the Colorado Coalition for Mobile Home/Manufactured Home Residents' Rights.
The coalition is devoted to: promoting state legislation favorable to mobile home residents; supporting the formation of homeowners' associations in mobile home parks; and providing educational information about mobile home residents' issues to residents and the general public. If you would like more information about the coalition, please call Noel at 441-3975.


A Quotable Quote from B.J. Miller (Running for reelection Boulder City Council)
in response to the Boulder Mobile Home Community Council Candidate Questionnaire.
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"I am especially excited about the City effort to help the residents of Mapleton Mobile Home Park purchase their own lots so they will no longer have to pay rent for the land on which their homes sit. The kind of community spirit and caring that exists in that and other parks has a value that Boulder cannot afford to lose above and beyond the fiscal value of affordable housing."


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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.