Over the past year, we have had intermittent trouble with Comcast blocking our owner subscriber list for owners using comcast.net (or Roadrunner) addresses. Currently, thanks to one of our owners, Dave Gangon, Comcast has lifted the block, but it has been lifted in the past, only to return within a few months. Recently, we contacted all of our owners that subscribed with a comcast.net or roadrunner address and asked them if they were willing to use an alternate address. About half of them provided us with an alternate. If you want to subscribe with a Comcast or roadrunner address, you may do so, but when Comcast blocks our email to you, you will need to work with them to remove the block. They will not respond to us. The reason they keep blocking us is two-fold. (1) In the past, another customer of the same company that hosts our website was a spammer and Comcast does not differentiate between clients of our hosting service. (2) One (or more) of our previous owners that subscribed to our email list got tired of receiving email from us. Rather than unsubscribe, he simply reported us to Comcast as spammers. They blocked our email to their customers three times last year, with the most recent block lasting several months before Dave Gangon got it removed this week.

If you are subscribed to our list with a Comcast or Roadrunner address and don’t need this hassle, you can change to an alternate email. Simply reply to this email, enter your alternate email address as the body of your message, and I will replace your Comcast address with your new one. I will confirm the change to you by email.

If you no longer wish to receive email from Timber Lakes, you can either click on the link at the bottom of this message and follow the instructions to unsubscribe, or simply reply to this email with the word “Unsubscribe” as your message and I will remove you from the database.

Thanks, and please attend the January meeting in Murray, Utah if you are able.

John Blickenstaff
Webmaster
Timber Lakes Property Owners Association

We have several items to communicate to our fellow owners.

1. Spring may have arrived this week. While we had three inches of snow fall on the upper mountain last weekend, we have now had our first run of warmer, dry days in several months. The road crew has been out addressing the very worst of the spring potholes on the main roads. The snow is gone from the lower mountain but the upper mountain is still hanging on to a foot or more, depending on the location of your lot.
2. We encourage you to check on your property. We had a lot of snow this winter, and as I drove around the upper mountain today I saw some serious snow and ice-related damage, including crushed outbuildings, caved-in decks, sheared-off porch covers, downed trees, drainage-damaged driveways and flooding. I am aware of one flooded basement. If you did not come up here this winter, or haven’t been here for a while, you need to inspect your property.
3. A family of cougars was spotted on the west side recently. Cougars were seen in other locations earlier in the year. Take appropriate precautions with young children and dogs.
4. There are many deer in the subdivision and on both roads through the valley from Heber City. Slow down and drive cautiously. The roads in Timber Lakes this time of year require slow, pothole-evading driving. Be patient and enjoy the fact that you are on the mountain and not in downtown Los Angeles.
5. Noxious weeds in Timber Lakes are on the increase. You are responsible for controlling noxious weeds on your lot. The Association sprays for weed control only along the road right-of-way. The County can and will fine property owners that fail to control noxious weeds. This month, Wasatch County is offering assistance to Timber Lakes Property Owners to help control our noxious weed infestation. Please join us on Saturday, June 25^th at 8:00 am at the Timber Lakes Office to meet with the members of Wasatch County Weed Control. We will have a brief introduction to invasive weeds of concern. The County will also provide free herbicides and lend you a sprayer to use that day. The County personnel will be here from 8:00 am until noon on that day. This is the easiest, least expensive way to control thistle and other noxious weeds on your lot. Safety instructions for working with these chemicals will be provided. The recommended herbicides are also available, free of charge, during the spring and early summer from the Wasatch County Public Works Department. You may contact them at 435-654-1661 ext. 13. For our out of town (including out of state) property owners, contact the Timber Lakes office for a list of local weed control companies. Contact the office either by email at  office@timberlakesutah.com or call 435.785.8762.
6. Our next meeting of the Board of Directors is being held in the Salt Lake Valley at the Whitmore Library on Wednesday, June 15, at 7:00 pm. Owners are invited and encouraged to attend.

Thanks,

John Blickenstaff
TLPOA Secretary & Webmaster

Our regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Timber Lakes Property Owners Association will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 9 , 2011, at the Wasatch County Senior Citizen’s Center, located at 465 East 1200 South in Heber City, Utah. Owners are welcome to attend and encouraged to participate.

Our regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Timber Lakes Property Owners Association will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 12 , 2010, at the Wasatch County Senior Citizen’s Center, located at 465 East 1200 South in Heber City, Utah. Owners are welcome to attend and encouraged to participate.

Property owners of records have recently received a written notice from Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) that it is petitioning the Public Service Commission of Utah (PSC), along with Heber Light & Power (HL&P), for permission to transfer electric service in Timber Lakes to HL&P.

There is a substantial amount of information about this request on the PSC website. This information includes testimony from both RMP and HL&P about how this change will affect Timber Lakes. Click here to look at this filing.

I reviewed the PSC material and exhibits in order to better understand why the two utilities are requesting this change. I also visited the HL&P website to familiarize myself with their services and rates. I then compared my last 12 electric bills from RMP to what the service might have cost from HL&P during the same year. Since it is nearly impossible to figure out all tax and service charge nuances, the numbers are only approximations. In my particular case, I estimated my 12-month total electric bill would have been slightly less with HL&P. My summer month bills, using less electricity would have been less expensive than RMP. My winter months, using more electricity would have been higher than RMP.

In my opinion, the bottom line is this: HL&P charges a substantially higher customer service fee each month ($12.00 compared to $3.75) but has slightly lower energy charges. The testimony of both utility providers is that Timber Lakes customers will experience an overall average increase of less than $5.00 per month under HL&P, assuming the same usage.

There is a public hearing on this matter scheduled for Monday, January 10, 2011, in the Heber City Council Chambers at 4:30 p.m. This room is located on the second floor of the Heber City Office at 75 North Main Street in Heber City.

If you are interested in following the Commission’s actions on this issue, you can enter your email address here, under Watch This Docket.

This post represents my personal opinion only and has not been reviewed or approved by the Timber Lakes Board of Directors.

John Blickenstaff
TLPOA Secretary & Webmaster

Due to technical problems we have had to change most of the email addresses for contacting members of the Board of Directors for the Timber Lakes Property Owners Association. The new email addresses are located on the website at http://timberlakesutah.com/board-of-directors/

A one-page listing of important contact information  for property owners may be downloaded by clicking on the link near the bottom of this page.

Thank you.

Webmaster

Let me begin this post by reminding you that we (the Timber Lakes Property Owners Association or TLPOA) are NOT the Water Company. See We Are Not the Water Company. If you have any questions or concerns about what follows in this post, please do not email me or call the Association. Instead, contact the Water Company. I will provide their telephone number and website at the end.

As a public service to the Timber Lakes property owners, I am providing my own summary of a legal notice printed in the Wasatch Wave on Wednesday, October 13, 2010 on pages C7-C8. The Timber Lakes Water Special Services District (the “Water Company”) placed the notice in the paper. Remember, we (TLPOA) are not the Water Company. The Water Company is a completely separate entity, governed by a completely different board. The property owners elect our Board. The Wasatch County Council appoints their Board.

The legal notice states that the total cost of improvements to the water storage and delivery system in Timber Lakes is $7,224,758.52. The lot owners will pay for this amount. The per-lot assessment is $4,778.28.

The Wasatch County Council has appointed a Board of Equalization and Review (BEAR) to hear and consider objections to the proposed assessments. The BEAR will meet with lot owners to hear and consider objections on Thursday, November 4 and Friday, November 5, 2010 between the hours of 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm at the County offices located at 25 N. Main in Heber City. On those two dates, the assessment list, plats and amounts of the proposed assessment against each lot will be available for review from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm in the County offices.

If a property owner wishes to object to the assessment on his or her lot(s), the owner will need to appear before the BEAR at one of the two meetings listed above.

Finally, the legal notice states that a prepayment option will be available to property owners This means the owner can choose to prepay the entire assessment or to pay monthly for twenty (20) years. The final numbers should be available at the November meeting of the Water Company (Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 6:00 pm at the County offices).

The Water Company will mail a copy of the actual legal notice to the billing address and tax ID address of the owner of each lot, as well as deliver a copy to each cabin on the mountain.

What you are now reading is NOT an official summary of the legal notice and has not been reviewed by the TLPOA Board of Directors. It is my own opinion of what the legal notice states. While I am considered to be an expert on what my opinion is, this summary should not be relied upon for any factual content.

Additional information will be made available on the Water Company website, at http://timberwaterssd.com/. You may also call the Water Company at 435.654.0125.

Please do not contact Timber Lakes about water issues. We are not the Water Company.

John Blickenstaff, Secretary & Webmaster

We are holding a community cleanup for Timber Lakes common area around the office, dumpsters and gatehouse, as well as portions of Lake Pines Drive and Lake Creek Road. We will meet at the office at 8:00 am on Saturday, August 28 and return to the area about 11:00 am for a provided lunch. We will have trash bags and safety vests; we just need you and your pair of gloves. You will also need your appetite at 11:00 am.

If you missed out on helping Jeff Meierhofer and his crew, come help us clean up the trash that magically accumulates around the entrance.

All owners and guests are invited and we hope to see you there. Call 435.785.8278 with any questions. Come help us enhance the entrance to our community.